Adrian landed on the ground amid the shattered remains of the mountain he had just destroyed. Fragments of stone lay scattered across the vast terrain, some still radiating residual heat from the impact of the divine spell. He did not concern himself with the destruction around him. Instead, he calmly sat cross-legged upon the fractured earth, his crimson robes settling around him.
His curiosity shifted toward the authority techniques Hestia had passed to him. Activating the spatial ring she had given him, Adrian materialized three different scriptures before him. They appeared as bound scrolls, each wrapped in crimson cloth marked with the sect's emblem. Each scripture contained a separate authority technique: one for Defense, one for Offense, and one for Movement.
He selected the Movement authority technique first. He wanted to determine whether it offered anything fundamentally new compared to what he had already seen, or whether it was merely another variation of manipulating spatial rules.
He infused mana into the scripture. The scroll glowed softly, and instantly, knowledge surged into his mind.
However, at that very moment, a sharp and heavy headache struck him. The knowledge that had just flooded into his consciousness vanished before he could even glance at its contents. It felt as though everything had slipped through his grasp, like water through open fingers.
Adrian immediately stopped attempting to process it and forced himself to calm down. He pressed two fingers against his temple, exhaling slowly. After steadying his mind, he understood what had just occurred.
His willforce had been excessively strained. Within a single cultivation session, he had comprehended and formed two mid-tier divine concepts. He had then spent hours comprehending their divine spells to elevate his mastery levels. Even for someone like him, such an uninterrupted stretch of intense mental exertion would inevitably accumulate strain.
Now, he could clearly feel it. His willforce reserves were nearly exhausted. If he attempted any further heavy mental processing, he would deplete himself even further.
Adrian sighed softly, lowering his hand. The willforce problem had followed him for far too long. His rate of growth exceeded that of ordinary cultivators by an extreme margin, but his willforce recovery still followed natural limits.
He recalled his earlier idea of replicating the effects of the Crimson Will Lotus. If he could reproduce something similar, he might not eliminate the problem entirely, but he could at least reduce recovery time significantly. At present, based on his experience, he would require nearly twenty-four hours of rest to fully restore his willforce. If he had access to something equivalent to the Crimson Will Lotus, that recovery period would be shortened considerably.
However, in his current state, even experimenting with that idea would place further strain upon him. For now, he decided that once his willforce recovered, addressing this issue would be his next priority.
Adrian stood slowly and lifted himself into the air. Flight required negligible mental exertion for him; it did not tax his willforce significantly. He drifted back toward the Azure Garden, leaving the ruined mountain range behind.
Upon entering the inner zone, beneath the massive central tree at the center, he observed activity already underway. Lara stood a short distance away, issuing instructions to a group of disciples who listened attentively. Nearby, Varcain reviewed a hovering projection that displayed a construction layout, his eyes scanning the details. Along the perimeter of the cleared one-and-a-half-kilometer inner zone, disciples knelt and inscribed spatial formations directly into the ground. Stacked neatly along the edges were crates of high-tier Space essence crystals that had already been transported here. It was clear that work had begun.
Adrian descended near them. Lara noticed him first and stepped forward, her expression composed.
"Elder Adrian," she greeted calmly. "We've begun preliminary work. The base will occupy the cleared one-and-a-half-kilometer zone for now."
Adrian nodded. "How long will construction take?"
"Approximately a week," Lara replied. "We are first establishing the spatial formations to expand the limited internal area. Once that stabilizes, construction of the base will proceed."
Varcain glanced up from his projection, "The spatial expansion will give us roughly a hundred times the usable area within the same physical footprint. Enough for cultivation chambers, storage facilities, and administrative structures."
"Good," Adrian said simply.
Lara gestured toward the disciples working along the perimeter. "We've assigned teams in shifts. The formation work is delicate, but we have enough skilled inscribers to maintain steady progress."
Adrian nodded again. The elders clearly understood their responsibilities and were executing them efficiently. He had no intention of interfering unnecessarily; he, too, had his responsibility to create the knowledge spheres.
"How are the sect's finances holding?" Adrian asked.
Lara's expression brightened slightly. "Better than expected. Word of Master's recovery has spread quickly. Several market alliances have resumed trade negotiations, and we've already secured contracts from them."
Varcain added, "The Everlasting Pill Sect's continued weakness has also helped. Minor sects that were hesitant before are now approaching us for partnerships."
Adrian absorbed this information quietly. After a brief exchange about the sect's current logistical situation, Lara and Varcain excused themselves to attend to other matters.
Soon, Adrian remained near the massive tree, observing quietly. Even within this short conversation, he had learned important things.
The Crimson Vital Sect was now in a far better position than when he had first arrived. At that time, they had lacked even the resources to purchase another divine crystal to power the relic formation. Now, they were able to acquire the necessary resources in quantity.
News of Hestia's recovery also had spread throughout the Andromeda Galaxy, thus many market alliances had begun shifting back toward the Crimson Vital Sect. Other minor sects and independent cultivators were showing renewed interest in cooperation. The fact that Hestia had returned to peak Rule Stage strength while the Everlasting Pill Sect's leader remained injured had altered the balance significantly.
Power altered perception quickly.
Adrian shifted his focus to the disciples inscribing the spatial formation.
Ten of them formed a coordinated circle, guiding streams of mana ink into the ground. Layer upon layer of arcane Space symbols were being anchored into the soil. Adrian could tell from observation that each of them had reached Advanced Galactic comprehension in the Space concept. The formation structure they were constructing was fundamentally sound.
He folded his hands behind his back and walked slowly along the perimeter, studying their work. They were attempting to expand the internal space within the one-and-a-half-kilometer radius by roughly one hundred times.
The lead inscriber, a middle-aged humanoid man with four eyes arranged vertically along his forehead, directed the others with quiet precision. His race was unfamiliar to Adrian, but his competence was evident. He gestured toward a junction point, and two disciples immediately adjusted their ink flow to reinforce the connection.
As Adrian observed, he noticed a junction where three expansion vectors converged. The disciples had positioned one of the symbols slightly off-axis. Under normal conditions, it might function adequately, but under full energy load, it would introduce subtle instability. The symbol's orientation would create a resonance cascade when mana density fluctuated, causing the entire structure to vibrate imperceptibly. Over months, that vibration would fracture the anchoring points.
Adrian stopped beside them.
One disciple stiffened immediately, her hand freezing mid-stroke. "Elder Adrian."
The others paused and bowed respectfully. Several disciples exchanged quick glances, likely wondering if they had made an error severe enough to warrant an elder's personal attention.
Adrian crouched and traced lightly above the inscribed junction with his finger, not touching the wet ink but hovering just above it. The symbol pulsed faintly beneath his attention.
"Shift this symbol three degrees inward," he said calmly, "If you leave it as it is, the expansion field will skew when energy density fluctuates."
The disciple swallowed and nodded quickly. "Yes, Elder."
She carefully dissolved the symbol, then redrew it at the corrected angle. The ink flowed smoothly, settling into place with the surrounding structure.
Adrian observed for another moment, his Source Eyes identifying a secondary weakness in the stabilizing framework. He pointed toward a smaller symbol positioned at the junction's base.
"Reinforce this stabilizing symbol as well. You have optimized for efficiency, but long-term durability will degrade."
The lead inscriber's four eyes blinked in rapid succession, a sign of surprise among his kind. He leaned closer, examining the symbol Adrian indicated, then straightened with visible understanding.
"Of course. The resonance dampening was insufficient." He gestured to another disciple. "Add a secondary anchor here."
"Yes."
To the disciples, this correction felt like a revelation. They had believed their work to be near flawless. After all, they had inscribed similar formations many times before, and their own comprehension of space was at advanced galactic level. However, Adrian's adjustments revealed subtleties they had overlooked, details that existed at the boundary between competence and mastery. Upon reconsideration, they could clearly see how his modifications would enhance stability.
To Adrian, it was merely a simple observation. He could have inscribed the entire formation himself within minutes and optimized it further. However, he chose not to.
Partly because he wished to observe how the sect operated, partly because instruction through correction strengthened foundations more effectively than replacement, and partly because his willforce was dangerously thin. Even this brief use of his Source Eyes to analyze the formation had cost him a sliver of concentration he could ill afford.
He stepped back and allowed them to complete their work.
The disciples resumed their inscriptions with renewed focus. They whispered amongst themselves occasionally, confirming angles and verifying connections with greater care than before.
After some time, the lead inscriber nodded. "Activating."
Space essence crystals embedded along the perimeter ignited with pale light. The crystals hummed in unison, their energy flowing into the inscribed symbols. Spatial energy rippled outward in concentric waves. The air shimmered faintly, compressed inward, then expanded outward in a controlled distortion.
Adrian felt the formation stabilize. Externally, nothing appeared different. Internally, the space had expanded nearly one hundred times.
He assessed the structure silently. The disciples had executed well. If they increased essence crystal output and reinforced compression anchors, they could achieve two hundred times expansion. Perhaps even three hundred. However, such expansion would dramatically increase long-term maintenance costs. The required influx of space essence crystals would rise sharply, demanding constant replenishment. Additionally, arcane Space concept alone had a natural limit before instability emerged. Beyond a certain threshold, the formation would require a divine concept to prevent collapse.
If they possessed a space-based divine concept, they could achieve greater expansion with significantly less strain. But the Crimson Vital Sect did not have such a concept.
Adrian kept these thoughts to himself. He simply watched as the formation stabilized completely and the disciples exhaled in visible relief.
"Well done," Adrian said calmly.
Their expressions brightened immediately. The lead inscriber bowed deeply.
"Thank you for your guidance, Elder Adrian. We will apply these principles to the remaining formations."
Adrian inclined his head slightly and turned away, resuming his slow walk along the perimeter.
He resumed walking, hands clasped loosely behind him. The cleared inner zone stretched before him, disciples moving through it. Near the pool, a group of alchemy specialists examined the Core-Reforging Lotus's former growing site, taking samples of the crystalline water for analysis. Further along, logistics teams unloaded crates of construction materials from spatial rings, organizing them into neat rows.
For the next several hours, he moved through the garden as a quiet observer. He watched alchemy specialists assess plants carefully, planning sustainable harvesting cycles. He saw logistics teams calculating rotation schedules to prevent mana density from dropping too rapidly.
As the day passed, Adrian remained within the inner zone, observing the sect's machinery in motion.
His willforce slowly began to mend, thread by thread. He could feel it knitting back together in his mind, the fog of exhaustion gradually receding.
He drifted quietly through the mist, saying little, interfering rarely. When disciples noticed him, they bowed respectfully and continued their work. He did not linger long enough to make them uncomfortable.
Twenty-four hours would be sufficient. And when his mind fully recovered, he would begin addressing the willforce problem that had followed him for far too long.