The acquisition of the rusted scrap had been a quiet ripple in a pond, but as the "trash" was cleared from the stage, the very atmosphere of the hall changed. The air grew heavy, saturated with a golden radiance that seemed to vibrate against the skin of every cultivator in the room.
Seraphina Valerius stood taller, her draconic eyes glowing with a renewed intensity. "We have finished with the local curiosities," she said, her voice dropping an octave, carrying a weight that silenced the entire arena. "Now, we begin the final tier. These items were not forged in our fires. They do not share our history. They are the pride of the Golden Dragon Empire."
The first item rose from the center of the stage, encased in a pillar of shimmering white jade. It was a Heaven-Grade Sky-Sunderer Cannon, a piece of naval artillery no larger than a man's arm, but carved from a single piece of ancient meteor iron.
