Chapter 747: A Tidal Flow of Fortune: Song Family and the Underworld of Cosmic Investment

Blending in among a sea of warships of all classes, the Heavenly Ruin soon slipped into one of the spatial wormholes.

Since it didn’t reveal its identity, the Heavenly Ruin naturally had to pay a toll.

Ten strands of Second-Tier Floating-Land Origin—not a huge sum, but definitely not cheap either.

But that’s just for the ‘Second-Tier’ Torch-class ships. For Zero through Third-Tier Torch-class ships, they’re all charged Second-Tier Floating-Land Origin. As for Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth-Tier vessels, they pay Fifth-Tier Floating-Land Origin, still ten strands. Anything Seventh-Tier or above pays ten strands of Seventh‑Tier Floating-land Origin.

With this system, the Song Family collects so much Floating-Land Origin each year, they almost can’t count it all.

Because of this, the family deliberately increased the initial investment for newly awakened clansmen every year.

It helps burn through the ever-growing stash of Floating-Land Origin and boosts the survival rate of the younger generation. The effects have been pretty impressive.

On top of that, with all the gathered Floating-Land Origin, the Song Family even founded the Dragon Spine Royal Investment Group. Every year, this group pours hundreds of billions of First and Second-Tier Floating-Land Origin into promising commoner captains from the Chipan and Longshe galaxies under the kingdom’s rule.

Compared to private investment groups, consortia, and family-run ventures out there, the agreements from the Dragon Spine Royal Investment Group are much fairer. After centuries of promoting this, over seventy percent of commoner captains who graduate from the kingdom’s Torch academies sign with them each year.

Of course, factoring in the high fatality rate during Outer Domain expeditions and the relaxed investment policies, the group doesn’t actually make much pure profit annually.

But that’s not the point. The real treasure lies in all the goodwill and connections the Song Family builds with so many commoner captains. Those relationships, though they might seem unremarkable, are truly priceless.

For example, just over thirty years ago, an entry-level staffer from the Family External Affairs Hall’s investment department received a batch of raw minerals worth over ten thousand strands of Fourth-Tier Floating-Land Origin. After acquisition and resale, that single transaction generated nearly two thousand strands of profit, eighty percent of which was handed over to the family.

And as for the person who brought those raw minerals? Turns out, it was a commoner captain the staffer had signed over two centuries earlier. The fellow had some luck and, after two hundred years, had made it to cruiser captain.

Thanks to that initial, genuinely considerate investment from the Dragon Spine Royal Investment Group, this captain funneled nearly all his exploration earnings from the Outer Domain to the group’s resource department. There are millions, maybe even tens of millions, of similar commoner captains across both major galaxies of the Dragon Spine Kingdom.

And that’s not even the biggest deal. Sure, the resources those millions of Torch-class captains can pull together matter, but the real value lies in the rapid rise of the lucky few among them.

According to the family’s investment records, since the Dragon Spine Royal Investment Group first started funding commoner awakeners more than three centuries ago, the highest-ranking surviving invested captain has already reached the Fourth-Tier limit.

Besides that, there are nearly twenty ordinary Zhulu-class captains. It’s still nowhere near the Song Family’s own numbers, but keep in mind, this is only three centuries of work. If the family simply keeps pushing forward, not just for five or ten thousand years but even a single millennium, these captains will turn into an overwhelming force.

A force that gets along with the Song Family—and when necessary, can be called upon for critical moments.

No wonder the Song Family has paid close attention to this in recent years, with the family elders voicing strong support time and again.

Now, the Dragon Spine Royal Investment Group has branches throughout the entire kingdom, and it’s beginning to reach into neighboring kingdoms as well.

Like the Tianpan and Silverplate galaxies. Of course, resistance from the local Immortal Houses means progress has been limited so far.

Still, the Song Family hasn’t done anything in response.

At the end of the day, they just aren’t strong enough yet. Even if they could throw five Star-Annihilators at the problem, do you think those Immortal Houses would just let the Song Family run wild on their home turf?

There’s only one way to break the stalemate: the Song Family needs to rise up as a true Immortal power. Only then can they hope to be crowned as the uncrowned kings of the surrounding galaxies.

…

The wormhole between the Dragon Spine First Transit Floating-land and the Demon Serpent Continent doesn’t open inside the continent, but rather at the fifth orbital station in Demon Serpent Continent’s outer space.

And it’s not just the Song Family’s wormhole. Any form of teleportation that’s been granted permission—no matter who’s backing it—works exactly the same.

The reason’s simple: Demon Serpent Continent belongs to the Xian Qin Ying Clan. If teleportation was possible straight into the middle of the continent and chaos broke out on the other end, the mess could spill over instantly.

The Ying Clan of Tianzhu would never allow that.

It’s no exaggeration: apart from the Xian Qin Continent itself, Demon Serpent Continent is the Divine Dynasty’s second most important territory. If there was even a whisper of a threat, the Tianzhu Ying Clan would crush it without hesitation.

The Heavenly Ruin burst out of the wormhole, zipped past a nearby detachment of the Song Family’s Canglong Fleet, and a fleet of warships streaked straight for Demon Serpent Continent below.

Passing through the seemingly endless Floating-Land Shield, the Heavenly Ruin activated its warp drive once more.

The Demon Serpent Floating-Land Public Zone was located in the southern part of the continent. It’s hands down the liveliest area in the region.

Compared to the Dragon Spine First Transfer Floating-land, which sees over a million ship movements daily, the Public Zone on Demon Serpent’s Floating-land easily sees tens—maybe hundreds—of times more.

Song Chi wasn’t surprised in the least by this. He kept the Heavenly Ruin descending rapidly under his control.

…

Demon Serpent Public Zone, Dragon Spine Trading Plaza.

Dragon Spine Central Avenue—by all accounts, the most bustling part of Dragon Spine City. Every shop here forks out astronomical rent year after year.

Even in this pricey area, you’ll find no shortage of stores prefixed with ‘Dragon Spine.’ No surprise—every last one belongs to the Longji Song Family.

Dragon Spine Commercial Tower, rooftop.

“Song Guiyuan of the First Direct Bloodline, I greet Elder Chi!”

Song Chi’s first destination was his family’s own Dragon Spine City branch. Their intentions couldn’t be clearer.

With Song Chi’s gaze on him, Song Guiyuan—hailing from the First Direct Line and recently promoted to battleship captain and store manager—quickly understood what was needed.

He called for a Third-Tier clansman from the shop.

“Fetch that storage capsule from Warehouse One.”

A few minutes later.

“Elder Chi, here are eighteen samples of neutron star wreckage collected over the past three centuries throughout the Demon Serpent Continent!”

“Eighteen, huh? Not bad. Keep collecting more—there’s no limit.”

“Understood!”

…

After storing away those eighteen batches of neutron star wreckage, Song Chi took a stroll through Dragon Spine City. While it was top-tier among trading cities in the Demon Serpent Public Zone, it didn’t quite make the cut as the absolute best.

After making his rounds and failing to find the extra resources he wanted for attacking the Star River-class Battleship, he decided not to linger and got ready to visit a few of the true top-tier trading cities.

There are three undisputed elite trading cities in the Demon Serpent Public Zone.

The most popular has to be Xian Qin City, founded by the Tianzhu Ying Clan. This massive city hosts countless Immortals and top-tier factions. The variety and quality of its goods far surpasses the rest.

Beyond Xian Qin City, the second is Beidou City, created by Beidou Sevenstar Hall—the Divine Dynasty’s strongest powerhouse. The third is Mechanical City, made jointly by Xian Qin Heavy Industries and War King Hall. Almost everything for sale there is some kind of mechanical marvel.

Things like Mobile Battle Stars of various grades and pseudo-Seventh-Tier space fortresses. In the past century, they’ve even rolled out a small-scale, controlled fusion reactor reaching Seventh-Tier output—hugely popular in the Torch-class world. Even the Song Family of Longji bought one.

Demon Serpent Public Zone’s most celebrated trading city: Xian Qin City.

Its layout was similar to Dragon Spine City, but in Xian Qin City, every prime location was turned by the Tianzhu Ying Clan into a dozen or so trading houses.

Of course, while all their shop owners are named Ying, the businesses are divided among different branches. Unlike the Song Family’s mere five thousand years of history, Tianzhu Ying Clan has been around for over two hundred fifty thousand years—their internal factions are so numerous, even they can’t keep track.

Their foundation really is staggering. No matter which branch runs a shop, every single ‘golden’ storefront is loaded with treasures—there’s never anything mediocre.

Qinyue Merchant Tower, third floor.

“I’ll take that Deepwater Pearl, the one from the hundred-thousand-year-old clam.”

“Of course, sir. One moment, please!”

“Wait…”

After finalizing his purchase, Song Chi called out to the attendant.

Despite being a Third-Tier lifeform, the attendant’s warm smile never faltered at Song Chi’s request. Not a hint of irritation showed on her lovely face.

“Sir, is there anything else I can help you with?”

“Does your Qinyue Merchant Tower carry any extra resources for Star River-class Battleship advancement? Or any special resources will do.”

As soon as she heard ‘Star River-class Battleship,’ the attendant’s smile stiffened. Her gaze swept over Song Chi, clearly sizing up whether he really had the qualifications.

But Song Chi, whose Seventh-Tier Dual Pupils left nothing unseen, noticed her subtle appraisal and didn’t mind at all.

With the massive foot traffic in Xian Qin City, and Qinyue Merchant Tower being one of the most popular shops, the staff handled an enormous stream of guests every day.

If every customer asking about high-level resources went straight to the top manager, the shop would never get anything else done.

So Song Chi cooperated and let out a trace of Seventh-Tier aura.

“Greetings, Your Majesty of the King’s Throne. Forgive my earlier disrespect. Please, come with me.”

Even among the Tianzhu Ying Clan, anyone with the rank of Star-Annihilator-class captain was a true heavyweight. Sensing the terrifying life force from Song Chi, the attendant immediately led him to the top floor.

Top floor, reception room.

Song Chi sat gracefully in a luxurious leather chair. Soon, an elderly man entered from outside.

This elder’s hair and beard were snowy white, his frame stooped—he looked frail, yet Song Chi could clearly sense the terrifying vitality simmering inside him.

“Seventh-Tier!”

This man was unmistakably another Star-Annihilator-class captain.

Not that it was odd—considering Qinyue Merchant Tower was controlled by one of the most powerful branches of the Ying Clan, it made sense.

From what Song Chi had learned, the Xian Qin Ying Clan alone possessed at least five hundred Star-Annihilator-class captains—and that was before the last war boom, with only the public roster counted. Since the years of rapid expansion, that number had probably doubled.

So it was no shock that Qinyue Merchant Tower had a Star-Annihilator-commander of its own.

As the elder entered the reception room, a special energy field slowly formed around them.

“This is a soundproof barrier. It guarantees that our conversation won’t leak out.”

With a calm explanation, the old man nodded to Song Chi and continued:

“I hear you’re looking for extra resources for Star River-class Battleship advancement?”

“If you have any unique or special resources, I’ll consider those as well!”

Since the elder spoke so directly, Song Chi saw no need to hide his intentions.

He added one more point.

“If you have high-tier Evil God Blood, that works too. At least peak Eighth-Tier—Ninth-Tier is best.”

The elder’s eyes flickered at that, but before he could confirm Song Chi’s identity, he hesitated and tried:

“Would you mind sharing your identity? Of course, we at Qinyue Merchant Tower mean no offense—but what you’re asking for is extremely valuable, so we need to be certain you have the means.”

They locked eyes, but Song Chi didn’t answer directly and instead produced an item with a wave of his hand.

The elder’s breath caught as he stared at it.

“Is that… the Chaotic Blood Heart?”

“Exactly.”

Seeing Song Chi nod in confirmation, the elder studied him deeply and confirmed he had the capital for such a trade.

“Please wait here a moment.”

He said nothing more, simply stood and quickly left after a brief word.

Song Chi’s expression remained calm as he waited quietly in the reception room.

But that was just on the surface. Inside, he was fully on guard. Song Chi knew exactly what a Chaotic Blood Heart was worth.

On Leave

On Leave

As stated, taking a personal day. Updates resume with 6k words tomorrow.