Chapter 442: The Price of Time

Adrian stepped through the third doorway with Khyron and Vaedra. The surrounding spatial rules folded around him before releasing him into a private office.

The room contained little beyond several shelves of dark-golden records, a broad window overlooking distant mountain ranges veiled in golden mist, and a desk formed from smooth white stone. The moment Adrian entered, his attention settled upon the being seated behind it.

Master Roo possessed a humanoid form, but there was no flesh beneath its outline. His entire body was composed of dense, pale-golden energy held in perfect stability, so every feature appeared sharply defined, from the calm lines of his face to the robe-like layers flowing over his shoulders.

Nothing radiated from him. Adrian detected no mana fluctuation, conceptual presence, or willforce pressure. If someone without context saw him, Roo could have been mistaken for a powerless mortal waiting quietly behind an ordinary desk.

Roo regarded Adrian for several moments before gesturing toward the chair opposite him. "Sect Leader Aeon, take a seat."

Adrian inclined his head and sat. Khyron and Vaedra bowed behind him, and Roo turned his attention toward them.

"You handled the failure of the Return Array as well as the circumstances allowed. Return to your responsibilities." Roo said.

"Yes, Master." The two Astral sovereigns departed through the doorway. It closed behind them without a sound, leaving Adrian alone with the Sect Leader who had created the seven rings millions of years ago.

"You recovered the seventh key, completed the Door, entered through the path I established, and received Khyron's permission before approaching the inheritance," Roo began. "You then passed every stage through your own comprehension. Nothing in that sequence can reasonably be called theft."

Adrian replied, "The knowledge was still placed there to recruit disciples. I accepted the opportunity while knowing its purpose, then refused the relationship attached to it."

"Precisely." Roo rested one energy hand upon the desk. "Your refusal itself does not offend me. You claim to be the Founder of Origin Sect. If you abandoned the people who entrusted their future to you merely because a stronger sect offered a superior inheritance, I would have considerably less reason to value you as a disciple."

"Nevertheless, Kaalatva's inheritance was not created as an unrestricted phenomenon zone for passing wanderers. Discipleship would have bound the recipient's future achievements to the sect that opened the path for them. You have taken the first half of that exchange and refused the second. A debt therefore remains, even if no offense was committed."

"I agree," Adrian said.

Roo's gaze remained fixed upon him. "After receiving Vaedra's report, I searched for the Origin Sect through every information network available to Kaalatva. I did not find any registered territory, public hierarchy, known disciples, recognized Minor- or Major-Sect classification, UNI-Market Index, commercial history, or declared field of specialization."

"An organization hidden that thoroughly may be formidable, but also be insignificant, or little more than a name carried by its founder. Since I cannot determine which possibility is true, explain how the Origin Sect intends to repay an inheritance belonging to an Upper Major Sect."

"The Origin Sect is not built around a single ordinary specialization," Adrian replied. "Its strength lies in examining concepts that the wider universe considers rare, incompatible, or too impractical to reproduce, then transforming those concepts into techniques and artifacts that can be used reliably."

"I cannot offer every inheritance supporting that process, but I can offer something concrete that the Kaalatva Sect can examine and verify for itself."

Roo's fingers remained still against the smooth white stone. "Before you make that offer, understand what must be replaced. Advanced Galactic Kaalatva is not a commodity whose value can be measured through several rare materials or a large transfer of mana crystals. A disciple capable of reaching the Epoch Crucible within 6.8 seconds might have contributed techniques, discoveries, and service to this sect for millions of years."

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His gaze sharpened faintly. "Ordinary wealth cannot settle that possibility."

"Nor would I insult Kaalatva by offering ordinary wealth," Adrian replied. "However, the future contribution of a disciple remains a possibility rather than a certainty. What I intend to provide is a guaranteed benefit capable of strengthening your sect across multiple generations."

Roo paused before answering. "Continue."

"Sect Leader Roo, does the Kaalatva Sect possess a repeatable method capable of accelerating willforce recovery for a large number of disciples?" Adrian asked.

Roo's energy-formed eyes narrowed by an almost imperceptible degree. "Certain medicines and extremely rare artifacts can accelerate willforce recovery. The materials required to refine those medicines are too scarce for widespread use, while the surviving artifacts cannot be reproduced. Why ask a question whose answer should already be known to any Astral cultivator?"

"Because the Origin Sect possesses a different answer," Adrian said.

He raised one hand above the white-stone desk. "With your permission, I would like to demonstrate it."

Attempting such a demonstration without warning would have been reckless. No sovereign allowed unknown energy to approach them, merely because another cultivator claimed that the effect would be beneficial. Adrian therefore kept the spell contained and waited for Roo's explicit consent.

Master Roo studied him in silence. Then he lifted his hand from the desk and extended two fingers toward Adrian. "Send it."

Adrian cast the willforce-recovery spell. Golden essence gathered above his palm, condensing into a slow spiral. He guided the completed spell across the desk.

Roo did not make any defensive movement as the golden essence reached his energy body. It passed through his extended fingers, travelled upward without disturbing the stable power forming him, and entered the unseen space of his mind. There, the spiral unfolded around his consciousness and began to turn.

The spell gathered the faint traces of will naturally dispersed through thought and intent, guided them back toward the consciousness that had released them, and accelerated the restoration of their coherence. The difference between the natural rhythm and the spell-assisted cycle was unmistakable from within.

The pale-golden energy composing Roo's eyes brightened slightly as his attention moved away from Adrian and into the spiral operating inside his own mind. "It is recovering willforce," Roo said slowly.

"At twice the natural rate," Adrian replied. "The effect is sustained by the passive spell now circulating around your consciousness."

Roo closed his eyes. Several breaths passed while the golden spiral continued circulating within him, and Adrian waited without interrupting his examination. When Roo opened his eyes again, his expression remained calm, although his attention upon Adrian had sharpened.

"The recovery is produced entirely through constructed rules," Roo said.

"Yes," Adrian confirmed. "The effect is created by the spell structure alone."

"And you intend to offer Kaalatva this spell?"

"No. The technique itself is one of Origin's protected inheritances, just as the Concept of Kaalatva is protected by your sect." Adrian explained. "I am willing to provide the benefit without surrendering the foundation that makes it possible."

Roo's gaze became more attentive. "You intend to provide the effect through artifacts."

"Through wearable artifacts capable of applying the same recovery effect to their users," Adrian confirmed.

"But your Origin Sect possesses no commercial history," Roo said.

"That will change soon," Adrian replied. "Our Willforce-recovery artifacts will be entering the public market."

Roo's gaze sharpened. "If that is true, then the Kaalatva Sect does not lack the wealth required to purchase them."

"I do not doubt Kaalatva's wealth," Adrian said. "However, even though our early production will be substantial, the demand will be far greater. Public competition can determine the market price, but it cannot guarantee availability to any individual sect."

Master Roo lowered his gaze toward his hand and remained silent for longer than before.

The value of the effect extended far beyond shortening meditation after a battle. Faster willforce recovery would accelerate the construction and refinement of willforce techniques, increase the number of dangerous comprehension attempts a cultivator could survive within a given period, and restore injured sovereigns to combat readiness before their enemies expected them to recover.

For a sect whose inheritance revolved around Time, the advantage was particularly significant. The Epoch Crucible itself placed an immense burden upon the minds of those who attempted it. A reliable method of accelerating recovery could influence the training rhythm of entire generations.

For such an artifact, even if it reached the public market, the competition to obtain it would be fierce. If he could get it straight from the creators, it would provide a guaranteed supply.

"State your offer," Roo said.

"Under the settlement I propose, the Origin Sect will reserve five hundred thousand willforce-recovery artifacts for the Kaalatva Sect every standard UNI-Year," Adrian replied. "That allocation will remain protected from public demand and will be sold to Kaalatva at ten percent below Origin's official market price for the next one hundred years."

The hand Roo had begun lowering toward the desk stopped in midair.

For the first time since Adrian entered the office, open shock appeared across the pale-golden features that had remained calm throughout the negotiation. He had truly never expected such an offer…

The Sect Leader of an Upper Major Sect stared at the Founder of Origin without offering an immediate answer.