National Star Sea Era...

Chapter 827 [Exploring the City of Transcendence]

Seeing the pure chaotic aura that surged towards him as soon as it appeared and enveloped his entire body at top speed, Song Chi was still greatly shocked, even though he had experienced it once before hundreds of years ago.

This is not only because the chaotic energy that gathers here is interwoven with the purest chaotic energy and chaotic power, but also because in the outside world, even a single wisp of chaotic energy is extremely valuable, as it is a super-strategic resource that can greatly enhance the comprehension of living beings.

Furthermore, the chaotic veil formed by these chaotic energies on the body surface possesses extremely strong concealing properties.

Just like the ethereal body that Song Chi actively summoned, everything about him was incredibly blurry under the cover of this chaotic veil. If he didn't know that he had just actively summoned the ethereal body, even with the blessing of the eighth-order double pupils, he would never have been able to recognize its identity.

"Is this a deliberate attempt to conceal the identities of all beings who accidentally enter the [City of Transcendence]?"

A certain guess flashed through his mind, but Song Chi didn't think much of it. He quickly summoned the Sky Ruins Mirror Battleship from the [Dimensional Space Stone], and then actively canceled the spatial anchor point he had left behind, setting the anchor point back to the mirror battleship's main control room.

After doing all this, he quickly disappeared into the mirror warship.

The surroundings were shrouded in a vast, unknown white mist. Although no danger was sensed, Song Chi was not at ease leaving himself here to explore the [City of Transcendence] in detail. It was best to let the warship clone carry out the mission.

As for him, he was remotely controlling everything from the Heavenly Ruins Market.

[Energy analysis complete. This white mist energy does not belong to any energy type recorded in the current database...]

The white mist possesses extremely gentle energy, offering high shielding properties while currently being non-destructive...

……

The replicated Sky Brain's analytical prompt that rang in Song Chi's ears surprised him greatly.

Based on this analysis, the strange white mist energy permeating the City of Transcendence seems to be a completely new type of energy.

However, based on this alone, it is clear that not much can be deduced. Under his control, the mirror warship slowly moved in one direction.

He wanted to see if all areas of the City of Transcendence were permeated with this white mist energy.

Or are these special energy layers used by the [City of Transcendence] to conceal itself?
As time went by, the Tianxu Cangqiong mirror warship continued to advance, and even Song Chi himself did not know how far the warship had traveled.

But just as the warship continued its advance, and after piercing through another patch of white fog, the ship's onboard Sky Brain suddenly issued a warning:

[A change in spatial structure was detected, and the density of the white fog decreased by 23.6%]

Through the holographic projection, Song Chi quickly noticed that the mirrored warship, which had left the fog area, seemed to be entering a circular plaza constructed of dark gold metal.

The plaza floor is engraved with intricate star patterns, and twelve pillars covered with unknown runes stand at the edge of the plaza.

"This is... the reception plaza in the outer city?"

The two central rune pillars were clearly inscribed with the words "Outer City" and "Guidance Plaza," which gave Song Chi a general idea of ​​the mirror warship's current location.

However, before he could learn anything further, the warning system of the replicated Sky Brain suddenly sounded.

Three figures, also shrouded in a veil of chaos, appeared from different directions in the projected image, one of whom was riding a peculiar bronze chariot.

"As expected, this City of Transcendence is not absolutely closed off; it has special methods or passages that allow living beings to enter and exit freely."

Not paying too much attention to the matter, the mirror warship began to circle around the so-called "outer city area".

Several hours later, the mirror warship, which had basically traversed the entire outer city, stopped in front of a giant chaotic portal.

The outer city area seems to be just a region used by the city of transcendence to attract outsiders. Apart from the occasional new outsider, there is almost nothing else to be seen in the entire area.

The chaotic portal in front of the mirror warship is the only passage out of the outer city, and it connects to the inner city.

Buzz!
After a slight ripple of chaos, the mirror ship disappeared from the outer city.

As one of the higher-level areas of the City of Transcendence, the Inner City is actually smaller than the Outer City. However, compared to the desolate Outer City, the Inner City is much more populated with life.

Looking around, there were at least dozens of blurry figures visible through the ethereal body's perspective, with some figures occasionally passing through portals to other areas.

Song Chi could guess that the beings who could appear in this [City of Transcendence] were definitely not simple creatures. There were quite a few tenth-order mythical beings, and there were probably no shortage of eleventh-order beings as well. Even twelfth-order mythical transcendent beings would likely appear occasionally.

After all, although the Chaos Sea where the [City of Transcendence] is located does not belong to the Chaos God Continent, it also does not belong to the newly born land of the Shattered Star Sea. The twelve-level powerful beings who have accumulated over countless years on the Chaos God Continent may find this ancient city by chance.

Song Chi spent some time exploring the entire inner city and discovered that, apart from the chaotic portal connecting the outer city, there were four other portals within the inner city.

[Trading Area] [Exchange Area] [Transcendence Area] [Quest Area]

After a moment's thought, the mechanical sound of the entrance detection for the [Trading Area] rang out in the center of the square. Immediately afterwards, the star map on the ground suddenly began to flow, and soon a peculiar glowing path appeared in front of the mirror warship.

The giant phantom of a balance scale floats above this path, signifying that the trading area's principle is fair barter.

As soon as the mirror warship entered the light path, the surrounding white mist suddenly transformed into countless holographic advertisements:

[Ninth-tier [Ancient Mother Queen] Insect Eggs, priority trade for Mythical Souls...]

[For Sale: A star map of the Chaos God Continent with a diameter of 20 million light-years; priority given to trading spatial colored artifacts...]

[The colored superior-tier artifact, [Shield of the Azure Sky], is prioritized for trading with other artifacts of the same tier that are attack or evasion-type...]

One superior-grade Chaos Mirror Stone can only be exchanged for an eleventh-tier Mythical Soul!

……

Upon contact with the Chaos Veil, each piece of information was automatically filtered into an encrypted data stream and presented to every passerby.

After passing through an unknown length of trading corridor, the warship was suddenly forcibly towed to a transparent platform.

At this moment, a dozen or so figures shrouded in chaotic energy are gathered here, and what they are doing is a small trade fair.

Such transactions are not common in this "City of Transcendence". Compared to the auctions held in the corridor behind them, the participants in this temporary trade fair are limited to the dozen or so people present, making it difficult to obtain the greatest value.

Generally speaking, only those beings who are in a hurry or have not found suitable items to trade in the trading corridor will participate.

Song Chi wasn't particularly interested at first, but when he saw that the item on the trading platform was a tenth-tier [Golden Apple], he immediately became interested.

Compared to the three-colored upgrade fire source that can be evolved from the tenth-tier [Golden Apple], what needs to be evolved more right now is another component on the Sky Ruins.

The Holy Grail of Blood!
This component is currently of black quality, but if it is to be useful for the Sky Ruins Sky in its future attempt to become a mythical immortal ship, it must be evolved into tricolor quality as soon as possible.

Similarly, the [Ring of Heavenly Authority] is the same. Once it evolves to the three-color quality and activates the "Enslavement Seal - Berserk" characteristic, both the Asura King and the Megalodon can temporarily gain mythical combat power.

There are also components like the [Vajrasattva Meditation Seal] and the [Black Hole Evolution Layer], too many of which need further evolution.

The fervor in his eyes flashed and then vanished, but Song Chi didn't hold out much hope. The tenth-tier [Golden Apple] was far too valuable for such a super-tier starry sky plant fruit; even some mythical beings might actively compete for it. Song Chi didn't believe that the resources he controlled had much of an advantage.

Unless he is willing to take out the drop of [Mythical Ancestor's Origin Blood] obtained from the Botian Ruins, but this item is a mythical advancement resource that he prepared in advance for the Tianxu Cangqiong, Song Chi would never use it for a transaction.

As for the Soul of Myth, thanks to the production of the entire Seventh Cantilever Region over the past few centuries, he did manage to acquire dozens of portions. However, these were reserved for components such as the [Time Chessboard], [Heavenly Fate Compass], and [Light of Judgment], and could not be used casually.

Song Chi hadn't planned to stay any longer, but he happened to overhear the words of the person who had taken out the tenth-tier [Golden Apple]:

"I only need high-level floating continent origins, the more the better. There's no need to bring out the seventh, eighth, or ninth level ones!"

Upon hearing this, the mirror ship suddenly paused.

The next second, Song Chi's bid came from the mirror warship enveloped in chaotic energy.

"100 strands of tenth-tier floating land essence, and 1 strand of eleventh-tier floating land essence." He might not have other resources, but he was not lacking in high-tier floating land essence.

Not to mention what they obtained in places like the Demon God Floating Continent and the Immortal Realm Continent, the family had already acquired quite a few 10th-tier floating continent origins when they were exploring the Heavenly Realm, and even obtained several strands of 11th-tier floating continent origins.

Also, don't forget that as the market advances to the ninth rank, the [Spirit Synthesis Platform] can synthesize up to the tenth rank of floating continent origin. Although it takes a long time, only one strand can be synthesized every hundred years, it is still a stable source of production.

They might have wanted to wait for a higher price, but neither Song Chi nor the other dozen or so figures on the trading platform made a second offer.

Although the Star Continent can generally produce tenth-tier floating land essence stably, it is not something that can be found everywhere. Moreover, even on the Star Continent, it is not easy to nurture tenth-tier floating land essence. The amount of tenth-tier floating land essence that can be produced each year is very limited. In fact, the value of tenth-tier floating land essence is not low. 100 strands of tenth-tier essence plus 1 strand of eleventh-tier essence is not a low price.

Finally, Song Chi successfully redeemed the tenth-tier golden apple.

After delivering the Golden Apple to the market, he was no longer in a hurry to explore the other areas. He still had quite a few high-level floating continent resources in his possession. If there were any other super-level resources like the tenth-tier Golden Apple, which were priceless in the outside world, he would definitely try to acquire them a second time.

Unfortunately, although many valuable items appeared at subsequent trade fairs, none of them met his expectations.

After that, Song Chi piloted the mirror warship directly away from the [Trading Area], as he still needed to check out three other areas.

Unlike the [Trading Zone], the [Exchange Zone] is an ancient hall supported by seventy-two dark gold pillars, with a huge Chaos Eye floating in the center of the hall.

As the mirrored warship approached, the Eye of Chaos suddenly spun, and a cold, mechanical voice emanated from it:

[A redeemer has been detected. Please select the [Redemption Region] you wish to view.]

With a slight thought, Song Chi looked at the chaotic eye in front of him from the perspective of his ethereal body. The next second, a special projection screen appeared in front of him.

Three different exchange areas were neatly displayed on the light screen.

[Basic Exchange Area] [Rare Exchange Area] [Special Exchange Area]

As his gaze fell upon the first item, the [Basic Exchange Area], the seventy-two pillars began to slowly rotate, and a spiral-shaped light gate quickly unfolded in the center of the hall.

As the mirrored warship entered the portal, the ship suddenly trembled violently—the spatial rules here had forcibly compressed the warship to a length of only 100 meters.

After passing through the portal, what appeared before them was a ring-shaped building complex suspended in the chaotic void.

Countless figures shrouded in chaotic veils moved between the buildings, with light screens resembling holographic displays floating in front of them.

Song Chi quickly discovered that these light screens displayed lists of exchangeable items, and the exchange currency required various high-level resources to be exchanged for the exclusive currency of this exchange area.

"I see……"

Song Chi suddenly realized that this place was more like an automated trading center, where anyone with various high-level resources could exchange for any item they needed.

He directed the mirror warship to dock at the nearest exchange point. As soon as the warship's tractor beam touched the exchange pillar, a projection screen immediately appeared before them:

[Basic Exchange Area]

Tier 8 [Golden Apple] - Exchange Price: 1000 Exchange Coins
【Chaos Mirror Stone (Low Grade)】—Exchange Price: 12000 Exchange Coins
Ninth-Tier Sovereign True Spirit - Exchange Price: 40 Exchange Coins
……

He then checked the other two exchange areas.

[Rare Item Exchange Zone]

Colored/Lower Tier [Eternal Barrier] - Exchange Price: 25000 Exchange Coins
Color-Rated Premium [Mirror of Time and Space] - Exchange Price: 500000 Exchange Coins
[Chaos Mirror Stone (Medium Grade) - 350000 Exchange Coins]

……

[Special Redemption Area] (Requires Permission to Unlock)

Song Chi's gaze lingered on the special exchange area for a long time. Although he couldn't see the specific contents of this special exchange area, the faint seven-colored glow at the edge of the light screen suggested that there might be rare items of the seven-colored mythical level here.

Just as he was preparing to investigate further, the exchange pillar suddenly sounded an alarm:

[WARNING! Abnormal scan fluctuations detected!]

Suddenly, two beams of light descended from a distance, transforming into figures dressed in silver uniforms.

Their bodies are covered in a chaotic veil with a unique grid pattern, and they wear badges on their chests that resemble scales.

"They are the enforcers of the [City of Transcendence]!"

A murmur arose from the surrounding crowd. Song Chi's heart tightened, and he immediately steered the mirror warship into a silent state. He did not believe that these two law enforcers were there for him. As long as he remained quiet, he was confident that he would not be harmed.

Of course, the focus was still on the two enforcers. He sensed that both of them were likely eleventh-tier beings.

The lead enforcer raised his hand, releasing countless points of light, his cold voice echoing throughout the exchange area:

"Unauthorized exploration activity detected in area B-714. All living beings must immediately cease current operations and undergo inspection."

Song Chi reacted extremely quickly, severing his connection with his ethereal body.

Although I don't think the other side is after the mirror ship, it's always good to be safe just in case.

Just as the law enforcement officers were about to scan his area, a sudden spatial ripple interrupted the inspection—a dazzling burst of chaotic light suddenly erupted from the direction of the [Transcendence Zone].

Instantly, all the law enforcement officers turned around and vanished in a streak of light.

Taking advantage of this brief respite, he then steered the mirror warship toward the [mission zone].

Although he was curious about the changes in the [Transcendence Zone], his intuition told him that rashly getting involved would not end well.

The structure of the [Mission Area] is surprisingly simple, with countless bubble-like orbs of light floating in the center.

Each orb represents a task of varying difficulty. Completing it will earn you the corresponding "Transcendence Contribution Points"—one of the universal currencies in the City of Transcendence. These points can be exchanged 1:1 for "Exchange Coins" and are also crucial for applying to become a law enforcer in the City of Transcendence. Only when you accumulate enough "Transcendence Contribution Points" are you eligible to apply to become a law enforcer in the City of Transcendence.

As for the benefits of becoming an enforcer, as far as Song Chi knows, one must become an enforcer to view information about the [Special Exchange Zone]. In addition, enforcers receive specific discounts when exchanging any items, and they can also freely enter and exit the [Transcendence Zone].

Song Chi randomly touched a large orb of light, and mission information immediately flooded his mind:

Hunting Mission:
Target: The "World-Devouring Insects" (peak 10th tier) roaming the Chaos Sea.

Reward: 50000 Transcendence Points
Additional intelligence: The target was last seen in the Shattered Star Belt of the Chaos Sea, designated HT-927.

Just as he was checking the different mission orbs, preparing to accept a mission, he suddenly saw a mission that greatly surprised him.

Collection Mission:
Objective: Acquire the corpses of high-level flesh-and-blood beings.

Task Rewards: A large number of Transcendence Contribution Points will be awarded based on the life level and quantity of the corpses submitted.

Note: There is no limit to the number of corpses that can be acquired; the more eligible corpses you submit, the higher the reward.

Upon seeing this task, Song Chi instinctively felt some doubt.

He subconsciously thought of the blood of high-level organisms.

But upon further reflection, he realized that very few transactions in the City of Transcendence involved source blood. It seemed unreasonable to suggest that the City of Transcendence intended to vigorously develop a source blood trading policy.

But apart from that, he couldn't think of any other possibility that would require a large number of high-level creature corpses.

Unable to figure it out, he simply stopped dwelling on it and began to carefully consider the task he was to take on.

(End of this chapter)