"People?" Hestia asked, her pale golden eyes narrowing slightly as she turned toward Adrian on the terrace. "Are you talking about your willforce technique? But you mentioned it only gives you a little willforce from the connections, and you have already connected with all our disciples here. Even if you could connect with more people, how would that increase your mastery of consciousness?"
Adrian did not answer her immediately. Instead, he extended his hand toward the night air, and space folded effortlessly before his palm, twisting inward in smooth, controlled layers until a stable portal threaded with serene violet light tore open above the terrace.
"I am not sure of it myself, but there is nothing wrong with testing it," Adrian replied, his voice calm and resolute as the violet glow of the portal reflected in his white-grey eyes. "I have made connections with all the disciples here. But do not forget about my home galaxy. My people back in the Origin Empire will help me. Come."
He held Hestia's hand, his fingers lacing naturally with hers, and walked toward the portal without hesitation.
As they crossed the threshold, a myriad of thoughts drifted through Adrian's mind. Before this day, he had deliberately avoided returning to the Milky Way Galaxy. Even when he and Lysandra had desperately needed a secure, isolated location to establish a hidden factory for willforce recovery artifacts and automate the production of conceptual essence crystals, they had not selected the Milky Way. At that time, their hesitation had been rooted entirely in the looming shadow of the Void Sect.
They had known very little about the Void Sect then. They had not known the true intentions of the Guardian Spirit, the full extent of the Void Emperor's surveillance, or how a Great Sect operated on a galactic scale. The Great Nothing, the impenetrable barrier that wrapped around the Milky Way to conceal it from intergalactic warfare, had been a constant reminder that their home belonged to a territory governed by entities far beyond their understanding.
Adrian and Lysandra had mutually decided to wait until they became more powerful before truly claiming back the Milky Way Galaxy, because touching that territory without understanding the power watching over it could have invited danger upon the very people Adrian wished to protect.
Even now, the Milky Way Galaxy technically remained under the territory of the Void Sect. Perhaps one day, when Adrian grew his foundation into a true Great Sect, he could officially claim the Milky Way back. But for now, his home galaxy was not truly his own in the eyes of the wider universe.
However, things had changed. Adrian now knew enough about the intentions of the Void Emperor to no longer view every movement around the Milky Way as an immediate trap.
Even though Adrian couldn't blindly believe every single thing the ancient sovereign had said during that bizarre, flawless manifestation of consciousness, things didn't seem entirely fake.
The Void Emperor was a Divine Stage existence possessing such unfathomable power that petty deception, hostage-taking, and elaborate traps felt beneath him. If a being of that magnitude truly wanted Adrian dead or captured, he would not have offered him a cup of tea, spoken of history, and handed him a card as a safeguard.
He would have erased him with a passing thought. The Void Emperor was driven by an eternal, lonely curiosity to witness the end of the cultivation path. He wanted Adrian to grow, to test the impossible theory of transcendence, and because of that unspoken understanding, Adrian knew his people were at least safe from the petty machinations of the Void Sect itself.
The violet light of the portal dissolved around them, depositing Adrian and Hestia gently onto a polished floor.
They had arrived at the heart of the Origin Capital, deep within the Command Hall of the Central Tower, the very core of the massive Origin Construct.
The Command Hall was vast and dimly lit, illuminated primarily by the soft ambient glow of thousands of holographic screens and tactical projections floating throughout the air. Massive runic arrays etched into the walls pulsed with the steady white-grey light of the Origin Net, each line flowing with information, mana, and administrative control as it processed trillions of data points per second.
Standing before a massive tactical projection mapping the empire's logistical supply lines was Varik.
When the sudden spatial fluctuation echoed through the highly secured room, Varik's hand dropped from the interface. He turned sharply toward the anomaly, his combat instincts flaring for a fraction of a second, only to freeze as the portal appeared and two figures emerged from the violet light.
The defensive formations of the Command Hall flickered awake for only a moment before the Origin Net recognized Adrian's signature and immediately lowered every layer of hostility.
Varik's eyes widened as he registered the familiar calm presence of the young man. He immediately moved toward Adrian, dropping to one knee with his head bowed in reverence. "My Emperor," Varik said, his voice trembling slightly, thick with emotion and overwhelming relief.
"Rise, Varik. How are you?" Adrian asked, a faint and genuine warmth entering his tone.
Varik stood slowly, his eyes darting across Adrian's crimson robes. Though Adrian had suppressed his divine concepts aura to avoid crushing the mortals and Stellars in the room, the sheer depth of his existence was impossible to completely hide.
Varik could feel an oceanic, bottomless weight radiating from him, not as pressure, but as presence. It was as though the person standing before him had crossed a boundary that ordinary minds could not even name.
"I am well, My Emperor," Varik replied, his voice regaining its usual professional cadence, though his eyes still betrayed his awe. "But where are the others? Lord Thomas, Lady Elara, Aerin? Have they not returned with you? Has the expedition to the Andromeda Galaxy been successful?"
Adrian gave a quick, reassuring nod. "They are entirely safe, Varik. In fact, they have grown far beyond anything you might expect. They are currently managing the aftermath of a war. Andromeda is fully secured under our rule now."
Varik's breath caught in his throat. Secured under our rule. He knew Adrian had intended to establish a foothold in the wider universe, but to hear that an entire developed galaxy had already been brought to heel in such a short time was staggering.
The Milky Way had once trembled beneath the oppression of the Demons and the Aethelian Empire. Now, the same civilization had extended its influence into a foreign galaxy and returned not as guests, but as rulers.
"That is... monumental news, My Emperor," Varik said, struggling to compose himself.
"We can discuss the details of Andromeda later," Adrian said, shifting the topic before Varik could drown in questions. "Tell me about the Origin Empire. How are our people? What is the current situation of the galaxy?"
Varik straightened his posture, and a deep sense of pride swelled in his chest as he brought up a master holographic display of the Milky Way.
The projection expanded before them, showing the glowing structure of the Origin Empire, its worlds, routes, civilian districts, military stations, agricultural planets, academies, and industrial arrays connected through flowing golden-white channels.
"The empire thrives, My Emperor. It has been less than two years since you and everyone departed for Andromeda. Since you had already meticulously prepared the administrative and defensive frameworks to function in your absence, these past two years have been peaceful. There have been no incursions, no civil unrest, and no resource shortages."
Varik's hands moved over the interface, expanding a section of the hologram that displayed sprawling new orbital cities, advanced defensive barriers, and massive transportation gates connecting the worlds within the Origin Empire.
"In fact, it has been a period of explosive technological growth," he continued, his voice brimming with enthusiasm. "The Galactic Innovation Council is struggling to keep up with every innovation. We have mass-produced defensive warding formations for civilian sectors, deployed instant-transportation nodes that reach the farthest edges of our borders without delay, stabilized planetary climate formations for harsher colonies, and quadrupled our agricultural yields through automated formations. The people are safe, prosperous, and entirely united under the banner of the Origin."
Adrian listened quietly, a sense of satisfaction settling over him. This was exactly what he had envisioned when he tore down the Aethelian Empire and shattered Lexaria's monopoly on knowledge. An empire built not on tribute and fear, but on shared wisdom, prosperity, and the boundless potential of the Origin Ink.
It was then that Varik's gaze shifted slightly. He noticed, for the first time, that Adrian was not standing alone. More specifically, he noticed that Adrian was holding a woman's hand.
Varik's eyes widened fractionally as he looked at Hestia. She wore deep crimson robes edged with dark gold, and though her presence was suppressed just like Adrian's, the aura of a powerful ancient being lingered around her every movement.
Her pale golden eyes swept across the Command Hall with calm, analytical intelligence, and Varik felt as if his very soul, his history, his loyalty, and his usefulness were all being silently appraised.
Varik swallowed hard. He could already guess who she could be, a being of immense power from the wider universe and clearly someone who held an extraordinary place in Adrian's life. "My Emperor," Varik began, his tone dipping into a highly respectful and joyous cadence, "if I may be so bold, congratulations. To see you return accompanied by such an esteemed companion… our people will undoubtedly wish to celebrate your return and such joyous news."
Adrian let out a soft, amused exhale, feeling Hestia's fingers squeeze his hand lightly, "We can handle the celebrations and formalities later, Varik," Adrian said, deflecting the sudden shift in focus. "For now, I need you to gather a meeting with the origin warriors, the council leaders, and the citizens. I need to address my people directly."
Varik bowed deeply, his fist pressed over his heart. "At once, My Emperor. I will broadcast the summons across the Origin Net. The entire empire will be ready to hear your voice."
Varik immediately turned to his node, his fingers flying across the interface as he set up the meeting.
While Varik worked, Adrian gently led Hestia toward the massive panoramic viewport that stretched across the entire eastern wall of the Command Hall. They stood together in silence, looking out over the Origin Capital.
Hestia's breath hitched slightly as the view washed over her.
Below them, the Origin Capital spread out in a breathtaking display of celestial engineering. Thousands of distinct planets orbited in flawless synchronized harmony around the central Origin Construct. Massive ribbons of golden-white light connected the worlds, serving as instantaneous travel routes and energy conduits.
Floating space stations drifted through the void, glowing with thousands of artificial suns, while sleek, pristine starships moved through organized transit lanes that pulsed with life. The entire structure looked less like a natural civilization and more like a deliberately crafted cosmic formation, a living array built across planetary scale.
It was far more advanced than Hestia had ever imagined.
Even the Crimson Spire, the headquarters of the Crimson Vital Sect back in Andromeda, was not like this. She had seen glimpses of the Milky Way from the memories Adrian had shared with her, but experiencing it firsthand was on a completely different level.
The sheer scale of coordination, the unity of the design, and the seamless integration between technology, rune craft, mana, and civilization defied the logic of a minor galaxy. If someone from the wider universe arrived here without context, they could easily believe this was the headquarters of a dominant sect within a galaxy like Andromeda, or perhaps even the public-facing seat of a Major Sect branch.
Hestia's pale golden eyes peered deeper into the infrastructure holding the empire together. Her mind immediately began breaking down the components she saw, and the first realization struck her harder than the beauty.
"The materials are fragile," she realized with a start.
Unlike the Thousand Veils Sect's headquarters, which was forged from near-indestructible Void Alloy and Graviton Steel composites, the materials used to build the floating cities here were fundamentally inferior.
They were common metals, basic stones, and low-tier alloys that, by universal standards be considered mortal materials. Even portions of the Origin Construct itself were made from materials that most Andromeda inscribers would refuse to use for serious sect infrastructure.
But they still held together flawlessly because of the runes. The formations inscribed upon these brittle, inferior materials were magnificent beyond measure.
They were layered with a terrifying, impossible perfection. The kinetic energy was redirected, the spatial pressure was seamlessly distributed, and the elemental forces were balanced so exactly that the weak materials were never stressed beyond their breaking points.
And powering all of it, millions upon millions of massive, continent-spanning formations, was not a treasury of priceless, specialized divine essence crystals.
It was pure mana, filtered and transformed by the Origin Ink.
Hestia stared at the golden-white lines of the Origin Net, a shiver running down her spine as the true, horrifying gravity of Adrian's invention finally sank in. She had known about the Origin Ink from his memories. She had intellectually understood what it meant to bypass the need for specific conceptual affinities.
But seeing it applied on a galactic scale, sustaining an entire civilization of billions of people without the need for a single specialized divine concept crystal... it was terrifying.
"If the wider universe ever discovers this..." Hestia thought, her grip tightening on Adrian's hand. "If the Great Sects ever realize that their monopoly on conceptual essence crystals, their control over the galactic economy, can be completely bypassed by a single type of ink... they would burn galaxies to ashes just to possess it, or destroy it."
Adrian glanced at her, sensing the shift in her thoughts. He squeezed her hand reassuringly, his white-grey eyes reflecting the golden lights of the empire he had built from nothing.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Adrian asked softly.
"It is a masterpiece, Adrian," Hestia replied, her voice filled with awe and a trace of lingering disbelief. "You built a paradise out of glass, and you used the rules of reality as the glue to hold it together. I have never seen anything like it."
"This is the foundation of the Origin Path," Adrian said, his gaze sweeping over the billions of lives orbiting around them.
Behind them, Varik stepped away from the console, his posture perfectly rigid and his expression filled with reverent readiness. "My Emperor, the meeting is set in a few hours. Many will directly assemble within the Void Platform, and every citizen who cannot come will still be able to watch from their worlds through the broadcast."
Adrian turned away from the viewport, his demeanor shifting from the quiet, reflective man standing beside Hestia to the sovereign of the Milky Way.
"Good," Adrian said, his voice steady. "Gather them all. Today, the Origin Empire will hear the truth of my journey, what is coming, and they will decide whether to help me challenge the universe itself."