The old man with the green insignia spoke cautiously, “...actuating it requires a massive influx of energy. It’s best powered by True God Stones. If fueled by Pseudo God Stones, ordinary flight consumes 1,000 Pseudo God Stones per minute. Full thrust will drain 10,000 Pseudo God Stones per minute!”
“Engaging light-speed flight demands 100,000 Pseudo God Stones every second!”
“For spatial jump traversal, a standard short-range jump costs anywhere from 10,000 to 1 million Pseudo God Stones.”
The green-insignia elder watched Ye Chen’s Shen Wu descend slowly, then nervously shrank his neck and muttered, “Furthermore... the warship possesses three tiers of main cannons. A single discharge from the Tier Three cannon consumes 100,000 Pseudo God Stones, potent enough to vaporize a peak Pseudo God expert!”
“The Tier Two cannon requires 1 million Pseudo God Stones per shot, powerful enough to obliterate anyone just entering the Divine Spirit Realm!”
“The Tier One cannon expends 1 million Pseudo God Stones for one firing, capable of slaying a peak Early-Stage Divine Spirit expert, forcing even Mid-Stage Divine Spirits to retreat.”
After the green-insignia elder finished speaking, he cautiously backed away a few steps from Ye Chen.
Ye Chen’s expression shifted rapidly. After a moment, he let out a wry smile.
Though this vessel was incredibly powerful, the rate of consumption would bankrupt even the wealthiest Pseudo God experts. They had only managed to plunder 6 million Pseudo God Stones in total—barely enough for six shots from the Tier Two cannon before depletion. Ye Chen sighed, said nothing further, and turned to the pile of treasures, beginning to inventory the sundry items. He found many peculiar objects, such as mysterious paintings depicting ancient figures in simple scenes that nonetheless radiated an unsettling, arcane aura.
Ye Chen had no time for detailed appraisal. He tossed these items into the storage chamber of the Fire Civilization City. Suddenly sensing something, he retrieved several Pseudo-Divine Armaments, then summoned the Little Nine Cauldrons with a thought, activating his Divine Flame Set and shrinking himself inside it.
“Melt!”
The Little Nine Cauldrons radiated a brilliant light, attempting to draw in Ye Chen’s Divine Flame Set. Yet, the set remained perfectly still, showing no intention of being absorbed.
“This item cannot be refined,” the intelligent system within the Little Nine Cauldrons prompted.
Ye Chen paused, glancing down at the Divine Flame Set clinging to his body. He couldn't help but offer a bitter smile. This set, the second movement of the Light Set, apparently could not be separated from him.
He then focused the Little Nine Cauldrons’ light onto the pile of Half-God Stones on the ground, initiating the refinement process.
Soon, a stream of golden light floated out of the Little Nine Cauldrons, roughly a zhang in size, shimmering brilliantly—it was a significantly larger Half-God Stone.
Ye Chen gasped in surprise, then managed a wry laugh, shaking his head. “It seems the Little Nine Cauldrons still have certain limitations on what it can refine. These Divine Stones can only be fused together; they cannot be compressed like the items processed via the Heavenly Dao Scripture.”
Ye Chen quickly organized matters, stowing the sets into the Fire Civilization reserve chamber and then moving the pile of Divine Stones into the Runic Warship’s warehouse for immediate access.
After a day of rest, Ye Chen began the excavation. The tunneling speed of the Black Mantis Insect Legion was rather slow. Ye Chen pondered for a moment, retrieved 100 sets of Peak Half-God equipment, and used the Little Nine Cauldrons to refine them into 100 mechanical laborers. He then handed them over to Bai Lan, who programmed some initial intelligent routines and uploaded them into the memory chips of these mechanical workers. This Little Nine Cauldrons could indeed melt down vast quantities of material. If Ye Chen wished, he could even use ordinary sand to forge mechanical warriors, but it would require prodigious amounts of sand, and forging powerful warriors necessitated even more raw material—synthesizing metals, minerals, lead, zinc, etc., from the refined sand took a considerable time.
The Little Nine Cauldrons broke down the old Peak Half-God sets into base materials and reformed them, ultimately yielding four Mid-Stage Half-God automatons, each equipped with simple programming and an energy reserve chip.
After fully charging the energy core of each mechanical body, Ye Chen commanded them to begin digging. Time passed, and after about eight hours, more than half of the Pseudo God Ore vein had been secured within the Fire Civilization space, leaving only a small section.
Ye Chen performed refinement within the Fire Civilization space; the Little Nine Cauldrons could directly process these raw Pseudo God Stone minerals and forge them into complete Pseudo God Stones.
“800,000... 1.5 million... 2 million...”
Piles of Pseudo God Stones poured out of the Little Nine Cauldrons, accumulating on the open ground, where they were ferried by the Black Terror Insect Legion into the Fire Civilization storage chamber.
Two hours later, all the Pseudo God Stone minerals had been collected into the relic space for refining—a total yield of approximately 4.5 million Pseudo God Stone minerals.
For an ore mountain this large, measuring 100 kilometers in diameter, extracting 4.5 million Pseudo God Stone minerals from a central vein was considered quite a significant haul.
Ye Chen vaguely speculated that given the deep reserves of the Chi Yan Sect, they likely possessed more than just this single mining area. This one outpost alone likely contained three Pseudo God Stone mines, and who knew how many more were held at their other bases.
Once the excavation was complete, the interior was hollowed out, filled only with sand and residual minerals. Ye Chen, not wishing to be overly greedy, directly entered the Runic Warship, activated the Celestial Beast Superman Mode, and enveloped the entire vessel as he warped into space, instantly relocating 10,000 kilometers away, reappearing abruptly above the Azure Water City.
Whoosh!
Countless people on the streets suddenly saw the sky darken above them and looked up in horror to see a massive warship. Its exterior was ancient and rustic, etched with numerous archaic runes that radiated waves of profound pressure.
Flash! The vessel vanished as quickly as it appeared. After several instantaneous jumps, it bypassed the central spatial warp point of Azure Water City, instead materializing directly inside the stone chamber of the Fengyue Family.
Upon arrival, Ye Chen immediately spotted the carefully arranged treasures on the floor. Without a word, he extended a massive hand, unleashing torrents of divine power that formed a devouring black hole, pulling all the treasures into the Fire Civilization space within the ship.
“Kaka-kaka...” The green-insignia elder’s eyes gleamed as he watched the frenzy of acquisition. If they could loot even more treasures to refine into the Runic Warship, the vessel could become even stronger!
“Steal! Steal! Steal!”
The green-insignia elder took control of the ship, extending two metallic hands from the sides to snatch the treasures into the Fire Civilization space, frantically stripping the room bare. Ye Chen always saw things through to the end, never abandoning a task halfway... especially robbery!
Rumble!
The stone door suddenly burst open, and the two elders, alerted by the warning, rushed in. Seeing the scene inside the chamber, they were utterly stunned. They never imagined that the fugitive they had issued warrants for—a criminal they valued at tens of millions of Pseudo God Stones—would dare to show up, much less calmly plunder their wealth right before their eyes...
“Bastard!!” The gray-robed elder looked at the remaining fortune on the floor, which was rapidly being sucked into the Fire Civilization space. His eyes immediately turned red, and he roared, unleashing his full strength toward the Fire Civilization space.
Ye Chen stood calmly, hands behind his back, as if he hadn't even noticed the move.
“Looking for death!” The green-insignia elder sneered arrogantly, deploying one of the Tier Three cannons and aiming it directly at the gray-robed elder. He fed 100,000 Pseudo God Stones from the ship’s reserves into the weapon. The entire cannon barrel began to vibrate, and an intensely dense, heart-stopping light slowly contracted and focused, locking onto the gray-robed elder!
The gray-robed elder, who had been attacking the Fire Civilization space, felt a shudder in his heart. An unprecedented fear washed over him, making the hairs on his neck stand on end. He spun around, only to see a blinding golden beam of light rushing toward him, filling his entire field of vision.
Boom!
The golden pillar of light swept past. The gray-robed elder’s body was completely vaporized, not even his high-grade Pseudo God Set remaining.
Ye Chen frowned slightly. “Leave the corpse.”
The green-insignia elder immediately understood, chuckling wickedly. “Right! Little Black needs a good body, hehe. Watch me.” He manipulated the warship, switching it to its mechanical form. His figure blurred, moving like a black shadow, charging toward the black-robed elder, whipping up a gale that sent surrounding Half-God Stones scattering.
The black-robed elder’s mind reeled. He stared in disbelief at the massive mechanical figure before him. The gray-robed elder had been his son, powerful in his own right, yet he was instantly killed by a mere light wave. Could this ship be a Peak Pseudo God vessel? Realizing this, he didn't hesitate for a second and immediately turned to flee.
“You won’t escape!” The green-insignia elder ravenously consumed the Pseudo God Stones in his reserve, converting them into energy to propel his body toward the black-robed elder. His hand descended like a heaven-covering shroud. His immense size did not hinder his movement; he remained agile as the wind.
Thwack!
The black-robed elder was struck by the metal palm, feeling as if he had collided with a transport truck. His body and spirit convulsed, spitting out a mouthful of blood as he slammed heavily onto the ground.
“Die! Hahaha...” The green-insignia elder let out a triumphant shout. The rune-mechanical warrior seized the black-robed elder’s body, lifted it high, and slammed it down repeatedly.
Crash!
The stone floor cracked apart. The black-robed elder’s face flushed crimson, blood pouring from his nose and ears. Without even a muffled groan, he was vibrated to death.
Swish!
The four-winged youth flew out from within the rune-mechanical body and knelt before the corpse of the black-robed elder. A small black insect crawled out from the youth’s ear and wormed its way into the body of the dead elder.
Moments later, the black-robed elder stood up, stretched his limbs, wiped the blood from his face, dusted off his clothes, and moved toward the Runic Warship, which had reverted to its ship form. He entered through the hatch, arrived before Ye Chen, and exclaimed with delight, “Boss!”
Ye Chen glanced at him and nodded slightly.
“62 seconds!” Ye Chen silently calculated the time as he watched the chamber’s contents being frantically absorbed into the Fire Civilization space. He could almost visualize the immense predicament the Fengyue Family would face once stripped of these assets. The Fengyue Family was akin to a massive corporation suddenly losing its revenue stream; how would millions of clan members survive? A broken cash flow could very likely lead to collapse or fragmentation.
However, this was none of Ye Chen’s concern. Since he had already made enemies, he might as well finish the job thoroughly. “Hahaha...” the green-insignia elder danced excitedly. “That was exhilarating! Robbing everything clean! Damn these sons of bitches for bullying us before; now they know the might of Grandpa Green! Hahaha...”
Approximately 20 seconds later, everything in the stone chamber was stored in the Fire Civilization space. Ye Chen closed the space, placed his hand on the warship, and with a flicker, departed the Fengyue Family. After several flashes, he arrived at the central spatial warp point of Azure Water City.
As he departed, the entire Fengyue Family erupted into chaos—they were going insane!