Global Era of Star trekking Chapter 1895 - 919: Two Major Factions (2)

For this precise reason, even the Torch Civilization Expedition Army, initially equipped with eight Mythical Units and 120 million elite fleets, ultimately sustained heavy casualties over thousands of years of brutal warfare.

The formidable fleet size dwindled by more than thirty percent, with tens of millions of warships reduced to cosmic dust, and countless Torch Captains met their demise in alien territories.

Even the Mythical Units, serving as the apex of combat prowess, found themselves in dire straits multiple times, with constant threats looming over their very existence.

The Mythical Black Devourer King Beast, dispatched to relieve the besieged Titan Legion, was ambushed by three Abyss Lords of equivalent standing. It fought valiantly until its colossal form was thoroughly corrupted and consumed by demonic qi.

The Nine-tailed Heavenly Fox once witnessed its Dharma Aspect shattered and its Divine Soul grievously wounded, requiring centuries to achieve even partial recovery.

Had it not been for the avatars of the Mythical Immortal Ships belonging to five Torch Human Emperors, such as Song Chi and Jiang Yuan, within the Expedition Army, who consistently intervened at pivotal moments to absorb the most ferocious assaults—even at the expense of damaging their avatars to facilitate the retreat of allied forces—the Torch Civilization's losses would have been significantly greater.

These five warships, embodying the resolve of the Human Emperors, emerged as the Expedition Army's spiritual anchor and most formidable bulwark.

Nevertheless, despite the commendable efforts of Song Chi and his peers in maneuvering the warship avatars, individual strength appeared woefully inadequate against the overwhelming tide of cosmic events.

Their sole recourse was to follow compulsory directives, striving to preserve as much of the civilization's remaining might as possible.

Millennia of relentless combat had imposed an immense, almost incomprehensible toll on both opposing factions.

The Bottomless Abyss had been orchestrating its schemes for unfathomable epochs, possessing terrifyingly deep-rooted power structures, teeming with an endless horde of demons, and further bolstered by nearly double the number of Transcendent Demon Gods who manipulated the battlefield from the shadows, occasionally unleashing waves of destruction.

However, the All Heavens Star Sea Alliance Army was not without its crucial strongholds.

Receiving support from the demi-high-dimensional realm known as "Chaos Divine Land" had consistently been the linchpin in sustaining the Alliance Army.

Beings such as the Father of the Sand Sea and the Heaven-Burning Ancestor, while incapable of fully manifesting their true forms in the starry sea, continuously channeled resources, materials, and rule fragments imbued with high-dimensional characteristics, aiding the Alliance Army in constructing more potent war machines.

It was precisely through the backing of the Chaos Divine Land that the All Heavens Star Sea Alliance Army managed to engage in a protracted struggle with the Bottomless Abyss Camp, maintaining a tenuous stalemate despite being seemingly outmatched in terms of Transcendent battle power.

The conflict zones traversed the vast expanse of the starry sea, resulting in galaxy clusters disintegrating into dust or becoming thoroughly corrupted by abyssal demonic qi, thereby fostering environments for new demons to emerge and propagate.

The war appeared destined to drag on indefinitely, with both sides stoically enduring, awaiting the depletion of their opponent's reserves or the advent of a transformative variable capable of decisively shattering the equilibrium.

...

In stark contrast to the boundless conflict engulfing the Expedition Fleet, the Torch Domain remained an oasis of remarkable tranquility.

Within the Torch Domain lay the Sky Mountain Secret Realm.

The "All Heaven Six Harmonies Reincarnation Array" continued to emanate a gentle luminescence, safeguarding the pinnacle of the Secret Realm where the civilization's torch of existence resided.

Concurrently, propelled by the full might of the civilization, and after several thousand years of dedicated effort, the Heavenly Ruins Continent had arrived at its most pivotal juncture.

Throughout these millennia, although the Torch Civilization had executed a strategic withdrawal, the substantial gains reaped from its prior conquests across more than a dozen river system communities were now yielding their profound importance.

Among those conquered river system communities lay a staggering quantity of High Rank Floating Lands. Under the coordinated direction of the civilization's highest command, elite Torch Captains from various factions transformed into "Origin Hunters," venturing through these territories once under the civilization's dominion, relentlessly pursuing and extracting Origin Cores from the High Rank Floating Lands.

These Origin Cores, pulsating with immense life force, were ceaselessly transported to the Heavenly Ruins Continent. Nourished by this colossal influx of origin energy, the Heavenly Ruins Continent, which had recently ascended to the Ninth Level, was undergoing an astonishingly rapid evolution.

With the relentless march of time, the continent’s landmass undergoes a rapid and significant expansion, earth veins continuously surging upwards, and the fundamental laws becoming increasingly solidified. In a mere span of a few millennia, it has accomplished an accumulation process that would typically require millions, if not tens of millions, of years, comfortably reaching the pinnacle of Ninth Level Floating Land.

Currently, the entirety of the Heavenly Ruins Continent is suffused with a dense, almost explosive aura, as if billions of dragons and serpents are awakening from beneath the earth. The surging Origin Power has reached its zenith, leaving only one, albeit incredibly challenging, step remaining to ascend to the Tenth Level Star Continent.

And the primary architect and chief beneficiary of all this monumental progress—Song Chi, stands fully prepared.

His ambitions extend far beyond merely elevating the Heavenly Ruins Continent to the status of a Star Continent.

His true aim is to harness the surge of Star Origin Energy that occurs only once in millennia, utilizing this immense origin energy to propel his flagship, the "Heavenly Ruins Cang Qiong," to the Eleventh Rank—the coveted Realm of Mythical Origin, a dream cherished by countless Torch Captains!

Indeed, from the very moment he entered the Cultivation Secret Realm for his period of seclusion, this singular objective consumed his thoughts.

Within the dramatically accelerated time flow of "Chicang’s No. 004 Breeding Secret Realm," his mastery of the Guidance Technique has seen triumphant progress. Although he has not yet reached the absolute peak of the Tenth Rank, he is remarkably close. Should the Heavenly Ruins Cang Qiong successfully achieve its breakthrough, he would swiftly follow suit, ensuring he does not lag behind.

In terms of crucial resources, he possesses three long-hoarded "Tribulation Crossing Mixed Elemental Breaking Saint Pills," which can substantially enhance the success rate when upgrading from a Mythical Immortal Ship to a Mythical Origin Ship. Additionally, he has secured a portion of already harvested Eleventh Rank Dominant Origin Blood and a single drop of Tenth Rank Evil God’s Blood from the Heavenly Realm.

Furthermore, with the invaluable assistance of Jiang Yuan, Ying Yi, Ji Heng, and Ferdinand, a specialized resource formula vital for the transition from Mythical Immortal Ship to Mythical Origin Ship has been painstakingly compiled. These gathered resources together shall form a robust foundation for his advancement to the Eleventh Rank.

Following numerous intricate simulations conducted by the Dome Sky Wisdom Brain, which has already attained Three-Colored Quality, and factoring in all these augmented advantages, the base probability of success for this critical advancement hovers around thirty-five percent.

Thirty-five percent!

While this figure might appear substantial for an advancement to a Mythical Origin Ship, it still carries a considerable element of risk.

Nevertheless, contemplating the potential deployment of two components of the "Time Chess Board" could further bolster the success rate.

"Yet, even with these enhancements, the probability of success remains less than optimal..." Song Chi reflected with stark clarity.

However, he held a significant trump card—a newly acquired component known as the "Blessing of the Time God King."

Its unique feature, "Power of Time Order·Zero," possesses the remarkable ability to reset the cooldown periods of various abilities. In conjunction with the "Time Chess Board," this grants an additional opportunity for "Retrospect," sufficient to elevate the success rate to a notably more favorable level.

When contrasted with his previous advancements, this undertaking represents Song Chi's most audacious endeavor to date. Yet, he is acutely aware that under the immense pressure exerted by the abyss and the complex interplay of transcendent powers, the Torch Civilization urgently requires the emergence of its own, true stabilizer.

A Torch Captain capable of wielding Twelfth Rank Transcendent battle power, through the combined might of his flagship, the Zhu Tian Ruins Market, and other crucial assets, is of paramount importance to the present state of the Torch Civilization.

"I must take this gamble!"

Murmuring these words inwardly, Song Chi resolutely dispatched a communication with the highest authorization level through the Torch Network.

"No alterations to the established schedule for the Heavenly Ruins Continent’s advancement; accelerate the upgrade of the Floating Land immediately!!!"

Upon receipt of his decisive message, the core members of the Song family residing within the Heavenly Ruins Continent adopted expressions of profound gravity. They were fully cognizant of the slim odds pertaining to Song Chi's attempt to advance to an Eleventh Rank Mythical Origin Ship.

After all, the Cang Qiong's ascension to the Tenth Rank had occurred less than ten thousand years prior, a relatively short period for amassing the diverse array of resources essential for such a monumental advancement, which undeniably presented a critical vulnerability.

Despite this awareness, every member of the Song family faithfully carried out Song Chi’s directives, for they understood even more profoundly that all these actions were undertaken to secure the enduring legacy of the Torch Civilization.