After an hour, Adrian was led into another hall deep within the Crimson Spire, accompanied by Torvain and the other elders.
The moment he stepped inside, his gaze was drawn to the formation carved into the floor. It covered a circular area nearly fifty metres wide, intricate rule symbols etched seamlessly into the surface. At its centre floated a large purple divine crystal, radiating a steady glow.
Adrian recognized it instantly. This was the portal divine formation in the relic key that Lyra carried. That so-called "key" itself was nothing more than a formation token, and here, it had been fully deployed.
Lara moved toward a console at the side of the hall and activated a series of projections.
"Our base on the other side is fully established," she said, studying the fluctuating numbers. "This divine crystal has only eighty percent energy left. The remaining twenty percent has already been consumed, sending all members inside."
She turned slightly, her expression firm. "We do not have the time or the funds to acquire another divine crystal, so we cannot afford to waste this remaining energy."
Torvain and Maelis both nodded in agreement.
Hearing this, Adrian finally understood why they had limited each party to five members, keeping the expedition force at merely fifteen members.
So it consumes energy per person, not by duration, Adrian thought.
It was similar to the divine formation he had purchased earlier, which came with a divine crystal that powered it for roughly ten hours. But this portal formation functioned differently. Its energy expenditure scaled based on the number of people it transported rather than how long it remained active.
Adrian could also infer why they could not afford another crystal. Divine crystals for these should be prohibitively expensive, and the sect had already exhausted its resources securing the relic key itself. So they couldn't just buy another one.
Adrian briefly considered assisting by powering the formation with his Source, but immediately dismissed the idea. If he used his suppressed Source openly in battle, others might simply assume it was an unknown ultimate-tier divine concept. That alone was risky, but not catastrophic or reality-breaking. However, using the Source to activate or substitute the energy supply of an entirely different divine formation would expose something far more fundamental. This was similar to revealing the origin Ink itself.
That was a line Adrian could not afford to cross. He did not trust these people enough to reveal the origin ink or something like that.
Lara's fingers moved across the console, adjusting final parameters. The formation responded, purple lines across the floor brightening sharply. Mana currents swirled upward, coalescing at the centre.
"Quick," she said, stepping forward without hesitation. "We don't have time to waste."
The portal opened fully, a vertical disc of swirling violet energy suspended in the air.
Torvain followed immediately, his form dissolving into the portal without resistance. Then Maelis, who paused only to glance back once before stepping through.
Adrian approached the threshold and stepped into the portal.
...
In the next instant, Adrian emerged into another hall.
Beneath his feet lay a nearly identical divine formation, etched into the floor, with a second purple divine crystal embedded at its core. Seeing this, everything clicked into place.
This was how the key truly functioned. That token should have contained two portal formations. One served as the entry point into the relic location, and the other functioned as a return anchor, allowing them to exit once the expedition was complete. Lara and the advance party must have arrived earlier and deployed this return formation here after selecting this place as their base.
Adrian's attention shifted as he took in his surroundings. The difference in the environment was immediately apparent.
The air was saturated with mana, but it was not pure. Instead, it felt chaotic, an amalgamation of countless energies layered together. He could sense pure mana, spatial mana, and traces of multiple divine concept essences all mingling in an unstable mixture.
Lara turned toward a nearby console and addressed a female humanoid standing beside it. "Kaya, Status report."
Kaya had elongated ears and pale blue skin, much like Lyra, though her facial features were distinct. The shape of her jaw was sharper, her eyes set wider apart. It was clear they belonged to the same race.
She straightened, "Yes, Elder. All deployed members are holding their positions. No hostile contact so far. However, conditions are worse than our initial estimates."
Torvain's expression darkened, "Worse how?"
Kaya gestured toward the projection flickering above the console, "Scouting members found that UNI-OS signals degrade rapidly here, and we can't use that to communicate. To solve that, we have established communication formations with multiple relay points, but maintaining them is draining our resources."
She continued, voice steady despite the grim news, "Spatial currents are also shifting unpredictably. Several regions are inaccessible without using authority to stabilize movement."
Maelis muttered, "Authority just to move? That's bad."
Normally, even in the void, cultivators relied on their essence or divine essence to maneuver. Authority was far more costly, requiring the activation of one's domain and consuming willforce at an alarming rate. It was something typically reserved for combat, not basic movement.
If they were forced to burn willforce simply to traverse terrain, endurance became the battlefield's greatest enemy.
Kaya nodded grimly, "And on top of this, despite this being a planet, we have to treat this like operating in the void. Ambient mana here cannot be absorbed normally. Filtering pure mana from it requires authority, which consumes both willforce and mana. In short, recovering mana here costs mana and willforce."
Lara processed this information immediately, her jaw tightening. She, too, had felt this when she came here first. The chaotic blend of energies made absorption nearly impossible without forcibly separating the strands. Anyone attempting to replenish themselves this way would be far better off relying on high-tier mana crystals or mana pills.
She didn't worry much about the mana issue. Cultivators were accustomed to operating in the void and relying on pills or mana crystals. The real problem she now felt was authority expenditure. If authority was required even for basic movement, then willforce would be consumed continuously. Once drained, willforce could not be replenished with pills; it required time and rest.
And rest meant vulnerability.
Maelis clicked her tongue softly, "That explains why the Everlasting Pill Sect hasn't made any aggressive moves yet. They're blind and restricted, just like us."
Torvain said, "It's both good and bad. Even if they had already located the alchemy garden, we would not know about it. But this applied to both sides."
"Agreed," Lara said, "Which means we need to move faster than them."
Then the group of disciples deployed here entered the hall from an adjoining corridor. One by one, they bowed respectfully to Lara and the elders.
Including all of them, there were now fifteen members in total. Aside from Adrian, Torvain, Lara, and Maelis, every other member was at the Mid Rule Stage.
Lara stepped forward, her voice steady and authoritative, "This environment is the worst we could face, but we have no alternative. Remember this clearly. No one fights alone, no one chases kills, no one pursues the Everlasting Pill Sect unless absolutely necessary."
She let the words settle, her gaze sweeping across each disciple in turn.
"This terrain is not suited for prolonged combat," she continued, "We are not here to win a war. We are here to retrieve one plant, that is our only objective. Do not lose sight of it."
Lara paused, then added, "We split into three groups as planned. Establish overlapping search paths. If any group locates signs of the alchemy garden or encounters traces of the Everlasting Pill Sect, report immediately. They will have numerical superiority. No single group can handle them alone."
Her gaze lingered briefly on Adrian, "You will remain with Torvain's group."
Adrian gave a short nod.
The surrounding disciples glanced at him with quiet curiosity. They knew he was the one who had helped Lyra return safely with the relic key, but beyond that, they knew nothing of his strength or his role in this expedition. Some looked sceptical. Others seemed cautious, their divine essence subtly probing the air around him before retreating when they sensed nothing.
Maelis moved toward her assigned group, a quartet of disciples who immediately straightened under her attention. Lara did the same, her group forming a tight cluster near the far wall.
Kaya approached Torvain, handing him a small communication token, "This will connect you to the relay network."
Torvain accepted it, tucking it into his robes, "Acknowledged."
Lara raised her voice one final time, her words echoing through the hall, "Assemble and move out. We don't have the luxury of time."
With that, the expedition began.