Tenyz gazed at the newly arrived figure floating down in the plaza. He could feel the divine concept radiating from this being, and it undeniably outclassed his own ultimate-tier divine concept.
That realization alone made him extremely cautious. Such a powerful divine concept was something he had only ever sensed from those hailing from the strongest Upper Major Sects in the universe.
And given the recent, horrifying events, Tenyz's mind immediately raced toward the worst possible conclusion.
"Is this him? Is this the ancient monster who shattered my mother's divination?" Tenyz thought, his grip tightening around the hilt of his slim sword.
He scrutinized the white-grey robes, the calm, indifferent eyes. But as the seconds ticked by, Tenyz realized something crucial. He couldn't outright confirm his suspicion. This being's presence was immensely strong, but it lacked that universe-ending terror he had felt back in the scrying chamber.
The entity that had caused the backlash felt like an infinite abyss that commanded the very threads of existence. This man standing before him simply felt like a staggeringly powerful cultivator.
Before Tenyz could formulate a strategy to test the waters, one of the four Astral Stage elders, the very one who had just had his boot planted on the Elyrian princess, stepped forward.
"Who are you, outsider?" the elder demanded, "State your name and sect before I tear it from your corpse! To trespass upon the restricted Inner Continents of the Ethereal Providence Sect is to forfeit your life. Speak!"
Adrian didn't reply. He didn't even grant the shouting elder a single glance.
Instead, his eyes drifted downward, settling upon the winged woman who was heavily wounded on the fractured pavement, struggling desperately to raise herself up from the rubble. Adrian had no idea who she was exactly.
He had just returned to the Providence Hub, intending to slip into the Inner Continents to research the willforce techniques. But the moment he arrived within the hub, he had sensed a violent surge of Astral Stage domains clashing. When he looked carefully, he caught the scene of multiple powerful alien beings brutalizing a lone, winged woman.
Seeing the wings on her back, Adrian immediately connected her to the horrific reality he had uncovered in the Verdant Crucible alchemy shop. The Elyrian blood trade. The sentient beings who were bled dry for decades just to fuel the recovery pills of wealthy cultivators.
He couldn't just hold himself back when something like this was happening right in front of his eyes.
"Hey! I am speaking to you," the elder roared, taking another aggressive step forward, his golden domain flaring outward in an attempt to intimidate the silent stranger. "Are you deaf? Kneel and beg for mercy!"
Adrian finally shifted his gaze, his cold, indifferent eyes locking onto the elder.
"This is the perfect chance to test my second-stage consciousness mastery," Adrian thought.
Adrian focused his mind upon the four elders and expressed his unwavering intent to crush them.
Without using a single drop of mana, Adrian's willforce erupted.
The invisible wave slammed into the four Astral Stage elders with apocalyptic force.
Because they had only awakened their consciousness upon reaching the Astral Stage and had not even yet achieved the Chime of Consciousness, they could not even 'see' the attack coming. They only felt it when the suffocating weight crashed into their minds.
"AGH—!"
The elder, who had been shouting, choked on his own breath. The words died in his throat as his eyes rolled back into his head.
The four elders suddenly lost all control over their bodies. Their golden domains flickered and shattered like fragile glass. Their connection to their divine concepts was severed, their intent completely smothered by Adrian's mental pressure. Their minds throbbed with an agonizing pain as their consciousness was forcibly suppressed into darkness.
Like puppets with their strings cut, the four Astral Stage elders dropped to the ground, unconscious before they even hit the shattered pavement.
When the invisible intent washed over Tenyz, his breath caught in his throat. He staggered backward in the air, his golden domain buckling under the residual pressure. Because Tenyz had actually reached the Chime of Consciousness, he could perceive the attack.
But seeing it only made it more terrifying.
He felt a willforce that was vastly stronger than his own. It was a mental density that completely surpassed the first stage of consciousness mastery. It felt like standing before a tidal wave while holding a paper shield.
"Anchor Stage??" Tenyz muttered, his voice cracking with disbelief as he struggled just to keep himself flying in the air.
Tenyz's vision began to darken. He was on the verge of plummeting to the ground alongside his elders.
At that exact instant, a blinding light emerged from the very peak of the central golden spire and instantly blinked into existence directly in front of Tenyz.
As the golden light faded, it revealed the imposing figure of a female Yiphraen.
The moment she arrived, a wall of willforce expanded from her mind, slicing through the heavy mental pressure Adrian had projected. Tenyz finally felt the crushing weight lift from his consciousness. He gasped for air, clutching his chest as he hovered behind her.
His mother had shielded him against it.
Down on the ruined plaza floor, Mariska pushed herself up onto one knee, her broken wings trembling. She looked up at the newly arrived female Yiphraen, and a burning hatred ignited within her eyes.
"Navira!" Mariska snarled, her voice thick with venom. The very name of the woman who had authorized the enslavement and harvesting of her entire race tasted like ash in her mouth.
Adrian looked at Navira. He could feel her strong presence. She was easily much stronger than the envoys he had faced in the intergalactic void outside the Andromeda Galaxy. Malakor, Voss, and Tyberius were powerful, but this woman could easily suppress them.
"This should be the sect leader of the Ethereal Providence Sect," Adrian thought, his eyes narrowing in calculation.
Navira stood floating in the air, her eyes locked onto Adrian. Her mind raced as she analyzed the willforce he had just projected.
"Anchor stage," Navira concluded silently, her posture remaining perfectly rigid. "But..."
She exhaled softly, a sense of relief washing over the fear that had plagued her. "He is not the ancient entity. He is not the one who shattered my divination."
Navira was certain of this. When her scrying spell had brushed against the fate of that unknown entity, she had felt a cosmic horror, an unfathomable abyss that commanded the laws of reality entirely. But looking at Adrian now, she did not feel anything like that.
His presence was strong, yes, and his divine concept was strong enough to make even her cautious, but he was still someone with limits. The main thing that drew her attention was the willforce attack she had just blocked.
"It is not even structured properly. It is more like a child using willforce to attack, relying entirely on overwhelming density rather than refined execution," Navira thought. The contradiction brought more and more confusion. To reach even the first stage, the Chime of Consciousness, one had to practice willforce techniques and deepen one's understanding of consciousness. Yet here, someone stood at the Anchor stage, while his attacks resembled those of children who had just ascended to the Astral Stage.
Suddenly, a thought struck Navira. She had heard that some upper minor sects possessed secret willforce techniques that allowed one to raise their overall willforce through various methods. These methods were mostly used by elders or parents to elevate the younger generation, giving them a dense foundation far beyond their actual comprehension. Seeing Adrian, this explanation fit him far too well. His divine concept easily showed that he is from a powerful background, an artificially strengthened consciousness, and a sheltered arrogance strong enough to trespass into her Providence Hub for the sake of some enslaved winged race.
"You are exceptionally bold, outsider," Navira spoke, her voice resonating with a serene, commanding tone that betrayed none of her earlier panic. "To walk into my Providence Hub, shatter the minds of my elders, and threaten my son."
Adrian remained hovering above the hilt of his energy sword, and for the first time since arriving, he opened his mouth to speak, "I don't care about your little hub," Adrian replied, "I came to put an end to an atrocity. The way your sect harvests sentient life is something I find highly disagreeable."
Navira let out a cold laugh, "Disagreeable? The universe is built upon the consumption of the weak by the strong. Do you weep for the herbs crushed in an alchemy cauldron? These Elyrians are resources. Nothing more."
Her eyes sharpened as her voice became colder. "Do not try to display your heroism here. I can tell just from your willforce usage that you are merely a spoiled brat wandering the universe. You must have spent too much time hidden within your sect. I have seen too many of your type, thinking they are the saviors of all existence because they encountered one cruelty that offended their sheltered morality. Do not waste my time. Scram away."
Adrian did not move an inch upon hearing her.
Navira raised her hand with a sigh. It had always been a difficult endeavor to deal with these types of beings, especially those with enough background to possess confidence but not enough experience to understand restraint. "Allow me to show you the difference between raw accumulation and true mastery."
Before Adrian could reply, thousands of needles made from pure willforce appeared around her and launched at him. Adrian saw all the needles coming toward him, and his Source Eyes seemed to analyze everything on their own. As the attack closed the distance, the structure of the willforce technique he had just gazed upon was already imprinting itself inside his head, its shape, rhythm, and flow unfolding like a diagram drawn directly into his consciousness.
The invisible strikes slammed into Adrian's consciousness with a force that made the air around him tremble. Adrian grunted, physically taking a step backward in the air as a stinging pain flared behind his eyes. It was not enough to shatter his mind. His foundation, bolstered by the trillions of connections from his home galaxy, was far too dense to be easily broken. But the technique disrupted his focus. For a split second, the flow of his mana stuttered, and his control over the ambient space flickered.
"So this is the true power of the anchor stage," Adrian thought, his heart beating a fraction faster as a fierce gleam entered his eyes.
Navira stood firm, her posture elegant and untouched. "You rely purely on the weight of your mind," she said, a confident smirk touching her lips. "You are like a child swinging a massive boulder. It is heavy, yes, but easily avoided and easily countered by a blade."
She lowered her hand, "Now scram away from my hub. I do not want to deal with killing a brat like you and whatever background you are hailing from."
"Brat?" Adrian muttered back.