Emperor of the Source

Within the time formation, years had stretched into two full decades, and what had once been a fractured and recovering Crimson Vital Sect had transformed into something far more formidable. The entire sect now moved in a terrifyingly unified rhythm of relentless progression, every disciple, elder, and department operating with a singular purpose as though they were parts of a single, living entity.

Sect Leader Hestia walked slowly through the inner-zone base of the Azure Garden, her gaze sweeping across the countless disciples engaged in their training and cultivation. Training grounds stretched in every direction, each one filled with disciples locked in combat drills or deep meditation.

What she saw was something that would have been unimaginable just a few decades ago.

In one arena, a young woman with scarred hands extended her palm, and reality itself bent around her fingers. Space warped, compressed, then released in a controlled burst. The technique was crude, unstable, but it was authority. The woman's face twisted with concentration, sweat beading across her forehead as she struggled to maintain the modification for even three seconds before it collapsed.

"Again," her instructor commanded, a core disciple who had ascended to Mid Rule Stage only months prior.

The woman nodded, her jaw set with determination, and began anew.

Many disciples were now learning to wield authority for the very first time in their lives, their expressions strained yet determined as they took their initial steps in the Rule Stage. Over the years, numerous outer disciples who had once been stuck at the threshold of comprehension of arcane concepts had finally broken through, ascending into the Early Rule Stage and earning their place as inner disciples.

Hestia paused beside another training ground where dozens of newly ascended Rule Stage cultivators practiced expanding their divine domains. The overlapping fields created visible distortions in the air, prismatic fractures where competing authorities contested for control. Most could barely maintain their domains, their faces contorted with effort, but they persisted.

This explosive growth was largely driven by the knowledge spheres.

Initially, Hestia had believed she already understood the workings of these imprint-based teaching methods to accelerate the growth of their disciples.

However, what Adrian had created went far beyond anything she had imagined, and its effects only started to appear as years passed.

Every sect possessed its own structured system of education, with defined curricula and teaching methodologies shaped by generations of refinement. Even among teachers, approaches varied widely, and these differences directly influenced how quickly a disciple could learn. A talented instructor could illuminate truths in hours that a mediocre one might fail to convey in years.

Likewise, even within imprint-based learning, there had to be a structured flow, otherwise the knowledge would simply exist as an unordered mass of information, overwhelming rather than guiding the learner. It was like owning thousands of books but having to search through them one by one to find the specific passage needed.

The knowledge spheres Adrian had crafted had the most perfect structure that could ever be created.

The structured pathway in the knowledge spheres guided disciples step by step, almost as if the knowledge itself was being fed to them in the most efficient way possible. The information didn't simply exist passively in their minds; it emerged naturally as they cultivated, each revelation building seamlessly upon the last. When a disciple reached a bottleneck, the relevant knowledge would surface from the sphere without conscious effort, as though their own comprehension was organically expanding.

With this constant, organized presence within their minds, disciples found it far easier to grasp concepts that had once eluded them for years.

It was, in essence, a form of guided learning that bordered on spoon-feeding, yet without diminishing the integrity of the knowledge itself. The disciples still had to cultivate, still had to endure the pain of shattering their essence seeds and forming their rule core, and still had to face the mental strain of wielding authority. But the understanding came effortlessly, removing the greatest barrier that had once separated talented cultivators from ordinary ones.

Many who had previously struggled to even begin comprehension were now advancing steadily, their breakthroughs no longer rare occurrences but expected milestones.

Hestia passed through a meditation garden where dozens of outer disciples sat in lotus positions, their bodies surrounded by faint glows as they worked to stabilize newly formed essence seeds. One young man's eyes snapped open, and crimson essence erupted around him in a controlled spiral. He had broken through.

His companions turned toward him, offering congratulations without interrupting their own cultivation. Such scenes had become commonplace.

Even among the inner disciples, progress had accelerated. Those who had already reached the Early Rule Stage were now stepping into the Mid Rule Stage, while several core disciples were steadily advancing toward higher thresholds.

Hestia moved toward a distant training ground where Torvain supervised a group of core disciples. She entered the disciple's clashing divine domains and sensed each one wielding authority that ranged from thirty-five to forty percent. These were cultivators who, just years ago, had struggled to manifest even basic authority techniques. Now they executed complex combat sequences, layering multiple modifications with increasing precision.

If even a handful of them managed to break into the High Rule Stage before the war began, it would dramatically alter the sect's strength. High Rule Stage cultivators were no longer mere disciples; they stood at the level of elders, capable of influencing the outcome of large-scale battles.

The thought brought hope. The Everlasting Pill Sect would possess greater numbers and deeper resources. Yet this brought hope to Hestia that the disciples can not only survive but also deal a heavy blow to the enemy.

While the general progress of the disciples was extraordinary, Hestia found her attention repeatedly drawn toward the group Adrian had brought with him.

The first and most obvious impact had come from the inscription department, where Lysandra and Selena had taken control.

Hestia walked toward the inscription district, a sprawling complex of workshops and laboratories that had expanded threefold since Lysandra's arrival. The buildings hummed with activity, formations glowing across every surface as inscribers worked tirelessly on their projects.

Following Lysandra and Selena, Mira and Morvain also ascended into the rule stage and started their work in the inscription department. Together, these individuals had begun reshaping the very foundations of the sect in ways that extended far beyond simple innovation.

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Mira, who had once seemed unremarkable, had proven herself a prodigy of formation theory. Her understanding of spatial compression and mana flow optimization had allowed the sect to construct training facilities far more efficient than anything Hestia had seen in other minor sects. Morvain, quiet and methodical, specialized in defensive formations that could withstand sustained assault from Rule Stage attacks.

The inscription department's contributions were not limited to just this or the creation of healing rings.

They had developed entirely new systems of cultivation support, including formations that did not merely display conceptual truths but allowed disciples to directly experience them and their essence. Within these formations, cultivators could immerse themselves in concentrated conceptual fields, feeling the essence of arcane principles acting upon their own bodies.

Hestia had tested one herself, a spatial phenomenon zone. Stepping inside had been disorienting. Space itself became tangible, folding and unfolding around her like living fabric. Every movement required engaging with the spatial rules directly, forcing her to comprehend aspects of the concept she had previously overlooked.

The inscription department had named these formations as Phenomenon Zones, a term unfamiliar even to Hestia, yet their effectiveness was undeniable. These zones had become one of the key reasons behind the rapid advancements seen across the sect.

Disciples who spent time within them reported breakthroughs occurring at rates that defied normal cultivation logic. What should have taken years of meditation compressed into months of immersive practice.

The inscription department had not stopped there.

They had created portable healing formations designed for battlefield deployment, allowing entire squads to recover even after their personal healing artifacts had been exhausted. These formations even had a selective targeting system, responding only to the mana signatures of Crimson Vital Sect disciples, ensuring both efficiency and security.

In addition, numerous other artifacts had been developed, including rings capable of short-range teleportation, speed enhancement, and various forms of combat augmentation.

These were not something new to Hestia. One can find these things within the centres in the UNI-Market.

What astonished Hestia most was the level of knowledge and conceptual mastery behind them. These were merely arcane artifacts; they were available in UNI-Market, yes, but it was never a single sect that produced all of these. Rather, many minor sects had their own speciality and produced their respective product.

The Thousand Veils Sect specialized in concealment artifacts. The Ashen Vortex Sect dominated fire-based weaponry. Even though these combat sects didn't sell their products openly, they had their own unique artifacts.

Yet here, in her own sect, a handful of individuals had been creating so many things constantly, even if it were just using arcane concepts.

As these innovations multiplied, the sect's financial limitations became increasingly apparent. The base materials required for these arcane artifacts and formations were not that expensive, but the total amount they had to purchase and the necessary arcane conceptual essence crystals to power all these added to a high price, and the sect itself could not sustain the financial burden alone.

Even with the income from their healing pill contracts and the Azure Garden's resources, the sect's treasury could not keep pace.

It was Adrian who stepped in, using his own wealth to support the inscription department. With his backing, their pace of innovation only accelerated, as though all limitations had been removed.

Observing all of this, Hestia and the other elders had reached a natural conclusion. These individuals, especially those from the inscription department, must have devoted their entire lives to the path of inscription to possess such depth of knowledge.

It was the only explanation that made sense.

This assumption seemed further validated by the fact that, aside from these few individuals in the inscription department, the others who had come with Adrian did not ascend as quickly.

Most took decades, and it was only after fifteen years that even Aerin and others began reaching the Rule Stage. Thomas and Elara, Adrian's parents, had ascended after eighteen years. The others that Adrian brought with him followed a similar timeline.

However, the moment these individuals began training after their ascension to the rule stage, that conclusion was shattered entirely.

As Hestia continued walking, she passed through several training arenas. In one of the larger arenas, she saw a group of Adrian's people who had recently ascended, twelve of them engaged in intense combat, their clashes carrying a ferocity that resembled mortal enemies rather than allies. This group included beings she identified as Aerin's parents.

At first glance, the scene appeared no different from any other arena where newly ascended Rule Stage cultivators practiced their abilities. However, as Hestia observed more closely, the abnormalities became impossible to ignore.

The arena floor bore scorch marks and spatial fractures from previous exchanges. Sentinel moved with fluid precision, his blade trailing afterimages as he pressed forward against Gary. The clash of their weapons sent shockwaves rippling outward, forcing nearby disciples to reinforce their barriers.

"Still holding back?" Gary called out, his grin sharp as he deflected a strike aimed at his throat.

"You'd prefer I didn't?" Sentinel's response came without inflection, but his next attack carried enough force to crack the reinforced stone beneath Gary's feet.

Nearby, Aurelia wove through a barrage of attacks from Ilyas and Orin, her movements slow yet devastatingly effective. She blinked through space, reappearing behind Ilyas and driving a palm strike toward his spine. He twisted away, ice forming along his arm to intercept, but she had already vanished again.

"She's gotten faster," Orin muttered, dodging a spatial blade that materialized beside his head.

"Complaining won't help," Ilyas shot back, condensing ice into a lance and hurling it with enough velocity to warp the air.

Hestia's gaze swept across the others. Max and Elliot exchanged blows with brutal efficiency, each strike calculated to exploit the smallest opening. Draven fought against Selric and Septimus simultaneously, his laughter echoing across the arena even as blood dripped from a cut along his jaw.

"Is that all you've got?" Draven taunted, his domain expanding to contest theirs.

"You're enjoying this too much," Septimus replied, his tone dry as he launched a gravity-enhanced strike that forced Draven to his knees.

Nearby, she observed Kael, Thomas, Elara, and Selena sparring against each other, while in another section, Lysandra, Alice, and Kaelith were locked in combat. Not far from them, Drazmir, Zerathul, and Seranth were also training.

Figures vanished and reappeared through instantaneous teleportation. Blinding streams of fire and ice erupted with destructive force. Some techniques carried the intensity of stellar-level spells, while others resembled warlord-level spells, including one they referred to as Infernal Singularity.

These were clearly not divine spells, but rather arcane spells. The most important factor is that Hestia could see they were not even wearing a single ring artifact.

It was as if each of them possessed mastery over multiple arcane concepts simultaneously. Even more baffling was the fact that these individuals were not inscribers. While the inscribers among Adrian's people having such knowledge could be rationalized, seeing every single one of them display such comprehension defied all logic.

Could arcane spells change the results of a rule battle? In most cases, no. With authority, the enemy can simply block or even lock concepts from being used entirely. But if the enemy cannot do that for some reason, then against authority, these spells, combined with authority techniques, can become lethal.

And the sheer amount of arcane conceptual knowledge that every single individual showed was something that she had never even seen with disciples from Major sects.

Hestia truly had no idea that these spells were not cast by them, but rather by using the tattoos.

Through casual conversations with Thomas, Elara, and more outspoken individuals like Draven and Max, Hestia had gradually pieced together fragments of their past. They spoke of an apocalyptic war within their galaxy, and most importantly, of the Origin Empire, a force that dominated their entire galaxy.

She recalled one evening when Thomas had joined her and several elders for a meal. The conversation had drifted toward cultivation philosophy, and Thomas had mentioned the Origin Empire almost casually.

Thomas didn't reveal every single detail. He spoke enough to give her an understanding, but withheld many other critical details, like the Origin ink or even details about the Earth and all of their true ages. He said at most about the current situation of their galaxy.

Still, this was enough for Hestia. As she connected these fragments, the main things she learned were that Adrian was the Supreme Emperor of that galaxy. And something called edge structures, maintained by a true great sect, was within their galaxy. That revelation confirmed her deepest suspicions. Adrian was not a rogue anomaly; he truly had some kind of connection with a great sect!

With this information, Hestia could now understand that Adrian and those who followed him were far from ordinary cultivators.