Success

Above the Floating Continent Essence Core that radiated terrifying heat, the shuttle bay of the Cangqiong slowly opened. At the same time, a tractor beam shot out from the shuttle, aimed directly at the Essence Core Fusion Body.

The instant the tractor beam took effect on the Essence Core Fusion Body, Song Chi felt a distinct repulsive force. It was the Essence Core Fusion Body instinctively resisting this unfamiliar restraint.

Because of that resistance, the Cangqiong's towing progress became exceptionally slow.

Seeing this, Song Chi, whose eyes were fixed tightly on the Psionic Shield component, wore an extremely grim expression. Just a second ago, the Psionic Shield's shield value had fallen below 200. Only a little over 100 points remained, and it was still dropping rapidly at nearly 10 points per second.

Yet Song Chi had no solution to this. In essence, the Cangqiong was merely a standard Tier 0 Psionic Shuttle. Using it to tow an object equivalent to the peak of Tier 1 was like making a pony pull a cart. Neither the Psionic Shield nor the Fire Sunflower Soldier Tree had any direct connection to the tractor beam.

If he had not been certain that this was merely an incompletely formed Floating Continent Essence Core that had yet to develop complete instincts, and that, thanks to the characteristics of Kindling Starships, any Star Sea Marvel could be converted into a completely harmless Kindling component once brought aboard, why would Song Chi have risked coming here so easily?

About another ten seconds passed. With the tractor beam's efforts, the Floating Continent Essence Core Fusion Body had already drawn close to the Cangqiong's hatch. Success was right before his eyes.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

However, several sudden piercing sounds came from behind. More than a dozen Tier 1 White-Wing Clan members, their footsteps heavy, had caught up once again.

This time, they had learned their lesson. Knowing their attacks would struggle to damage the Cangqiong in a short time, they all shifted their targets, intending to interrupt the Cangqiong's towing process.

A cold gleam flashed in Song Chi's eyes. He had finally seen hope of obtaining this Floating Continent Essence Core Fusion Body. How could he allow this to happen?

"Block those attacks!"

Upon receiving Song Chi's order, ten fiery-red figures simultaneously swept out of the Cangqiong's shuttle bay. Tungsten-gold battle shields were held in their left hands and tungsten-gold spears in their right as they charged straight toward the dozen incoming attacks, carrying out Song Chi's command to the utmost.

Clang! Clang! Clang...

Continuous metallic collisions rang out one after another. The ten Fire Sunflower Soldier Puppets did not allow a single attack to pass through their defensive line.

Song Chi let out a deep breath, and his heart, which had risen to his throat, finally settled again. Then he issued the command to "attack freely" once more.

At once, the Fire Sunflower Soldier Puppets, wielding shields and spears, marched forward in unison. Accompanied by the wisps of fiery-red light emanating from their bodies, they presented a rather pleasing sight.

But Song Chi knew that was only surface-level appearance. Relying on their puppet bodies, the pressure and high temperatures emitted by the Floating Continent Essence Core Fusion Body had little effect on them in the short term. Yet once they clashed head-on with nearly twice their number of White-Wing Clan members, the Fire Sunflower Soldier Puppets would quickly fall into a disadvantage.

After all, the ten Fire Sunflower Soldier Puppets were only level 10, possessing strength barely entering Tier 1. The tungsten-gold shields and tungsten-gold spears equipped for them only had decent hardness; their actual offensive power was quite ordinary.

But that no longer mattered. As long as the Fire Sunflower Soldier Puppets could hold them off for more than five seconds, that would be enough. He had never expected them to defeat, much less kill, these White-Wing Clan members.

Time passed. A single second that had once been no more than an instant now felt exceptionally long to Song Chi.

56/990

47/990

37/990

Just before the Psionic Shield's shield value completely reached zero, that Tier 1 Floating Continent Essence Core Fusion Body was finally pulled entirely into the Cangqiong's shuttle bay.

Close the shuttle bay doors.

Turn the shuttle around.

Overload the Psionic Engine.

Without time to inspect the properties of the Floating Continent Essence Core Fusion Body, which had already been converted into a shipborne component, Song Chi's mind began operating at full speed almost the instant he learned that the towing had succeeded.

Under his intense concentration, he faintly broke through his own limits, managing to split his attention three ways.

"Hummm..."

Amid the engine's roar, the Cangqiong became an afterimage and shot toward the space above the rift.

Forget checking the properties of the componentized Floating Continent Essence Core Fusion Body—at this moment, Song Chi could not even spare a thought for the Fire Sunflower Soldier Puppets. All he wanted was to escape this rift space as quickly as possible.

Without the intense energy fluctuations released by the Floating Continent Essence Core Fusion Body, the several hundred White-Wing Clan members nearby were no longer restricted. The Psionic Shield was already on the verge of collapse, and the Cangqiong's defenses were at their weakest. Let alone Tier 1 White-Wing Clan members, even taking a few more attacks from Tier 0 White-Wing Clan members could result in the destruction of the ship and the death of everyone aboard.

Fortunately, the ten Fire Sunflower Soldier Puppets had helped hold back most of the Tier 1 White-Wing Clan members. Otherwise, Song Chi might even have considered hiding in the Myriad Heavens Market.

Of course, he would never take that step unless absolutely necessary.

Hiding in the market could indeed guarantee his safety, but who knew whether the Kindling Starship's return function could still be triggered within the market?

If it could not, would that not mean he could only remain in this unknown starfield forever?

Based on the results of multiple tests over the past several dozen hours, entering and leaving the Myriad Heavens Market currently used him personally as the coordinate.

What did that mean? Simply put, wherever he entered the Myriad Heavens Market from was the only place he could emerge from afterward.

Because of this characteristic, once he missed the Kindling Starship's automatic return, he could only travel between and remain within the starfield beneath his feet and the Myriad Heavens Market. It would be nearly impossible for him to return out of thin air to the territory where Kindling Human Civilization was located.

At the thought of that possibility, Song Chi was naturally unwilling a hundred times over.

Even with the Myriad Heavens Market, whose monthly market trade opening was enough to guarantee his future resource acquisition and would not affect his subsequent strengthening and advancement.

But the problem was that without the backing of a powerful civilization, no matter how strong one's individual combat power was, one would still be in extreme danger within the survival-of-the-fittest Shattered Star Sea. After all, one could never imagine what terrifying reserves a mid- or high-level civilization with a legacy of over a hundred thousand years might possess.

The Cangqiong sped onward. Although Song Chi had pushed its speed to the limit, quite a few White-Wing Clan attacks still landed on the shuttle's body.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

At the same time, the Cangqiong's main cannon and secondary cannons continued firing backward, either directly attacking the pursuing White-Wing Clan members or bombarding the rock walls on both sides behind them, using countless shattered fragments of stone to obstruct the White-Wing Clan pursuers.

However, there were too many White-Wing Clan members. This was merely a drop in the bucket. Soon, the Psionic Shield, already on the brink of collapse, shattered completely, and attack after attack began striking the Cangqiong's hull.

The only thing Song Chi could be thankful for was that, during yesterday's strengthening, aside from the Psionic Shield component, he had also strengthened the Hull Armor to level 7. Although Hull Armor at this level was far less defensive than a Tier 1 Psionic Shield, as long as it was not a Tier 1 White-Wing Clan member attacking, it could still hold out for a while.