Chapter 635: A Pact in Fire, A Master in Shadow

There was no way Song Chi would throw his Samadhi True Fire into the Creation Eight Trigram Furnace. That would be sacrificing a future source of black, maybe even rainbow, fireseed power. Honestly, the only golden fireseed artifact he could use was the single strand of Flame of the Crimson Wheel.

If he wanted to refine the Genesis Creation Pill, he’d need to find at least two more strands of golden fireseed artifacts.

That alone was enough to give Song Chi a headache.

So it’s no surprise Zhou Ping’s side handed over the Creation Eight Trigram Furnace. Besides desperately needing a way to save his own life, it was obvious they had no chance of collecting that many advanced fireseed artifacts. That, more than anything, was probably why.

To put it in context—even a silver fireseed artifact was considered a celestial flame on the Primeval Continent, never mind the golden, or even the black ones.

Song Chi didn’t hurry to reclaim the Heavenly Ruin. First, he activated the Pusa Zen Seal module. Thanks to its ‘time acceleration’ effect, combined with the Timepiece Chessboard’s cooldown reduction, the wait time to refine a second batch of Essence Pills—which would’ve taken a year—shrunk to just 28 days. Not even a full month.

Only after sorting all that out did he put away the Heavenly Ruin. Using Essence Pills, the supreme body-forging potion, and aged deepwater pearls to aid him, he began training in the Guiding Technique.

In just half a month, with the help of multiple aids, he broke through to Guiding Technique level 68. At this rate, he’d hit the peak of the sixth tier before long.

That day, the doors of the Full-Attribute Cultivation Chamber swung open. After half a month inside, Song Chi stepped out.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to keep at it. But the Sky-Domain AI, speaking from the Torch Ancestral Orifice between his brows, notified him—the Sect Leader of the Luofu Sword Sect was awake.

Aboard the Heavenly Ruin, Song Chi stood before the Life-System Medical Repair Pod, gazing through the door at the man inside, whose eyes were open now, scanning his surroundings.

With the Market’s Dominion Power sealing off the pod, Song Chi could clearly observe everything inside, while those within remained cut off from the outside world.

Inside the pod, Zhang Lingxuan’s mind was racing.

Although he had no idea how long he’d been unconscious, he remembered clearly the state his body was in before he sealed himself in the Ten-Thousand-Year Black Ice Coffin. Now, feeling his body returned to its peak, he could more or less guess what had happened.

“Did Zhou Ping really persuade the Master of the Omniverse Market? It was a slim hope, but I never dreamed my restoration would be so effortless. So this is the power Zhou Ping always spoke about? No wonder he’s revered as a giant atop the Sea of Stars…”

Lost deep in these thoughts, suddenly, a majestic voice—ancient as eternity—boomed in his mind.

“Since you’re awake, let’s talk about your experiences in the ruins of the Immortal Continent Domain where you exiled yourself. I know a bit about that once-dominant civilization and find it quite intriguing.”

The voice’s grizzled authority made Zhang Lingxuan instantly tense. If his spiritual energy hadn’t still been sealed, he’d have lashed out with every defensive spell he knew.

But he quickly caught himself.

“It’s His Majesty, the Master of the Omniverse Market…”

He tested the waters with a cautious greeting. No response. That silence convinced him: the speaker was none other than the legendary Master of the Omniverse Market.

With that confirmed, he had nothing left to hide. He organized his thoughts, then answered promptly:

“Your Majesty, our sect officially started exploring the Immortal Continent ruins two hundred years ago. For reasons unknown, there’s no day or night there—eternal darkness, never a glimpse of the sun…”

Zhang Lingxuan spoke at length, recounting every detail of Luofu Sword Sect’s explorations over the past two centuries.

As for why he was so thorough—it was more than just being unable to hide things from such a great presence as the Master of the Omniverse Market. Two other reasons stood out.

First, certain phrases in that ancient voice—’self-exile,’ ‘dominant civilization’—made him hungry for deeper understanding.

Second, since the Master himself seemed interested in those ruins, Zhang Lingxuan saw all sorts of possibilities and hoped to seize this rare chance.

After telling the whole story, with no reply forthcoming, Zhang Lingxuan thought briefly, then tried again:

“Your Majesty, from what you’ve said, the Immortal Continent civilization used to be extremely powerful. What happened to bring about their downfall? And what does ‘self-exile’ really mean?”

Outside the pod, Song Chi considered for a moment before answering in the most succinct way possible.

“Hundreds of thousands of years ago, the Immortal Domain civilization suffered a sudden, all-out assault from an unknown force. Within a short span, over eighty percent of their peak power was annihilated. In the end, they had no choice but to exile themselves into the shadowy reverse side of the void, buying themselves a desperate chance to recover.”

Zhang Lingxuan stared into space, stunned. To hear such secrets straight from the Master of the Omniverse Market left him reeling—shocked and deeply afraid.

If even the mighty Immortal Domain was destroyed, what chance did the Primeval Continent have? It was only a subordinate territory in that bygone empire. If that unknown force ever came again, what could they possibly do?

That old idea resurfaced, stronger than ever. No matter what strategies popped into his mind, one stood out as the only true solution—and could even push the entire Luofu Sword Sect to new heights.

…

Outside the pod, Song Chi watched every nuance of Zhang Lingxuan’s changing expression, a faint smile flickering on his lips. He was clearly in a fine mood.

This was all according to plan. Heal the man teetering on death’s threshold, reshaping his psyche so thoroughly that the persona of the Master of the Omniverse Market—mythic, omnipotent—became absolutely real to him.

Then, by revealing the ancient cataclysm that wiped out the Immortal Domain, Song Chi stoked both awe and a burning curiosity about those ruins.

Layer after layer, the plan worked perfectly. The Luofu Sword Sect leader’s every emotional shift was marching in lockstep with Song Chi’s aims.

Finally, Zhang Lingxuan, after much internal debate, spoke again.

“Your Majesty, without you stepping in, my Luofu Sword Sect would have been doomed—preyed on by every other force on the Primeval Continent. On behalf of all my sword sect disciples, I offer you our sincerest thanks.”

But that was just the preamble. Soon after, Zhang Lingxuan’s tone shifted:

“If you’re interested in the Immortal Continent ruins, the Luofu Sword Sect will gladly do all we can!”

With that, he fell silent, his deep eyes and calm face betraying nothing.

At least, not to anyone else. Not to Song Chi.

With Dominion Power of the eighth rank from the Market and his Dual Pupils, Song Chi spotted the brief flicker of excitement beneath Zhang Lingxuan’s composed exterior—tempered with a hint of anxiety.

He could even sense Zhang Lingxuan’s heart racing, a silent testament to his inner excitement.

There was no doubt—Song Chi had succeeded. The other side brought up the matter entirely on his own.

Song Chi had weighed the option of enslaving Zhou Ping using a Master‑Servant Pact. With that, he could use Zhou Ping as an anchor to get access to the Immortal Domain ruins.

But if he did that, all the reputation he’d built for the Master of the Omniverse Market over centuries would risk exposure. Even if Zhou Ping kept silent, others at the upper echelons of the Luofu Sword Sect might notice, and with the Divine Realm Task Platform serving as a ‘transit network,’ the secret could eventually leak out.

That’s why he’d held back.

Now, with the Luofu Sword Sect’s leader stepping forward of his own free will, everything was different. This way, his cover would remain intact, and more importantly, he’d finally have a legitimate excuse to step into those ruins he’d been longing to explore.

After weighing his options, Song Chi offered two choices.

“I really am interested in that Immortal Domain. Here are your options, choose freely:

First, become one of my Omniverse Envoys. You’ll take an Envoy Pact, swearing eternal fealty to me. In exchange, you’ll get a permanent Market Projection Token—good for summoning my protection in times of mortal peril. Fight well and you might even earn higher-tier Market Tokens in the future. And all this won’t interfere with your Luofu Sword Sect; you’re free to build your faction however you want.”

“Second, you don’t have to swear any oaths. Simply redeem a Market Projection Token within Market rules. If danger exceeds the agreed-upon level, I may or may not answer your summons—and you’ll never get access to higher-level Market Tokens.”

Truth be told, Song Chi would’ve preferred to offer only one option. But to maintain his persona, he couldn’t really do that.

Back in the pod, Zhang Lingxuan’s eyes flickered. He didn’t answer immediately.

Plainly, those two choices left him a bit torn.

Song Chi was in no hurry. Why would a supreme figure ever care how a mere sixth-tier being chose?

His role was to appear utterly indifferent, making Zhang Lingxuan believe the Master of the Omniverse Market already commanded countless Omniverse Envoys. Gaining or losing one more made no difference.

After a long pause, Zhang Lingxuan made up his mind.

“Zhang Lingxuan of Luofu pledges himself as your Omniverse Envoy, Your Majesty!”

“Excellent!”

Only two characters echoed in Zhang Lingxuan’s mind, yet they filled him with secret joy.

What Zhang Lingxuan didn’t know was that, at that moment, Song Chi vanished from the Heavenly Ruin.

Meanwhile, Yan Serpent Galaxy, Song Family’s starship fleet.

Song Chi materialized aboard a regular ‘Tomahawk-class’ destroyer, one of dozens in a fleet crewed by thousands of his family. No sooner had he arrived than he signaled the Scorching Sea Blazer.

“Big brother, let me borrow your Covenant of Flame for a bit!”

Song Yan didn’t ask why. He quickly sent over the perfectly preserved Covenant of Flame.

The Heavenly Ruin had two similar modules already: the Master‑Servant Pact and an Oath Contract Module.

The Master‑Servant Pact was only silver-tier. The Oath Contract Module was lesser, a mere red. Either could control a sixth-tier cultivator like Zhang Lingxuan, but escape was much too easy compared to the gold-quality Covenant of Flame.

After this, Song Chi returned to the Omniverse Market, using the Covenant of Flame as the basis for drawing up an Envoy Pact.

As for the pact, he didn’t write anything about life or death. It simply required loyalty to the Master of the Omniverse Market—and to the Market itself.

Once Zhang Lingxuan had completed the pact, Song Chi kept him in the medical pod but sent him a Market Projection Token.

It pained him a bit, but for the sake of access to a continent-level ruin, he’d just have to accept the cost.

He sent along a second item too: a black stone, a Projection Emperor Stone, gathered from the Void Sea Projection Emperor’s Tomb.

“Keep these two things close. Especially the black stone. Next time you enter the Immortal Domain ruins, power it with your spiritual energy. Through it, I’ll send my envoys to explore the ruins.”

After explaining this, Song Chi gave one final reminder:

“Half a month from now, the next Market trade session opens. By then, you can go back to the Primeval Continent.”

…

Half a month passed. The Market trade session opened again. Zhou Ping hurried to attend, and when he saw the fully recovered Sect Leader, he was so excited he could barely contain himself.

The Luofu Sword Sect had been suffering during his absence. The true immortals who’d reached the seventh tier were stuck outside the Primeval Continent, but plenty of Return-to-Void cultivators from other factions were still around.

To reduce the pressure, some Elders attempted to reach the Return-to-Void level, but none succeeded due to lack of foundation. The sect’s morale had hit rock bottom. If no one had returned to take charge, the sect might have dissolved entirely.

Now, with their leader back at the helm, it was a giant relief to the entire Luofu Sword Sect.

Zhou Ping wasn’t the only one astonished. The rest of the Market’s regulars were equally shocked. Before, Zhou Ping’s easy recovery had left some doubts—but this time, the Sect Leader had practically stepped one foot into the grave. To save him from that?

Witnessing it first-hand, even the Market’s otherworldly guests had their minds made up.

They resolved that if any of them ever suffered a catastrophic injury, nothing would stop them from begging the Master of the Omniverse Market for rescue.