Chapter 610: The Seal of the Blackstripe Whale King

Millions of miles away, several Sixth-Tier Naga from the Northern Sea Court hid behind an undersea mountain range. They still hadn’t recovered from the harrowing escape they’d just endured.

But when they nervously peeked at the distant battlefield, the terror etched on their faces instantly shifted to astonishment—though underneath it all, shock ruled their hearts.

“So that’s the legendary Master of the Omniverse Market? No wonder Deku’en has revered him for centuries!”

They stared wide-eyed at the Blackstripe Whale King in the distance, who had turned and fled at first sight.

They’d heard about such things from Deku’en plenty of times, but witnessing it for themselves was on a whole different level.

Think about it: the Blackstripe Whale King was a Seventh-Tier true emperor of the deep, yet after a mere glimpse, he turned and fled without hesitation. That sight alone was something that would be burned into their memories for centuries to come.

Standing at the front, the Queen of the Northern Sea—her wounds now stabilized—suddenly spoke.

“After this, I’ll announce my abdication. Deku’en will take my place as the new King of the North Sea. From now on, everyone must give him your full support. Understood?”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

“We’ll wholeheartedly support Lord Deku’en. With his leadership, I’m certain the Northern Sea Court will reclaim its ancient glory.”

“Not just ancient glory—what’s that compared to our true goal? We’re going to build a royal court, lead the Nagas into the far ocean, and carve out a foothold in those vast unknown seas!”

……

Far away, the purple mist hand stretched with lightning speed. Space almost seemed to have no meaning in front of it. No matter how fast the Seventh-Tier Blackstripe Whale tried to flee, the hand was upon him in an instant.

Inside the Omniverse Market, Song Chi—shielded within dense purple mist energy—suddenly pressed his right hand downward.

Crash!

A surge of ocean water split to either side under the weight of the purple mist hand. Endless streams of bubbles scattered everywhere.

Sensing the massive threat from above, the Blackstripe Whale King stopped running. The blood energy boiling within his hulking frame gathered at a single point inside his body.

If someone could have seen inside just then, they’d have witnessed an intensifying golden light at that spot.

Above the Market Heavens, Song Chi’s brow twitched. He’d caught sight of that flash of golden light within the Blackstripe Whale King.

“So it’s a Gold Oddity. Interesting…”

His interest spiked immediately.

For centuries, he’d thought the continent where Deku’en lived was just a Seventh‑Tier Floating-land. Now, it seemed he’d underestimated it.

Sure, there had been rare cases of Gold Oddities forming on Seventh-Tier Floating-Lands, but they were exceedingly uncommon.

Given this, it seemed unlikely this sea domain was just another Seventh‑Tier Floating-land.

Deku’en had once said that this Blackstripe Whale King only advanced to Seventh-Tier a little over a century ago. If this place really was just a common Seventh‑Tier Floating-land, how could a legendary Gold Oddity—so rare on these lands—fall into the hands of a newly advanced lord?

Wouldn’t it make more sense for those seasoned rulers on the land to have claimed it themselves?

Just as the gold flashed, a shimmering defensive water barrier formed above the Blackstripe Whale King’s body.

Clearly, this Gold Oddity was a defensive artifact.

Song Chi didn’t dwell on it. The purple mist hand kept descending without pause.

Boom!

The two forces collided, stirring up yet another powerful surge underwater.

The Gold Oddity was formidable, but the Blackstripe Whale King was only Seventh-Tier. In the end, he could only hold on for a few seconds.

The undersea environment helped. Even though the water barrier shattered, the purple mist hand’s strength was greatly weakened. When the blow finally landed, it didn’t pack nearly as much punch.

“The Blackstripe Whale has a monstrous physique—stronger than most star beasts. Throw in this deep sea advantage, and even with near-Eighth-Tier power, beating him is easy but actually killing him is next to impossible.”

With that in mind, Song Chi gave up on trying to slay the whale outright.

“If I can’t kill him, I’ll just take a different approach…”

He focused, a ghostly light flickering between his brows. In that moment, the Heavenly Ruin, far away in the Serpent’s Fang Galaxy, was summoned back under his control.

Entering the ship’s control room, Song Chi used telekinesis to activate the Timepiece Chessboard component.

To be precise, he activated the Chessboard’s ‘Flow of Time • Prison’ feature.

If a clean kill wasn’t possible, then a seal would do just fine.

With the power of Flow of Time • Prison, he could keep this whale locked away for ten thousand years. By then, dispensing with him would be a mere flick of Song Chi’s hand.

And thanks to the purple mist’s cover, none of the starry sea creatures below caught a hint of Song Chi’s moves or the Heavenly Ruin returning.

Beneath the sea, as the purple mist hand reformed and pointed downward, a condensed beam of temporal energy shot straight out.

Down below, the Blackstripe Whale King tried to pull the same trick, conjuring another defensive water barrier. This time, he completely miscalculated.

The temporal energy pierced the barrier as if it wasn’t even there, slipping effortlessly through.

To the Blackstripe Whale King’s shock, the thread of temporal energy sank straight into his massive body.

A thunderous whale cry echoed through the deep.

“No!”

The desperate, piercing wail rang out. Feeling the pull of ancient time, the Blackstripe Whale King was gripped by fear like never before.

He could sense this force belonged to a higher order of time itself. If it sealed him, escaping would be nearly impossible.

Without hesitation, he exploded with blood energy and drew upon the full might of Water Laws. Even bloody mist began to shroud his body in a last-ditch effort—he was burning his very life to break free.

But all he managed was to prolong the struggle a little. He couldn’t change his fate.

The ancient force only grew stronger with each passing minute. Within moments it became something not even a Seventh-Tier sovereign could withstand.

About twenty seconds later, the sea rang with one last mournful cry.

Then the Blackstripe Whale King’s colossal body vanished from the ocean.

“What…”

“Where did the Blackstripe Whale King go…?”

“My lord…”

Creatures hiding in the distance were left baffled. Even Deku’en and Luke exchanged uncertain glances.

When Deku’en asked with humble reverence, Song Chi replied via Market Projection:

【I have sealed him here. He will not break free within ten thousand years!】

After leaving that message, he didn’t linger. The Omniverse Market Projection faded away.

Inside the seabed fake seamount, Deku’en swallowed his excitement and quickly saluted as a respectful farewell.

……

Half an hour later, with help from the magitek submarine, Deku’en met up with the Queen of the Northern Sea and her entourage.

The tens of thousands of kilometers of deep sea were far beyond what a Fifth-Tier like him could handle alone.

He relayed what had happened.

The Queen of the North Sea pondered for a moment before instructing:

“Don’t make the seal public just yet. Alert our court’s army to start moving into the Blackstripe Whales’ territory. Luke, please have the Thor Family send another batch of aquatic battlesuits—there will be generous rewards for your help!”

“Your Majesty, should we notify the other three royal courts? We alone can’t take all of the Blackstripe Whales’ territory.”

“That’s right. Even with the Blackstripe Whale King sealed, there are still plenty of Sixth-Tier Whales left. We don’t have the numbers ourselves.”

“No rush. We’ll notify them for sure—but only after we’ve secured the best part of the territory!”

……

Within the Omniverse Market, once the last traces of purple mist faded, everything slowly returned to normal.

Of course, plenty of strange folk were still whispering quietly about what happened.

“Who knows how it turned out? And hey, who called the Market Master anyway?”

“You’ll have to ask the old-timers for that one!”

Song Chi didn’t bother listening to the chatter.

At this moment, he wasn’t in a great mood, quietly sighing to himself.

“Ever since the Market advanced to Sixth-Tier, the Market Projection’s strength hit the Eighth-Tier. But that’s only inside the Market. Once my projection crosses the starry void, it drops to quasi-Eighth-Tier—still not quite enough.”

Trying to console himself, Song Chi reminded himself that, for someone at his level, having quasi-Eighth-Tier power was already more than most could ever dream of.

Still, it was a real limitation. Quasi-Eighth-Tier was enough to crush most Seventh-Tier rulers, but any special environment—like today’s deep sea—made things tricky.

The depths themselves limited his power, while the Blackstripe Whale King’s vitality and environment-matched Gold Oddity made it even harder. Even with the Heavenly Ruin’s help, finishing things quickly proved impossible.

Dwelling on all this, Song Chi thought for a while before shaking his head and muttering inwardly:

“I just need to push the Market to Seventh-Tier as soon as possible. That should bring the projection’s power up another notch.”

“I wonder, though—will it hit peak Eighth-Tier after that, or leap straight to the Ninth-Tier?”

……

Deku’en’s call for help proved to be a minor episode. Afterward, Song Chi’s life fell back into a peaceful routine.

Outside, in the Serpent’s Fang Galaxy, all the families were still ransacking every corner and arguing about how to split things up. It would drag on for a while.

That said, they couldn’t take too long. With two Supervisors watching, Tianpan Galaxy’s fleets would never be allowed to slow their advance.

Time slipped by. Another decade passed.

Today happened to be the day of another Market transaction.

But this time, Song Chi was in for a little surprise.

The Oddities Exchange was packed with all sorts of aliens.

At the very back, Deku’en—who hadn’t come to a Market trade in ages—stood at attention, flanked by two Sixth-Tier Naga bodyguards, with a bunch of old Market regulars crowding behind to watch.

Centaurs, Night Elves, Witcher folks, even half-rats of the Divine Realm and ancient dwarves—pretty much anyone who was anyone showed up, all curious.

After ten years, most of them knew the story of that Market summoning. Of all those who’d ever used a Market Projection Token, only Deku’en’s group never got a clear answer.

By now, everyone was certain: it was Deku’en, on behalf of the Northern Sea Court, who’d summoned the Market Master that time.

And clearly, their guess was spot on.

In the past centuries, Deku’en never had Sixth-Tier guards sticking to his side.

Unbothered by the onlookers, Deku’en, crown of the Northern Sea Court atop his head, bowed and got straight to the point.

“Today I represent the entire Northern Sea Court to once again thank you for your protection. We’ve been busy conquering the Blackstripe Whale territory these ten years and couldn’t find the time to come sooner. I hope you’ll forgive us.”

With that, he gestured to the two Naga at his side.

The two stepped forward, each holding a storage capsule.

Without waiting for Song Chi’s prompt, Deku’en quickly explained:

“My lord, this is our tribute from the Northern Sea Court. Please, you must accept it!”

He opened both storage capsules with a wave.

In the Free Stall Area, Song Chi narrowed his eyes.

“Titanite Crystal—looks like there are at least fifty thousand pieces here. They must’ve found a titanite crystal vein in the Blackstripe Whale Sea. Deku’en always remembered the Market’s resource requests, and now he’s delivered them all. What a pleasant surprise.”

Quick as a thought, his reply flashed across the main projection screen in the center of the Oddities Exchange.

【Well done. You have my thanks.】

With a positive reply, Deku’en’s face lit up. He bowed again, excitement filling his voice:

“If my lord is pleased, then all is well. Thanks to your help, the Northern Sea Court now sits atop the Blackstripe Whale’s finest territory. Once we’ve rebuilt, our strength will soar. We’ll remember your kindness forever.”

……

A while later, Deku’en and his party left the Oddities Exchange, only to be immediately surrounded by the Market old-timers.

“Come on, Deku’en! Tell us what really happened!”

“What did you all do ten years ago? Did you really go to war with the Blackstripe Whales?”

After centuries together, the old-timers of the Market were close. They’d already learned about the Northern Sea Court from Deku’en, and it was thanks to this that Luke’s Thor Family decided to cooperate with them.

Once Deku’en finished explaining, the crowd grew serious.

Especially when they heard about the Market Projection sealing away a Seventh-Tier sovereign in a single strike.