The journey toward the Crimson Vital Sect had begun, and it would take nine days for them to arrive. No one wasted this time.
Throughout the ship, the atmosphere buzzed with focused energy. After upgrading their UNI-Authority to Commercial UNI-Authority, everyone gained access to a much wider range of information. Each of them immersed themselves in the forums, researching topics that aligned with their interests. Some focused on cultivation paths, others on formations, alchemy, authority techniques, or universal customs. The flow of information was vast, and they made full use of it.
Meanwhile, Adrian was in his private room, sitting cross-legged in silence. Unlike the others, he already had a clear plan for how he would spend these days of travel.
The Boundless Mana Body Art described one primary method to expand a Mana Sea: absorbing high-grade mana crystals or mana pills to apply pressure and forcibly stretch the internal sub-dimension. However, there was another path mentioned only briefly, cultivating divine concepts. The manual did not emphasize this method, largely because in the universe, most Rule Stage cultivators cultivated only a single or two divine concepts throughout their lives.
Adrian, however, was an exception in every sense.
He already possessed around thirty arcane concepts at the advanced galactic level, and countless others at the basic galactic level. More importantly, he had the unprecedented ability to form divine concepts freely without any loss, as he didn't have to sacrifice his essence seed like others, and then he could also split them later if he no longer needed them. This was something no one else in the universe could do.
That realization led Adrian to a simple question. If forming a divine concept increased mana reserves, then wouldn't creating more divine concepts continue to increase them?
The logic was straightforward. Of course, Adrian did not possess knowledge of many established divine concepts. Even those he had seen in the UNI-Hub were often beyond his ability to replicate. For example, the portal formation used a divine concept composed of Space, Void, Boundary, and Continuity. Adrian lacked comprehension of Boundary and Continuity, making replication impossible.
But that no longer mattered.
His goal was only to increase mana capacity, so he could randomly select arcane concepts, extract portions of their rule symbols, and merge them to form a divine concept. The function of the concept itself was irrelevant. Even if the result was crude or inefficient, it would still be a divine concept. And if it was a divine concept, then it should increase his mana reserves.
If this method worked, then all future resources he acquired could be directed toward strengthening his people instead of himself.
With that thought, Adrian began his experiment.
Turning inward, he let his consciousness sink beneath flesh and bone, descending into the white-grey crystalline Source Seed. The familiar internal landscape unfolded before him: a vast inner space divided into isolated chambers, each one housing a different comprehension.
His attention first settled on the Ruination chamber.
The divine concept he had formed days ago still pulsed there, stable and complete. The intertwined rule symbols of Corrosion, Poison, Metal, and Decay resonated together, creating something greater than their individual parts.
A thought occurred to him immediately. What if he split the Ruination divine concept, returned its rule symbols to their original sections, and then formed it again? Would forming the same divine concept a second time grant him another increase in mana reserves?
He tested it at once.
With a single act of will, the rule symbols within the Ruination chamber trembled and separated, flowing back into their respective original sections: Corrosion, Poison, Metal, and Decay. The Ruination Chamber was left completely empty.
The process was seamless. He felt no resistance or backlash from it.
Adrian paused and examined himself carefully. His mana reserves had not decreased at all. The increase he had gained from forming the Ruination divine concept for the first time remained intact.
Encouraged, he attempted the next step.
He guided the necessary rule symbols from Corrosion, Poison, Metal, and Decay back into the Ruination chamber. They intertwined smoothly, reinforcing one another until the Ruination divine concept reformed. However, this time, there was no surge of power. His mana reserves did not increase again.
The result was clear. A divine concept only increased his mana reserves once.
Adrian accepted this without disappointment. If repeating the same concept did not work, then creating entirely new ones would. This test was still valuable. He confirmed that he could dismantle and reform concepts without losing the benefits they'd already granted.
He moved on to his original idea.
Adrian's consciousness drifted through the depths of his Source Seed, passing chamber after chamber until he reached the merged Plant and Wood chamber.
When he had first combined these concepts, there had been no increase in mana reserves. At the time, he had not understood why, but now the reason was obvious. The two concepts had merely coexisted. They had not truly fused into a divine concept.
The chamber pulsed weakly before him, its contents swirling in separate currents despite sharing the same space. Like two streams flowing side by side without ever mixing.
He decided to form a genuine divine concept from them.
Adrian began splitting rule symbols from the merged chamber, returning portions to their original sections. Unlike Ruination, this time, he worked without a reference formation, separating and selecting rule symbols intuitively.
His awareness touched the first symbol, a verdant glyph representing growth. He pulled it free, watching it drift back toward the Plant section. Another followed. Then another. Each separation required careful attention, like untangling threads without breaking them. Adrian guided them with patience, not force, letting them settle back into their original chamber.
As he continued adjusting the symbols, something changed.
At a certain point, the remaining rule symbols began to intertwine naturally. They fused smoothly, reinforcing one another, forming something entirely new. Where before it had been like oil and water, now it was a single, unified substance.
Adrian watched, transfixed, as the symbols wove themselves into patterns he hadn't consciously designed. The transformation accelerated, symbols binding tighter and tighter until they became indistinguishable from one another.
The moment the divine concept stabilized, Adrian's Source Seed pulsed violently.
The chamber housing the new concept ignited with a yellow glow, and that light surged outward, flooding into his Mana Sea. Inside the sub-dimensional space, pressure built rapidly, forcing the Mana Sea to expand. The pain was intense, but Adrian held himself steady, maintaining control.
When the pressure finally subsided, he examined the result.
His Mana Sea capacity had increased by roughly fifteen percent of its original size.
Adrian opened his eyes slowly. The residual ache in his chest faded as his mana circulation stabilized. He placed a hand over his sternum, feeling the faint hum of the expanded reservoir beneath.
Based on his rough estimates before, he calculated that his previous capacity had been ten thousand Mana Units. Then this new divine concept had increased it by approximately fifteen hundred Mana Units, bringing his total to around eleven thousand five hundred. He knew these numbers were not exact, but the scale of growth was undeniable.
Adrian summoned the new divine concept and activated the UNI-OS stage detection system.
› Detected 1 Early Rule Stage — Low-Tier Divine Concept
› Divine Concept: Unknown
› Estimated Authority Range: 15%
The classification made sense. Plant and Wood were not particularly powerful arcane concepts to begin with. A low-tier divine concept was a reasonable result.
Adrian dismissed the display with a flick of his fingers. The information confirmed what he already suspected. The strength of the divine concept correlated directly to the arcane concepts used in its formation. Weaker foundations produced weaker results.
This experiment confirmed everything Adrian needed to know.
He could increase his mana reserves by forming divine concepts, even through imperfect or random fusions. Stronger arcane concepts would naturally produce stronger divine concepts and likely result in even greater increases. The implication was staggering.
A question surfaced in his mind, one that carried both promise and uncertainty. If he continued along this path, then theoretically, could he expand his mana reserves endlessly?
Or was there a ceiling he had yet to discover?
The question lingered, unanswered. Perhaps there were limits imposed by the body's ability to contain a Mana Sea. Perhaps the sub-dimensional space itself had boundaries that couldn't be surpassed. Or perhaps the universe imposed restrictions he hadn't encountered yet.
Only further experimentation would give him the answer.
He closed his eyes again, sinking back into meditation. The Plant-Wood divine concept still glowed faintly within its chamber, stable and complete. He would leave it there for now. No need to dismantle it when it served its purpose.
His awareness drifted toward another cluster of arcane concepts and reached for them, ready to begin again.