Chapter 50: Securing the Titanium Crystal

After another half hour or so, the mining work finally concluded, and the exact quantity of titanium crystals obtained was finally tallied.

Following repeated confirmations by Song Chao and Shen Wenjie, the reserves of this micro titanium crystal vein gave them quite a pleasant surprise.

Compared to the initial estimate of 1,000 to 2,000 pieces, the actual yield of titanium crystals was considerably higher.

"I didn't expect us to mine 2,420 titanium crystals. It seems our luck is quite good."

Looking at the tallied figures, a smile appeared on Shen Wenjie's face. For a strategic resource like titanium crystals, let alone over two thousand pieces, even if they had only mined two hundred, it would have fully justified the time they spent on this endeavor.

Song Chao was equally excited, but after the initial thrill, his gaze flickered, and he seemed hesitant to speak.

In the communication projection, Shen Wenjie carefully captured this trace of abnormality.

"Old Song, if you have something to say, just spit it out. There's no need to stand on ceremony between us."

Song Chao gathered his thoughts for a moment and then carefully explained:

"Old Shen, you should know the identity of that person just now, right? In your opinion, will that Zhu Kang report this matter to Zhu Kuang?"

Hearing that Song Chao was talking about this matter, the joy on Shen Wenjie's face instantly receded, replaced by a solemn expression.

As the powerful and authoritative inspection captain of the Jiangyuan Fire Bureau, how could Shen Wenjie's intelligence sources be poor? He knew Zhu Kang's identity all too well.

Earlier, he had temporarily pushed this matter aside due to the joy of harvesting the titanium crystals, but now that Song Chao had brought it up voluntarily, Shen Wenjie couldn't help feeling a massive headache.

Given Zhu Kuang's influence in Jiangyuan City, once the investigation traced back to him, removing him from his position as inspection captain would merely be a matter of a single word.

What? You speak of the Morningstar Principality's laws? Stop joking. In this stellar era where the extraordinary prevails and floating lands are separated by vast distances, the Morningstar Principality—and indeed the entire domain of human civilization fueled by the Flame—recognized only one single law.

Battleship-tier Flame Warships and above are strictly prohibited from engaging in any form of internal attrition.

Aside from that, as long as one did not commit anything too earth-shattering—such as using Flame gunships to massacre civilians or publicly waging group battles with more than a hundred Flame gunships—virtually no one would strictly investigate.

In his anxiety, Shen Wenjie looked at Song Chao.

"Old Song, do you happen to have a solution? Just lay it out. You've only been in Jiangyuan City for twenty years, so you might not understand certain things.

That Zhu Kuang has indeed looked amiable in recent years, but that only happened after he became the president of Jiangyuan's First Flame Academy. According to my dad and the others, over a hundred years ago, he was an utterly ruthless figure who wouldn't blink at murder."

Seeming afraid that Song Chao wouldn't take it seriously enough, Shen Wenjie added immediately after:

"Once he traces this back to us, even if I persuade the Bureau Chief to plead on our behalf, I'm afraid it won't be of any use."

Song Chao nodded, deeply agreeing with Shen Wenjie's assessment.

In fact, he knew quite a bit about Zhu Kuang. This man was a veteran Flame Captain who had advanced to Tier 3 for over two hundred years. How could he not pay attention to someone who could practically cover the sky with one hand in Jiangyuan City?

It was precisely because he understood this that he had never felt completely at ease.

As for the Bureau Chief mentioned by Shen Wenjie, he was referring to the Director of the Jiangyuan Fire Bureau. Although his status was lofty, he was currently only stuck at the peak of Tier 2. He might carry some weight in front of Zhu Kuang, but certainly not all that much.

After some careful consideration, Song Chao voiced his plan.

"In that case, I'll mention it to the old man at home. With him stepping in, there is a high probability that Zhu Kuang won't interfere. However, if we do that, I'm afraid we'll have to hand over half of this batch of titanium crystals."

The reason Song Chao had been hesitant to speak earlier was precisely because of this. If he brought up the old man, a considerable portion of these titanium crystals would naturally have to be given away. After all, high-tier Flame Captains were always short on resources like titanium crystals; no one could resist the temptation of such riches.

Shen Wenjie felt a genuine pang of heartache. If it were just between him and Song Chao to split, he could have secured at least 1,000 pieces of this batch. However, after giving it some thought, he gritted his teeth and agreed. Compared to titanium crystals, his life was naturally far more important.

Even though Zhu Kuang might not necessarily make a move, taking out an insurance policy beforehand was always the right choice.

"Alright, let's do it this way. You take half to invite the old man, and as for the remaining 1,210 pieces, you and I will each take 505 pieces. Let the remaining seven little guys evenly divide the final 200!"

It was a very reasonable distribution plan, and Song Chao quickly agreed. The two first stored away their respective shares of 505 titanium crystals, leaving the remaining 200 for the seven psionic airships to distribute among themselves.

After solemnly instructing them multiple times never to leak any information regarding the titanium crystals, the formation of nine Flame gunships covertly concealed their trails and rapidly headed toward the White Tower Floating Land.

Upon entering the White Tower Floating Land, three of the psionic airships separated from the fleet, heading toward several other cities within the White Tower Floating Land respectively.

The Flame Captains of the seven psionic airships accompanying them this time were trusted direct descendants of Song Chao and Shen Wenjie. Among them, the three psionic airships that had just separated were specifically summoned by Song Chao.

If Song Chi were here, he would undoubtedly recognize those three individuals, as they were the sons of his eldest and second uncles—his own older cousins. All three were older than him and had successfully awakened their talents several years before him.

In addition, among Shen Wenjie's group of juniors, Shen Qing, who had agreed to explore the ruins together later, was also present.

***

Within the Heavens Ruins Market, Song Chi stepped out from the all-attribute cultivation room, a strong sense of excitement written across his face.

Feeling the surge of power within his body that had once again leaped forward by a large margin, he felt a deep sense of appreciation for the potent medicinal effects of the advanced body-tempering potion combined with the seven-century-old deep-sea clam pearl.

The Guiding Technique, which had only broken through a day ago, had broken through once more. At this moment, the blood-qi fluctuations radiating from his body and his overall physical constitution had blatantly reached the level of Guiding Technique Level 7.

In less than five days, the Guiding Technique had skyrocketed all the way from the threshold of Level 5 to Level 7. Such a speed was truly astonishing.

Through ordinary cultivation, achieving this would be impossible without taking at least three years or more.

Song Chi felt as though his footsteps were somewhat floating, and his body harbored a strong sense of incoordination.

After sensing it carefully, he understood the reason. It seemed to be caused by the drastic changes in his physique over the past few days, which his body had yet to adapt to in time.

Realizing this, the first emotion that welled up in Song Chi's heart was a sense of fortune.

When he had just emerged from seclusion earlier, he had felt a tinge of regret that he hadn't used up the other advanced body-tempering potion neutralized with the nine-century-old deep-sea clam pearl in one go.

Due to the limitations of his physical constitution at the time, that potion could only be used after his Guiding Technique broke through Level 7 in the future.

Now it seemed fortunate that he hadn't used up that final advanced body-tempering potion; otherwise, another violent boost would have inevitably caused severe damage to his body.

Fast cultivation speed was a good thing indeed, but if the rate of improvement exceeded what one could control, it could no longer be described simply as "fast"—it was a form of alternative force-feeding.

Such growth would inflict irreparable damage to a cultivator's very foundation.

Sensing his current condition, Song Chi abandoned the idea of exiting the Ruins Market and instead turned back to re-enter the all-attribute cultivation room.

This time, he did not continue practicing the Guiding Technique. Instead, he continuously executed physical movements and stances, eager to quickly adapt to the explosive surge of power in his body and mend the lightly damaged foundation.

Half a day later.

*Clack!*

The bedroom door was pushed open from the inside. Song Chi, having basically adapted to the power within his body, walked out from the room. His eyes lit up when he saw that his old man was still at home.

However, unlike usual, this time Song Chao didn't dare sit on the sofa. Instead, he stood ramrod straight, giving off an illusion of being "walking on thin ice."