https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-123-The-Ten-Thousand-Year-Cypress-Tree/12833602/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-125-Ten-Thousand-Meter-Sandstorm-Bug-Hunting/12833604/
Chapter 124: Further Upgrades for the Skybound
Chapter 124: Further Upgrades for the Skybound
Over the past few days, Song Chi had gradually pieced together a general understanding of the Primordial Continent. It was a vast realm of cultivation, though its exact size remained a mystery. What was known, however, was the cultivation hierarchy, which corresponded to the ranks of the Shattered Star Sea:
- Ordinary People (0th Rank)
- Qi Practitioners (1st Rank)
- Foundation Establishment (2nd Rank)
- Golden Core (3rd Rank)
- Nascent Soul (4th Rank)
- Spirit Transformation (5th Rank)
Whether there were ranks beyond Spirit Transformation, even Zhou Ping was unsure. However, even with just the Spirit Transformation stage, the Primordial Continent was an astonishingly powerful land.
In the Shattered Star Sea, a star fragment's inherent rank dictated the maximum strength of the lifeforms it could nurture, without external resource plundering. Thus, the Primordial Continent was at least a 5th-Rank Life Star Fragment, indicating the immense wealth of resources it possessed.
The Luo Fu Sword Sect was a major sect on the Primordial Continent, led by a Spirit Transformation True Venerable, which was why Song Chi had always considered Zhou Ping his most significant potential client.
A Spirit Transformation True Venerable was equivalent to a 5th-Rank powerhouse in the Shattered Star Sea, capable of single-handedly dominating an entire star domain. The Luo Fu Sword Sect, with such a formidable leader, must possess immense power and countless rare treasures.
As these thoughts raced through Song Chi's mind, Zhou Ping spoke up.
"Sir, how would you like to exchange this [Ten Thousand Year Ghost Elm Wood]? Item for item, or perhaps with Spirit Essence?"
In the center of the shop, the holographic screen flickered and displayed a response.
"Item for item is preferred. For example, that [Spirit Energy Emblem] you have!"
Song Chi was quite interested in the purple-quality individual shield component.
However, Zhou Ping clearly wasn't willing to part with it. He shook his head quickly, then after a moment of contemplation, he tapped his waist pouch and produced an item.
Surrounded by the flow of law, Song Chi quickly identified the item.
[Rarity: Demon Soul Stone]
[Quality: Purple]
[Convertible: No]
[Note: A unique mineral found in the "Demon Soul Abyss" beneath the "Heavenly Demon Sect" on the Primordial Continent. Its uses are limited.]
When Song Chi first saw the purple glow, he was briefly excited, thinking it might be another purple rarity that could be converted into a ship component. However, his excitement quickly faded when he realized it couldn't be converted.
Seeing the negative response on the holographic screen, Zhou Ping furrowed his brow. His sect hadn't provided him with many high-quality treasures, and the Demon Soul Stone was the only one. If that wasn't enough, he was at a loss for what to offer.
After a moment of deliberation, he pulled out another item from his pouch. This time, it wasn't a star sea rarity but a clump of land essence, known as Spirit Essence on the Primordial Continent.
Song Chi extended his consciousness to examine it, and he was slightly surprised.
The clump of land essence was substantial, and crucially, it contained no 0th or 1st Rank land essence.
- 400 strands of 2nd Rank land essence
- 50 strands of 3rd Rank land essence
This amount was roughly equivalent to a common purple rarity, but Song Chi hesitated before agreeing. From his initial reaction to the [Ten Thousand Year Ghost Elm Wood], he suspected it was more valuable than a common purple rarity on the Primordial Continent.
[Not enough!]
Song Chi replied telepathically on the holographic screen.
After sending the response, he closely watched Zhou Ping's reaction, and his suspicions were confirmed.
Zhou Ping's eyes showed no surprise at the reply, as if it was entirely expected.
This further solidified Song Chi's belief.
A moment later, Zhou Ping tapped his pouch again and produced another clump of land essence, this time all 2nd Rank, but only 200 strands.
Song Chi thought about it for a while and still didn't agree.
...
Two minutes later, Zhou Ping emerged from the rarity exchange shop with a pleased expression, clearly having successfully exchanged for the [Ten Thousand Year Ghost Elm Wood]. However, the occasional flash of pain in his eyes suggested the exchange had come at a significant cost.
Inside the shop, Song Chi smiled and examined the large clump of land essence in his hand.
The transaction was indeed completed, but the amount of land essence Zhou Ping had provided was substantial.
Here is the rewritten chapter with non-English characters replaced with their English equivalents or transliterations:
At the moment, the glowing mass in his hands contained a staggering 800 strands of second-stage Floating Land Essence and 100 strands of third-stage Floating Land Essence.
Song Chi's eyes flickered, and with a touch of guilt, he divided the Floating Land Essence into two equal parts, each containing 400 strands of second-stage Floating Land Essence and 50 strands of third-stage Floating Land Essence.
One part was for his uncle, and it included the Ten-Thousand-Year Ghost Elm that he had allocated. The other part, naturally, he kept for himself.
He cleared his throat softly, his inner voice murmuring quietly.
"Uncle, I'm sorry. I swear, it won't happen again!"
Actually, 400 strands of second-stage Floating Land Essence and 50 strands of third-stage Floating Land Essence were enough to match the value of an ordinary purple-grade artifact, let alone an artifact that could only be sold at half price in the Ember Human Territory.
Song Chi felt guilty because he had taken too much, half of the total, which would definitely make him a black-hearted merchant in anyone else's eyes.
But he had no choice. This was the point where he needed the second-stage and third-stage Floating Land Essence the most, and he couldn't afford to be too cautious.
...
Time passed quickly. During the twentieth hour of the market's opening, the number of alien creatures in the market realm reached its peak, but it was still less than a thousand, far fewer than the previous time.
Clearly, the 42 spatial gates that had been deployed this time were not well-positioned. Most of them had not been placed on the Star Sea Floating Lands or in areas where alien creatures were active, so the number of creatures entering the market was relatively low.
As a result, Song Chi's income was significantly reduced. After the market transaction ended, his total earnings amounted to just over 100,000 strands of zero-stage Floating Land Essence, less than 2,000 strands of first-stage Floating Land Essence, and fewer than 100 strands of second-stage Floating Land Essence, not to mention any rare Star Sea Artifacts.
Once all the alien creatures had left, Zhou Ping was also teleported back to the Primordial Continent by the market guest order. Song Chi immediately summoned the Sky Convocation.
What was the purpose of opening this market? Wasn't it to earn second-stage and third-stage Floating Land Essence to reinforce the Dark Matter Energy Shield Generator and the Pure Yang Sword Light Cannon? Now that he had the Floating Land Essence, he could begin the reinforcement process.
Instead of directly reinforcing the two orange-grade components, he first installed the two special components he had just acquired. He spent hundreds of strands of zero-stage and first-stage Floating Land Essence to upgrade both components to level 20.
After reaching level 20, the blue-grade Blood Soul Seal showed little change, with the number of seals increasing from 3 to 10 and the tracking range expanding from 0.5 light-years to 5 light-years.
The Phantom Thruster, however, underwent significant changes.
Phantom Thruster (Level 20)
Quality: Purple
Trait: Phantom Trace
Consumption: 50/s (Void Energy Points)
Effect: Increases thrust by 100%, doubling the ship's speed.
Upgrade Requirements: 12 strands of second-stage Floating Land Essence, 8,000 Void Energy Points, 500 kg of Phantom Stones, 1 Titanium Crystal
{Phantom Trace: Consumes 2,000 Void Energy Points and charges for 15 seconds, after which the thruster enters overdrive mode, propelling the ship at 1000% of its normal speed for 5 seconds. During this time, six identical illusions of the ship will follow it, confusing enemy units.}
After reaching level 20, Song Chi had no further intention of reinforcing it, as he only had a little over 500 strands of second-stage Floating Land Essence left, and he needed to use it wisely.
First, he approached the Dark Matter Energy Shield Generator. With a burst of light, the orange-grade energy shield was reinforced to level 30.
After reaching level 30, he didn't rush to reinforce it further but instead moved to the Pure Yang Sword Light Cannon and reinforced it to level 30 as well.
These two reinforcements cost Song Chi 300 strands of second-stage Floating Land Essence and 60 Titanium Crystals, depleting most of his second-stage Floating Land Essence. Including the 50 Titanium Crystals from the previous market transaction, he now had only 40 Titanium Crystals left.
Song Chi let out a light sigh, suppressing the pain in his heart, and his thoughts raced.
The only question on his mind was which component to reinforce next.
With only 40 Titanium Crystals left, he could only reinforce either the Dark Matter Energy Shield Generator or the Pure Yang Sword Light Cannon by one more level, as both components required 32 Titanium Crystals to upgrade from level 30 to level 31. This was the source of his dilemma.
After much contemplation, Song Chi decided not to reinforce either of the two components. Instead, he chose the Phantom Antimatter Hyperstate Engine.
He enhanced it to level 30.
The reason was simple: after reaching level 30, the upgrade from level 30 to level 31 was just a minor advancement within the same tier, which wouldn’t bring any significant changes to its attributes. However, the Phantom Antimatter Hyperstate Engine was different.
Upgrading it from level 29 to level 30 was a major advancement, significantly boosting its power and drive capabilities. This would provide the Azure Skies with higher speed and agility, making it the most cost-effective upgrade at the moment.
With this enhancement, the Azure Skies had undergone a substantial improvement. The three components, each enhanced to the third tier, boasted terrifying attributes.
Phantom Antimatter Hyperstate Engine (Level 30)
- Quality: Purple
- Characteristics:
- Power efficiency increased by 80%
- Consumption: 180/s
- Power output: 1512/s
- Overload buffer: 20 minutes
- Energy pool: 60,000 points (can store 60,000 energy points)
- Convertible to: Phantom Reactor
- Upgrade requirements: 15 strands of third-tier Floating Land Essence, 30,000 dark energy points, 10 third-tier Life Cores, 16 titanium crystals
...
Dark Matter Energy Shield Generator (Level 30)
- Quality: Orange
- Characteristics:
- Shield value increased by 115%
- Shield protection value doubled
- Consumption: 350/s (dark energy points)
- Protection: 159,600
- Shield value: 4,120,000/4,120,000
- Recharge: 20 seconds; Overload buffer: 30 minutes
- Upgrade requirements: 20 strands of third-tier Floating Land Essence, 40,000 dark energy points, 350 tons of mercury crystals, 32 titanium crystals
...
Pure Yang Sword Light Cannon (Level 30)
- Quality: Orange
- Characteristics:
- Mixed Cavern Extreme Yang Sword Intent Light
- Main cannon power increased by 115%
- Consumption: 3,000 per use (dark energy points)
- Attack: 490,200
- Recharge: 4 seconds; Buffer: 5 seconds
- Upgrade requirements: 20 strands of third-tier Floating Land Essence, 35,000 dark energy points, 350 tons of Flame Yang ore, 32 titanium crystals
Satisfied, Song Chi closed the attributes of the three components and counted the remaining resources.
He had 110 strands of second-tier Floating Land Essence, 150 strands of third-tier Floating Land Essence, 20 strands of fourth-tier Floating Land Essence, and 25 titanium crystals left.
Thinking about it, Song Chi turned his attention to the Heaven’s Eye Sky Patrol Radar. With only 110 strands of second-tier Floating Land Essence left, he could only afford one more enhancement, and the importance of the radar to a warship was self-evident.
Do you wish to spend 50 strands of second-tier Floating Land Essence + 20,000 dark energy points to upgrade the Heaven’s Eye Sky Patrol Radar from level 29 to level 30?
"Confirm!"
With his confirmation, the Heaven’s Eye Sky Patrol Radar successfully upgraded to level 30.
After the upgrade, its detection range increased from 240 light-hours to 480 light-hours, and its detection accuracy improved from 260 to 300. Its characteristic "Starmap Collector" now covered 100 times the detection range, meaning it could generate starmaps with a diameter of 12 light-years, a significant improvement from the previous 3 light-years.
With this, the latest round of enhancements for the Azure Skies was essentially complete. After upgrading the Azure Skies, he also upgraded the All-Realms Market from level 15 to level 16, and simultaneously enhanced the Dark Energy Protective Array, All-Attribute Training Room, and Ultra-Long-Range Spatial Gate Random Deployment Platform to level 16, further improving their attributes.
(Please note: The data is extensive, so I won’t list it all here to avoid padding the word count.)
After completing these tasks, Song Chi exited the market and made a trip to Jiangyuan City, where he handed over 400 strands of second-tier and 50 strands of third-tier Floating Land Essence to his uncle.
Back home in the Dongjiang neighborhood, Song Chi had just completed over ten hours of deep sleep and was now fully refreshed.
After lunch, he bid farewell to his parents and left the house. Once outside the neighborhood, he quickly summoned the Azure Skies and headed straight for the sky.
With the market transactions complete and the Azure Skies upgraded to its current limit, he could no longer wait. After waiting for over two months, he finally set off for the star sea beyond the White Tower Floating Land.
Upon reaching the appropriate star domain, he immediately initiated a new exploration of an alien domain.
Buzz
With a slight tremor, the Azure Skies completed the charging for the alien domain deployment. The next second, Song Chi was enveloped by a strong sensation of weightlessness.
At the same time, he silently hoped:
"May the ruins of the Blo civilization not disappoint me!!"
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
