Adrian looked at everyone and spoke calmly, "Let's move forward. I'll handle the chaotic energy around us so we can travel without any delays."
The disciples exchanged uncertain glances. All the elders' gaze remained fixed on Adrian, studying him.
Adrian was confident he could travel from now on without any delays. The divine concept he'd just created exceeded even his own expectations. As his domain expanded, it spread smoothly through the chaotic energies surrounding them, not colliding with them, but flowing alongside them before refining them completely. Throughout this entire process, Adrian did not use his authority even once.
This divine concept possessed an inherent trait that allowed it to traverse chaotic energy, break it down, purify it, and stabilize the result. There was no need for him to use his authority to command reality or suppress the environment forcefully. The concept itself performed the task.
A faint smile touched Adrian's lips. He'd built this correctly.
Because of this, Adrian felt almost no strain on his willforce. Every action required willforce, that much was unavoidable, but the difference lay in scale. Using authority to command reality consumed enormous amounts of willforce. What he was doing now was nothing more than maintaining a domain. He was not casting spells, not issuing commands, and not shaping reality directly.
Even with his Source domain, Adrian usually could maintain it for days without difficulty, and the willforce required to sustain a domain alone was negligible. But the source domain was different; it only had control over arcane concepts and not divine concepts. And it could not refine and consume. But this divine domain was able to do it. The only real cost he felt was mana consumption. Mana was constantly being spent to keep the domain active, to refine the chaotic energies, and to consume them.
However, even that problem solved itself. As the refined energies were consumed, the purified essence flowed into his body, replenishing what little mana was spent maintaining the domain. Adrian realized that his Mana Sea was already full again. The mana he had expended traveling to this location had been completely recovered, and if he continued forward and kept consuming refined energy, the excess would begin pushing against the boundaries of his Mana Sea, gradually expanding it.
This was better than he'd anticipated. And this event showed him something important. Authority was indeed powerful. With it, one could bend reality itself. But authority came at a heavy cost, draining both mana and willforce at an alarming rate. Divine concepts, on the other hand, were efficient, compact, and purpose-built. If one possessed the right divine concept for a specific situation, they could achieve results without relying on authority at all.
This reinforced Adrian's growing belief. If he could develop divine concepts tailored to different environments and challenges, he could operate with minimal expenditure and maximum efficiency. And for this situation, this divine concept was perfect.
"Elder Torvain."
Lara's voice was quiet, but firm. She hadn't moved, hadn't activated any defensive measures. Her gaze remained on Adrian, analytical rather than fearful.
Torvain didn't respond to her. Instead, he asked Adrian, "You even possess a divine concept forged using Devour. How many lives did you have to consume to comprehend such a vile thing? Beings like you don't deserve to live."
Several disciples flinched at the accusation.
Adrian turned toward Torvain without anger. More than anyone present, Adrian understood the terror surrounding Devour. He had faced the Demon Emperor wielding it. He had seen his entire galaxy suffer because of a being wielding this concept.
"I understand why you fear Devour and anyone who wields it," Adrian said. "But I am not one of those beings you imagine."
Torvain's expression didn't soften, "Every wielder of Devour says that before the hunger takes them."
"Then why am I still talking to you?"
The question hung in the air.
Adrian looked around at everyone within his domain. "You are all standing inside my domain right now. You know I am stronger than every one of you here. If I wanted your lives, do you honestly believe you would still be alive at this moment?"
A shudder went through everyone. They knew this was true. Adrian had seventy percent authority, far surpassing them. If he intended to kill them, there would have been no need for explanations or delays. Still, cultivators who wielded Devour were infamous for their madness, and logic did not always apply to them.
Adrian continued, his tone steady, "Yes, I consumed these energies. But can't you sense my divine concept? Do you feel the hunger that defines true Devour? Do you sense that madness within it?"
Maelis, who had remained silent until now, stepped forward. Her sharp eyes narrowed as she extended her perception into Adrian's domain, examining the rules woven through it.
She frowned.
"And its tier should be obvious to you," Adrian said. "This is a low-tier divine concept. It is not even my primary concept. You have already seen me use my primary one. This exists for refinement and control. It is not infected with the hunger that drives cultivators insane."
Maelis exhaled slowly, "He's right."
Torvain's head snapped toward her, "What?"
Maelis nodded slowly, "There is no hunger. Check it yourself, you will see."
Everyone present was a Rule Stage cultivator. They could perceive rules and intent clearly. As they examined the domain more closely, they realized Adrian was telling the truth. There was no hunger embedded in this divine concept.
The dark crimson domain didn't pulse with greed. It didn't radiate the insatiable void that characterized true Devour. It simply refined and consumed what was given. Nothing more.
One by one, the disciples relaxed. Not fully, trust didn't come that easily, but enough that divine essence stopped flickering around their hands.
Adrian pressed on, "We don't have time for this. The Everlasting Pill Sect arrived here before us, and they have numbers on their side. You all know that. I don't care whether you trust me or not. Arguing here only wastes time. Right now, our goal is the same. We find the plant and return it to the sect."
Torvain tried to respond, but Lara raised her hand, cutting him off.
She stepped forward, her crimson robes billowing despite the absence of wind. She studied Adrian with the same calculating expression she'd worn since the expedition began. The chaotic energies around them continued to refine and flow into Adrian's domain, purified essence cycling through his body in a constant stream.
"That's enough," she said firmly. "The plant is our objective. Everything else comes after."
Her tone left no room for argument. Several disciples exchanged glances, uncertainty written across their faces.
Even Lara did not fully trust Adrian. Doubts still lingered in her mind. But she also understood a harsh truth. If Adrian truly intended harm, nothing they did here would stop him. In the universe, survival always belonged to the strong.
She met Adrian's gaze for a long moment, then nodded once.
"Form up," Lara ordered. "Standard exploration formation, Adrian takes point."
The disciples' willforce had recovered sufficiently, and with the environment no longer resisting them, flight became effortless. Everyone wrapped themselves in divine essence and rose into the air once more.
Torvain moved to Adrian's left, Maelis to his right. Lara remained at the centre behind Adrian.
Adrian moved at the front, his domain extending several kilometres ahead. As he advanced, the domain refined and consumed chaotic energy automatically, without any deliberate action on his part.
The landscape below them remained barren. Storms of chaotic energy swirled in the distance.
Seeing these, Adrian knew he could expand the domain much farther and quickly refine everything. This divine domain was not limited like his Source domain, and the environment could not even suppress this new divine concept of his. In theory, he could spread it across the entire planet or even the entire star system if he truly wanted.
But every action still required willforce. Even though the cost was low, it was not zero. And on top of that, Adrian had no idea what existed deeper within this planet. There could be terrifying entities, powerful cultivators from the Everlasting Pill Sect, or regions with extreme energy concentrations such as the alchemy garden itself. Expanding his domain recklessly, and if he encountered any of these, his domain would fight against it, and that could drain his willforce completely and leave him vulnerable.
So he restrained himself. For now, several kilometres were enough. As they traveled, the chaotic energy intensified, forcing Adrian's domain to work harder to refine it. Their speed slowed slightly, but it was still far faster than before.
"Lara," Maelis called out, "Energy concentration increasing ahead."
"I feel it. We should be reaching the source of this," Lara replied.
Eventually, a structure appeared in the distance. A city-like structure.
It rose from the desolate landscape like a corpse emerging from shallow water. Towers reached toward the grey sky, their surfaces covered in formations that had long since ceased functioning. Walls surrounded the city's perimeter, cracked and crumbling but still standing after countless millennia. The architecture bore the unmistakable marks of a cultivation sect, grand, imposing, designed to inspire awe.
It was not the alchemy garden they were searching for, but it was far better than endless barren land. This planet had once been the main sect planet of an ancient sect. Cities, facilities, and establishments should be everywhere. So this was not something they didn't expect.
Still, a city meant information. Maps, records, and clues could still exist. With that in mind, Adrian led the group toward the distant structure, his domain continuing its silent work as they advanced.