Chapter 732: The River of Time and Post-War Allocation

Chapter 732: The River of Time and Post-War Allocation

A million-fold time acceleration—this was beyond terrifying. Back when he had obtained the Chronal Chessboard, the highest time acceleration was only around ten thousand-fold.

The critical point was that they were currently only at the very edge of the time energy field. If they continued to move towards the center of this time energy source, the time acceleration would only become even more extreme.

"What could it be? Another ultra-high-tier time-related artifact like the Chronal Chessboard, or simply an enormous amount of time energy?"

After a moment of contemplation, Song Chi quickly refocused. He needed to see it for himself; speculating wouldn’t help.

"The Chronal Chessboard can still hold on, continue..."

Even with a million-fold time acceleration, the internal environment of the mirror warship, thanks to the Chronal Chessboard, only experienced a hundred-fold acceleration. This wasn’t yet at a level that would make him hesitate.

With the engines roaring, the mirror warship continued to advance.

As the warship sped through the region, the intensity of the surrounding time energy predictably changed.

Initially, it was at a million-fold acceleration.

Gradually, it reached 1.1 million-fold.

1.2 million-fold.

1.5 million-fold.

The Skygale of Tianxu mirror warship had only traversed less than a light-year, but the time acceleration had already escalated to a terrifying two million-fold.

It was worth noting that, according to the detection results from the Eye of Veritas, the region covered by this time energy source had a diameter of several dozen light-years.

Buzzing!

After an indeterminate amount of time, the Skygale of Tianxu mirror warship suddenly slowed down and eventually came to a complete stop.

This wasn’t the core area of the time energy source. The reason for the sudden halt was that Song Chi had remotely sensed a unique radiance nearby.

"Silver light, could it be a silver Star Sea artifact?"

The warship turned and headed toward the source of the silver light. Upon getting closer, Song Chi confirmed that the silver light indeed originated from a legendary artifact.

Seeing this, he focused his thoughts, and a beam of light shot out from the warship, attempting to draw the silver artifact into the ship.

However, Song Chi was soon disappointed. In the external environment with its millions-fold time acceleration, the beam of light, even when activated by the mirror, was affected by the terrifying time acceleration.

Inside the warship, the Chronal Chessboard provided protection, reducing the external time energy to a level more than ten thousand times weaker. However, once outside the warship, it was no longer within the protection range.

As a result, the Spiritual Energy required to maintain the beam of light increased by a million-fold. Even with the antimatter evolution engine and the Flame Roar Engine, the energy reserves of the mirror warship were rapidly being depleted.

Luckily, Song Chi’s attention was highly focused, and he immediately canceled the beam of light. Otherwise, a few seconds later, the entire reserve of Spiritual Energy within the warship would have been drained, causing the entire ship to enter a temporary shutdown.

After a few seconds of thought, Song Chi decided to have the enslaved creatures aboard the mirror warship activate the Pantheon Market Projection Token.

Each use of the Pantheon Market Projection Token was roughly equivalent to a silver artifact, so he wouldn’t be at a loss. If the external silver artifact could be converted into a ship component, he would even gain half a silver component.

Fortunately, the Pantheon Market had a high enough rank. Even with the external millions-fold time acceleration, the Purple Mist Energy projected by the token wasn’t significantly affected. Under Song Chi’s remote control, the silver legendary artifact was quickly drawn into the mirror warship and then sent to Song Chi, who was in the Pantheon Market.

Artifact: Illusory Void Armor

Quality: Silver

Convertible: No

Note: During the Age of Multiverses, the River of Time, which connected countless universes, shattered along with numerous universes, leaving behind many time ruins scattered throughout the broken Star Sea. One of these time ruins inadvertently gave rise to this artifact.

After reading the artifact’s attributes, Song Chi’s eyes gleamed.

The information before him perfectly explained the origin of the unknown time energy source.

"Time ruins of the River of Time... I thought they were just fictional from past novels, but they actually exist..."

"A small segment of time ruins is already this terrifying. How astonishing must the true River of Time have been?"

With these thoughts, Song Chi quickly refocused, his gaze returning to the silver legendary artifact in his hand.

More precisely, it landed on the surface of this peculiar silver artifact, specifically on a special layer of material covering it.

From the experiences of the three elders, Song Chi knew that under the immense power of time, even a legendary silver artifact would not survive, let alone a black supreme artifact without a special reason, which would gradually decay under the harsh force of time.

The replicated components on the three Annihilator Ship avatars, while not true artifact components, were non-removable and non-upgradable, with significant limitations.

However, one thing was certain: their essence as artifacts remained unchanged, even if they had some special properties, their core nature could not be altered.

If they could be eroded and decayed by the force of time, it suggested that other Star Sea artifacts would also be similarly affected.

Therefore, in Song Chi's view, for a legendary silver artifact to remain intact under a time flow rate millions of times faster, it must have some unique qualities.

With careful manipulation, he quickly and completely peeled off the special transparent energy membrane covering the surface of the Illusory Void Armor.

"This is..."

As the doubt surfaced in his mind, the Eye of Veritas provided the detection results.

Name: Source of Time

Category: Special Time Resource

Note: A rare time-based resource produced from the ancient Ruins of the River of Time, containing the most primal form of time energy and capable of isolating the effects of time energy.

Value: Extremely High

...

"Source of Time..."

Staring at the information provided by the Eye of Veritas, Song Chi's attention was not on the attribute panel before him.

Clearly, this special energy membrane named "Source of Time" was the fundamental reason the Illusory Void Armor could survive in the Ruins of the River of Time. However, the intense vibrations from another component behind him had already captured most of his attention.

The source of these intense vibrations was none other than one of the two highest-quality components of the Skygale of Tianxu—the Chronal Chessboard.

Looking at the abnormal reaction of the Chronal Chessboard component, Song Chi had a hunch.

"Could it be..."

With that thought, he slowly brought the thin layer of Source of Time close to the Chronal Chessboard.

The next second, the Chronal Chessboard's increasingly intense vibrations seemed to confirm his suspicion.

Letting go, he no longer tried to restrain the limited amount of Source of Time in his hand.

Without his constraint, the Source of Time quickly merged into the colorful chessboard under the attraction of the Chronal Chessboard.

Perhaps due to the small amount, the fusion process was extremely short, and after just two seconds, the Chronal Chessboard returned to a calm state. Checking the attributes of the Chronal Chessboard again, there was no change.

Seeing this, Song Chi's eyes betrayed no surprise.

His intuition told him that the Source of Time had a significant effect on the Chronal Chessboard. The lack of any visible change was only temporary. If he continued to collect more Source of Time, a qualitative transformation would eventually occur.

"Could it be that the first colored top-tier component of the Skygale of Tianxu is the Chronal Chessboard?"

With this idea in mind, Song Chi informed the three elders and then eagerly began a long search.

In his view, although a significant amount of Source of Time would be needed for the Chronal Chessboard to undergo a transformation, the Ruins of the River of Time were vast, and the number of artifacts and Source of Time produced within them was likely substantial. Exploring the entire ruins might yield enough Source of Time for the Chronal Chessboard's transformation.

Unfortunately, the time energy radiation in the Ruins of the River of Time was extremely high, completely masking the energy fluctuations of the artifacts. Even the Eye of Veritas could not accurately detect their distribution, which greatly increased Song Chi's workload.

Time passed, and ten years flew by.

Although the exploration and search of the entire Ruins of the River of Time were far from complete, Song Chi had to temporarily halt his efforts.

On this day, he summoned the three elders.

"I just received a message from the Demon God Floating Continent. The post-war distribution is about to begin!"

Hearing this, the faces of Song Wujian and the others, who had been busy collecting time energy for the past ten years, lit up with joy.

For them, this was undoubtedly excellent news.

Since the end of the Eight-Armed Serpent Demon Cluster war, they had been eagerly awaiting this day.

Not only were they concerned about the final determination of the territories they had already occupied, but they also knew that during the final post-war summary and distribution conference, their Song Clan would receive a significant reward.

The reason is simple: the contribution of the Song Clan in providing the location of the Veritas Mechanica and the Stellar Giant Ape Civilization's Galactic Cluster is immeasurable.

It's important to understand that the Eight-Armed Serpent Demon Civilization agreed to the alliance and relocation solely because of this information. Without the Song Clan's intelligence and the subsequent assistance with the space wormholes for the relocation, the outcome of this Civilization War would have been vastly different, and the conflict would have dragged on for thousands more years.

One cannot simply claim that the Ember Flame Civilization has held an absolute advantage since the war began. While this is true, it's only because the Eight-Armed Serpent Demons have not yet fully engaged. An ancient demon god from the bottomless abyss, combined with the power of a peak ninth-level Floating Continent, would make it nearly impossible to conquer the ancestral lands of the Eight-Armed Serpent Demons without a deal in place. Even if they were ultimately successful, the cost to the Ember Flame Civilization would have been unimaginable.

Therefore, their contribution to this Civilization War is among the most significant. Given the usual practices of the four great empires of the Ember Flame Civilization, it's unlikely they would fail to acknowledge such a contribution.

"Post-war allocation is a critical matter. We should put other concerns on hold and prioritize securing our share of the benefits!"

"Agreed, but I'm concerned about the Eight-Armed Serpent Demons. In just ten years, their advance has been faster than expected. Without the leadership of eighth- and ninth-level Star Sea apes, the Stellar Giant Ape Civilization has been unable to mount effective resistance. Nearly all the Floating Continents have surrendered to the Eight-Armed Serpent Demon forces. In just a decade, almost half of the Stellar Giant Ape Civilization's hundred galaxies have fallen."

"According to recent reports, an Eight-Armed Serpent Demon advance force has already entered our current galaxy. It won't be long before they pass through this region of space. If they get curious and start probing the Ruins of the River of Time, it could be problematic."

Hearing these words from the Ancestor, Song Chi nodded slightly.

This is indeed a concern. The Skygale of Tianxu mirror warship is safe, as it is located within the Ruins of the River of Time. He doubts the Eight-Armed Serpent Demons have the capability to withstand the millions of times faster time flow to interact with the mirror warship.

However, the three Ancestors' Annihilator Ship clones are outside the ruins. If the Eight-Armed Serpent Demons get any ideas, there's a real chance they might be discovered.

"Let's recall the ship clones proactively. Once the post-war allocation is settled, the Eight-Armed Serpent Demons will likely lose interest in this time ruin. Then, we can have Xiao Chi bring us back here."

"Agreed. In ten years, the time energy we've collected has already advanced the Swallowing Sky Python Shed's devouring transformation to 81%. It's clear that with a bit more time, this Mythical Artifact will undergo a fundamental transformation. It's better to be cautious!"

...

In the central star region of the Eight-Armed Serpent Demon Galactic Cluster, on the Demon God Floating Continent, massive flagship serpents rose from the ground, heading toward the giant spatial corridor in the sky.

In just ten years, with the full-speed relocation efforts, the number of Eight-Armed Serpent Demons remaining on the Demon God Floating Continent has been reduced by a significant amount. However, completing the full relocation will still take some time.

After all, the Eight-Armed Serpent Demon Galactic Cluster isn't just one Demon God Floating Continent. Even now, more Eight-Armed Serpent Demons are continuously arriving from outside.

The Ember Flame Civilization’s Ember Captains paid no mind to this. Both sides occupied the northern and southern ends of the Demon God Floating Continent, with a clear and distinct separation.

At the southern end of the Demon God Floating Continent, the sky above the Original Demon Holy Temple stretched vast and open.

With a single command from the three Ember Human Emperors, countless Flame-Ember Starships converged. In a short time, the dense fleet nearly obscured the entire sky.

This was due to the early orders from the four major empires, which stipulated that only those ranked as Fourth Stage Chuluku Captains or higher, whether individuals or factions, were invited to participate in this final war conference.

Just as before, twelve golden giant avatars gathered in the sky. As the golden light enveloped everything, millions of Flame-Ember Starships vanished simultaneously, entering the dark, silent void.

In the main control room of the Skygale of Tianxu, Song Chi’s eyebrows suddenly rose.

His gaze was fixed on the center of the void, where, in addition to the three hyperdimensional flagships—the Shenyaxia Jiu Li, the Xian Qin Zulong, and the Heavenly Light—two completely unfamiliar hyperdimensional flagships had appeared.

However, these two were not physical vessels but rather illusory projections.

‘The Xuanhuang Chiyu and the Shen Yi Qiongyu…’

Not just Song Chi, many Captains recognized the identities of these two ship projections.

The Xuanhuang Chiyu, of course, required no explanation. It was the flagship of the Chiyu Divine Empire, one of the four Ember Human Emperors, Empress Ji Heng. She had previously overseen the Imperial City on the Chaos Divine Continent, ensuring that the Ember Flame Civilization’s interests there were not encroached upon by other races or civilizations during the Civilization War.

The Shen Yi Qiongyu, on the other hand, belonged to the newly promoted hyperdimensional Captain of the Shenyaxia Empire. Initially responsible for deterring the Corpse Emperor Clan in the south, he later took command of the Bottomless Abyss and the Star Sea insectoid front for a period. Although he did not directly participate in the Civilization War, his contributions were significant.

In addition to the five hyperdimensional Captains, over a hundred Galactic Ship captains were present, though only a few were in person; the majority appeared as projections.

Not only Galactic Ships, but many Annihilator Ship captains were also present in projection form.

Like Empress Ji Heng, they were all top-tier combatants who had previously been responsible for securing other fronts, having made considerable efforts.

“Alright, I hereby declare the final post-war conference officially underway. Now, let’s hear the detailed casualty statistics of this war!”

As before, it was the Empress Jiang from the Shenyaxia Jiu Li who spoke first.

Next, the minister of the joint statistical department of the four empires began his report.

“According to all the information gathered by the joint statistical department, the Civilization War lasted 1,780 years. During this period, our Ember Flame Civilization suffered the loss of over 13.5 million Ember Captains, including five Galactic Ship captains, 468 Annihilator Ship captains, and over a million Chuluku to Fearless Captains. Additionally, over 50 billion ordinary Ember Human citizens perished. These comrades sacrificed themselves for the growth and prosperity of our civilization. Everyone, please observe a moment of silence for all the fallen heroes!”

After a half-hour of solemn silence, the minister’s voice rang out again.

“Of course, these sacrifices were not in vain. With the end of the Civilization War, we have successfully incorporated the entire Eight-Armed Serpent Demon Cluster into our territory. This cluster encompasses 821 star systems, five Ninth Stage life-bearing Floating Continents, and twelve Ninth Stage resource-rich Floating Continents…”

As the report continued, the breathing of all the Ember Captains in the silent space grew heavier.

With the Eight-Armed Serpent Demon Cluster now part of the Ember Flame Civilization’s territory, the Ember Human Civilization now controlled two complete Galactic Clusters. Although neither was a large cluster, the combined total of nearly 1,900 star systems under the Ember Human Civilization’s jurisdiction was a significant achievement. While this might still fall short of the Sovereign Civilizations, it placed them at the top among their peers.

At this moment, it seemed as though everyone was on the same wavelength, involuntarily thinking about the Corpse Emperor Clan.

Situated in another Galactic Cluster bordering the Ember Human Civilization, the Corpse Emperor Clan's Galactic Cluster was far behind in development. Even the Corpse Emperor Clan, the most powerful force in their Galactic Cluster, was still slightly inferior to the Stellar Giant Ape Civilization in terms of cultural foundation.

Despite launching a clan mobilization order over the past thousand years and taking advantage of the full-scale war between the Ember Human Civilization and the Eight-Armed Serpent Demon Civilization to expand aggressively, they had even produced two new Ninth-Rank Corpse Emperors. However, compared to the Ember Human Civilization, their strength was still far from sufficient.

Thinking of this, the Captains naturally found it hard to suppress their thoughts.

In their view, if they could seize the opportunity and annex the entire Galactic Cluster where the Corpse Emperor Clan resided, the Ember Human Civilization would then control three Galactic Clusters. At that point, their territory would rival that of the Triclops Clan and other lesser Sovereign Civilizations.

Seeming to read the Captains' thoughts, Empress Ji Heng, whose projection appeared before them, spoke calmly:

"Don't think too much about it. The time isn't right yet. What everyone needs to do now is to fully absorb the resources of the Eight-Armed Serpent Demon Galactic Cluster and accelerate the accumulation of strength for themselves and their factions!"

"Empress Ji Heng, won't this just add more complications? Wouldn't it be better to take advantage of this momentum and defeat the Corpse Emperor Clan now?"

In response to the Captain of the Annihilator Ship's question, a voice from the Xuanhuang Chiyu sounded:

"Power without virtue invites disaster. Before we truly control mythic-level forces, two Galactic Clusters are already the limit under the default rules. If we make another move, the Star Sea's major civilizations won't stand idly by!"

At this, the voice of Emperor Qin asked:

"But is there already a sign from the Imperial City?"

"Yes, in the past five hundred years, the Imperial City has been visited by the auras of unfamiliar mythic beings multiple times..."

"Not the same one each time?"

"No, they are different each time!"

...

Listening to this exchange, even though Song Chi currently had little knowledge of the Chaos Divine Continent, he could still feel the immense pressure.

He had heard Bai Mei say that each Human Emperor could attain mythic-level power with the support of their flagship and the Imperial City. However, such externally bestowed mythic power was like a moon in the water or a flower in the mirror, always falling short of true mythic power. Moreover, multiple mythic beings had now appeared.

"Alright, let's set aside the Corpse Emperor Clan for now and proceed with the allocation of the final war spoils!"

Feeling the increasingly heavy atmosphere in the void, the Minister of Joint Statistics timely shifted the topic.

"First, based on our preliminary discussions, the eastern part of the Eight-Armed Serpent Demon Galactic Cluster will belong to the Xian Qin Divine Dynasty, the southern part to Chiyu, the western part to the Saint Federation, and the central part to the Shenyaxia Empire. As for the northern part, it will be allocated among the factions that have been responsible for defending other fronts and have not yet participated in the Annihilator Ship-level battles..."

As the minister spoke, the previously heavy atmosphere instantly turned chaotic. The leaders of the various factions began to vie for more benefits for their own groups.

For a moment, the entire space was filled with noise.

However, there were exceptions. For example, the four Annihilator Ships representing the Longji Song Clan at the meeting remained silent, quietly waiting.

Their patience was rewarded. After some time, as the discussions gradually subsided and the allocation among the various factions was largely settled, a voice from the five central hyper-dimensional flagship ships sounded again.

This time, their focus was directly on the Longji Song Clan.

"Silence, there is one last matter regarding the rewards for the Longji Song Clan!"

"I believe you are all more or less aware that the rapid conclusion of this war is directly related to the Longji Song Clan!"

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end