Chapter 151: Genius

The two Elders exchanged a look of exasperation.

Seraphina blinked, her curiosity piqued. Someone else lived in that shack? She scanned the area but could not sense any Aether-signatures.

A moment later, Cassia emerged, cheerfully clutching an enormous white Cloud-Goose by the neck. The bird honked and flapped its wings furiously, clearly opposed to the arrangement, but Cassia ignored its protests.

"Look, Senior Sister! This is my best friend at the Sanctum!" Cassia held the flailing bird up. Her eyes filled with concern. "Poor thing got so skinny while I was away. No one took proper care of it."

Seraphina’s heart softened.

How lonely, she thought. To be a prodigy trapped on a mountain of strict sword cultivators, with only a goose for companionship. I must treat her better in the future.

"Cassia," Elder Vane interrupted gently. "Loosen your grip. Your best friend is asphyxiating."

Cassia looked down at the increasingly feeble bird.

"Oh! Right!" Her eyes widened in sudden realization. "It won’t taste good if it dies before the blood is drained! Hehehe. Elder Caelum, can you make braised goose for dinner tonight? Senior Sister hasn’t tried your cooking yet!"

She promptly shoved her "best friend" into the arms of the resigned Second Elder.

Seraphina stumbled on the steps, nearly falling on her face.

"Do not misunderstand, Operative Seraphina," Elder Vane said, his cheeks burning slightly. "Cassia acquires several ’best friends’ every month. When she finishes eating one, she catches a new one. Just... enjoy the meal."

Elder Vane sighed. He truly could not understand how Cassia and her older sister, Justina, could be so fundamentally different.

Justina was a model sword cultivator... disciplined, ascetic, and entirely devoted to the blade.

Cassia possessed superior innate talent, yet she treated the Sanctum like a hunting lodge and a black-market warehouse.

As they resumed their ascent, Cassia hummed a cheerful tune, occasionally glancing back at the goose to ensure Elder Caelum had not dropped her dinner.

Seraphina remained silent, her mind spinning.

She had been on the mountain for less than ten minutes, and her junior sister had already dismantled her worldview twice.

She felt a profound pity for the goose. When Cassia had lamented that the bird was "skinny," she hadn’t been worried about its health. She had been worried about the meat yield.

Before long, the group reached the Sanctum’s peak.

Seven grand sword pavilions arched in a defensive crescent, flanking two pristine central halls. Seraphina noted the layout with a tactician’s eye.

The central halls designated for the Sanctum’s two Sword Maidens... were positioned as the core of the entire formation, implying their status superseded even the pavilion Elders.

Several other Elders emerged from the primary pavilion, noticing Vane and Caelum’s return.

"Elder Vane," a stern-faced elder greeted them. "You have returned. I take it the plea for aid from House Rullus has been resolved?"

"Ah... yes," Elder Vane said cautiously. "House Rullus has been resolved."

"Excellent. Wait—" The stern elder noticed Cassia, and then his gaze fell on Seraphina.

He took in the bespectacled girl’s crisp Syndicate uniform and her Aether-signature. "Who is our guest? And what do you mean by ’resolved’?"

"I mean," Elder Vane said, rubbing his temples, "the Abyssal Sovereign dropped a Primeval-grade hammer on their estate and erased them from the map. This is his senior disciple. And speaking of disciples... where is Justina?"

---

At the elder’s words, realization dawned on the group...

If the Abyssal Sovereign had personally intervened it was no wonder the Rullus crisis was resolved.

That man had proven during the tournament that he treated Exarch-level combatants like minor inconveniences.

"To answer your question, Elder Vane," the stern-faced elder said, his tone softening slightly. "Since Justina returned from her last deployment, she has been in seclusion, practicing the Primeval-grade art she acquired. Given her peerless talent, she should be emerging any moment now."

Another elder sighed wistfully. "If only our Second Sword Maiden possessed half of Justina’s discipline and drive. Once Justina completes her assimilation of the Primeval art, her cultivation tier might temporarily regress, but her true combat power will skyrocket. She will break into the Exarch tier in no time."

The other elders nodded in unanimous agreement. But as their gazes naturally drifted toward Cassia, several of them suddenly stiffened.

They stared at the sixteen-year-old girl, sensing her Aether-signature.

"Third Realm of the Vanguard tier?" the stern elder gasped. "It has been barely a month since Cassia descended the mountain! Did you encounter a supreme fortuitous encounter, child?"

"Well..." Cassia rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. "I just took a lot of naps in the Boss’s World-Forge. Does that count as a fortuitous encounter?"

The elders stared at her in dead silence.

*Naps?*

She had broken through two minor realms just by sleeping?

If cultivation were that easy, why were they all spending decades meditating on stone floors?

Before the elders could press the issue, a sudden disturbance interrupted them.

Above the primary central pavilion, the atmospheric Aether began to twist.

"Sword Maiden Justina has succeeded!"

The elders’ eyes lit up. They rushed toward the pavilion, eager to witness the results of their premier disciple’s Primeval-grade training.

Switching to a higher-tier art often caused a temporary drop in raw cultivation level as the body rebuilt its meridians to handle denser energy, but the resulting combat power was always vastly superior.

Seraphina watched the vortex form and casually adjusted her spectacles. She pursed her lips, unimpressed.

*Is that it?* she thought.

It was roughly the size of a carriage. But compared to the Sovereign’s World-Forge... where the ambient Aether was thick enough to drown a person, and where a single hammer swing erased mountains... this phenomenon looked like a mild breeze.

"To induce a spiritual vortex at the Vanguard tier," the stern elder praised, stroking his beard. "Justina truly lives up to her reputation as the Sanctum’s once-in-a-century genius."

"Indeed," another agreed. "Even when I broke into the Exarch tier, I could not command such atmospheric pressure."

Seraphina and Cassia exchanged a brief, silent look.

When Theo had deployed his *Imperial Sovereign Dominion* during the tournament, he had projected a psychic avatar so enormous that Aurelius had mistaken his legs for pillars supporting the sky. A carriage-sized vortex felt somewhat... quaint.

The doors of the pavilion ground open.

Justina stepped out. She was the picture of an ideal sword cultivator: austere, elegant, and chillingly composed.

She shared Cassia’s bright red hair and sharp facial features, but where Cassia was a whirlwind of chaotic energy and black-market schemes, Justina was a glacier.

They were total opposites...

"Did your seclusion proceed smoothly, Sword Maiden?" the elders asked in unison.

"Elders," Justina greeted them with a bow. "The assimilation was a success. My cultivation has temporarily regressed by two minor realms, but my foundation has never been stronger. I project I will break through to the Exarch tier within the year."

She spoke with calm certainty. Then, her eyes shifted, landing on the two unexpected figures in the courtyard.

"Operative Seraphina? Cassia?"

Justina approached, offering Seraphina a nod. Seraphina returned it.

"I must thank you, Operative," Justina said. "If your master had not rejected the Primeval art at the auction house, I would never have had the opportunity to acquire it. Since you are visiting the Sanctum, I will personally ensure you are properly entertained."

Justina maintained a polite but competitive distance.

"There is no need for thanks," Seraphina said, waving a hand casually. "It was just a basic Primeval-grade text. My master has a warehouse full of them. But if you insist on hospitality, a quiet courtyard for meditation would be sufficient."

Seraphina had no interest in Sanctum politics. Her only goal was to master the *Abyssal Wyrm-Sovereign Codex* and become an asset her master could rely on.

Justina’s eyes narrowed slightly at the phrase "a warehouse full of them," but she maintained her composure.

"Your dedication to the martial path is admirable. I will arrange it immediately."

She turned to instruct the elders, but as she did, she scanned Seraphina’s Aether-signature.

Justina froze.

*Fourth Realm of the Vanguard tier?*

It had only been a month since the tournament!

How could this girl have advanced so swiftly?!

Justina’s competitive spirit flared. She had spent a month agonizingly rebuilding her meridians with a Primeval art.

She was confident she could fight above her tier.

Seraphina might have a higher raw realm, but Justina had the superior technique... or so she believed.

"Operative Seraphina," Justina said. "Now that I have my seclusion, my understanding of my new strength is still... unrefined. Would you be willing to offer me some guidance?"

Seraphina blinked. She had planned to decline, but she looked at Cassia, who was currently trying to sneak the struggling white goose past the elders...

To maintain good relations for her junior sister’s sake, perhaps a light spar was appropriate.

"Very well," Seraphina said. "If that is what you wish."

"Thank you," Justina said, her hand dropping to the hilt of her practice sword. "Please follow me to the primary dueling arena. I hope you will not hold back."

"There is no need to walk that far," Seraphina said, not moving from her spot. "Here is fine."