Emperor of the Source

Chapter 363: A Sovereign’s Burden

The violet portal opened silently within a private room in the inner-zone base of the Azure Garden, its serene light briefly washing over the walls before Adrian stepped through the shimmering rift. The spatial tear collapsed into nothingness behind him without a sound, leaving the room quiet once more.

Adrian simply lowered himself to the floor and sat cross-legged in the middle of the chamber, his back straight, his eyes half-closed, and his entire clothes still blood-soaked, and his body still carrying the faint traces of the battlefield he had just left behind.

For a long time, he did nothing.

Hours passed in stillness. Adrian remained seated in the same position, waiting for even a portion of his willforce to recover. The intangible wave of energy he had unleashed across the Andromeda Galaxy had drained his consciousness to a terrifying degree, leaving a dull, agonizing ache pulsing behind his eyes.

As hours passed, the passive effects of his willforce recovery spell circulated enough golden essence through his mind to soothe the fragmented edges of his awareness. The unbearable pressure behind his eyes reduced to a manageable ache, and his thoughts began to settle into a clearer rhythm. Once Adrian felt stable enough to think properly, his awareness turned inward, sinking deep into his Source Seed first.

The familiar inner expanse unfolded around him, filled with chambers that housed the concepts he had accumulated, studied, and refined across his path.

He turned his attention toward the divine concept newly created from the fusion of Crimson Vital Dominion and Verdant Genesis, carefully examining its structure for any irregularities.

The merged concept rested within its chamber like a completed answer, its crimson and green-gold rules harmonized into a higher whole. It gave him a clear sense of a High-tier divine concept.

"Both the merged Mid-tier divine concepts became High-tier, so if I merge two High-tier concepts, would it become an Ultimate-tier? Is this the progression of the Astral stage? Keep ascending till one can gain more and more authority?" Adrian thought, but that didn't make sense.

The Astral stage cannot be that simple; if so, then anyone who has the High-tier or Ultimate-tier divine concepts should already be considered Astral beings.

But in reality, those who even had an Ultimate-tier divine concept and had fully mastered it to 90% authority were merely called a True Peak Rule Stage being, rather than an Astral being.

"There should be more to this…"

With no answers found here, Adrian shifted his focus toward his mind.

Usually, whenever he had done this before to gauge his mental reserves, he could barely feel his willforce as anything more than a vague, intangible presence stored somewhere beyond ordinary physical sensation.

It was there, and he could use it, but it had never possessed any clear shape or form. At most, it felt like a misty reservoir connected to his thoughts and intent, something difficult to measure yet undeniable in function. Now, however, when he turned his perception inward and focused on that same place, he felt something different.

There was a single golden dot of energy within his mind.

Adrian tried to focus on it more carefully, but other than sensing that this dot-like energy existed, he could not gain any clear information about it. It did not behave like Mana sea. It did not feel like an arcane concept. It was not the Source, nor did it resemble the structured divine concepts resting inside his Source Seed. It was quiet, condensed, and strangely distant, as if it was both within him and beyond his current ability to understand.

"Is this my willforce stored in a physical-like form inside my body?" Adrian thought, his mind racing through the limited knowledge he possessed. "Or is this something else entirely? Is it a manifestation of my consciousness? My soul?"

Despite his vast comprehension of arcane concepts and the universe's rules, he could not confirm anything. The golden dot felt important, but it gave him no explanation. Adrian wanted to understand what it was, especially because there had to be something about the phenomenon that made Hazel, an Astral Stage cultivator, lose her composure and run without hesitation.

That thought made his expression darken slightly.

Adrian had hidden his full power and gone through so much trouble precisely so he and his people would not be targeted by powerful sects before they were ready. Yet this new development gave him a bad feeling. Hazel should belong to a Major sect. If someone like her had been frightened enough to abandon her revenge, the Ashen Vortex army, and the entire supremacy war, then she must have seen something terrifying in that chime. If other sects noticed it as well, they could come searching for him, and whatever they wanted from him would not necessarily be peaceful.

He let out a slow, heavy breath and opened his eyes to the dimly lit room. At the end of the day, no matter how meticulously he prepared and no matter how hard he tried to minimize the effect of his powers, there always seemed to be things that fell completely out of his hands.

He had controlled the battlefield, hidden the Source, used arcane concepts instead of authority, and even timed his and Hestia's ascensions to strengthen their position before the wider universe could react. Yet a phenomenon he had not even understood had still erupted from him and shaken an entire galactic battlefield.

He could calculate battlefields, hide domains, manipulate information, and prepare contingencies, but cultivation itself was not something that obeyed all expectations. Sometimes power revealed itself in ways even its wielder could not predict.

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"Whatever," Adrian thought, his gaze growing calmer as the frustration settled into resolve. "Since things have reached this point, I will deal with whatever comes."

In a way, the situation was not entirely outside his plans. He had known that things could go wrong. That was the reason he had made sure both he and Hestia reached the Astral Stage, so they could stand together against anything that came toward them. For now, Adrian decided to rest. Worrying over what had already transpired would not fix anything, and if anyone from a Major Sect came looking for him, then he needed to be recovered and at full strength before facing them.

He closed his eyes again and allowed the recovery spell to continue, letting the quiet chamber, the time formation, and the golden essence slowly rebuild the willforce that had been drained from him.

…

A few days passed within the inner-zone base of the Azure Garden.

Once Adrian felt that his willforce had fully recovered, he stood up and opened a portal back to the Andromeda Galaxy. Because the inner-zone base operated under the massive time formation he had inscribed, the outside time that had passed was far shorter than the number of days Adrian had spent resting there. Space folded before him, violet light shimmered, and he stepped through the portal.

He emerged into the grand corridors of the Crimson Spire.

As he walked through the sect headquarters, the atmosphere struck him immediately. Disciples moved through the halls carrying reports, artifacts, storage rings, and formation components, but they looked more relaxed than they had ever looked since the day he first arrived at the sect.

The suffocating dread of the Everlasting Pill Sect, the looming threat of the Ashen Vortex Sect's supremacy, and the sheer terror of the galactic war had all evaporated. In their place was an undeniable relief, a sense that the disaster hanging over their heads for so long had finally passed. Some disciples still bore wounds, some looked exhausted, and many were clearly busy with post-war duties, but the fear in their eyes was gone. Seeing them safe, smiling, and unburdened gave Adrian a quiet sense of satisfaction.

Adrian navigated the upper levels until he reached the sect leader's private chambers. The heavy doors parted at his approach, and when he entered Hestia's room, he found her standing near the center of the chamber, studying several floating reports projected from her UNI-OS.

The projections showed captured territories, surrendered sect lists, resource channels, prisoner classifications, fleet movements, and early administrative proposals for stabilizing the galaxy. She turned to face him as he entered, and a welcoming warmth appeared in her pale golden eyes.

"You seem fully recovered," Hestia noted, studying him carefully for signs of lingering strain. She paused for a moment before asking, "Did you find anything about that strange chime, or anything related to the Astral Stage?"

Adrian shook his head. "No, I could not find any answers. Whatever it is, it remains hidden for now. I found something strange inside my mind, a golden point-like energy, but I cannot confirm what it represents. It might be related to willforce, consciousness, or something deeper, but I do not have enough knowledge to say anything for certain."

"It is to be expected," Hestia replied, walking closer to him. "We are walking a path that no one in this galaxy has tread in millions of years. Even if some records remain, they are likely incomplete, restricted, or buried in the hands of powers beyond Andromeda. But we will eventually deal with it. We are both at the Astral Stage now, and many doors will open for us in the wider universe. Information that was once restricted to us will eventually become ours to claim."

Adrian nodded slowly. "Yes. Still, arrange some disciples to monitor the borders of Andromeda. I feel like this chime is not simple, and there could be people who come searching for us because of it."

Hestia's lips curved slightly. "I have already made the preparations, Adrian. Do not underestimate my intelligence. I could also understand the situation when Hazel lost her composure and ran. On top of that, we are both in the Astral Stage now, and we won the supremacy war of the Andromeda Galaxy. Even if no one comes specifically because of the chime, Major Sect envoys could still come for other reasons. Some may wish to congratulate us, some may wish to recruit or test us, and some may want to cause problems if they fear a new power rising in a galaxy they previously ignored."

Adrian's eyes widened slightly. In his focus on the chime, he had forgotten that simple fact. Even without the strange phenomenon, the rise of two Astral Stage beings in a minor galaxy and the collapse of three dominant upper minor sects would naturally attract attention from stronger powers. Andromeda's political structure had just been rewritten, and the wider universe would not remain blind to that forever.

Hestia noticed the slight reaction on his face, and a teasing glint entered her eyes. "Oh, it seems you are the unintelligent one now."

Adrian sighed lightly, but there was no real annoyance in his voice. "Okay, okay. We will deal with whoever comes when they arrive. For now, tell me about the situation here."

Hestia turned back toward the floating reports. "The battlefield is entirely secured. The remnants of the Ashen Vortex Sect, Grave-Sky Sect, and Ironbound Path Sect have been dismantled. Elder Varcain, alongside Nightshade's forces, has successfully locked down their resource channels and seized their headquarters. Millions of enemy disciples have surrendered to us. Those who were forced into the war by the dominant sects have signed UNI-Contracts binding them as our subsidiary forces, while the key loyalists, instigators, and those who willingly participated in attacks against us have been stripped of their authority and imprisoned."

Adrian listened quietly, processing the logistical and political shifts without interrupting. The fall of three dominant sects was not merely a military event. Their territories, resource routes, archives, vassal factions, treasuries, and hidden foundations would all need to be secured before chaos spread. Hestia had clearly moved quickly, and with Nightshade's intelligence network assisting Varcain, the chances of the defeated sects salvaging their assets had been reduced sharply.

Winning the war had been only the first step. Ruling the aftermath would be a far longer challenge.

When Hestia finally finished her summary, Adrian replied, "Good. Then, once everything is fully arranged and useful information has been extracted, execute those imprisoned enemies who actively stood against us with malicious intent."

There was no hesitation in his voice. Adrian had no empathy for his enemies, especially those who had maliciously harmed and actively tried to kill his people during the war. To leave such people alive was not mercy in his eyes. It was leaving a blade near the throats of those he loved and pretending it would never be picked up again.

Hestia looked at him, absorbing the heavy weight of his command. She agreed with the logic behind it, knowing firsthand that showing mercy to enemies who had chosen extermination would only invite future rebellion and bloodshed.

Yet, despite agreeing with him, a faint, wry smile touched her lips as she tilted her head slightly. "I agree that it must be done," she said softly, her eyes glinting with a mix of seriousness and amusement. "Though I must admit, given how gently you treat our own people, I thought you might not be cruel enough to order the deaths of millions so calmly."

"Slaughtering those who wanted to kill us in the first place is not cruelty, Hestia. It is survival," Adrian replied, his voice calm and unwavering. "I am merely trying to survive in a universe that constantly seeks to devour the weak. If my methods look cruel to the rest of the universe, I truly do not care."

"For my people's safety, I would do anything."