Chapter 59: The Promotion of the Firmament to Tier 1

As the faint glow shimmering across the hull gradually dimmed, indicating that the Sky Vault had successfully completed its advancement from a Psionic Shuttle to a Psionic Airship, Song Chi swiftly cast a glance at the airship's attributes.

Unsurprisingly, the attributes of the Sky Vault had undergone massive changes.

First and foremost, the eight basic slots shared by all Fireseed airships received a special enhancement. Regardless of the quality of the components loaded into these basic slots, their effects would be boosted by 20%.

This was a bonus effect granted to all Fireseed airships that advanced to a Psionic Airship. Not only the Psionic Airship, but every subsequent evolution would further elevate this bonus effect. This was also the fundamental reason why the combat prowess of Fireseed airships at different tiers varied by chasms within the Fireseed human civilization.

Just imagine, although this bonus effect remained fixed, the mere 20% numerical boost was already equivalent to adding an exclusive power-enhancing trait to every basic component.

As for traits, needless to say, they were exclusive to rare blue or even epic purple-grade components. From this alone, one could imagine the terrifying overall performance leap a Fireseed airship gained with every major tier advancement.

Take the particle beam cannon that had been loaded not long ago, for instance. Its power attribute after being enhanced to level 10 was originally 173, but now it would receive an additional 20% boost on top of that base, meaning $173 imes 120\% = 208$ points.

The dark matter energy shield generator was no different, except that its boost applied to both the defense value and the shield value.

Defense: $880 imes 120\% = 1056$

Shield Value: $16280/16280 imes 120\% = 19536/19536$

All other general components in the basic slots followed suit, and even the sturdiness of the Fireseed hull itself increased by 20%.

In addition to this, the number of special slots increased from 6 to 10.

The importance of this was actually extremely high, but because Song Chi currently did not possess any surplus special shipborne components, it was not yet showing any notable effects.

Having finished the advancement of the Sky Vault, Song Chi produced the more than 200 wisps of Tier 1 floating continent origin he had on hand and began to further enhance the "particle beam cannon" component.

Dealing with void fiends numbering in the thousands required immense firepower. Therefore, Song Chi directly utilized all the Tier 1 floating continent origin in his possession, ultimately consuming 180 wisps of Tier 1 origin to elevate the particle beam cannon to level 16.

Main Particle Beam Cannon Level 16

Quality: Blue

Consumption: 46/shot (Psionic Points)

Trait: Main cannon power increased by 18%

Power: $389 imes 120\%$

Charge: 3s; Buffer: 5s

Upgrade Requirement: 51 wisps of floating continent origin (Tier 1), 5400 psionic points.

Following the shipborne main cannon, he spent another batch of resources to upgrade the psionic secondary cannon to level 10 as well.

Although the main cannon possessed great power, both its charging and buffering times were quite long. The secondary cannon was different; it required no charging or prolonged buffering and could maintain continuous suppressing fire. Its psionic point consumption was also very low. While its destructive power was somewhat lackluster, it was undoubtedly best suited for large-scale battles involving massive numbers of enemies.

Psionic Secondary Cannon Level 10

Quality: Colorless

Consumption: 3/shot (Psionic Points)

Power: $11 imes 20\%$

No buffering and charging required

Upgrade Requirement: 2000 psionic points

With the psionic secondary cannon upgraded to level 10, this makeshift reinforcement finally came to an end. As for the dark matter energy shield generator and the engine component, neither could be further improved until they were replaced.

During the reinforcement of the Sky Vault, the attacks sustained by the psionic defensive grand array did not decrease. Looking at the rippling defensive light barrier and glancing at the array's remaining defense value, Song Chi knew he could no longer delay and had to launch a counterattack as soon as possible.

The shield value, which had been close to 40,000 prior to the upgrades, had now plummeted below 35,000, a rate of decline that was alarmingly fast.

In response, Song Chi's thoughts shifted. The newly loaded and unenhanced [Brainwave Remote Control System] component was activated by him, and a brainwave beacon was projected directly into his own body.

That's right, he did not plan to fight aboard the vessel in person. Instead, he intended to pilot the Sky Vault remotely through brainwave control while remaining within the Market, commanding ten Fire葵 (Huo Kui) puppet soldiers to fight using civilian-grade "energy pulse guns." This was the ultimate way to maximize all available combat forces.

Buzz buzz buzz!

The Sky Vault's engine activated. Amidst a chorus of humming sounds, it suddenly surged out of the psionic defensive grand array, leaving a long trail of flames in its wake.

The moment it broke out of the array, the rattling fire of the secondary cannons rang out immediately. For a moment, the void fiends outside were taken aback by this iron airship nearly twenty meters in length.

Although the secondary cannon's power was quite weak, its firing rate was extremely fast. The consumption of 3 psionic points per shot was negligible in front of the psionic engine, which had already been upgraded to level 19. As long as the engine did not overload, this terrifying rate of fire could be sustained indefinitely.

Moreover, while these void fiends were numerous, their tiers were generally low. Over ninety percent of them were Tier 0, with only around a hundred Tier 1 void fiends, and no Tier 2 fiends detected as of yet. Thus, the Tier 1-enhanced psionic secondary cannons could still inflict considerable damage.

Unsurprisingly, the vast majority of the void fiends' attention was immediately drawn to the Sky Vault, and they began flapping their pitch-black wings behind them, chasing after it in a frenzy.

As a result, the pressure borne by the psionic defensive grand array dropped by a massive margin. Although attacks still struck the light barrier from time to time, the rate at which the shield value decreased was now within an acceptable range.

"Aim at those creatures outside the light barrier above, and fire!!"

Stationed at the edge of the defensive light barrier, Song Chi issued the order to attack.

Soon, the Huo Kui puppet soldiers began repeatedly raising the energy pulse guns in their hands, aiming at the void fiends hovering in the sky above and unleashing their attacks. Personnel inside the psionic defensive grand array could freely counterattack outward without affecting the array's defensive light barrier—such was the characteristic of this defensive barrier: it functioned outward rather than inward.

As for why he didn't simply let the Sky Vault remain inside the Market to attack, it was because the ship not only served to deliver firepower coverage but also had to shoulder the responsibility of attracting the vast majority of the void fiends' attention, preventing them from concentrating their fire on the psionic array. Otherwise, the defensive light barrier surely wouldn't have been able to hold out for long.

Swoosh swoosh swoosh!

Streaks of energy pulse rays shot out, accurately striking the various void fiends lingering above. These Huo Kui puppet soldiers had been summoned for over a month, and Song Chi had long since demonstrated to them how to use these energy pulse guns. Although puppets looked rather awkward wielding such ranged firearms, they were nevertheless fully capable of normal firing and shooting.

The civilian-grade energy pulse gun was a type of energy-ray firearm developed by the Fireseed human civilization, with power generally around the peak of Tier 0.

Because they were originally purchased for the Tier 1 Huo Kui puppets to use, Song Chi had specifically had the Eagle Machinery Store modify them for enhanced firepower. At this moment, the energy pulse guns in their hands possessed standard Tier 1 might.

This was also something Song Chi felt immensely grateful for at this very moment.