King of Creation
Chapter 397 - 391 Star Luo City

Chapter 397: Chapter 391 Star Luo City

"Heavenly Spirit Ships are the product of ancient Grandmaster Artifact Refiners who combined mechanical techniques, artifact refining, and talisman patterns. Of course, the earliest Heavenly Spirit Ships were used for warfare, and nearly every one of them was a terrifying war machine."

"Heavenly Spirit Ships are classified by their size and capabilities into different grades such as Soldier Grade, General Level, Commander Level, and King-level. To my knowledge, the initial rates of speed for Soldier Grade, General Level, and Commander Level Heavenly Spirit Ships are two thousand, three thousand, and four thousand li respectively."

"The initial rate of speed for a Heavenly Spirit Ship refers to the speed it can achieve using Low Grade Spirit Crystals as a power source. When powered by a higher grade of Spirit Crystals, the speed of the ship can double."

Aboard the Heavenly Spirit Ship, Hai Luoshuang was elaborating on the features of the ship to Ye Zhen, whose amazement grew as he listened.

Even the lowest Soldier Grade Heavenly Spirit Ship, around eighty meters long, has an initial flying speed of two thousand li. When Mid-grade Spirit Crystals are installed, its flying speed reaches four thousand li. High Grade Spirit Crystals can bring it up to a speed of six thousand li per hour, and with the luxuriously extravagant Supreme Spirit Crystals, its flying speed can soar up to eight thousand li."

However, Soldier Grade Heavenly Spirit Ships are just the lowest level. It is said that in the Outer Domain, Soldier Grade Heavenly Spirit Ships are commonly used as troop transports or cargo ships.

But the speed of General-Level Heavenly Spirit Ships is terrifying. With Supreme Spirit Crystals installed, their speed can reach an astonishing twelve thousand li per hour. As for Commander Level ships, the highest speed can hit sixteen thousand li, a speed not even the kings of the Establishment Realm can catch up to."

Yet, what’s even more significant is that starting from the General Level, Heavenly Spirit Ships are equipped with Spirit Energy Cannons of varying strengths.

The Spirit Energy Cannons on a General-Level ship, when fired at full power, are something that even a Vein Forging Realm expert would dare not face head-on. As for the cannons on a Commander Level ship, one salvo is enough to reduce a Vein Forging Realm expert to ashes."

According to Hai Luoshuang, even in the Outer Domain, there is no longer anyone capable of building Heavenly Spirit Ships. The ship of Stars Tower was excavated from some ancient ruins."

Even so, a General-Level Heavenly Spirit Ship is enough to make Vein Forging Realm experts within the Black Dragon Domain wary.

In Hai Luoshuang’s words, the reason the Phantom Divine Sect in the Black Dragon Domain is so courteous to Stars Tower is undoubtedly the presence of the General-Level Heavenly Spirit Ship.

In a sense, the General-Level Heavenly Spirit Ship owned by Stars Tower acts as a powerful deterrent, which is why the Sect Leader of Qiyun Sect, Guo Qijing, proposed buying a General-Level Heavenly Spirit Ship."

Of course, the functions of a General-Level Heavenly Spirit Ship are not solely these. Some aspects are even unknown to Hai Luoshuang, but it’s said that every Heavenly Spirit Ship is a war machine in its own right.

However, what astounded Ye Zhen the most was not these facts, but rather the rate at which the General-Level Heavenly Spirit Ship consumed Spirit Crystals.

Ye Zhen saw that just for takeoff, the ship consumed ten thousand Low Grade Spirit Crystals. Then, Hai Luoshuang inserted another two thousand Mid-grade Spirit Crystals into another chamber.

A thousand Mid-grade Spirit Crystals are worth the equivalent of one hundred thousand Low Grade Spirit Crystals. On the black market, they might even fetch one hundred thirty or forty thousand.

But a thousand Mid-grade Spirit Crystals could only sustain the ship at a speed of six thousand li for two hours at most.

Even if the speed were reduced to five thousand li per hour, a thousand Mid-grade Spirit Crystals would last for only three hours.

At first glance, this thing is a Spirit Crystal-devouring monster, truly not something ordinary people could afford to operate. Only an organization as large as Stars Tower could afford to use it."

In Hai Luoshuang’s words, had it not been for Ye Zhen taking the first place on the Black Dragon Ranking, they would definitely not have resorted to using the Heavenly Spirit Ship.

Even at Stars Tower, the Heavenly Spirit Ship was meant for emergencies. If used for routine long-distance travel, it would amount to squandering wealth."

Thinking it over, Ye Zhen felt that his Cloud Winged Tiger King Kitten was better.

Before advancing to Tiger King status, the normal flying speed of the Cloud Winged Tiger King Kitten was three thousand li, with a maximum flying speed of four thousand five hundred li.

Under the blessing of the War Soul Flag, the maximum flying speed of the Cloud Winged Tiger Cub could even surpass eight thousand li, nearing nine thousand li.

However, this extreme speed was not sustainable. At most, it could be maintained for half an hour before exhaustion would overcome the cub.

Yet, this was the speed before advancing to become the Cloud Winged Tiger King.

Nowadays, the normal flying speed of the Cloud Winged Tiger King Kitten is around five thousand li. Under no consideration for consumption, the maximum speed can reach seven thousand li. With the War Soul Blood Banner Blessing, the speed can easily surpass twelve thousand li or even thirteen thousand li.

With the War Soul Blood Banner Blessing, the speed of the Cloud Winged Tiger King Kitten can rival that of a General-Level Heavenly Spirit Ship, and there is basically no consumption."

Due to its consumption, the speed of the Heavenly Spirit Ship was maintained at around four thousand li, allowing a thousand Mid-grade Spirit Crystals to sustain the ship for nearly half a day.

But in the event of an emergency, by inputting High Grade Spirit Crystals or Supreme Spirit Crystals, the ship’s speed could instantly skyrocket to twelve thousand li.

There is no denying that Heavenly Spirit Ships possess significant deterrent power.

Perhaps because Qiyun Sect’s vicinity had Sword Origin Sect spies planted, as soon as the Heavenly Spirit Ship entered the territory of Sword Origin Empire, a large number of martial artists began to approach and probe. Before long, even Soul Sea Realm experts appeared.

Ye Zhen’s old acquaintance, the elder Zhii Sheng of Sword Origin Sect, had a violent twitch in his old face when he saw the Heavenly Spirit Ship. Thereafter, the martial artists that came to investigate became much fewer.

Still, Hai Luoshuang maintained a high level of caution, disregarding the fuel consumption, she increased the ship’s speed and quickly left the territory of Sword Origin Empire.

Six days later, the Heavenly Spirit Ship safely arrived at the Stars Tower’s branch headquarters in the Black Dragon Domain.

(p>The Picking Star Inn within the Divine Capital of the Phantom Divine Empire was just one of Stars Tower’s strongholds within the empire. There were similar strongholds in several other empires.

The true headquarters of Stars Tower, however, was located in a no man’s land.

Star Luo City, situated at the intersection of the Phantom Divine Empire’s western wasteland and the eastern border mountains of the Gu’an Kingdom, backed against the Rainbow Forest, and if one were to fly half a day’s journey forward—roughly thirty thousand li—one could arrive at the Sword Origin Empire.

Since it was located on the border and in a very remote area, Star Luo City was almost independent relative to both the Phantom Divine Empire and the Gu’an Kingdom.

According to Hai Luoshuang, the fact that Star Luo City was not governed by any one side was also the result of Stars Tower’s own power and effort in negotiating with all parties.

In Star Luo City, Stars Tower was the ruler.

Star Luo City was not very large, stretching about twenty li in length and ten li in width, but the population living within it had reached three hundred thousand.

In Hai Luoshuang’s words, this was because they strictly controlled the population; otherwise, Star Luo City could easily have gathered a population of one million.

The reason was simple. As the headquarters of the Stars Tower, ordinary citizens basically had very little tax burden compared to those in the Phantom Divine Empire and Gu’an Kingdom, which made things much easier for them.

However, while small, Star Luo City’s defenses were even more formidable than the Divine Capital of the Phantom Divine Empire.

The walls of the Inner City in Star Luo City, which do not stretch beyond three li in width, were inscribed with all kinds of defensive formations. As long as there were sufficient Spirit Crystals, even powerful Vein Forging Realm experts would find it difficult to break in for a time.

The Inner City of Star Luo City was where the high-ranking members of Stars Tower resided, and it would also be Ye Zhen’s dwelling place for the next two months.

Even before Ye Zhen’s arrival, the Inner City was already filled with various martial artists from all over who had connections with the high-ranking members of Stars Tower. All sought a share of the fortune from Ye Zhen, the first-ranked on the Black Dragon Ranking.

The evening of Ye Zhen’s arrival, Hai Luoshuang hosted a high-profile welcome banquet. Of course, for Ye Zhen’s safety, the number of contemplative attendees was not large.

With Ye Zhen climbing to the first position on the Black Dragon Ranking, his status within Stars Tower had also risen dramatically.

The Deputy Tower Master Yan Kun, who had previously looked down on Ye Zhen and made things difficult for him, suddenly displayed a complete turnaround in his attitude. At least when facing Ye Zhen directly, he was all smiles.

In fact, staying at Stars Tower felt almost the same as staying in the Qiyun Sect for Ye Zhen. Although his movement was not hindered, he always roamed the same small area.

Furthermore, just three days after Ye Zhen had stayed in Stars Tower, the reward for Ye Zhen from Stars Tower was issued.

The reward for Ye Zhen from Stars Tower was quite straightforward—Stars Tower Stars Points. The quantity, however, was somewhat beyond Ye Zhen’s expectations.

Three hundred thousand Stars Points. In addition, Ye Zhen’s debt of one hundred thousand Stars Points that he had previously owed was waived, bringing the total reward to four hundred thousand Stars Points.

Four hundred thousand Stars Points, equivalent to four hundred thousand Low Grade Spirit Crystals, represented a substantial fortune even to Ye Zhen.

....

In the blink of an eye, more than a month flew by. Ye Zhen, who was starting to feel quite stifled in the confined area of the Inner City, stepped out from his relatively serene Silent Chamber, intending to stroll around Star Luo City.

Of course, the main reason was that in less than ten days, Ye Zhen would be leaving. After leaving Star Luo City, he planned to visit his hometown.

According to Hai Luoshuang, although Star Luo City was small, due to its taxation issue, all the big trading companies within the Black Dragon Domain loved to conduct large-volume transactions in Star Luo City. Goods from both the Phantom Divine Empire and the Sword Origin Empire could be found within the city.

Ye Zhen intended to pick up some gifts in Star Luo City to bring back for his parents, Caiyi, and others.

Standing with hands behind his back, Ye Zhen ambled out of the Inner City in a leisurely manner. Just as he was about to approach the Inner City gate, his brows furrowed sharply.

Four martial artists clad in green cloth and small hats suited for servants were each using one hand and one foot to hurriedly carry a struggling young girl towards the Inner City.

Something had been stuffed in the girl’s mouth, but her body was frantically struggling, clearly indicating she had been kidnapped.

"Hurry, hurry up! Hey, this girl sure is feisty!"

"Isn’t that right? If she wasn’t spirited, how could she have caught the young master’s eye?"

The servants laughed and talked as they moved briskly.

Seeing this scene, Ye Zhen’s face suddenly darkened.

"Halt!"