The sudden infusion of nearly ten million units of spiritual wealth from the Imperial Jade Repository sent a profound tremor through the Imperial Growth System. Arion had solved the Empire's resource crisis with a single, irrefutable act of accounting. But logistics, Arion knew, was only the preparation for conflict; it was not the conflict itself. He had the fuel for his army, but he lacked the coordinated force to wield it.
Deep beneath the Imperial Study, in the newly designated Automated Production Hall, fifty Iron Standard Automatons stood in perfect, silent ranks. They were the ultimate embodiment of standardization—Stage 4 cultivators with a synchronized Stage 6 burst, built from the very 'scrap' jade Head Minister Jihun had deemed worthless. They were perfect, but they were machines, lacking the crucial, unpredictable flexibility of human operatives.
Arion's current human defense consisted of Captain Joon and fifty guards. They were loyal, disciplined, and utterly terrified. As Stage 2 cultivators, they were completely outmatched by the Stage 5 and Stage 6 commanders Marshal Gwang commanded. If Gwang launched a full-scale assault, the Iron Standards would hold the line, but the human element would shatter.
"The System must integrate the human unit into the standardization framework," Arion declared to the silent chamber. "Efficiency demands that we turn a fifty-man liability into a fifty-man asset."
He accessed the Retainer Empowerment module, which focused on maximizing the human element through technological and logistical augmentation.
BLUEPRINT 104: STANDARDIZED DRILL HARNESSA Class 6 integrated training array designed to monitor, correct, and synchronize the Qi flow and movement patterns of the wearer. The harness enforces perfect geometric formation and eliminates individual tactical inefficiencies.Focus: Retainer Empowerment, Tactical Synchronization. Input Required: 3 Units Refined Iron Alloy (for structural integrity), 1 Unit Refined Low-Grade Copper (for sensor network), 0.5 Units Purified Silk Thread (for flexibility and comfort).
The input materials were readily available from the newly secured supplies. Arion watched the fifty harnesses form on the plinth: intricate webs of polished black iron and copper wiring woven through comfortable, deep-blue silk. Each harness was light, functional, and contained a core gem that pulsed softly, ready to enforce absolute discipline.
The crafting process took a calculated hour. As the final piece settled, the System confirmed the upgrade.
RETAINER EMPOWERMENT (TIER 1): UNLOCKED - STANDARDIZED DRILL PROTOCOL
Captain Joon, who had been anxiously waiting for his next command, entered the hall. He gazed at the Iron Standards—silent, imposing, and perfectly uniform. He had never seen such military precision.
"Captain Joon," Arion began, his voice calm, yet carrying the cold finality of command. "These are the Iron Standards. They are strong, but they lack adaptive capability. They are the Order; your men must become the Flow around the Order."
Arion explained the Drill Harnesses, focusing on their function: they would not increase raw power, but eliminate errors. They would force his men into perfect synchronization, turning their movements into predictable, quantifiable data that could be integrated with the automatons' perfect cadence.
"Your fifty men will spend the next three hours in the training hall," Arion ordered. "They will drill against the Iron Standards. Every strike, every pivot, every footfall that deviates from the System's calculated 99.9% efficiency margin will be met with a standardized, non-lethal pulse of corrective Qi from the harness. You will achieve perfect synchronization with the automatons."
Joon's face went pale. Fighting a Stage 4 cultivator was terrifying; fighting a Stage 4 automaton that attacked with the precision of Stage 6 power, while being electrically disciplined by a harness, was unimaginable.
"Your Majesty," Joon said, bowing low. "My men… their courage is high, but their training is inconsistent. They may break."
"Then their inconsistency will be broken by the System," Arion replied, his gaze unwavering. "Marshal Gwang relies on your inefficiency. We will eliminate that variable."
The Calculus of Pain
The training hall became a crucible. The Iron Standards moved with silent, relentless perfection. They attacked with the Standardized Punch—Stage 6 bursts that stopped centimeters from the guards' bodies, the force rippling through the air and slamming into the surrounding walls.
The guards, using their custom, low-grade training forms, were chaotically inefficient. Their harnesses pulsed constantly, sharp, disciplinary shocks of Qi correcting a lowered shield, a delayed footstep, or a break in the formation. Screams and grunts echoed as the men were literally shocked into perfection.
Captain Joon endured the harshest treatment. As the commander, his errors caused the greatest deviation in the tactical data. The System showed his Synchronization Rating at a starting 65%. Every unnecessary breath, every emotional flinch, was calculated as a logistical failure.
Arion monitored the process via a holographic overlay above the chamber. The data flow was immense: thousands of input points, tracking human heart rate, Qi flow rate, physical mass displacement, and energy expenditure. The System was rapidly creating an optimal Human-Automaton Synthesis Protocol.
By the second hour, the noise subsided. The guards, their bodies aching and their minds focused with a terrifying clarity, began to move differently. They stopped attempting custom flourishes and focused only on the most efficient, standardized paths dictated by the harness. They learned to anticipate the silent, perfect movements of the Iron Standards, becoming extensions of the machines rather than opponents.
Joon's Synchronization Rating climbed steadily: 78%... 85%... 92%.
When a squad of automatons executed a sweeping defensive maneuver, Joon and his men instinctively filled the newly created gaps, their human flexibility perfectly complementing the automatons' rigid Order. They were no longer fighting; they were moving as a single, coordinated force, a terrifying display of controlled violence.
The Marshal's First Retaliation
As the sun reached its zenith, the System issued a critical alert.
TACTICAL ALERT: MARSHAL GWANG INITIATING RETALIATION.Target: Imperial Censorate Building (General Taeyong's position).Force Composition: 200 Elite City Watch Guards (Average Stage 4.5), led by Vice-Marshal Ho (Stage 5).Objective: Seize the Censorate, destabilize General Taeyong, and recover lost assets.
Gwang, fueled by fury and the immense pressure from the Black-Iron Guild (who saw the Iron Standards as an existential threat to their custom weapons market), had finally launched his attack. It was a direct test of the Emperor's early strength.
Arion sent the command to General Taeyong at the Censorate via the Messenger Quill: Hold the Censorate. Do not engage outside the building. Wait for secondary support.
Arion turned to Captain Joon, whose face was covered in sweat, but whose eyes gleamed with newfound discipline. His Synchronization Rating was 96.8%.
"Captain, you and your fifty men will take the remaining forty-five Iron Standards. You will reinforce the Censorate. You are to engage Vice-Marshal Ho's forces in the plaza. Your objective is not destruction, but Disruption and Dispersal. You will prove that standardized Order defeats brute custom force."
Arion detailed the tactical plan, which was entirely dependent on Joon's men acting as the luring element, drawing Gwang's Stage 5 units into the perfect killing zones of the Iron Standards.
"Your men will move in a perfect Phalanx of Order formation. The Iron Standards will cover your flanks. Every tenth step, the Standards will execute a synchronized Stage 6 burst. Gwang's men will expect a chaotic fight; they will receive absolute mathematical precision."
Joon accepted the command, no longer questioning the sheer audacity of fighting superior-cultivation forces with his small unit. His faith was now rooted in the System's certainty. The Drill Harnesses had beaten the fear out of them and replaced it with flawless protocol.
The Engagement at the Censorate
Captain Joon and his combined force—fifty human guards moving in rigid, perfect cadence, flanked by forty-five silent, massive Iron Standards—marched through the city streets. The sight was unsettling to the populace. The guards were indistinguishable from one another, their movements governed by invisible precision.
At the Censorate plaza, Vice-Marshal Ho, a man who relied on the unpredictable power of his Stage 5 cultivation and his custom-forged twin axes, sneered.
"Look at this mockery! The Emperor sends us children and metal statues! Attack! Cut down the humans, and the metal will fall apart!"
Ho's elite City Watch, wearing expensive, non-standardized armor made by the Black-Iron Guild, rushed forward, relying on individual talent and power surges.
Joon's command was simple: "Formation HWA-I. Advance, five paces."
The human guards moved forward, a perfectly solid blue-and-black wall. The Iron Standards followed, their feet hitting the stone simultaneously.
When the enemy closed the distance, Joon barked, "Standardization Protocol Beta! Execution on count of three!"
On the count of three, the forty-five Iron Standards simultaneously executed the Standardized Punch. Forty-five Stage 6 bursts of kinetic energy ripped through the air, aimed not at the enemy ranks, but precisely at the center of mass of the formation.
The shockwave was localized but devastating. Vice-Marshal Ho, expecting a disorganized attack, was slammed backward by an invisible wall of synchronized force. His custom armor cracked; his Stage 5 shielding flickered and failed.
The human guards, protected by the Standards' positioning, then advanced, pushing the stunned enemy with synchronized spear thrusts that hit precisely the gaps in the enemy's customized armor.
The City Watch forces, trained only for individualized duels, couldn't cope with the perfect synchronization. Whenever a human soldier slipped, an Iron Standard instantly moved to cover the space, their movements perfectly filling the void.
Vice-Marshal Ho screamed in disbelief as his best troops were dispersed and humiliated by a force that had no high-stage cultivators, only absolute Order. He was forced to retreat, his custom axes clattering uselessly against the Standards' synchronized shields.
Arion, watching the tactical data stream from the palace, noted the victory.
BATTLE REPORT: CENSORATE PLAZAOutcome: Tactical Victory (Dispersal).Joon's Unit Synchronization Rating: 97.2%.Gwang's Forces Casualties: 12% (Dispersed and Wounded).Key Metric: Standardized Force successfully nullified superior individual cultivation.
The tactical challenge had been met. Arion had proven that standardization could defeat brute force. But the Head Minister Jihun had yet to play his true hand. He controlled the economy, and he would not attack with soldiers, but with starvation and chaos.
"System," Arion commanded, the Iron Standards now silently guarding the approaches to his study. "We have secured the base. Now, we secure the city's lifeblood. Next priority: Food and Economic Standardization."
The capital was defended, but Arion knew the Grand Merchant Guild was already mobilizing, ready to weaponize the Empire's hunger.