Adrian slowly calmed himself, reining in the surge of excitement brought on by his discovery.
One step at a time.
He decided first to check the Ruination divine concept he just created. Extending his right hand, he directed his pure mana inward toward the Source Seed and willed the Ruination divine concept into motion. The chamber within his Seed pulsed in response, immediately.
Ruination divine essence flowed through his arm and pooled in his palm, manifesting as a dark green-grey mist that coiled around his fingers.
Adrian examined it carefully, turning his hand to observe the essence. It matched the crystal he'd purchased from the formation centre. This confirmation was crucial. If the divine essence he generated could power the formation, it meant his replication had succeeded. His method of forming a divine concept was correct.
Since he had just gained the ability to experiment freely, confirming this was essential to knowing he was on the right path.
Without hesitation, he guided the divine essence into the formation bound to the floor.
The moment the essence entered the structure, the formation activated.
A domain unfolded instantly, spreading across the full fifty-metre boundary. The air thickened, taking on a faint greenish tint as rule symbols emerged from the formation's core, drifting upward like embers from a dying fire. Within the domain, Adrian could see the symbols floating in harmony with the structure itself, each one resonating with the Ruination essence he'd supplied.
The activation confirmed that he had successfully replicated the divine concept.
Adrian stepped forward, crossing the threshold into the formation's domain to test its effects.
Immediately, he felt a subtle but undeniable degradation spreading through his body. His mana became harder to circulate, its flow sluggish as though moving through thick mud. Even the act of channeling felt laboured, each movement requiring slightly more effort than it should. Although his body remained strong, reinforced by Source veins threaded through his hands, the suppression was still noticeable.
He raised his hand, attempting to manifest a basic fireball. The spell formed, but slower than usual, the flames flickering weakly before stabilizing.
More importantly, he noticed the formation had no mind. It affected anyone who entered without discrimination, treating friend and foe alike.
Adrian withdrew his mana supply, and the domain vanished. The symbols dissolved, the greenish tint fading from the air as reality reasserted itself.
He exhaled slowly, then shifted his focus.
Next, he activated his domain, not the Source Domain, but the Ruination divine domain. He wanted to observe its effects, its range, and the authority it granted him.
The domain expanded outward from his body, spreading rapidly through the room. Unlike the Source Domain, it did not halt at thirty metres. Adrian felt that if he wished, he could extend it much further, perhaps even to planetary scale.
There was still a limit, but it was vastly greater than that of his Source Domain.
Then Adrian frowned.
The authority he felt over reality was far lower than expected. Within the domain's bounds, he sensed control, but it was muted, restrained. Reality yielded to him, but only grudgingly, offering a fraction of what his Source Domain commanded.
To verify it precisely, he retrieved the violet token and activated the UNI-OS Stage Detection System.
The interface flickered to life, scanning the domain around him.
› Detected 1 Early Rule Stage — Mid-Tier Divine Concept
› Divine Concept: Ruination
› Estimated Authority Range: 17–18%
Adrian stared at the display for a long moment.
"Sure enough…"
This outcome was something he had anticipated, though not hoped for. Normally, when a cultivator fused arcane concepts and formed a Rule Core, they would enter the Early Rule Stage with minimal authority. Only by mastering higher-level divine spells associated with that concept could they deepen their mastery, gradually raising authority and eventually fully awakening the divine concept within the Rule Core.
This knowledge had come from the Guardian Spirit and was further reinforced by the forums.
Adrian had believed that his circumstances would be different. Because he possessed the Source, because he had not relied on predefined low-level divine spells like others but instead replicated the concept directly from the formation, he thought he might bypass these limitations.
Reality, however, proved otherwise.
Even though he didn't depend on a low-level divine spell to achieve this, using the formation was functionally the same. The method differed, but the result remained constant. So he was not special in this regard.
This created a significant complication. He did not possess higher divine spell versions of Ruination. To increase its authority, he would either need to join the sect that originated the concept or conduct extensive research himself by repeatedly using the concept, developing spells, refining its applications, and slowly mastering it through practice.
Adrian dismissed the domain and sat back against the wall, turning the problem over in his mind.
Ordinarily, this would not have troubled him. After all, he had only created this divine concept to present himself as a Rule Stage cultivator in the universe. A convenient mask to wear when necessary, nothing more.
However, the problem now ran deeper.
He had just gained the ability to experiment and create divine concepts freely, yet any new concept he formed would begin at this same primitive stage.
If he became the originator of a concept, then without guidance, manuals, or preexisting divine spells, he alone would need to develop its entire cultivation framework. Years, perhaps decades of trial and error, testing applications, refining techniques, pushing the concept's boundaries until it matured into something complete.
Until that was done, allowing his people to cultivate such a concept would be reckless and inefficient. They would be fumbling in the dark, just as he was now.
The realization struck hard.
For a brief moment, Adrian had believed he had found a path superior to any sects out there. He even thought of creating his own sect in the future, with its specialized field built upon divine concepts, where he would sell divine concepts itself! This was something no one had ever done in the universe.
His thoughts went so far into the future, but now, reality pulled him back. What he had thought might be an instant jackpot had instead revealed itself as a long road, one he'd have to walk step by step.
His previous vision of tailoring divine concepts for his people had not vanished, but it had become far more difficult. The vision of carving a completely independent path did not vanish. He could do it eventually. Create original divine concepts, develop their spell progressions, and maybe even establish their own sect with this as its field. But not now. Not when they were vulnerable and surrounded by powers that could erase them on a whim.
He knew his current power level, and it was nowhere near enough to deal with even minor sects for now. Even now, they were only safe and could act freely because they stayed inside UNI-Hub, a safe zone.
The moment they step out, anything could happen.
So, for now, joining a sect remained the fastest way to obtain a complete divine inheritance, one that his people could immediately cultivate and ascend with. Proven methods, established frameworks, and generations of refinement already done.
But till this moment, he was still searching. The issue was simply that he had not yet found one he trusted. Most seemed more interested in controlling talent than nurturing it, hoarding knowledge behind layers of contribution points and sect hierarchies. He'd seen enough of that in the forum to recognize the pattern.
"We should soon find a good minor sect…" he muttered quietly.
With a soft sigh, Adrian retrieved the Boundless Mana Body Art manual from his spatial ring. Cultivating it first was the logical next step before making any further decisions.
But just as he prepared to open it, his Source Seed pulsed violently.
Adrian froze.
The pulse came again, stronger this time, resonating through his entire body like a drumbeat echoing from the core of his being. His vision blurred at the edges, reality fracturing into overlapping images.
And once again, a vision unfolded before him, eerily similar to the fate vision he had witnessed before, the one that had shown him the Aethelian Emperor's betrayal, the one that had saved the Origin Capital.
But this time, the images were different.