Emperor of the Source

Chapter 331: A Presence Beyond Comprehension

The instant Adrian's Source Form stabilized, an overwhelming surge of authority flooded outward, engulfing the entire throne room in a presence that transcended ordinary comprehension.

His full one hundred percent authority expanded without restraint, colliding directly against the domains of the two True Peak Rule Stage beings who had been advancing toward him only moments before. They froze mid-step, their bodies locking in place as the clash unfolded at a fundamental level of reality itself.

Both of them wielded ninety percent authority, and as Adrian's authority pressed against theirs, the expected equilibrium formed, dividing the contested space evenly among the three, stabilizing at thirty percent for each. This was the natural outcome when three beings of such a level entered direct confrontation.

However, what followed shattered even that established balance.

Adrian did not merely hold his thirty percent share. He retained the remaining ten percent that always existed as the unclaimed portion of reality itself. That final ten percent did not remain neutral. It submitted entirely to him.

The space itself seemed to bow. The ambient mana within the chamber stilled completely, no longer circulating through the formations embedded in the walls. Every rune, every inscription, every carefully maintained enchantment fell dormant as though acknowledging something far greater than their purpose.

In that moment, the structure of authority within the room was no longer equal.

Every single being present felt it. The oppressive, undeniable truth of what stood before them crushed their will instantly. If it had been a slight excess, even a few percentage points beyond ninety, they could have rationalized it as the presence of an Astral Stage cultivator. But this was not that. This was the complete dominance of the remaining ten percent of reality itself, the portion that no cultivator should be able to claim.

Yet it had submitted fully to Adrian.

"Transcendence…" one of the True Peak Rule Stage beings whispered, his voice trembling uncontrollably as his legs gave way beneath him.

His weapon clattered against the polished floor, the sound echoing through the oppressive silence. He collapsed to his knees without resistance, his entire body shaking as though every fiber of his being recognised the futility of opposition.

The other followed almost immediately, unable to muster even the slightest intent to resist. His breathing grew ragged, shallow gasps escaping his throat as he lowered his head, his hands pressing flat against the ground. "How… how is this possible…"

The same reaction spread further. The two enslaved leaders, beings who had once ruled this galaxy, also dropped to their knees. However, unlike the others, their eyes were filled with something different. There was awe within them, a reverence that resembled worship, as though they were witnessing a being that stood beyond the limits of their understanding.

Morka, seated upon his throne, was no exception.

"Impossible! This is impossible!" he screamed, his voice cracking under the pressure as he felt Adrian's authority envelop him completely.

His three eyes widened, pupils dilating as sweat beaded across his grotesque features. His hands gripped the armrests of his throne so tightly that the reinforced metal began to warp beneath his fingers. Only moments ago, he had spoken of binding the heavens of this galaxy, boasting of his control and dominance, yet now, he felt as though the very order of existence stood before him in judgment.

His body slumped back into the throne, his mind unable to process what had just occurred, his thoughts collapsing into empty disbelief. His mouth hung open, words failing to form as his entire worldview shattered in an instant.

Adrian stood amidst this silence, his white-grey form radiating absolute stillness, and yet his own thoughts carried a trace of confusion.

"What the…" he murmured inwardly, unable to fully comprehend the reaction unfolding before him.

He had intended to test his full strength without restraint, to understand how his power functioned in a real confrontation against opponents of this level. He had expected resistance, battle, the clash of techniques and authority that would push him to understand his limits. Instead, the battle had ended before it had even begun. Every single being in the room had lost the will to oppose him without him raising a single hand.

Adrian's gaze swept across the kneeling figures, observing their trembling forms, their broken expressions, their complete and utter submission.

"Such weak wills…" Adrian concluded silently.

He recalled a distant moment from his past, back in the Milky Way Galaxy, when he had wielded his full authority against the Demon Emperor under the observation of the Guardian Spirit. Even then, the spirit had not broken in such a manner. That memory made one thing clear: There existed beings whose will could endure even overwhelming authority. There existed beings whose will was much stronger than those he was seeing now.

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Adrian also understood that his current state was not truly omnipotent. Even in his Source Form, his authority had been divided. The two True Peak Rule Stage beings each held thirty percent, while Adrian retained forty percent. In an actual battle, he would have needed to dedicate thirty percent to suppress one opponent, leaving only ten percent to contend with the other. Under such circumstances, the outcome would not have been guaranteed. If the fight had continued long enough, factors like mana and willforce consumption could have shifted the balance entirely.

This had been the very reason he wanted to test himself.

Yet, that opportunity had vanished before it could begin.

With no further purpose in maintaining the form, Adrian dismissed his Source Form, his body reforming back into his physical appearance as the overwhelming pressure in the room receded.

The moment his transformation ended, the ambient mana resumed its natural flow. The runes along the walls flickered back to life, dim at first, then gradually brightening as though recovering from shock. The cultivators remained kneeling, none daring to move, their minds still reeling from what they had witnessed.

Adrian stepped forward calmly, approaching the two kneeling True Peak Rule Stage beings first.

Their heads remained lowered, neither attempting to rise or flee. Their will had been completely broken.

Stopping before them, Adrian extended both hands.

"Devour."

Dark crimson tendrils manifested instantly, coiling around his fingers like living serpents before shooting forward with terrifying speed. They pierced through the bodies of the two True Peak Rule Stage beings, passing through flesh and bone without resistance, wrapping around their Rule Cores and dragging them out with force.

The cores resisted momentarily, their dense structure attempting to maintain integrity, pulsing with violet light as they fought against dissolution. But the Devour essence consumed them relentlessly, dissolving their existence entirely.

Both figures collapsed forward, their bodies hitting the ground with dull thuds as their essence scattered into nothingness.

A surge of knowledge flooded Adrian's mind.

The comprehension of fully developed Ultimate-tier divine concepts poured into him, expanding his understanding at an unprecedented rate. He perceived the intricate structure of their concepts, one forged from Void, Shadow, and Silence; the other from Space, Gravity, and Pressure. Each rule fragment, each connection, each layer of mastery unfolded before his perception like ancient texts being read at impossible speed.

His Source Seed responded immediately, growing purer, denser, its essence refining itself as it absorbed the new knowledge. The chambers within his Source Seed reorganized, integrating the newly acquired comprehension seamlessly. His mana capacity expanded, but the growth was almost negligible compared to his current reserves, yet the depth of understanding gained was invaluable.

Only after that did Adrian turn his attention toward the throne.

Morka still sat there, unmoving, his mind completely blank, unable to react. His three eyes stared forward without focus, his chest rising and falling in shallow, uneven breaths. Drool had begun to form at the corner of his mouth, his expression slack with shock.

However, before Adrian could approach him, the two enslaved leaders moved.

Despite everything they had just witnessed, despite the absolute dominance Adrian had displayed, they rose to their feet and stepped forward, placing themselves directly in his path. Their movements were stiff, mechanical, as though their bodies moved against their will.

Their actions were not driven by hostility, but by something far more complex.

Adrian's gaze narrowed slightly.

There was no logical explanation for this behaviour unless Morka's existence was directly tied to something within them.

Without hesitation, Adrian expanded his Source domain, enveloping the two figures entirely. With no opposing domains present, he wielded absolute control within this space, his authority reaching one hundred percent once more. His perception extended through every layer of their existence, scanning their bodies, their essence, their Rule Cores, and finally locating the source of the anomaly.

The microchip.

Embedded deep within their skulls, nestled within their brain, the artifacts pulsed with faint violet light. Without wasting time, Adrian stepped closer and injected his Source essence into their bodies, directing it precisely toward the embedded artifacts.

The moment his essence reached them, it blocked their function completely, preventing any activation. The violet glow dimmed, then vanished entirely as the chips fell dormant.

With careful precision, he extracted the chips from their skulls.

Since the chips were blocked from their functions, their termination protocols didn't trigger. The artifacts tore free, floating through the air as Adrian withdrew his essence.

They hovered before him, suspended, slowly rotating as he examined them.

The surface of each chip was covered in intricate runic patterns layered with astonishing complexity. Thousands of symbols overlapped, their structure so dense that even Adrian required time to fully decipher them. This was not a technological construct. It was purely an artifact of divine inscription, embedded with a specific divine concept so refined that even Adrian's Source Eyes struggled to parse its full depth.

Before he could analyze further, the two leaders staggered violently.

Their bodies trembled as though something deeply embedded within them had been torn away. Their breathing became uneven, their chests rising sharply as if they had resurfaced after being drowned for an eternity. One of them gasped, his hands clutching at his head as sensation returned. The other fell to one knee, his entire frame shaking uncontrollably.

Then, slowly, their eyes changed.

The hollow, lifeless quality that had defined them moments before vanished entirely. Their suppressed emotion flooded back all at once: confusion, disbelief, rage… and then overwhelming clarity. Tears streamed down their faces as they realized what had happened, their expressions twisting with a mix of agony and relief.

Both of them dropped to their knees again, but this time, there was no external force compelling them.

This was their own choice.

"My… lord…" one of them spoke, his voice hoarse, as though it had not been used for centuries.

The other lowered his head completely, pressing his forehead against the ground as his entire body trembled.

"We… we have been freed…"

Their voices carried something far deeper than gratitude. It was reverence born from liberation, the kind that could only come from escaping absolute control. They wept openly, their cries echoing through the silent throne room, their bodies wracked with the weight of a million years of enslavement finally lifted.