Witches of Fate pursued destiny on a daily basis. However, they had no means of mastering their own fate!
It was impossible to bring any magical equipment into the river of fate, regardless of how powerful or well-crafted it was. The only thing that was useful in that level of the world was the origin strength that existed within her soul. This kind of strength exhausted as you used it, and there was almost no way to replenish it.
That was why Alice had no choice but to exhaust her own life whenever she wanted to change the trajectory of a future she had seen. By burning her life, she created a series of fate nodes. She then used one accident after another to crash against that determined future.
Back then, to save Endor, Alice had first needed to place several fate nodes in the river of fate. She then returned to the World of Adepts and relied on the efforts of Greem, Mary, and the others to reverse the direction of fate around those nodes. One by one, they added together to finally provide the required strength to smash against the original 'future.'
That was why accurate manipulation over the river of fate didn't just require Alice's powers of fate. It also needed a dominating force that would act according to her will. It was only with the combination of these two internal and external factors that one could hope to steer fate in the direction that one wished it to go.
And in this process, what Alice had to give up was her life force!
Alice was an extremely young witch. Under ordinary circumstances, she had only gone through one-fourth of her life as an adept. Yet the signs of aging on her face clearly showed that she was nearing her middle ages.
As high-energy lifeforms evolved from humans, the adepts might not be able to break free from the lowly organs, senses, and life systems of the humans. However, they could delay the aging of the body with magical energies. Many times, an adept could easily fix their appearance at a certain age of their long life, as long as they paid the price.
As long as they had enough magical energy, and their life system didn't falter, they would never age!
Visible signs of aging suddenly appearing on an adept was likely because their life had entered its final stages. Their magical energies were no longer enough to sustain a complete life system.
Signs of aging had now appeared on Alice. Greem could fully imagine what she'd had to endure during this period of time, and the pain of burning her own life!
"How much longer?" Greem grabbed Alice by her shoulders and stared into her deep blue eyes. He asked softly, "How much longer is your life?"
"Fifty-four years seven months and three days."
"Why is it twenty years less than last time? You…" Greem paused for a second and immediately understood.
"This is your first time initiating a plane war. It is crucial to both you and me. That is why I must guarantee its success!" Alice's words were firm and unmoving. She might be a frail woman, but her actions carried with them a pride and reservation unique to people in ruling positions.
"You saw victory?" Greem held her face as his heart ached.
"You are being an idiot again!" Alice rolled her eyes at him, "That's a foreign plane. My powers of fate can't extend all the way there. I only saw your existence in the future of the World of Adepts."
She's right!
If he still continued to exist in the future of the World of Adepts, that meant that he would not die in the other plane. That was good news!
Greem mulled over it. Finally, he lowered his face and pressed his lips against Alice's.
…………
Boom. A light thump.
The black mist in the array dispersed.
Greem lightly coughed as he walked out from the fog. A set of small and delicate teeth marks had clearly been left on his lower lips.
Er, they had already been in a relationship for so long, and she was still so bashful. To actually disperse Greem's body and send his consciousness projection hurtling all the way back. Ow, ow, ow. Why do these teeth marks hurt so much? Did that brat cast some special curse on me?
Greem rolled his eyes as his body appeared five steps away with a flash. He had used the fire to reconstruct his body during this flash. He could almost cast aside all damage and curses on the surface of his body through this method.
Strangely enough, Greem was stunned when he reappeared five steps away. He touched his lips and stopped on the spot.
Dammit, those teeth marks were still there! That brat Alice had gotten him good this time!
How was he supposed to meet people now?!
Greem howled several times silently. He had no choice but to form a golden mask out of flame and wear it on his face. It might look a little weird, but it was better than being laughed at by Mary.
Once he returned to his room, Greem began examining all his magical equipment.
The Blaze of Destruction could effectively amplify the power of fire spells. It even attached soul-burning effects to those spells. He could still use this staff after advancing to Second Grade, and there was no need to consider replacing it yet.
The three Ioun Stones, on the other hand, had to be retired. Once Greem became a Second-Grade adept the stones small enhancement would not affect Greem at all. There was no point in keeping them around other than to look cool.
All the rest of his magical equipment had to be retired as well. Their prowess no longer matched Greem's current strength.
The only one of all those that satisfied Greem's expectations was the Soul Equipment– the Scroll of Voodoo.
As Soul Equipment that had followed Greem through his apprentice years, the Scroll of Voodoo was also an accompanying-type magical equipment. It could absorb the power of the host's soul to strengthen itself continuously. Of course, the process of strengthening also cost plenty of rare resources and magical materials.
The Greem of the past had no idea about this and had no concept of where to start improving the Scroll of Voodoo.
However, he gained a clear and definite clue after deciphering the knowledge runes that Mary and the others had brought back from the burial grounds.
Greem allowed a thought flash across his mind, and the magical tome hanging by his waist appeared in his hands. As he caressed the hard surface of the thick book, he could feel a vague sense of power coursing through it.
This power was neither elementium energy nor magical energy. Rather, it was closer to the soul flux that all spirit consciousness possessed.
Greem flipped open the cover. The pages inside were somehow all merged together, leaving only a single page. Drawn on the page was a strange and profound hexagram. A large green jewel was embedded in each of the protruding edges, and a bizarre, doll-like lifeform was slowly crawling around in the middle of the hexagram. It was within the two-dimensional confines of the page, yet it gave people a feeling as if it was a living thing.
Greem looked at the strange array and then at the unknown lifeform. He couldn't help but sigh.
One had to use gemstones compatible with the Scroll of Voodoo's attributes to strengthen it. Six emeralds weren't much for Greem now. However, its six-emerald-per-month consumption rate was shocking, even for Greem.
The Voodoo Doll inside the Scroll of Voodoo had finally formed its body after Greem had fed emeralds to the Scroll for as many as ten years. Moreover, if Greem wanted to turn it into a Spirit of Pestilence, he would have to provide it with large amounts of flesh and life.
Initial estimates by the Chip suggested that a sacrifice of at least, bare minimum, ten thousand lives were required!
Chapter 490 Demons and Monsters
The possibility that the Scroll of Voodoo could evolve was both good news and bad news.
The good news was that Greem could now obtain a magically contracted spirit that was as powerful as himself. The strength of both the Voodoo Doll and the Spirit of Pestilence was tightly linked to the power of his soul.
The bad news was that the pages of the Scroll of Voodoo were merging into one. The original six spell slots had now all
vanished, and Greem no longer had free instant-cast spells he could rely on in battle.
On the other hand, the Scroll of Voodoo was even more tightly bound to Greem's soul. The tome could now help him resist manipulation-type spells, as well as increase his resistance to mental spells.
That was why one had no choice but to say that strengthening the Scroll of Voodoo brought on more benefits than downsides.
Greem sensed the dense voodoo energies from the tome, and his heart started to sink.
Everything was prepared, except for that one crucial element!
He had completed all his preparations. Everything on hand was in an idle state as well. There were no urgent matters in front of him. All was for the sake of awaiting a single outcome; a single result that would tie together all the lines and events.
Advancing to Second Grade!
Only if he advanced to Second Grade would Greem be able to most objectively demonstrate his power and potential to the adepts in his faction. That was how he could give them a reason and excuse to continue following him.
Otherwise, he would never be able to break away from an outsider's perception of him being a conspirator that only relied on tricks to elevate his status!
Greem wanted to be a ruler, a leader– not some random schemer.
That was why he would first have to prove himself before he activated his faction's power and brought them along with him for the arduous journey ahead. He had to prove his power, his infinite potential, and his extraordinary and wise vision for the future.
What else could be more convincing than the title of Second Grade? Not to mention, he was not even a hundred years old. He had plenty of time and power to attempt Third Grade advancement.
Being the follower of a great rising star of an adept. Were there any choices wiser than this?
As a result, this wasn't just something he had to do to instill confidence in his followers. It was to reaffirm his belief in himself. That was why it was time to prepare for advancement!
…………
Just as Greem was silently preparing for his advancement, a discussion regarding his fate was also taking place in Feidnan City, several thousands of kilometers away.
Feidnan City. The seventeenth floor of the Adept's Tower.
This place was still the personal dwelling of Third Grade Adept Lady Sanazar.
Only three individuals could participate in the discussion this time: Sanazar, Fügen, and Keoghan.
The three core adepts represented the benefits of the three different groups of adepts. That was why they were also the core group of individuals that decided the future direction of the Sarubo Clan's development in the World of Adepts.
Unfortunately, they had run into a troublesome problem today.
"Has the information from before been verified?" Lady Sanazar was still shrouded in a cloud of purple mist. One could only hear her familiar voice through the thick mist, "Has that brat truly reach the threshold for attempting advancement to Second Grade?"
Adept Fügen nodded silently.
As a veteran Second Grade adept himself, he knew very well the dangers of advancing to Second Grade. Even if that brat had actually reached the peak of First Grade, the chances of him successfully promoting on his first try was no more than 27%.
Moreover, that brat had been hiding in his tower for the past couple of decades, without taking a single step into the outside world. He had not experienced any opportunities to scour and search for those rare resources that could help with advancement. That stifled any chance of Greem making it to Second Grade through special tricks.
If Greem had still insisted on forcefully attempting to advance under these circumstances, then Fügen had no choice but to be impressed by Greem's decisiveness and determination.
"He might get outside help!" Even though he mostly only had the right to listen and obey instructions in these situations, Adept Keoghan still spoke his mind after a slight moment's hesitation.
Adept Fügen lifted his head, looked at Keoghan, and asked, "You mean from the Witches of Fate?"
"Yes!"
Adept Fügen thought for a while and couldn't help but nod, "Lady Sanazar, I also suspect that the brat has gotten help from the Witches of Fate. Otherwise, he shouldn't be trying the advancement in such a reckless manner. After all, with the basic lifespan of an adept, it would be impossible to attempt advancement more than three times. Everyone knows this to be the truth!"
"Hmph! What we need to worry about isn't why he chose such a moment to advance. Rather, it's about what stance we should take towards this action of his!" As expected of a Third Grade adept that had lived for six hundred years; Lady Sanazar might not often involve herself in the affairs of the clan, but she still managed to get to the core of the problem immediately.
Indeed. Greem had hidden his progress and did not have any intention to request for advancement ceremony resources from the clan. That was a clear indication of trouble!
It seemed the sixty-odd years of hermitage still hadn't managed to dispel Greem's thoughts of leaving the clan. Moreover, the brat had managed to push his Spirit to the twenty point advancement threshold at such a fast pace without the clan discovering. It was completely unbelievable!
It was important to note that even Adept Fügen, who had been known as a genius at cultivation, had spent one hundred and seventy-five years to get his Spirit to the twenty points limit. Greem had managed this accomplishment in that rural area without any help from the clan.
If it weren't for the spies that the clan had planted in Fire Throne sending the information back, they would probably only have gotten wind after Greem had successfully advanced. When that happened, they would lose all initiative.
Second Grade!
A Second Grade adept!
A person with such power could obtain high status no matter where they went.
In fact, in extreme circumstances, a Second Grade adept could already create an independent clan of his own!
Moreover, wasn't that brat doing precisely that in the place called Fire Throne?
A small, low-grade adept's tower had gathered eight or nine core adepts, and almost two dozen peripheral members. Weren't these the makings of a small clan?
If Greem were allowed to successfully advance and concentrate all his subordinates and resources with his identity as a Second Grade adept, it would be a simple matter to leave the Sarubo Clan.
After all, the Sarubo Clan currently had no Fourth Grade adept on the World of Adepts. Relying on a single Third Grade Lady Sanazar to beat down a Second Grade adept with a tower of his own would probably result in a tremendous internal conflict within the clan!
If things got serious and they couldn't subdue the conflict quickly, then the Sarubo Clan would be one step away from decline!
It was because they could foresee such a terrible scenario that the three core members of the Sarubo Clan remaining on the World of Adepts had gathered together to hold a serious discussion on all the possible outcomes.
"Firstly, I believe that Greem's advancement to Second Grade has more downsides than benefits. It is very likely to cause a split in the clan. That is why we have to find ways to stop him from successfully advancing! At the very least, we have to find a way to stop this first attempt of his that's about to come," Sanazar thought for a moment before finally coming to a decision, "Fügen, did the information you receive state the exact time that he will hold that advancement ceremony?"
"It should be three months from now!" Fügen answered firmly, "According to the information from that side, a batch of rare resources belonging to Fire Throne will arrive in three months. I have read through the list of resources. It contains many of the items required for the advancement ceremony."
"That is good!" Sanazar spoke in relief, "This means that we still have time to intervene and do something. Fügen; you immediately establish contact with Violeteye in Deepwater World. Have him put out a conscription order under the pretense of quelling a rebellion. Then h
ave Greem bring people into Deepwater World to execute the clan's compulsory mission."
Deepwater World?
That was a mature lesser plane that the Sarubo Clan had been running for over three thousand years. It was also the source of most of the clan's income. Non-core adepts of the clan would never be sent there under ordinary circumstances.
While Fügen and Keoghan were shocked by this decision, they couldn't help but marvel at the ingenuity of this idea after some quick considerations.
Deepwater World was a strange plane filled with mostly water! Greem would never easily attempt advancement once he was sent there, due to the clashing of attributes.
This way, it would be easy to delay his plans for several years.
Once they had removed the prick, the rest of the ants could easily be scattered and reassigned to other places via other means. Greem's tiny little faction would be torn to pieces. That way, they couldn't stick together. Even if Greem successfully advanced in the future, the impact to the clan would be reduced significantly.
The more they thought about it, the more they understood the brilliance of Lady Sanazar's plan. The two adepts betrayed expressions of admiration on their faces.
Before the three of them could further perfect the plan, a strange frog's croak rang out from Adept Fügen's body.
Fügen paused for a moment and took out a piece of magical equipment in the shape of a frog from under his robes.
The magical equipment was blinking uniformly with a red light. It puffed its cheeks and let out croaks.
"It's him! It's the spy I put in there!" Fügen's expression changed. He couldn't help but blurt that fact out.
As for who the spy that Fügen had arranged to be in Fire Throne, Sanazar and Keoghan had absolutely no idea. The Third Grade adept couldn't care less, while the First Grade Keoghan had no right to know. The whole thing had been managed by Adept Fügen alone!
"Answer it!” Sanazar's voice suddenly turned cold and severe, "If he's so frantic as to use emergency magic to contact you, something unexpected must have happened. Let me hear what he has to say as well."
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