https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-197-Revisiting-the-Red-Curiosity-Law-Stones-and-Law-Crystals/12833860/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-199-The-Ember-Fleet-Pass-and-the-Unexpected-Purple-Curio/12833862/
Chapter 198: The Hunt
Chapter 198: The Hunt
Although he had a plan in mind, Song Chi didn't dwell on it too much. After all, it was something for the next market session, and he could figure out the specifics then.
Meanwhile, the streamlined hull of his ship, now glowing with a renewed luster, shot up into the sky, quickly disappearing into the endless clouds above the Dragon Spine Continent.
...
The Heavenly Ruins Market, Free Stall Area
After returning to the Azure Moon Estate, Song Chi immediately entered the market.
He wasn't in a rush to use the remaining three-quarters of the 1,500-year-old deep-sea clam pearl.
It had been over two months since his last Life Ascension, but his body hadn't fully recovered yet. For now, he would continue his Guiding Technique training at a steady pace, rather than attempt another rapid advancement.
He understood the principle of moderation.
In the Free Stall Area, the 120-meter-long Sky Vault was quietly docked.
Leaning against the ship's pitch-black hull, Song Chi looked up through the layer of dark energy protective shield, gazing at the desolate void beyond the market.
Hmm... After careful consideration, he decided to explore the outer void.
Over a year ago, he had planned to hunt Void Demons, and he had felt the urge multiple times since then. However, various reasons always prevented him from taking action.
Now, after so much time, the Sky Vault had successfully been upgraded to a frigate, and Song Chi had undergone two Life Ascensions, becoming a genuine second-stage Ember Fleet Captain. It was time to finally put this long-delayed plan into action.
The current Sky Vault, in addition to the "Stabilization" characteristic granted by the Spatial Fixation Stone, also had the special spatial resistance provided by the Void Membrane. Now, with the addition of the Void Escape Pearl, it had triple insurance, ensuring ample safety.
There were three reasons why he chose this time to hunt Void Demons.
First, the Sky Vault had just undergone a major upgrade. Song Chi wanted to test its performance before heading to the Copper Mountain Floating Land, to better gauge his own capabilities.
Second, his Dragon Blood Secret Realm desperately needed high-quality Void Crystals to accelerate its development. He was also eager to obtain the Spirit Tempering Fruit to further enhance his mental strength.
Third, Void Crystals were highly valued in the family's Merit Hall, especially high-quality ones, which could be directly exchanged for Gold Merit Points. After his trip to the 60th floor of the Merit Hall, the allure of Gold Merit Points had deeply ingrained itself in his mind.
So, he wanted to try exchanging Void Crystals for a large number of Gold Merit Points.
Turning around, he boarded the Sky Vault, but didn't stay long. Soon, he walked out of the ship's hatch, the hum of the engines echoing through the market as the Sky Vault slowly lifted off and ascended.
He had boarded the ship just to activate the Brainwave Remote Control System and set a brainwave beacon for himself. This way, he could remotely control the Sky Vault.
Triple insurance was indeed very safe, but Song Chi wouldn't risk his own life to test it. Instead, he would use the brainwave beacon for remote control.
Only after the Sky Vault completed a thorough test run in the void, ensuring it could navigate through void storms and turbulence, would he personally board it to hunt the Void Demons.
The Sky Vault quickly broke through the dark energy barrier surrounding the market and headed toward the depths of the void.
In the market, Song Chi closed his eyes, focusing all his mental energy on the Sky Vault.
Half an hour later, his brow furrowed.
After half an hour of travel, the Sky Vault finally left the safe, silent zone of the void where the market was located. As expected, shortly after exiting this relatively safe area, it encountered a hundred-meter-wide void storm.
Despite its small size, which didn't even match the length of the Sky Vault, the storm's chaotic void energy was unimaginably powerful.
If an ordinary frigate were to get caught in it, it would likely suffer severe damage, with its energy shields overloading and the hull taking significant hits.
However, Song Chi didn't avoid it. Under his control, the Sky Vault charged straight into the storm.
The dark matter energy shield on the ship's surface rippled violently as the void energy and dark matter energy clashed with full force.
Energy Shield Damaged, Shield Value -1450.
Energy Shield Damaged, Shield Value -1510.
...
In the main control room, urgent warning alarms blared every second, but to Song Chi, they brought a smile to his lips.
The Level 39 Dark Matter Energy Shield Generator, under the influence of the Neutron Star Core Pulse characteristic, could regenerate over ten thousand shield points per second.
In other words, the current hundred-meter spatial storm posed no threat to the Azure Sky.
Sure enough, the next second, a new alert sounded, and the Dark Matter Energy Shield immediately restored all the lost shield points.
Battleship Damaged, Neutron Star Core Pulse Characteristic Activated, Dark Matter Energy Shield Regenerating.
Dark Matter Energy Shield Fully Restored!
...
Satisfied with this, Song Chi didn't let the Azure Sky linger any longer. With a roar from the engines, the ship quickly broke free from the hundred-meter spatial storm and continued forward.
Over the next two hours, Song Chi had the Azure Sky test spatial storms of three hundred meters, five hundred meters, and one kilometer.
The conclusion was clear: with the Neutron Star Core Pulse characteristic and triple spatial resistance, only a one-kilometer spatial storm could barely outpace the Azure Sky's Dark Matter Energy Shield regeneration.
Of course, if the storm was just one kilometer or slightly larger, it wouldn't cause catastrophic damage to the Azure Sky.
The ship could even remain in such a storm for a short time, as long as it broke free promptly, with no risk and the energy shield fully restored within ten minutes.
However, once the storm reached 1500 meters or 2000 meters in diameter, it would pose a significant threat to the Azure Sky.
Not only would the Dark Matter Energy Shield be unable to withstand it, but the ship would also find it difficult to escape the storm's gravitational field with the current power of the Photon Fusion Engine.
So, in summary: spatial storms under 1500 meters were safe to navigate, but those over 1500 meters should be avoided if possible.
After completing this test, the Azure Sky spent over an hour returning to the marketplace.
Song Chi didn't take immediate action, as he needed to wait for the Neural Remote Control System components to cool down.
After a few hours of training in the full-attribute training chamber, the Neural Remote Control System components were ready, and the Azure Sky once again set out from the marketplace.
...
Far beyond the marketplace, the Azure Sky was rapidly navigating through the star sea's dark side. Compared to the fragmented star sea, this region was even more desolate and dangerous.
It stretched endlessly, as if there were no end in sight.
After several hours of travel, Song Chi had guided the Azure Sky through millions of kilometers, but the projection screen remained pitch black, with no other colors visible.
Another critical point was that the Silver III Patrol Radar was severely limited in this dark region, showing a current detection range of only ten thousand kilometers, a fraction of its normal range.
This greatly reduced the efficiency of searching for spatial demons.
However, Song Chi wasn't in a rush. He continued to navigate the dark void at a steady pace, as he had long been aware of this issue, which was one of the reasons he had not attempted to hunt spatial demons before.
This mission was a trial run before heading to the Copper Mountain Floating Land. Any gains would be a bonus, but if his luck was poor, he couldn't force it. Safety always came first.
As he pondered, a sudden alert on the radar caught his attention, and his face lit up with excitement.
A small squad of spatial demons appeared on the radar.
There were only a hundred or so, but their strength was decent, with ten at the second stage and the rest at the first stage.
If he could kill them all, he would gain ten strands of third-stage floating land essence and over a hundred strands of second-stage essence.
"It's you guys then!"
At the same time, the Azure Sky turned and charged toward the location of the spatial demon squad.
In the pitch-black void, thanks to the Silent Sonic Field and Spatial Membrane, the Azure Sky hovered silently a short distance from the spatial demon squad, while the demons, ten thousand meters away, remained completely unaware.
In the control room, the [Silver III Ultra-Wave Demon Energy Detection Radar] confirmed that there were no life energy fluctuations from other void demons within a hundred thousand kilometers. Without hesitation, Song Chi opened the hatch.
In the next second, thirty Void Shadow Killer puppets surged out, led by the one with a brainwave beacon, charging straight toward the distant group of void demons.
After the thirty Shadow Killer puppets had advanced a significant distance, the Azure Sky also initiated the attack.
Boom!
The main cannon and two secondary cannons, all at the third rank, combined with the fact that void demons, like the Void Shadow Killers, were high-attack, low-defense creatures. By the time the thirty Void Shadow Killer puppets approached, the void demon squad was already more than half wiped out.
The remaining few were quickly finished off by the arriving Void Shadow Killer puppets.
All of this happened in just a few short minutes.
In less than five minutes, Song Chi had obtained ten third-rank Floating Land Essences and 102 second-rank Floating Land Essences. The money came in so quickly that it was almost too easy.
Feeling the sweet taste of success, the Azure Sky continued to roam the surrounding area.
Three days later, the Azure Sky returned to the market.
Song Chi descended from the warship with a calm expression, showing no signs of the joy that usually comes with a bountiful harvest.
During those three days, they had hunted fewer than a thousand void demons, yielding one third-rank Void Crystal, twenty-five second-rank Void Crystals, 240 first-rank Void Crystals, and 560 zero-rank Void Crystals.
There was no choice; searching for these void demons was too troublesome, often taking hours without finding even a trace.
The void space was vast, so vast that even though it contained countless void demons, they were far from being everywhere.
Song Chi had considered having the Azure Sky deliberately leave a tracking mark, but this would require dismantling the already enhanced Level 39 [Abnormal State Purifier], and there were unpredictable dangers involved. After some thought, he decided against it.
The concept wasn't entirely dismissed, however. If it couldn't be attempted on the Azure Sky vessel, perhaps alternative methods could be employed, such as utilizing a deliberately marked Void Shadow Killer puppet, or utilizing an enslaved creature from the Azure Sky.
Additionally, the tendency of void demons to be attracted to light or strong energy sources could be utilized.
However, these methods would have to be tested later. For now, he needed to focus on adjusting himself to reach his best state before heading to the Copper Mountain Floating Land.
...
Four days later, above the Azure Moon Manor, nine Ember Fleet warships lined up in a row, hovering silently.
Two were a kilometer long, and seven were a hundred meters long, belonging to the nine core members of the tenth direct lineage.
In the warship communication group chat, Song Ming's rough voice echoed.
"Let's go!"
With that, the nine warships simultaneously lifted off, shooting into the sky and disappearing into the clouds in an instant.
Below, in the sprawling buildings around Azure Moon Lake, countless people remained transfixed, their gazes lingering.
As new members of the tenth direct lineage, everyone knew that these nine warships represented the majority of their lineage's high-end combat power.
...
Song Chi and his group were unaware of the reactions below. They surged out of the Dragon Spine Continent, and after a brief jump, they arrived at the family's short-distance teleportation gate on the Dragon Spine Continent.
Their destination was the medium-sized star gate teleportation relay station in the southern part of the Stabilizing Star Domain.
The last teleportation had been recent, so they waited a day before successfully teleporting to the southern relay station in the Stabilizing Star Domain.
Unlike the family's own short-distance teleportation gate, this massive space gate relay station was bustling with activity. Over six digits of Ember Fleet warships from the various star domains of the duchy passed through daily, making the ring-shaped station, which had a diameter exceeding hundreds of thousands of kilometers, particularly busy.
Generally, ordinary Ember Fleet captains had to pay a substantial teleportation fee and wait about ten days. During peak times, the wait could be even longer.
However, as members of the Stabilizing Song family, Song Chi and his group had certain privileges.
Each round of teleportation left about twenty spots reserved for those who needed to travel urgently.
(End of Chapter)
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