### **Chapter 17: Ancient Imperial City**
Skeleton Soldiers were among the weaker dimensional creatures. Their movements were slow, their attack strength only moderate, and their constitution fragile. At Guide High Institute, students had been taught exactly how to deal with such creatures. Any high schooler with decent cultivation foundations could defeat one or two Skeleton Soldiers without much trouble.
Although **Vivaan Sharma** had never fought a real Skeleton Soldier before, he immediately realized that they were far weaker than the Vigor Ants he had battled inside the Ant Nest Dungeon. He wasn't certain about their exact Strength or Constitution, but their Speed was clearly capped at a measly **3**.
Controlling his blood-colored avatar, Vivaan dashed forward. The Skeleton Soldier raised its bone club awkwardly, attempting to strike down — but its movements were so slow and rigid that it barely lifted the weapon before Vivaan's avatar shattered it into a pile of scattered bones.
**Ding!**
Amid the cracked bones lay a single drop item: a dim, grayish crystal. Inspecting it, Vivaan realized it was a **Skeleton Soldier Crystal**.
His heart skipped. The drop rate of Primordial Energy Skill Crystals was notoriously low. Getting one almost immediately was pure luck.
Unfortunately, the Skeleton Soldier's skill wasn't anything impressive. According to everything he'd learned, its Primordial Energy Skill was called **Skeleton Palm**, which provided only a small Strength boost and was considered weak. It was a typical **Rank 1 Primordial Energy Skill**, often dismissed as one of the most underwhelming in existence.
Vivaan sighed inwardly, feeling a slight disappointment.
Still, he had the avatar pick up the crystal. The moment it touched the character's hand, the crystal dissolved into a stream of gray light and drilled into the avatar's body.
Simultaneously, Vivaan felt a cold wave flow from the phone into his palm, then circulate through his body along a strange new Primordial Energy path.
**Obtained Primordial Energy Skill: Skeleton Palm (Rank 1). Consumes 1 Primordial Energy.**
Skeleton Palm consumed only one point of Primordial Energy per use — far less than Vigor Divine Fist — but it was also significantly weaker. Vivaan knew the rule well: the stronger the skill, the more energy it required. Anything that used just a single point was definitely low-tier.
Since it wasn't convenient to test Skeleton Palm in the real world, Vivaan continued guiding the avatar deeper into the **Ancient Imperial City** instance.
He still had no idea why the game renamed **Guide Ancient City** as Ancient Imperial City. Based on everything he knew, Guide City was an ancient settlement with a deep, almost mythical history. It had been known as **Yingtian** and **Shangqiu** during different dynasties, and its origins traced back to the era of the **Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors**.
Emperor **Zhuan Xu** had once established his capital here before moving it to Diqiu. The legendary leader of the Three Sovereigns, **Suiren**, was said to have been born here. So was **Emperor Ku** of the Five Emperors, along with his son **Xie of Shang**.
Most modern people barely remembered names like Emperor Ku, but mythologists regarded him as the core inspiration behind **Emperor Dijun** in the ancient text *Classic of Mountains and Seas*.
Of course, these were myths. No one knew whether they ever truly existed. But after the dimensional storms, **Guide Ancient City** became a dimensional zone — and even after decades of exploration, no one had fully penetrated its depths.
A few years ago, several powerful Epic-stage humans attempted to force their way into its inner region. None returned alive. From that moment on, humanity understood just how terrifying the deep zones truly were.
Even now, the peak of human cultivation had only just reached the **half-step Mythical** realm — essentially the pinnacle of Epic. The disappearance of such an expert revealed the city's unfathomable dangers.
Fortunately, dimensional zones seemed to possess natural restrictions. Most dimensional creatures were unable to break free from the confines of the zones. If they ever could, humanity would have already descended into chaos.
Summoning the **Mutated Vigor Ant**, Vivaan pushed deeper into the Ancient Imperial City instance. Skeleton Soldiers occasionally lunged out from alleys and ruined streets, but the ant tore through them effortlessly. Vivaan dispatched the rest.
But aside from the first drop, nothing else fell. Skeleton Soldiers had significantly lower drop rates than Vigor Ants.
Testing Skeleton Palm in the game, Vivaan confirmed it was far weaker than Vigor Divine Fist. The boost it provided was only around 10–20% Strength. Even **Tanish Verma's** Lightning Fist was far stronger.
But Skeleton Palm had one advantage — it required minimal motion. It was subtle and quick, the opposite of the wide, exaggerated movements of Vigor Divine Fist.
*Skeleton Palm is more suitable for fusing with Inch Punch,* Vivaan thought. *But it's far too weak. Even if I fuse it, the damage against the Silver-Winged Flying Ant will barely improve…*
Lost in thought, he suddenly sensed someone approaching him in reality.
Plenty of students were gathering near the testing grounds outside the real Guide Ancient City. However, Vivaan had chosen a quiet corner. Anyone walking directly toward him was likely doing so intentionally.
Since Skeleton Soldiers weren't threatening, his Mutated Vigor Ant handled them easily. Vivaan lifted his head.
Believing it was **Kabir Sinha**, he was surprised to see someone else entirely.
It was **Reva Rathore** — the girl who had defeated him in a single move not long ago.
Reva did not possess the modern, sharp-featured beauty that people idolized. Her face had softer contours, a petite nose, and a slight youthful roundness — yet her aura was fierce, disciplined, and commanding. Her eyes were narrow and feline, with a piercing sharpness that was difficult to meet head-on.
She was taller than **Riya Malhotra**, almost the same height as Vivaan. To most boys, a woman this tall and imposing felt naturally intimidating. Combined with her cold, forceful presence, she naturally pushed others away. Boys with weaker self-confidence wouldn't even dare look at her.
Reva walked straight up to Vivaan. Without saying a word, she tossed a **USB drive** at him.
"What's this?" Vivaan caught it, puzzled.
"Uncle Raj asked me to give it to you." Reva's gaze flicked toward the phone in his hand. A faintly mocking tone slipped into her voice. "But I think his effort was wasted. No matter how good something is, giving it to someone wallowing in self-pity is pointless."
Before Vivaan could reply, she turned and took a few steps away. Then she stopped, still not looking back.
"In the future, don't ever say you're part of the **Rathore family**. We don't want a weakling like you associated with us."
With that, Reva strode away. She crossed the warning zone border, got into a military-plated vehicle, and left without looking back.
Vivaan stared blankly at the retreating car before shaking his head softly.
"I was never part of your family to begin with. I never wanted to bask in your family's glory. Perhaps… all of you are just overthinking."
He slipped the USB drive into his pocket and continued grinding through the Ancient Imperial City dungeon, slaying more Skeleton Soldiers.
Even without drops, the exploration allowed him to memorize the streets and structures of the northern region. Although the school had provided maps and briefing materials, the map only covered the safely explored areas near the North Gate. Deeper regions were left unmapped deliberately — to avoid tempting students into fatal curiosity.
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