The Origin Empire buzzed with an excitement it had never felt before. Preparations for the wedding were underway. It was the first grand celebration in the empire's history, and the scale was something no clan or empire had ever attempted.
News of Sentinel and Aurelia's marriage spread through the Origin Net. Within hours, messages flooded in from across the empire's territories, from newly integrated clans eager to show their loyalty, from Earth's millions who wanted to see the celestials, and from warriors who had fought beside the Celestials at Nyseren.
The guest list swelled to a scale never seen before, reaching deep into the heart of the six empires. Even the rulers themselves were scheduled to attend.
A ceremony of this magnitude needed a venue worthy of its significance.
Adrian personally selected an empty stretch of void far from any star system, weaving a massive formation over the starless expanse. When completed, it formed a luminous platform suspended in the silent darkness, with the stars as witness and the galaxy as the audience.
The platform stretched for light-years, its surface a mosaic of white-grey light interwoven with golden threads. Transparent barriers enclosed the space, holding atmosphere within whilst offering unobstructed views of the cosmos beyond. Floating gardens drifted above the platform's edges, their flowers blooming in impossible colours, nourished by concentrated life essence.
For those unable to attend in person, countless live streams were arranged across the entire Milky Way.
There was still much work to do, but the date was set: one month until the wedding.
...
Several days later, as Adrian lounged in his room, casually playing a game, something unexpected happened. The red token he had received from the Edge Structure floated out of his storage ring on its own. It hovered in the centre of the room and released a pulse of spatial energy. A shimmering circular gate unfolded directly in front of him, and the token drifted back into his palm.
Adrian paused the game mid-match, ignoring Kai's indignant shout through the voice channel about abandoning their team. He rose from his chair, first studying the red token with narrowed eyes.
Adrian turned the object over in his hand, examining it carefully. When he had first obtained it, he could neither sense runes nor feel the slightest fluctuation of energy. The token had seemed dead, inert. But now he could clearly sense a divine concept's essence flowing through it, hidden before only because his perception had not been refined enough to notice. Fine rule-symbols were etched across its surface, their meaning unmistakable: a teleportation portal embedded with coordinates leading to an Edge Structure.
"So this is the path the Guardian Spirit mentioned…" Adrian murmured.
His Source Eyes traced the symbols, reading the compressed spatial coordinates. The destination was the same place where he had spent years in the trials.
If this had happened in the past, he would never have stepped through so casually. The structures on the Edge were unpredictable, infamous for trapping even powerful cultivators until certain conditions were met. But now Adrian was strong; unless an existence from the universe itself interfered, nothing inside this galaxy could restrain him. If he wished, he could blink back out instantly.
With that thought, he stepped through the portal. The moment his foot crossed the threshold, the portal snapped shut behind him.
...
Adrian materialized inside a vast hall of silvery metal. The architecture matched what he remembered of the safe zones inside the Edge structure, smooth metal walls, glowing conduits, and floors that hummed faintly beneath his feet.
Across the hall stood several figures, and Adrian's gaze immediately fell on the five rulers. Their presence here wasn't surprising; they were strong enough to reach the final level of the structure and acquire the red token just as he had.
But surrounding them were ten unfamiliar figures, nine men, one woman, all humanoid, some old, some young, radiating an unmistakable aura. Each possessed a divine concept. Their presence pressed faintly against the hall, making even the rulers seem lesser.
Ancient cultivators.
Adrian couldn't tell whether these ten were all the galaxy had or if only these ten passed the trials. Among them stood the mysterious grandfather and granddaughter pair, but Adrian had no knowledge about them.
The young woman even watched him with undisguised curiosity.
Before he could approach, Lysandra stepped forward with a respectful bow, "We were waiting for you, Origin Emperor."
The other rulers followed suit and bowed.
Seeing this, the ancient cultivators exchanged bewildered looks. They recognized the rulers, had even encountered some during their rare visits to civilized space, but this unfamiliar young man, whom the emperors deferred to, was a mystery. They spent their time in the Edge, so they had no idea what had happened in the galaxy, no knowledge of the Aethelian Empire's fall, the Demon Emperor's death, or the rise of the Origin Empire.
A scarred warrior frowned, his divine concept flickering, "Lysandra, what game is this? Since when do you bow to anyone?"
Before she could reply, golden light rippled across the hall. The Guardian Spirit materialized in its true form, a humanoid shape composed entirely of radiant energy. Its voice reverberated through the chamber, "As I promised you all, the path out of this galaxy is now open."
A wave of silence swept through the gathered cultivators.
The ancient cultivators stiffened. Years of waiting, centuries spent wondering if the promise would be kept, and now the moment had arrived. The young woman's eyes widened, her hand instinctively reaching for her grandfather's sleeve. He placed a weathered palm over hers, steady but trembling.
"The Great Nothing that surrounds your galaxy is not a natural phenomenon," the Guardian Spirit continued, "It is a barrier cast by my master for the purpose of protecting this galaxy. I cannot reveal the details. Simply understand that it was done for your sake."
Shock rippled across the ancient cultivators and the rulers. For countless millennia, all of them had assumed the Great Nothing to be a natural void, a phenomenon beyond understanding. To learn it was artificial shook their worldview to the core.
One of the ancient cultivators, a gaunt man with hollow cheeks and silver hair, took a step forward, "Protecting us from what?"
The Guardian Spirit didn't answer. It simply continued as if the question had never been asked.
"From here, you have two choices. You may choose to join my master's sect, Void Sect, and cultivate our divine concept, or you may journey into the universe freely and walk your own path."
Drazmir raised a hand, "Guardian Spirit, what is a sect?"
Others nodded; even Adrian tilted his head. The word was familiar, but its meaning in a universal context could be different.
The Guardian Spirit's luminous form shifted slightly, as though nodding, "Since you all know about Empires, it's easy to understand what a sect is. An empire governs land, cities, mortals, armies, taxes, and territories. A sect, however… is a place built only for cultivators. It governs no mortals, no cities, no clans. A sect exists to pass down techniques, nurture disciples, protect inheritances, and pursue transcendence itself. In truth, a powerful sect can easily stand above an empire, for a single elder may be worth more than a million soldiers."
"And I come from the Void Sect, one of the Great Sects of the universe. Many cultivators would kill for the chance you are being given today. Consider the offer carefully."
The rulers and ancient cultivators listened in tense silence. Adrian's gaze swept over them. Some looked eager, others wary.
Then the Guardian Spirit gestured, and countless glowing books materialized, one hovering before each person.
"Before you choose," the Guardian Spirit said, "you must understand the cultivation framework of the universe. These books contain the foundational knowledge you lack. Read them."
Adrian grasped the floating book. It resembled Lexaria's skill books, etched with the knowledge rune symbol in it. Once he infused mana, the contents poured directly into his mind.
But memory was not permanent, not like the knowledge spheres. Unless he actively organized and internalized it, the information would fade.
He focused.
Around him, others did the same. The hall filled with the faint hum of mana as cultivators absorbed the knowledge. Some frowned, others gasped softly.
The universe called the natural concepts as 'Arcane Concepts.'
Adrian absorbed that immediately. Fire, ice, space, gravity, everything he had mastered fell under that classification.
Divine Concepts were far more specialized than he had imagined. They were not simple fusions of multiple arcane concepts, but purified combinations, blending only the essential and certain aspects of several arcane concepts into a stronger unified concept.
Furthermore, the universe categorized divine concepts based on the authority they granted over reality's rules:
Low-tier Divine Concept → 60% Authority
Mid-tier Divine Concept → 70% Authority
High-tier Divine Concept → 80% Authority
Ultimate-tier Divine Concept → 90% Authority
It clicked immediately.
This was actually a simple way of categorizing. From this, Adrian could guess that Arcton's divine concept could be a Low-tier concept, and maybe the demon emperor's could be a mid-tier one.
Arcton had five arcane concepts fused, and the Demon Emperor had six.
But from what he got to know from this, the tier wasn't based on how many arcane concepts were fused. Rather, divine concepts were measured only by how much authority they granted.
Even three extremely powerful arcane concepts could produce a high-tier divine concept. Meanwhile, ten weak ones might still create a low-tier.
He understood the structure of divine concepts now.
Nearby, Lysandra's eyes flickered as she processed the same information.
So now, what exactly were the Rule Stage and Astral Stage that he kept hearing…?
Adrian focused more, ready to finally learn how the universe truly worked.