Chapter 666: Desperate Plunder Beneath the Sealed Vault

“Damn it… We’re really in trouble this time!”

“Even if it’s trouble, there’s no other way but force. We’ll just have to grab as much as we can—let’s see who’s got the skills.”

“Our perimeter scouts just sent word—the Eight-Armed Serpent Demon’s first wave of reinforcements has arrived. The good news? No sign of a second eighth-tier serpent yet. Time’s tight—move!”

……

In their magnetic-comm channel, Song Chi and the rest practically shouted to be heard.

There was no choice—intense cannon fire now blanketed the underground vault. Even though the Mirror Warship and the Replicated Battleships boasted absolute insulation like the Torch Battleship, once they had to project tractor beams, that barrier no longer held. With the outer armor’s isolation compromised, they just had to make do.

Despite the relentless bombardment, their efforts weren’t fruitless. All five warships kept their tractor beams running nonstop, yanking item after item into their Replications. Inside each, their enslaved creatures waited to haul the loot straight into the Omniverse Market.

Most of what they collected were mid-tier oddities—purples, oranges, other rare resources of that class. As for gold and black—those top-tier oddities or materials—those were painfully scarce.

There was no helping it. The Forbidden Light Barrier inside the sacred vault ramped up its defense the rarer the item’s glow. The higher the treasure’s tier, the tougher the barrier. Breaking through wasn’t something one could do easily.

Inside the Mirror Warship’s control room, the Voidform Avatar’s voice cut in. He abruptly retracted the full-scale attack permission he’d just handed over to the Sky-Domain AI Replica.

Song Chi then took the cue and quickly activated multiple components on the Mirror Warship.

“Divine Thunder Cannon—Ten-Thousand Sigil Violet Lightning Prison!”

“Neutron-Star Core Armor—Neutron-Star Fission!”

“Neutron-Star Core Armor—High-Energy Particle Storm!”

“Moonwheel Frost Cannon—Endless Lunar Cycle!”

Of course, before unleashing these area-of-effect attacks, he’d already warned the Clan Elder and the others. The Calm-Sea Dragon-Xiang Replication and three other vessels had already powered up their hull armor defenses.

Not only that, everyone unleashed their own large-scale attacks too—like the Scorching Sea Blazer’s ‘Black Hole Fission’ and ‘Flame Storm.’

If this wasn’t madness, nothing was. But it wasn’t really their fault—cracks now rippled across the layers of blockade high above, like a spreading web. Their time was slipping away.

Seconds ticked by, and soon the comm channel erupted with laughter.

Their wild, reckless assault ended up paying off. One by one, those forbidden barriers, already worn down, finally shattered under the barrage.

With the defenses falling, treasures—silver, gold, even some black—were sucked up into the Replications, then rapidly delivered to the Omniverse Market by the enslaved creatures inside using the Market-Walking Token.

Sadly, the good times didn’t last. Ten seconds later, the layers of silver blockade above collapsed in turn, and the sealed vault entrance reappeared above the five warship Replications.

Shangdang Spirit Lord—Eighth-Tier Monohorn Leviathan!

The five of them stared at the familiar figure bursting in through the entrance overhead, all of them stunned.

It was someone from the Shang Clan! No idea what trick they pulled, but they’d shaken off the Eighth-Tier Serpent Demon and chased them all the way here.

“Forget them. Xiaochi, Xiao Yan—activate your True Spirit Guards. Hold the line as long as you can!”

Song Wujian kept it simple. He never planned to retreat—and the truth was, none of them ever had a way out in mind.

These Replications were just disposable assets anyway. If they sank, it was no great loss. But looting the vault before that? That was always worth it.

“Angel King’s Authority Wings—True Spirit Guard of the Angel King!”

“Flame God’s Dominion Skull—Flame God’s Dominion Soul Guard!”

Twin colossal spirit projections erupted side by side. The falling Star-Annihilator-class ship and the Monohorn Leviathan overhead both froze, hampered by the layered clash of spirit guardians.

But it wouldn’t last long. A single Star-Annihilator-class ship might have been manageable, but the Monohorn Leviathan was pure eighth-tier terror.

A monstrous roar shook the underground vault.

That overwhelming sound wave swept through the chamber. The overlapping spirit projections clearly ticked off the Leviathan, whose eighth-tier power burst from its form.

With just a single clash, the light around the projections was forced to its limit—both on the verge of collapse.

Song Chi and the others weren’t surprised. Neither the Angel King’s Authority Wings nor the Flame God’s Dominion Skull were more than gold-tier components, strong but only just reaching eighth-level power. The ships mounting them—the Heavenly Ruin and Scorching Sea Blazer—were Dreadnoughts, not true eighth-tier entities. Even enhanced, they couldn’t match a real eighth-tier being.

The real purpose was just to buy themselves a little more time—and even that turned out just enough.

For those few seconds, the five ships managed to grab a handful more silver and gold oddities.

“Antimatter Annihilation Blast!”

At the bow of the Mirror Warship, the main cannon finally fired—unleashing a blazing antimatter energy beam straight at the last black Forbidden Light Barrier still standing.

This was the final black barrier in the area under the Mirror Warship’s control. Song Chi wanted to see if he could break it in what little time they had left.

And the power of that Antimatter Annihilation Blast did not disappoint—in that fierce collision, the half-worn black shield finally shattered completely.

No sooner did the barrier break than the Mirror Warship shot out a tractor beam, trying to grab the treasure inside as quickly as possible.

“Wait… Spatial vortex? No, that’s a secret realm entrance!”

Once he got a look, Song Chi realized it wasn’t some rare oddity or resource at all—but a strange new secret realm portal.

He was full of questions but didn’t hesitate to act.

“Everyone—over here, now!”

In a flash, Song Chi made his decision.

Even before this, the Clan Elder and the others never expected their Replications to make it out of the underground vault.

They all knew the temple above was probably locked down with the Shang Clan’s gold or even black spatial barriers. There was no way out by ordinary means.

But this sudden secret realm doorway—unexpected as it was—might just be their last shot. However risky the world inside, it couldn’t be worse than getting destroyed here. At worst, they’d lose the Replications.

On the other hand, if there were hidden opportunities inside—and they dodged the Shang Clan’s pursuit—it’d be a double win.

The others didn’t hesitate for a second. At Song Chi’s call, all four trusted him instantly.

Within seconds, both spirit guardians above were smashed by the Monohorn Leviathan. The five Replicated Battleships streaked straight into the secret realm entry.

“Boom, boom, boom!”

Their first move inside wasn’t to run. All five quickly pivoted and blanketed the entrance behind them in gunfire, firing thousands of cannons at the portal’s void.

Their aim was simple: destroy the entrance, cutting off the Shang Clan’s path for good.

It didn’t work out the way they’d hoped.

No matter how many blasts hit it, the secret realm portal and the one outside in the sacred vault remained firmly in place.

“Must be the Shang Clan—their special method has locked down the portal itself. Let’s move!”

Guessing that the Shang Clan had pulled some trick, Song Chi and the others didn’t waste time. All five ships shifted course again and soon vanished from the entrance area.

Outside—the Sacred City Vault.

The Shang Clan’s fleet landed, quickly converging on the spot where Song Chi and the five ships had been.

Staring at the secret realm portal below, Shang Yuan Shan aboard the Spirit Lord wanted nothing more than to chase them down and snatch back every last item. But in the end, he forced himself to hold back.

Their other Star-Annihilator-class ship was busy keeping the Eighth-Tier Serpent Demon sealed outside. Right now he was their only Star-Annihilator-class captain. Charging into an unknown realm solo was far too risky.

Unless he brought the Monohorn Leviathan with him—but then, securing the vault would be impossible. That, he couldn’t accept.

Even after Song Chi and his team looted the vault, nearly a dozen golden Forbidden Light Barriers remained, along with three black ones and plenty of lower-tier shields.

For a clan with the depth of the Shang, this loot was still a massive temptation.

“Attention, all crew—strip the rest of the vault for every last treasure and resource!”

……

Under the black starry sky, five camouflaged warships raced through the void, jumping through space again and again. Not until they’d covered tens of thousands of light-years did they ease off.

“Alright, looks like we’re finally safe.”

“Ha, that was something else. I was ready to sink us all, but who’d have thought the vault led to a secret realm!”

“If my guess is right, it’s got to be a cosmic-level secret realm.”

……

On the comms, the five quickly discussed their new, strange surroundings.

Even as they marveled at the unknown, they started inventorying the loot.

They hadn’t grabbed everything from the vault, but they knew exactly how much they’d scored.

Two minutes later, the chat went lively again—prompted by Song Chi.

“By my count, in those few hectic minutes, we sent over three hundred items to the Omniverse Market.”

“Among them: three black oddities, six Demon Serpent Nine-Shed Fruits, twelve gold oddities, two eighth-tier Golden Apples, one hundred and twenty strands of ninth-tier Floating-Land Origins, two thousand strands of eighth-tier Floating-Land Origins, more than two hundred Dominion Souls, thirty-three silver oddities, one wisp of Earthvein Dragonflame, three Sky Serpent Blood Crystals…”

As Song Chi rattled off the list, the group’s Voidform Avatar projections could only breathe harder—hearing the tally was enough to get anyone worked up.

Their haul of top-tier resources defied belief. Even just this expedition dwarfed their last few months of gains—by a landslide.

Never mind the gold and black oddities. The Demon Serpent Nine-Shed Fruit, Earthvein Dragonflame, Sky Serpent Blood Crystal—each was impossibly rare.

The Nine-Shed Fruit could be used for advancing the Guiding Technique, a huge boon even to eighth-tier Star River-class captains.

Earthvein Dragonflame offered permanent upgrades to fire-element battleship modules—no wonder Song Yan was so interested.

Sky Serpent Blood Crystal was a crucial extra for Torch Battleships ascending to Star-Annihilator class—even Dreadnoughts could benefit. Coupled with other resources they’d traded for earlier, like the Ninefold Spirit Fruit and Stellar Spirit Liquid, their odds of successful ascension could rise sharply.

Still, Song Chi’s gaze lingered on a particular gem.

He recognized it well—a second Emptyfall Dao Crystal, just like the one he’d used lately to push his spatial law comprehension from 85% to 89%. The results had been amazing.

If he claimed this one too, his mastery could soar right to 90, maybe 91 or 92 percent. Combine that with his 95% in light law, and when it came time to upgrade the Heavenly Ruin, its ascension odds would look very favorable indeed.

Seventh-tier Dominion Source Blood: 12 percent.

Eighth-tier standard Sovereign Blood: 1 percent.

Special resource formulas: 10 percent.

Ninefold Spirit Fruit: 10 percent.

Sky Serpent Blood Crystal: 8 percent.

Standard seventh-tier Evil God Blood: 8 percent.

Light law comprehension: 5 percent.

Spatial law comprehension: 2 to 4 percent.

Just calculating those, that’s already a 56 percent chance of ascension. Add in the benefits from bathing in foreign blood, and you could hit 70 percent easily.

‘No, even 70 percent isn’t a guarantee. Even with the sixth-tier Timeworld Fruit’s second-chance ability, there’s still a real risk. Better to wait a while longer…’

‘Shame that the Crescent Moon Tribe hasn’t projected the Market lately—only got a standard seventh-tier Evil God Blood from them. If I could score just one eight-tier, or even a peak seventh-tier, my odds would go way up!’