Chapter 181: One Year

Chapter 181: One Year



Suppressing the pang of regret, Song Chi didn’t dwell on it further. He opened the Skydom’s attribute panel.

After several recent upgrades, the Skydom’s attributes had undergone significant changes.

Name: Skydom

Model: Ember-Escort Class Spirit Energy Frigate

Level: LV20

Additional Feature: Spatial Stabilization

Basic Components:

- Blue Ember Hull LV20

- Pure Yang Sword Beam Cannon (Orange) LV39

- Electromagnetic Thunder Cannon (Blue) LV30

- Frostlight Celestial Frost Cannon (Purple) LV30

- Neutron Star Core Armor (Red) LV30

- Phantom Antimatter Hyperstate Engine (Purple) LV35

- Dark Matter Energy Shield Generator (Orange) LV30

- Silver Generation III Ultrawave Magic Energy Radar (Orange) LV30

- Spirit Energy Training Room LV0 (9/11)



Additional Components:

- Fire Chrysanthemum Soldier Tree (White) LV20

- Brainwave Remote Control System (Purple) LV25

- Abnormal State Purifier (Blue) LV39

- Purple River Warp Device (Blue) LV30

- Healing Fruit (White) LV29

- Fixed Point Deployment Platform (Blue) LV30

- Phantom Thruster (Purple) LV23

- Blood Soul Seal (Blue) LV20

- Enslavement Medal (Red) LV30

- Spatial Beacon Emitter (Blue) LV20

- Void Shadow Slayer Soldier Tree (Orange) LV30

- Void Membrane (Blue) LV30

- Sonic Silence Field (Blue) LV30 (15/26)



Spirit Energy Pool: 65000/65000

Supplies:

- 40 strands of Fourth-Rank Floating Land Essence

- 7 strands of Third-Rank Floating Land Essence

- 1784 strands of Second-Rank Floating Land Essence

- 55 Titanium Crystals...

After carefully reviewing the "Basic Components" and "Additional Components" sections, Song Chi’s gaze finally landed on the "Additional Feature" section, which did not exist on ordinary Ember warships.

The "Spatial Stabilization" feature was an additional attribute derived from the Spatial Stabilization Stone. The "Neutron Star Core Armor," as a red epic-grade hull armor, had once surpassed red quality and might still have the potential to advance further.

Such an exquisite hull armor left Song Chi with no hesitation. He directly fused the remaining six hundred tons of Spatial Stabilization Stones he had into it.

As a result, the "Spatial Stabilization" feature on the "Neutron Star Core Armor" was now several times stronger than the Obsidian Armor that had only been fused with a hundred tons.

One could imagine that when the Skydom left the marketplace and entered the dark void to hunt the Void Demons, its safety would be significantly enhanced.

After handling all the necessary upgrades for the Skydom, Song Chi’s gaze shifted to the four-armed blue-blooded Tuogu Hong (previously unchanged as the name's meaning isn't directly relevant to the context, but for consistency, a possible transliteration could be Tuo Gu Hong if needed; however, I've left it as is for now) who had been quietly guarding him.

It was clear that Tuogu Hong was surrounded by a visible layer of blood energy, a result of the resonance between his bloodline power and the external environment.

This was the most direct sign that a biological entity was about to advance in rank.

This situation had been ongoing for more than three days. The moment the Skydom returned to the Soul Spirit Floating Land, the vast energy emanating from this Third-Rank Star Sea Floating Land caused this change in Tuogu Hong.

In fact, as long as his master allowed it, Tuogu Hong could attempt to advance to Third-Rank at any time. Currently, he was suppressing the restless blood energy within him, holding back his own advancement.

As a once-in-a-millennium bloodline descendant of the Blue Blood Clan (previously unchanged for context consistency, but could be transliterated to Lan Xue Zu if needed), Tuogu Hong had already touched the threshold of Third-Rank while on a Second-Rank Floating Land.

Without the level restrictions of the Blue Blood Floating Land (could be Lan Xue Fu Dao), Tuogu Hong was like a dragon that had finally entered the sea, with every part of his body rejoicing and yearning to transform into a higher life form.

With a thought, Song Chi reduced Tuogu Hong to a human-sized form and brought him into the marketplace.

"Go ahead!"

At the entrance of the all-attribute training room, Song Chi waved his hand, allowing Tuogu Hong to enter and attempt a breakthrough.

He still had high hopes for this creature who occupied the last enslavement slot of the "Enslavement Medal."

Although Tuogu Hong was currently a near-Third-Rank, he possessed the Blue Blood Body, Dragon Horse Strength, and Ancestral Blessing, three special talents that gave him the power to face off against first and second-tier Third-Rank alien races.

If he could advance to Third-Rank, he would likely possess peak Third-Rank combat strength, a testament to the powerful bloodline that could rival a Thorned Dragon.

Additionally, Song Chi considered the "Marketplace Travel Order." If Tuogu Hong could receive the law enhancement from the "Marketplace Travel Order," it would be like adding wings to a tiger, further boosting his combat power.

Even though the current "Marketplace Travel Order" provided only a slight enhancement for Third-Rank creatures, it was better than nothing.

It was certainly better than using the "Enslavement Seal: Frenzy" characteristic, which could easily exhaust a creature with decent genetic lineage. Song Chi was unwilling to waste such a valuable asset.

It was worth noting that a Thorned Dragon with similar potential required 300,000 ordinary merits and 5 gold merits to exchange, which was not cheap.

However, speaking of the "Marketplace Travel Order," Song Chi recalled a less favorable piece of news. After advancing to Second-Rank, the requirements for upgrading the marketplace had increased significantly. After this transaction, the conditions for advancement were not met, so it remained at LV20.

In other words, he did not have a second "Marketplace Travel Order" at the moment.

...

Above the marketplace, an astonishing amount of energy rapidly gathered, causing the entire marketplace to feel as if a storm was about to break.

The massive energy gathered in the sky before swiftly pouring into the all-attribute cultivation chamber below. As the energy continued to flow, the energy fluctuations within the chamber grew increasingly intense.

Even Song Chi, standing thousands of meters away in the free market area, felt a strong sense of pressure.

Looking down the central street toward the inner part of the market, his eyes shone with anticipation and a hint of envy.

"Third-stage power, I wonder when I will reach that level..."

After murmuring to himself, Song Chi quickly regained his composure.

The envy came and went quickly. As the overseer of the marketplace, he had confidence that he would eventually reach not just the third stage, but even the fourth and fifth stages. He just needed time to achieve them step by step, so there was no need to envy others.

The phenomena triggered by the promotion lasted about half an hour, until the overwhelming aura solidified and no longer felt as ephemeral as a castle in the air. This marked the completion of Tuogu Hong's promotion from quasi-third stage to third stage.

However, promotion alone was not enough. Song Chi had Tuogu Hong stay in the all-attribute cultivation chamber for another day until he adapted to his newfound strength.

In the free market area, the ten-meter-tall Tuogu Hong was freely emitting his third-stage aura. With his four arms moving in unison and his muscular thighs bulging, he looked like an ultimate machine of violence.

Indeed, after reaching the third stage, Tuogu Hong's height had doubled from five meters to ten meters.

Of course, this was just his normal form. If he activated his Ancestral Blessing ability, he would grow to a thousand meters tall, matching the size of a typical third-stage creature, and his combat power would reach the peak of the third stage.

A short distance away, Song Chi stood quietly, watching Tuogu Hong as he moved his body with full force.

The laws of the universe flowed around him, shielding him from the overwhelming third-stage aura, leaving him completely unaffected.

Watching Tuogu Hong's every movement, which carried immense power, Song Chi nodded in satisfaction.

Truly, the "Dragon Horse Gigantic Strength" ability was not just a name; Tuogu Hong's body and flesh indeed contained far greater power than that of an average third-stage creature.

With a wave of his hand, Song Chi summoned the [Azure Sky Piercing Spear] from the sealed storage room, and it flew to Tuogu Hong's feet.

Tuogu Hong looked at Song Chi, seeking his master's approval.

"Give it a try. If it suits you, this [Azure Sky Piercing Spear] will be yours to use from now on..."

While two sets of double blades might be more suitable for Tuogu Hong, given the blue-blooded race's natural four arms, Song Chi didn't have the time to find other weapons for him in the short term, so this would have to do.

Regardless, the [Azure Sky Piercing Spear] was a purple-quality extraordinary weapon, and its various abilities were top-notch.

As Tuogu Hong grasped the spear, the massive blood energy within him caused the originally two-meter-long [Azure Sky Piercing Spear] to instantly extend to twelve meters, the perfect length.

Swish, swish, swish!

The spear swung, and a green light flashed.

After a few minutes, Tuogu Hong, still somewhat unsatisfied, stopped at Song Chi's signal. A smile spread across his face, and his eyes gleamed with undisguised joy.

It was clear that he was extremely satisfied with the [Azure Sky Piercing Spear].

Seeing this, Song Chi nodded. Since it suited him, there was no need to waste more time finding other weapons. This was perfect.

Two days later, the Skybound successfully mined over thirty thousand medium-grade soul stones and took off to explore other regions in the Southern Domain.

Thus, Song Chi and Song You continued to wander through various areas in the Southern Domain, occasionally staying in one place for a few days or splitting up to mine. After completing their exploration and mining in the Southern Domain, they moved on to the Central Domain, the largest of the regions.

Time passed slowly in this routine. Before they knew it, a year had gone by.

During this year, Song Chi and Song You mined over a dozen soul stone veins, with astonishing results.

Song You alone received over 100,000 medium-grade soul stones, equivalent to over 300,000 family merit points.

As for Song Chi, the number was even more impressive. He obtained over 1.5 million medium-grade soul stones, which translated to 4.5 million family merit points.

Of course, throughout the year, he used over 60,000 medium-grade soul stones, which helped his mental energy reach the threshold of the second stage of the Mundane Mind state.

However, as the year passed, the Southern and Central Domains were mostly under the control of their family, leaving only the Eastern Domain, still fully controlled by the Soul Spirit race, and the Northern Domain, filled with marshes and water.

Because of this, Song Chi and Song You's mining plan came to an end.

In the all-attribute cultivation chamber of the Marketplace of All Realms, Song Chi sat cross-legged.

Yes, he was sitting cross-legged, not to practice any guiding techniques, but to visualize the projection of the Mythical Mech.

Well, not just a regular visualization, but to attempt to break into the second stage of the Mundane Mind state.

Around him, tens of thousands of medium-grade soul stones were neatly stacked, filling the cultivation chamber with dense soul energy. In his hands, he held two black soul cores, each emitting the soul energy of a third-stage creature.

Whew!

Taking a deep breath, Song Chi placed two third-stage soul cores in his hands, then laid them flat on his knees.

Having done this, he closed his eyes and his mind delved into the dark starfield within his consciousness.

Against the vast backdrop of the starry sky, a ten-thousand-meter mecha giant stood tall, with the ethereal shadow of a dragon whale circling around it.

As Song Chi's entire mind focused on the mythical mecha projection, the all-attribute training room began to change.

The immensely dense soul power began to rapidly flow into Song Chi's body. Once it entered his body, it didn't stop; instead, it continued to circulate with the dark energy, flowing through his entire body. When it reached his third eye, the soul power broke free from the dark energy cycle and surged into the Ancestral Aperture.

From the outside, it looked as if a soul power vortex had formed at Song Chi's third eye, continuously drawing in the soul power from his limbs and organs.

In this cycle, an unknown amount of time passed. Song Chi could already feel a significant throbbing pain in his third eye, a sign that the excessive soul power was making the Ancestral Aperture struggle to cope.

Despite this, he didn't stop his visualization, and his mind remained entirely focused on the mythical mecha projection in the depths of his consciousness.

Over the past year, he had experienced this many times, and he knew he was stuck at the threshold between the first and second stages of the Mundane Thought State.

If he couldn't break through, his mind would remain limited to handling three tasks simultaneously until his Guiding Technique reached level 20 and he underwent his second life transformation.

Although he had mastered the "Limit Break" technique, which allowed him to temporarily enter the second stage of the Mundane Thought State and handle four tasks simultaneously, this was only temporary. Once he exited the Limit Break state, his mind would revert to the first stage, and he would be back where he started. This was clearly not what Song Chi wanted.

"Stuck here for months, it's time to take the next step!"

With a mental command, the dark energy in his body paused, and two streams of dark energy split off, flowing into his palms.

In the next second, the two third-stage soul cores in his palms were activated. The pure soul power within the cores, along with the two streams of dark energy, was drawn into the dark energy cycle.

Finally, this cycle injected the soul power into the Ancestral Aperture.

With the injection of this far purer soul power, the already throbbing pain in his third eye intensified.

Gritting his teeth, Song Chi endured the continuous sharp pain in his mind, his focus unwavering on the mythical mecha projection above.

It might have been a split second, or it might have been a century; Song Chi didn't know how long it had been. All he knew was that at a certain moment, his mind suddenly became completely empty, and a loud boom echoed from the Ancestral Aperture, which had been throbbing with pain.

The sound was like the shattering of bricks and tiles, yet it also resembled the creation of a new world.

Before Song Chi could think further, the throbbing and sharp pain vanished, and a familiar clarity filled his entire mind.

"Did I succeed...?"

Feeling a sense of accomplishment, Song Chi opened his eyes. He knew he had succeeded; his mind had successfully advanced from the first stage to the second stage of the Mundane Thought State.

At the same time, his mind split into four, each part scanning one of the four directions of the all-attribute training room.

As expected, the ten million medium-grade soul stones scattered around had all turned into ordinary rocks, devoid of any soul power. The two black third-stage soul cores in his hands were similarly drained of all their soul power and were now worthless.

Seeing this, Song Chi's lips curved into a smile.

Although the resources consumed were significant, he had achieved his goal.

From this moment on, he could effortlessly handle four tasks simultaneously. If he entered the Limit Break state, he could handle five.

Moreover, once his Guiding Technique broke through to level 20 and he underwent his second life transformation, combined with the Limit Break state, he would be able to briefly handle six tasks simultaneously, reaching the third stage of the Mundane Thought State.

Why wouldn't he be happy?

With a slight mental command, the exhausted soul stones around him turned to ash and dissipated.

Song Chi didn't rush to leave the all-attribute training room. Instead, he spent some time conducting several tests.

He took out a few medium-grade soul stones, some high-grade soul stones, and first, second, and third-stage soul cores.

Two minutes later, Song Chi emerged from the all-attribute training room, his expression not as pleasant.

Through his tests, he discovered that after his mind advanced to the second stage of the Mundane Thought State, medium-grade soul stones had almost no effect on him. If he wanted to continue using soul stones to enhance his mind, he would need high-grade soul stones.

However, second-stage soul cores still had some effect, and while third-stage soul cores were less effective than before, they were still very significant.

This result naturally did not make Song Chi happy.

After all, he still had over 1.3 million medium-grade soul stones left.

Since they can no longer benefit him, he would have to sell all these mid-grade soulstones. However, it’s not something that can be done in a short time, given the sheer number of them.

Of course, if he didn’t mind exposing himself and didn’t fear the first direct lineage suspecting that numerous soulstone veins had been completely mined out, he could sell them directly through the family’s public channel. But does Song Chi have the nerve to do that?

The answer is clearly no.

"Looks like we’ll have to handle this internally. I’ll ask Grandpa and Uncle later…"

Putting this issue aside for now, Song Chi proceeded to inventory the other three types of resources he had.

Over the entire year, he had mined numerous veins and naturally didn’t just discover low-grade and mid-grade soulstone veins.

Six months ago, just two months after he entered the Central Domain, he was fortunate enough to detect a high-grade soulstone vein in a deep mountain valley. Unfortunately, it was a micro-vein, and he managed to extract only 8,900 high-grade soulstones. Adding the scattered remnants, he now had just over 10,000 high-grade soulstones.

Additionally, during the year, every time he went to a new mining location, he also deployed the Void Shadow Killer Clan puppets, which brought him considerable gains.

The most significant of these were over 300 second-stage soul cores and 16 third-stage soul cores, though now he only had 14 third-stage soul cores left.

"With these, I should be able to experience a period of rapid enhancement in my mental energy."

Having finished inventorying all his soul-related resources, Song Chi exited the market with a thought.

...

Outside, in the easternmost part of the Central Domain, the Soul Spear Mountains.

As the dividing mountains between the Central and Eastern Domains of the Soul Spirit Floating Land, the Soul Spear Mountains stretch nearly two million kilometers from north to south, perfectly separating the two domains.

Today, the Central Domain is almost entirely under the control of the Song family. To keep the Song family out of the Central Domain, the Soul Spirit Clan has set up a massive defensive line along the Soul Spear Mountains.

In this defensive line, the remaining Soul Spirit Clan in the Eastern Domain has invested a significant amount of combat power, including nearly a hundred third-stage Soul Spirits, over three hundred Chimera and Black Water Serpents of the third stage.

On the other side, the Song family has also gathered a considerable number of clan members, with over fifty third-stage Ember Captains and over five hundred second-stage Ember Captains.

The two sides have been in a standoff along the Soul Spear Mountains for more than three months.

In the southern segment of the Soul Spear Mountains, inside a mountain peak thousands of meters high.

Song Chi emerged from his single-person cave, which was their family’s new garrison point.

The mountain peak was named Southern Peak 14, and the area they were responsible for was called the Southern Segment 14 Defense Line.

At the entrance of Grandpa’s cave, Song Ming Song looked somewhat surprised at Song Chi.

Song Chi had been a rare visitor over the past year, often traveling with Song You to explore a large part of the Soul Spirit Floating Land, only returning recently.

Before Grandpa could speak, Song Chi said first, "Grandpa, do we need mid-grade soulstones in our lineage?"

Song Ming Song raised an eyebrow.

"So, you’ve been mining soulstones with Little You this past year?"

Song Chi hadn’t expected his grandpa’s first question to be this, and he could only awkwardly twitch his mouth and nod slightly.

Seeing this, Song Ming Song didn’t press further and asked directly, "How many?"

Song Chi gestured with twelve fingers.

"Twelve thousand?"

Song Chi shook his head.

Seeing this, Song Ming Song wasn’t surprised. After all, he had been out for nearly a year, and twelve thousand was indeed a small number.

"Twelve hundred thousand? You’re quite something, to have managed that much..."

Before he could finish, Song Chi shook his head again.

At this point, Song Ming Song’s expression suddenly turned serious, losing the earlier relaxed demeanor. He spoke slowly, "Chi, you’re not joking, are you? You’re telling me it’s one million two hundred thousand?"

Seeing Song Chi nod without a hint of joking, even with Song Ming Song’s over two hundred years of experience, his heart rate couldn’t help but accelerate.

One million two hundred thousand mid-grade soulstones. That’s three million six hundred thousand family merit points. Three million six hundred thousand merit points in a year?

For a moment, Song Ming Song was silent, at a loss for words.

No matter how he thought about it, he couldn’t fathom how his grandson managed to gather such a vast number of soulstones.

After a brief moment of shock, Song Ming Song quickly regained his composure. After all, he was over two hundred years old and wouldn’t let his emotions get the better of him.

He was deeply pleased, as these were soul resources, even if they were low-tier. The sheer volume made a significant difference, especially for zero-stage and first-stage Ember Captains.

If he stored them in their lineage’s secret vault, they would undoubtedly become one of the most sought-after resources.

However, the three million six hundred thousand merit points were a bit of a problem. Even as a third-stage Ember Captain, it wasn’t something he could come up with in a short time.

It wasn’t that he didn’t have the assets, but most of his wealth was in other rare items and titanium crystals. Who would carry that many merit points around?

Song Chi, of course, had considered this. Seeing his grandpa’s hesitation, he immediately said, "Grandpa, we can also use high-grade soulstones, second-stage soul cores, and other resources to offset the cost."

Two minutes later, Song Chi returned to his cave, clutching a thousand second-stage soul cores and fifty thousand high-grade soul stones. Of course, these were not the only items he had obtained. In total, these two items amounted to roughly 1.6 million merit points. As for the remaining two million merit points, Grandfather promised that the clan would pay them off in installments over the next three years. Song Chi, of course, had no objections to this arrangement. Otherwise, it would have taken him a considerable amount of time to gather 1.2 million medium-grade soul stones on his own. Additionally, he still had over a hundred thousand medium-grade soul stones, which he intended to save for Song Ting's future use.

"Grandfather sure had some incredible luck, managing to find over a hundred thousand high-grade soul stones in the hideout of a peak third-stage soul spirit after slaying it," Song Chi mused. He had been busy for over a year and had only managed to gather a little over ten thousand high-grade soul stones. His grandfather's luck was truly unparalleled.

Back in his cave, Song Chi once again entered the market. However, this time, he focused on the Guiding Technique rather than the Mythic Mecha Projection visualization. Over the past year, he had not neglected his Guiding Technique practice, and he still vividly remembered the unknown fourth-stage entity's attack from a distance. This experience had made him more determined to advance to the second stage and undergo his second life enhancement as soon as possible.

In the full-attribute training room, he assumed the standard Guiding Technique posture, and the boundless dark energy surged around him. At level 24, the full-attribute training room provided an even more astonishing boost to dark energy cultivation. Over the past year, after 12 market transactions, the market level had reached level 24, and it was just one step away from level 25. Song Chi's Guiding Technique had also reached level 18. From the peak of level 16 to level 18 in just over a year, his progress was indeed impressive to outsiders, but Song Chi was not satisfied. He had access to body-strengthening liquids, second-stage insect essence meat, and a full-attribute training room far superior to ordinary dark energy cultivation platforms. His cultivation conditions were ten to a hundred times better than those of other rank-two ember ship captains, so he was not content with his current speed.

At level 18, he still needed to break through to level 19, and then there was the even more challenging second-stage bottleneck. Just this one rank of Guiding Technique cultivation had taken so long; how could he be satisfied?

Ten hours later, Song Chi emerged from the full-attribute training room. As expected, his Guiding Technique remained at level 18, still some distance from level 19. The higher the level of the Guiding Technique, the harder it was to break through, and it was not easy to improve.

Suppressing his less-than-ideal mood, Song Chi connected his mind to Zhao Lei, who was still in the asteroid belt.

"Has anything unexpected happened during this time?"

After a few dozen seconds, Zhao Lei's mental response came back.

"Master, everything is fine. We have mined a considerable amount of various resources. Should I go to the market?"

"No, continue mining."

After confirming the situation, Song Chi exited the market. Over the past year, he had also conducted multiple explorations of different star domains, but the gains were limited. Fortunately, the soul spirits in the asteroid belt and Zhao Lei's team had performed well, accumulating resources worth nearly half a million zero-stage floating land essences. If not for the limited number of floating land mining vehicles and standardized civilian interstellar mining ships, the total would have been much higher. The humanoid alien species had not interfered with Zhao Lei's operations, so Song Chi had not taken action against them.

...

In the outer cave, Song Chi took a quick shower, then placed a hundred high-grade soul stones around him and took out ten second-stage soul cores, preparing to continue the Mythic Mecha Projection visualization. The recent breakthrough in his mental power had restored his peak mental state, and he could easily continue visualizing for a few more hours.

However, before he began, his flickering gaze suddenly became resolute, and he made a decision.

"Tomorrow, I'll inform Grandfather and head to the Northern Region. I've heard that some clan members found deep-water pearl clams in the Northern Marsh, and I hope this news isn't just a rumor!"

Several months ago, a clan member had reported finding deep-water pearl clams in the Northern Region on the Ember Network. Given the marsh environment in the Northern Region, the news seemed credible. However, due to safety concerns and the lack of specialized components on the Canopy, Song Chi had never ventured there. But his cultivation progress was too slow, and after much consideration, he decided to visit the Northern Region.

Of course, there was another crucial reason. In recent market transactions, he had managed to acquire a suitable ship component by deliberately seeking it out. If not for this, he would not have made such an impulsive decision, as it did not align with his usual cautious approach.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end