https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-140-Tier-5-Life-Bearing-Starlands-Ancestral-Grounds-of-the-Song-Clan-Dragon-Spine-Divine/12833671/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-142-Revisiting-the-Blo-Civilization-Ruins/12833673/
Chapter 141: Branch Outpost · Golden Merit Points
Chapter 141: Branch Outpost · Golden Merit Points
In front of him, the clerk from the Internal Affairs Hall lifted his head to glance at Song Chi, then said indifferently,
"Wasn't it blue? When did it automatically downgrade?"
Hearing this, Song Chi wasn't surprised at all. He had always reported a lower rank as a way to test if he could get away with it, never really expecting much success.
With the power of the Song Clan of Dingshai, it was impossible for them not to investigate everything that had happened to their branch over the past few decades. Once an investigation was conducted, it wouldn't be difficult to discover that his Flame Seed had already advanced to blue.
Soon, he reported his registration information again:
"Song Chi, 31 years old, blue Flame Seed, Rank 1 Flame Captain."
Once the information was recorded, the clerk from the Internal Affairs Hall picked up the inscription plate and held it to Song Chi's forehead, his indifferent voice sounding once more.
"Activate the Flame Seed within you and leave a trace of your primal flame in this plate."
As Song Chi followed the instructions, a faint glow appeared on the plate.
With this, Song Chi's personal information was officially recorded.
This plate, called a "Flame Life Plate," was a common method used by many medium to large factions to determine the life status of their members.
Hmm... it was somewhat similar to the soul lamps in cultivation novels from his previous life, at least that was how Song Chi understood it.
Once the Flame Life Plate dimmed, it meant that the corresponding Flame Captain's Flame Seed had completely extinguished, and for members of the Flame Human Civilization, the extinguishing of a Flame Seed naturally signified the end of the Flame Captain's life.
Song Chi suspected that the Flame Life Plate was the key part of this process, while the registration was just a formality.
After stepping back to rejoin Song Mingsong and the others, he quickly noticed the strange looks from his grandfather and father, clearly speechless at his tactic of reporting a lower Flame Seed quality.
The younger generation, on the other hand, reacted quite differently. Song Qi, Song Lin, Song You, and others stared at him with wide eyes, their expressions filled with surprise.
"Fourth Brother, when did your Flame Seed advance to blue quality?"
From the left, his third brother Song Wen asked.
Seeing everyone's attention on him, Song Chi explained softly,
"About two months ago, I happened to encounter a rare purple 'Bone White Flame' in a shop. At that time, I had just been assigned a purple main cannon, and I added a few other things to the deal to trade for it."
His explanation left the others around him skeptical. A rare purple-grade fire source was extremely rare in the Flame Human Civilization territory. Could it really be so easy to obtain?
However, no one pressed the issue, as the registration process was completed, and it was time for his grandfather to choose their branch's outpost.
The conference hall suddenly lit up, and a massive, ethereal map of the Dragon Spine Continent appeared.
The map was vast, with many regions marked as potential outpost locations. However, compared to the 10-light-year diameter of the Dragon Spine Continent, these regions seemed quite insignificant.
The clerk from the Internal Affairs Hall explained,
"These are all locations where Second-Rank Floating Land Essence Springs are found, producing a stable supply of Second-Rank Floating Land Essence and a small amount of Third-Rank Floating Land Essence. The red-marked locations are Third-Rank Essence Springs, producing a stable supply of Third-Rank Floating Land Essence and a small amount of Fourth-Rank Floating Land Essence. You may choose freely."
He paused, then added,
"Please note, these Third-Rank Essence Springs require a Third-Rank Flame Warship to maintain pressure year-round, otherwise, it will be difficult to collect the Floating Land Essence. Consider this carefully."
Song Mingsong nodded gently, turned to discuss with Song Shan and Bai Xiuqin for a moment, then asked,
"Once an outpost is chosen, can it be changed in the future?"
Before being expelled from the family, he had already opened his meridians, but since the Lion's Roar had just advanced to Third-Rank, he had been busy improving his channeling techniques and hadn't chosen an outpost. This was his first time making such a decision, so he needed to be clear.
"It can be changed, but it will require the expenditure of clan merit points."
Hearing that changing the outpost would cost merit points, Song Mingsong didn't hesitate. He shifted his attention from the Second-Rank Floating Land Essence Springs to the red-marked Third-Rank Essence Springs.
Family merit points aren't something you can easily obtain; they require genuine effort and the completion of merit tasks. Therefore, it's best to save on unnecessary expenses whenever possible.
Song Shan's flagship, the Mountain Peak, has already ascended to the third tier. In the short term, Song Shan needs to focus on quietly cultivating the Ethereal Energy Guidance Technique and use the third-tier Ethereal Energy Cultivation Platform on the Mountain Peak to advance himself to the third tier as well. This way, he can handle the suppression tasks for at least the next one to two years.
Most importantly, if the third-tier Origin Burst Eye can be suppressed, the annual benefits will far surpass those of a second-tier Origin Burst Eye.
With these points in mind, Song Ming Song and Bai Xiu Qin carefully selected several third-tier Origin Burst Eyes. They quickly decided to establish their Tenth Lineage's base at a place called "Blue Moon Lake."
"Here’s the development permit for Blue Moon Lake. Take this to the construction department behind the hall, and you can apply for the ‘Mountain Mover’ automatons to begin the subsequent construction of your base."
"However, before heading to the base, I suggest you visit the Merit Hall first. Mobilizing the Mountain Mover automatons and acquiring various construction materials will require merit points."
...
Family, Merit Hall.
As the group entered this grand hall, which was situated at the base of a mountain and held the highest status among the Song family’s five main halls, Song Chi noticed that someone was already waiting for them. It wasn’t a representative from the various lineages but rather the deputy head of the Merit Hall, Song Rui An, from the First Lineage.
Each of the Song family’s five main halls has a head and two deputy heads. The one before them was Song Rui An, from the First Lineage.
Once everyone entered the Merit Hall, they each received a special communication bracelet.
"This is a quantum communicator developed by the family’s technology department. It allows real-time communication across the entire Dragon Spine Continent, and the merit points each person has will be recorded on this communication bracelet."
Song Rui An spoke calmly from above the hall.
Curious, Song You and the others opened their quantum communicators. After completing the binding process, they quickly saw their detailed information on the virtual panel projected by the bracelet.
Name: Song You
Age: 30
Spark Seed: Blue
Affiliation: Tenth Lineage
Spark Warship: First-tier Ethereal Energy Airship [Wanderer]
Merit Points: None
Golden Merit Points: None
...
Seeing this, Song Chi also opened his communication bracelet and checked it. Finding it identical to the others, his gaze lingered on the [Golden Merit Points] section for a few seconds, wondering what it was and how it differed from regular merit points.
Before he could ponder further, Song Rui An, the deputy head of the Merit Hall, spoke again from above.
"Song Ming Song, Song Shan, as recognized by the Great Ancestor, you two are the primary contributors to the family’s new control over the Moho Secret Realm. You are hereby awarded 100,000 merit points and 10 golden merit points."
After Grandpa and Uncle, the next to receive rewards were not the second-tier Spark Warship captains like Song Hai and Bai Xiu Qin, but Song Chi.
"Song Chi, you are a secondary contributor. You are hereby awarded 50,000 merit points and 5 golden merit points."
"Bai Xiu Qin, Song Hai, Song Chao... Chen Lixia, you are... hereby awarded 30,000 merit points and 3 golden merit points."
"Song Qi, Song Lin... each of you is awarded 30,000 merit points."
As the words were spoken, everyone’s quantum communicators beeped, and their merit points changed accordingly.
Before they could start discussing, Song Rui An’s gaze turned to Song Ming Song, who was standing at the front.
Realizing this, Song Ming Song quickly reacted. A flash of light appeared in his hand, and the miniaturized Moho Stealth Mech appeared. He then summoned the Anger Lion from the outside world and brought out the fourth-tier Moho royal who had been sealed and in a deep sleep.
As soon as these two appeared, Merit Hall personnel carefully took them away.
Seeing this, Song Ming Song had no other thoughts.
The Moho Secret Realm itself could only make up for past mistakes, but the reason the family members received a significant amount of merit points was because of the Moho Stealth Mech and the fourth-tier Moho royal.
A powerful fourth-tier unit is worth far more than just these merit points, but the one who acted was the Great Ancestor’s projection. His family simply benefited from the plan and was able to gain a substantial amount of merit points, which he found very satisfying.
"Alright, if there’s nothing else, you can head down now. Get the branch settlement up and running as soon as possible. There’s a task I need you to handle!"
In the grand hall, Deputy Hall Master Song Rui'an gently waved his hand, urging Song Mingsong to leave.
Song Mingsong nodded, but before turning to leave, he asked one last question.
"Deputy Hall Master, may I inquire if it’s possible to enter the Immortal Puppet Secret Realm yet?"
Song Rui'an waved his hand again.
"The Immortal Puppet Secret Realm is currently undergoing time acceleration. It will take about a month and a half. Once the acceleration is complete, we can take the younger generation there."
Hearing this, Song Mingsong's eyes lit up.
"Time acceleration? What kind of time span are we talking about?"
Song Rui'an didn't hold back and gave a straightforward answer.
"Ten thousand years!"
Upon hearing these words, Song Mingsong's face lit up with joy. He bowed in gratitude and then led the group out of the grand hall.
Above the Dragon Spine Continent, the Roaring Lion raced at full speed, followed by twenty warships from the construction department. These warships carried the Mountain-Moving Soldier Puppets, which were perfect for building. Once they reached the Azure Moon Lake, it wouldn’t take long to establish the settlement for their lineage.
Inside the Roaring Lion’s cockpit, Song Chi fiddled with his new quantum communication bracelet and asked Song Mingsong, who was in the control room:
"Grandfather, besides the main lineage, does our family have any secondary lineages? After two thousand years, how could there only be ten main lineages?"
"And the geomancy map of the continent earlier showed that many third-tier origin eruption eyes were unoccupied and uncontrolled. Allowing these eruption eyes to freely disperse the origin essence of the floating lands, is it because the family lacks manpower?"
Song Mingsong smiled and explained:
"Within the family, there are only main and direct lineages. All others are considered secondary branches, not secondary lineages. As for why there are only ten main lineages, it’s simple. The family has a strict rule: only those who have achieved the rank of third-tier and above as Flame Ship Captains have the right to open a new lineage."
Hearing this, Song Chi’s brow remained furrowed. The Song family had nearly a million descendants. Over two thousand years, even those who advanced to the third-tier due to fortunate circumstances would number in the hundreds. How could there only be ten main lineages?
But Song Mingsong wasn’t finished. He continued:
"However, having the right to open a lineage doesn’t mean one must do so. Most of those who achieve the third-tier rank choose to join one of the three major main lineages—First, Second, or Third. Opening a new lineage means receiving an origin eruption eye as a settlement, but for a long time, they have to fund the expenses themselves."
"Compared to that, joining a powerful main lineage is much better. Not only do they receive a stable salary, but if they excel, they can also benefit from the lineage's resources. Plus, the unique resources controlled by each main lineage make it far more stable and easier than opening a new lineage."
Song Chi and the others nodded in understanding. This explanation made sense.
At this point, Song Zhao, Song Chi’s father, added:
"Over the centuries, many main lineages have been forced to dissolve due to various accidents, losing their third-tier Flame Ship Captains."
From the front, Song Mingsong’s voice rang out again.
"As for the high-tier origin eruption eyes, they are left to freely disperse the origin essence of the floating lands because the value of a high-tier floating land isn’t just in its stable production of high-tier origin essence. It’s also in the unique environment it provides, which can nurture high-tier star sea wonders."
"To preserve such an environment, the supply of high-tier origin essence cannot be completely cut off!"
PS: Regarding the height of the Dragon Spine Divine Mountain, in the book’s setting, a fifth-tier life form is only ten thousand meters in size. I can’t have a mountain that’s trillions of kilometers tall, right? As for the ten-light-year diameter, I’m well aware of the logical issues with the diameter and height, but this is a novel, not a scientific treatise.
Additionally, about the Song family’s naming conventions, I did write about this at the beginning of the book. However, trying to clearly map out the naming conventions spanning nearly three thousand years was a massive headache. So, I decided not to include it. Just bear with it!
(End of Chapter)
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