"Flowery nonsense?" Elder Vortexian raised a brow as he stared at arrogance incarnate and mused over her strange answer to his question. Without a doubt, this was the girl he had encountered in Heavenly King Cepheus's Eternal Library because of the blob of void hiding under her hood. It was likely the pet Worldwalker that had effortlessly devoured his arm despite being under the effects of his time-slowing domain.

If not for my life-saving artifact inscribed with my famed Spatial Anchor technique, I would have died that day.

If anyone else had said such an insult about the technique manuals to his face, he would have decapitated them on the spot, but with this girl? He had to be careful.

"I suppose to someone of your stature, such books would appear primitive and convoluted," Elder Vortexian brushed off the claim despite being the one to write many of those books. Of course, his technique manuals would seem lacking to a person from the highest layer of creation, as who else could waltz around pocket realms without fear and tame a Worldwalker as a mere pet?

"My stature?" The girl wearing Lyra's mask looked at him blankly.

"Ah, I apologize. You must want to stay incognito as you have assumed my daughter's identity. Should I refer to you as Lyra?"

Elder Vortexian had analyzed the girl during the many fights she effortlessly won and concluded she was likely a powerhouse's daughter from a higher layer of creation rather than an old monster in a young-looking vessel. His centuries of insight let him catch the slight cracks in her techniques and mannerisms to confirm she was just a very talented teenager.

She wore too much emotion on her face, and while her techniques were impressive, they lacked the refinement an old monster suppressing their cultivation would be able to achieve. Her killing intent was missing the razor edge of someone hardened by war, and her actions were too dictated by the crowd's insults.

Having figured out her identity to some extent, Elder Vortexian altered the trajectory of the tournament to foster this outcome. He wanted to be alone with the girl to hopefully glean some answers for her motives and, more importantly, ask if she could save Spatial Peak.

She shrugged at his suggestion, "Lyra works for now. Though we have met before, so there's no need for this mask," the blue mask vanished in a flash of silver, revealing a girl with flawless skin and crazed pink eyes that put him on edge. She smiled, "I wanted to apologize about killing Lyra and messing with your tournament layout. She happened to have a convenient situation I could take advantage of."

Elder Vortexian scoffed and waved his hand to dismiss her fears. "The tournament barely had any thought put into it. These are worthless Outer Disciples, after all. I wouldn't have even bothered attending if not for Spatial Peak's imminent decline and the need to find some diamonds in the rough." Elder Vortexian shook his head, "To think they were all nothing but disappointments."

As for Lyra? She had better served him in death than her twenty years of life. He had more children carrying his blood than the clan had doorways. Other than the few that were Inner Disciples, he cared not for any of them. Their only purpose was in death, as he could use them as an excuse to go on a rampage against his fellow Elder's disciples to defend his 'honor.'

Lyra tilted her head, "Imminent decline? Did something happen?"

"Yes, after you devoured my arm, I was pulled out of the Eternal Library. I relayed what had happened to the clan's council. We feared you would kill all of our Inner Disciples, which would have crippled Spatial Peak for generations to come."

"But I didn't," Lyra pointed out, "I left peacefully, other than taking some books and your arm."

Elder Vortexian felt his eye twitch at her casual tone. Does she have any idea how hard life has been without my arm? Since a Worldwalker devoured it, I can't regenerate it, even if I switch vessels. It's gone, down to the soul level.

Coughing awkwardly to clear his rage, he said, "Right, but we didn't know you would leave amicably, so the council made the swift decision to awaken the Heavenly King Cepheus."

"Heavenly King Cepheus?" Lyra asked, her tone turning bored.

Elder Vortexian had expected some reaction at the mention of the Heavenly King's name. After all, his name was known throughout the 8th layer of creation as one of the strongest cultivators and the lord of Spatial Peak. Even if someone was clueless about his long list of achievements, surely his awe-inspiring title would instill a sense of wonder or fear in those who heard it...

Meanwhile, Lyra seemed disinterested.

"Heavenly King Cepheus is one of the four strongest people in the Azure Clan and the ruler of Spatial Peak! He has been in closed-door cultivation for a long time now, trying to reach the peak of the Sovereign of Realities. If successful, it would have made him the strongest on the 8th layer..." Elder Vortexian trailed off his explanation of his Master's might as he heard Lyra yawn. "Ahem, the point is, he's dead."

"Mhm?" Lyra perked up a little. "Dead?"

"It's been our fear for a long time, but nobody wanted to confirm its truth. It wasn't until you forced the council's hand that they went into his cultivation chamber to call upon his assistance when they found him long dead." Elder Vortexian sighed, "With Heavenly King Cepheus confirmed dead, the Azure Clan has lost its pillar of strength. As he was a spatial cultivator, Spatial Peak will also naturally fall in prestige along with him. Once one of the other three remaining Heavenly Kings learns of Cepheus's demise, there will be an all-out war."

"How did he die, though?" Lyra asked.

Elder Vortexian shrugged, "Poisoned pills, assassinated while cultivating or soul backlash. It could have been any number of things. All that matters is he is gone, and our downfall is only a matter of time."

Lyra snorted, "It's been a long time coming."

Elder Vortexian frowned as his eyes trailed Lyra as she wandered around the room, the orb in the middle capturing her attention. "What do you mean?"

Lyra leaned in and squinted at the orb, "You lot have been relying on the protection of a dead man for far too long. Peace and security breeds weakness, while war calls for strength and sacrifice. You said this Heavenly whatever was a spatial cultivator, right?" Lyra tilted her head to look at him. The soft white glow from the orb illuminated the left side of her face. "In his shadow, Spatial Peak allowed itself to become a disgrace. I understand spatial Qi is more difficult to master than other types of Qi, but that showing during the tournament reeked of incompetence and a lack of proper guidance. Seeing spatial Qi being so misrepresented compelled me to take action."

"Are you offering to teach our most talented—"

"Your supposed 'talents' aren't worth an hour of my time," Lyra said, cutting him off. "Hundreds of them couldn't prevent me from leaving the library. How could you possibly call them your talents?"

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Elder Vortexian chuckled for the first time in a century. "You really don't hold back your words, do you?"

"I dislike pointlessly drawn-out conversations," Lyra withdrew from the orb and completed her circuit of the small room. "So," she narrowed her eyes, "Let's get to the point. What do you want from me?"

"Figured me out, eh?"

"You wouldn't be telling all this information to an outsider if you were just going to hand me a bundle of goodies and send me on my way right after," Lyra monotonously replied as if he were a fool for thinking of deceiving her.

Elder Vortexian had interacted with the eldest son of one of the Heavenly Kings before, and he hadn't been this flippant and blunt. Who was this entitled princess's father, and did anyone raise her correctly? Where were the manners and understanding of social cues? Yes, he wanted to request something from her, but putting him on the spot like this lacked any decorum.

"Fine, I will be blunt then," Elder Vortexian strode over to the orb dominating the center of the room as the only focal piece, "As someone of your stature from a higher layer of creation, our measly cultivation resources will be laughable to you so—"

"I want them too," Lyra said.

Elder Vortexian almost missed a step. Just how greedy was this girl? Pulling a silver ring free from his finger, he floated it to her with telekinesis, "Just take everything in there. Such rewards aren't worth either of our time compared to what's at stake."

"Speak for yourself," Lyra said as she inspected the ring in her palm, "The downfall of your clan and peak has nothing to do with me. As I said, it was a long time coming. Your technique manuals are nonsense, and your cultivators are poorly trained."

Why do her words feel like personal attacks? Did she read the manuals and decide they were nonsense compared to the ones she is used to reading? Elder Vortexian gritted his teeth. If not for that blob of void on her head, he would remind this brat of who she was talking to. But for the good of his clan and especially Spatial Peak, which had lost his Master's shadow, he would have to suck it up for now.

"This is the real reason I rigged the tournament to let you win and brought you down here," Elder Vortexian said, tapping the orb glowing with white light, "an artifact my late Master left behind. Unfortunately, long ago, there was a great battle, and during it, this orb changed hands many times, breaking in the process."

"You wanted me to see a broken artifact?" Lyra seemed perplexed, "What is it supposed to do?"

"It's an origin stone—or at least it was one."

Elder Vortexian analyzed Lyra's face, but she still seemed confused, which surprised him a little. If there was a place where the origin stones should be well known, it would be on the upper layers.

"Origin stones are left behind when an origin dies. They are extremely rare, especially down here. They can usually be used to upgrade an affinity to one of a higher dao complexity, but this one is broken because a few daos were stripped off and used during the war." Elder Vortexian half expected Lyra to command her Worldwalker to attack him and steal the artifact for herself after his explanation, as wars were often fought over origin stones. However, to his surprise, she just stared blankly at him. Was she messing with him?

"Oh, were you done?" Lyra asked.

"Yes?"

"Great, can we get to the point now? I don't really care about artifacts, let alone a broken one."

"I'm hoping it won't stay broken for long. After all, I want you to fix it." Elder Vortexian tapped the orb, and power rippled across its surface. "This orb allowed Heavenly King Cepheus to advance his comprehension of spatial dao to the point of being able to wield the aether."

"Oh, the aether? I know someone who can use that," Lyra said casually as she tapped her chin, "But to fix it? What do I get out of this, and why does it feel like I'm being given work instead of a reward?"

Elder Vortexian scoffed, "An origin stone would never be given as a reward for anything. Such an artifact is a clan's treasure and wouldn't be handed over even if it would save the clan."

"Well, that seems rather stupid. You only have one life. What's the point of trading it to protect some glowy stone sitting broken in a dungeon?"

"Because..." Elder Vortexian frowned, "That's what my Master told me. So long as one of us remains standing, the clan can use this origin stone to rise from the ashes and dominate the world in the name of the Azure Clan once more."

"Uh huh," Lyra crossed her arms, "Well, your Master seems to have kicked the bucket, and this artifact that's supposed to save you cannot offer the salvation you seek."

"Unless someone fixes it?" Elder Vortexian pointed out.

"And I ask again, what do I get if I fix it?"

"I will allow you to use the origin stone to try and unlock aether Qi."

"Oh?" Lyra looked him up and down, "If the origin stone was truly capable of such a thing, why do you use spatial Qi?"

Elder Vortexian refrained from strangling her, though his patience was growing thin. "Aether Qi, while stronger than spatial Qi, is more complex to cultivate. I'm already stagnant in my understanding of spatial dao at my current level in the Monarch Realm. Stacking more daos wouldn't improve my chances; it would only cripple me."

He could have given her a fake answer like he would to others, but for some reason, he felt this girl would poke holes in his answers until she got the truth. It was a painful truth, but it was the truth. Aether Qi wasn't for everyone.

Lyra bit her lower lip as she looked at the orb again. Greed finally flashed through her eyes, "Can't I just have it if I fix it?"

"No? Are you insane?" Elder Vortexian wanted to smack this girl over the head, "Even in its current state, it contains many condensed daos. To someone of my level, it's not that helpful anymore, but to Inner clan talents, it will help ascend their understanding. Despite its state, we still bring them down here to meditate with the origin stone to increase the chances of enlightenment."

"What made you think I could fix it?" Lyra asked as she tapped the orb, making it ripple.

"It's an artifact from beyond this layer of creation. As someone from beyond us, you may have or know someone with the expertise to restore it to its previous capabilities."

Lyra hummed and crossed her arms again, "I think I might have a way, but I should bring it to my father. He would definitely be able to fix it."

"The origin stone cannot be removed from this room," Elder Vortexian gulped, "If you could get your father to venture down here to look at it—"

Lyra shook her head, "He isn't one for travel."

"Right..." Elder Vortexian hadn't been expecting such a powerful figure to travel so far for an origin stone. What was an origin stone compared to a pet Worldwalker guarding his daughter? He likely had jewelry made from origin stones that he casually gifted to his wives.

"I can fix it," Lyra placed her index fingers on the orb.

Elder Vortexian sighed. He appreciated her enthusiasm but didn't have high hopes. She hadn't seemed to even know what an origin stone was a few moments ago. Repairing it would likely require deep comprehension of the missing daos and some high-level artifact-repairing techniques. Honestly, he didn't even know if it could be repaired.

Lyra's crazed eyes seemed to lose their edge as her gaze turned tranquil, and she wholly focused on her task. Hours passed in silence as Elder Vortexian watched spatial Qi, which was so pure even he was jealous, arc from Lyra's fingertips and dance along the surface of the orb. She also kept looking up as if waiting for something to appear.

Despite her tranquil gaze, it was evident Lyra was growing frustrated with the lack of progress, and by prodding the orb with his spiritual sense, Elder Vortexian could tell it was much the same as before.

Not wanting to waste more time entertaining a spoiled child who had likely been told she could achieve anything all her life, he awkwardly coughed. "Ahem, let's end it here, shall we. It's clear you aren't capable of repairing the artifact."

"No," Lyra hissed through her teeth, "I can do it."

Elder Vortexian shook his head, "Know when to give up. I will admit your talent is impressive, but it's important to learn some humility in the face of failure." Elder Vortexian's tone was not kind. This girl insulted his life's work, called his peak a disgrace, told him their downfall was a long time coming, and was generally rude. He didn't know her background, but it was clear she hadn't been raised correctly, so he decided to vent his frustrations verbally by lecturing her.

"Pride comes before the fall. Over the centuries, I have seen far too many cultivators consumed by pride and arrogance. It blinds them to the advice of others, convinces them they are untouchable, and they often use pride as a mask for their lacking capabilities." Elder Vortexian sighed as nostalgia clouded his mind. "Didn't your family ever teach you the dangers of being consumed by pride?"

Elder Vortexian felt the hairs on the back of his neck raise as a sudden pressure descended on the room.

"My name is Stella Crestfallen," the girl looked at him as pressure cracked around her, causing Elder Vortexian to take a hesitant step back, "and my bloodline is the sin of pride. If I say I can fix this artifact, then on my family's legacy, it will be done."

Elder Vortexian gasped as he felt every bone in his body crushed under her gaze, and only one thought went through his mind.

Wait, she is from that family?!