Chapter 631: Fortifying the Heavenly Ruin

As expected, the plan presented by Old Ancestor Song Wujian won unanimous approval from everyone.

The family leadership attached the highest importance to the Demon Serpent Floating-Land.

After that, everyone began preparing in private. Even though they knew, no matter how hard they worked, only Song Chi and Song Yan really stood any chance against the top Divine Dynasty captains of the same level. For the rest, the gap in strength would be impossible to bridge. But in battle, a Torch Battleship doesn’t have to clash head-on with the enemy.

For example, improving a warship’s stealth and agility or giving it faster cruising speed could mean surviving longer on that Demon Serpent Floating-Land. The longer they lived, the greater their chances of reaping real rewards.

Song Chi was of the same mind.

Over the last century, Ru Zu and Xingzu weren’t the only ones who made huge gains—Song Chi, the Clan Elder, and his big brother Song Yan gained even more.

Right now, for instance, Song Chi gripped a component in his hand, one that glowed with dazzling golden light.

[Confirm upgrade and installation of the Hunyuan Copper Ramming Prow?]

“Confirm!”

Golden rays kept flickering as the part was swiftly enhanced up to level 80.

Hunyuan Copper Ramming Prow lv80

Quality: Gold

Trait: Ramming prow hardness +140%

Trait 2: Ramming prow destructive power +140%

Trait 3: Bow hull integrity +140% when installed

Trait 4: True Armor-Piercing

Trait 5: Hunyuan Impact

……

{True Armor-Piercing: See brief description}

{Hunyuan Impact: While Hunyuan Copper Ramming Prow is activated, spend 50,000 Eon Energy Points to make the warship instantly accelerate to 2,000% speed towards a chosen direction, crashing into an enemy target at max velocity and inflicting massive damage. Lasts 10 seconds. Cooldown: 12 hours.}

This golden Hunyuan Copper Ramming Prow was one of the latest spoils. With it installed, the Heavenly Ruin now boasted a pair of powerful ramming prows on either side of the bow. Activating both together would unleash terrifying destructive force. Especially combined with Neutron-Star Fission, the results would be even more devastating.

With that part reinforced, Song Chi took out a storage capsule.

Inside were several pieces of neutron star wreckage. He’d traveled to many Seventh-Tier Floating-Lands and at last gathered all the neutron star fragments needed for the Neutron-Star Core Armor’s ascension.

One by one, the armor devoured the fragments. Brilliant gold radiance began to pulse from deep within the Heavenly Ruin’s hull.

As time passed, that brilliance gradually darkened until it became a deep, shadowy light.

A glance at the component’s attributes showed it had now evolved.

Neutron-Star Core Armor lv80

Quality: Black (5/100)

Trait: Neutron-Star Fission

Trait 2: Neutron-Star Core Pulse

Trait 3: Armor Protection Value +380%

Trait 4: Neutron Link

Trait 5: High-Energy Particle Storm

Trait 6: Dual Armor

Consumption: 4,000/s (Eon Energy Points)

Protection: 518.4 billion

No recharging or buffering required

……

{Neutron-Star Fission: Consumes 1,000,000 Eon Energy Points; warship temporarily transforms into a miniature neutron star, deflecting all outside attacks. Duration: 20 minutes. Cooldown: 6 hours.}

{Neutron-Star Core Pulse: Armor layer transformed by neutron star core contains infinite pulse energy. Whenever the ship takes damage, non-stop waves repair the hull armor and energy shields—restoring 14% of armor every 5 seconds and 14% of shield value every 10 seconds.}

{Neutron Link: Uses 800,000 Eon Energy Points to link up to 100 warships within 2 billion kilometers. Linked ships gain +140% armor and +140% shield and shield value for 16 hours. Cooldown: 120 hours.}

{High-Energy Particle Storm: Costs 2,000,000 Eon Energy Points to unleash a torrent of high-energy particles, creating a devouring storm in a 100-million-kilometer radius that annihilates everything. Lasts 50 minutes. Cooldown: 10 years.}

{Dual Armor: Grants the hosting ship a double layer of hull armor, with both layers having identical properties.}

Even though he knew breaking through to black supreme grade would grant terrifying boosts, seeing the new attributes with his own eyes, Song Chi couldn’t help but be surprised.

It wasn’t just the massive property boost to the component itself, but also the new trait: Dual Armor.

Add in the Black Hole Evolution Layer, and soon the Heavenly Ruin would be equipped with three layers of armor and two layers of shields—making its defenses unrivaled among warships of its tier.

But what really caught Song Chi’s eye was the quality field: (5/100). This meant the Neutron-Star Core Armor could still devour more fragments and eventually evolve into colored mythic grade.

That alone made it worth everything.

Now, he wouldn’t have to waste a Soul-Devourer Sacrificial Altar on this slot—he could use it to perfect other components.

Of course, a hundred fragments was an insane number. Getting the Core Armor to ascend to mythic grade wouldn’t happen anytime soon.

But with the Omniverse Market and the Divine Realm Player Trading Space—those two super trading hubs—and all the coming inter-civilization wars, Song Chi was confident he wouldn’t be waiting forever.

After sorting those two parts, Song Chi’s gaze fell on the Soul-Devourer Sacrificial Altar nearby.

Over the last hundred years, he’d killed more Eight-Armed Serpent Demons than he could count. Among them were two Serpent Demon Dominators at the seventh tier, plus who knows how many at the fifth and sixth. That let the altar’s soul-devouring progress never lag behind—it was now past 30% of the fourth stage.

With a bit of extra effort, he just might fill it to 100% before they set off for Demon Serpent Floating-Land.

Yet this was where the real dilemma began. Even if he did max out the soul-devouring process early, it might not boost the Mirror Warship.

See, the Mirror Image Split component can only replicate parts at black supreme quality, while the altar forges true mythic-grade parts. So if he upgraded one component beyond black supreme to mythic, the Mirror Warship couldn’t copy that power over.

“Unless…”

Mulling this over triggered a flood of thoughts. Suddenly, inspiration struck Song Chi.

The Mirror Warship could perfectly copy any component that fit the criteria. If he let a fully completed Soul-Devourer Sacrificial Altar get replicated, could the Mirror Warship temporarily grant a component an ascension upgrade?

The moment this idea popped up, Song Chi felt a surge of excitement. If it really worked, the tactical potential would be huge. The Mirror Warship’s combat power could leap to an entirely new level.

——

Even if their enhancement levels were the same, the gap between black supreme and mythic components was staggering.

Imagine if, while on Demon Serpent Floating-Land, the Mirror Warship’s Neutron-Star Core Armor suddenly broke through to mythic grade. Even Star-Annihilator-class Ships would have trouble taking it head-on.

The same goes for the Black Hole Evolution Layer—or the Antimatter Evolution Engine. If those rose to colored mythic quality, few opponents could ever hope to keep up with the Mirror Warship.

Acting right away, Song Chi put the theory to the test. He piloted the Heavenly Ruin through the thickest concentrations of Eight-Armed Serpent Demon armies.

He might not always fight them up close, but every so often he’d let loose with Ten-Thousand Sigil Violet Lightning Prison, the Taiyi Quantum Sword Array, or a High-Energy Particle Storm—powerful group attacks that netted him a steady haul of serpent demons.

Time rolled by, and the Soul-Devourer Sacrificial Altar’s accumulated progress ticked upward at a steady pace.

One day, the Heavenly Ruin stayed among the family fleet instead of heading out on its own for once.

Step inside the ship and you’d see Song Chi wasn’t actually aboard at all.

Omniverse Market. Another round of market trading was underway.

By now, after nearly half a day of trading, there were more than three hundred thousand Sea of Stars outsiders crowding the marketplace—it was a scene buzzing with energy.

In the Free Stall Area, Song Chi, disguised as a blue-blooded alien, drifted among the rows of vendor stalls.

He might have racked up over eight centuries by now, but after countless market trades, picking out overlooked treasures in the market’s Free Stall Area was the one thing he still found gripping. Every time the market opened, that was where he focused his efforts.

“Hmm?”

Suddenly, his eyes froze on something that caught his interest.

It was a cube, glowing purple and looking much like a magical Rubik’s cube. It seemed to be an ordinary purple Oddity, and the vendor was selling it as just that. But with Dual Pupils and the power of an eighth-tier market master, Song Chi spotted something else beneath the surface.

“It’s sealed up with special techniques. Judging by the leftover traces, looks like it wasn’t done by any normal creature.”

A shadow of the Dual Pupils flickered at the depths of his gaze, and Song Chi quickly analyzed the purple Oddity in detail. The results piqued his interest even further.

In the end, he bought the mysterious cube at the price of a regular purple Oddity.

But he didn’t rush to break the seal inside. Nobody knew where the cube came from, and the means used to lock it away were anything but ordinary. At the very least, it was the work of a dominator-level being—maybe even eighth or ninth tier.

Even with his own eighth-tier Dominion Power in the Omniverse Market, he couldn’t guarantee things wouldn’t spiral out of control.

So he decided to wait until after trading ended to mess with it. If something went wrong mid-market, the marketplace’s centuries-old position of neutrality might collapse in an instant.

His best bet would be to bring the Heavenly Ruin into the fray, unlock the Black Hole Domain, and unravel the cube’s seal under its protection. Add Dominion Power, layer on the Black Hole Domain’s unbeatable effect, and success would be nearly certain.