Adrian arrived at the landing platform near the base of the Crimson Spire, Marivelle a step behind him. Starships of every configuration occupied the docking bays: wide transport vessels, narrow courier crafts, and a handful of sleek combat ships bearing the sect insignias. He even spotted his starship, which he had brought from the Milky Way.
He followed the coordinates Hestia had forwarded and found her standing before a compact, streamlined starship near the far end of the platform. The ship was modest beside the larger transports surrounding it, but its design was small, low profile, and a frame built for speed rather than capacity.
Hestia sensed him approach. She turned, and her gaze passed over Adrian entirely. It landed on Marivelle. Her eyes moved from head to toe, measuring, calculating. There was no open hostility, yet her guarded vigilance was unmistakable.
"You are bringing her?" Hestia asked.
Marivelle lowered her head slightly. "Sect Leader Hestia."
Hestia did not return the greeting. Her eyes moved back to Adrian.
"She was an elder of the Everlasting Pill Sect, and not an insignificant one. She has led expeditions against us. Several of our losses can be traced back to strategies she personally executed."
Adrian did not soften his answer, "I know. And precisely because of that, we need her. She understands their internal operations. How they move, how they plan, who makes the real decisions when their sect leader is compromised. If they come at us again, her experience will let us anticipate their moves before they even commit them."
"I am not questioning your judgment. I am reminding you that she is not simple."
The air between them held that for a moment.
"I am aware," Adrian said.
Marivelle said nothing. She did not defend herself, did not offer reassurances. Whatever she had been inside the Everlasting Pill Sect, that chapter was closed. Now, she had signed the contract with clear eyes and no illusions about what it meant.
Hestia studied her for one more breath, then inclined her head toward Adrian. "Very well. As long as you are certain."
She turned toward the ship. "We depart now."
...
The entrance hatch sealed behind them with a soft, pressurised click.
Adrian felt it the moment he stepped inside, a faint spatial distortion, almost imperceptible unless one knew what to look for. Externally, the vessel was compact. Internally, it was something else entirely. Corridors curved outward in clean metallic arcs, branching into training rooms, private suites, and auxiliary chambers. What appeared no larger than a small starship from the platform was, inside, closer to a modest estate.
They followed Hestia to the command deck. A wide, curved viewport stretched across the front of the room, showing the platform outside. Hestia connected her UNI-OS node to the navigation console. Blue light cascaded across the interface, and Holographic text materialized.
› Location Set: Thousand Veils Sect Headquarters
› Estimated Reach Time: 2 Days (Subject to spatial traffic conditions)
› Note: Arrival time may vary based on lane congestion
"Initiate departure sequence," Hestia said.
The engines answered with a low, even hum. A vibration passed through the deck plating before settling into a steady rhythm beneath their feet.
Through the viewport, the platform began to fall away. Sanguis Prime expanded briefly as they climbed through the lower atmosphere, its continents visible in broad strokes beneath the light of twin suns, then shrank again as they broke through the upper layers and entered the void.
Spatial lanes appeared ahead. They stretched outward from the sect's capital system like translucent rivers of pale light, ships traveling within them in regulated streams, each vessel maintaining precise intervals.
Hestia stepped back from the console. "You may rest in one of the chambers. We will arrive in approximately two days, assuming no congestion."
She left the command deck without further comment.
Adrian remained where he stood. Marivelle stood a few steps behind him in silence.
He watched as the ship aligned itself with a primary outbound lane. Acceleration increased, though within the stabilized environment of the vessel. Soon, Adrian noticed the fractured spatial lanes that he had seen before were under construction within the star system. The Crimson Vital Sect was clearly investing heavily in infrastructure recovery.
Before long, the ship crossed beyond the sect's capital system and entered the broader Andromeda traffic network.
Outside a sect's core territory, usually, spatial traffic density increased dramatically. Long streams of starships streaked across the void. To the naked eye, distant vessels blurred into luminous lines due to extreme velocity. Yet ships traveling within the same regulated lanes remained clearly visible relative to one another, gliding in synchronized currents like coordinated rivers of light.
Adrian observed dozens of insignias pass by: merchant fleets, minor sect vessels, and independent convoys. Among them, he even spotted several ships bearing the emblem of the Everlasting Pill Sect.
He did not react outwardly. Shared lanes were inevitable given territorial proximity.
Marivelle, too, saw that and said, "They will not act here. Combat within shared lanes will affect many others, and it's not good for any sect. So most will follow restraint."
"I know."
"I only meant—" She paused. "Old habits."
Adrian glanced at her briefly, "You warned them when you were on their side, too?"
"When it mattered." She looked back at the viewport. "Not always."
The Everlasting Pill Sect vessels shrank behind them as the ship pushed deeper into a major lane.
"Tell me about the Thousand Veils Sect," Adrian said.
Marivelle paused briefly. The Thousand Veils Sect was widely known within Andromeda, so she was uncertain what depth of detail he sought. Nevertheless, she answered.
"They have existed for over six million years and are one of the four most influential upper minor sects within this galaxy."
"Their foundation is built on combat. They specialize in ambush warfare, concealment, and multi-vector assault strategies. Their primary divine concept is called Obsidian Veil Dominion, said to be constructed from arcane concepts of Shadow, Displacement, Concealment, and Pressure. Their core principle revolves around suppression through obscurity. Within the galaxy, they are often contracted as assassins. When they accept a target, they erase their presence, distort perception, compress killing intent within layered veils."
"Once inside their domain, opponents often do not realize they have been struck until the damage has already occurred."
Adrian processed the information carefully. A combat-focused divine concept, likely supported by authority techniques aligned with stealth and spatial distortion. The layered veil structure would be particularly dangerous in confined environments where perception was already limited.
"Their sect leader?" he asked.
"Peak Rule Stage." Marivelle folded her hands behind her back. "Said to have not publicly left his headquarters for nearly a million years. Even if he had, few would know due to his concealment techniques. What little public information exists suggests he is extremely cautious and avoids targeting opponents of equal status unless strategic advantage is absolute."
She continued without prompting, "The Everlasting Pill Sect attempted to secure long-term alchemy supply contracts with them multiple times over the past several thousand years. But every attempt failed."
Adrian turned slightly toward her. "Why?"
"The Thousand Veils Sect does not bind itself easily. They prefer distributed supply chains since relying on a single alchemy sect creates vulnerability. Even when contracts are signed, they are short-term and spread across multiple suppliers simultaneously."
She paused, then added more directly, "If only Sect Leader Hestia attended this negotiation, it would most likely fail."
"Hestia's recovery stabilised the Crimson Vital Sect. But stability alone does not raise market value quickly. It would take many millennia for the sect to elevate its index naturally, and the possibility of renewed conflict with the Everlasting Pill Sect has not disappeared. The Thousand Veils Sect prefers certainty in their supply lines. If they sense even a slight instability, they will choose alternatives."
Her gaze shifted toward him. "But you are the new variable. Two Peak Rule Stage cultivators will change the calculation entirely."
Adrian absorbed the analysis. Some of this he had gathered from public forums. But the repeated failed negotiations with the Everlasting Pill Sect were not public knowledge. Marivelle had simply offered it without being asked, without framing it as leverage or a favour. She did not seem to hide things. She provided information as it became relevant.
He returned his gaze to the viewport. In the universe, strength was the first language spoken. Every other negotiation, every exchange of resources and contracts and careful words, came second. The Thousand Veils Sect had spent six million years building a reputation on that truth. They understood it better than most.
A faint smile appeared on his lips.
If the galaxy was about to reassess the Crimson Vital Sect, it would not see fragile recovery. It would see something that could not be easily measured.
...
Time passed.
The ship continued along the major spatial lane, surrounded by regulated streams of traffic. Marivelle eventually withdrew to one of the private chambers. Adrian remained on the command deck a while longer before settling into a room of his own.
Inside, he closed his eyes and focused inward.
Without deep concentration, he selected compatible rule fragments from the arcane chambers within his Source Seed. The process had grown familiar. Rule fragments drifted toward one another, guided by his intent, arranging themselves into coherent structure. Within minutes, a mid-tier divine concept formed.
His Mana Sea expanded by three thousand units.
He deliberately avoided pursuing high-tier refinement. Even with the passive recovery spell active, full willforce restoration still required nearly ten hours. Arriving at the Thousand Veils Sect with even minor mental fatigue was not something he intended.
So he rested to recover whatever willforce he had lost with this small session.
The ship's rhythm remained steady, and approximately a day passed.
Then forward acceleration ceased.
Adrian opened his eyes. The change in the ship's vibration had been subtle, but it was enough. He rose and returned to the command deck. Through the viewport, he saw an enormous congregation of starships filled the lane ahead. Hundreds, perhaps thousands. The spatial lane had slowed to dense suspension, vessels hovering in regulated formation, each maintaining precise intervals.
Moments later, Hestia entered the command deck as well. Her expression gave nothing away, but she moved to the navigation console directly.
A holographic notification expanded before them.
› Notice: The war between the Lesser Minor Iron Crest Sect and the Silver Thorn Pavilion has concluded.
› Result: Victory declared in favour of the Iron Crest Sect.
› Advisory: Victory parade and territorial procession currently underway across primary sector lanes.
› Estimated Congestion Duration: 30 Minutes.
› Recommendation: Maintain lane position until clearance granted.
Adrian studied the notification. Marivelle had re-entered the deck at some point, drawn by the deceleration. She stood near the rear of the room, reading the same text.
"The Iron Crest Sect has been expanding aggressively for the last fifty thousand years," she said. "This victory will elevate their market index considerably."
Hestia stepped beside Adrian at the viewport. Outside, in the far distance, a procession of warships moved across the void in a broad formation. Their hulls bore deep crimson markings, visible even at this distance, and between them drifted enormous banners of translucent energy that caught the ambient starlight and scattered it in slow, deliberate arcs. It was a theatrical display of their victory!
"Another lesser minor sect climbing," Hestia murmured.