Chapter 485: A Quiet Moment Before the Visitors

Within the private room on the top floor of the Central Origin Construct, Adrian sat against the cushions of a broad couch with Hestia asleep beside him. Her head rested against his chest, and his arm lay around her shoulders, supporting her where she had settled against him. A few strands of auburn hair had slipped across his white-grey robes, moving slightly with her breathing.

The room was quiet, with most of its lights lowered. Beyond the wide window, vessels travelled between the folded regions surrounding the construct, their distant lights occasionally disappearing behind the curve of a nearby world. Adrian glanced down when Hestia shifted in her sleep, then moved his hand a little farther around her shoulder as she became still again.

Cultivators no longer needed ordinary sleep even at the Stellar Stage, but that did not mean they had lost the ability. Their bodies could remain awake indefinitely without becoming tired in the usual way, while their consciousness still benefited from proper rest. Letting the mind settle completely helped willforce recover faster than it could while thoughts and awareness remained active.

Even so, experienced cultivators usually preferred meditation. They could rest while remaining aware of their surroundings, ready to respond if something happened. After spending so much of their lives protecting themselves and the people depending on them, few found it easy to give up that awareness entirely.

Hestia's hand rested loosely against his chest. When Adrian brushed a strand of hair away from her face, she only moved closer, her eyes remaining closed. He left his hand near her shoulder and turned back toward the dim projection floating before him.

The Universal Auction was already open on his UNI-OS. A small thread of mana passed from his fingers into the token beside him, changing the selections without requiring him to move his arm or reach across Hestia.

Ordinary galactic networks and many premium services could not maintain a connection across the difference between the time inside a formation and the time outside. UNI-OS itself was not the cause of that failure; the network it connected to also needed to handle the difference. UNI's own network supported that connection, allowing its banking, account services, and Universal Auction to remain available here.

He adjusted one of his usual filters and brought the available records into view. The familiar layout showed the subjects first, with further information available beneath each entry.

— UNIVERSAL AUCTION —

› Category: Arcane Conceptual Knowledge

› Knowledge Level: Advanced Galactic

› Status: Active Auctions

› Fire — Complete Knowledge Book

› Water — Complete Knowledge Book

› Wind — Complete Knowledge Book

› Earth — Complete Knowledge Book

› Ice — Complete Knowledge Book

› Lightning — Complete Knowledge Book

› Shadow — Complete Knowledge Book

› …

Only a small part of the available selection appeared at once. Across the universe, new lots were listed throughout every hour, while other auctions closed and their winners were recorded. Searching through all of them without narrowing the results would have taken far longer than Adrian wished to spend on it.

Knowledge books were common throughout the universe. It was just like the skill books Adrian used back in the Milky Way galaxy, where the knowledge would appear in the user's mind before fading away quickly.

Many in the universe also had the Arcane Concept of Imprint to create methods like his knowledge sphere, but that is more of a rare thing.

Adrian moved farther down the list, reading the subjects and opening a few descriptions where the titles were unclear. Different sellers offered their own records of the same concepts, sometimes with additional explanations or examples, but everything he examined covered knowledge he had already mastered. When he narrowed the search to Advanced Galactic knowledge of Destruction, no available lot matched it.

He looked at the empty results for a moment before changing the category. The absence was familiar enough that he felt little disappointment, though he had still hoped something useful might appear.

— UNIVERSAL AUCTION —

› Category: Body Cultivation Arts

› Status: Active Auctions

› Iron Marrow Body Art

› Stormforged Body Art

› Ninefold Adamant Body Art

› Jade Vessel Body Art

› Deepblood Renewal Art

› Hollow Mountain Body Art

› …

There was considerably more variety here. Some arts focused upon strengthening bones and muscles, while others refined the mana channels or helped the body endure stronger flows of essence. Several required specific materials throughout cultivation, and others could only be practiced by people whose bodies or existing foundations met particular conditions.

Adrian examined their descriptions in turn. He did not need another method that would provide only a small improvement after thousands of years, nor one that would demand resources Origin could obtain for only a handful of people. His disciples needed a way to build bodies strong enough to endure the Prime Arcane Concepts before completing their planned second foundation.

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The Ninefold Adamant Body Art held his attention longer than the others. He selected it with his mana, bringing its information into the center of the projection.

— NINEFOLD ADAMANT BODY ART —

› Lot: Complete Inheritance

› Purpose: Permanent reinforcement of flesh, bones, and mana channels

› Requirement: Astral Core and stable Astral essence

› Time Remaining: 00:18:42

› Clock: Universal Standard Time

› Highest Bids:

› Bidder 7318 — 18,600,000,000 UNI-Coins

› Bidder 2046 — 18,200,000,000 UNI-Coins

› Bidder 8901 — 18,000,000,000 UNI-Coins

› View Full Description

› View Bid History

› Place Bid

The Astral essence was simply the unified essence of two merged divine concepts, born from within one's Astral Core. The art used Astral essence to refine the body through nine stages, with each completed stage preparing it to endure the next. The changes permanently strengthened the body. It was a method Adrian could see value in using himself, particularly for strengthening the flesh and channels that carried his power.

However, the requirement for Astral essence began with the first stage. His Eternal Continuum disciples needed stronger bodies before they could complete the second Divine Concept and reach Astral. An art they could only begin afterward would leave that problem untouched.

He read the remaining description before returning to the bids. More than eighteen billion UNI-Coins had already been offered, and the full history extended well beyond the three entries shown beside the countdown.

Each lot ran as its own auction. UNI's systems recorded the bids and awarded the purchase to the highest valid bidder when the stated time ended, allowing countless auctions to continue without anyone calling out prices. Buyers could inspect older offers or place their own through the same screen.

The eighteen minutes shown belonged to the universe outside. Within headquarters, Adrian could spend days considering the description without coming close to the closing time.

He closed it and searched for the higher tiers of Boundless Mana Body Art. References to the publicly available first tier appeared, along with records discussing its use, but he found no later tier being offered. The method that had allowed him to form his Mana Sea still had further levels he could not obtain.

Compatible body arts could be practiced together, so possessing that art did not prevent him from learning another. Finding one that suited his purpose remained the difficulty. After checking several more listings, he glanced down at Hestia. She was still asleep against him, and he kept the projection dim as he changed the filter again.

— UNIVERSAL AUCTION —

› Category: Relic Access

› Status: Active Auctions

› Ancient Alchemy Sect Ruin — Surviving garden traces

› Fallen Martial Sect Grounds — Outer training halls identified

› Abandoned Forge World — Residual furnace activity

› Buried Formation Complex — Active protective formations

› Spatially Distorted Fragment — Dense Space essence detected

› Unidentified Moon Ruin — Intermittent Divine essence

› Sealed Underground Vault — Interior unverified

› …

The descriptions varied as much as the places themselves. One seller had identified the remains of an alchemy sect and detected signs of plants beneath its surviving formations. Another offered access to a broken region of space without being able to explain what had caused the distortion. The moon ruin had no confirmed name or history, only a record of Divine essence escaping through cracks in its outer seal.

Relic prospectors made their living finding such places, securing them, and selling access. Fallen sect grounds, abandoned worlds, and sealed ruins could be isolated behind controlled entrances, allowing the prospectors to auction keys without revealing the original location. The buyers then took responsibility for whatever they encountered inside.

Each listing included the number of keys issued and the access granted by the lot. Several had more than one key, meaning their buyers would enter the same site and might have to compete for its treasures. Purchasing entry did not guarantee that the surviving halls contained an inheritance, or that the person holding another key would allow anyone else to leave with it.

Adrian paused over the alchemy ruin before moving on to the martial sect's remains. The prospectors had confirmed several outer training halls, but the deeper grounds were still sealed. There might be useful records inside, although the description offered no evidence of the particular knowledge or body art he wanted.

Hestia shifted against him, drawing his attention away from the listing. She had opened her eyes and was looking at the projection, though her cheek still rested against his robes. When Adrian moved his arm to give her room, her hand closed lightly around his wrist. "You're still hoping it will appear here?"

"It might," Adrian replied. "I found an interesting body art, though you can only begin it after reaching Astral. There are a few promising relics too, but the sellers do not know enough about what is inside."

Hestia read the visible entries before tilting her face toward him. "Anyone with knowledge that rare will usually keep it for their own people. You may have to wait a very long time for someone willing to sell."

"People sell things they would rather keep when they need something else," Adrian said. He glanced at the rows of auction listings. "It costs me very little to look."

"And if it does appear, you will have every major sect looking for the same knowledge bidding against you." Her fingers loosened around his wrist as she settled more comfortably. "You may have better luck going out and finding it yourself."

Adrian looked down at her with a small smile, leaving the next auction entry unopened. "You complain whenever I leave, and now you're telling me to go looking?"

"I said you might have to look for it yourself. I didn't say you should get up now." Hestia drew his arm back around her shoulders, then glanced at the projection again. "You can at least wait until I feel like moving."

Adrian moved the display aside so it no longer stood directly in front of them. "You looked comfortable enough that I was beginning to wonder whether I should stay here for the rest of the day."

"You could have woken me if you wanted to move," Hestia said. She looked up at him, her pale-gold eyes following his expression. "I would not have minded."

"I know," Adrian replied. "But I was comfortable too, and I did not have anything else that needed doing." He dismissed the projection, leaving her with his full attention.

Hestia smiled and settled against him again. Adrian watched the distant lights beyond the window for a while, following several vessels as they moved between the folded spatial regions surrounding the Central Origin Construct. Eventually, he lowered his cheek against Hestia's hair and closed his eyes.

Some time later, Hestia shifted beside him as a message arrived through the Origin Net. "Lara has sent a report," she said.

Adrian opened his eyes. "Anything urgent?"

"The inquiries have increased again." She scrolled through it quietly for a moment. "More cultivators from outside Andromeda asking to meet with us." She paused. "Nightshade has made a request as well. A private meeting, with both of us."

Adrian glanced at the projection. "Anyone else?"

"Two independent Anchors arrived at Crimson Vital headquarters on Sanguis Prime." She tilted the display slightly. "Rethan and Oskel. They supplied their identities and requested a private discussion with either you or me."

Adrian read the two requests when Hestia turned the projection toward him, then let his head rest against the cushions again. "I thought we might have a little longer to ourselves."

Hestia lowered the report, amusement returning to her face as she rested her hand against his chest. "You made sure everyone saw how much the sect has grown, Adrian. Of course there would be consequences for it." She was smiling when she looked up at him, and he found himself smiling back despite the interruption.