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Chapter 168: The Rules of the Floating Land and the Rejection of the Origin
Chapter 168: The Rules of the Floating Land and the Rejection of the Origin
In the vast, dark expanse of the star sea, a colossal floating land with a diameter of tens of millions of kilometers hung silently.
A planet shield, glowing with a faint light and covered in intricate grid patterns, enveloped the entire floating land. The occasional flash of origin rules added to its appearance, making it resemble a massive turtle shell that restricted the entry and exit of the entire Song Clan expedition team from Dingshai.
This was the target of the Song Clan's mission: a Level 3 Soul Spirit Floating Land.
...
Several hundred thousand kilometers away from the Soul Spirit Floating Land, a massive, hundred-thousand-meter-long outer space combat platform continued to operate. It had been operational for over twenty years, ever since its assembly began.
On the outer ring of the combat platform, the docking bays, which were rarely ever fully occupied, now held several more transport warships. A new round of supplies and clan members who had volunteered for the mission had arrived.
As the hatches of the transport warships rapidly opened, over a hundred Song Clan members stepped off the warships and onto the temporary combat platform.
While following a guide robot to a special repair room, Song Chi glanced at the other docking bays on the side of the combat platform.
Contrary to his expectations, there were no clusters of warships or crowds of clan members. Instead, only a few dozen Emberships were scattered across the bays.
It had been three months since the head of the First Lineage, Song Hengtong, issued the mission. Logically, there should have been many more clan members participating. How could there be so few?
"Could it be that most of the clan members have already..."
Before he could speculate further, his grandfather's voice sounded in his ear.
"Most of the clan members have already entered the Soul Spirit Floating Land. Tearing through the floating land's shield is no easy task. Generally, once they enter, they won't come out unless it's an emergency."
Without waiting for Song Chi to fully understand, Song Mingsong quickly headed toward the inner ring of the combat platform.
...
In the inner ring of the combat platform, the muscle cultivation chamber.
Zhi—
As the airtight door of the cultivation tank opened, Song Chi, who had been lying inside for over twelve hours, sat up.
He was one of the over a hundred Embership captains in the muscle cultivation chamber.
After washing off the residual energy neutralizing solution from their bodies, the group of over a hundred did not linger on the combat platform. The energy neutralizing solution had already restored the sealed dark energy within their bodies.
Summoning their Emberships, they quickly unloaded the supplies from the family square and then one by one left the docking bays, heading straight for the floating land at the edge of their vision.
...
In the outer space around the Soul Spirit Floating Land, a hundred Emberships floated, peering through the dense, grid-patterned shield at the vast area of the Level 3 floating land.
A typical Level 3 floating land would have a diameter of a few million kilometers at most, but the Soul Spirit Floating Land before them had a diameter exceeding ten million kilometers. Compared to the Silver Spear Floating Land, also a Level 3, it was nearly ten times larger.
However, what caught Song Chi's attention at the moment were not these details. He turned his gaze to see two more Emberships floating nearby in the starry sky.
These two Emberships were over three kilometers long, with their hulls covered in thick, menacing armor. At the bow, in addition to two main cannons, there was a massive super cannon with a terrifying diameter. They resembled two colossal steel beasts prowling the starry sky, intimidating the entire Soul Spirit Floating Land. These were clearly two Fourth-Rank Pursuit Ships.
Indeed, these two Fourth-Rank Pursuit Ships from the Song Clan's First Lineage had been a nightmare for the inhabitants of the Soul Spirit Floating Land since their appearance several decades ago.
Periodically, they would tear through the floating land's shield, sending clan members inside. These clan members would then unleash brutal and bloody massacres within the floating land, causing chaos and bloodshed.
Just as he was pondering, a weathered male voice suddenly sounded in his ear.
"Everyone, come over and prepare to enter the Soul Spirit Floating Land!"
Everyone looked up at the two impressive Pursuit Ships.
The voice had come from one of them.
In the ship communication projection group chat, his grandfather, Song Mingsong, spoke.
"Follow me. These two are Fourth-Rank elders from the First Lineage, currently serving on the clan council. There's no need to be nervous..."
As the hundred Emberships quickly approached, they waited for further instructions.
At that moment, one of the two Chasing Deer-class ships suddenly began to emit a dazzling light, so bright that it illuminated tens of thousands of kilometers of the starry sky.
In the blinding light, everyone instinctively closed their eyes. When they opened them again, Song Chi's eyes widened as he gazed ahead, as if he had witnessed something utterly incredible.
It wasn't just him; the Song clan members on the hundreds of Ember Fleet ships in the vicinity were similarly stunned.
Looking ahead, in the brief moment, the Chasing Deer-class ship that had emitted the dazzling light had transformed into a mecha giant over three thousand meters tall.
Song Chi's eyes were filled with curiosity as he examined the mecha giant, which was more fittingly described as magnificent and overbearing rather than just cool.
Although he had once witnessed the projection of a fifth-rank Mythical mecha, the projection was just that—a projection. It was far less clear and impactful compared to this fourth-rank Chasing Deer-class ship transforming into a fourth-rank Mythical mecha right before his eyes.
"It's the 'Xuanfeng' Elder of the First Mainline's flagship, the 'Tai Xuan Zhen Ling.' Makes sense, I heard that Xuanfeng Elder wields an Orange-grade Supreme Tai Xuan Sword, perfect for tearing through the Floating Land's shield..."
The voice of his grandfather echoed through the communication projection group chat. Listening to these words, Song Chi's mind was filled with key pieces of information.
"First Mainline Elder Song Xuanfeng, Tai Xuan Zhen Ling, Tai Xuan Sword..."
As he thought, the Mythical mecha giant began its next move. A bright orange light surged from its hand, and soon a white sword nearly two kilometers long materialized in the air.
The mecha giant raised its arm, and the white sword followed suit, held high. An indescribable mystical force flowed through the sword, adding a chilling aura to the blade.
In the Celestial Dome, Song Chi's eyes narrowed as he focused on the mystical force swirling around the white sword.
Other first and second-rank Ember Fleet captains might not recognize the specific nature of this mystical force, but Song Chi found it familiar. The mystical force felt very similar to the laws of the universe he had encountered in the Secret Market Realm, suggesting that this was the law force controlled by Elder Song Xuanfeng.
Before he could ponder further, a sharp whistling sound came from ahead.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
The mecha giant's arm swung down, slicing through the starry sky with the white sword, aiming straight for the grid-like Floating Land shield. As the sword cut through, long, dark cracks followed, signs of the space tearing under the immense power.
Boom!
The sword, carrying terrifying energy, struck the Floating Land shield, sending an unimaginable wave of energy rippling outward.
Seeing this, Song Chi's expression changed in the Celestial Dome's control room. He instinctively prepared to maneuver the Celestial Dome to avoid the impact. This was a genuine fourth-rank energy shockwave, and the consequences of being caught in it at close range were unpredictable.
However, his concern was unwarranted. Before the energy wave could fully dissipate, the second Chasing Deer-class ship emitted an invisible aura from its hull, completely neutralizing the energy wave.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
After this brief interlude, when Song Chi's gaze returned to the Floating Land shield, his pupils constricted.
The strike from the Tai Xuan Zhen Ling, now transformed into a mecha giant, had created a terrifying crack over a kilometer long in the shield.
Clearly, even the shield generated by the entire Floating Land struggled under the attack of a fourth-rank unit. After all, this Soul Spirit Floating Land was only a third-rank Star Sea Floating Land.
But it wasn't over yet. The nearly two-kilometer-long white sword began to vibrate, and the strands of mystical force on its blade rapidly converged at the tip.
As time passed, the sword's tip, now enhanced by the mystical force, seemed to undergo a qualitative change.
Crack!
The shield, which had only been cracked, suddenly shattered, leaving a massive gap several hundred meters wide.
This transformation seemed to activate the shield's self-repair or defensive instincts. A large amount of primal rules began to rapidly converge, and under their influence, the gap in the shield started to shrink at a visible rate.
Seeing this, the mecha giant created by the Tai Xuan Zhen Ling didn't hesitate. Its giant arms extended quickly, gripping the sides of the gap to prevent its repair.
At the same time, a weathered voice echoed in the ears of Song Chi and others, coming from the other Chasing Deer-class ship.
"Now or never!"
Following this command, the hundred Ember Fleet ships, including Song Chi's, finally reacted. Their engines roared to life, and they raced toward the gap in the Floating Land shield.
Meanwhile, several Ember Fleet warships that were preparing to leave immediately set course for the outside of the floating land's shield.
...
Below, in a primeval forest on the eastern side of the Soul Spirit Floating Land, several creatures with two heads, double wings, and bodies over a kilometer long took flight. These creatures had the heads of lions, the bodies of goats, and the tails of giant serpents, making them a bizarre mix of different animals.
Despite their strange appearance, the energy fluctuations emanating from their bodies were terrifying, indicating that they were all third-tier creatures. Moreover, they possessed special core rules that made them far stronger than ordinary peak third-tier creatures.
Roar!
As they flew deep into the sky, approaching the floating land's shield, these creatures simultaneously opened their mouths, spewing out massive fireballs, each over a hundred meters in diameter, toward the Ember Fleet warships that were trying to enter the shield.
"Hmph!"
Before the Song family members could react, a cold snort came from outside the gap in the shield. Then, the three main cannons of the second Chasing Deer warship, positioned at its bow, erupted. Three beams of light shot through the gap, accurately destroying all the incoming fireballs.
After eliminating the fireballs, the beams continued their descent, targeting the few third-tier creatures below.
Roar, Roar, Roar!
With several agonized roars, the injured third-tier creatures stopped their attack and rapidly retreated, no longer paying attention to the Ember Fleet warships.
Inside the Azure Sky, Song Chi's eyes flickered with confusion. He knew that while the creatures were powerful, each possessing peak third-tier combat strength, there were two fourth-tier elders of the Song family waiting outside the gap. How could these creatures dare to challenge them?
Moreover, the three beams of light, especially the super-main cannon's attack, had only wounded the peak third-tier creatures rather than killing them. This left him puzzled.
There was a fundamental difference between third-tier and fourth-tier beings, especially when it came to the Ember Fleet warships, known for their formidable firepower and fourth-tier capabilities.
"Is the floating land's rule enhancement really that terrifying?"
As a captain who had received formal education in the Ember Human civilization, Song Chi was well-versed in the various aspects of a star sea floating land. Besides the floating land's shield, these lands had the ability to enhance the rules for any creature recognized by the land's core. This provided an additional combat boost when fighting within the floating land.
For example, the Song family's ancestors, who were backed by the Dragon Spine Divine Mountain, which was connected to the core of the Dragon Spine Floating Land, had the ability to fight beyond their tier.
However, this was based on the Dragon Spine Floating Land being a Level 5 life-type floating land, where the gap between fifth-tier and sixth-tier beings wasn't insurmountable, both falling within the intermediate civilization combat unit category.
In contrast, the Soul Spirit Floating Land was only a Level 3 land, falling into the lower civilization category. For its rule enhancement to allow third-tier creatures to challenge fourth-tier Ember Fleet warships seemed quite abnormal.
At this moment, Song Ming Song's voice echoed in the projection group chat, as if he had guessed the confusion in Song Chi's and others' minds.
"There's no need to be surprised. According to the information from the family's third-tier network, the Soul Spirit Floating Land is already at the threshold of advancing from Level 3 to Level 4, possessing some characteristics of a fourth-tier floating land. This is why its rule enhancement is so powerful."
Hearing this, Song Chi's eyes widened in understanding. If that was the case, everything made sense. It also explained why the two first-line elders of the Song family were not personally entering the floating land.
With some fourth-tier floating land characteristics, it meant that it wasn't that they didn't want to enter, but that they couldn't. The fourth-tier characteristics would strongly repel and suppress their fourth-tier units, significantly affecting their strength, potentially even reducing their power to the third-tier level.
Thus, entering rashly could be dangerous, even leading to their downfall.
Simultaneously, Song Chi instantly understood the mission for their family members entering the floating land. Their task was to kill as many of the Soul Spirit Floating Land's creatures as possible, especially the high-tier ones.
These native creatures, as the land's primates, were born with partial core rules of the floating land. If a large number of them were killed, the floating land's core rules would be significantly weakened.
This would, in turn, weaken the land's core's repulsion and suppression, providing a suitable opportunity for the two fourth-tier elders of the first line to intervene.
(End of Chapter)
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