Emperor of the Source

Adrian glided through the void, his attention bypassing the six figures gathered before him and locking directly upon the colossal dark stone door. At the center of the monolith lay a circular indentation containing seven small and distinctly shaped slots, each one clearly intended to hold a ring identical to the dull-grey ring now burning around his finger.

"So this is it," Adrian thought as the magnetic tether of Fate and Causality surged forward and snapped directly into the empty seventh slot.

Having confirmed his destination, Adrian shifted his attention toward the six beings floating in a semicircle around the door. Each of them wore a ring resembling his own, though faint traces of golden resonance now moved across their otherwise dull surfaces. The designs differed slightly in their proportions and textures, but their shared origin was unmistakable.

"They either belong to this galaxy or they arrived here through paths similar to mine," Adrian considered.

His eyes narrowed as his perception brushed across them. Every one of the six beings had reached the Peak Rule Stage.

Wrapped within his Aeon disguise, Adrian deliberately projected nothing more than the generic aura of a High Rule Stage wanderer.

In the universe governed by the law of the strong devouring the weak, a High Rule Stage wanderer stumbling into a gathering of six Peak Rule Stage beings while holding the final key to some kind of treasure was a guaranteed death sentence. Adrian expected them to immediately expand their domains, followed by the arrogant, dismissive demands to hand over the ring or even offer his life for trespassing.

Instead, the red-skinned alien floated forward.

As he approached Adrian, the burning heat radiating from his body deliberately softened, pulling back so as not to overwhelm Adrian's perceived lower cultivation base.

"Greetings, junior," Kaelen spoke, his booming voice carrying a deep warmth through the void. He stopped at a respectful distance and offered a polite bow. "Please, do not be alarmed. We mean you no harm. To see you arrive here... it is nothing short of destiny."

Adrian froze for a brief moment, genuinely shocked by the reception. His eyes blinked once as he looked from Kaelen toward the other five beings, searching for concealed hostility from their radiating intent. But he found none.

The translucent woman glided forward. "The void has finally delivered the missing piece," she said. She bowed her head graciously toward him. "We welcome you, traveler. You have completed a cycle we have awaited for millions of years."

"Indeed," the stone giant rumbled, "We are honored to receive you."

The serpentine being offered a hissing hum of agreement, while the lightning-wreathed entity nodded silently, the volatile lightning around him remaining restrained and disciplined.

Adrian stood silently in the void, his mind stalling as he tried to process the scene unfolding before him.

It was a completely different vibe from the usual universe he had gazed upon. From the greedy, tyrannical Aethelian Emperor, to the slave-driving Morka, to the ruthless Yiphraens of the Ethereal Providence Sect, every entity he had met who possessed power wielded it with arrogance and cruelty. The weak were livestock to be harvested or insects to be crushed.

Yet here, six Peak Rule Stage beings were looking at a supposed High Rule Stage junior not with greed or disdain, but with respect and genuine gladness. It was a subversion of everything the cosmos had taught him so far.

Adrian quickly masked his internal surprise, ensuring his 'Aeon' persona remained intact. He offered a courteous nod in return.

"I confess, I am at a disadvantage," Adrian said, his voice steady, projecting the cautious curiosity of a wanderer. He raised his right hand, glancing at the dull-grey ring. "I was merely traveling through the deep void when this ring began to burn. I followed its pull here. What exactly is this place? And what is this door?"

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Kaelen smiled warmly, gesturing toward the monolith behind them.

"You stand before the greatest legacy of our galaxy, junior," Kaelen explained, his voice filled with reverence. "This is the Door to Kaalatva. And the ring you wear upon your finger is the final key that will lead us all into Kaalatva."

"Kaalatva?" Adrian thought, the unfamiliar name echoing in his mind.

"I do not understand," Adrian said, looking back at the red-skinned alien. "What is Kaalatva?"

Kaelen exchanged a knowing look with the four-eyed alien. The cloaked figure drifted forward, his four pupil-less black eyes focused on Adrian.

"It is a history that predates the very ashes of this galaxy, young wanderer," the four-eyed alien whispered. "To understand the Door to Kaalatva, you must first know the Legend of the Wandering Sovereign."

The other five aliens bowed their heads slightly at the mention of the title, an instinctive display of worship.

"Millions of years ago, long before our galaxy faded into the desolate abyss you see today, it was a thriving domain," the four-eyed alien began. "During that golden age, the ancestors of our six lineages ruled the stars. But one day, the fabric of the universe tore open, and a stranger fell into our galaxy."

The alien's four eyes seemed to look past Adrian, visualizing the ancient past. "He was a being of unfathomable might. A cultivator whose very presence caused the ambient mana of the galaxy to tremble in submission. But he was gravely injured. He had been struck by a catastrophic cosmic storm, or perhaps wounded in a battle against an entity equally as supreme. He was exhausted, bleeding, and stranded in the void."

The translucent woman picked up the tale, her glowing eyes soft with pride. "Our ancestors offered him sanctuary. They exhausted their finest resources and their most sacred vitality pools to heal his wounds and restore his foundation."

"When the Sovereign finally recovered, he revealed his true identity. He was the Sect Leader of an Upper Major Sect. A true titan of the cosmos who governed galaxies we could not even comprehend."

Adrian's eyes narrowed infinitesimally. An Upper Major Sect Leader. That meant the being their ancestors had saved was a sovereign at the third stage of consciousness mastery, the Weave.

"To repay our ancestors for their kindness, the Wandering Sovereign offered our galaxy a path. A chance to step out of the shallow waters and ascend to the true peaks of the universe," the four-eyed alien continued.

"He forged this monolith with his own hands. The Door to Kaalatva is the gateway. He promised that anyone who could unite the keys and open the door would be granted the right to enter Kaalatva, brave its mysteries, and emerge as a disciple of his sect."

"At that time, the Sovereign forged seven rings of destiny. He scattered them across the breadth of our galaxy, decreeing that only when the cycle was complete would the path to Kaalatva open."

The four-eyed alien sighed, "For generations, our six lineages scoured the stars. We unearthed six of the rings, taking up the mantle of their guardians. But the seventh..."

"The seventh was never found," Kaelen finished. "We searched every planet, asteroid belt, and hidden spatial fold. Our ancestors eventually theorized that the seventh ring had been caught in a volatile spatial current and swept out of our galaxy entirely, lost to the infinite intergalactic void."

The translucent woman looked at Adrian, her gaze filled with wonder. "No one could confirm that theory. But our teachings told us to wait. We believed that the ring was not simply lost, but drifting, waiting for a fated person to find it. Someone chosen by the cosmic currents to complete the cycle."

She offered Adrian another bow. "And now, after millions of years... you are here. You survived the void, and you brought the final key home."

Adrian floated silently in the void, the weight of the ancient legend settling over him.

He looked down at the dull-grey ring resting quietly on his index finger. The scale of the journey this mundane piece of metal had undertaken was staggering. It had been forged by a Weave-stage sovereign millions of years ago, swept into the deep cosmic void, drifted for eons, somehow ended up in the spatial ring of an arrogant Yiphraen disciple, and was subsequently taken by the Elyrian Crown Prince as a mere adornment while he endured a millennium of torture in the dark holding blocks of the Providence Hub.

And finally, it had been handed to Adrian.

Yet as the pieces aligned, a deeper confusion took root within Adrian's mind.

"Why?" he wondered as his gaze shifted back toward the Door to Kaalatva. "Why did the Concepts of Fate and Causality guide me toward a recruitment trial created by an Upper Major Sect?"

The destination appeared completely disconnected from his long-term ambitions. Adrian had already rejected the Void Emperor's generous offer to enter a Great Sect. He had repeatedly chosen the more difficult path of constructing his own foundation, developing the Origin Sect in secrecy, and preparing to challenge the monopolies imposed by the cosmic hierarchy. His ultimate ambition was to build an organization capable of eventually surpassing even the UNI-Sect.

Despite all of that, Fate and Causality had led him here.

"There is only one way to discover more about this," Adrian concluded, his eyes narrowing as he examined the conceptual threads binding the monolith. "I have to enter Kaalatva."