Chapter 730: Legacy and Power: The Fleet’s Final Auctions

First Place: Dragon-Spine Divine Whale · Star River-class Battleship (9,865,000 points)

Second Place: Heavenly Ruin · Star-Annihilator-class Ship (9,580,500 points)

Third Place: Xian Qin Zhao King · Star River-class Battleship (8,700,000 points)

Fourth Place: Shaking Radiance Star · Star River-class Battleship (7,952,300 points)

Fifth Place: Goddess of Light · Star-Annihilator-class Ship (7,089,000 points)

……

Twenty-Eighth Place: Scorching Sea Blazer · Star-Annihilator-class Ship (3,481,000 points)

……

The moment the final results were released by the Joint Statistics Department of the Four Great Empires, the entire Torch Fleet’s group chat exploded.

No wonder—two Star-Annihilator-class ships ranked in second and fifth place, blinding everyone with their results.

Every one of the more than thirty Star River-class battleships in this final battle had once been top-ranked Star-Annihilator-class ships. After their upgrades, their combat power soared even higher. Yet even so, those two Star-Annihilator-class ships still overshadowed them all.

Sure, at the start of the battle they’d all been pinned down by several Eighth-Tier Serpent Demons, but still, no one expected results like this.

People quickly understood, though. According to the Statistics Department’s explanation, the only Ninth-Tier Serpent Demon killed by a Torch Battleship in this war was taken down by the six aboard Heavenly Ruin.

And since that particular Ninth-Tier Serpent Demon had been wielding combat power at its absolute peak, the Four Great Empires’ departments raised its merit value from the usual ten million to a staggering eighteen million. That added three million merit points to each of the six involved Star-Annihilator-class ships.

With those extra points, Heavenly Ruin and the five other Star-Annihilator-class ships soared up the ranks.

Thanks to this, Song Chi didn’t even need to draw on merit points from the Clan Elders. He now had enough for one of the mythic components all on his own.

With this ranking, he got second pick on the exchange list, right after that captain from the Shensia Pei family. Song Chi began his selection.

Chaos Energy Generator. Primal Celestial Silver Hull Armor. Void Vault. Arrow of Holy Light’s Judgement.

The exchange treasury’s top picks!

Song Chi glanced through the list. Of the four most coveted mythic relics, the Chaos Energy Generator was already gone—that captain from the Shensia Pei family had clearly snatched the energy shield for himself.

Scanning the rest, Song Chi’s gaze settled on the Void Vault component.

Void Vault, lv0.

Quality: Prismatic/Lower Tier

……

Exchange Cost: 8,000,000 merit points.

He locked down the component, and with over a million merit points left in hand, Song Chi turned his attention to the other exchange options.

This time, he ignored the gold and black-grade components, and focused on rare floating-land spirits, peak special resources, and upgrade resources for Torch Battleships.

Heavenly Ruin’s current configuration was beyond luxurious. Swapping two more good-but-not-great gold or black components couldn’t compare to grabbing rare treasures that money just couldn’t buy.

Name: Demon Serpent Nine-Shed Fruit

Type: Legendary Spirit Fruit

……

Exchange Price: 200,000 merit points

————

Name: Chaotic Blood Heart

Type: Extra Ascension Resource

……

Exchange Price: 700,000 merit points

————

Name: Chaotic Demon Ape Spirit Bone

Grade: Ninth-Tier

Type: Extra Ascension Resource

Effect: Boosts Dreadnought to Star-Annihilator-class advancement success rate by 30%. Boosts Star-Annihilator-class to Star River-class advancement success rate by 13%.

Exchange Price: 1,500,000 merit points

————

Name: Wizard’s Mana Training Chamber

Grade: Eighth-Tier

Effect: Assists Guiding Technique training, greatly boosting cultivation speed, effective for up to Eighth-Tier.

Exchange Price: 2,000,000 merit points.

————

After comparing and weighing his options, Song Chi finally chose the only Chaotic Demon Ape Spirit Bone available. According to legend, it was stripped from the body of a Chaotic Demon Ape slain by the Chiyu Dynasty’s Ji Emperor. This item was truly one-of-a-kind and impossible to find elsewhere.

Chaotic Demon Apes are one of the most fearsome races upon the Chaotic Divine Land, home to more than a handful of mythic beasts. Few would ever dare target them.

The key was that their strength was at the very pinnacle for their level, and not every ape would have a spirit bone within. Maybe only three out of ten would. Missing this chance, Song Chi doubted he’d ever see another of this quality.

Once that was done, with barely eighty thousand merit points left, it wasn’t enough to buy anything good. He could only get some Silver Apples or titanite crystals, though they weren’t worth much, so Song Chi just handed them over to the Clan Elders.

The following hours saw one captain after another take their turns at the exchange.

By the time Song Wujian and the others went up, many treasures were long gone—including things like the Chaotic Demon Ape Spirit Bone. Fortunately, their big brother Song Yan was ranked high enough to claim a Chaotic Blood Heart, giving him a head start for his push to a Star River-class ship.

He also redeemed the Wizard’s Mana Training Chamber. Past the seventh tier, Guiding Technique training gets slower and slower, so this would benefit all four of them and was a smart buy.

As for Song Wujian and Song Shiyuan, their merit points were limited. Together, they managed to get a single Eighth-Tier Flame Giant’s Heart Core.

The Heart Core held immense refined flame energy and could further transform the Flame God Clan’s Land environment.

So long as they kept at it, that flamespace could eventually mass-produce silver-tier and lower Fireseed Artifacts, and maybe even occasionally create a golden fireseed.

Heavenly Ruin Main Control Room.

Song Chi installed the Void Vault onto the battleship. Before long, he had upgraded it to level 90.

Void Vault, lv90

Quality: Prismatic/Lower Tier

Trait: Ship cargo space increased by 470%

Trait 2: Space resistance +40,000

Trait 3: Void Vessel

Trait 4: As long as external spatial energy is abundant, ship speed increases accordingly.

Trait 5: Purifies and stores internal spatial energy, medium boost to learning spatial arts, Laws of Space, and spatial Daos.

Trait 6: Void Storage

Trait 7: Void Vault

……

{Void Vessel: The battleship’s outer hull is wreathed in immense void power, granting a 45% chance to evade incoming attacks.}

With this part maxed out at level 90, Heavenly Ruin’s cargo capacity multiplied several times over. Its monstrous space resistance gave it a huge edge if they ever entered the Chaotic Divine Land.

……

“Hurry up and get moving! Pick up the pace!”

“I’m full. I’ll go deliver this batch to the Clan Elders. Keep going, everyone!”

Across the vast ground two million light-years wide, fleets of battleships spread out like ants, methodically mining the ninth-level floating-land with mining vehicles, star-mining ships, and heavy drills.

Once the carrier ships were full, they’d dash straight to the nearest Clan Elder. All mined resources had to be handed to the elders, who then used special techniques to transfer them directly back to Dragon-Spine Continent.

After all, there was only a single spatial wormhole passage, and the Truth Floating-Land spanned over two million light-years. With time so tight and some mining points so far from the wormhole, Song Family had dispatched many Zhulu-class Cruiser Captains carrying Market-Walking Tokens to outposts, massively boosting the speed of resource transportation.

Thanks to the efforts of tens of billions of Torch citizens, in just a few years, a big chunk of the Truth Floating-Land had already been exploited. There was still plenty left untouched, but what they’d gained already brought enormous profit to the Song Family.

Meanwhile, millions of light-years away at Ore Star Continent—

As in previous years, dense waves of Machina poured in from space, bringing mined resources of every kind to the exchange points.

Every few minutes, the Song Family acquired troves of new resources.

With the Truth Mechanicus Civilization’s sheer scale, transactions could easily keep going for decades if there was time.

But with the Starsea Giant Ape Civilization’s army closing in from the front, and the Eight-Armed Serpent Demon Race ready to migrate across trillions of light-years, the Song Family’s time was running out.

Just a few days ago, the family leadership had given the order—a full-scale withdrawal, with a one-month countdown.

Now every Song Family member at the exchange posts was working overtime, trying to snatch up as many resources as possible before time ran out.

……

But the countless Machina didn’t know. Deep below, at the core of Ore Star Continent—inside the Origin Core’s chamber—

Several battleships floated in the silent darkness.

Two Dreadnoughts guarded the passage entrance against any disturbances, while another hovered above the floating-land’s Origin Core. A golden beam stretched from its hull, linking to a colossal orb of light below.

Compared to a few years ago, the floating-land’s Origin Core had shrunk visibly. So much core essence had already been siphoned away by that light beam to the Dreadnought above.

Battleship comm channel:

Song Ze: “Yiming, I think we’ve extracted half the Origin Core by now. That’s plenty!”

Song Bei: “The Clan Elders just sent word. We’ve officially allied with the Eight-Armed Serpent Demons, and the Truth Floating-Land is set to become their home base after migration. If we drain too much Origin Core, they’ll definitely have a problem with it!”

The two Dreadnought captains at the entrance were Song Ze and Song Bei.

With war brewing at the Demon God Floating-Land, for years now only three of them had been able to use the Origin Core Siphon to extract energy. Sure, their speed didn’t match a Star-Annihilator-class ship, but there was no other choice—the main battlefield demanded all four clan Star-Annihilator-class ships’ full attention.

Luckily, what they’d been extracting was Ore Star Continent’s Origin Core, not Truth Floating-Land’s. Even going slow, in a few years they’d gotten half.

Just half the Origin Core from an eighth-level peak floating-land would supercharge the Dragon-Spine Continent’s further growth.

And it didn’t matter that it wasn’t a Living Floating-Land—Dragon-Spine already had that attribute. Fusing the primal will and rules from the origin would not turn it into just a plain resource floating-land.

Yiming didn’t hesitate. The golden beam that had been ongoing for years flickered out. The Minglong Dreadnought’s engines roared to life, and soon it linked up with Song Ze and Song Bei near the passage entrance.

Following the Great Pit’s passage, all three Dreadnoughts blasted their way out from underground—leaving Ore Star Continent behind for the Truth Floating-Land.

“In just over twenty days, the Eight-Armed Serpent Demon Race will officially begin migration. Let’s use what little time is left to extract just a hint more Origin Core from the Truth Floating-Land!”

“Agreed!”

“Too bad the Origin Core Siphon is only gold-grade—not nearly enough to efficiently extract the Truth Floating-Land’s Origin Core!”

Inside the North Star River’s control room, Song Bei shook his head with a sigh.

Just then, an old voice sounded:

“Little Bei, that’s where you’re wrong. The key isn’t the grade of the Origin Core Siphon—it’s time.”

“Teacher, do you mean—?”

“Didn’t your Song Family announce that the Master of Machines relic was traded away to Xian Qin Heavy Industries? Not long after, news spread that the Azure Dragon Starlit Array Chart had evolved. What was the first thing you thought of?”

Song Bei raised an eyebrow and answered without missing a beat:

“Ninth-Tier Golden Apple!”

“Exactly. The ninth-tier Golden Apple. As far as I know, tens of thousands of years ago, Xian Qin Heavy Industries and Beidou Sevenstar Hall jointly ran a secret realm where a Golden Apple Mother Tree grew. Over the centuries, they stockpiled enormous numbers of golden apples. If the Clan Elders managed to exchange for one, why not two, or even three?”

“Given how much the companies value the Master of Machines, as long as your demands aren’t outrageous, they wouldn’t refuse. But the siphon still hasn’t upgraded—isn’t that telling?”

“Do you mean, Teacher, that even if the Origin Core Siphon hit black-grade, a few years just isn’t enough to extract much from the Truth Floating-Land?”

“Correct. Not even one-tenth. A ninth-level floating-land, even with a Star-Annihilator-class ship pulling full-time, would take decades to extract one portion!”

Song Bei nodded lightly after hearing all this.

He didn’t really understand all the details, but he fully trusted his teacher.

Although his teacher had only been a peak Dreadnought Captain in life, he came from a direct line inside one of Xian Qin Divine Dynasty’s giants, so his experience far surpassed Song Bei’s.

“Little Bei, don’t join the coming war with the Starsea Giant Ape Civilization. After this millennium of civilization war, the North Star River is already halfway to peak Dreadnought. Now is the perfect time to explore that civilization ruin I mentioned before.

From what I’ve deduced and already explored, the danger has dropped considerably. If you can complete the next part, the rewards should be enough for you to ascend to Star-Annihilator-class Captain!”

Song Bei stayed silent, a slight hesitation in his eyes.

After a few moments of thought, he said quietly:

“Teacher, should I report this to the clan? With a few Clan Elders backing me up, it’d be far safer!”

The old voice didn’t seem surprised by Song Bei’s suggestion. Without objecting or encouraging, he left the choice to Song Bei.

“In the end, the decision is yours.”

“Murder and plunder are rampant in the Sea of Stars. But your Song Family’s reputation precedes you. If you’re not worried that some Star-Annihilator-class captains will covet the ruin’s treasures, go ahead and report it.”

After the old voice faded, Song Bei’s eyes flickered. He stayed quiet for nearly two minutes, then firmed his resolve.

“I’ll report it.”

“You’ve decided?”

“Yes.”

……

Just over twenty days later, powerful spatial waves rippled across the skies of the Truth Floating-Land as a spatial vortex began to form.

The swirling portal ballooned outward—large as it was, soon it grew past ten thousand kilometers and kept going.

Eventually, the vortex stabilized at three million kilometers across.

As soon as the gateway settled, an endless tide of Eight-Armed Serpent Demons surged through, fanning out across the Truth Floating-Land to inspect what would soon become their new ancestral home.

Among them, some Serpent Demons carried special spatial oddities. At their activation, hordes of low-tier Serpent Demons were summoned—eyes alight with curiosity, gazing at their surroundings.

This migration wasn’t just for the elites—countless mid- and low-tier Serpent Demons made up the majority. Thanks to the protection of the Bloodforge, these Serpent Demons had survived the Eight-Armed Demon God’s blood extraction. They’d become the bedrock of the Serpent Demon Civilization’s future.

A civilization’s strength isn’t just about individual might—population size is key. The more there are, the more value, wealth, and high-tier individuals a race can produce.

“All clansmen seventh-tier and above—search the entire floating-land and clear out any Machina stragglers!”

“Sixth-tier and lower, start building temporary settlements. We need living space for over a hundred billion clansmen as soon as possible!”

“We obey, Lord Cangli!”

……

Of course, when Cangli said ‘as soon as possible,’ it was relative. Even after the blood extraction and war, the Eight-Armed Serpent Demons still numbered in the hundreds of trillions. They couldn’t all migrate at once, but just getting a hundred billion in was already a mind-boggling feat.

This was only possible because the spatial wormhole was millions of kilometers wide. Without it, the difficulty would’ve skyrocketed.

Once the two fundamental orders were given, Cangli’s slate-gray vertical pupils met the eyes of the other Ninth-Tier Serpent Demons around him, then shifted to the three incoming Superdimensional Motherships.

“What’s the plan, Cangli? Are you handling the bloodline shackles first, or going after the Starsea Giant Ape Civilization?”

The top powerhouses of both civilizations wasted no time and cut straight to business.

Cangli’s eyes flickered with a cold light, but he didn’t answer right away.

This was a big decision—he had to think it through carefully.

Logically, breaking the bloodline shackles came first. After all, the Bloodforge could only suppress but not eliminate the risk of the Eight-Armed Demon God’s blood extraction. If it happened again, even with the Bloodforge’s help, countless mid- and low-tier Serpent Demons would likely die.

But the main problem was, breaking the shackles wasn’t easy. The Divine Demon Arm’s mythic blood had to be refined, which alone was time-consuming. Actually severing the shackles needed a gradual approach. If they waited, the Starsea Giant Ape Civilization might already break through.

“Let’s handle the Starsea Giant Ape Civilization first. With all of us working together, it shouldn’t take long!”

“Fine. In that case, no sense in waiting. Let’s set out now!”

The three Torch Human Sovereigns were every bit as motivated as their serpent demon counterparts.

Now that the Eight-Armed Serpent Demon cluster was fully inside Torch Human territory, with five ninth-level Living Floating-Lands, mythic blood from the Eight-Armed Demon God, ten thousand years of careful planning, and the luck of five Ninth-Tier Starsea Giant Apes, all their schemes were set. Only the final step remained.

The future of the Torch Human Civilization—whether it could rise to the rank of overlord—rested on this.

Soon, five Ninth-Tier Serpent Demon Dominators, three Superdimensional Motherships, two enslaved Ninth-Tier creatures, dozens of Eighth-Tier Serpent Demons, over thirty Star River-class battleships, thousands of Star-Annihilator-class ships and seventh-tier Serpent Demon Dominators—a total of less than twenty thousand—launched from the Truth Floating-Land at high speed.

This wasn’t a full migration. They didn’t bring the lower ranks. Instead, they were moving for a decisive, dimension-crushing strike.

Just imagine—the carnage when these nearly twenty thousand top powerhouses clashed with the Starsea Giant Ape Civilization’s armies.

The Starsea Giant Ape Civilization was strong, even stronger than the Truth Mechanicus Civilization, but their entire territory covered less than a hundred galactic clusters. They only had five Ninth-Tier apes, fewer than fifty Eighth-Tier apes, and about two thousand Seventh-Tier ones. Against the combined might of two top civilizations, what chance did they have?

Time flew. At full speed, the Torch Human and Eight-Armed Serpent Demon joint forces reached the advancing armies of the Starsea Giant Ape Civilization in just a few years.