The light of the new dawn, which promised political turmoil in the Imperial Court, found Emperor Arion Hwa utterly unconcerned with the panic he had sown. He leaned back on the Dragon Throne, the exhilaration of the victory over the Granary Master already replaced by the cold, calculated necessity of the next move. The Head Minister, Jihun, and his allies had retreated from the threat of exposure, not defeat. They controlled the true source of Imperial power: the spirit jade resource stream.
Arion accessed the Imperial Growth System. The successful seizure of the Censorate had won him a base of operations and a loyal general (Taeyong), but the System showed the grim truth about his supply lines.
"System. Report on immediate resource bottlenecks."
IMPERIAL GROWTH SYSTEM NOTIFICATION:
MILITARY SUMMON MODULE BOTTLENECK:The Automated Production Line for the Iron Standard Automaton requires a daily input of 10,000 units of Purified Low-Grade Spirit Jade for sustainable operation.Current Verified Daily Supply: 50 units.
The discrepancy was a monstrous logistical failure. Arion's historical data confirmed that the Imperial mines produced raw material equivalent to over 20,000 purified units daily. The bottleneck was not geological exhaustion, but systemic theft and fraudulent reporting—the logistical crime engineered by Head Minister Jihun. Jihun's contracts declared 90% of the daily yield as worthless 'Impure Scrap' that was then funnelled through his private Grand Merchant Guild and sold on the black market at inflated prices.
"We cannot fight a war of standardization without standardized fuel," Arion murmured. "Jihun's systemic fraud is protected by the subjective nature of 'purity.' Only absolute, irrefutable quantification can defeat this."
He focused on the Tier 1 blueprints, prioritizing the only tool that could quantify truth.
BLUEPRINT 103: SPIRIT JADE PURITY SCANNERA Class 7 analytical array for instantaneous, standardized quantification of spirit jade energy density and purity. Its algorithms operate on principles of absolute entropy modeling, making it impossible to tamper with using conventional cultivation methods.Focus: Resource Standardization and Fraud Detection. Input Required: 2 Units Purified Gold Alloy (for precision measurement), 1 Unit Refined Low-Grade Spirit Jade (for calibration).
Arion retrieved a heavy, intricately carved gold seal—an unused gift from the original Emperor's mother, valuable only for its pure gold content—and the last remaining piece of low-grade purified jade from his desk drawer. The System consumed the materials, and the air filled with the silent roar of automated crafting. The process was not magic; it was the ultimate application of flawless, material science.
When the light subsided, a beautiful, segmented brass ring lay on the stone plinth. It looked like an elegant, mechanical bracelet, humming softly with focused calculation. Its purpose was to enact an audit that centuries of subjective corruption could not withstand.
SPIRIT JADE PURITY SCANNER (TIER 1 TOOL)Utility: Provides absolute, standardized metrics for resource quality. Immune to Stage 7 Mortal Law Insight manipulation due to algorithmic complexity.
The Audit of the Repository
Arion issued the command via the Precision Messenger Quill to General Taeyong. Taeyong, newly invigorated by the successful seizure of the Censorate and the re-equipping of his men with confiscated wealth, was now a true loyalist.
To General Taeyong of the Eastern Garrison: Immediately secure the Imperial Jade Repository (Sector 9). Perform a full audit of all materials designated 'Impure Scrap.' Use the Purity Scanner on the scrap pile in the presence of all remaining Censorate officials. The objective is not to seize the materials, but to secure the proof of fraud.
The Imperial Jade Repository was a vast, sprawling subterranean fortress, the centralized bank of the Empire's raw spiritual wealth. Marshal Gwang had assumed its gates were secured by bureaucracy and focused his remaining forces on containing the palace. He had fatally prioritized kinetic force over logistical certainty.
General Taeyong and two hundred of his re-equipped soldiers entered the Repository, finding only a handful of terrified, low-level Censorate administrators. The true power players had already fled following the Censorate building seizure.
The soldiers marched past towering stacks of valuable 'Purified Stock' jade, which was reserved for the Imperial family and high-ranking cultivators. They stopped before the true prize: a mountain-sized pile of gray, dull, crumbling jade, labeled dismissively as "Waste: Impure Scrap - 90% Yield Contamination." This pile was easily ten times the size of the 'Purified Stock' section.
Taeyong, a career military man who had watched his forces starve due to lack of spiritual fuel, felt a cold dread. He knew, intuitively, that this massive pile of junk was the key to the Empire's future, or its immediate downfall.
"Bring forward the Censorate Administrators," Taeyong commanded.
Five shivering men, dressed in the severe black robes of the Censorate, were brought before the pile. They refused to look at the 'scrap,' their eyes darting nervously between the mountain of waste and Taeyong's newly confident soldiers.
"Gentlemen, you have processed the paperwork for this pile for decades. You have sworn an oath that this represents unusable, impure waste, suitable only for land reclamation or low-grade pavement," Taeyong stated, his voice devoid of emotion. "Is this correct?"
The most senior of the administrators, a gaunt man named Master Kye, swallowed hard. "Y-yes, General. According to the Head Minister's standardized Purity Protocols, this material fails to meet the 50% energy-density threshold. It is worthless, tainted by deep-earth toxins."
Taeyong held up the brass ring—the Spirit Jade Purity Scanner. It pulsed once, indicating readiness. He carefully placed it on a small, fist-sized piece of the gray 'scrap.'
The Scanner did not vibrate or heat up. It simply projected a small, holographic display of cold, hard data. A voice, generated by the Scanner's integrated spirit array, rang out in the massive vault with the irrefutable clarity of pure logic:
"SAMPLE ID: R9-A-17. MATERIAL: LOW-GRADE SPIRIT JADE. CONTAMINATION: 1.3%. ENERGY DENSITY: 98.7% of maximum potential. Classification: High-Grade Usable."
A collective gasp echoed through the vault. Master Kye's eyes bulged, his jaw hanging open.
"Impossible!" he shrieked, shattering the silence. "The protocols! The Head Minister's protocols! They state clearly—"
Taeyong placed the Scanner on another piece, deeper in the pile, ensuring there was no trickery.
"SAMPLE ID: R9-A-41. MATERIAL: LOW-GRADE SPIRIT JADE. CONTAMINATION: 0.9%. ENERGY DENSITY: 99.1% of maximum potential. Classification: High-Grade Usable."
Taeyong spent the next hour walking the perimeter of the vast pile, scanning fifty samples. The results were an unwavering statistical average: the 'Impure Scrap' was, in fact, pristine, usable spirit jade. The only impurity was the logistical corruption of the Head Minister's network. The mountain of junk was the Empire's true wealth, hidden in plain sight.
Taeyong looked at Master Kye, who was now weeping openly, his career and freedom collapsing around him. "You declared this worth less than dirt. You allowed millions to starve for lack of spiritual energy while this sat here. This is not fraud based on subjective error. This is a cold, mathematical lie that has crippled the Empire."
System Overload and The Genesis of the Standards
At the Imperial Palace, Arion saw a colossal, stunning change on the System's overlay. The tactical map of the capital, previously dark with scarcity, flooded with an immense, blinding surge of quantifiable resource wealth.
IMPERIAL GROWTH SYSTEM NOTIFICATION:
LOGISTICS VICTORY: RESOURCE RECOVERYHead Minister Jihun's Systemic Fraud Exposed.9,584,200 units of Purified Low-Grade Spirit Jade successfully recovered from the 'Impure Scrap' designation.Estimated value: 500,000,000 Imperial Gold
SUPPLY CHAIN STABILITY ACHIEVED!The Automated Production Line is now fully operational.Current Summon Capacity: 1,000 Iron Standard Automatons per week.
Arion felt a profound sense of satisfaction. The Spirit Jade Purity Scanner had not just audited a pile of rock; it had corrected the single largest systemic error in the Hwa Empire's resource allocation. He now had the fuel, and the proof, to challenge the Head Minister politically.
More importantly, the Military Summon module was hungry, and Arion was finally ready to feed it.
"System. Initiate Iron Standard Automaton production. First batch: Fifty units. Prioritize core attributes: Speed and Defensive Formation Synchronization."
The recovered spirit jade was instantly funneled through the internal System refinery. The Automated Production Line began its invisible work within the palace's hidden arrays, transforming the raw material into the perfect, standardized components of his first legion.
The first fifty Iron Standards—sleek, charcoal-black automatons with simple, geometric forms and glowing red internal cores—began manifesting in a secured training hall deep beneath the Imperial Study. Each was perfectly identical, trained with the same exact fighting form, and completely loyal to the Prime Directive. They represented the antithesis of Marshal Gwang's custom-built, individualized warriors.
Arion observed the first Iron Standards run through a synchronization drill. They moved as a single organism, their energy bursts precisely timed to maximize defensive coverage.
IRON STANDARD AUTOMATON (STAGE 4 / BURST STAGE 6)Synchronization Rating: 100% (Perfect)Efficiency Rating: 99.9% (Near-Flawless)Threat Level: Highly Effective vs. Custom Stage 5 Cultivator Units.
Arion smiled. He had the power to manufacture an unstoppable, dedicated army.
He turned his attention to his remaining enemy: Marshal Gwang, the military leader, and his Black-Iron Guild, who specialized in custom, high-stage weaponry. Gwang valued individual power and unique gear, the kind of asymmetrical warfare that defeated poorly equipped units.
"Now, Marshal Gwang, let's see how your expensive, custom-made axes fare against perfect, mass-produced Standardization."
The resource war had been won. The political coup was neutralized. The next phase was inevitable: The Tactical War. Arion knew Gwang, humiliated by the coup's failure, would now resort to outright violence, aiming to assassinate the Emperor and seize the palace.
Arion's next move was critical: Retainer Empowerment. He had his automatons, but he needed his human soldiers—Captain Joon's fifty men—to fight alongside them. They needed to move from being frightened guards to an elite, cohesive unit capable of executing complex, synchronized maneuvers.
Arion prepared to forge the next crucial tool: the Standardized Drill Harness, the device that would turn Captain Joon's small band of men into the human half of the ultimate standardized fighting force. He would teach them that true power lay not in their cultivation stage, but in their discipline and perfect formation.
The victory over Jihun's fraud had secured the resources, but it was also a declaration of war. By dawn tomorrow, the city would be paralyzed by Gwang's aggressive retaliation, forcing Arion to defend his newfound power with his fledgling army.