Chapter 44: The Drastically Altered Firmament

Apart from adamantine, the resources required to reinforce the Golden Rock hull armor components were completely identical to those of the previous Fire-Sunflower Terracotta Puppet Tree.

In the end, Song Chi spent another 295 wisps of Tier 0 floating land origin plus 81 tons of adamantine, upgrading the Golden Rock hull armor all the way to Level 10.

Additionally, during the reinforcement process, he added 2 tons of phantom crystals at each level, using a total of 20 tons of phantom crystals. These phantom crystals had been obtained from killing the Gold-Devouring Vine last time; a total of 110 tons were acquired back then, and 90 tons remained after the upgrades.

With the addition of these phantom crystals, the subsequent hull of the Sky Vault would possess a certain degree of stealth capability, making it more difficult to be captured and detected by alien biological species during alien domain explorations.

The reason they were not completely used up was naturally because the quality of the Golden Rock hull armor was too low. White-quality hull armor would likely be replaced by Song Chi before long, so there was no need to invest all the phantom crystals into it.

Golden Rock Hull Armor Level 10
Quality: White
Consumption: 10/s
Protection: 230
Upgrade Requirement: 10 wisps of floating land origin (Tier 1), 2,000 energy points, 20 tons of adamantine.

Having finished reinforcing the Golden Rock hull armor and seeing that some reinforcement resources still remained in his hands, he took the opportunity to also upgrade the Psionic Main Cannon and the Sky-Roaming Radar to Level 10.

Psionic Main Cannon Level 10
Quality: Colorless
Consumption: 40/shot (Psionic points)
Might: 99
Charge: 4s; Buffer: 6s
Upgrade Requirement: 100 wisps of floating land origin (Tier 0), 1,600 psionic points.

…………

Sky-Roaming Radar Level 10
Quality: Colorless
Consumption: 5/s (Psionic points)
Detection Range: 1 light-minute
Precision: 30
Tier Advancement Requirement: 140 wisps of floating land origin (Tier 0), 2,000 psionic points.

Upgrading these two standard components to this level had basically reached their limit. Song Chi did not plan to spend any more resources on them moving forward; after all, they would be replaced very soon, and right now they were merely being used as a transitional measure.

Taking stock of the remaining funds in his possession—aside from the 2,000 wisps of Tier 0 floating land origin reserved in advance, as well as six deep-water clam pearls and that Tier 3 mermaid's tear—only some unspent scattered resources were left.

Thinking of the grand sentiment of holding over ten thousand wisps of Tier 0 floating land origin just moments ago, and how less than an hour had passed before nearly ten thousand wisps of Tier 0 floating land origin were entirely consumed, Song Chi could not help but feel a twinge of emotion.

The advancement speed of the Fireseed human civilization's Fireseed airship system was undoubtedly extremely fast, but this was solidly established on the premise of consuming massive amounts of resources. The entire Fireseed human civilization was like a gold-devouring behemoth, constantly extracting vast resources from the Shattered Star Sea at every moment.

Of course, this was by no means the exclusive patent of the Fireseed human civilization. Which of those medium and high-level civilizations throughout the entire Shattered Star Sea was not doing the exact same thing?

After a moment of reflection, a thought stirred in Song Chi's mind, and the entire attribute sheet of the Sky Vault instantly surfaced in his field of vision.

Following more than a month of reinforcement and upgrades, the overall attributes of the Sky Vault had undergone tremendous changes compared to when it was first fused.

[Name: Sky Vault]
[Model: Fireseed - Psionic Air-Shuttle]
[Grade: Level 9]
[Basic Components: White Fireseed Hull Level 9, Psionic Main Cannon Level 10, Psionic Secondary Cannon Level 0, Golden Rock Hull Armor Level 10, Psionic Engine Level 19, Dark Matter Energy Shield Generator Level 15, Sky-Roaming Radar Level 10, Psionic Cultivation Chamber Level 0 (8/8)]
[Additional Components: Fire-Sunflower Terracotta Puppet Tree Level 15 (1/6)]
[Psionic Pool: 9000/9000]
[Supplies: Tier 1 floating land origin 12 wisps, Tier 0 floating land origin 2215 wisps, Mercury Crystal 50 tons, Three-Hundred-Year Deep-Water Clam Pearls 3 pieces...]

Closing the attribute panel of the Sky Vault, Song Chi took out a three-hundred-year-old deep-water clam pearl.

Pitch-black energy converged in his palm, and soon, the surface of the deep-water clam pearl held in his palm began to produce slight tremors. As time passed, the tremor frequency became increasingly astonishing. Viewed from the surface, it looked as if it was about to burst apart entirely at any second.

However, the reality was not so. When the tremor frequency reached a certain degree, it gradually subsided into calmness. When this clam pearl completely stopped vibrating, countless fine cracks suddenly appeared on its surface, and finally, it directly dissolved into a pile of powder.

This was, of course, no trick, but rather the result of Song Chi's control over his own psionic energy having reached an extremely meticulous level. By injecting psionic energy into the interior of this clam pearl and completely pulverizing its insides without damaging its outer shell.

Taking out a bottle of intermediate body-tempering potion from his possession, Song Chi carefully poured the entire pile of powder into the body-tempering potion, then gently shook the potion until it was evenly mixed.

That's right, this was the method of using the deep-water clam pearl. Taken orally in combination with the body-tempering potion, coupled with the all-attribute cultivation chamber, its effect would be exceptionally astonishing.

Hurrying to the all-attribute cultivation chamber, Song Chi swallowed the intermediate body-tempering potion in his hand in a single gulp, then planted his feet firmly, held his palms flat upward, and entered the practice of the Psionic Guidance Technique at the fastest possible speed.

As for the mermaid's tear left on the Sky Vault, it was naturally inconvenient to give it to his mother right now; he had to wait until his return from the next alien domain exploration. Bringing it out then would allow him to neatly attribute it to the alien domain exploration.

Bringing it out directly right now would be rather difficult to explain. Although his mother and father wouldn't ask too many questions even if he didn't want to talk, finding a more reasonable timing was always better.

Inside the all-attribute cultivation chamber, the moment he began practicing with the standard guidance technique postures, the psionic energy in the entire enclosed space began to converge at high speed. Even with some psychological preparation, Song Chi was still greatly startled by this terrifying cultivation speed.

With the operation of the Psionic Guidance Technique, he could only feel that the external psionic energy was like nest-returning swallows, requiring no all-out effort from him to absorb it, but instead actively converging into his body.

If the speed during ordinary practice using the all-purpose cultivation chamber was rated as 6, then his cultivation speed at this moment was 60. The guidance technique, which had broken through less than twenty days ago, once again showed obvious progress at this moment.

For a time, Song Chi was somewhat mesmerized. This kind of cultivation speed felt simply dreamlike.

A day and a night later, Song Chi withdrew from the meditative state, and the acceleration effect of the three-hundred-year deep-water clam pearl had ended.

Stepping out of the all-attribute cultivation chamber, Song Chi focused his mind inward on his body, and soon he calculated the results of this cultivation session. The effects of this single day of practice unexpectedly rivaled two months of ordinary cultivation. Level 6, which originally would have required about half a year to break through, now only required four months.

Song Chi's heart was filled with excitement; this effect was truly astonishing.

After the initial excitement subsided, he quickly regained his composure. He was well aware that this had a great deal to do with it being his first time using a clam pearl to assist cultivation; subsequent secondary uses would undoubtedly experience a certain discount in effectiveness.

Clenching his fists, Song Chi felt a pang of regret.

"This is only an intermediate body-tempering potion. If I could have an advanced body-tempering potion to use alongside it, the effect would undoubtedly be even better."

Though filled with regret, Song Chi also understood that this could only be thought of in his heart. Advanced body-tempering potions were completely different from intermediate and low-grade ones; they were likewise classified as strategic supplies of the Morningstar Principality, not easily leaked out, and only the principality's noble class had a fixed annual quota—ordinary citizens couldn't even dream of it.

At the ruins market entrance, Song Chi's figure gradually turned illusory, and soon disappeared completely from the myriad realms market.

Although he desperately wanted to use up the remaining five deep-water clam pearls in his possession all at once, he had already stayed in the market for two days and two nights. If he didn't go out and show his face soon, his mother might force open the door before long.

In the living room, just as Song Chi walked out of his bedroom, he unexpectedly discovered that his father was actually at home today. He was sitting on the living room sofa, his gaze fixed on the star map projected by the communication bracelet in his hand, pondering something.