https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-186-Orange-Ascension-Fire-Core-and-Orange-Engine/12833819/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-188-Multitasking-and-Resetting-the-Spatial-Anchors/12833825/
Chapter 187: Ascension to the Second Rank
Chapter 187: Ascension to the Second Rank
High above the mountain range, the Celestial Vessel slowly descended.
When it was less than fifty meters from the unconscious Third Rank Thorned Dragon below, a beam of light shot out from the warship, directly targeting the Thorned Dragon.
This beam of light was none other than the enslavement mark emitted by the Enslavement Medallion.
As one of the only two red components on the Celestial Vessel, the Enslavement Medallion had already been enhanced to the Third Rank and currently possessed five enslavement marks. So far, four of these marks had been used.
- Zachary Lee, a Foundation Establishment Cultivator
- Third Rank Soul Clan Soul One
- Third Rank Soul Clan Soul Two
- Third Rank Azure Blood Clan Tucker Hong
There was originally a Dark Tide Serpent, but Song Chi found it wasteful to occupy a slot, so he canceled its enslavement. However, he didn't kill it. Instead, it was now indirectly controlled through Soul Two of the Third Rank Soul Clan using a soul mark.
Speaking of soul marks, the one controlled by Soul One was not wasted either. It controlled a Third Rank peak Dual-Headed Chimera.
Currently, Soul One, Soul Two, Zachary Lee, and the Dual-Headed Chimera were all stationed in the asteroid belt.
After the mining operation on the Spirit Essence Floating Isle ended, the ten Fury Tiger mining vehicles that were left over were no longer needed. So, during the last exploration of an alien star domain, Song Chi sent Soul One and the ten mining vehicles to the asteroid belt. He also assigned a standard civilian interstellar mining ship from the previous mining team, forming a second mining team.
This significantly improved mining efficiency.
"Hmm?"
A surprised murmur came from above. Song Chi, who could imagine the man's surprised expression, did not explain anything and attributed everything to luck.
After all, the Enslavement Medallion was a red enslavement component and had been enhanced to the Third Rank. Even a fully healthy Third Rank Thorned Dragon would find it difficult to resist, let alone one that was severely injured. Indeed, the Enslavement Medallion successfully enslaved the Third Rank Thorned Dragon on its first attempt, which was why the middle-aged man in the cruiser above was surprised.
As a Third Rank Flame Ship Captain who had been stationed on the Dragon Floating Isle for two years, he had seen many attempts to enslave Third Rank Thorned Dragons. Most of those attempts required over ten tries to succeed, and even those with high-quality enslavement components needed three to five attempts.
A successful enslavement on the first try was quite rare.
Of course, he didn't think much of it, assuming that Song Chi had just gotten lucky and hit the extremely low probability.
With the enslavement successful, the Thorned Dragon awoke from its stupor.
"Reduce your size to the minimum!"
"Thirty meters should be fine!"
Song Chi said these two sentences. The first was for the Third Rank family elder above, and the second was transmitted to the Thorned Dragon through the mental bridge characteristic of the enslavement mark.
Reducing from 1000 meters to 30 meters was a ratio of about 33 times, slightly higher than the 20 times reduction range of ordinary purple enslavement components. However, some premium purple enslavement components, when enhanced to the Third Rank, could achieve this and still allow the Thorned Dragon to fit into the Celestial Vessel without arousing too much suspicion.
Sure enough, the middle-aged Song family member in the cruiser above said nothing more. After Song Chi expressed his gratitude again, he directed the Celestial Vessel straight into the sky, leaving the Dragon Floating Isle.
In the control room, the Thorned Dragon, which had been 30 meters in size just moments ago, had now shrunk to the size of a fist.
The tiny creature now stood on Song Chi's shoulder, its black head constantly nuzzling his neck, completely devoid of its former arrogance, embodying the term "licking dog" to the fullest.
As for its wounds, Song Chi wasn't worried. The self-healing ability of dragon species was well-known. If it could sleep for ten to fifteen days, its injuries would be almost completely healed.
...
Two days later, Song Chi successfully returned to the Azure Moon Manor.
His parents were not at home, either out purchasing items for the operation three months later at the Dragon Spine Divine Mountain or exploring an alien star domain together.
Song Chi didn't think much about it and entered the ruins market.
In the Level 25 all-attribute training room, Song Chi held a high-grade body-strengthening potion in his left hand and a seven-hundred-year-old Deep Sea Pearl in his right.
Dark energy flowed from his right palm, causing the Deep Sea Pearl to tremble violently.
A few seconds later, the Deep Sea Pearl, under the erosion of the dark energy, completely turned into a pale white powder.
Pouring the powder into the high-grade body-strengthening potion vial, Song Chi gently shook it a few times before swallowing it in one gulp.
This was far from over. Song Chi had already prepared 20 pounds of second-stage insectoid muscle, which he consumed along with the body-tempering elixir applied to his skin. At this moment, he felt an endless flow of heat emanating from every part of his body.
Without hesitation, he assumed the posture for the Guiding Technique and began his cultivation.
Under the combined effects of the various enhancements and the extremely dense aura energy in the all-attribute cultivation room, Song Chi finally felt the long-awaited rapid progress in his Guiding Technique.
Five days later, a noticeable surge of aura energy emerged from the all-attribute cultivation room.
Song Chi's Guiding Technique had successfully advanced from level 18 to level 19.
He felt a sense of nostalgia, realizing that the Deepwater Pearl was indeed more effective for advancing the Guiding Technique.
However, despite the rapid progress, he had consumed 4 700-year-old Deepwater Pearls and 4 advanced body-tempering potions over the five days.
In other words, he had used up all his 700-year-old Deepwater Pearls. Although he still had a good number of 300 and 500-year-old ones, they no longer had any effect on his level 19 Guiding Technique.
"Should I use those two 900-year-old Deepwater Pearls now...?"
With this thought, he repeated the process he had used before, combining one 900-year-old Deepwater Pearl with an advanced body-tempering potion. Without leaving the all-attribute cultivation room, he immediately began his second round of cultivation.
This time, it took ten days. When Song Chi finally emerged from the all-attribute cultivation room, his Guiding Technique had reached its peak at level 19.
The combination of the 900-year-old Deepwater Pearl, advanced body-tempering potion, body-tempering elixir, second-stage insectoid muscle, and the all-attribute cultivation room was indeed powerful. In just ten days, he had achieved what might take an ordinary Ember Fleet captain two to three years to accomplish.
However, Song Chi was not entirely satisfied. The two 900-year-old Deepwater Pearls had not been enough to break through to level 20, which was a significant regret.
With a thoughtful expression, he left the marketplace to rest for two days. The continuous cultivation over the past half-month had left him somewhat fatigued, and he needed to rest before attempting to advance to the second stage.
Shortly after leaving the marketplace, Song Chi sat cross-legged under a peach tree in his courtyard, preparing to visualize the projections of mythic mechs for a few hours before resting.
Although his mental power had reached the second stage of the Mortal Thought state, he could not afford to be complacent. After all, he aimed to achieve the third stage of the Mortal Thought state after advancing to the second stage.
"Son!"
Suddenly, his mother's voice came from the side. Turning to look, he saw Chen Lixia standing outside the courtyard with a gentle smile on her face.
"Mom, when did you get back?"
Welcoming his mother into the courtyard, they soon began chatting.
"Really, you and Dad both advanced to the Blue Ember Seed?"
"Yep!"
Chen Lixia nodded with a smile, her phoenix-like eyes narrowing slightly, the joy in her eyes unmistakable.
"What happened? Tell me quickly."
After about ten minutes, Chen Lixia, noticing that Song Chi was not in the best mental state, did not stay long. She explained briefly and then left, not forgetting to remind him to rest well and not to be too fixated on cultivation.
Song Chi nodded, inwardly feeling grateful for his father's good fortune.
According to his mother, the alien star domain they had traveled to through a spatial beacon was a broken fragment of a third-tier star sea landmass that his father had discovered during an exploration mission half a year ago. On this fragment, they had obtained a purple-grade supreme fire source.
Upon returning, they had used their accumulated credits to exchange for another purple-grade supreme fire source at the family merit hall, allowing both of them to advance to the Blue Ember Seed.
Song Chi genuinely felt happy for his parents.
Being able to advance their Ember Seeds to blue before heading to the Copper Mountain Floating Land was indeed a great piece of news.
This meant that the energy shields and armor plating on their ships could be directly reinforced to the third stage, significantly improving their safety compared to the previous second-stage limit.
...
Cross-legged, with two high-grade soulstones in each hand, Song Chi focused his mind on visualizing the mech projections.
Three hours later, the soul power in the four high-grade soulstones was completely drained. He casually tossed them into a corner of the courtyard and returned to his bedroom, quickly falling into a deep sleep.
Two days later, Song Chi was fully rejuvenated and energetically entered the Marketplace of All Realms.
As always, he headed to the all-attribute cultivation room.
After much contemplation, his eyes suddenly focused, and he waved to retrieve the 1500-year-old Deepwater Pearl from his belongings.
Indeed, he had decided to use this ultra-high-year-old Deepwater Pearl to help him break through to the second stage.
This approach comes with some risks. While the 1,500-year-old deep-water clam pearl is known for its mild properties, that's only in comparison to other beings of the same caliber.
Compared to the 1,500-year-old deep-water clam pearl, Song Chi, at Level 19 of the Guiding Technique, is more like a python attempting to swallow an elephant. His courage is commendable, but there's a real danger that he might burst his belly in the process.
However, Song Chi has considered this. Instead of crushing the entire 1,500-year-old clam pearl into powder, he carefully cut off about a quarter of it and mixed it into the advanced body-forging potion. The remaining three-quarters he stored away, intending to use them with top-tier body-forging potions after he officially breaks through to the second stage of the Guiding Technique.
Gulping down the potion that contained only a quarter of the 1,500-year-old clam pearl, Song Chi didn't even have time to apply the body-tempering liquid. He felt as if a ball of fire had ignited in his abdomen, and a surge of scorching energy erupted, spreading violently throughout his body.
Clearly, the advanced body-forging potion containing just a quarter of the 1,500-year-old clam pearl held far more energy than the one with the 700-year-old pearl, even after neutralizing it with 900 years' worth of deep-water clam pearl powder. This highlighted just how potent the 1,500-year-old deep-water clam pearl truly was.
Quickly assuming the stance for the Guiding Technique, Song Chi focused on channeling the scorching energy that continued to surge from his abdomen.
Hiss!
The energy flowing through his meridians burned his entire body, causing sharp pains that made it almost impossible for him to concentrate on his practice. But each time, he managed to suppress the pain.
He was well aware that stopping the Guiding Technique now would have disastrous consequences. Without the guiding energy, the continuous surge of scorching energy from his abdomen would burn his meridians to the point of no return, destroying his foundation for cultivation.
This state lasted for about half an hour, which felt like an eternity to Song Chi. The indescribable pain and burning sensation could drive a normal person mad.
Fortunately, he persevered. With each surge of the scorching energy, the barrier between Level 19 and Level 20 of the Guiding Technique began to crumble. A few more surges, and he would undoubtedly break through to the second stage, achieving his second life transformation.
The intense burning in his abdomen gradually subsided, but the energy didn't disappear entirely. It continued to flow from his abdomen to other parts of his body.
Harnessing this energy, Song Chi decided to push further immediately.
After the first surge, the cracks in the barrier to the second stage grew more numerous.
The second surge added more cracks.
The third surge, and he could hear the faint sounds of the barrier fracturing.
The fourth surge, and the barrier shattered completely, unable to hold back Song Chi's advancement.
At that moment, a massive wave of energy enveloped his entire body. This energy began to flow into every cell, as if preparing to cleanse his entire being.
This was life energy, a force that every carbon-based life form about to undergo a life transformation would experience.
Indeed, just now, Song Chi's Guiding Technique successfully broke through from Level 19 to Level 20, and he was about to undergo his second life transformation. Once this transformation was complete, he would become a fully-fledged second-stage life form.
Feeling the tingling and warmth spreading through his body, Song Chi almost moaned aloud. Each life transformation was an incredibly pleasurable experience, allowing him to completely empty his mind and rejuvenate his body and spirit.
After an unknown amount of time, when the fluorescent white energy finally dissipated, Song Chi opened his eyes.
In his pitch-black eyes, a blue flame flickered, followed by a stream of dark energy emerging from his body, quickly forming a translucent layer of dark energy around him.
Though this layer of dark energy seemed faint, it provided significant defensive capabilities.
This was a power that every second-stage Ember Fleet captain gained—the ability to manifest dark energy externally. While it wasn't as advanced as the third-stage ability to project dark energy outside the body, it offered ample self-protection and a noticeable boost to their offensive capabilities.
Of course, what Song Chi cared about most was the increase in his lifespan.
After advancing to the second stage, his lifespan officially reached 300 years.
(End of Chapter)
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