National Star Sea Era...

Chapter 331 [Silver Apple Mother Tree] The Key to Promotion
With one Space Law Fruit and two primary Space Law Crystals, Song Chi's speed of comprehension of the laws is countless times faster than when he was in the Dragon Ridge Secret Realm.

After just two days, his level of comprehension of the laws increased from 0.36% to 0.42%. This level of comprehension of the laws is actually ranked in the upper middle level among all cruiser captains with divine minds in the entire territory of the Xinhuo human civilization.

Even though this ranking is not very high, the key point is that it has only been more than ten years since Song Chi's guiding technique broke through the third level and controlled his mind, but he is already comparable to those cruiser captains who have comprehended the laws for hundreds or even two hundred years.

So the ranking is far from the point. The key is that Song Chi still controls a lot of time and there are unlimited possibilities in the future.

In addition, don't forget that what he comprehended was the law of space, which is very different from the ordinary laws of the sea of ​​​​stars.

As his thoughts flowed, the laws of space quickly condensed around him, and soon a mini phantom dragon whale emerged.

Song Chi was getting familiar with the soaring power of the laws of space within himself.

At the same time, deep in his mind, Song Chi was also carefully sensing his own assimilation of the laws. This third law fruit once again greatly accelerated his assimilation progress with the laws of the star sea. He estimated that in about four years, he would be able to completely complete the assimilation.

"Once the remaining two [Space Law Fruits] are fully used, the assimilation of the Star Sea Law should be completely completed..."

As he muttered this, Song Chi sighed instinctively in his heart.

Speaking of the remaining two [Space Law Fruits], he thought of the specific effect of the third [Space Law Fruit], which only increased his law perception by 0.06%.

And remember that the first two [Law Fruits] increased the degree of perception by 0.1% and 0.08% respectively. Calculating this way, perhaps using two or three more [Law Fruits] will reach the limit, and after that, this [Space Law Fruit] will have no effect on him anymore.

This is obviously not good news.

After sighing softly, Song Chi quickly came back to his senses and stopped worrying about gains and losses.

After careful calculation, this [Space Law Fruit] has already increased my perception by 0.24%. Taking into account the number of fruits that can be used later, the final value should remain at around 0.3%.

Without counting the blessing of the Dragon Ridge Secret Realm, normally speaking, to gain 0.3% of the perception of the laws of space, one would need at least 90 years of continuous perception.

In other words, this [Space Law Fruit] has silently saved Song Chi nearly a hundred years of time. Based on the subsequent 15-fold amplitude, it means a 4.5% comprehension of the Space Law. So, what is there to be dissatisfied about?
After realizing this, Song Chi quickly regained his composure, but he was not in a hurry to use the remaining two [Space Law Fruits] in his hand. He had to adapt to the current skyrocketing Space Law first.

……

In a blink of an eye, it was two months later.

In his personal manor in Tianchong Valley, Song Chi's mind had just recovered from the powerful effect of the fourth [Space Law Fruit].

This fourth [Space Law Fruit] only increased his perception by 0.04%, but it also brought his Space Law to 0.46%.

Just when Song Chi was feeling happy, the quantum communication bracelet in his hand suddenly beeped with a message prompt.

Turning around, he raised his eyebrows when he saw that the message was sent by Wang Zhen.

"Wang Zhen... Could it be that something unexpected happened with the sale of war materials?"

A month ago, Song Chi, who had purchased a large amount of supplies from the goblin Luke and the Zhutian Market, handed them all over to Wang Zhen the next day. As a captain who had been in Morning Star Yanglu for hundreds of years, Wang Zhen naturally had some special channels of his own.

Especially after his flagship was upgraded to a chasing ship, with the backup of the [Wolf Howl and Tiger Roar], his personal status and related channels have been further improved. In the past month, he has earned a lot of floating land origin for Song Chi by selling war materials.

If there really was a problem with the war material sales channel, Song Chi would definitely not be able to accept it.

"what happened?"

The other person was also holding a quantum communication bracelet, which Song Chi had specially applied for from his family. It allowed the two of them to communicate remotely at will without worrying about information leakage.

As for the Xinhuo Network, although it is more convenient and has more powerful functions, some people with special permissions can peek at the screen remotely, and it cannot guarantee absolute confidentiality of information.

Wang Zhen's reply came quickly, but it turned out to be a false alarm for Song Chi.

"It's nothing serious. The main thing is that I got some news about the Morning Star Black Market. There will be a large-scale auction in the black market in three days. I want to ask Your Highness if you are interested!"

Hearing this reply, Song Chi subconsciously refused.

But after changing his mind, he nodded in agreement.

As the largest black market in the Principality of Morning Star, he had long heard that the Morning Star Black Market was extremely large and the amount of resources it handled every day was extraordinary.

As it is a large-scale auction, there is a high probability that many good things will appear.

Based on this, he agreed.

The configurations on the Sky are indeed luxurious, but not all of them are complete. For example, components such as the Terracotta Warrior Tree are still loaded with the [Fire Sunflower Terracotta Warrior Tree]. It would be good to go and take a look. Maybe you can find the components that the Sky needs now.

……

Three days later, with the help of the "ever-changing" and "mirage" properties of the [Mirage Dragon Pearl] component, the Sky quietly left the Tianchong Valley.

After successfully reuniting with the [Wolf Howl and Tiger Roar], the two warships rushed to the entrance of the Morningstar Black Market together.

After all, it is a black market. Although a lot of things are involved, it is impossible to open it so blatantly in Holy Star City.

The entrance to the Morningstar Black Market is located more than 0.5 light years away from the Holy Star City.

After a space jump, the two warships finally arrived at their destination.

"Is this... the entrance to the secret realm?"

Looking at the familiar space vortex channel in the distance, Song Chi's eyes were full of surprise.

He had only heard of the Morning Star Black Market before, and didn't really know much about it.

Now it seems that this black market is indeed quite grand, and it actually uses a secret realm in the starry sea as a black market trading venue.

In the communication group chat, Wang Zhen replied respectfully:

"Yes, but it is just a lowest-level broken secret realm. The original environment has long been completely destroyed!"

At the entrance of the black market, black market compliance personnel stopped two warships.

Of course, it was not to check the identities of the [Sky] and [Wolf Howl and Tiger Roar], but to inform the two that after entering the black market, their personal ships must be taken back. This is the rule of the black market.

Song Chi and the other man didn't pay much attention to it. The two warships quickly sank into the space vortex channel ahead.

Just as Wang Zhen said, this secret realm that served as a black market trading place was indeed just a lowest-level broken secret realm. No one knew what it had experienced. The floating land fragment in the original secret realm was almost completely destroyed and shattered by the terrifying power.

The exchange in the secret realm today is located on an aerial mechanical platform that has been artificially assembled.

The [Wolf Howl and Tiger Roar] and the [Sky], which was renamed [White Cloud] after its "ever-changing" characteristics, hovered in the platform's specific warship docking area, and then their ancestral orifices were quickly taken back.

Later, Song Chi, wearing a bionic skin mask, began to browse the entire trading platform under the guidance of Wang Zhen.

Although it was manually spliced ​​together, the trading platform under his feet was still very large. At a glance, the number of Xinhuo captains accommodated on it would not be less than five figures.

The large number of customers has in turn created the bustling black market today.

Following Wang Zhen through various shops and stalls, Song Chi saw all kinds of items.

The most numerous of these are the various war materials that are extremely popular today, as well as shipborne parts of various qualities.

However, although there were a lot of things, they were basically ordinary things. Song Chi visited dozens or even hundreds of shops along the way, but did not see any items that caught his attention.

As if sensing his gradually fading interest, Wang Zhen beside him explained:

"These are just ordinary goods. If you really want some top-quality goods, you have to wait for the subsequent black market auctions, or try your luck at those "red shops."

"Red shop?"

Song Chi was puzzled. This was the first time he heard this word.

Wang Zhen explained:
"Your Highness, the Red Shop is what people in the circle call it. It is actually a place that specializes in selling all kinds of "stolen goods"."

When Song Chi heard the word "stolen goods", he suddenly understood.

Morning Star Yanglu is so vast that no one knows exactly how many Xinhuo captains there are. With such a large number of people, it is impossible for them to all get along in a friendly manner, and there are naturally various conflicts.

As a result, all kinds of stolen goods naturally appeared. Some of them were not easy to load directly, so they were taken to the black market and sold.

Song Chi thought for a while.

"Go and see!"

Although he didn't hold out much hope, the auction would still take place in a few hours, so he might as well go and take a look.

The trading platform is close to the Northeast, Mohe Shop.

As soon as they walked into the shop, Wang Zhen immediately said the corresponding code.

Then he and Song Chi entered a secret door on the inside of the shop.

After entering the secret door, Song Chi felt the scene in front of him suddenly change, and objects flashing with various colors came into his sight one after another.

With a quick glance, Song Chi discovered that this small enclosed secret room contained hundreds of various rare items.

Except for a small number of blue parts, most of the components are purple quality, and there are even some parts flashing orange light mixed in.

Wang Zhen's explanation soon came to my ears.

"Your Highness, this is the largest and most popular shop in the black market. It is said that there are many senior fourth-tier chasing warships behind it."

Song Chi nodded slightly without showing any abnormality.

And around this closed secret room, several Xinhuo captains standing in the corners also showed surprise on their faces.

Among them there is a fourth-rank Xinhuo captain, and the others are senior-level cruiser captains. The fourth-rank Xinhuo captain is the boss behind this popular shop.

They were not unfamiliar with Wang Zhen, a frequent visitor, and they also knew that Wang Zhen's ship had been promoted to the Zhulu ship, and its status was no longer the same as before. But it was precisely because of this that the two words "Your Highness" from Wang Zhen's mouth made them feel even more suspicious.

Suddenly, everyone's attention shifted to Song Chi who was standing beside Wang Zhen, their eyes full of inquiry.

Being able to allow Wang Zhen, who has half a foot officially set foot on the Zhulu ship captain's rank, to honor him as "Your Highness", it is obvious that Song Chi, who has always seemed ordinary, cannot have a simple identity.

Song Chi ignored these gazes and looked over all the strange objects in the secret room.

Compared to those ordinary parts in the outside world, there are indeed some valuable things among these stolen goods, but for now, he has not seen any parts that are too tempting.

Seeing that he was checking on his own, the others did not make any noise to disturb him, and the entire secret room was silent.

After about a few minutes, Song Chi finally found a very special part.

Virus spore repellent membrane lv0
Quality: purple

Features: Can isolate Star Sea Virus Level +1
Consumption: 7/s (psi energy points)

Effect: The loaded warship gains a virus-isolating outer membrane, which can currently isolate the Star Sea Spore Virus of the highest order (zero order + 1).

No need for charging and buffering

Required for upgrade: 7 strands of floating land origin (zero level), 700 nether energy points

This is a component similar to the [water molecule isolation membrane], but it isolates the Star Sea virus spores.

The Broken Star Sea is vast and boundless, and there are countless special star fields that may appear in it, and many of them are filled with spore viruses.

Although the Sky has not encountered any such incidents yet, Song Chi has always been the type to take precautions.

"What's the price of this purple part?"

Seeing that this rather mysterious prince finally spoke, the red shop owner quickly gave a quote.

"Rare isolation-type special parts, 20 strands of fourth-order floating land origin!"

Without Song Chi saying anything, Wang Zhen beside him said coldly:

"20 strands of fourth-order floating land origin, Third Boss, your price is really unfair. An ordinary purple part only requires 5 strands of fourth-order floating land origin!" The fourth-order red shop owner's expression remained unchanged.

"Old Wang, you also said that this is the price of ordinary purple parts."

As one of the owners of the biggest and most popular shops in the black market, the intelligence of his subordinates would naturally be good, and Wang Zhen's identity was no secret to him.

Wang Zhen wanted to say something, but Song Chi said calmly:
"10 wisps!"

This price is the limit of what he can accept. If the other party is still unwilling, Song Chi will turn around and leave without hesitation.

However, the other party seemed to have seen through his attitude, and agreed after hesitating for a moment.

After receiving the purple [Virus Spore Repellent Outer Membrane] component, Song Chi did not stay any longer and left the red shop directly with Wang Zhen. There were no more components that interested him here.

What Song Chi didn't know was that as the two of them left, the owner of the "Mohe" red shop immediately mobilized his energy and began to investigate his identity.

But even if he knew, Song Chi wouldn't care.

From the beginning to the end, his relationship with Wang Zhen had never been exposed at all. In addition, with the components of the [Mirage Dragon Pearl], no matter which force wanted to investigate him, it would be doomed to be in vain.

Of course, this does not apply to forces that possess special golden Dongxu components.

Faced with such a component, even the [Mirage Dragon Pearl] cannot escape detection.

After the Mohe Red Shop, Wang Zhen took Song Chi to visit several other smaller red shops, but the results were not satisfactory, and Song Chi never found a part that satisfied him.

While the two were strolling around, the black market auction finally began.

This auction was somewhat unusual, as it was held right in the middle of the trading platform. There was no specific auction venue; it was held outdoors, and all Xinhuo captains in the black market could bid.

And what’s interesting is that its auction method is very different from a normal auction, and there is no so-called bidding process.

Every item put up for auction in the black market has a 10-minute bidding period. All the Xinhuo captains in the black market can bid. After the 10 minutes are up, the black market will select one person from all the bidders as the winner.

Song Chi was not unfamiliar with this new auction method. It was very similar to the auctions of [Market Visitor Order] and [Market Walking Order] at the end of every market transaction he had held.

Just as I was thinking about it, the manager behind the black market had already taken out the first item for auction.

[Rare Item: Heartburning Flame]

[Quality: Orange]

[Can be transformed into: {Seed of Fire, Upgraded Fire Source}]

[Note: This is a strange fire that has been derived from the Red Flame Demon Realm for thousands of years. It has many uses.]

After directly displaying the attribute panel of this orange fire wonder, the black market manager continued:

"This [Heart Burning Flame] is an orange-grade upgraded fire source. It can upgrade a purple fire seed to an orange fire seed. Its value is comparable to some red treasures. Now, everyone can make their own bids on the quoter. In ten minutes, we will select the most suitable person from all the bidders to trade with."

The opening scene was an orange top-grade upgraded fire source. As expected, the entire trading platform was in an uproar, followed by a large number of quotations.

Even Song Chi was somewhat tempted.

Although he personally no longer needs it, his grandfather, parents and grandparents all need it.

Looking at Wang Zhen beside him, there was an obvious fiery look in his eyes.

But it soon turned into helplessness.

In order to upgrade the [Wolf Howl and Tiger Roar], he has almost spent all his funds, and there is no way he can get this [Burning Heart Flame] now.

Without paying much attention to the changes in Wang Zhen's expression, Song Chi thought for a moment, and then typed the words "one orange main gun + one fourth-level silver apple + one top-grade dragon blood fruit" on the quotation machine in his hand.

He actually had a red energy shield in his hand that he got from Anderson's ship, but he felt it was not worth it, so he didn't take it out.

It is said that the orange top-grade upgraded fire source is comparable to the red rare object, but that refers to the red rare object that cannot be transformed into shipborne components, and it is still incomparable to the real red components.

Ten minutes later, the final result came out. Song Chi did not become the lucky one, Captain Xinhuo who successfully exchanged for this ray of [Burning Heart Flame]. Instead, he took out a red-quality main gun, with a premium of nearly double.

Song Chi didn't react much to this. He didn't have much hope from the beginning, so he could naturally accept it now.

After the first lot, the second lot appeared soon.

This time it was no longer a rare creature from the star sea, but an extremely weak giant ape-like alien from the star sea.

"This is a fourth-level long-armed demon ape. In its prime, it had the combat power of a senior fourth-level warrior. Now its injuries can ensure that the purple-level slave parts can be successfully enslaved. A fourth-level slave creature can provide sufficient security guarantees in the subsequent large-scale development war, and can also be used to plunder more resources. All right, you can start bidding!"

……

Song Chi didn't have much interest in this long-armed demon ape.

It’s not that he looks down on a fourth-level slave fighter, but he thinks there is no need to waste the money.

The great development war is about to come, and the family's war supplies have already been prepared in advance, and arrangements will certainly be made for the safety of the clan members below.

With a family lineage like his, when he returns to Dragon Ridge Continent, there is a high probability that he will be assigned a fourth-order slave unit provided free of charge by his family.

But just because he is not interested doesn't mean others are the same.

Noticing Wang Zhen's fiery gaze beside him, Song Chi quickly thought of the shabby status of his contracted servant. There was only one piece of orange hull armor on the entire Zhulu ship.

After a moment of silence, he said softly:

"You want this long-armed demon ape?"

Seeing Wang Zhen nodded embarrassedly, he asked again.

"What can I take out of my pocket?"

After thinking about it, Song Chi decided to help Wang Zhen capture the long-armed demon ape. After all, there would be many places where he would need it later, and it would not be good if he let it die so easily.

Wang Zhen showed surprise on his face, and said quickly:

"5 strands of fourth-order floating land origin, 75 strands of third-order..."

"stop!"

Seeing that he was about to reveal all his assets, Song Chi quickly interrupted him.

A few seconds later, he took out two thousand-year-old dragon blood fruits and 20 strands of fourth-level floating land origin and handed them to Wang Zhen.

"Try to see if you can take a picture of it yourself!"

He still had more than twenty Ten Thousand Year Dragon Blood Fruits in his hand, so it wouldn't be a problem to take out two. The fourth-level Floating Land Origin could also be synthesized on the [Spiritual Machine Synthesis Platform], so he wasn't too short of it.

"Thank you, Your Highness!"

Wang Zhen took it excitedly, and his eyes looking at Song Chi became more determined.

Soon, Wang Zhen successfully bought this fourth-level long-armed demon ape, and he hadn't even used up all his money. He only took out 1 thousand-year-old dragon blood fruit + 15 strands of fourth-level floating land origin.

Captain Xinhuo, who commissioned the auction of the long-armed demon ape, might be quite old, so he agreed immediately after seeing the ten thousand year old dragon blood fruit.

Wang Zhen later wanted to return the remaining ten thousand year old dragon blood fruit and 10 strands of fourth-level floating land origin, but Song Chi waved his hand to refuse.

"Use it to exchange for other things you need. The configuration of your ship is really too low. You need to spend more time on it!"

……

As time passed, the black market management successively put out a large number of items for auction.

These things are all of good value. The worst ones are purple quality parts, and there are occasionally a few orange quality parts in between.

Among them, Wang Zhen was really lucky. With the help of the thousand-year-old dragon blood fruit and 10 strands of the fourth-level floating land origin, he once again obtained an orange-quality super main gun, which made up for the lack of firepower for the [Wolf Howl and Tiger Roar].

However, Song Chi's mind was far from being so good. Apart from the initial wisp of [Burning Heart Flame], there were no other items that excited him, which made him very disappointed.

Finally, after the auction of another top-quality purple component was completed, the black market management officially announced that it had entered the final stage.

There are only three items in this finale.

The first item is a low-level law crystal with earth attribute.

For the Xinhuo captains present who had comprehended the Law of Earth, this low-level Law Crystal of Earth Attribute undoubtedly caused quite a stir.

Finally, it was bought for 10 strands of fifth-level floating land origin.

Song Chi still did not make an offer. As he followed the path of space law, this crystal of earth attribute law was of no use to him.

However, the second to last item that appeared immediately afterwards gave him a big surprise.

It is a half-step fifth-level starry sky plant tree heart.

“This is a half-step fifth-level [Desolate Ancient Tree Heart]. As the original tree heart of the starry sky plant, it should have a very strong life-extending effect. However, the desolate power emanating from the Desolate Ancient Tree itself has affected this, so that this tree heart has no power to extend life.

But after all, it is a half-step fifth-level starry sky plant tree heart, and it still has many uses. I will not go into details here. You can bid now!"

When this tree heart first appeared, it did attract the attention of many Xinhuo captains, but when they learned that it had no effect on prolonging life, most people immediately lost interest.

However, what surprised Song Chi was that with the appearance of this [heart of the desolate ancient tree], a strange change suddenly came from the ancestral orifice of the fire between his eyebrows.

Originally, he didn't have much interest in this [heart of the desolate ancient tree], but with this unusual phenomenon, he suddenly became serious.

Song Chi sank his mind into the ancestral orifice of fire and soon discovered the source of the abnormality.

Just like the neutron star debris it encountered before, the mini version of the Sky was still the one that made the slight tremor this time.

Of course, this time it is no longer the [Neutron Star Core Armor] component, but another component in the Sky.

[Chicang’s No. 004 cultivation secret realm]?
Feeling the source of the slight tremor coming from the Mini Sky, Song Chi was surprised.

He never thought that it would be this component, but he soon discovered that it was not so much the [Chicang's No. 004 Cultivation Secret Realm] component that was vibrating, but rather the [Silver Apple Mother Tree] inside this component.

After getting this answer, Song Chi instantly thought of a lot of things.

"It turned out that the [Silver Apple Mother Tree] reacted to the [Heart of the Desolate Ancient Tree]? Could it be that the [Heart of the Desolate Ancient Tree] is the key to its promotion to the fifth level?"

This was the first thing that popped into Song Chi’s mind.

There was no way. It had been a long time since the components of [Chicang's No. 004 Cultivation Secret Realm] were strengthened to the fifth level, but the [Silver Apple Mother Tree] in it had never shown any sign of advancement. This had troubled Song Chi for a long time, and he had considered various reasons, but he had not gotten the answer he wanted.

Therefore, when Song Chi saw the unusual movement of the [Silver Apple Mother Tree], he immediately associated it with the promotion to the fifth level.

Suppressing his excited and confused thoughts, Song Chi calmed himself down. At the same time, he thought about what he could offer to trade for this [Heart of the Desolate Ancient Tree].

Since it might be the key to the promotion of the [Silver Apple Mother Tree], he must take the [heart of the desolate ancient tree].

The value of the [Silver Apple Mother Tree] is too great. Once it returns to the fifth level, combined with the characteristics of the "Secret Realm Accelerator", it will be able to continuously produce orange wonders in the future. If it can return to the sixth level in the future, it will be able to continuously produce red wonders. For this reason alone, even if there is only a slight possibility, he must take action.

After thinking about it, Song Chi had the answer in his mind.

He took out the quote machine and quickly typed the following words on it.

"Red energy shield [Red Dome Shield] or three thousand-year-old dragon blood fruits!"

After giving the offer, he began to wait quietly.

PS: This is a two-chapter chapter. There should be an extra chapter later.

(End of this chapter)