[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-emperor-of-the-source":3,"chapter-emperor-of-the-source-emperor-of-the-source-chapter-143":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},1713141,2188,"Chapter 142: The First Level","emperor-of-the-source-chapter-143",143,"\u003Cp>The world folded around Adrian as he stepped through the archway.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The metallic gleam of the safe zone vanished, replaced by an open, endless expanse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cracked black stone stretched across the horizon, and shattered fragments of land floated in the distance, suspended by unseen energy currents.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then, a golden hologram flickered to life before his eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>› Kill Quota: 100,000 Essence Beasts\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>› Condition: Complete within a single continuous run.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Adrian frowned. \"In a single run?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He didn't know what it meant exactly, but he could guess. If he returned to the safe zone, the counter would reset.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Fine.\" His voice carried across the empty expanse. \"Let's see what the first level really is.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He moved forward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The landscape around him looked long ravaged by battles. Massive cracks sliced across the terrain, and scorched fragments still steamed faintly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The ground bore the scars of countless fights, craters overlapping craters, some still glowing with residual essence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Far ahead, red shapes flickered like candles in the haze.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A pack of Essence Beasts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They resembled wolves, but their bodies were entirely made of fire essence. Their limbs were fluid and translucent, their eyes empty sockets of molten light.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The largest one snarled, a ripple of heat distorting its form.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then, it lunged.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Adrian moved without thought, a short blink as he sidestepped the attack.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The beast struck only his afterimage, its claws raking through empty space.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The beast's power was fierce but equal to perhaps a peak SSS-rank. Dangerous to most, but not to him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Strong… but not enough.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He blinked, appearing behind them in a ripple of space. His palm sliced through the air, a spatial cut tearing through space itself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The front beasts split cleanly in half, their essence scattering into drifting embers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moments later, the rest charged and died just as quickly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A golden screen flickered before him again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>› Kill Count: 6 \u002F 100,000\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Adrian stared at the numbers, then let the projection fade.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was too easy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A single Absolute Source Order and everything within this plane would vanish. Even fighting normally with his advanced galactic space or fire concepts would make the trial trivial.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But… that would not train him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He clenched his fist, \"If I use the Source, it'll be over in minutes. But I won't grow.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The beasts were powerful, but each one was roughly an SSS-rank equivalent. They were nothing before his advanced galactic concept or source.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This tale has been unlawfully lifted from NovelBin; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He remembered what Gary said, the structure existed to train.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was a place designed to sharpen one's skills.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Let's see what happens when I fight this without any advanced galactic concept or source.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He restrained his power, reducing his essence output, limiting himself to the basic Galactic Fire Concept and only SSS-rank techniques.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The kind of power a peak SSS-rank might wield.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Minutes later, he found another cluster of essence beasts. This time, both fire and ice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The first fire beast lunged toward him, molten jaws snapping.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Adrian didn't blink this time. Instead, he moved, kicking off the cracked ground and using a burst of fire to propel himself sideways.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His body twisted mid-air, flames trailing from his feet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He countered with a Fireball, a blast from his palm that detonated midair, scattering molten sparks across the beasts below.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Two collapsed, their forms breaking apart. But the others kept coming.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Another beast charged, but this one was ice. Frost spread where it stepped, dimming his flames.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The temperature plummeted around it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Adrian thrust both hands forward. \"Fire Wall!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A barrier of flame roared up, ten feet high and crackling with heat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the ice beast plunged straight through, freezing it solid. The two forces clashed, sending shards and embers spinning around him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Adrian's eyes narrowed, analyzing every movement.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His fire bent, scattered, and struggled against the opposing element.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He used different SSS-rank skills he learned from Drakenholt library. Fire Cyclone, a spinning vortex that consumed three beasts at once.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then Flare Sweep, a horizontal arc of flame that carved through the ice pack's flank.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Each attack chained into the next, forcing him to think, to adapt, to shift heat and movement together.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>An ice beast lunged from his blind spot. He twisted, barely dodging, and felt frost bite into his shoulder.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Blood dripped down his arm, freezing before it hit the ground.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Damn.\" He grit his teeth, channeling fire through the wound to thaw it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For hours, the fight became a rhythm. Burn, dodge, freeze, shatter, move again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was bleeding, slightly burned, his robes charred at the edges.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But his control was sharpening. Each movement more precise than the last, each flame hotter and more focused.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Weeks passed like that.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Adrian's kill count rose, hundreds, then thousands.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Each encounter taught him something new. Conserving mana by chaining attacks, redirecting the momentum of flame rather than clashing head-on, countering ice with compressed heat instead of brute force.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His body moved through the broken landscape without pause, his robes tattered and scorched.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had no rest, not even enough time to refill his mana. His mana drained steadily.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The beasts came in waves. Some fire, some ice, some twisted amalgamations of both.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He dodged, struck, burned, froze.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When he finally found a quiet ridge to recover, he sat cross-legged, absorbing the ambient mana.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The mana here was thick, almost suffocating.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Within ten minutes, he felt his reserves refill completely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But before he could even rise, the ground cracked beneath him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A tide of essence signatures flooded his senses.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thousands.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Beasts poured from the fissures, fire and ice alike, a wave of living elements howling toward him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Adrian's eyes snapped open.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He rose, teeth gritted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"So… the real test begins now.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He launched himself into the air, fire bursting from his palms as he met the storm head-on.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He fought like a dancer in a burning storm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dodged through fire waves. Countered frost spears with searing arcs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He timed every movement, every breath, every flicker of mana.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A fire beast lunged. He twisted, drove his palm through its chest, and detonated it from within.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>An ice beast struck from behind. He spun, kicked off its frozen skull, and hurled a compressed fireball into the cluster below.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The explosion scattered a dozen beasts into embers and frost.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But even his focus had limits, his Mana dwindled, and his attacks slowed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dozens of beasts lunged from all sides.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He burned, froze, struck, dodged, until finally, a claw raked across his back, and another slammed him into the ground.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pain exploded through his ribs, and then a blinding light engulfed him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He reappeared in the safe zone, chest heaving.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Blood dripped from his torn robes, pooling on the metallic floor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The hologram appeared again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>› Kill Count: 0 \u002F 100,000\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Adrian stared at it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"…It resets. So that's what you meant by 'single continuous run.'\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The golden sphere appeared beside him once again,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>› This trial is not merely about strength. It is about endurance, resourcefulness, and mastery. Only those who can adapt may pass.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Adrian stared at it in silence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He sat cross-legged, closing his eyes as his body began to draw in the dense mana that flooded the air.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His wounds sealed slowly, flesh knitting back together.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Endurance… resourcefulness… mastery.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He looked at his hands, blistered and faintly burnt.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"This is the battle I needed.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He closed his eyes and smiled faintly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"No Source, No shortcuts, Just me.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When his mana finally filled again, he rose.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The golden archway shimmered ahead, awaiting him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Adrian straightened his back, rolled his shoulders, and stepped through once more.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Back into the first level, where a hundred thousand storms of essence waited to test the man who would one day surpass even the stars.\u003C\u002Fp>",1300,"2026-06-06T15:05:27.003Z",1,"novelbin.me","994c477b83cf057c52dfda8c6f98985d07d9004a7d2a8e6d3359d2036c62eabb","emperor-of-the-source-chapter-144","emperor-of-the-source-chapter-142",347,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Femperor-of-the-source-cover.jpg"]