Cangqiong's Drastically Changed Attributes (Wednesday: Please Read On)

The resources required to enhance the Golden Rock Hull Armor component were exactly the same as those for the Fire Sunflower Soldier Tree, aside from Adamantine.

In the end, Song Chi spent another 295 strands of zero-rank Floating Continent Essence and 81 tons of Adamantine, enhancing the Golden Rock Hull Armor all the way to lv10.

Additionally, during the enhancement process, he added 2 tons of Phantom Crystal at every level, using a total of 20 tons. These Phantom Crystals had been obtained after killing the Metal-Eating Vine last time. He had acquired 110 tons in total, leaving 90 tons after the enhancements.

After adding these Phantom Crystals, Cangqiong's hull would possess a certain degree of stealth, making it harder for alien lifeforms to detect and track during exploration of alien starfields.

The reason he had not used them all was naturally because the Golden Rock Hull Armor was of too low a quality. White-quality hull armor would likely be replaced by Song Chi before long, so there was no need to use all the Phantom Crystals on it.

Golden Rock Hull Armor lv10

Quality: White

Consumption: 10/s

Defense: 230

Upgrade requirements: 10 strands of Floating Continent Essence (rank one), 2,000 Energy Points, 20 tons of Adamantine.

After enhancing the Golden Rock Hull Armor, Song Chi saw that he still had some enhancement resources left, so he also upgraded the Psionic Main Cannon and Sky-Patrol Radar to lv10.

Psionic Main Cannon lv10

Quality: Colorless

Consumption: 40/shot (Dark Energy Points)

Power: 99

Charge: 4s; cooldown: 6s

Upgrade requirements: 100 strands of Floating Continent Essence (zero-rank), 1,600 Dark Energy Points.

Sky-Patrol Radar lv10

Quality: Colorless

Consumption: 5/s (Dark Energy Points)

Detection range: 1 light-minute

Precision: 30

Rank-up requirements: 140 strands of Floating Continent Essence (zero-rank), 2,000 Dark Energy Points.

These two standard components had essentially reached their limits at this point. Song Chi did not intend to spend any more resources on either of them, since they would soon be replaced. For now, they were merely transitional.

After sorting through his remaining funds, aside from the 2,000 strands of zero-rank Floating Continent Essence he had set aside in advance, six Deepwater Mussel Pearls, and that rank-three Mermaid's Tear, all he had left were scattered unused resources.

Thinking of the boldness he had felt while holding more than ten thousand strands of zero-rank Floating Continent Essence, only for nearly ten thousand strands' worth of resources to be completely depleted in less than an hour, Song Chi could not help but sigh.

The Kindling Human Civilization's Kindling Starship advancement system was indeed incredibly fast, but it was genuinely built upon the consumption of vast quantities of resources. The entire Kindling Human Civilization was like a gold-devouring behemoth, constantly seizing enormous amounts of resources from the Shattered Star Sea.

Of course, this was hardly exclusive to the Kindling Human Civilization. Among all the intermediate and advanced civilizations in the Shattered Star Sea, which one was not the same?

After his sigh, Song Chi willed it, and Cangqiong's complete attributes appeared before his eyes.

After more than a month of enhancements and upgrades, Cangqiong's overall attributes had changed tremendously compared with when it had first fused.

Name: Cangqiong

Model: Kindling-Psionic Shuttle

Level: lv9

Basic components: White Kindling Hull lv9, Psionic Main Cannon lv10, Psionic Secondary Cannon lv0, Golden Rock Hull Armor lv10, Psionic Engine lv19, Dark Matter Energy Shield Generator lv15, Sky-Patrol Radar lv10, Psionic Cultivation Room lv0 (8/8)

Additional components: Fire Sunflower Soldier Tree lv15 (1/6)

Psionic Pool: 9000/9000

Supplies: 12 strands of rank-one Floating Continent Essence, 2,215 strands of zero-rank Floating Continent Essence, 50 tons of Mercury Crystal, 3 three-hundred-year Deepwater Mussel Pearls...

After closing Cangqiong's attribute panel, Song Chi took out a three-hundred-year Deepwater Mussel Pearl.

Dark energy gathered in his palm. Then, the Deepwater Mussel Pearl resting there began to tremble faintly. As time passed, its vibrations became increasingly intense. From the surface, it looked as though it would burst apart at any moment.

Yet that was not what happened. Once the vibrations reached a certain frequency, they gradually calmed. When the mussel pearl stopped trembling completely, countless tiny cracks suddenly appeared across its surface before it crumbled directly into a pile of powder.

This was naturally no magic trick. Song Chi's control over his own dark energy had reached an exceptionally minute level. He injected dark energy into the pearl, then thoroughly pulverized its interior without damaging its outer shell.

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

That was right, this was how a Deepwater Mussel Pearl was used. Consumed together with body-tempering potion and supplemented by the All-Attribute Cultivation Room, its effects would be especially astonishing.

Quickly arriving at the All-Attribute Cultivation Room, Song Chi swallowed the intermediate body-tempering potion in one gulp. Then he planted his feet firmly, held his palms upward, and entered the practice of the Psionic Guidance Technique as quickly as possible.

As for the Mermaid's Tear aboard Cangqiong, it was naturally not convenient to give it to his mother yet. He would have to wait until he returned from the next alien starfield exploration. If he took it out then, he could conveniently attribute it to that exploration.

If he brought it out now, it would be difficult to explain. Though his mother and father would not press him if he did not wish to talk, it was always better to find a more reasonable opportunity.

Inside the All-Attribute Cultivation Room, as soon as he assumed the standard guidance technique posture and began cultivating, the dark energy throughout the sealed space started gathering at an incredible speed. Even though he had been mentally prepared, Song Chi was still thoroughly startled by this terrifying cultivation speed.

As the Psionic Guidance Technique circulated, he felt the dark energy outside was like fledglings returning to their nest. He did not need to draw it in with all his strength; it actively gathered into his body.

If the speed of cultivating in the Omni Training Room normally was rated at 6, then his current cultivation speed was 60. The guidance technique, which he had broken through less than twenty days ago, showed obvious progress once again.

For a time, Song Chi became utterly absorbed. This cultivation speed was simply dreamlike.

A day and a night later, Song Chi withdrew from his cultivation state. The accelerating effect of the three-hundred-year Deepwater Mussel Pearl had ended.

After leaving the All-Attribute Cultivation Room, Song Chi immersed his consciousness into his body and quickly determined the results of this cultivation session. Just this one day of cultivation had produced an effect comparable to two months of practice. What had originally required roughly another half year to break through to lv6 now needed only four months.

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

After his excitement faded, he quickly calmed down. He knew perfectly well that this had much to do with it being his first time using a mussel pearl to aid his cultivation. When he used one a second time, the effects would certainly be diminished to some extent.

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

"This is only an intermediate body-tempering potion. If I had an advanced body-tempering potion to use with it, the effect would definitely be even better."

Though he felt regretful, Song Chi understood that he could only think about it. Advanced body-tempering potions were unlike low- and intermediate-grade body-tempering potions. They were likewise classified as strategic resources by the Morning Star Duchy and rarely circulated outside official channels. Only the duchy's noble class received fixed annual quotas; ordinary citizens could forget about them.

At the entrance to the market, Song Chi's figure gradually turned illusory before quickly disappearing completely from the Myriad Heavens Market.

Though he dearly wished to use all five of his remaining Deepwater Mussel Pearls at once, he had already stayed in the market for two days and two nights. If he did not go out and show himself soon, his mother would probably force the door open before long.

In the living room, Song Chi had just stepped out of his bedroom when he unexpectedly discovered that his father was actually home today. Sitting on the living room sofa, his father stared at the star map projected from the communication bracelet in his hand, considering something.