Chapter 1069: Chapter 565: A Glimpse and the Golden Torch Seed

Upon hearing the semi-automatic warship AI notification, Song Wujiang showed no reaction. He continued piloting the warship forward.

A few minutes later, the Black Hole Evolution Layer surrounding the warship’s armor completely shattered. The dual-layer armor empowered by the [Black Hole Armor] began directly encountering the violent flame energy outside.

Behind Song Wujiang, Song Chi and Song Yan gazed at the outside world. The increasingly terrifying flame energy had twisted space to its limits, as though the void itself would soon be torn apart.

“The flame intensity outside now must have already reached the Eighth Rank!”

Hearing Song Chi’s murmur, Song Yan’s expression turned serious and he added:

“To be exact, it’s not far from the late stage of Eighth Rank.”

Song Yan, who walked the path of the Law of Fire, had a sharper sensitivity to flame energy.

Another ten-plus minutes passed, and the dual-layer armor provided by the [Black Hole Armor] completely crumbled. It was only then that Song Wujiang activated the [Final Blessing] and its “Final Blessing” feature.

In the next moment, the warship’s energy shield, armor, and even its structure were fully restored.

While the energy shield and the warship were restored without issue, the [Black Hole Armor] was not completely repaired.

The [Final Blessing] was ultimately just a silver component and could not fully repair the black-quality [Black Hole Armor].

Although the energy shield had returned, the Holy Light Shield and Flame Shield remained unrepaired, leaving the high-energy particle energy shield unable to hold for long before overloading again.

In the ensuing dozen minutes, Song Wujiang successively activated two features—”Angel King’s True Spirit Illusion” and “Flame God Dominator’s True Spirit Guardian”—solely to ensure the [Dinghai Dragon Steed] could push deeper into the flame space.

[Attention, warship armor has completely overloaded. Current hull damage is at 68%. Please repair immediately!]

Shortly after the Flame God Dominator’s True Spirit Illusion faded, the [Black Hole Armor] also overloaded completely. It seemed the warship would soon be immobilized due to hull damage surpassing 80%.

The [Dinghai Dragon Steed], however, suddenly transformed into a miniature black hole.

In this black hole form, it voraciously consumed the boundless flame energy around it, reducing the immediate threat to the [Dinghai Dragon Steed].

From within the miniature black hole, Song Chi and the others observed the deepest part of the flame space through the warship’s projection monitor. There floated a faint trace of black flame.

Even with only a fleeting glimpse, the three quickly made a judgment.

“The Black Fire Seed Oddity!”

Their exclamations were low, but their expressions grew even calmer.

The Black Fire Seed Oddity was immensely valuable, comparable to a colorful-grade component, but under the current circumstances, once the “Black Hole Fission” effect ended, there was only one fate awaiting them.

They would perish alongside the [Dinghai Dragon Steed].

With their spectral energy sealed, Song Chi couldn’t even access the Ruins Market at this point—death seemed inevitable.

Precisely because of the critical situation, they remained utterly composed.

Ultimately, the more experienced Song Wujiang was the first to decide.

Under his control, the miniature black hole form of the [Dinghai Dragon Steed] accelerated backward without a trace of hesitation.

Although the Black Fire Seed Oddity was extraordinarily rare, compared to their own lives, it became far less significant.

Additionally, as long as this flame space persisted without collapsing, the Black Fire Seed Oddity would remain here. Risking their lives to obtain it now would be far less wise than waiting until their strength improved sufficiently in the future.

Outside the Twin Wormholes, the [Dinghai Dragon Steed], [Fiery Flame Boiling Sea], and [Heavenly Ruins Cang Qiong] hovered side by side.

A day had passed since they emerged from the fiery depths of the wormhole-flame space, and Song Chi’s spectral energy had fully recovered.

In the magnetic communication group created by the Star-Annihilating Starship, the three continued their discussions.

“Forget about the [Ruins Market Projection Rank] for now. Although this time we came across dozens of silver oddities, eight of which couldn’t be converted into warship components, they’re still silver items and must be used sparingly in crucial moments. The flame intensity in the deepest part of that flame space likely reached Eighth Rank Peak. Facing quasi-Eighth Rank Dominator power would be highly improbable,” Song Wujiang explained before shifting tone and suggesting:

“Little Pool, could you leave a coordinate here, ideally one that allows free traversal back and forth?”

Leaving the Black Fire Seed Oddity simply floating here brought an unavoidable sense of unease. Although the exit of this relic was concealed by a Spatial Veil, it didn’t guarantee absolute safety.

What if something unexpected happened?

Thus, Song Wujiang pondered whether Song Chi could establish a spatial coordinate here, enabling secure access at any time.

“Sure!”

Song Chi’s swift reply indicated his confidence in the Ruins Market’s positioning system. Although the relic’s rank was impressive, it couldn’t obscure the influence of the Ruins Market.

Soon, Song Chi set one of his five spatial anchor points here, making several test runs through the Ruins Market to ensure everything worked perfectly. He then summoned a Fifth-Rank Robber Star Race creature from his warship and stationed it within the relic space to serve as an alert system in case of emergencies.

After these precautions were completed, the three warships didn’t turn to depart.

Instead, the [Dinghai Dragon Steed] and [Fiery Flame Boiling Sea] were recalled first, followed by Song Chi and Song Yan moving swiftly toward the [Heavenly Ruins Cang Qiong].

Once aboard, Song Chi stored them in a [Dimension Space Stone] and entered the Ruins Market himself.

He intended to test the newly acquired [Divine Thought Chapter] component.

In the Ruins Market Firmament, Song Chi didn’t summon his Eighth-Rank Dominator power immediately. He activated the Divine Thought Binding deep within his Ancestral Aperture instead.

Moments later, his brow began glowing with dazzling ghost light.

Meanwhile, in the Flame God Civilization relic space:

The [Heavenly Ruins Cang Qiong] quietly suspended here began to emit a massive amount of spectral energy. Encased in this energy, the warship transformed into a radiant streak of light and shot upwards, swiftly departing the relic.

Within the Ruins Market, a streak of light emerged from the void space under Song Chi’s control. The Ruins Market permitted its entry without resistance under its lord’s command.

“It worked!”

But testing wasn’t finished. One success wouldn’t suffice for Song Chi to fully grasp the effects of the [Divine Thought Chapter].

Over repeated tests traversing the relic, the Ruins Market, Dragon Spine Continent, and Red Star, he gradually uncovered the component’s detailed characteristics.

Firstly, while it promised cross-star summons regardless of distance, the [Divine Thought Chapter], confined to black quality, significantly slowed its recall speed over vast distances.

For instance, recalling between Dragon Spine Continent and Red Star Continent proved unbearably sluggish.

However, when Song Chi applied Eighth-Rank Dominator power in the Ruins Market, the recall process became lightning-fast—nearly instantaneous.

Song Chi estimated that invoking the Ruins Market Dominator’s power ensured near-immunity to interference from other high-tier beings during recall. By contrast, normal recall was more susceptible to disruptions.

Having clarified this, Song Chi was satisfied overall. Compared to the [Warship Swapping Device] and its “Cross-star Conversion” feature, this component proved more reliable. The red-grade [Warship Swapping Device] similarly claimed distance immunity but suffered from crippling performance drops to converted warships when distances grew too far.

…

Back on Dragon Spine Continent, Song Wujiang and Song Yan emerged from the [Dimension Space Stone], puzzled by the noticeable delay in Song Chi’s return.

“I was testing the [Divine Thought Chapter],” Song Chi explained.

Promptly, Song Wujiang spoke: “With the Civilization War imminent, focus on improving warship strength. As for those two Dominator insect corpses, refining them on the [Dinghai Dragon Steed] might take considerable time. Little Pool, do you have an alternative?”

Song Chi had long informed them that the lord of the Ruins Market was an Eighth-Rank being of immense power. Should this lord assist, the process could be exponentially faster.

“Should be no problem!”

…

In the following days, members of the Song Family worked tirelessly to enhance their capabilities.

Meanwhile, Song Chi spent his days immersed in the Ruins Market, refining the two Dominator insect corpses with his Eighth-Rank Dominator power while optimizing his own condition for absorbing a strand of Golden Upgrading Fire Source.

After a year and a half, Song Chi delivered 66 segments of Dominant True Spirit and two drops of Dominator Origin Blood to the family elder.

Song Yan ultimately received a share of 33 Dominant True Spirit segments.

Upon completing this refinement task, Song Chi entered the [All-Attributes Cultivation Room] in the Ruins Market.

Half a month later, feeling he had reached an optimal state, he revealed the [Sea Heart Flame].

As the Golden Upgrading Fire Source was drawn into his Ancestral Torch Aperture, the Chaos Space within the aperture instantly illuminated.

Ssss! Ssss!

The Silver Torch Seed and the Golden Upgrading Fire Source clashed fiercely, beginning a lengthy fusion process. The Golden Upgrading Fire Source, unlike others, held an immense energy reservoir that couldn’t be absorbed quickly.

After a year had passed, in the [All-Attributes Cultivation Room], Song Chi’s tightly shut eyes suddenly opened.

Swish! Swish!

The golden flames briefly flashed across his double-pupiled eyes.

“It’s finally done—Golden Torch Seed!”

Indeed, just moments ago, the Silver Torch Seed had successfully consumed and fused with the [Sea Heart Flame], evolving fully into gold.

Exiting the [All-Attributes Cultivation Room], Song Chi summoned the [Heavenly Ruins Cang Qiong].

Within the warship, he examined the attribute panel, which now displayed the words [Golden Torch Ship Body lv60]. Song Chi confirmed fully that the Golden Torch Seed was his.

He then shifted his gaze lower on the warship’s attribute panel.

The special component slots had increased from 170 to 194, precisely matching the slot count granted by the Golden Torch Seed.

Every five warship levels associated with the Golden Torch Seed added 16 special slots. Calculations bore out: 16×12+2 = 194.

After verifying this, Song Chi turned his attention to the array of components mounted on the warship. With the Torch Seed having ascended to gold, components on the [Heavenly Ruins Cang Qiong] at gold grade or higher now qualified for reinforcement to the Eighth Rank.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read