Chapter 599: The Hunt for the War-Touched Ancient Tree

A seventh-tier Star Plant. No exaggeration, this is the target Song Chi has been relentlessly searching for the past century or two.

What he’s desperate for is the heart of a seventh-tier Star Plant. It’s the key for his sixth-tier Silver Apple Mother Tree to break through to the seventh tier. Over the years, he’s found multiple sixth-tier Star Plant hearts, pushing the Silver Apple Mother Tree to its limit. If he can get that seventh-tier heart, the Silver Apple Mother Tree could attempt its breakthrough right away.

If the upgrade succeeds, the Silver Apple Mother Tree will produce a steady supply of seventh-tier Silver Apples. With plenty of red components still left on the Heavenly Ruin, those apples are exactly what he needs most right now.

Seeing Song Chi’s keen interest, Song Shiyuan didn’t hold anything back. He quickly explained the situation.

A few minutes later, after Song Chi had gotten the full story, he fell into a thoughtful silence.

According to Song Shiyuan, the intel came from a six-star Eight‑Armed Serpent Demon. A thousand years ago, it found a seventh-tier War-Touched Ancient Tree somewhere in the Eight‑Armed Serpent Demon galaxy cluster.

The War-Touched Ancient Tree, a fearsome type of Star Plant, is known for both its battle prowess and sheer potential. It’s said that its strength can rival Star Beasts of the same rank.

As for its potential, tales of mythical War-Touched Ancient Trees have been circulating through the Endless Shattered Sea for ages.

The good news is, a thousand years ago, that War-Touched Ancient Tree had only just ascended to the seventh tier. Even after a millennium, for a Star Plant, that’s barely a blink of an eye.

Which means the tree is still at the early seventh tier. For Song Chi, that’s a very good thing.

“So, what do you think? Want a few Dreadnought Captains from the family to go with you?”

Noticing Song Chi’s prolonged silence, Song Shiyuan took the initiative and asked.

But Song Chi just shook his head and firmly declined.

“No need. The fleet is about to enter true Eight‑Armed Serpent Demon territory—we can’t spare our peak combat strength. Even my own battleship self shouldn’t leave. I’ll just send my Mirror Warship.”

Song Shiyuan frowned, about to argue, but Song Chi spoke first:

“My Mirror Warship isn’t weak. I’ll take a Tiger Carapace King Bug along, and if needed, I can project my real body. I’ll also bring a Market Projection Token. That should be more than enough, Elder—no need to worry.”

With that said, Song Shiyuan could only drop the matter and told Song Chi exactly which star system the seventh-tier War-Touched Ancient Tree was located in.

…

Serpent Mother Galaxy—it’s on the outer edge of the Eight‑Armed Serpent Demon galaxy cluster, but not southwest near the Torch Human Five-Plate Galaxy Cluster. Instead, it lies to the southeast.

That puts it a good 300 million light-years from the Chipan Galaxy. Even with the Mirror Warship’s constant use of its Scarlet Vault Jump, the trip took more than four years.

Of course, that’s because the Mirror Warship couldn’t duplicate the Timepiece Chessboard. If it had a colored mythic component to cut all cooldowns, the journey could’ve been halved.

Serpent Mother Galaxy, Central Star Domain.

Though the Serpent Mother Galaxy isn’t that far from the Torch Human Galaxy Cluster, by now this galaxy has been plunged into a massive war. But it’s not the Xian Qin Divine Dynasty invading—this time, it’s the Chiyu Divine Dynasty, one of the four great dynasties.

Compared to the sprawling battlefield at the south end of the galaxy though, the central star domain was remarkably calm.

That quiet shattered when an uninvited guest arrived in the heart of the galaxy.

After a fierce spatial surge, a jet-black Mirror Warship shot out of the jump passage.

Inside the ship, Song Chi’s voice rang out, carried by divine sense.

“Not bad. This last, crucial jump went off without a hitch.”

He couldn’t help but sigh with relief—one recent jump had the Scarlet Vault Jump ramming into a floating-land packed with Eight‑Armed Serpent Demons. It caused quite an uproar, and he barely scraped by.

Once he’d gotten his bearings, he sent the Mirror Warship speeding off in a certain direction.

His heading: a low-level floating-land nearby. Since this was his first time in the Serpent Mother Galaxy, Song Chi needed a star map.

Of course, he’d already gotten the coordinate distance for that War-Touched Ancient Tree from the Prime Ancestor. He could go straight there.

But this galaxy was completely unfamiliar, and it was an active war zone. That meant there were sure to be eighth-tier Eight‑Armed Serpent Demons lurking about. Song Chi had to be cautious.

With the Mirror Warship cloaked by the Void Shroud and Mirage Dragon Metamorphosis Pearl’s Mirage effect, grabbing a rough local starmap was almost too easy.

A few days later, right outside a tier-three life-bearing floating-land, the Mirror Warship hovered silently.

In the control room, Song Chi scanned the starmap he’d just obtained, mind sharp and vigilant.

According to the map, he pinpointed the location of the seventh-tier War-Touched Ancient Tree.

“It’s on the west side of the Serpent Mother Galaxy, over 200,000 light-years from the warzone to the south. Not bad!”

After confirming the tree’s position, the Mirror Warship waited at its location until the Scarlet Vault Jump was ready again.

Serpent Mother Galaxy, Western region—Ancient Tree Star Domain.

This War-Touched Ancient Tree has been growing here for over 100,000 years. There’s no way the upper echelons of the Eight‑Armed Serpent Demons haven’t noticed it by now.

In fact, they discovered it tens of thousands of years ago and even named this star domain after it.

They struck a deal—the Eight‑Armed Serpent Demon Civilization would let the tree grow, as long as it didn’t harm their kin. In return, every millennium, the tree would produce a War Fruit for them.

The War Fruit, borne from the War-Touched Ancient Tree, won’t extend lifespan or anything, but it lets the user master the Chaos Law—a top-tier law in the Sea of Stars—making it insanely valuable.

Chaos Law isn’t even listed among regular cosmic laws because it’s so rare. Only in the Abyss Clusters or by consuming a special War Fruit could one hope to comprehend it.

Simply put, the Chaos Law is one of the strongest and rarest laws in the Shattered Sea of Stars. If ordinary beings could grasp it, it’d be every bit as potent as time or space.

Ancient Tree Star Domain—a hundred light-years from the seventh-tier War-Touched Ancient Tree.

Inside the Mirror Warship, the radar screen of the Mirror’s Eyes of Heaven was locked onto a long-range scan.

Front and center on the projection was the seventh-tier War-Touched Ancient Tree itself.

It stood over 100,000 kilometers tall, rooted in the astral void. Its roots, full of chaotic law, sucked in tremendous amounts of energy from the void and the Sea of Stars to sustain its massive body.

The branches spread wide, overtaking a huge stretch of space, each thick limb bearing giant fruits—the legendary War Fruit. Song Chi, though, didn’t care in the slightest for those.

At his level, no matter how powerful the Chaos Law, it held no appeal.

He’d already comprehended three cosmic laws—among them, both time and space. Why would chaos tempt him?

He studied the tree for more than ten minutes, his gaze deep and thoughtful.

“Seems certain—the War-Touched Ancient Tree is still at the start of the seventh tier!”

After a quick mental note, Song Chi wasted no more time and sent the Mirror Warship jumping right to the tree.

As long as it’s still early in the seventh tier, that’s all he needs. With the Mirror Warship’s power, he stands a fair chance.

“High-intensity energy detected outside the ship—Shield of Holy Light is under corrosive attack!”

This is what you’d expect from a Star Plant steeped in Chaos Law. Even after a second jump, with the Heavenly Ruin’s main body still over a billion miles away, wild chaotic power swirled through the starfield.

And that was just the beginning. The seventh-tier War-Touched Ancient Tree noticed his arrival instantly and responded at once.

“External energy intensifying—Shield of Holy Light is degrading 140% faster!”

Clearly, what he felt before was just the base chaos energy in the area. Now that the Mirror Warship had appeared, the tree was pouring out more of it than ever.

Song Chi wasn’t retreating. At the warship’s bow, white energy gathered, charging for a test shot from the main cannon.

After just two volleys, Song Chi halted the barrage.

“No surprise there. Long-range whittling won’t work—the War-Touched Ancient Tree’s battlefield domain ignores all attacks from outside.”

With that confirmed, he activated the Space-skipping Pearl. The Mirror Warship plunged into the heart of the war zone.

He’d half expected this outcome.

After all, records in both his family and the Torch Human Civilization were clear—this ‘battlefield domain’ couldn’t be pierced by outside attacks. His earlier attempt was just wishful thinking. Seeing no way around it, he dove in.

The moment the ship was inside the domain, Song Chi felt a heavy force pressing in on all sides.

It reminded him of the Eight‑Armed Serpent Prison technique from before, except the suppression here was far worse.

Then, from every corner of the void, thick chaotic roots lashed out, brimming with destructive force.

Clearly, the tree had thoroughly infiltrated every inch of this space.

Those roots shot toward the Mirror Warship, weaving a tight cocoon in hopes of binding it fast.

But this was exactly where Song Chi was most confident. With the Golden Blood War Stele—now at the eighth tier—granting him permanent immunity to control, those roots couldn’t touch him.

Sure that the chaotic vines couldn’t affect his ship, Song Chi wasted no time in mounting a fierce counterattack.

If there’s one thing Star Plants rely on, it’s raw life force. So that’s right where Song Chi struck.

He unleashed the Life-bane Arrow from the Myriad-Spirit Annihilation Bow, plus the True Immortal Quantum Blade from the Taiyi Quantum Swordlight Battery.

Outside, realizing it couldn’t bind the warship, the War-Touched Ancient Tree shifted tactics—now its chaotic roots lashed out in wicked, whipping blows.

Crack! Snap! Whistling through the darkness, they left fractures in the void behind them.

Just by that, you could tell how deadly those root strikes really were.

And because he was billions of kilometers away, not even the Tome of Divine Will could give Song Chi perfect remote control, so he left the ship to the Sky-Domain AI replica.

With the AI’s precision, the Mirror Warship dodged most of the root strikes. But with the tree’s roots blanketing the cosmos after 100,000 years of growth, there were simply too many to avoid them all.

In no time, the Shield of Holy Light shattered under the dual assault of chaos and roots, exposing the Yin-Yang Counter-Phase Annihilation Shield to the stars.

Fortunately, by then the ship’s energy was fully charged—Life-bane Arrow and True Immortal Quantum Blade launched one after another.

Both attacks ripped into the ancient tree’s trunk, but that trunk was sheathed in powerful chaos law and surging life force.

Though they tore through the perfected chaos defense, opening sizable wounds, those spots quickly healed amid the tree’s massive vitality.

Still, their efforts weren’t wasted. The Life-bane Arrow in particular drained away nearly half of the chaotic energy clinging to the tree’s body.

Unfortunately, that skill’s cooldown wasn’t short. By the time Song Chi could fire again, the tree would likely have fully recovered, thanks to its endless network of roots.

Mulling it over, Song Chi made up his mind.

His gaze shifted to the five-star Doomstar warrior aboard the Mirror Warship.

To be precise, to the Market Projection Token clutched in the figure’s hand.

If he could get the tree’s heart, his Silver Apple Mother Tree would soon churn out a steady harvest of seventh-tier Silver Apples.

And seventh-tier Silver Apples? Those are nothing short of legendary Silver Oddities.

Given the stakes, why would Song Chi hesitate to use a Silver Oddity?

Still, he wasn’t about to waste resources. He chose to wait for the Life-bane Arrow to be ready again.

Once the cooldown ended, he launched all-out—this time not just the one skill, but also Blood Spear’s Blood Judgment, God of the Hunt’s Weakpoint Mark, and Black Hole Evolution Layer’s Black Hole Singular Burst.

Song Chi’s plan was simple: The War-Touched Ancient Tree’s life force was monstrous. A single projection from the Omniverse Market wouldn’t finish it in one blow.

He needed to whittle down its strength now, softening it up and making things far easier for the Market Projection to finish the job—better safe than sorry.