Emperor of the Source

Chapter 288: The History of Willforce Artifacts

With many lingering thoughts about the Astral Stage circulating in his mind, Adrian continued scrolling through the forum. The premium network contained an overwhelming amount of information, and every few seconds, a new thread seemed to appear within the trending list.

Soon, another thread caught his attention.

› Grand Tournament Announcement — Seven Major Sects Preparing For Astral Ascension Trials

Adrian's hand paused mid-motion. He opened it immediately.

According to the announcement, seven major sects were preparing to host a large-scale tournament within the Tianam Galaxy. The event was expected to gather some of the most talented Rule Stage cultivators from numerous galaxies across the universe. The purpose of the tournament was to identify cultivators from minor sects who possessed the potential to break through to the Astral Stage or who simply demonstrated extraordinary talent.

Adrian's eyes moved down the text, absorbing each detail.

Cultivators who performed exceptionally well in the tournament would potentially receive invitations to join one of the participating major sects.

Usually, joining a major sect was significantly more difficult than entering a minor sect. Major sects' entrance examinations were extremely hard, and some major sects did not even conduct entrance examinations. Instead, they selected disciples either from within the empires under their control or through events like these tournaments. For most cultivators across the universe, such competitions represented the only opportunity to enter some of the powerful major sects.

The rewards listed for the tournament were also extremely impressive. Participants who ranked highly would gain access to advanced cultivation resources, powerful artifacts, and even the opportunity to discuss cultivation with Astral Stage beings.

Adrian paused for a moment after reading that last point.

Resources and artifacts could always be obtained through effort and opportunity, but the chance to directly discuss cultivation with Astral Stage cultivators was far more valuable. A single conversation with someone who had already ascended beyond the Rule Stage could provide insights into the mysterious threshold separating those two realms.

His gaze lingered on the words: discuss cultivation with Astral Stage beings.

Even Adrian felt a slight sense of interest while reading about it. If someone could gain such an opportunity, they might learn secrets about the Astral Stage that could otherwise remain hidden for millions of years.

The questions he'd accumulated from the previous threads pressed against his thoughts. How did two Astral Stage cultivators slaughter an entire upper minor sect in under ten minutes? What changed at that threshold? What made them fundamentally different from Peak Rule Stage beings?

However, the announcement concluded by stating that the event was still in preparation. No final date had been announced yet, and the participating sects were still organizing the tournament structure.

He could only wait until the final date was announced, and in the meantime, this also gave him time to increase his strength.

Adrian closed the thread and continued scrolling.

Thousands upon thousands of threads filled the forum. Some threads described battles between sects, others discussed newly discovered relics or rare resources, and many analyzed political developments between different galaxies. The information was endless.

Reading through these discussions truly revealed the scale of the universe. For the first time, Adrian felt that he was witnessing the true breadth of cosmic civilization. The universe was vast beyond comprehension, and within it existed equal measures of danger and opportunity.

The Andromeda had felt enormous once. Now it seemed almost quaint.

Eventually, Adrian stopped browsing the trending threads randomly and returned to his original purpose. The enormous flow of information had begun to distract him. Even if he spent months reading through the forums, the information would never truly end. New events were constantly unfolding across countless galaxies, and the network simply continued expanding.

He exhaled slowly, centering his focus.

Until now, Adrian had been too busy to properly explore these premium information networks, and even now, it felt like he could not spend endless time studying them.

His fingers moved with renewed purpose across the interface. He refocused on his primary search. Within the Astral Archive Pavilion network interface, Adrian entered several search queries: Willforce, Willforce Artifacts, Willforce Recovery Artifacts.

The search immediately returned thousands of results.

Adrian's jaw tightened slightly as the list populated. Thousands, not hundreds. The scale never ceased to catch him off guard.

The first several threads contained only basic explanations of willforce itself. These discussions were written primarily for younger cultivators or individuals who had recently entered the wider universe.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Adrian skimmed past these introductory threads quickly, dismissing explanations he already understood.

Eventually, one thread with a golden verification seal caught his attention.

› Research Initiative — Celestial Cognition Sect Attempts to Quantify Willforce

He opened it.

The thread described a massive research project conducted by a major sect known as the Celestial Cognition Sect nearly two hundred million years earlier. Unlike many sects that focused primarily on divine concepts or authority techniques, this sect had invested enormous effort into studying the fundamental nature of willforce.

Adrian leaned forward slightly, his full attention captured.

Their goal had been deceptively simple: they wanted to measure willforce.

Measuring mana had always been straightforward. Mana was in a tangible form circulating throughout the cultivator's body and accumulating within the mana sea. Cultivators could sense their own mana reserves, and numerous instruments had long been developed to measure it precisely.

Willforce, however, was completely different. No one truly knew where willforce even existed.

The Boundless Mana Body Art created by the Primordial Mana Sect described consciousness itself as willforce, yet even that explanation raised countless questions. What exactly was consciousness? Did it exist purely within the brain? Or did it permeate the entire body in a manner similar to mana?

Throughout the history of cultivation, no one had ever discovered a structure resembling a willforce sea or any similar reservoir where willforce was stored.

Without such a structure, measuring it became extremely difficult.

According to the thread, the Celestial Cognition Sect had developed multiple experimental theories. One theory proposed that willforce existed entirely within the brain, generated through the interaction between consciousness and conceptual understanding. Another theory suggested that willforce permeated the entire body as a subtle field. A third theory argued that willforce might not exist within the body at all but instead resided in a separate layer of reality connected to the cultivator's mind.

Adrian read through the extensive analysis carefully.

Despite millions of years of experiments, the Celestial Cognition Sect had never succeeded in developing a universally accepted method for measuring willforce. They had created several prototype artifacts capable of estimating mental stability or detecting fluctuations in consciousness during cultivation. However, none of those devices could produce reliable numerical measurements comparable to mana units.

In the end, the research had produced numerous theories but no definitive answers.

Adrian closed the thread slowly, his hand hovering above the interface.

"So even a major sect couldn't measure it…" he murmured quietly.

He continued scrolling through the search results. Many of the remaining threads were unverified discussions. They consisted mostly of philosophical debates about consciousness, speculative research notes, or fragmented observations recorded by different sects.

Adrian skimmed past most of them. Eventually, another verified thread caught his attention.

› Historical Record — Early Willforce Recovery Artifacts Used By Celestial Cognition Sect

Adrian opened the thread.

The record contained archived information dating back nearly one hundred million years. According to the historical documentation, the Celestial Cognition Sect had once developed a limited number of experimental artifacts capable of accelerating the recovery rate of willforce.

Adrian's eyes narrowed slightly as he continued reading.

These artifacts had been extremely rare. Historical records suggested they had only been distributed to a small number of the sect's core disciples and a few allied sect leaders. The precise construction methods remained unknown. The thread speculated that their design likely relied on rule structures similar to those found in natural plants such as the Crimson Will Lotus.

Over the years, several analysts from the Astral Archive Pavilion had attempted to investigate these artifacts, but very little reliable information had been uncovered. The Celestial Cognition Sect had never publicly released the design, and no evidence existed that the artifacts had ever been produced on a large scale.

The few recorded sightings suggested that they appeared only occasionally within universal auctions or private transactions between powerful sects.

"So they do exist…"

He had already suspected this possibility earlier, which was precisely why he had begun researching the topic. The universe was far too vast for him to assume that no one else had ever attempted to replicate the effect of the Crimson Will Lotus.

Clearly, the Celestial Cognition Sect had reached similar conclusions long ago. However, something about the information intrigued him. Despite existing for nearly one hundred million years, these artifacts had never become common. No sect appeared to be producing them on a large scale.

Adrian considered a possible explanation. Most likely, the number of cultivators who had comprehended the necessary arcane concepts and the required divine concept was extremely small. Even if such individuals created artifacts through inscription, the real limitation would lie in the production of divine crystals required to power them.

A few cultivators could not continuously convert large quantities of pure mana crystals into the required conceptual essence. Adrian understood that difficulty very well. Just earlier, he had spent nearly six hours converting a single crystal containing two hundred thousand mana units into the required divine essence.

The process had been tedious, requiring constant attention to prevent destabilization. His willforce had also been used under the sustained focus.

However, the same limitation did not apply as strongly to him. As Lysandra had mentioned earlier, they already possessed formations powered by Origin Ink that could convert pure mana into almost any conceptual essence. If Adrian truly wished to do so, he could establish an automated process that produced divine crystals continuously.

A slow smile appeared on Adrian's face. This research session had given him all the information he needed. The artifact he had created was not completely unique within the universe. However, that had never been his goal. Adrian did not need to invent something unprecedented. His objective was simply to create a reliable source of income. For that purpose, this artifact was perfect.

In fact, the existence of previous willforce recovery artifacts made his plan even easier. Cultivators across the universe already understood that these kinds of artifacts existed. He would not need to spend time explaining much about this artifact to anyone. They would recognize its value immediately.

He continued browsing a few additional threads related to willforce artifacts. Almost all of them referenced the Celestial Cognition Sect's historical research or the occasional appearance of similar items within rare private auctions.

Satisfied with the information he had gathered, Adrian closed the forum interface and stood up slowly.

The ring was ready, and the research was complete. There was no point sitting inside his suite any longer. It was time to reveal his ring to the universe.