Chapter 154: Imperial Technique!

Inside the Primeval Spire, the governing Aether-spirit observed the bespectacled girl standing in the center of the arena.

The girl was acting incredibly careless. She hadn’t even assumed a defensive stance as the mechanical centurion charged her.

"Challenger," the mechanical voice boomed from the ceiling. "I advise you to utilize your agility to evade. Direct confrontation is not recommended for passage."

As for Seraphina’s question about compensating for property damage, the spirit entirely ignored it. Even though the Automaton operated at the First Realm of the Vanguard tier, its chassis was forged from meteor-iron. Its physical integrity was equivalent to an Exarch!

Silas watched from the sidelines. He glanced at Cassia, surprised to see the junior operative looking entirely unconcerned as the heavy broadsword swung toward her senior sister.

"Sever."

As the heavy blade descended, a dense, malevolent Aether swirled around Seraphina’s extended index finger. She didn’t even use the full Abyssal Wyrm-Severing Strike. She merely compressed her standard aura and flicked her finger against the flat of the brass blade.

CLANG.

The Automaton staggered backward, its sword ringing like a struck bell. The brass plating on its chest dented slightly from the force of the impact, but it maintained its footing and prepared for a secondary strike.

Seraphina adjusted her spectacles, mildly surprised. She had assumed a Vanguard-tier puppet would break apart instantly. She had underestimated the meteor-iron chassis.

The Aether-spirit, however, was stunned.

"The force of that flick far exceeds the parameters of the Vanguard tier!" the mechanical voice murmured. "To cross a major boundary with a nonchalant flick... a true prodigy!"

The spirit was about to override the trial and grant her immediate passage to the second floor. There was no need to force a combatant with Exarch-level output to endure thirty exchanges against a Vanguard puppet.

But before the spirit could initiate the override sequence, the Automaton swung its sword again in a brutal horizontal arc, aiming directly for Seraphina’s head.

And she didn’t dodge.

"What is she doing?!" the spirit shrieked internally. A prodigy like this would be a monumental waste if she died to sheer arrogance on the first floor!

The sword cleaved right through Seraphina’s neck.

The spirit prepared to sound the failure alarm—until it realized the figure was fading. It was merely a phantom afterimage!

The real Seraphina materialized directly behind the Automaton. She channeled a concentrated burst of Abyssal Aether into her palm, regulating her output to precisely fifty percent, and chopped her hand down against the back of the machine’s brass neck.

CRACK.

The sound of shearing meteor-iron echoed through the arena. The Automaton’s heavy brass head popped off its shoulders, spinning high into the air before hitting the stone floor and rolling to a stop near Silas’s boots.

The headless chassis sparked, then collapsed into a heap of scrap metal.

"Does this count as passing?" Seraphina asked, looking up at the ceiling with a flat expression.

"Does it... yes. Yes, it does," the mechanical voice stammered, its usual dispassionate tone thoroughly shaken. "Challenger, you are the first in this cycle to achieve a perfect physical neutralization. You may select one of these three Provincial-grade artifacts as a flawless reward."

Three ornate wooden chests materialized in front of Seraphina.

Without hesitating, she opened the first, retrieving a delicate, Provincial-grade jade hairpin that hummed with defensive Aether-wards. She ignored the other two, and they vanished instantly.

"Challenger, you may proceed to the second floor," the spirit announced.

But Seraphina didn’t move toward the spatial staircase. She turned and walked back to Cassia.

"I will wait until you finish," Seraphina told the ceiling. She had no intention of leaving the junior operative alone on the first floor with the Devourer Cult’s young master, whose Aether-signature reeked of malice.

"Cassia," Seraphina said softly, holding up the jade hairpin. "Hold still."

Cassia blinked, confused, but obediently stood still as Seraphina expertly slid the defensive artifact into the younger girl’s messy red hair.

"Senior Sister!" Cassia gasped, her eyes shining as she felt the defensive wards settle over her. "You are giving this to me? The Boss is the only one who gives me stuff!"

During her time at the Ashford Sanctum, Cassia had never owned a proper artifact. The Elders always claimed that since she spent her time building shacks and running black-market stalls instead of practicing sword forms, she didn’t need one.

"It is just a cosmetic bauble," Seraphina said, adjusting her spectacles. "My combat style relies on mobility. Defensive wards interfere with my footwork. Keep it."

"Senior Sister, I am not stupid. This is a Provincial-grade artifact!" Cassia pumped her fist in the air. "Just you wait! I am going to pass this trial and win a weapon for you!"

Cassia enthusiastically marched into the center of the arena.

Seraphina watched her go, entirely unconcerned. Cassia possessed the Diamond Crucible Form she had learned directly from Theo. Even an Exarch would need a full day to break through the junior operative’s physical defense. These mechanical puppets didn’t stand a chance.

Silas watched the exchange with mounting greed. The Primeval Spire was truly a legendary ruin! A Provincial-grade artifact just for the first floor? What lay on the upper levels? He had assumed the Old Dynasty scion’s swift victory meant the Automaton was weak.

"Challenger," the Aether-spirit intoned as Cassia stepped into the ring. "Survive thirty exchanges to pass. I will not repeat the rules."

A new Automaton rose from the floor, its Aether-signature calibrated to the Third Realm of the Vanguard tier to match Cassia’s cultivation.

"Wait! Hold on!" Cassia shouted, raising a hand.

The Automaton paused.

"I have a question," Cassia grinned, cracking her knuckles. "How many pieces do I have to smash this thing into to get the same flawless reward my Senior Sister got?"

"To achieve a flawless rating," the voice of the Aether-spirit intoned patiently, "you must either neutralize an Automaton of your exact cultivation tier within three strikes, or endure fifty consecutive strikes from an Automaton two full cultivation tiers above your own."

The spirit provided the options clearly.

While Seraphina had made dismantling the machine look effortless, the Automaton’s chassis was far stronger than its Aether-signature suggested.

To break it required output far beyond a single tier gap...

"Alright," Cassia decided without hesitation, cracking her neck. "I’ll take the defense test. Give me an Exarch-class Automaton."

"As you wish," the spirit replied. "...if you suffer catastrophic injury from a single strike, I will teleport you out of the Spire. If you are killed instantly, I cannot save you."

The spirit withdrew the broken scraps of the first machine and summoned a new opponent.

This Automaton was noticeably larger, its brass plating reinforced with meteor-iron. Its Aether-signature spiked into the Exarch tier.

"Let the challenge commence."

"Diamond Crucible!" Cassia shouted.

Instantly, her skin took on a crystalline sheen, and phantom scales overlaid her aura.

A Primeval Wyrm defensive art? Silas thought, watching from the edge of the arena.

His greed intensified... It must be an ancient Imperial technique!