The Ascension Ceremony

Late at night.

Wrapping his pitch-black cloak tightly around himself, Awuna looked down and couldn't help but count the materials in his bag once more.

One hundred milliliters of a non-transcendent mortal hero's blood.

A complete seed-brain of a Fire Cloud Magic Vine.

A heart of an Ice-Blood Flying Eagle.

A hundred-year-old rooted Manjushage.

“I'm still missing one person of a different race who is in the same realm as me.”

Awuna's cybernetic electronic eye flickered with a faint light.

“Tomorrow, he will deliver himself right to my doorstep.”

Awuna muttered to himself repeatedly.

He had to succeed in this transcendent ceremony.

As a bottom-tier mechanical being in the machine civilization, he knew very well that this was likely his last chance to turn his life around.

Clenching his fists tightly, a trace of hatred flickered in Awuna's eyes.

The high-city rulers were rapacious and tyrannical. Had he not been utterly unable to pay his taxes in full, his family would have been dismantled into spare parts to cover the debt.

Why else would he have come here to gamble with his life?

He would make them pay. He absolutely would!

He couldn't help but look into the distance.

His night-vision goggles allowed him to clearly see the sign with the large words: Sunshine Orphanage.

Before arriving in human territory, Awuna had crammed a massive amount of basic knowledge.

Thus, a look of surprise crossed his face.

As far as he knew, orphanages in human territory were not much different from the shelters back in his homeland.

They all ran profitable businesses under the guise of charity.

After all, some people simply had a demand for young, obedient, sensible, and good-looking children.

In terms of mechanical lifeforms, these were individuals whose cores had just been born, whose physical mechanization and core centralization were incomplete, making them highly malleable.

Selling just one of them would bring in a fortune.

Could a place like this really produce a cultivator of the same rank as him?

Still, that was fine.

A cultivator from such a barren land...

...would surely have a shallow foundation. He would be able to handle him with ease.

As a citizen of the machine civilization, he was naturally born with a physical strength that was leagues above others.

He shook his head.

This was what his master had personally told him. His master loved him so much and was grooming him as his successor.

There was absolutely no way his master would lie to him.

Thinking of his master's gentle and kind face, much of Awuna's hatred dissipated, replaced by deep gratitude.

After his family was dismantled, the parts tax was still not fully paid. Just as it was about to be his turn, his master had stepped in to pay it off for him.

He had then personally taught the heartbroken Awuna cultivation techniques, guiding him onto the transcendent path.

Now, his master had even calculated the information in advance, meticulously planning an ascension ceremony for him to become a 【Mage Emperor】.

To Awuna, his master was already his closest kin.

If he could cross this hurdle and successfully ascend to a formal transcendent, Awuna was determined to do everything in his power to repay his master's kindness.

Silently scaling the wall, he suppressed the air currents from the thrusters beneath his feet.

Awuna quickly scanned the orphanage's interior.

Data flashed across his cybernetic eye, helping him analyze where the leader was most likely to reside.

As probability percentages popped up one after another, Awuna stopped his scan and began checking them one by one.

To his surprise, the room with the best lighting and the largest space turned out to be a communal dormitory.

But for some reason, there were no children sleeping inside.

Seeing this, Awuna couldn't help but sneer inwardly.

“Just another place pocketing subsidies with ghost rosters.”

Following the probabilities, he searched another room, checking inside and out, even flipping over the bedboards.

Still, there was no one.

This left Awuna somewhat puzzled.

Even if it was a corrupt place embezzling funds, there should at least be administrative staff present.

His master had instructed him to kill them all, preferably leaving no survivors.

Otherwise, the emotional requirement for the ascension ceremony might not be met.

This requirement was mutual.

Both parties had to harbor mutual hatred.

And Awuna's hatred was simple: the ritual materials were all brought by him.

If the other party wanted to snatch his opportunity for ascension and seize the cultivation Pathway that belonged to him, they would be mortal enemies to the death.

After searching all the high-probability locations and finding not a single living soul, Awuna couldn't help but feel a headache coming on.

Could Master be wrong?

The moment this thought surfaced, he snuffed it out without hesitation.

Master was all-knowing and all-powerful.

He could never make a mistake. All he needed to do was wait patiently!

Since it was still early before dawn, he might as well set up the ritual grounds first.

He could adapt to the situation when the time came.

Awuna located the center of the orphanage.

Gently drawing out the hero's blood with his fingertips, he began tracing the ritual patterns his master had given him from memory.

Awuna began drawing, stroke by stroke, with absolute precision and care.

One hundred milliliters was far too little. Fearing he might waste it, he could only extract a tiny drop at a time.

Then, bending over, he meticulously drew every single minute detail.

By the time everything was finally ready, Awuna glanced at the sky and quickly pulled the other materials out of his bag.

One by one, in order, he threw them into the center of the magic circle.

As the last of the rooted Manjushage vanished, a strange, faint silver glow suddenly rose.

It rippled outward from the center in all directions, silent and soundless, yet it sent a violent tremor through Awuna's mind.

For some reason, just looking at this thread of silver light filled Awuna's heart with an intense, overwhelming dread.

It was like a shudder coming from the very depths of his soul.

“Relax, relax. It's just the ritual. The real threat is the adversary...”

Constantly reassuring himself, Awuna simply turned down his emotional module for the time being.

If possible, he would have preferred to shut it off entirely.

Unfortunately, this was the ascension ceremony for a 【Mage Emperor】, which required the simulation of human emotions.

After calming himself, Awuna lingered for a moment before standing up again to search the other buildings of the orphanage.

He had to find at least one person to kill.

Otherwise, he really wouldn't be able to accomplish the task his master had set for him.

Glancing at the sign on the wall that read "Clinic", Awuna pushed the door open and walked in.

The old wooden door immediately let out a loud, creaking sound.

His cybernetic eye quickly scanned the room, but still, he found nothing.

Disappointed, Awuna turned to leave.

Yet in the next second, a faint, completely emotionless voice drifted from behind him.

“What are you looking for?”

Awuna was startled at first, but his shock instantly turned into delight.

He had finally found a living soul.

He immediately spun back into the room, reactivating his scanner to sweep over every possible hiding spot.

As Awuna barked a harsh command, the outline of a figure slowly rose to its feet.

There, in the pitch-black darkness, a pair of crimson eyes gleamed.

Flickering, dimming and brightening, like a malicious specter crawling out from the abyss, carrying an endless, boundless hatred, staring dead at him!