[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-emperor-of-the-source":3,"chapter-emperor-of-the-source-emperor-of-the-source-chapter-103":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Emperor of the Source",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1713089,2188,"Chapter 102: The First Decree of Origin","emperor-of-the-source-chapter-103",103,"\u003Cp>Adrian called out, \"Varik.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The administrator stepped forward, bowing low. \"Yes, my lord?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Adrian's gaze sharpened. \"Cancel all tributes from the star systems. From today, no quotas, no forced tithes.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The words fell like thunder. The vassals gasped.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Release the children from the armies and send them back to their families. Any soldier conscripted against their will may resign and return to their families.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even the SSS-rank commanders, hardened men and women who had lived under Drakenholt iron, flinched as if struck.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Varik's face drained of color. \"My lord… if you do this, the mercenary business will collapse.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His voice trembled. \"The Drakenholt clan's foundation was mercenary contracts. Without soldiers, without quotas, there will be nothing left.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The army will dissolve, the contracts will vanish, and the income will bleed away.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Adrian's expression remained stone. \"Listen well. The Origin Clan's specialty will not be mercenary blood trade.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Our blades won't be for sale.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Murmurs rippled through the commanders.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"We will keep an army,\" Adrian continued, \"but an army of volunteers. Warriors who fight to protect their star systems, their homes, their clan.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Not slaves bound in chains. If that weakens us now, so be it. We will rise differently.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The chamber rippled with silence. Even the hardened SSS-rank commanders faltered, their faces showing confusion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Some had known nothing but orders and chains their entire lives.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Septimus's staff tapped the stone. \"Mercenary contracts fill vaults, yes. But it hollows the soul.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"A clan cannot endure forever on blood money.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Aurelia's tone was cool, but approving. \"This is risky. But necessary.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"No empire remembers mercenary clans in their histories. Only those who built legacies.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Varik pressed forward, desperation creeping into his voice. \"But my lord, without mercenary contracts, the vaults will run dry.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The soldiers who remain will need pay, supplies, and arms. The crystals will burn out in a few short years.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His hands clenched. \"Do you have another source of income?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Behind him, commanders shifted uneasily, muttering of wages, of their futures. Fear crept across their faces.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Adrian turned, meeting every eye. \"I will find another way. I will not trade my people's blood for crystals.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"If we must starve, then we starve free. But I promise you, our future will not be bought by death.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Silence fell again. The weight of his words settled them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And then, as if the words themselves were etched into the air, Varik bowed deeply. \"Then let this be written as the first decree of the Origin Clan.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Later, when the hall emptied, only Varik remained. The others had dispersed, some to spread word of the new decree.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Show us the library.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Varik nodded, guiding them deeper into the hall. They passed through reinforced doors into a massive chamber lined with shelves.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Books and scrolls hummed faintly with mana, collected for generations. The air itself thrummed with knowledge.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Here,\" Varik explained, \"the Drakenholt stored every skill book, scroll, and record they gathered.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Though they wielded only fire, they still hoarded other concepts, trading, plundering, buying.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Adrian walked the aisles, fingertips brushing glowing titles. Galactic basics of water, earth, wind, lightning, all here.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Most are basic galactic concepts. Not all affinities are represented… rare ones like space, time, life, or death are absent.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The rare ones were missing, but even these basics would let his people step onto the galactic path properly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His gaze shifted as another door opened. From it leaked a wave of scorching heat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What is that?\" Adrian asked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Varik bowed, ushering them toward the blazing doorway. The heat grew more intense with each step.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A vast chamber blazed within, its floor etched with complex runes. At its center pulsed a mountain of fire-aspected mana crystals.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They glowed like a caged sun. The runes drank the crystals' essence, weaving it into a shimmering world.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Molten rivers flowed through the air. Volcanic eruptions froze mid-birth, firestorms suspended in time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"This,\" Varik said, reverent, \"is the Fire Simulation Chamber. A sealed domain.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"For centuries, the Drakenholt used it to raise their heirs. It mimics the galaxy's teachings, visions of fire concepts.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kael studied the flowing runes with professional interest. \"Incredible craftsmanship. These formations must have cost fortunes.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Skill books are written knowledge,\" Varik continued. \"A cultivator has to imagine and meditate based on words and diagrams.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Many fail to comprehend anything just by reading. But with this method, just sitting here, watching, breathing it…\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"One may comprehend much faster and easier than using skill books.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thomas's eyes widened, heat sparking in his gaze. He stepped forward like a man approaching destiny.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"This… this could let me bloom my seed. Without treasures. Without chains.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He sat cross-legged before the blazing visions. The simulated flames danced across his face.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even Draven muttered enviously, \"Would've been nice if someone made one for blood…\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cassian chuckled. \"Perhaps we can commission one. After we figure out how to pay for it.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Adrian joined Thomas in the circle, his Source stirring as the visions of flame unfurled before him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Every vision reminded him of Tharion's fists breaking his bones. How close death had been in that arena.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After the fight with Tharion, he could not underestimate anyone. It felt better to get as strong as possible, soon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Meanwhile, word of Adrian's decree spread. Nodes lit across twenty-three star systems, messages cascading into homes and plazas.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The first transmission reached Korvan Prime, a volcanic mining world where sulfur clouds choked the sky. Overseer Thane read the decree twice before his hands began shaking.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Release the children?\" he whispered. \"All conscripts may return home?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the mining tunnels below, ten-year-old Jace hauled ore carts with bleeding hands. His mother, Mira, had wept for three years since they took him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thane's voice cracked over the colony speakers. \"By decree of Lord Adrian Blackwood... all conscripted children are to be released immediately.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mira dropped her pickaxe. The sound echoed through the cavern like a prayer answered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When the transport arrived, she ran through the settlement's dusty streets. Her neighbors followed, mothers and fathers who had lost children to Drakenholt's hunger.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jace stumbled from the shuttle, chains gone, his small frame trembling. Mira caught him in her arms, both of them collapsing to their knees.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Mama?\" His voice was barely a whisper.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You're home,\" she sobbed. \"You're finally home.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Around them, other families reunited. Children who had forgotten their parents' faces. Parents who had aged decades in months of grief.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On Thessar's Reach, an agricultural planet stripped bare by tribute, farmer Korren stared at his empty grain silos. For years, the Drakenholt had seized ninety percent of every harvest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His wife Lyanna joined him, their infant daughter crying against her chest. \"The message came through,\" she said, voice hollow with disbelief.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"No more quotas. No more tribute.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Korren's weathered hands touched the sealed granary doors. Inside lay their hidden reserves, grain they had risked execution to keep.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Then perhaps we eat well this month,\" Lyanna whispered, tears streaming down her face.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their neighbors emerged from their homes, faces gaunt but eyes brightening. For the first time in generations, they would keep what they grew.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On planet Valdris, a mercenary planet, Captain Gareth read the decree to his assembled troops. Battle-scarred veterans who had known nothing but war.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Any soldier conscripted against their will may resign,\" he announced. \"No punishment. No pursuit.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The silence stretched. Then weapons clattered to the deck as men and women broke ranks.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Orion, who had fought for twenty years, dropped his weapon. \"My daughter... she'd be grown now. I wonder if she remembers me.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Others followed. Some wept. Some laughed. Some simply walked away, finally free to choose their own paths.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Those who stayed did so with lifted heads. They were no longer slaves bound by fear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Throughout the systems, disbelief turned into laughter, into tears, into the first fragile hope in generations. Communication nodes buzzed with messages of gratitude.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Children played in streets where soldiers once marched. Families gathered around tables that had stood empty for years.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The banners of the Origin Clan did not signify chains. They signified release.\u003C\u002Fp>",1357,"2026-06-06T15:05:27.003Z",1,"novelbin.me","1fc7bc3f8b0dbc5cef4fdc930ca5928fbd9ac1fe601a36ab39002aa4e8f6878f","emperor-of-the-source-chapter-104","emperor-of-the-source-chapter-88",347,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Femperor-of-the-source-cover.jpg"]