The first use of the [Crown of the Source] revealed more of its underlying mechanics to Adrian. It was, at its core, a willforce technique, one that did not rely on mana or authority in the conventional sense, but instead consumed willforce directly to establish its effects. More importantly, the consumption was not fixed; it scaled depending on the individual he was attempting to connect with. Establishing a link with someone stronger, more resolute, or more complex in will naturally demanded greater effort from him.
Adrian felt the strain immediately as he released the final connection. His consciousness felt stretched thin, like a membrane pulled taut across too wide a surface.
He took a slow breath, steadying himself.
This limitation immediately made one thing clear: he could not establish connections with a large number of people simultaneously. The strain on his willforce would become unsustainable if he attempted such a feat. However, time was something he now possessed in abundance, and so he chose a different approach, one built on patience and consistency.
"Are you alright?" Elara asked, stepping closer.
Adrian nodded. "I'm fine, mother. Just... tired."
After that initial day, Adrian began methodically expanding the reach of the technique. He started with the elders of the sect, establishing connections with them first, before gradually moving on to the disciples. His prior work on personalized weapon artifacts had already given him the opportunity to interact with nearly every disciple individually, which meant that most of them were already familiar with him. This familiarity proved to be invaluable, as the success of the technique depended heavily on trust and willingness.
Even so, progress was not immediate. On average, Adrian was only able to establish connections with thirty to forty disciples per day before his willforce was nearly depleted. Beyond that threshold, the strain became too great to continue safely. However, as more connections were formed, the effects began to compound. Each new link contributed a small addition to his willforce capacity, and over time, this accumulation allowed him to sustain slightly more connections than before.
By the end of the first month, Adrian could feel the difference. The exhaustion that had once forced him to stop after thirty connections now allowed for thirty-five, then forty, then forty-five…
At the same time, Adrian made a deliberate decision regarding secrecy. He did not reveal the full nature of the [Crown of the Source] to every disciple. This was not a matter of distrust, but of caution. After discussing it with Hestia and the others, they reached a clear conclusion: such a technique was too significant to be widely understood without restraint. To most disciples, it was presented as a specialized enhancement method, a unique ability that improved comprehension and efficiency. Only a select few were aware of its deeper implications.
As the years passed, Adrian encountered a wide range of reactions. While many disciples accepted the connection readily, there were others who hesitated. Familiarity did not always equate to trust, and for some, doubt lingered. In those cases, the connection could not be established immediately. However, Adrian did not force the process. Instead, he continued interacting with them, teaching, guiding, and building trust over time. Gradually, those barriers faded.
Within a few years, Adrian had successfully established connections with every disciple within the Crimson Vital Sect.
At that point, the effects within Adrian became unmistakable. He could feel the growth of his willforce, though quantifying it precisely remained difficult. The only reliable metric he could use was recovery time. Previously, if he completely exhausted his willforce, it would take nearly twenty-four hours to recover naturally. The willforce recovery spell he had developed had already reduced that time significantly, bringing it down to around ten hours.
Now, the baseline had shifted dramatically. After the expansion of his willforce through the [Crown of the Source], complete exhaustion would require nearly one hundred hours of natural recovery. With the recovery spell, this was reduced to approximately forty hours. In practical terms, this meant his overall willforce capacity had increased by at least three times compared to before.
Adrian also calculated the generic metric of his direct spell as around 140% or, more simply, as 2.4x acceleration. This was a metric he created following how the UNI-Auction had created a metric for his artifact. Due to the material incompatibility, the spell's efficiency on that was reduced, but still the UNI-Auction said that the ring of his was able to accelerate recovery speed by approximately sixty percent, which is around 1.6x acceleration. And now, the direct spell he cast didn't have that kind of efficiency issue and could take it to 2.4x acceleration.
And this was still only a low-level divine spell. With further refinement and mastery of the underlying divine concept, Adrian knew that he could push this efficiency even higher, creating more advanced variations that would further amplify his recovery capabilities. At that time, Adrian was sure he could recover even this amount of willforce he had in maybe a few hours of time. That would surely give him a high advantage compared to other cultivators.
With this phase of his work complete, Adrian finally felt that he had done everything within his power to prepare the sect for the upcoming war. The foundation had been laid. Every disciple now possessed an unprecedented advantage in comprehension, and from this point onward, their growth depended largely on their own effort.
…
More years continued to pass within the time formation.
As the disciples' comprehension accelerated under the influence of the miniature Source Seeds, the entire sect began to evolve at an unprecedented pace. Large numbers of disciples ascended to higher stages in relatively short periods of time. At first glance, this seemed entirely beneficial. But soon, problems began to emerge.
Disciples who had only recently reached the Early Rule Stage were now comprehending mid-level divine spells and advancing to the Mid Rule Stage at a pace that outstripped their practical experience. While their theoretical understanding had improved dramatically, their actual control over authority remained underdeveloped. Their ability to perform rule modifications was unstable, and in actual combat scenarios, they were at risk of being overwhelmed by more experienced opponents.
The issue became apparent during a training exercise. A disciple named Raelis, who had only recently ascended to the Mid Rule Stage, attempted to execute a complex authority technique against a training dummy. The technique collapsed halfway through, and the backlash shattered his concentration, leaving him gasping on the ground.
Torvain helped him to his feet, his expression stern. "You're trying to use techniques you don't understand yet. Comprehension isn't the same as mastery."
Raelis looked frustrated, "But I know the theory. I know how it's supposed to work."
"Theory doesn't matter if you can't execute it," Torvain said bluntly. "You need to slow down."
Many disciples, including Adrian's own companions, having only recently ascended to the Early Rule Stage, they were still in the process of learning how to properly utilize authority and execute authority techniques in the first place. Yet, due to their accelerated comprehension, they found themselves advancing to the Mid Rule Stage before they had fully mastered those fundamentals. This created a critical imbalance.
Though they possessed greater authority now, their inability to control it effectively made them vulnerable in combat. Recognizing this issue, the elders, including Adrian, adjusted their approach. Advancement was no longer encouraged without proper training. Disciples who ascended were now required to focus on mastering their authority before being introduced to higher-level divine spells. Mastery of control, stability, and application became the priority.
Hestia issued the decree during a sect-wide assembly. Her voice echoed through the training grounds, firm and unyielding. "Advancement without mastery is not strength. It is weakness disguised as progress. From this day forward, no disciple will be permitted to advance to the next stage until they have demonstrated complete control over their current authority."
Murmurs spread through the crowd, some disciples visibly disappointed.
Lara stepped forward, "This is not a punishment. This is for your survival. In war, an unstable cultivator is a liability to themselves and to everyone around them. We will not send you into battle unprepared."
At first glance, this seemed like a restriction. After experiencing such rapid growth, many disciples found it difficult to accept a slower pace. Some viewed it as a return to the limitations of the past. However, as time passed and they gained practical experience, their perspective began to shift. They came to understand the truth.
The enhancement provided by Adrian had already reduced the time required for comprehension from thousands of years to mere years. Even with the added requirement of training and mastery, their overall rate of growth remained far beyond anything previously possible. What had changed was not their advantage, but how it was being guided.