"Stand," Adrian said quietly.
Everyone straightened at once. Adrian met Lara's eyes and spoke without raising his voice, "Let's not waste any time. We move east. I'll maintain my domain during travel, so the chaotic energy shouldn't slow us down."
Lara agreed immediately and issued instructions for the group to move.
Torvain gestured toward the exit, and the disciples filed out in an orderly line. Their movements carried less tension now, though their wariness hadn't vanished entirely. Adrian quickly checked all the remaining data within this formation. Most were information about this planet; he couldn't find anything useful more from it. He memorized the information with a quick glance and destroyed the formation. He couldn't leave this out free; if anyone from everlasting pill sect came here, they could access it.
After destroying it, he fell into step behind everyone. As they were moving out, Maelis came closer to Lara and asked in a low voice, "Do you think we can reach the Azure Garden before the Everlasting Pill Sect?"
Lara answered honestly, "Even without a map or clear direction, there is a possibility they are already closer than we are, or that they may have already found it. We won't know for certain until we reach it ourselves."
Maelis exhaled slowly, "Let's hope they are still searching."
Lara did not respond, but she shared the same hope.
They soon left the central plaza and resumed their flight. Once they entered open terrain, leaving the city behind them, Adrian expanded his domain again. The dark crimson field spread outward smoothly, refining the chaotic energy in its path. What little resistance remained dissolved steadily, allowing their speed to increase without forcing anyone to rely on authority.
As they kept flying, within a few hours, they had already traveled more than a thousand kilometers. Even Stellars could cross continents in moments, and Rule Stage cultivators were vastly faster than that. Still, Adrian's domain required time to break down the dense layers of chaos ahead, which placed a natural limit on their pace.
Before long, they encountered another region where chaotic energy grew dense once again. Adrian's speed slowed down since his domain needed more time to refine the instability ahead. As they continued their travel, they soon started to see the source. Another ruined city loomed in their path, radiating dense instability similar to the one they had just left.
It was still far away from them, and they could barely see the city's entrance from their distance, but this already confirmed what loomed their.
"This city also seems to contain a server formation," Lara observed.
Adrian nodded, his eyes fixed forward. "Most likely."
None of them intended to stop. They already had what they needed. Pausing now would only waste time, and whatever remained within that city would still be there later, assuming they survived long enough to return.
"Our focus is the Azure Garden," Adrian said calmly. "We don't need to inspect this city."
Everyone agreed. They flew toward the city, not to explore it, but to pass through it, as it lay directly along their eastern path.
...
Within the central tower of that very city, four figures stood inside a circular chamber.
The divine formation embedded into the floor flickered erratically. Cracks webbed across its surface, divine crystals dim and unstable, leaking essence into the air. The symbols etched into the stone had degraded beyond recognition in several sections, and the entire structure pulsed with the same chaotic instability that plagued the planet.
One of the elders withdrew his hands from the formation with a scowl. Kenric, a blue-skinned humanoid with four arms and eyes, shook his head. "It's useless. This is a UNI-Sect server formation, and we can't restore it without their inscribers. Even if we bring someone from the UNI-Hub and fix it, the memory storage nodes are completely broken, and the data itself is already gone."
His lower pair of arms crossed over his chest whilst his upper pair gestured dismissively at the formation. Frustration bled through his tone.
Another elder, tall and broad-shouldered humanoid, crossed his arms. Rhezan's expression darkened, "This is the third one we've encountered. Every time, it's the same thing. Broken server formations and nothing of value left behind."
They had spent days searching these cities, hoping for anything that would give them an advantage, and had found nothing but decay.
Velkor, a lean and sharp-eyed humanoid, let out a low breath, "UNI-Sect boasts about how resilient their server formations are, yet all we see are these rotting remnants that couldn't even survive a chaotic environment."
He kicked a piece of rubble near the formation's edge, sending it skittering across the chamber floor. His irritation was palpable.
The fourth figure remained silent, standing near the chamber's entrance with arms folded. Elder Marivelle, a woman with silver hair, finally spoke, "We've already wasted enough time in this city. Let's just move now. There could be lots of cities left for us to check."
Kenric straightened, his four arms falling to his sides, "You're right. This planet is enormous, and we don't even know much about it in the first place."
Rhezan grunted his agreement, "Yeah, let's move. The longer we delay, the greater the chance those Crimson Vital fools stumble onto something first."
At that moment, a disciple rushed into the chamber and bowed deeply, "Elders! We detected movement outside the city!"
Kenric turned sharply, "Who is it?"
"Crimson Vital Sect cultivators," the disciple replied quickly, straightening but keeping his gaze lowered. "We detected three High Rule Stage presences… and something else."
Rhezan's expression darkened, "Something else?"
The disciple swallowed, hesitating for a fraction of a second before continuing. "There is a domain surrounding them. A strange one. It's refining the chaotic energy itself and drawing the refined energy toward the center."
Velkor's sharp eyes widened slightly, "Refining?"
"Yes, Elder," the disciple confirmed, nodding once. "They are still far away, and due to our perception limits here, we couldn't figure everything out, but we are certain of the domain's functionality. The domain is breaking down the chaotic energy, stabilizing it, and then consuming the refined essence into the cultivator at its center."
Rhezan cursed under his breath, his broad shoulders tensing, "Devour."
Kenric's eyes flicked toward Rhezan, then back to the disciple, "Are you certain?"
"The behavior matches what we know of Devour-based concepts, Elder," the disciple said carefully, "The energy doesn't dissipate. It flows directly into the wielder."
Marivelle spoke, "Let's move out and see for ourselves before jumping to conclusions."
Velkor nodded once.
Kenric gestured toward the exit with one of his upper arms, "Everyone, outside. Now."
The disciple bowed again and turned, sprinting back through the corridor. The four elders followed at a measured pace, their divine essence already beginning to stir around their bodies in preparation.
...
Moments later, they emerged from the central tower and flew toward the city's entrance. The chaotic energy pressed against their divine domains immediately, forcing each of them to expend authority just to maintain stable flight. The oppressive atmosphere weighed down on everything, turning even simple movement into a constant drain.
Several kilometers away from here, they could see it clearly now.
A vast dark crimson domain advanced steadily through the sky, swallowing instability as it moved. Within it, space was calm and ordered, almost sterile. Not even ambient mana remained.
At its forefront flew a lone figure. He led the formation, his posture relaxed, hands clasped behind his back. Behind him followed the elders and disciples of the Crimson Vital Sect, moving smoothly, entirely unburdened by the environment. Their flight was effortless, as though they traveled through normal space rather than this decayed ruin.
Kenric stared at the sight, "Who is that?"
Rhezan shook his head slowly, squinting against the distance, "I don't recognize him."
They could clearly identify the Crimson Vital Sect elders, but the figure at the front was unfamiliar. His clothing did not even bear a sect insignia.
Velkor narrowed his eyes, "That domain… It's a divine concept forged using Devour. I can clearly sense it now."
Kenric clicked his tongue, "So they brought in outside help."
"A mercenary?" Rhezan suggested.
Velkor scoffed, shaking his head. "After spending that much to obtain the relic key, I didn't think they still had the resources. But it seems they did manage to hire one. The Crimson Vital Sect isn't as broken as we thought. We underestimated them."
Marivelle remained silent, studying Adrian carefully. Something about him didn't fit the profile of a simple mercenary hired to clear environmental hazards.
Rhezan folded his arms tighter, "It doesn't matter. We are four High Rule Stage cultivators. They only have three. We still hold the advantage."
Kenric shook his head slightly, "Not necessarily. That one in front could be High Rule Stage as well. He isn't using his authority, so we can't be certain."
Rhezan snorted, dismissing the concern with a wave, "Even if he is, he can't be that strong. The Crimson Vital Sect wouldn't have the money to hire a powerful Rule Stage cultivator. He's probably someone weak, brought in solely to deal with the environment."
Velkor frowned but didn't immediately contradict him, "Perhaps."
Marivelle finally spoke again, her voice cutting through their speculation, "Regardless, we cannot be careless."
The others turned toward her. Kenric asked, "What do you suggest?"
"We should hold them here and delay them," Marivelle said calmly, "Every moment we buy increases the chances that our other teams secure the alchemy garden first. Even if we are held here, Casmir can get the Core-Reforging Lotus back to the sect."
Rhezan grunted his approval, "Smart."
Kenric's gaze locked onto the approaching figures, his four eyes hardening with resolve, "Prepare to intercept."
Behind them, Everlasting Pill Sect disciples began to mobilize. Divine essence flared across the ruined city's entrance as cultivators took up positions. Domains flickered into existence, overlapping and reinforcing one another. Weapons materialized, each one crackling with concentrated power.
Ahead of them, the dark crimson domain continued its steady advance, refining everything in its path.
The collision between the two forces was no longer avoidable.