Chapter 23: Enhancing the Quality of the Seed of Torch
Song Chi felt his hands trembling under the stall, as if unable to control themselves. The Orange Glory Quality Strange Object he had seen earlier filled his heart with boundless joy, but now, upon laying his eyes on one of the three relics before him—the Millennia Star Core Fire—his heart throbbed violently.
This was the feeling of helplessness produced by a brain highly stimulated by immense excitement.
Truthfully, as soon as Song Chi saw the Millennia Star Core Fire, he'd made his choice. However, to prevent the Mechanical Race from noticing his intense desire for the "Millennia Star Core Fire," he still pretended to inspect the detailed attributes of each relic.
[Strange Object: Energy Gathering Stone]
[Quality: Purple]
[Can evolve into: {Energy Gathering Propulsor}]
[Note: A standard Purple Relic.]
...
[Strange Object: Millennia Star Core Fire]
[Quality: Purple]
[Can evolve into: 1 {Star Core Thermal Engine}, 2 {Fire Source UpRank for the Seed of Torch}]
[Note: A Fire Attribute Purple Relic with a multitude of uses.]
...
[Strange Object: Snook Star Ship Cannon]
[Quality: Purple]
[Can evolve into: {Snook Star Cannon}]
[Note: A Starship Cannon left behind by the ancient Snook civilization, transformed into a Purple Relic after enduring many years.]
It had to be said that, aside from the Star Core Fire, the attributes of the other two relics were also exceptionally good. Nevertheless, they couldn't sway Song Chi's decision.
Feeling he had pretended long enough, Song Chi no longer delayed and directly chose the [Millennia Star Core Fire] along with the [High-Level Dark Matter Energy Crystal], thereby completing the trade.
After obtaining the [First Rank Floating Land Origin Core Fusion Body], the Mechanical Race did not linger and swiftly left the Zhu Tian Ruins Market.
Not long after, as Song Chi's heart surged with excitement, his first transaction at the Ruins Market officially came to an end.
All the creatures of the Starry Sea Alien Race looked up together as the skies of the Ruins Market roiled, and eight characters imbued with laws converged out of thin air.
Starry Sea boundless, may we meet again by fate.
Ten seconds later, amid the melancholic feelings of the Alien Race, a strong repulsive force acted upon every being still remaining in the Ruins Market.
Then, as the world spun around them, all the creatures were precisely teleported back to their original locations before entering the Ruins Market.
Inside the Zhu Tian Ruins Market, now deserted, the marketplace fell silent. Song Chi did not have time to ponder over these events as he counted the resources in his hands and quickly summoned the Cang Qiong.
Minutes later, a jubilant Song Chi stepped aboard the Cang Qiong.
After a preliminary tally, the total value of the resources in his hands approached four thousand strands of Zero Rank Floating Land Origin. Including the minor amount of Floating Land Origin spent on upgrading the Ruins Market earlier, this Ruins Market transaction netted him a clear profit of 3700 strands of Zero Rank Floating Land Origin, plus three relics.
A White Refined Gold Ore, a Purple Millennia Star Core Fire, and an Orange High-Level Dark Matter Energy Crystal.
Within the Cang Qiong, as he entered the shuttle, the colorless Torch Warship Armor began the subtle transformation of the three relics in his hands.
Once the transformation was complete, the attributes of the three relics underwent significant changes.
Goldrock Ship Armor lv0
Quality: White
Consumption: 3/s
Defence: 13
UpRank Requirement: 5 strands of Floating Land Origin (Zero Rank), 500 Energy Points, 1 ton of Electrum.
...
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Seed of Torch Upgrade Fire Source (Millennia Star Core Fire)
Effect: After merging with a Colorless Quality Seed of Torch, the Quality of the Seed of Torch will be elevated by one rank.
Remark: A fire seed extremely rare in its ability to benefit the Seed of Torch, it has an unimaginable attraction to the Torch Warship Captains of lower qualities.
...
Dark Matter Energy Shield Generator lv0
Quality: Orange
Feature: Shield Value is increased by an extra 40%
Feature 2: Defense Value of the shield is doubled
Consumption: 10/s
Defence: 38
Shield Value: 532/532
Charge: 30s; Post-overload buffer: 1 hour
UpRank Requirement: 10 strands of Zero Rank Floating Land Origin, 1000 Energy Points, 1 ton of Mercury Crystal
Setting aside the two warship components for now, Song Chi immediately redirected the Spectral Energy within him, opened the Ancestral Torch, and absorbed the strand of Star Core Fire Seed into the Ancestral Aperture.
As everyone knows, fire seeds capable of enhancing the Seed of Torch's quality are at minimum of Purple Quality. Other fire seed relics of white or blue level simply cannot bring any benefit to the Seed of Torch.
This strand of Millennia Star Core Fire could only be considered the lowest grade among the Purple Rank Fire Seeds that upgrade, capable only of elevating a Colorless Seed of Torch to White. On the other hand, some top-rank Purple Fire Sources could escalate a white Seed of Torch to Blue. However, these top-rank Purple Upgrade Fire Sources are, evidently, even rarer.
Even so, Song Chi was still eager. For him at the current moment, this strand of Millennia Star Core Fire was more than enough.
As the Millennia Star Core Fire entered the Ancestral Torch, the glow of the Seed of Torch within the Ancestral Aperture Space suddenly surged. It sensed a Fire Source with a huge attraction to itself, and its innate urge to advance drove it to quickly devour and merge with the mass of Millennia Star Core Fire.
Under the pull of the Seed of Torch, the Millennia Star Core Fire began to move slowly towards the center of the Ancestral Aperture.
When the Millennia Star Core Fire finally made contact with the Seed of Torch, the latter ignited as if kindled with a large amount of firewood. The fiercely burning flame writhed wildly like a strong stallion.
This process of devouring and merging lasted for roughly ten minutes. Once the absorption was complete, the color of the dark Seed of Torch also underwent a transformation, turning from its original black to a blazing white.
When the color of the Seed of Torch inside the Ancestral Aperture transitioned from colorless to white, Song Chi perked up despite some fatigue. The energy he had expended was fully restored at that moment, and with the support of the white Seed of Torch, his Mind Power became even more solid and stable.
The Seed of Torch of Torch Human Civilization not only endows one with Spectral Energy, but it also provides protection and fortification for one's spirit. The higher the quality of the Seed of Torch, the stronger the protective and fortifying effects.
With the protection of the Seed of Torch, members of the Torch Human Civilization hold an innate advantage against those soul-based Starry Sea Alien Races.
Additionally, upgrading the Colorless Seed of Torch to White also means that the upper limit of the Cang Qiong has risen from First Rank to Second Rank. The enhancement level upper limit for the various components installed on the ship has also changed from lv19 to lv29.
Besides, the number of special component slots has increased as well. Whereas a Colorless Seed of Torch bound Torch Warship originally had 2 slots plus an additional 2 slots for every 5 levels, it can now gain an additional 4 slots for every 5 levels.
Looking at it this way, it's indeed a comprehensive enhancement.
Only after the Enhancement of the Seed of Torch was complete did Song Chi shift his attention back to the two basic components.
Without hesitation, he replaced the standard Warship Armor and the Spectral Shield, installed the two new components, and then began the enhancement process.
Aside from the white Goldrock Ship Armor, the Dark Matter Energy Shield Generator was naturally the first component Song Chi focused on enhancing.
It just so happened that he had received a batch of Mercury Crystals from his last deal at the Ruins Market, which would be the most suitable for the enhancement.
"Do you wish to spend 10 strands of Zero Rank Floating Land Origin, 1000 Spectral Energy Points, and 1 ton of Mercury Crystal to upgrade the Dark Matter Energy Shield Generator from lv0 to lv1?"
"Confirm!"
Dozens of seconds later, Song Chi successfully enhanced the Dark Matter Energy Shield Generator component to lv10.
A total expenditure of 420 strands of Zero Rank Floating Land Origin and 60 tons of Mercury Crystal was used.
If calculated solely based on Floating Land Origin, it would be a total of 1020 strands of Zero Rank Floating Land Origin.
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