The Mutation of the Aier Core Fragment

Lu Yuan checked the time. It was nearly the hour he'd arranged to meet Amy.

He left his room and headed downstairs.

In the lobby below, Lin Xixi's group sat together, resting and chatting. When she spotted Lu Yuan coming down, Lin Xixi rose to her feet, her expression bright with anticipation.

"Mr. Lei, you're out. How did it go?"

"I broke through." Lu Yuan smiled. "Is Amy back yet?"

"The young miss hasn't come out yet."

"Then we'll wait."

"Right."

Lin Xixi nodded and settled back into her seat. Lu Yuan sat down beside her.

No sooner had he done so than Zhu Yu leaned in from the other side, eyes glittering with curiosity.

"Oh, right — Mr. Lei, what exactly did you do to the young miss earlier? Something improper, clearly. She was so *flustered*!"

She was practically vibrating with excitement. And she wasn't alone — the rest of the group were all angling their ears toward the conversation.

Lu Yuan's expression went flat. He turned to Zhu Yu with a long stare.

"You're the first to bolt when there's a fight, but somehow the most eager when there's gossip. How does that work?"

Zhu Yu shrank back and stuck her tongue out, looking sheepish.

Lin Xixi shot her a withering look.

"Whatever concerns the young miss is none of your business. Stay out of it."

"Mm... fine..."

With their deputy leader shutting the conversation down, the group gave up with resigned expressions.

Just then, footsteps sounded from upstairs. Everyone looked over.

A moment later, Amy came bounding down the stairs, her delicate face alight with a wide, beaming smile. The instant she spotted Lu Yuan waiting below, she jogged straight toward him.

"How did it go? Did you break through?"

"Yeah." He nodded. "I did."

"I did too! Come on, let's go deal with those six Mechanical Chiefs!"

Seeing her barely able to contain her impatience, Lu Yuan chuckled and nodded. "Alright, let's go."

The group filed out of the building and made their way toward the entrance of the three-thousand-meter tower nearby.

The six Mechanical Chiefs were right where they'd been before, standing guard at the gate. As long as no one attempted to enter, they would simply hold their posts indefinitely.

When the group stopped at a safe distance, Amy flashed a smile and turned to Lu Yuan.

"Lei Feng, stay back. Let me handle these myself!"

Lu Yuan blinked at her — she was brimming with confidence.

"You sure you can manage?"

"Of course! I'm really strong now!"

He laughed. "Alright then."

He stayed back and watched as Amy stepped forward alone.

At about fifty meters from the gate, she raised the Staff of Wisdom and swept it through the air. Spirit Power surged in a visible wave.

Tianrao Purple Vines erupted from the ground beneath her feet in a dense, rushing cascade — well over a hundred of them, more than double what she could summon before her breakthrough. And each vine was threaded through with golden markings along its length, lending the entire display a regal, almost magnificent splendor.

Standing amid her cascading vines, Amy looked like a radiant faerie woven from living wood.

Not that the Mechanical Chiefs cared about faeries. The moment the vines drew close, all six activated simultaneously — eyes blazing crimson, electricity crackling across their frames. They raised their weapons and opened fire.

Spirit Cannons boomed. War axes swung wide. Two of the Chiefs charged directly at Amy.

But the vines moved faster now — far faster than before. In almost no time at all, all six Mechanical Chiefs were coiled in a crushing snare.

The incoming Spirit Cannon blasts were stopped dead, swallowed by the vines without leaving so much as a scratch, not even scattered by the impact. Both the defensive resilience and the offensive power of the Tianrao Purple Vine had taken a tremendous leap.

With all six Chiefs bound, Amy let out a light, satisfied hum — and every vine constricted and twisted in unison.

**Crack. Crack. Crack.**

The terrible force tore through the Mechanical Chiefs. Crystal Shields and mechanical frames alike crumbled as though made of glass.

Lu Yuan watched the destruction unfold and couldn't quite suppress a flicker of genuine surprise.

Amy's strength really was extraordinary. If it weren't for the fact that mechanical life forms naturally countered the Emerald Scythe's toxin, her destructive output would have been even more staggering.

"Yes!"

She threw her fist up in triumph, then trotted back to Lu Yuan and planted both hands on her hips, beaming with pride.

"Well? Isn't your Amy amazing?"

Lu Yuan gave her a thumbs-up. "Only Amy could pull that off. Truly impressive."

"Hehe — I think so too."

"Go check what they dropped."

Since accepting that he was, financially speaking, essentially broke, Lu Yuan had become very motivated to accumulate more resources.

"Oh, right!"

Amy remembered the drops.

The group walked over together.

Each of the six Mechanical Chiefs had dropped six Chief Grade orbs, three to five Boss Grade orbs, and a sizable heap of Elite Grade orbs.

Lu Yuan and Amy combed through the Chief Grade orbs. Before long, Lu Yuan's eyes lit up at one in particular.

*Mechanical Guardian Emblem (First-rank, 100%): Chief Grade Gene Armament.*

An emblem-type Gene Armament. Its primary function was defense, with secondary bonuses to Strength and Agility, and it could activate a Crystal Shield — defensive capability roughly equivalent to a First-rank peak Chief Grade fighter.

Lu Yuan had only ever owned one emblem-type armament before: the Moonstone. That one had been shattered when Xue Wang's Shadow soul attack struck him.

He hadn't expected to come across another emblem so soon.

The downside was that he'd already broken through to Battle Master Rank and had evolved so many Transcendent Genes since then. His power had surged dramatically. Even a Chief Grade First-rank armament offered only marginal gains at this point. Better than nothing — but just barely.

Amy worked through the rest of the orbs and let out a quiet sigh.

"Nothing spectacular. Let's just split everything down the middle."

Lu Yuan agreed.

His half came to three Chief Grade Gene Armaments: the Mechanical Guardian Emblem, a mechanical greatshield, and a longsword. He equipped the emblem on the spot. The greatshield and the longsword he set aside to sell later.

They split the Boss Grade and Elite Grade items between them as well.

Once the loot was divided, Lu Yuan and Amy pushed through the gate and stepped inside.

The three-thousand-meter tower had more rooms than Lu Yuan had expected.

Twelve in total.

He told Lin Xixi's group to wait on the ground floor, then he and Amy headed upstairs, both barely containing their excitement.

The moment they reached the first door, the Evolution Cube trembled.

Surprise flickered through him.

*Is there an Aier Core Fragment inside?*

He pushed the door open. The room beyond was bare and empty — except for three Aier Core Fragments sitting at its center.

Amy's eyes went wide.

"We searched four whole districts to find two fragments, and there are three just sitting here? If we'd come straight to this tower, we could have skipped all that trouble."

Lu Yuan gave her an amused look. "What are you thinking? Without those first two fragments, neither of us could have broken through to Second-rank. How were you planning to handle six Mechanical Chiefs?"

That landed. Amy jolted, eyes widening further as though she'd spotted a logical blind spot she'd walked right past.

"Oh — right!"

"What about Lin Xixi's group?" Lu Yuan asked. "Is anyone close to breaking through? We could give them one."

"Only Xixi has peaked," Amy said. "The others aren't there yet. One fragment is enough for now."

She picked up one of the fragments.

Then she glanced at the remaining two, a small frown creasing her brow.

"What about these? We can't take them out of the ruins, but leaving them here feels like such a waste."

"I'll take them," Lu Yuan offered.

Amy had no better solution and nodded. "I'll bring this one to Xixi. Wait here for me."

She headed out the door.

Lu Yuan looked down at the two metallic fragments in his hand.

A thought struck him out of nowhere: *The Evolution Cube already absorbed my first core fragment — but can I absorb another one?*

Curious, he let his intent flow — and in an instant, both fragments dissolved into streams of light and sank into his body.

The next moment, the Evolution Cube swallowed them whole.

Lu Yuan stared at his empty palms.

*...What?*

He'd only meant to try one. Both had vanished at once.

But that wasn't even the strangest part.

After absorbing two more Aier Core Fragments — three total now — Lu Yuan felt his connection to the Aier Mechanical Ruins deepen noticeably.

When he'd absorbed the first fragment, it had felt as though the ruins had simply accepted him. A passive acknowledgment — like being granted access to a space that was not his own.

But now, with three fragments absorbed, there was something almost warm about it. As if the ruins had developed a faint sense of familiarity toward him.

Familiarity?

*What is this?*

He stared at nothing for a moment, thoroughly baffled.

*It can change like this?*

*What happens if I absorb even more?*

His heartbeat quickened. The curiosity and anticipation were hard to ignore.

Amy's voice carried through the door.

"Lei Feng! Why are you still in there?! Come on out!"

Lu Yuan snapped back to the present. She was already waiting outside.

"Coming."

He left the room and rejoined Amy to continue upward.

Room Two held a stockpile of Enhanced Spirit Power Gene Fluid — five thousand vials, more than double the yield from the thousand-meter tower. Lu Yuan's share was twenty-five hundred vials, the equivalent of twenty-five million First-rank Spirit Crystals. A decent boost.

Room Three was empty.

Room Four was packed with explosives. The moment Lu Yuan cracked the door open, a chain of detonations went off in his face. With his current defenses, though, the blasts felt about as threatening as a slightly forceful breeze. He didn't budge an inch.

Room Five held six more Mechanical Chiefs. Amy immediately volunteered to take them solo and swept them aside without much effort. Lu Yuan walked away with two Chief Grade Gene Armaments, one Chief Grade Transcendent Gene, and a pile of Boss Grade and Elite Grade items — a solid haul all around.

The Transcendent Gene was especially welcome:

*Combat Technique — Steel Body.* A Guardian Type gene. According to Amy, something like this would sell for around forty thousand Fourth-rank Spirit Crystals on the open market.

Lu Yuan was quite pleased.

Room Six yielded another five thousand vials of Enhanced Spirit Power Gene Fluid. His cut was twenty-five hundred more, bringing his running total to five thousand vials — roughly fifty million First-rank Spirit Crystals' worth, or fifty thousand in Fourth-rank denomination.

A substantial sum.

His only thought: *More. Keep it coming.*

The next room held three more Aier Core Fragments.

Amy, who had been smiling steadily since the last room's haul, immediately deflated when she saw them.

"Again?! These are completely useless to us now!"

Lu Yuan scooped them up with a grin. "I'll take them."

Amy shrugged — no objection.

He absorbed all three on the spot.

The moment the Evolution Cube swallowed them, the sensation shifted again. If three absorbed fragments had made the ruins feel faintly familiar toward him, then six made it feel as though the ruins now genuinely considered him one of its own.

He had no idea why the feeling came through so clearly — it was simply what his connection to the ruins, filtered through the Evolution Cube, told him. But it was unmistakable.

*What would happen if I absorbed even more?*

The anticipation was real.

Room Seven contained two Chief Grade Transcendent Genes directly — no combat required.

*Combat Technique — Spirit Ray* and *Combat Technique — Mechanical Wave Fist.*

They split them evenly. Lu Yuan took the Mechanical Wave Fist.

It was an Assault Type combat technique, well-suited for Gene Warriors who specialized in close-quarters striking. Not the kind of gene he'd engrave for himself, but it would sell well.

Room Eight was a trap. The moment they stepped inside, jets of flame erupted from every direction. Lu Yuan's defenses held without effort, and Amy's Tianrao Purple Vines wrapped around her completely. Neither of them took a scratch.

Room Nine held two Mechanical Puppets.

Each fought at the level of a Second-rank peak Chief Grade. Formidable opponents by any standard.

One was an Assault Type wielding a war axe. The other was a ranged combatant armed with a Spirit Cannon.

Lu Yuan claimed the ranged one; Amy took the melee one. The logic was straightforward — Lu Yuan's current arsenal was light on long-range options, while Amy sometimes needed a frontline presence to draw fire and buy her breathing room.

A Second-rank Chief Grade contracted fighter was an enormous asset for either of them.

Room Ten stopped Lu Yuan cold.

Ten thousand vials of Enhanced Spirit Power Gene Fluid.

He was so moved he nearly teared up.

*This... THIS is the three-thousand-meter tower. An absolute legend. Nothing comes close.*

His share of five thousand vials brought his running total to ten thousand. Running the numbers in his head, he was drawing noticeably closer to the Spirit Power resources needed to fully temper his White Jade Spirit Body Transcendent Gene to its peak.

All in all: deeply satisfying.

Room Eleven was empty.

Room Twelve was the last.

Lu Yuan pushed the door open. Behind him, Amy stretched up on her toes to peek inside.

The moment they took in what the room held, both of them went still.

Their eyes went wide.