Age of Adepts c1-1513

by Zhen De Lao Lang, 真的老狼

  However, the bloodline limits imposed upon them became apparent when they reached the higher Grades. The bloodline that had helped them and drove them to success was now a pair of shackles that bound their hands and feet. The upper limit of the source of their bloodline was a cage that trapped them!

  If they couldn't shatter the prison, they would no longer be able to improve and become stronger. However, if those adepts did overcome the limits of their bloodlines, they would have lost what they had always relied upon.

  The golden period where they could become stronger without even doing anything had passed entirely. Trying to get these people that had been spoiled by their bloodline to once again find a path forward was no easier than asking the blind for directions. It was why there had yet to be an adept who had advanced to Ninth Grade by relying on his bloodline!

  It was the same for the body-refining adepts!

  They might not have had upper limits to their Grade and their powers. However, their starting point and the potential of the human body was just way too low. It didn't matter how much they trained or refined their bodies. It was just simply too difficult to improve their physical attributes to the level of the Scourge Lords and the Titans!

  Consequently, the best and orthodox path forward for human adepts was the path of elementium. This path was the essence of an adept's future development!

  The bodies of human adepts were far too weak. The only thing they could rely on during their journey to the peak of the universe was the accumulation of generations of knowledge.

  The first adepts might have been extremely weak, but the hundredth generation of adepts were beings that were capable of obtaining the dominant position in their plane. The two-hundredth generation was a generation that was capable of causing the multiverse to tremble at their name.

  All of this had everything to do with the long and lasting legacy of knowledge!

  Human adepts were a group of individuals with minds, wisdom, and knowledge. They were not wild beasts that only knew slaughter and consumption!

  Thus, human adepts were defined as communal beings. In fact, they had to be collective beings! How else were they supposed to compete with those dominant species and races that had ruled the multiverse for eons!?

  Chapter 355 Nightmare Garden

  Greem and Alice reached the witch's cottage two days later.

  It was an arcane cottage hidden within the Nightmare Garden. The one in charge of guarding it was First Grade Death Witch Sharon.

  The two of them eventually found the entrance into the Nightmare Garden in an unpopulated area after Alice used her cuteness to pry the information out of some nearby villagers.

  According to Alice, this place was one of the 'wild' mission sites specially set up by the Witch Council. An official witch was garrisoned there to be responsible for the assessment and assignment of the missions undertaken by apprentice witches.

  As this place was not open to curious outsiders, the witch stationed in this place had intentionally created an atmosphere of mystery and terror surrounding the cottage. It effectively scared away any nosy villagers who were curious about the affairs of the witches. That said, there were indeed quite a lot of rare magical plants in the Nightmare Garden. Disregarding an ordinary peasant, even some of the weaker apprentices would have trouble walking through this place.

  The first thing Greem and Alice saw at the entrance was a grim and sinister garden enclosed by a slanted and ancient metal fence. They could vaguely see the tall trees and strange plants through the half-opened gates. A thin layer of mist obscured everything else in the distance.

  A line of bloody words had been written on a worn-down sign by the side of the gates of the garden.

  Nightmare Garden. Trespassers shall die!

  All the metal fences in sight were rusted and slanted. They barely managed to remain standing. Moreover, there were plenty of gaps in the perimeter that were large enough for hounds to pass through.

  That said, your ordinary dog probably wouldn't even have the courage to come close to an area like this!

  "Let's go. These are tricks the witches use to scare those village folks." Alice shrugged and reached to push the rusty metal gate. She walked into the garden as the rusty hinges creaked.

  To Greem, who was following right behind, Alice appeared to have suddenly melded into a layer of water. Her short and petite body became distorted all of a sudden.

  "Chip, keep a lookout for any trouble. Notify me immediately if anything abnormal happens!" Greem secretly gave an order to the chip.

  "Beep. Mission construction complete. Detected unique forcefield fluctuation. Danger rating does not warrant a warning as of yet."

  It would be best if there were nothing wrong!

  Greem finally let go of his concerns and walked into the garden.

  As expected of a garden known as the Nightmare Garden!

  The first thing Greem saw was the massive orchard before him. The orchard was a planting grounds for all sorts of magical plants.

  This spot was a magical plant resource site that was as large as the gardens of human nobles.

  The winding stone road beneath their feet was five meters wide. It was more than enough for two or three grown adults to walk side by side. To either side of the road were gardens protected by one-meter tall fences. All sorts of bizarre herbs cultivated within.

  Greem might not be a potions master, but he was still able to recognize most of the plant species thanks to the data library of the chip.

  The Nightmare Garden lived up to its name. None of the plants were of the ordinary variety. Almost every single one of them was a vicious and wicked plant that subsisted on blood and flesh. Any single one of them would cause a great disaster if they appeared in a society of ordinary humans.

  Human-Faced Mushrooms, Bloodsucking Vines, Man-Eating Flowers, Passiflora Caeruleas, Magical Konjacs, Snakehead Fungi, Dryads, Flower Fairies, and more were here.

  Most of these plants lived in groups. Greem had seen most of them back in his days at the magic swamp.

  The human-faced mushroom, for example, looked like little red mushrooms. There were a few dark red spots on their mushroom caps that looked like a smiley face drawn by children when connected. They would come to life and extend slim hands and legs when they sensed the aura of humans. They would gather together and chatter with their child-like voices. As a matter-of-fact, these human-faced mushrooms were reasonably cute creatures.

  However, if anyone were to be tricked by their appearance and walked into the circle of mushrooms, they would be trapped in a mysterious dream-like illusion. The victim would fall into a trance-like state that they would be unable to break out of.

  One shouldn't judge them on their cute appearance. The mushrooms were, in fact, carnivores!

  Of course, there were also plants that grew alone. There would only be one of their type within the entirety of the massive garden. Dryads were one such terrifying plant. They did not need companions to survive. All plants that settled near it would have their lifeforce forcefully ripped from them and ultimately wither and die.

  Still, the dryad planted in this garden was still growing. Once it grew to maturity, it would pluck its roots out of the earth and transform into a humanoid intelligent life. Transformed dryads were beautiful creatures. The males were handsome, and the females were attractive. Moreover, all dryads possessed natural charming abilities. They were one of the ideal contract creatures for witches.

  Wild dryads often hid in the depths of forests. They were a type of forest spirit and were extremely hard to catch. Even Greem didn't expect to see a young dryad in this garden.

  There were all sorts of other mysterious plants that Greem didn't recognize.

  He saw a large, dense patch of light yellow flowers. Their soft petals closed slightly together. The flowers waved along when a breeze passed by them. It was hard to tell what was so unique about them. It wasn't until Greem bent to take a closer look that he was shocked to find
a realistic human face within each one of the closed flowers.

  Old, young, male, female, pretty, ugly; all sorts of faces appeared in the hearts of the flowers. They all looked different but had a single common trait. The eyes closed tightly on all their faces.

  Greem couldn't help but describe the faces as 'them.'

  It was merely due to how realistic the faces looked to be. At one point, Greem had even mistaken the faces to have been taken from actual humans.

  Greem lifted his head in surprise. The patch of flowers blossomed with bright colors and plenty of liveliness, yet for some odd reason, he felt a chill run down his spine. A wave of chattering sounds overwhelmed him as a breeze blew across the flowers. It seemed like the human-faced flowers were secretly discussing something.

  "Beep. Detecting unknown forcefield interference. Recommending host leave the area immediately!"

  Perhaps the bad feeling wasn't just an illusion!

  Greem backed away and quickly left the eerie garden. He had a feeling that something terrifying would happen when those human-faced flowers opened their eyes.

  "Relax, this is one of the many resource sites that belong to the Witch Council. All magical plants are very strictly managed and cultivated. They wouldn't dare to attack you as long as you don't stray off the stone road. But if they managed to trick you into the flowerbed, then..." Alice didn't finish her sentence, but Greem understood what she meant to say.

  This situation was similar to the magic swamp Greem had spent many years in. There were far too many dangerous magical plants growing within a resource site. They were scariest monsters for ordinary humans. Even the weaker apprentice witches would be in great trouble if they came in here without prior preparation.

  Perhaps this was why the Witch Council arranged this place as the location of the apprentice witches' trial missions!

  Of course, a place like this had to be managed by someone!

  A strange morning glory rapidly increased in size just as Alice and Greem were wandering around the Nightmare Garden. The hoarse and sinister voice of an old lady came from inside it.

  "The Nightmare Garden is not open to the public today! It doesn't matter where you came from. How dare you trespass into my territory! Me, Witch Sharon! This is a massive offense! You have three minutes to get out of there, otherwise…"

  "Granny Sharon, your cute little Alice is here to visit you! Could you have forgotten me?" Alice didn't seem scared at all. Quite the contrary, she started to shout excitedly.

  Did she know the witch here?

  Greem immediately understood the situation. No wonder she picked this place, among so many others, as the first place to visit!

  "Alice. Which Alice…"

  The witch started to mumble to herself. Meanwhile, a naked, palm-sized flower fairy that looked like a miniature teenage girl climbed out of the morning glory. She had a pair of thin, transparent wings on her back.

  Honestly, the flower fairy looked remarkably similar to the green fairies Greem had previously seen. However, they belonged to a different category of forest spirit.

  One was good at plant-attribute support spells, had a gentle nature, and was often caught by adepts to serve as aides in their labs and homes. The other was skilled at the plant-attribute poison spells, was wicked and ferocious, could dash about at high speeds, and was often kept as a combat pet.

  The flower fairy took out a magic wand once it flew out from the flower. She flapped her transparent wings and circled Alice. Faint green spots of light drifted in the air.

  "Alice! It's you indeed, Alice. Alice of the Moya Clan. Your name has been talked about amongst the witches recently. I thought it was another fellow with the same name as you. Who knew? It was you! Well, now that you have arrived, come in. But it's best to leave that guy who came with you outside. He's really big trouble right now!" The old witch also saw Alice through the eyes of the flower fairy. Her voice continued to come out of the flower.

  "Granny Sharon, Greem is Alice's companion. Do you really have it in you to leave Alice's companion out here alone with these nasty plants?" For some reason, Alice had gotten better and better at exploiting her identity as a 'little girl.'

  Sighing came from within the morning glory.

  "You are already a twenty-five-year-old grown adult, and you still do this to me. Very well, very well. Have that male adept come in with you!"

  The flower fairy smiled at them when she heard the witch's orders. She then turned and led them towards the cottage.

  With the flower fairy as their guide, they quickly approached the wooden cottage that they hadn't able to reach earlier. It only took Greem and Alice two or three minutes to reach the entrance of the house.

  Chapter 356 The Greedy Witches

  It wasn't until Greem reached the front of the door that he realized the cottage was shaped like a bucket.

  It was like a massive wooden bucket stuck into the dirt. There were three ground levels to the building and an underground section.

  Even with the help of the chip, Greem's Spirit was incapable of reaching into the ground beneath the bucket cottage. A thick aura of death clung to the earth. He would have to alert Sharon's accompanying spirit to break through the defenses.

  Indeed, the witch standing before Greem and Alice wasn't a true lifeform. Instead, it was a powerful accompanying spirit with an independent consciousness and power rivaling a First Grade adept.

  She wore an extravagant dress like those of human nobles, and a red round hat on her head. She stood dignified at the door as she awaited the arrival of her two guests. She had a slim figure and a gentle, pretty face. Her light blue eyes were as bright as the purest of crystals, and her silver hair was soft and gleamed with beautiful light.

  If it weren't for her body blurring at the edges under the sunlight, Greem would have had trouble identifying her as a spirit.

  What shocked Greem was her aura and her beauty.

  The Northern Lands were the territories of the witches. Consequently, this was a different society, a matriarchal one ruled by women. With no need to seduce and please male adepts, the witches did not need to care for their looks and figures. Thus, they indulged in dangerous experiments and exposed themselves to the side effects, causing most of them to appear as ugly old hags.

  They might have been able to possess their seductive figures and charming looks once again if they invested a significant amount of resources into it, but what significance did such an act have in a world where women ruled?

  In this environment where only power and women commanded, the witches did not need to waste resources to please their male partners. It was why Greem had hardly ever seen a single pretty lady ever since he first came into contact with the witches. Moreover, they tended to be more ugly the more powerful they were!

  Alice instantly dashed forward and leaped into the embrace of the noble lady when she saw her.

  "Cheryl, Alice missed you so much."

  Greem was stunned for a second. He even forgot to breathe for a moment.

  According to what knowledge he had, all spirits were intangible. They didn't possess actual bodies that could interact with the material world. Such creatures could pass through any metal, rock, wood, or water without magical protection. In fact, spirits could phase through any substance that was not protected by magic.

  This trait was the terrifying thing about ordinary spirits!

  They had no real bodies, and therefore physical means could not harm them.

  Supernatural powers were needed to deal with spirits.

  However, the spirit before him could freely switch between intangibility and tangibility. This ability, to some extent, demonstrated her power.

  As of yet, Greem severely lacked any means to deal with Spirits. The results of a battle against a powerful spirit like this one were hard to foresee. After all, the books had been unmistakable on this. Accompanying spirits were always as powerful as the Death Witch they were partners with.

  "Cheryl, w
here is Granny Sharon?" Alice lifted her head and asked while still in the lady's arms.

  "She's busy with an experiment downstairs, so she can't meet you guys. Just tell me if you have anything you need to say!" The noble lady held Alice's hand and brought her into the cottage. She turned and spoke as she walked, "Come in and sit now that you are here! You must have quite a lot of luck to have reached here!"

  The inside of the cottage was decorated in a straightforward fashion, and there was a certain beauty to it.

  Everything in the house suited the aura Cheryl exuded.

  "Cheryl, you said that Greem was big trouble earlier. What was that about?" Alice couldn't bear to wait any longer. She asked the moment she sat down.

  Greem also took a seat at her side and looked at Cheryl without speaking.

  "You guys still don't know, do you?" Cheryl sighed as she poured tea for the two guests, "You killed an adept in the Witch Council's territory earlier. While it was an outsider, your actions still drew the ire of the witches. They've already added Sir Greem to the wanted list. I have a copy of the list over here by my side."

  "Wanted list?"

  "Wanted across the entire Northern Lands?"

  The first question was from Greem. It was evident that he still lacked knowledge of how the witch government functioned. Alice asked the second question, and she had gotten to the critical part.

  "Across the entire Northern Lands!" Cheryl nodded, "This means that any witch might try to catch Greem if they discovered him. They would then send him to the Witch Council for the bounty!"

  "But Greem killed that bastard Bill to protect me. Moreover, they were the ones who started the fight." Alice instantly exploded into a rage like a wildcat, with its fur standing on end.

  "I believe everything you say. That is why the Witch Council gave out a warrant for arrest, but not a warrant for execution," Cheryl sighed, "But do you think Greem will live to reach the Witch Council and appeal his case? The Witches of Deceit probably raised this entire issue. Their goal is to get rid of the only aid you have!"