Age of Adepts c1-1513

by Zhen De Lao Lang, 真的老狼

  The adepts would never let go of a lone dragon that appeared in their sights if the opportunity allowed for it!

  For the same reason, the dragons did not have a good impression of the adepts who possessed sufficient power to hunt their companions. That was why the sight of both parties pursuing the other to death was a ubiquitous sight outside of the realms. They would engage in a fight as long as time and space allowed for it.

  In all seriousness, adepts and dragons could be considered two completely separate and opposing factions!

  When Third Grade Thunder Dragon Arms detected that unique magic aura inside the adepts, he immediately opened his mouth wide. A lightning storm the size of a grindstone quickly formed in his throat. If nothing unexpected happened, that fearsome lightning blast would explode in the midst of the adepts in the very next second. These lowly and despicable poachers would be exterminated before they could grow to become threats.

  Wiping out a small group of adepts like this one in a single blow wouldn't be a surprise with the innate abilities of a Third Grade thunder dragon. Of the six adepts, perhaps only Second Grade Greem could last a few seconds longer. Arms might need another bite or scratch of the claw to finish the job. The other First Grade adepts had absolutely no possibility of surviving!

  All the adepts present felt as if a large pot of glue had been poured into their minds in the face of the dragon's threat. Both their thought processes and bodily responses were more than ten times slower than usual. The few adepts could do nothing but stumble backward when they saw the sudden flash of lightning from the thunder dragon. The waited for the descent of the lightning blast with fear and anxiety.

  "My lord, our enemy is not them!" The kneeling Dragonborn Zacha shouted loudly, "That native goblin has successfully turned himself into a Third Grade monster. It is the magical machine army he's manipulating that has caused us so much trouble."

  The Thunder Dragon's body froze.

  His long head tilted slightly as he scanned Zacha with his amber eyes. He confirmed that Zacha was neither lying nor under the charm effects of the enemy. It was only then that he hesitated, withdrew his battle stance, and dispersed the small lightning storm forming in his throat.

  To be able to disperse such ferocious energy flux with a mere thought!

  Greem secretly felt relieved and shocked at the same time. For the first time, he was envious of the excellent innate abilities of the dragons.

  Honestly, the dragons were much like the bloodline adepts.

  They didn't need to wander everywhere to test themselves and to collect knowledge and resources as the human adepts did. The two activities that the dragons engaged in most in their lives was going out to rob the wealth of planar worlds, and then feasting and going back to sleep in their dens.

  Their power was obtained through this continuous process of eating and sleeping and waking up and eating.

  One could honestly say that all the knowledge and strength that a dragon needed was engraved in their bloodline and their soul at the moment they were born. As long as they obtained an increase in physical strength through dragon meditation (sleeping), then the knowledge of dragons that corresponded to their power would naturally appear in their brains.

  They were able to obtain such a powerful physical might and magical ability without putting in any hard work. It wouldn't be wrong to say that no other natural creature in this universe had a better life than the dragons!

  However, at this moment, Greem had no thought to spare on the good life of the dragons. Instead, he centered all his attention upon the Chip's passive probing ability.

  Greem didn't dare use any active probing abilities in the face of a Third Grade Thunder Dragon that could go berserk at any time. He could only use his passive data collection abilities to observe the actions of the thunder dragon. If the enemy truly wanted to fight, he would have to make sure he escaped the range of the thunder dragon's attack before the lightning blast could wipe out the party.

  Escaping should not be a problem for someone of his power, as long as he reacted promptly.

  If he was willing to risk death and stayed for another two seconds, he could also bring Alice and Mary along with him. However, if he did that, the risk of death would jump from 21% to 67%. If he were a little more greedy and tried to bring one more person with him, then his death rate would reach 89%.

  That was literally nine deaths out of every ten scenarios!

  Greem hated this feeling.

  His life was in the hands of the enemy. He could only rely on skill and luck for a sliver of a chance to live. This feeling was really…really unpleasant.

  "Zacha, are you sure about what you are saying?" The Thunder Dragon's rumbling voice reverberated throughout the hall, "You should know that you are speaking for these adepts now."

  "Indeed, master!" Zacha lowered his head. His attitude turned even humbler than before, "I wouldn't dare to lie to you. I am only saying what I have seen and what I have heard. Our greatest enemy of the present is in the underground hall behind us. It is controlling a large number of magical machines to assault us. My…my squad all died in there."

  It seemed all mentions of 'magical machines' had infuriated the Thunder Dragon.

  Everyone could clearly see scratches and marks of varying depths upon the beautiful blue body of this formerly noble, elegant, and sacred great thunder dragon. Many parts of his scales were dented or missing. The pieces of his flesh that had lost the protection of his scales were charred black.

  These seemed to be the work of the flamethrowers on the goblin magical machines!

  The two wings on the dragon's back were not balanced. The right side was curled behind his back and having a hard time extending, and it seemed there were countless tears and wounds on it. The Thunder Dragon's muscular left hind limb also appeared to be limping. He didn't dare place too much weight on that leg.

  More obviously were the marks on the Thunder Dragon's spiral horns. Cuts of various depths could be found all over them. One of the horns had even snapped off. Purple dragon's blood was seeping out of the base of that horn. Mary couldn't help but lick her lips.

  "Speak! Those damned, annoying metal cans were sent out by that goblin?" The Thunder Dragon roared, and the deafening Dragontongue almost shattered everyone's eardrums.

  Anyone could hear the dripping hatred and unconcealed fury in that one short sentence of his!

  "Indeed, master!" Dragonborn Zacha turned and pointed at the underground hall in the distance, "The one manipulating the machines is hiding there."

  There was no need to tell the dragon anything more. The next second, the berserk Thunder Dragon Arms flew past everyone's head. His massive body charged into the underground hall, bringing with it a pulsing aura of lightning power.

  For some reason, everyone started praying for that Giant Brain Gazlowe!

  Here was hoping he won't die too brutally.

  Chapter 540 Secret Passage

  The atmosphere in the room quickly turned awkward once Thunder Dragon Arms had charged into the underground hall like a whirlwind.

  Less than eleven dragonborn warriors had managed to make it here with Arms. Naturally, they stayed with Zacha once Arms had left for the underground hall.

  Zacha's attitude toward the adepts had slightly changed now that he had more leverage than before.

  The dragonborn and the adepts were unquestionably opposing factions in the end!

  It wasn't a good thing to leave the adepts to do as they liked on the battlefield while the master of the dragonborn was fighting with the Third Grade monster. After Zacha obtained a new group of warriors, the first person he had to deal with was Greem.

  In the end, Greem had saved his life once.

  That was why Zacha chose not to fight with him. Instead, he had his subordinates keep a close eye on the adepts and seal off the entrance to the underground hall. It was as if they were trying to prevent the adepts from doing anything suspicious while their master was fighting.
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  Greem didn't protest at all. Instead, he calmly gathered his subordinates and escaped into a tunnel.

  He might have saved Zacha once, but Zacha had also helped protect the entire group of adepts with his words. They had settled their debt. Greem could perfectly understand why Zacha was treating them in this manner.

  There were still quite a few magical machines around, but strangely enough, they ignored the adepts. They charged past the adepts and recklessly threw themselves at the dragonborn's line of defense.

  At this moment, a great rumbling came from the underground hall in the distance. The entire Steel Capital seemed to be quaking. Waves of mental fluctuations that appeared to belong to Giant Brain Gazlowe reverberated throughout the underground network. There were pained howls and cries for mercy mixed within these mental fluxes.

  "Follow me!" Alice's morale seemed to be at its highest at this moment. She stepped up and led the party through the winding tunnels as if she was familiar with the labyrinth-like network.

  Their destination was a secret underground room!

  There, they found Goblin God of War Tigule, who was crying as he cradled the corpse of Princess Vanessa.

  Tigule couldn't be any more filled with hate and anger than he was at this moment. He immediately leaped up and lunged at the adepts when he saw them arrive.

  Sadly, Tigule was no more than an adept-level goblin without his magical machine. Any of the adepts in the party could easily kill him, let alone Greem.

  Endor especially disliked ignorant fools like these. She took out a green frog and was about to toss it at Tigule. However, Alice stopped her before she could do so.

  Sofia strode forward under Alice's instructions. The berserk witch grabbed Tigule's stubby neck and lifted him into the air. Tigule couldn't reach Sofia no matter how frantically he punched and kicked. Moreover, there was no chance he could break free of Sofia's grip with his meager strength. He started crying and wailing after a bit of resistance.

  "You love Prince Vanessa?" It was only now that Alice walked to the front of Tigule.

  "……" Tigule was dejected, but he lifted his head and stared at Alice with hateful bloodshot eyes.

  "If I help you resurrect Princess Vanessa… " Alice's narrowed her eyes and smiled at the goblin.

  "Gah," Tigule gasped. He then asked in disbelief, "You…you can really resurrect… the princess?"

  "Don't you forget, we are adepts from the World of Adepts! The means that we have our up sleeves are beyond the imagination of natives of lower planes like you."

  Tigule chose to ignore the disdain in Alice's words.

  He gritted his teeth and asked in a soft voice, "What…what do I have to do to get you to resurrect the princess?"

  "I need a secret passage that leads to the underground hall."

  Tigule's eyes froze for a moment. He lowered his head and thought for a moment before finally and reluctantly speaking, "As long…as long as you can prove that you have the ability to resurrect the princess, I can provide you with a secret passage that no one will even think of. Even that Gazlowe might not have realized the existence of this passage."

  Alice was relieved when she heard this, and a huge smile appeared on her face once more.

  "There are two ways to resurrect Princess Vanessa. The first is through the Spell of Life Transfer. We will transfer all of your life force to Vanessa and resurrect her. However, if we did that, you would die without a doubt!"

  "I'm willing to do it!"

  "Don't get impatient. You should hear the second option first. The second option is the Spell of Soul Parasitization. We will extract Vanessa's soul and graft it into your soul. This way, she will form a parasitic relationship with you. She will become an accompanying spirit that outsiders cannot easily see, and only you can touch. Moreover, from then on, she will always be obedient to you and listen to only you."

  The same strange smile appeared on the faces of all the other adepts at the same time Alice said those words. However, Tigule failed to notice this in his cascade of emotions.

  "Now that you know of both options, why don't you tell me which resurrection option you wish to choose?"

  "I… " The previously resolute Tigule suddenly started stuttering. He didn't know what he was saying even after mumbling for several minutes.

  …………

  A small spark of light flashed in the dark underground tunnel.

  Tigule held a magic energy lamp in his hand as he led the way, limping as he walked. Six adepts followed behind him, their footsteps completely silent as if they were phantoms. All of their elementium auras had withdrawn into their bodies.

  This place was not an ordinary tunnel like the rest. It was a maintenance passage.

  Metal pipes and wires of various sizes spread all over the narrow corridor that was hardly even two meters in size. Half a meter of black liquid had pooled beneath their feet. Its temperature was approximately negative fifteen degrees or so and should have been a mixture of underground water and condensate liquid leaked from the pipes.

  The adepts didn't seem affected by the harsh environment at all.

  After all, all of their Physique had undergone tremendous change when they became adepts. There was a fundamental improvement to their natural abilities. The weakest of the adepts here was Alice. However, even she had two points of Physique, and those two points were more than enough to allow her to tear a living tiger apart.

  Alice shouldn't be looked down on just because she was a frail young witch. An environment like this one was still no trouble for her!

  They walked in the pitch-black maintenance passage for a long time until finally arriving in front of an open hall. A five-meter-thick metal pillar rose from the ground all the way to the ceiling above.

  Everyone could hear the strange rumbling sound of a surging flood within the metal pipe when they got close.

  "This is the main pipe that connects the space furnace to the surface layer of the Steel Capital. Gazlowe intends to use the energy in the space furnace to power the entire Steel Capital. Here is the main vein of power. Gazlowe's magical machines have blockaded all the underground tunnels. This is the only way you can get close to the space furnace without him noticing!" Tigule put down his magic energy lamp when he reached this place. He turned and stared at Alice, "I have already shown you the passage you wanted. What about your promise?"

  Alice raised her slender hand, and a golden birdcage appeared in it.

  Tigule moved closer. He could see a tiny corpse of Princess Vanessa lying peacefully within. Even more peculiar were the magical golden runes surrounding her body. An intangible and phantom-like Vanessa was slowly pulled out from the body. She stood on the spot with a blank expression.

  "What's happened to my Vanessa? You… don't you trick me!" Tigule shouted agitatedly.

  Alice smiled.

  "You need to trust us, now that you have decided to help us. I can only temporarily bind Vanessa's soul to this cage right now. It will take a lot more rare resources if I wish to graft her soul onto yours. These resources can only be found in the World of Adepts. So, if you want to obtain the complete soul of your lover, then you will have to go back to the World of Adepts with us!"

  Alice's words were like the murmurings of the devil in Tigule's mind. Even though he knew there was poison in them, even though he knew he was being led by the nose, there was no choice for him but to do as Alice said.

  "Fine, I will trust you!" Tigule could only submit helplessly, "This pipe is currently filled with magic energy; the energy storm will devour anyone that goes into it. Are you sure you want to sneak in from here?"

  Since he had already become an 'accomplice' of the adepts, Tigule had to start worrying for their safety, even if it was only for the sake of Vanessa's soul.

  "This is not a problem you will have to worry about!" Greem stepped forth at this moment, "The rest of you bring Tigule with you and leave at the fastest speed possible once Alice and I enter. The faster, the better. T
he further, the better."

  Alice put her lips together and smiled. She didn't oppose the plan.

  "Why is it you and her? Why can't it be someone else?" Mary frowned and couldn't help but ask.

  "Adepts with weak defenses can't even make it to the end if we were to enter the space furnace through this pipe. The reason I'm bringing Alice with me is because of her teleportation abilities. She can instantly bring us out at the most dangerous moment." Greem gave a quick explanation.

  Alice didn't seem nervous about the whole operation at all. She only handed over a silver-gray metal ball to Endor.

  Only Greem and Alice were left once the rest had departed.

  "How did you know I would be willing to take the risk along with you?" Alice spoke as she gently laughed.

  "Because this is the path you pointed out to me. If it wasn't you accompanying me, who else could it be?" Greem returned a gentle smile. He stepped forward and wrapped his arm around Alice's soft and slender waist.

  Alice couldn't help but shiver slightly. She rolled her eyes at him unamusedly.

  Greem didn't say anything else. He pressed her against his chest and crashed backward. Pure elementium fire instantly spread all across his back.

  The metal pipe quickly melted and softened under the intense heat, much like a red-hot piece of metal thrown into the snow.

  Greem instantly dove into the pipe with Alice in his arms.

  Chapter 541 The Disaster of the Space Furnace

  The underground hall.

  A terrifying battle had erupted between two Third Grade powerhouses!

  On one side, there was the Third Grade monster floating above the space furnace, Giant Brain Gazlowe, along with an army of countless magical machines under his control. On the other, you had the Third Grade Thunder Dragon Arms, expanding his broad wings and shrouded in a cloak of terrifying blinding thunderlight.