Void Coffin

"The White Shadow's true body is still alive..."

Li Mu's eyes flickered.

The White Shadow that had been burned to death during his Nirvana just now had only been a secret technique cast by the remnant soul of Titan Sky City's City Lord. By splitting off part of his soul, he had created a clone that could merge with the void, roam freely, and steal lives.

As for the remnant soul that was the White Shadow's true self, after creating the White Shadow, it had already fallen into a near-death slumber.

If he could find a way into Titan Sky City, he could completely eliminate the White Shadow's true self. He might even obtain a valuable Subordinate Module, and would have a chance to claim the wealth of Titan Sky City as well. But getting in alive and getting back out alive would be far too difficult.

The transparent flames he had seen were actually Titan Sky City's defensive system.

The transparent flames wouldn't harm Titan Sky City at all. They would only inflict devastating damage on outsiders.

But the transparent flames weren't even the greatest danger. A single main cannon blast from the mysterious Seedship at the center of Titan Sky City had sunk the city. The residual mysterious energy around the wound at its center was the deadliest threat.

Li Mu pondered for a moment, then put away the Phoenix and dug out a small underground room to use as temporary shelter.

On his own, he indeed had no chance of entering Titan Sky City.

But with outside help, it might not be impossible.

Li Mu logged into the Spark Network and spent one unit of HuoZhong Source Power to activate temporary access.

For one minute, he could browse the Spark Network freely.

The connection fees were exorbitant, so he made every second count.

He went straight to the official Spark Alliance network in Spark World and quickly searched for answers to all kinds of questions. Some of the information he wanted wasn't free, but he used his Hyperthymesia to memorize the free information.

Once he'd memorized almost everything he wanted to know, he began searching for various single-use Spark Artifacts.

He had only two requirements: they had to have no usage restrictions, and they had to grant the ability to merge with the void.

Spark World was vast. His requirements seemed difficult to meet, but in reality, they were nothing special. In an instant, the search returned tens of thousands of listings. After more than ten minutes of browsing, he finally ordered a single-use Spark Artifact.

It cost a full 150,000 HuoZhong Coins, so he uploaded 15 million units of Spark Energy in exchange.

Converting Spark Energy into HuoZhong Coins meant losing a full ninety percent of its value. Li Mu could only hope he hadn't made the wrong bet this time.

The Spark Artifact, shipping included, arrived instantly through the Spark Network.

A void vortex appeared out of nowhere in front of Li Mu, and a metal box about the size of his palm emerged from it.

After verifying and unlocking it through the Spark Network, he opened the box. Inside lay a Spark.

[Void Spirit: Single-Use Spark Artifact]

[Quality: Blue, Earth Grade]

[Effect: The Void Spirit can temporarily grant an inanimate object the ability to merge with the void. How long the merger lasts depends on the stability of the space. When the merger ends, the inanimate object that merged with the Void Spirit will shatter along with it.]

[Review: The Void Dungeon welcomes you to purchase all kinds of Void Sparks]

Li Mu ignored the review. After fusing the Void Spirit with his Origin HuoZhong, he infused it into a specially made Alchemy Puppet.

The hummingbird-shaped Alchemy Puppet immediately merged with the void, passed through the transparent flames outside Titan Sky City, and soon reached the wound at the city's center. Since the White Shadow could enter and leave freely by merging with the void, the Alchemy Hummingbird fused with the Void Spirit should be able to do the same.

The Alchemy Hummingbird followed the wound deeper inside and soon spotted the shattered wreckage of a Seed Cruiser.

It swooped straight toward it and spotted a Spark that hadn't yet gone out among the wreckage.

With no time to look more closely, Li Mu cast Apparition at close range through the Alchemy Hummingbird.

The Spark vanished in an instant, and the Alchemy Hummingbird vanished with it.

Li Mu watched the Spark appear before him after Apparition, and immediately enveloped it in Spark Energy.

[Void Coffin: Shipborne Subordinate Module]

[Quality: Green, Heaven Grade]

[Level: LV1 (Reset upon the Seedship's destruction)]

[Attributes: When merged with a Medical Bay, it can house the Captain's soul at the moment he is near death. While the soul sleeps inside the Void Coffin, its injuries will not worsen. The coffin can absorb life and souls to slowly heal the Captain's soul.]

[Notice: The current Void Coffin has no owner, but a remnant soul is sleeping inside it.]

[Enhancement Requirements: 10,000 units of HuoZhong Source Power, one Green Void Source Core]

"A coffin for medical use..."

Li Mu's mouth twitched.

It was a little ominous, but its properties were genuinely valuable.

Although it was nowhere near as powerful as Nirvana, it was more or less like having an extra life.

It was no use to him. His Nirvana talent could restore more than just his body; it could restore his soul as well. As long as the Shipboard Spark hadn't gone out, his soul, fused with the Shipboard Spark, could undergo Nirvana. So the Void Coffin wasn't much use to him.

Still, Li Mu fused the Void Coffin with the Shipboard Spark, then went to the Medical Bay, where an extra coffin now stood.

He didn't open the Void Coffin. Instead, he tried to control the remnant soul inside with the Imperius Curse.

But he failed every time. With no other choice, he could only slowly wear away the remnant soul with the Killing Curse. The remnant soul had already been near death before falling into its slumber; it had no strength to fight back. Still asleep, it quietly perished for good.

Through the Shipboard Spark, Li Mu separated the Phoenix from the Void Coffin.

He logged into the Spark Network again, this time to sell the Void Coffin he'd barely had time to hold.

Using the Spark Alliance's official search engine, Li Mu discovered that professional education for Spark Captains was difficult to access. At least, he had no way to afford it right now. The astronomical tuition alone was enough to put it completely out of reach.

Fortunately, he wasn't the only poor Spark Captain in Spark World.

So he could buy basic instructional materials for Spark Captains and study on his own. How much he learned would depend on his abilities. The materials weren't too expensive either; he could easily get them for just a few tens of thousands of HuoZhong Coins.

What was truly expensive were the professional skill Sparks for Spark Captains. Each one cost a fortune.

But without them, he would be nothing more than a half-baked Spark Captain.

Li Mu could only hope the Void Coffin would fetch a high price at auction on the Spark Network. Otherwise, he'd have to auction off the Spark Artifacts he had equipped. Without the three basic professional skill Sparks, he wouldn't be able to properly command the Phoenix even in the next otherworld.

While he was waiting for the auction results, an invitation suddenly arrived through the Spark Network.

Someone had invited him to a meeting on the Spark Network. The person inviting him was also a Spark Captain. He didn't have enough money to buy the Void Coffin, but he had a professional skill Spark for a Seedship and was willing to trade it for the Void Coffin, paying the difference as well.