https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-220-Five-Components-of-the-Fourth-Rank-Skybound-s-Sudden-Increase-in-Attributes/12898706/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-222-Infamous-Star-Devouring-Vine-/12898708/
Chapter 221: The Purple [Holy Cross Beacon] and the Fourth-Rank Star Devouring Vine
Chapter 221: The Purple [Holy Cross Beacon] and the Fourth-Rank Star Devouring Vine
Song Chi tapped on the poster's avatar and initiated a private chat.
"Is the [Proportional Scaling Device] still available?"
For some unknown reason, even after nearly half an hour, he still hadn't received a reply from the other party.
Song Chi didn't just sit around waiting. He continued to browse various posts on the family's Long Spine Continent forum.
Of course, this time, he was looking for posts related to "high-quality spatial beacon emitters."
Spatial beacon emitters were already extremely rare. Although Song Chi was quite short of money, compared to ordinary Flame Vessel Captains, he was definitely a millionaire among millionaires.
In just over two years, his ship was already equipped with two red, seven orange, and six purple components, making it the pinnacle configuration for a Second-Rank Flame Torch Warship.
Even so, he had not given up on acquiring a spatial beacon emitter. However, just like the "individual shield" and "medical bay" components, he had never received any information about them.
Why was that?
Naturally, because these components were already rare.
Even if a clan member managed to obtain one, they would either keep it for personal use or the family would usually purchase it. After all, large-scale development of alien star regions and expeditions to alien Floating Lands required such components!
"Indeed, high-quality spatial beacon components are not easy to come by."
After checking various posts without any results, Song Chi sighed softly. Although he had expected as much, he still felt a bit dejected.
Acquiring a high-quality spatial beacon emitter was crucial for his subsequent exploration of the Ancient Star Battlefield.
However, he knew that such things couldn't be rushed. After some careful consideration, he posted his first thread on the forum.
The title was straightforward, getting straight to the point.
[30 Gold Achievement Points, Seeking a Purple-Quality Spatial Beacon Component!!]
He currently had 31 gold achievement points, so he directly offered 30 points. Whether it was worth it or not didn't matter for now; he just needed to get those who had such components to come forward.
As long as they were willing to show up, the price could be negotiated later.
In Song Chi's view, 30 gold achievement points was a reasonable price.
In reality, even if it was several times higher than the usual 5 to 10 points for ordinary purple components, it still didn't match the price of a high-quality purple ascending fire source, so it wasn't considered expensive.
Not long after posting, the private chat finally showed some activity.
"It's still available. Can we meet in person?"
On Long Spine Continent, several light-years away from Blue Moon Lake, stood the peaceful Taihe Mountain.
As the residence of the Ninth Direct Line of the Dinghai Song family, Taihe Mountain had been established for nearly two hundred years. With over 400,000 clan members, it was much more bustling than Blue Moon Lake.
In a quiet courtyard near the top of Taihe Mountain, Uncle Song, a middle-aged man with a square face, was intently staring at the private chat interface projected by his communication bracelet.
His eyes revealed a hint of seriousness, and there was a touch of anticipation.
Yes, he was the poster who had put up the [Proportional Scaling Device]. Initially, when he saw that the sender was only a Second Rank, he didn't think much of it. However, he instinctively felt that the name "Song Chi" sounded familiar.
Only after checking Song Chi's basic information and confirming that he was from the Tenth Direct Line and had been listed on the family's seventh sequence candidate list did he promptly reply.
The younger generation of the family might not know, but Uncle Song, who was already 500 years old, had witnessed multiple rounds of the family's sequence selections and competitions. He was well aware of the terrifying power of the family sequence.
He remembered that 300 years ago, when he was just a Second Rank newbie, the family was on an expedition to a Level 4 Star Sea Floating Land. It was then that he witnessed the most astonishing underdog victory of his life.
A member of the third sequence of that generation had single-handedly used a Third-Rank warship to challenge a Fourth-Rank creature with the Floating Land's core rule enhancement. After that battle, he truly understood what "family sequence" meant.
Because of this, over the years, he had been extremely attentive to each generation's sequence and the events surrounding the sequence competition.
So, he was very clear that even those listed on the family sequence candidate list were all outstanding talents, the absolute pride of the new generation of the family.
Perhaps it might not reach the level of a Third Rank fighting a Fourth Rank, which would be a civilization-altering cross-rank battle, but a Second Rank fighting a Third Rank is absolutely effortless.
...
Ten minutes later, a black streak of light darted out from the clouds, heading straight for Taihe Mountain.
At the waist of Taihe Mountain, a young girl sat cross-legged on a green stone by the cliff.
Her skin was fairer than snow, and her smooth black hair danced gracefully with the mountain breeze...
At this moment, her tightly closed eyes suddenly opened, and her delicate eyes gazed at the sky, seemingly following the slowly descending black streak of light.
"Who is this?"
Her brows furrowed slightly as her gaze fell on the dark energy shield enveloping the warship in the sky, sensing the extraordinary fluctuations it emitted.
As she spoke, a figure at the peak of Third Rank emerged from the shadows of the trees behind her.
This figure was slender, resembling a human, but with pointed ears. It bowed to the girl on the green stone and said, "Miss, if the information is correct, it should be Uncle Song's invited guest, 'Song Chi'!"
Upon hearing "Song Chi," a glimmer of interest flashed in the girl's delicate eyes.
"Is this the Song Chi on the candidate list?"
"Yes, Miss!"
...
Guided by the people below, the Cobalt Number successfully landed in a courtyard. After disembarking the warship, Song Chi quickly got to the point with Uncle Song.
"Can I try out that Proportional Scaling Device first?"
Uncle Song naturally did not refuse, readily taking out the purple component.
With plenty of Zero Rank and First Rank Floating Continent Essences at hand, Song Chi directly enhanced the component to level 20 after taking it.
The current scaling factor was 60 (30x2).
Seeing the number 60, Song Chi already had his answer.
At just Second Rank, it could scale up to 60 times. Without considering the Fourth Rank, just by enhancing it to Third Rank, it should easily double, reaching 120 times, which shouldn't be difficult.
A 120x scaling factor would be enough to shrink those nearly ten-thousand-meter-long ancient corpses to a few dozen meters, allowing the current Cobalt Number to carry them.
With this confirmed, Song Chi began to negotiate the price with the other party.
However, he soon heard some not-so-good news from the other side.
"Don't want gold achievement points? Need help to complete a targeted exploration of an exotic star region?"
Song Chi furrowed his brow, his intuition telling him this was definitely not an ordinary exploration of an exotic star region.
"Details?"
Just as he expected, the words that followed almost made him turn and leave immediately.
"A star region containing a Fourth Rank resource-type Floating Land. On that Fourth Rank Floating Land, there is a Star Devouring Vine, which has just ascended to Fourth Rank not long ago!"
Song Chi fell silent, not rushing to reply. His mind quickly flashed through all the information he had about the Star Devouring Vine.
The Star Devouring Vine is a type of space plant that promotes its own growth by devouring the core essence of floating lands in the star sea. It is highly aggressive and is considered one of the more dangerous space plants.
Thinking of this, he slowly shook his head.
"Sorry!"
Without hesitation, he outright refused.
He had recently experienced the combat power of a Fourth Rank entity, and even then, it was a severely injured Fourth Rank. Despite that, the terror of the Golden Armored Beast still lingered in his memory.
Even with the new, major-rank enhancement on the Cobalt Number, he still had an instinctive aversion to facing such a powerful life form, unwilling and hesitant to confront it directly.
Seeing Song Chi about to leave, Uncle Song felt a bit anxious and quickly said,
"Wait, let me finish. That Star Devouring Vine has only been Fourth Rank for less than ten years and has not yet fully mastered the Devouring Law!"
Song Chi's body instinctively paused.
As the name suggests, the Star Devouring Vine can rapidly devour the core essence of floating lands in the star sea. After ascending to Fourth Rank, it naturally masters the Devouring Law.
This is the most troublesome aspect of dealing with it. Over 90% of long-range attacks can be devoured by it, making it impossible to harm its main body.
To severely injure or even extinguish its life force, one must engage in close combat, which also means facing its terrifying root system, which is tougher than alloy and numbers in the thousands, making it extremely dangerous.
However, if it has not yet fully mastered the Devouring Law, it means that it might be possible to resolve the situation with only long-range attacks, avoiding all unnecessary dangers.
After some thought, Song Chi's mind was filled with doubts.
"If that's true, why do you need outside help?
Song Chi rejected the offer to help Song Fu, not because of the Star Devouring Vine, but because he believed that the reward was not enough. Song Fu then offered to add a Holy Cross Beacon component to the deal, which caught Song Chi's attention.
The Holy Cross Beacon component was a rare and valuable item that could be used to create a spatial beacon, which would allow the ship to travel to a specific location. Song Chi was interested in this component because it would be useful for his future adventures.
Song Fu agreed to give Song Chi the component in exchange for 1 Law Stone, which was a valuable resource that could be used to upgrade equipment. Song Chi accepted the deal and received the component.
After returning to his home, Song Chi used the Law Stone to upgrade his Pure Yang Sword Light Cannon, which was a powerful weapon that could be used to attack enemies. He wanted to upgrade it to ensure that he had enough firepower to defeat the Star Devouring Vine within 24 hours.
The upgrade required a significant amount of resources, including 100 strands of 3rd-stage Floating Continent Essence, 2 strands of 4th-stage Floating Continent Essence, 1 Law Stone, 60 Titanium Crystals, 1000 tons of Flame Yang Ore, and 70,000 units of Dark Energy. Song Chi confirmed the upgrade, and a bright orange light filled the ship as the Pure Yang Sword Light Cannon was upgraded to level 40.
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
