Adrian arrived at the Crimson Spire, the towering structure that stood at the center of all the sect's districts.
He navigated toward the location Lara had sent him and soon reached one of the upper administrative chambers. When he entered, he found himself inside a spacious room designed like a modern conference hall. Floor-to-ceiling viewports offered a panoramic view of the sect's sprawling districts, whilst recessed lighting cast even illumination throughout. A circular metallic table occupied the center, embedded with projection nodes that pulsed with faint blue light. Above it hovered a detailed holographic model of the relic world, rotating slowly in midair.
Seated around the table were Lara, Torvain, Maelis, and at the head position, Hestia. The sect leader's presence dominated the room despite her relaxed posture, her restored vitality evident in the steady flow of divine essence surrounding her.
Two unfamiliar figures were also present. One appeared to be a middle-aged humanoid man, his hair tied neatly behind his back, his posture composed and deliberate. The other looked slightly younger, with sharp eyes and an alert expression, his demeanor calm but observant.
Adrian immediately understood. These two were the elders who had not participated in the expedition due to prior war injuries and administrative responsibilities.
Lara rose slightly from her seat when she noticed Adrian. "Elder Adrian, let me introduce you."
She gestured toward the composed, middle-aged man first, "This is Elder Varcain. He oversees the Logistics and Administration Department."
Varcain inclined his head respectfully, "Elder Adrian. I have heard much about you."
Lara continued, "The Logistics Department manages internal resource distribution, sect finances, inventory control, and coordination between districts. All major material allocations require his approval."
Varcain added, "Ensuring disciples receive what they need whilst maintaining reserves for emergencies occupies most of my time."
She then gestured toward the second man. "This is Elder Caelum. He oversees the Education Department."
Caelum stood slightly and offered a respectful bow, "It is an honor to meet you finally."
Lara explained further, "He is responsible for all cultivation lectures, curriculum structures, and disciple progression evaluations. The Arcane Concept Halls and training frameworks operate under his supervision."
Caelum smiled faintly. "I have already received numerous requests from disciples asking when you might offer a lecture. Your reputation precedes you."
Adrian glanced at both men and replied calmly, "It is good to meet you both."
Varcain spoke first, "We secured the Azure Garden because of you, and it has altered our long-term projections significantly. You have our respect."
Caelum added, his tone genuine, "Thank you for helping us with the relic."
Lara resumed her seat, straightening slightly. "I oversee the Alchemy Department, and Maelis assists me in production and refinement oversight."
Maelis nodded quietly from her position.
"Torvain manages the Combat Department," Lara continued, gesturing toward the gruff elder. "Mission deployment, defensive strategy, and battlefield coordination."
Torvain grunted acknowledgment.
Adrian nodded as he took a seat near Hestia. The chair adjusted automatically to his height, formation technology integrated seamlessly into the furniture. Lara was outlining the sect's structure for him since he was a newly appointed elder. He could not help but notice that the sect leaned heavily toward alchemy and combat. There were no dedicated elders overseeing Inscription, Formation Research, or other specialized fields. Those departments likely existed operationally, but none were led at the elder level.
The realization painted a clear picture. The Crimson Vital Sect had suffered losses during the war. Positions remained unfilled, and resources stretched thin across too few hands.
Hestia finally spoke, "Let us begin."
The projection above the table shifted, zooming into a detailed model of the Azure Garden. The inner zone appeared shaded differently.
Lara took the lead, rising slightly and gesturing toward the hologram. "As everyone knows, approximately one and a half kilometers of the inner zone were destroyed when the formation attempted to sacrifice surrounding plants. The damaged area now provides us open space. While unfortunate, it creates structural opportunity."
She manipulated the projection, highlighting the cleared region. "The Azure Garden is vast, and the inner zones contain the highest concentration of mature plants. Establishing a base and allowing disciples to cultivate here would help them expand their mana seas."
"But we have limits. The space within the inner zone is limited, and even if we use spatial formations to increase the base size, another issue remains. Allowing too many disciples to cultivate here would gradually drain the garden. The ambient mana density exists primarily due to natural plant growth accumulated over an immense time. The moment we begin harvesting or introduce large-scale cultivation, that density will begin to decline."
Varcain's expression tightened, "Equilibrium disruption."
"Exactly," Lara confirmed. "The garden was rich because it was untouched. If we begin exploiting it carelessly, the balance will change. So we cannot harvest everything, nor can we allow every disciple to cultivate inside."
Varcain spoke thoughtfully, "We should implement a sect-points-based allocation system. We can establish cultivation chambers within the base and allow disciples in rotation."
Lara agreed. "Yes, that is the only sustainable solution for now."
She continued, "There is another concern. The Azure Garden contains a growth and maintenance formation that sustained plant development for over a million years. I checked the divine essence crystals reserves powering that formation. The reserves are not large; at most, they will last only a few hundred more years. We were fortunate to obtain this relic when we did. If we had discovered it a thousand years later, the formation would have ceased functioning, and without maintenance, the plants would have withered."
"This brings us to harvesting and regrowth," Lara said, manipulating the hologram to highlight several plant clusters. "If we simply harvest, we will gain immense profit, but eventually the garden will empty. It is better to replant as we harvest and use the environment to cultivate more."
Maelis spoke up, "But harvesting and replanting will accelerate the depletion of the formation's divine essence crystals. The reserves will drain much faster."
Lara nodded, "Yes. Once they are depleted, we must establish our own maintenance formation. The problem is that we will never be able to grow plants of this density again."
Adrian frowned slightly, "Wait. Why can't we grow plants of this density again after the current formation drains?"
Lara turned toward him, "First problem is time. This garden was left untouched for a million years, and that is why it reached this state." She gestured at the holographic plants rotating slowly above the table. "Second, the formation here uses a divine concept built primarily upon the arcane Life concept, which is better suited for growth. Our sect's divine concept is derived from a sub-concept within Life, Vitality."
Torvain grunted from his seat, "Vitality is strong for combat, but it doesn't help on plant growth as much as life."
"Exactly," Lara agreed. "Our Crimson Vital Dominion is a step lower than a pure Life-based divine concept. So our current formations within alchemy garden rely on Crimson Vital Dominion. When we replace the relic's original formation with ours, the growth efficiency will decrease dramatically."
"To put it simply, our formation would require more than ten million years to produce what this formation achieved in one million. We do not have that kind of time if we intend to sustain production."
Adrian understood now. Divine concepts varied not just in power but in specialization and scope. The relic's formation operated on a broader, more fundamental principle. Their sect's divine concept, whilst potent in its own applications, lacked the breadth necessary for optimal plant cultivation.
He considered the implications briefly, then spoke. "I understand. Leave this to me. I will handle it when the current reserves drain."
A silence fell across the room.
This statement implied Adrian possessed a divine concept based on the Life Arcane concept, another one to add to the growing list of divine concepts he seemed to command.
Hestia noticed the subtle shift in the room immediately. The flicker of unease in Lara and the others had resurfaced. The number of divine concepts Adrian seemed to wield defied ordinary logic. Even she found it difficult to reconcile.
She spoke in a steady voice, deliberately grounding the atmosphere, "There is no need for surprise. Elder Adrian has proven repeatedly that his cultivation path is… unconventional. What matters is whether the solution is viable."
She turned towards Adrian, "Thank you for offering assistance. To clarify, are you saying you possess a divine concept made with Arcane Life Concept?"
Adrian did not currently have one formed, but creating it would not be difficult. He had already comprehended Life to Advanced Galactic level.
"Yes," he answered simply. "I have a divine concept based on Life. It can function similarly to the one used in the relic world."
Hestia remained composed but continued thoughtfully, her fingers tapping lightly against the armrest of her chair, "Would that not become a long-term burden? Even if you possess such a divine concept, you are a single individual. If you establish a formation using it, you would need to convert mana crystals into divine essence crystals yourself to maintain it. Would that not become an issue over time?"
She spoke from experience. The sect's current alchemy garden relied on Crimson Vital Dominion formations, and an entire team of disciples worked constantly to generate the necessary essence crystals. She knew how time-consuming and draining the process could be, especially for a single cultivator shouldering the entire load.
Adrian considered her point. Hestia was correct. Without origin ink, he would have to manually convert and maintain the essence supply. He had done similar work before and knew how tedious and draining it could become when stretched across years.
"Yes," Adrian admitted, "In the long term, it would become an issue if I handled it alone."
"But I don't need to handle it alone. I can teach this divine concept to others. For disciples who have already comprehended Vitality, transitioning to the broader arcane Life concept will not be overly difficult. With time, they can learn it."
"I will also establish training formations similar to the Arcane Concept Hall, specifically designed to guide comprehension of the Life concept and other arcane concepts used in this. With proper training frameworks, multiple disciples can learn the divine concept. After that, they can assist in generating the required essence crystals."
The room fell silent again.
"You would give away a divine concept so freely?" Hestia asked slowly, "Would that not cause issues for you?"
Divine concepts were guarded fiercely by every sect across the universe. They represented accumulated comprehension spanning millions of years, the distilled essence of countless cultivators' lifetimes. Sects built their entire identities around them, protected them with oaths and kill orders, and hoarded them as their ultimate truth.
Even when a divine concept was released to the public, sold through premium networks, or auctioned at UNI-Hubs, it was invariably something weaker, outdated, or intentionally incomplete.
Varcain leaned back in his chair, his composed demeanor cracking slightly, "Elder Adrian, forgive my bluntness, but what you are proposing is… unprecedented. Divine concepts are not shared like authority techniques or body arts. They are the foundation of power structures."
Adrian understood that perspective. The universe operated on scarcity and control. Knowledge was power, and power was hoarded.
But he knew this was the first step towards his future sect's path. If he was going to sell divine concepts, if he intended to build something fundamentally different from the established order, then this could be his experiment phase. A controlled test within a sect that had already proven trustworthy.
"This divine concept is one I created myself," Adrian said calmly, "No one has authority over it, and I have no issue sharing it."
That answer shifted the atmosphere of the room entirely.
Excitement flickered subtly across the elders' expressions, breaking through their initial shock.
A Life-based divine concept was extraordinarily valuable, especially within an alchemy sect. Its implications for growth, healing, and production were immense. Plants cultivated under Life essence matured faster and contained purer concentrations of beneficial properties.
Beyond the Azure Garden, this could revolutionize their entire alchemy production infrastructure. Every garden, every cultivation chamber, every refinement process could be enhanced.
This could change the entire future trajectory of the Crimson Vital Sect.
Hestia remained still for a long moment, her gaze fixed on Adrian. Then, slowly, she inclined her head.
"You continue to surprise me, Elder Adrian."