As one of the five major cities on the White Tower Floating Land, Jiangyuan City governed over a population exceeding twenty million, with over one hundred thousand students enrolled every year.
With such a large number of students, there naturally wasn't only one Torch Academy under the First Academy. Even though the First Torch Academy gathered the elite students from all of Jiangyuan City, it couldn't possibly include all the awakened students in the city.
According to past conventions, the number of students successfully awakened each year typically hovered around a thousand.
Half an hour later, in the outskirts of Jiangyuan City, at the ultra-long-range Starry Sea Deployment Platform.
Over five thousand Jiangyuan City citizens had already gathered here.
As one of the few major events each year in Jiangyuan City, many came to watch the Alien Star Domain deployment ceremony. Adding the newly arrived students, teachers, and families, the crowd around the deployment platform now numbered in five figures.
Another twenty minutes passed, and after the district director of the White Tower Torch Bureau confirmed that all the current-year awakened students in Jiangyuan City were present, the Alien Star Domain deployment officially began.
The first to take the stage were not the students from the First Torch Academy. On the contrary, they were saved for last as the highlight of the ceremony.
Even in the central urban area of Jiangyuan City, one could see the massive light beams piercing the skies every twenty minutes or so. Each light beam represented 100 newly awakened students from Jiangyuan City being hurled into the unknown Starry Sea, countless light-years away.
Song Chi and Sun Hao were placed in the same group. Together, they stepped onto the platform and quickly summoned their Spectral Shuttles. Once the hundred shuttles were neatly lined up, a Torch Bureau officer outside the deployment platform gave the signal.
A kilometer-wide beam of light pierced through the Vault of Heaven.
As the hundred Spectral Shuttles disappeared from the platform, families like Song's parents and many others didn't choose to leave. Instead, they pulled camping tents out of their bags and slowly began setting them up.
They planned to wait here overnight. The initial Alien Star Domain exploration typically lasted for 24 hours, and if emergencies arose, the students could actively choose to return. Worried about their children, the parents were willing to stay—even for just one night.
...
*The overwhelming sensation of weightlessness made Song Chi instinctively shut his eyes. The violent vibrations caused the shuttle's body to audibly creak. If he hadn't secured his seatbelt beforehand, he couldn't imagine the state he'd be in from all this turbulence.*
As the weightless and dizzying sensations greatly diminished, and with no time to wait for his physical condition to normalize fully, he suppressed the intense discomfort in his heart and forced himself to open his eyes. Then, he swiftly tapped to activate the Spectral Shield component on his shuttle.
Song Chi deeply agreed with one saying that his old class instructor often repeated during lectures: "The Starry Sea Alien Race won't wait for you to recover. What you must do is always be one step ahead, whether for fighting or escaping."
The lv7 upgraded Spectral Shield had a charging time of 23 seconds. Over twenty seconds later, as the black shield covering the shuttle's surface fully activated, Song Chi finally exhaled in relief.
Only then did he have time to stabilize his physical condition and survey the environment outside the shuttle.
As for why he didn't activate the Spectral Shield prior to deployment, this linked back to another common knowledge point about the Torch Human Civilization.
During ultra-long-range deployments, a warship's hull had to endure immense spatial pressure. If the energy shield were activated in advance, it would inevitably overload under the effects of spatial power. After all, no matter how strong an energy shield might be, it could never compare with the mighty power inherent in the Void itself.
The implications of an overloaded energy shield on a Torch Warship likely need no elaboration.
From what Song Chi knew, once an energy shield overloaded, it would take at least thirty minutes of buffer time to reactivate—some cases could even take up to an hour. During this period, while the Torch Warship's defense wouldn't be entirely disabled, it would be weakened by over 70%, exponentially increasing danger levels.
Thus, activating a warship's energy shield before deployment was an absolute taboo among Torch Ship Captains.
Song Chi's gaze fell on the screen before him. His brow furrowed slightly; the screen showed pitch-blackness, indicating there were no stellar bodies or Floating Lands nearby. The radar scans reached the same conclusion—no large celestial bodies or Floating Lands appeared within the detection range. Not even a fragment belt had been identified.
*Seeing this, a faint sense of unease stirred in Song Chi's heart. However, he didn't dwell on it immediately, as there was another matter weighing on his mind.*
After repeatedly confirming there was no immediate danger around the shuttle, he removed the Star Sea Ruins Market Token still hanging on his chest. Quickly, he began directing the Spectral Energy within his body to converge onto the token.
The "Angry Tiger Type ① Starry Sea Floating Land Mining Cart," the Mining Cart Specialized Prospecting Instrument—such large-scale items were still stored within the Ruins Market.
"I must be able to access it!"
*Song Chi inwardly shouted to himself. Being able to open the Zhu Tian Ruins Market inside the Alien Star Domain was incredibly crucial, largely determining his future achievement ceiling. How could he not worry?*
As Spectral Energy continued to flow into the token, Song Chi's heart sank little by little; the Star Sea Ruins Market Token still showed no reaction.
Just as he was about to give up, a familiar pulling force abruptly acted on his body.
*Feeling this pulling force, Song Chi couldn't conceal the excitement surging in his heart. The joy was written all over his face. The next moment, his figure abruptly vanished within the Spectral Shuttle.*
Simultaneously, inside the Zhu Tian Ruins Market, Song Chi's figure quietly emerged.
After confirming the result, he didn't linger within the Ruins Market. With a single thought, he exited and returned to the Spectral Shuttle.
At the shuttle's control console, having settled the most important matter, Song Chi could finally focus all his attention on exploring this unknown Star Domain.
The first few stages of the Torch Warship deployment in an Alien Star Domain limited the stay to only 24 hours. There wasn't much time to waste if he wanted to gather resources.
The resources within the Shattered Starry Sea were indeed abundant, but that didn't mean a random Star Domain would be overflowing with rare resources. To gather substantial resources, he'd first need to locate asteroid belts, minor fragment belts, or Starry Sea Floating Lands, which were known for high resource yield rates.
The Shattered Starry Sea was immensely vast, stretching across boundless light-years. A single Torch Warship scattered within it was less significant than a grain of sand in an ocean. Thus, locating such resource points within just one day was far more challenging than one might imagine.
This was precisely why the Torch Human Civilization repeatedly emphasized the saying, "A good Sky Patrol Radar is worth more than anything else."
The lv7 Spectral Engine roared at full capacity, and the Cangqiong began cruising at standard light-speed in a specific direction. Meanwhile, Song Chi's eyes scanned the Sky Patrol Radar over and over, brimming with anticipation.