Due to this reason, over the past year, apart from the newly installed [Water Molecule Isolation Outer Membrane] component, the other parts of the Cang Qiong had hardly changed.

Why?

Isn’t it because the energy supply efficiency of the [Shadowcapture Antimatter Overstate Engine] couldn’t keep up?

Because of this factor, the continued enhancement of Cang Qiong’s combat power faced significant obstacles.

[Dark Matter Energy Shield Generator][Neutron Star Core Armor][Silver III Generation Super-Wave Magic Energy Detection Radar] These components, which clearly had considerable room for enhancement, were stuck at lv30 for over a year.

You must know that over this year, Song Chi had already accumulated more than ten thousand strands of Second-Rank Floating Land Origin and over fourteen hundred strands of Third Rank Floating Land Origin. Even though there were fewer Titanium Crystals, with just under a thousand, it was still more than enough to support over twenty Third Rank enhancements.

With a determined look in his eyes, Song Chi had already made a decision.

In the following three months, he would accumulate as many Golden Merit Points as possible, exerting his utmost effort to exchange for the [Light Energy Aggregation Engine] before heading to Copper Mountain Floating Land.

As for the Golden Armored Giant Beast he would face next, it was, after all, a Fourth Rank Level existence. Even though the Bai Family swore it had been seriously injured and its current strength was not even a hundredth of its peak, both families were not daring to be careless, let alone the naturally cautious Song Chi.

Even a cornered rabbit will bite, not to mention a Golden Armored Giant Beast, a being with genetic bloodline surpassing that of Thorned Flying Dragons. If they really provoked it, who knew what could happen?

Therefore, full preparations were necessary.

And within these full preparations, the two most crucial ones were to enhance the [Neutron Star Core Armor] and [Dark Matter Energy Shield Generator]—Cang Qiong’s main defense components—to their Third Rank limit.

Only by doing so could people feel slightly more at ease.

Before reaching the 60th floor of the Merit Tower, Song Chi was once again stopped en route. To ascend to the 60th floor, one needed more than 100 Golden Merit Points, which he could not accumulate in a short period.

Before leaving, he also exchanged a Zircon and a Low-Level Energy Crystal, which he had previously obtained from the Tuogu Tribe’s secret vault, with the family. In return, he earned 3 Golden Merit Points.

Zircon earned 1 point, and the Low-Level Energy Crystal earned 2 points.

With this, his Merit Points went back up to 30, but the distance to 90 points was still significant, so he needed to keep striving.

...

Outer space near Dragon Spine Continent, Song family’s exclusive spatial gateway.

After spending 1000 Merit Points, Cang Qiong successfully caught up with the next round of medium-range space transport.

The destination of this transport was Thorny Star Region, neighboring the Red River Star Domain, which is also where the family’s Flying Dragon Floating Land, where Thorned Flying Dragons were bred, was located.

As a border star region of Dinghai Star Domain, adjacent to the Red River Star Domain, Thorny Star Region was not large, spanning only a few dozen light-years in diameter.

Yet, despite its small size, this star region has been home to a family fleet of tens of thousands belonging to the Dinghai Song family, known as the Thorny Defense Fleet, stationed there all year round.

The Thorny Defense Fleet was led by a Fourth Rank Zhulu Warship as its flagship, with ten Cruisers, a hundred Escort Ships, and beyond that, tens of thousands of standard Micro-Light Nuclear-Powered Destroyers.

Just from its configuration, the impressive combat power of this fleet was evident.

The fundamental reason for stationing this fleet here, besides deterring the prying eyes of Alien Races from the Red River Star Domain, was to ensure the safety of the Flying Dragon Floating Land.

Unlike the family’s other artificially modified Floating Lands, the Flying Dragon Floating Land was not man-made but a rather rare Third Rank Life Floating Land.

Moreover, it wasn’t just an ordinary Third Rank Life Floating Land; it contained high-level Dragon Origin energy, a Third Rank Life Floating Land. Ordinary Third Rank Life Floating Lands could not nurture Dragon Species, nor maintain their growth and evolution.

According to messages passed down from the upper echelons of the family, a Fifth Rank Level Dragon Species creature had once perished on this Floating Land, and its essence eventually blended into the core of the Flying Dragon Floating Land.

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Through a long period of fusion and transformation, this Floating Land eventually developed Dragon Origin energy, giving birth to the Thorned Flying Dragon, a species group with a notable bloodline.

In the southern part of the Thorny Star Region, not long after Cang Qiong and other family warships flew out from the spatial gateway, they were intercepted by a small fleet.

[Thorny Defense Fleet patrol, please present your personal identity information. You may proceed after verification is confirmed!]

As a message was broadcast from the escort ship at the forefront of the small fleet, the warships that had just emerged from the spatial stargate, including Song Chi’s, came to a halt one after another before transmitting their respective information to the other party.

The Thorny Star Region has always been a border area adjacent to the Alien Race Star Domain, and it’s never been a peaceful place. Otherwise, the family wouldn’t specifically send a fleet to be stationed here. A strict patrol wasn’t surprising.

After verifying their personal information, Cangqiong was quickly allowed to pass, and then sped towards the near Flying Dragon Floating Land.

While controlling the Cangqiong, Song Chi also recalled the information about the Thorn Guard Fleet in his mind.

The Thorn Guard Fleet belonged to a special fleet under the direct command of the family’s War Affairs Hall, and it wasn’t part of the family’s regular external combat fleets.

In simple terms, it was the local fleet of the Thorny Star Region, only responsible for guarding the Thorny Star Region and the Flying Dragon Floating Land. Duties like suppressing the Floating Lands and external warfare were not within its jurisdiction.

Furthermore, it was said that the Thorn Guard Fleet was now almost completely under the control of the family’s Third Direct Lineage. The current supreme commander of this guard fleet, the owner of the Zhulu flagship, was Song Xuanguang, one of the two Fourth Rank elders from the Third Direct Lineage.

He was a peer of Elder Song Xuanfeng from the First Direct Lineage and was now also a member of the family’s Council of Elders.

As thoughts whirled, Cangqiong reached the airspace above a Starry Sea Floating Land with a diameter of nearly eight million kilometers.

Indeed, this Floating Land was the Flying Dragon Floating Land.

However, when approaching the Flying Dragon Floating Land, what first attracted Song Chi’s attention was not the Floating Land itself but the elliptical Floating Land Shield above it, layered with grid patterns.

As a Level Three Life Floating Land, the core of the Flying Dragon Floating Land was capable of condensing this impressively defensive Floating Land Shield.

Besides, another point that caught Song Chi’s attention was the gigantic war machinery built upon the Floating Land above.

With an alloy track diameter exceeding one hundred thousand meters, a staggering number of warship berths, awe-inspiring fortress orbital cannons, and the continuously maintained circular Nuclear Energy Shield.

Yes, this war machinery built upon the Flying Dragon Floating Land, just like what he had seen on Guangyuan Floating Land, was indeed a Floating Fortress.

And at one of the central berths of the fortress, a large warship over three thousand meters in length was quietly docked.

If his guess was correct, that should be the flagship of Elder Xuanguang.

Shifting his gaze, directing his attention away from these two, Cangqiong quickly descended towards the Floating Land Shield below.

As he had already passed the inspection, there were no further obstructions. With the approach of several family warships, the Floating Land Shield below astonishingly split open to create a kilometer-wide gap.

Seeing this, the string of warships entered in single file.

The Flying Dragon Floating Land, atop Tenglong Peak.

This was the family’s station on the Flying Dragon Floating Land.

Inside the station’s grand hall, a middle-aged Third Rank Torch Ship Captain inquired of Song Chi.

"Do you need my assistance?"

Hearing this, Song Chi quickly nodded.

Although with the current combat power of Cangqiong, taking down a Third Rank Thorned Flying Dragon wasn’t difficult, he certainly wouldn’t refuse help if it was offered.

Several hours later, in the midst of the Sunset Mountain Range.

The booming of the artillery gradually ceased.

With the suppression of a Third Rank cruiser, the Third Rank Level Thorned Flying Dragon that had been targeted was soon seriously injured and fell into a coma, a moment when its resistance to psychic attacks was at its weakest.

At the same time, the voice of the middle-aged man resounded from the cruiser above.

"All right, you can attempt enslavement now!!"

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read