Chapter 37: Recovery Period of the Seed of Kindling

Although the "Seed of Fire" within a human's ancestral aperture does not extinguish when a Fire-brand Starship sinks, it enters a weakened state that requires decades of recovery before it can be fully restored. Only after this recovery can a person fuse with another Scout-class shuttle and start over from scratch.

Song Chi's mother, Chen Lixia, is now a hundred years old. Although her life level has undergone one transformation, reaching the First Rank and granting her a 200-year lifespan, it is virtually impossible for her to cultivate a new Fire-brand starship and have a second chance at breaking through to the Second Rank once the decades-long recovery period is subtracted. Without the support of the Lv19 Psionic Cultivation Chamber that the "Dragonfly" once possessed, it is impossible for her to advance her cultivation technique to Lv20 in less than a century.

Song Chi’s own cultivation technique is only at Lv5. It takes him over half a year just to reach Lv6, even with the 580% boost from his cultivation chamber; without it, it would take at least three years—and that is only going from Lv5 to Lv6, let alone after Lv15. Furthermore, there is a formidable bottleneck between Lv19 and Lv20. Without the assistance of a Psionic Cultivation Chamber, being stuck at this single level for a hundred years is common.

Thinking of this, Song Chi felt restless, and his good mood from the fruitful alien territory exploration vanished. Seeing his expression, Chen Lixia rubbed his cheek and smiled. "Alright, I know my son cares for me most. Your father will find a way. He’s been busy running around this time, and he’s likely looking for a solution."

Mentioning this, Song Chi’s eyes brightened. He knew exactly what his father was investigating. Given how his father had been running around for over ten days, the rumors about "Titanium Crystals" were likely not unfounded. Given the rarity of Titanium Crystals, if they could get their hands on them, they might be able to trade them for something that could increase the success rate of his mother's starship promotion. Thinking of this, his mood improved significantly. With his father and Uncle Shen—both Second-Rank Fire-brand captains—working together, the chances of obtaining those Titanium Crystals were quite high.

However, Song Chi remained concerned. Given the value of such a strategic resource, if the news remained locked within Jiangyuan City, it might be fine, but if it leaked out, two Second-Rank captains alone might not be enough to hold their ground. At this thought, he clenched his fists, his desire to improve his strength becoming even more urgent. As for the "Dinghai Song Clan" he had heard his father mention recently, their true strength and reliability remained unknown. Song Chi could not bring himself to pin his hopes on those four ethereal words. He preferred to rely on himself rather than others.

After a moment of thought, he let his mother go home first. Song Chi circled the city center several times, slightly disguised his appearance, and once he confirmed no one was watching him, he quickly headed to the Jiangyuan Black Market. The batch of refined gold in his possession needed to be sold quickly; as for the miscellaneous items, he would sell them later as part of his normal exploration hauls to get an extra 15% in profit. As for the 110 tons of Phantom Crystals—sorry, such rare resources that were also useful to him were better kept for his own use.

Renting a large resource transport vehicle, he sold all thousand tons of refined gold ore in one go. Song Chi did not linger in the black market; he needed the funds from the gold to stock up on goods. Buying directly in the black market was generally more expensive than through official channels. The random deployment platform for the ultra-long-range space gate in the Xuri Market would soon finish its cooldown. That would be the time for his second Xuri Market trade. With nineteen space gates this time, even more alien beings would enter the market. If he didn't take this opportunity to stock up and make a fortune by reselling at a high price, he felt he would be doing himself a disservice. After all, this was an opportunity that only came once every thirty days. The three thousand wisps of Zero-Rank Floating Land Origin he earned last time were spent on the "Firmament" in the blink of an eye; this time, he had to earn more.

...

Dongjiang Fire-brand Mall, Eagle Machinery Store. As a frequent visitor, Song Chi was already well-acquainted with the clerk. As soon as he entered, she greeted him with a smile. "Welcome back. Did you have another good harvest from your exploration?"

Song Chi smiled slightly and summoned the "Firmament" to sell all his miscellaneous minerals to the Eagle Machinery Store. Perhaps because they had done business before, the purchase price remained at 80% of the market rate. Of course, Song Chi was obligated to spend all the proceeds at the Eagle Machinery Store, or the deal would be void. Without rushing to pick out items, Song Chi reached into his clothes and took out the Life Crystal of the Gold-Devouring Vine. "Do you purchase Life Crystals cultivated by a peak First-Rank Gold-Devouring Vine?"

He chose to present the crystal here because the Eagle Machinery Store also sold genetic agents. The main ingredient required for the production and blending of genetic agents is "Heavenly Star Grass," and thus, the yield of Heavenly Star Grass determines the annual output of genetic agents for all forces in that business. Consequently, Life Crystals, which can shorten the growth cycles of plant-based organisms, are always high on the list of items purchased by those pharmaceutical manufacturers.

The clerk's eyes lit up, and she nodded immediately. "Of course we do. The market price for a peak First-Rank Life Crystal is 30 wisps of First-Rank Floating Land Origin. Our purchase price is 32 wisps. How does that sound?"

Song Chi was quite satisfied with this price. However, before he could nod, the girl added, "Was this also obtained during this exploration of the alien territory?"

Song Chi smiled without responding, offering no comment. Realizing he didn't want to talk about it, the clever clerk smoothly changed the subject. "I wonder if you happen to have the remains of that Gold-Devouring Vine? If you do, we at the Eagle Machinery Store are willing to buy the remains and the Life Crystal together for 35 wisps of First-Rank Floating Land Origin."

Song Chi felt a slight stir of curiosity. He had never heard that the remains of an inactive Gold-Devouring Vine held any value. If it were a star-traveling plant, its remains might have significant research value, but for a floating land plant like this, shouldn't it be common once the Life Crystal was removed?

"Why is that? Do the vines have other uses?" Song Chi asked casually. As expected, she just shook her head with a smile and didn't answer. He didn't mind; if there were a secret, why would anyone tell him?

"Sorry, I found this Life Crystal by chance; I don't have the remains of the vine." He truly didn't. He hadn't brought the remains back; in his subconscious, it was an item of no value, so he naturally wouldn't waste time bringing it into the Xuri Market.