Titanium Crystals Secured

More than half an hour later, the mining operation finally ended, and the exact number of Titanium Crystals obtained was finally tallied.

After Song Chao and Shen Wenjie counted them several times in succession, the reserves of this tiny Titanium Crystal vein truly came as a pleasant surprise.

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

"I didn't expect us to mine 2,420 Titanium Crystals. Looks like we got lucky."

Looking at the final number, Shen Wenjie smiled. Strategic resources like Titanium Crystals—even if they had only mined two hundred of them, it would have been well worth the time they had spent on this.

Song Chao was similarly excited, but after the excitement faded, his gaze flickered and he seemed hesitant to speak.

Within the communications projection, Shen Wenjie keenly caught that trace of abnormality.

"Old Song, if you've got something to say, just say it. There's nothing between us that needs to be held back."

Song Chao gathered his thoughts for a moment before carefully explaining.

"Old Shen, you should know who that man was just now, right? What do you think—will Zhu Kang report this to Zhu Yaokui?"

Hearing that Song Chao was referring to this matter, the delight on Shen Wenjie's face vanished, replaced by a grave expression.

As the captain of an inspection team with real authority in the Jiangyuan Kindling Bureau, how could Shen Wenjie's intelligence network be lacking? He knew Zhu Kang's identity all too well.

The joy of obtaining the Titanium Crystals had temporarily pushed the matter aside, but now that Song Chao had brought it up, Shen Wenjie's headache was immense.

Given Zhu Yaokui's influence in Jiangyuan City, once the matter was traced back to him, stripping him of his position as inspection captain would be no more than a word.

What, the laws of the Morning Star Duchy? Don't joke around. In this era of widespread supernatural power, where floating continents lay far apart amid the starry sea, there was only one universally recognized law throughout the Morning Star Duchy—and even the entire territory of Kindling Human Civilization.

Kindling warships of battleship class and above were forbidden from engaging in any form of internal conflict.

Other than that, as long as one did not do anything too shocking—such as using Kindling Starships to massacre civilians, or having over a hundred Kindling Starships openly engage in a mass battle—no one would truly investigate too strictly.

Anxiously, Shen Wenjie looked at Song Chao.

"Old Song, do you have a way to solve this? Just say it. You've only been in Jiangyuan City for twenty years, so there are some things you may not understand.

Zhu Yaokui may seem quite amiable these past few years, but that only happened after he became the president of Jiangyuan First Ember Academy. From what my father and the others said, more than a century ago, he was a ruthless man who killed without batting an eye."

As if afraid Song Chao would not take it seriously enough, Shen Wenjie added after finishing.

"Once he traces this back to us, even if I persuade the bureau chief to plead for us, I'm afraid it still won't be enough."

Song Chao nodded. He completely agreed with Shen Wenjie's assessment.

In fact, he knew quite a bit about Zhu Yaokui. This was a veteran Kindling captain who had advanced to the third rank more than two hundred years ago. How could Song Chao possibly fail to pay attention to someone who could practically cover the sky with one hand in Jiangyuan City?

It was precisely because he understood the man that he had never truly felt at ease.

As for the bureau chief Shen Wenjie mentioned, he was the director of the Jiangyuan Kindling Bureau. Although his status was high, he was currently only stuck at the peak of the second rank. He might carry some weight before Zhu Yaokui, but certainly not much.

After considering it for a while, Song Chao voiced his idea.

"In that case, I'll mention it to my old man. If he steps in, Zhu Yaokui will most likely stay out of it. But if we do that, we'll probably have to give up half of these Titanium Crystals."

The reason Song Chao had found it difficult to bring this up earlier was precisely because of that. If he brought out his old man, they naturally had to hand over a substantial portion of the Titanium Crystals. After all, even high-ranking Kindling captains lacked Titanium Crystals. No one could resist the temptation of such a resource.

Shen Wenjie felt a little pained. If only he and Song Chao split the batch, he could have received at least a thousand Titanium Crystals. But after thinking it over, he still gritted his teeth and agreed. Compared with Titanium Crystals, his life was naturally more important.

Even if Zhu Yaokui might not necessarily act against them, it was never wrong to take out insurance in advance.

"Alright, we'll do it that way. Take half to ask the old man for help. Of the remaining 1,210 crystals, you and I get 505 each. Let the seven youngsters split the last 200 evenly."

It was an extremely reasonable distribution plan, and Song Chao quickly agreed. The two first put away their respective shares of 505 Titanium Crystals, while the remaining 200 were left for the seven Void Energy Airships to distribute among themselves.

After solemnly warning them several times never to reveal any information related to the Titanium Crystals, the group's nine Kindling Starships concealed their tracks and quickly headed toward the White Tower Floating Continent.

After entering the White Tower Floating Continent, three Void Energy Airships split from the fleet and headed for several other cities on the continent.

The Kindling captains of the seven Void Energy Airships that had accompanied them this time were all trusted junior members of Song Chao's and Shen Wenjie's inner circles. Among them, the three Void Energy Airships that had just departed were the ones Song Chao had summoned.

If Song Chi had been there, he would certainly have recognized the three men. They were the sons of his eldest and second uncles, all his cousins. Each was older than him and had successfully awakened several years before he had.

Aside from that, Shen Qing, who had agreed to explore the ruins together later, was also among Shen Wenjie's group of juniors.

At the Myriad Heavens Market, Song Chi walked out of the All-Attribute Cultivation Room with intense excitement on his face.

Feeling the substantial increase in strength within his body, he could not help but marvel at the powerful effects of the advanced body-tempering potion combined with a seven-hundred-year Deepwater Clam Pearl.

The Guidance Art that had only broken through a day ago had unexpectedly advanced once again. The blood vitality fluctuations emanating from him, as well as his overall physical condition, had clearly reached the level of Guidance Art lv7.

In less than five days, his Guidance Art had soared from newly entering lv5 all the way to lv7. That speed was truly astonishing.

With ordinary cultivation, it would have been impossible without at least three years.

Song Chi felt as though his steps were somewhat unsteady, and his body was gripped by a strong sense of dissonance.

After carefully sensing himself for a while, he understood. It seemed that his physique had changed too drastically over the past few days, leaving him unable to adapt to it for the moment.

Upon realizing this, the first thing Song Chi felt was relief.

When he had first emerged from seclusion, he had still felt somewhat regretful that he had been unable to use the advanced body-tempering potion neutralized with a nine-hundred-year Deepwater Clam Pearl all at once.

Because of the condition of his physique, he could only use that potion after his Guidance Art broke through to lv9 in the future.

Now, it seemed fortunate that he had not used that final advanced body-tempering potion. Otherwise, another drastic increase would inevitably have caused tremendous damage to his body.

Fast cultivation was certainly a good thing, but if the rate of improvement exceeded what one could control, it could no longer be described by the word "fast." It would instead be a different kind of forcing seedlings to grow.

Such advancement would cause irreparable damage to a cultivator's foundation.

Sensing his current condition, Song Chi gave up on leaving the market and turned around to enter the All-Attribute Cultivation Room again.

This time, he did not continue cultivating the Guidance Art. Instead, he constantly moved his body, hoping to adapt to his explosively increased strength as quickly as possible and repair his slightly damaged foundation.

Half a day later.

Click!

The bedroom door opened from within. Song Chi, who had basically adapted to the strength in his body, walked out of the room. His eyes lit up—his father was actually still at home.

However, unlike usual, Song Chao did not dare sit on the sofa this time. Instead, he stood ramrod straight, giving off the illusion that he was being extremely cautious.

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