```

"Thank you!"

The girl’s face was filled with joy, as the middle-aged woman lying in bed next to her also struggled to sit up.

"Son, we mother and daughter have nothing with which to repay your great kindness right now. May we know your name, so if we have the chance in the future, we must come to express our gratitude in person!"

The words spoken by the other party were quite proper, and this made Song Chi even more certain of the guess in his mind.

Spore infection, purple relic.

The other party apparently had some family background before, only having encountered an accident during exploration in the Alien Star Domain, which led to their current plight.

"No need for home-visiting gratitude. These two components are indeed what I need at the moment, so let’s consider it a mutual benefit. As for my name..."

"Just call me Song Chi."

...

Nanxiang City center, the Nanxiang Blaze Market.

Having successfully purchased a high-level healing potion with one hundred thousand strands of Zero Rank Floating Land Origin, the two swiftly left the market.

Outside the market entrance, the frail girl with a mask deliberately worn on her face clutched the exquisite hand-carry case tightly, and once again bowed deeply to thank Song Chi:

"Big Brother Song, I really can’t thank you enough..."

Song Chi raised his hand lightly, interrupting her subsequent words, and at the same time turned his head to look back at the market entrance.

The Spectral Energy that had been restrained inside him suddenly burst forth, emitting the imposing presence of a Second Rank life entity.

This action made everyone near the market entrance suddenly feel as if they were carrying a heavy burden.

Song Chi didn’t speak, his icy gaze swept over the faces of several seemingly ordinary people not far behind him.

Being stared at by him, these individuals who had been following them since they left the market felt their hairs stand on end, overwhelmed by an intense sense of impending death.

After doing all this, Song Chi retracted his released Spectral Energy, and the terrifying oppression quickly dissipated into nothing.

"Let’s go!"

The frail girl stood stunned, then uttered a soft "oh" and followed his footsteps.

Turning to look behind them, until Song Chi and the girl disappeared into the crowd, the hundreds of people near the market entrance didn’t dare to move a step. As for those Torch Ship Captains with malicious intentions, they were completely soaked by the cold sweat they had broken out in.

In the western outskirts of Nanxiang City, after escorting the girl to her tent, Song Chi didn’t linger any longer and summoned Cang Qiong to shoot straight into the Vault of Heaven.

Outside the tent, not until the Cang Qiong had completely disappeared into the clouds did the girl turn and enter the tent.

Soon, quiet conversation could be heard from inside the tent.

"Has he gone?"

"Yes!"

"Yuan’er, remember this kindness. If an opportunity arises in the future... cough cough cough."

"Mom, I know, you should use this high-level healing potion first. Besides, the Chenxing Principality is so vast, it might be very difficult to find Big Brother Song again..."

After pausing for a moment, the hoarse voice of the middle-aged woman spoke up again.

"Your experience is still too shallow. To casually produce four blue components and not show too much excitement in front of [Plasma Guardian], and most importantly, his surname is Song. How many families in the Chenxing Principality could it be?"

"Mom, are you saying that Big Brother Song comes from the Dinghai Song Family up north?"

"Eight or nine out of ten..."

...

Within the clouds, Song Chi looked at the two components in front of him with a smile on his face.

Torch Warship Boarding Certificate lv30

Quality: Blue

Consumption: 100 Points per person (Spectral Energy Points)

Maximum number of people: 0/1000

Effect: Seals the energy within the bodies of those onboard (for 24 hours), removes the restriction of consuming Floating Land Origin within the capacity limit.

UpRank Requirement: 8 strands of Floating Land Origin (Third Rank), 40,000 Spectral Energy Points.

...

Plasma Guardian lv20

Quality: Purple

```

Feature: Shield Value increased by 50%

Consumption: 2000/instance (Spectral Energy Points)

Number of Shields Generated: 20/20

Effect: Generates a shield with a Shield Value of 22500/22500 for a designated unit (small), which can activate automatically upon being attacked—an [Individual Plasma Shield].

Buffer: 48 hours; no charge required

Duration (after activation): 90 minutes

UpRank Requirement: 15 strands of Second Rank Floating Land Origin, 5000 Spectral Energy Points, 15 Second Rank Life Cores, 1 Titanium Crystal

With enhancement, both their attributes received different boosts. Not to mention the [Torch Warship Boarding Certificate] component, it’s only necessary when carrying passengers and hardly plays a role on ordinary days.

His attention was more focused on the [Plasma Guardian] component. After being enhanced to LV20, it could generate up to 20 shields.

Consequently, they could completely bestow it onto 20 Void Assassin Clan Soldier Figurines. With these Second Rank individual shields for protection, the Void Assassin Clan Soldier Figurines would not only retain their formidable offensive power but also gain impressive defensive capabilities, significantly increasing their combat power.

However, the recently upgraded Second Rank [Plasma Guardian] was still somewhat insufficient, with only 20 shields, which were not enough to equip all the Void Assassin Clan Soldier Figurines, not to mention that the Shield Value was also somewhat low, barely over twenty thousand, which hardly provided much sense of security.

Further enhancement to Third Rank might offer a significant boost, but for now he lacked Titanium Crystals and had to wait until the next Ruins Market trade with Zhou Ping to obtain the 50 he needed to enhance it to LV30 in one go.

Additionally, if the Copper Mountain Floating Land operation were successful, he should also be able to acquire a good amount of Titanium Crystals.

Despite some dissatisfaction, Song Chi immediately bestowed upon himself a Plasma Guardian Shield. After the endowment, there appeared to be no change to him.

In fact, that was not the case; the Plasma Guardian Shield was invisible to the naked eye until triggered, forming a protective Light Shield around the body only when sensing a threat or when the host activated it.

...

Time passed quickly, and by the following evening, they had successfully awaited the arrival of the Bai Family’s emissaries.

Outside the Golden Moon Floating Continent, in outer space, more than thirty Torch Warships hovered silently.

Song Chi and Song Qi were somewhat surprised; this time the Bai Family had come with more than twenty people, including three Third Rank Torch Ship Captains. Apart from Auntie Xiurong, there were two other senior Third Rank Torch Captains.

In addition, there were twenty Second Rank Captains, an intimidating force.

Perhaps noticing their surprise, Chen Lixia, his mother, explained in the communication projection group chat:

"The Bai Family of the Duchy Capital Star Domain has a history of over three thousand years, even longer than our Song Family. Although your Auntie Xiurong’s lineage has declined, its vein opening dates back over a thousand years, with a vast base of family members.

There are quite a few Second Rank and Third Rank Torch Ship Captains, but they lack Fourth Rank individuals who could hold sway over the family affairs!"

Hearing this explanation, Song Chi and his brother nodded in sudden understanding.

At the same time, they further speculated a lot in their hearts.

A vein opening of over a thousand years would be at least at the level of the third direct vein in their Song Family, but lacking Fourth Rank Torch Captains to show face, it was indeed not an overstatement to call it decline.

Consider that within the third direct vein of the Song Family, there were openly three Fourth Rank Clan Elders, and there must certainly be others hidden in the shadows. Compared to this, Auntie Xiurong’s thousand-year heritage did indeed feel like a bluff.

Musing over this, the negotiation between his grandfather and Auntie Xiurong reached a conclusion, and his grandfather’s voice came through the communication projection group chat.

"We need to use the Warship Integration Device for Alien Star Domain exploration, so we can only leave behind two Torch Warships. Everyone, call back to your flagships and come aboard the Furious Lion!"

Upon hearing this, his eldest uncle and father had no objections, but Song Chi’s eyes showed a hint of hesitation.

If he remembered correctly, on his grandfather’s Furious Lion, the only Warship Armor was the Purple type, and even with Third Rank Ship Body added, it seemed not as safe as his [Neutron Star Core Armor].

If something were to happen during the transfer, it would be problematic if the Furious Lion couldn’t hold up.

At that time, with his Spectral Energy bound by the [Torch Warship Boarding Certificate], he wouldn’t be able to summon the Cang Qiong, let alone enter the Ruins Market. It would truly be a case of calling out without an answer from heaven or earth.

As for why use the [Torch Warship Boarding Certificate] and not simply wait 24 hours to return, this was not a concern. Their planned stay on Copper Mountain Floating Land was estimated at about half a month, not just a 24-hour return, and the Bai Family’s more than twenty people had arrangements for a special transit Warship, which would not affect their subsequent return.

"Little Chi, what’s wrong?"

Capturing his great-grandson’s indecisive expression, Song Mingsong proactively inquired.

After hesitating for a moment, Song Chi still felt it better to have control in his own hands. Read exclusive chapters at empire

"Grandfather, let’s board my Cang Qiong!"

As these words were spoken, there wasn’t much change on Song Mingsong’s face, but the others looked collectively surprised.

Ignoring everyone’s expressions, Song Mingsong lowered his rough voice and said solemnly:

"Little Chi, are you sure?"

Song Chi’s gaze was firm.

"Yes!!!"

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read