Exiting the Main Tower in the Education District, Adrian ascended into the sky.
From above, he could see the various districts laid out in an organized way around the crimson spire. This entire region was dedicated to administrative operations, core departments, and the primary workings of the sect.
The residential areas were elsewhere.
Adrian turned westward and accelerated.
Wind tore past his face as he crossed the distance between districts in seconds. With his current speed and without chaotic interference limiting perception or movement on this planet, he reached his destination within seconds.
From above, the residential zone resembled a modern high-tech metropolitan city. Towering structures stretched upward in orderly rows, their surfaces composed of advanced alloys interwoven with formation arrays. Roads crisscrossed below, where disciples walked in small groups or traveled in sleek flying shuttles gliding just above the surface.
A Rule Stage cultivator, or even a Stellar being, had no need for such transportation within a planetary environment. However, many still used these vehicles for comfort and convenience.
The residential zone was divided into four districts corresponding to Outer Disciples, Inner Disciples, Core Disciples, and Elders. Compared to the bustling activity near headquarters, this district felt quieter. Most disciples were either cultivating within their residences or attending duties at the headquarters.
Adrian flew toward the central district reserved for elders. There, he saw a large black structure assigned to him. The building contained over a hundred individual suites. Many elders allowed their personal disciples or even family members to reside with them, so similarly, Adrian's people had been given residence here.
He descended and entered through the main entrance.
A small floating metallic sphere approached him immediately. Its surface gleamed silver, etched with minute symbols. "Welcome, Master."
Adrian nodded. The sphere was an artificial intelligence unit, mostly technological, with subtle inscriptions blended into it, similar to the one he had seen outside the lecture hall. Such devices were commonplace throughout the universe and often used for different management.
"Call everyone to my suite," Adrian said.
"Yes, Master."
The sphere rotated once, then glided toward a communication panel embedded in the wall. Adrian watched it interface with the building's compact network, transmitting his summons across all occupied suites.
Adrian accessed a lift nearby and ascended to the topmost floor. As he traveled upward, he sensed the dense ambient mana permeating the building. The building was powered both by the planet's natural mana flow and by formations designed to distribute energy evenly across the residential area. The Crimson Vital Sect clearly invested heavily in maintaining a cultivation-friendly environment.
The lift doors parted with a soft chime.
He entered his suite.
The space was vast, far larger than necessary for a single cultivator. Multiple chambers branched off from a central hall, each furnished with meditation platforms, storage arrays, and viewing windows overlooking the district below. The walls bore intricate formations: temperature regulation, sound dampening, privacy barriers. Everything a high-ranking cultivator might need.
Adrian walked to the centre of the main hall and waited.
Soon, his people began arriving.
The door opened, and Draven entered first, his gaze sweeping the suite with interest. Max followed, then Sentinel and Aurelia with Aerin between them. Thomas and Elara came next, followed by Kael, Selena, and the others in small clusters. Marivelle accompanied them, as she had returned alongside everyone earlier. They filled the hall, their expressions expectant.
Draven was the first to speak, his expression bright with anticipation. "Adrian! Is it ready?"
His enthusiasm surpassed the others. Among the group, Draven held a distinct advantage. One of the primary arcane components required for the Crimson Vital Sect's divine concept was the Blood concept, and Draven had been born with a natural affinity toward blood. For all his life, it had been his primary cultivation path. Others possessed knowledge of blood, but Draven's familiarity ran deeper.
Adrian smiled faintly. He raised his hand, and white-grey essence coalesced in his palm. He formed a white-grey sphere in his hand and pushed it toward Draven's head.
"Hey, wait!" Draven exclaimed.
He stepped back instinctively, raising both hands, but the sphere moved faster. It crossed the distance in an instant and merged with his forehead before he could dodge.
Draven had not prepared himself and was caught off guard, but the sphere merged into his mind regardless.
The instant the sphere made contact, knowledge and experience flooded Draven's mind. Not only the arcane concepts required for the Crimson Vital Sect's divine concept, but Adrian's personal experiences within the relic world poured into his mind. Draven glimpsed Spatial Vacancy, Spontaneous Manifestation, formation logic chains, high-level divine spell interactions, and things far beyond his current comprehension.
His eyes widened.
Draven clutched his head as he tried to organize the influx. The knowledge of the arcane concepts sealed itself neatly, organized and accessible for later retrieval. The deeper experiences, however, triggered a sharp headache as they brushed against his cognitive limits. Before overload could occur, the imprint structure automatically restricted access.
"What the heck was all that!?" Draven muttered, pressing his palms against his temples.
Adrian's eyes gleamed with amusement, "That's what you wanted."
Laughter broke out across the room. Max bent forward, holding his stomach as he laughed. Septimus grinned, shaking his head. Even Kael's lips twitched upward.
"You could've warned me," Draven said, glaring at Adrian with mock indignation.
"Where's the fun in that?" Max managed between laughs.
The knowledge spheres were not like simple knowledge books and scriptures. They were immersive imprints. The spell Adrian had developed structured the knowledge not only as information, but as lived experience, showing how he understood each truth, when he realized it, and the context in which it emerged. It was closer to borrowing someone's perception than reading their notes.
Draven straightened, rubbing the back of his neck. "Alright, alright. I get it now. Blood, Vitality, Force, Pressure... It's all there, clear as day. But that other stuff… the spatial rules, the formation logic... I am never going to touch that again!"
"Uncle, me! Me! Give me one!" Aerin exclaimed, tugging at his arm.
Her eyes shone with barely restrained excitement, and the force behind her pull made Adrian's sleeve wrinkle. For a nine-year-old stellar, restraint remained an ongoing lesson.
Adrian smiled warmly and knelt to meet her gaze. "Alright, alright. But yours will be different."
He raised his hand, and white-grey essence coalesced above his palm. Instead of forming a single large sphere, he shaped several smaller ones, each no larger than a marble. The knowledge within was fractured across multiple imprints, carefully divided so no single sphere would overwhelm her young mind.
Aerin reached out with both hands, cupping them together as the spheres drifted down into her palms. They hovered there for a moment before dissolving into her skin one by one. Her face scrunched in concentration.
"Whoa," she whispered.
Sentinel placed a hand on her shoulder, "Steady. Don't try to understand it all at once."
Aerin nodded, though her eyes remained distant, clearly lost in the flood of new comprehension.
Adrian straightened and turned to the others. One by one, white-grey spheres manifested and drifted toward his parents, the rulers, the Celestials, Selena, Kaelith, Mira, Kael, Morvain, and all those who had come with them from their galaxy.
"This contains the arcane knowledge required for the Crimson Vital Sect's divine concept," Adrian explained. "It also includes my current understanding of Rule Stage combat."
Each of them extended a hand and absorbed the sphere.
Thomas caught his with a grin.
Elara's sphere dissolved into her skin, and she closed her eyes. Her brow furrowed as she processed the imprint. After a moment, she exhaled slowly. "This is... extensive."
"Extensive?" Selena muttered as her own sphere merged. She staggered slightly, and Kael caught her elbow. "Extensive doesn't cover it. This is—" She paused, searching for the word. "—comprehensive. How did you experience all of this in a week?"
Adrian offered no answer, only a faint smile.
Lysandra's sphere settled into her forehead with barely a ripple. Her expression remained composed, though her eyes narrowed as she processed the information. "The formation mind… it doesn't look much newer than what you created back home, but the logic to nurture and maintain the plants alone could occupy a decade of study."
"Don't remind me," Draven muttered from where he leaned against the wall, still rubbing his temples.
Max laughed again, louder this time. "You're just soft, Draven. I handled mine fine."
"You're not comprehending the formation logic, are you?" Septimus asked, raising an eyebrow.
Max's laughter cut off. "...No. That stuff's locked behind some kind of barrier in my head."
"Exactly," Draven said, pointing at him. "Same here. And when I tried to push through, it felt like my brain was going to split."
Adrian nodded, "The imprint structure restricts access to knowledge beyond your current comprehension threshold. Forcing it will only cause pain."
Kaelith absorbed her sphere smoother than most, and she opened her eyes faster than the others. "This will save years of trial and error with authority techniques."
Marivelle stood slightly apart, watching quietly. She did not receive a sphere. She was not a disciple of the Crimson Vital Sect, and Adrian could not freely distribute such knowledge to her.
However, she understood what she was witnessing. In the universe, imprint-based transmission was not unheard of. It existed in major sects, often embedded within sect inheritance or restricted internal systems. Minor sects rarely possessed the capacity to produce such permanent imprints. Instead, they relied on conventional scriptures that transferred information temporarily rather than embedding it permanently.
To Marivelle, this only reinforced her assumption that Adrian's background was far from simple.
Aurelia held Aerin close as the girl swayed slightly, "Too much?"
"No, no, I'm fine!" Aerin protested, though she leaned into her mother's side. "It's just... there's so much. Blood is weird. It moves and flows and carries things, but it's also... alive? Sort of?"
"That's the Vitality aspect," Draven said, crouching beside her. "Blood's not just liquid. It's a carrier of life force."
Aerin's eyes brightened, "Oh! That makes sense now."
After casual conversation and shared laughter, everyone gradually departed to their own suites. They were eager to begin comprehending the arcane concepts at the Advanced Galactic level and step toward the Rule Stage. Some, like Selena, Lysandra, and Mira, were more interested in the formations they'd experienced in the knowledge sphere.
Marivelle departed as well, offering Adrian a respectful nod before slipping into the corridor.
Soon, the suite fell silent.
Adrian walked toward a sofa near the glass wall and sat down, overlooking the city below.
The residential district stretched out beneath him, illuminated by soft ambient light from the formations embedded in the streets and buildings. Disciples moved in small clusters, their conversations muted by distance. Flying shuttles glided between towers, their sleek forms cutting through the air.
His expression turned thoughtful. His people were only at the first step. At this stage, they required no significant resources. However, once they ascended to the Rule Stage, everything would change. They would need to slowly cultivate their authority higher, and also they would form their Mana Sea and would need to expand their Mana Seas.
For cultivating authority and comprehending the divine concept, Adrian could help them by sharing similar knowledge spheres and sharing his personal experiences. But still, comprehension depended on individual capability and time investment. Even in the Milky Way, his people had access to numerous arcane concepts through him. Yet none had comprehended everything. But this divine concept was not too complex, and his people could manage it. Time-related issues could be handled with time formations, which he already had.
But when it came to Mana Sea, he didn't have a proper solution for everyone. For himself, Adrian possessed alternative methods. For them, only traditional approaches existed, and those demanded substantial wealth.
In the universe, authority was often emphasized as supreme. Yet from everything Adrian had experienced, mana reserves were equally crucial. He wanted his people to have at least fifty thousand mana units each. Adrian didn't think of fifty thousand mana units as something extremely high, but within the Andromeda Galaxy, this was a very good starting point. He had seen firsthand within the relic how disciples with insufficient reserves struggled.
To elevate a single individual's Mana Sea to fifty thousand units would require resources worth five hundred thousand UNI-Coins. This is merely for one person alone!
Half the resources of his entire galaxy had only yielded 3.5 million mana units total, and that kind of amount could barely support seven individuals to reach fifty thousand each. Adrian could see how cultivation was extremely costly!
He had the Azure Garden now, and the environment would surely be an immense help in this burden. But when it came to the resources within it, it did not belong solely to him. And after witnessing how the Crimson Vital Sect operated, he could not simply claim unlimited resources from the sect. The Sect maintained monthly allowances, cultivation environments, infrastructure, departmental management, and educational systems. These systems required enormous ongoing expenditures. Adrian did not wish to exploit their gains excessively.
He needed his own revenue stream. Only something of his own could also help him in the future if he was going to start his own sect.
But how could he earn money? Back in the Milky Way, his primary income came from knowledge spheres. There, demand for arcane concepts was immense, and he had inherited a clan, used their established shops, and built a market presence.
Here in the universe, Adrian didn't have that kind of starting point, and also, every sect provided arcane concept knowledge freely to their disciples. Overall, the demand itself was significantly lower for arcane concept knowledge within the universe. Moreover, even if he established a shop, he lacked a broad distribution channel across the universe. So, selling arcane concept knowledge spheres would not replicate his prior success.
His other potential path he had planned, selling unique divine concepts, would certainly be profitable. However, he did not yet possess sufficient depth or variety to scale that idea.
He needed something new with universal demand, scalable across galaxies. Without demand, supply meant nothing.
Adrian leaned back against the sofa, his gaze drifting upward toward the ceiling. What did every cultivator need, regardless of sect or galaxy?
Mana could be expanded through pills and crystals, but those were already commoditized. Authority required comprehension, which couldn't be sold directly. Willforce...
Adrian paused.
Willforce recovery was slow and dangerous. The Crimson Will Lotus accelerated it, but such plants were rare. If he could replicate that effect...
His thoughts were interrupted as his UNI-OS vibrated softly.
A message from Lara appeared. "Hey. Can you come to the headquarters now? We have a sect council meeting to discuss the matters of Azure Garden."
Adrian's gaze sharpened slightly. He rose from the sofa, his contemplation shelved for later.
For now, his role as an elder called him. He stepped toward the door and left the suite.