After all, the reason all the Fourth Grade adepts of Zhentarim had united and created an Association like this was to gain strength in numbers. They wanted to resist the influence of the three major forces, not to restrict their own freedoms.
Apart from the compulsory mission upon joining, Greem would naturally gain tremendous influence over the development of Zhentarim upon signing the contract. He would be an elder of the Association, after all. On the other hand, the Association would only place a few limits on what he could and could not do.
Every single Fourth Grade Association elder had the right to submit a topic of discussion for their meetings.
When a significant issue appeared, the chairman would summon the elders for a meeting, and a decision would be made through a majority vote. The Association currently had fourteen Fourth Grade adepts. Apart from Chairman Freed, who had two votes, everyone else had a single vote each.
Pushing a proposal only required a single vote, but vetoing it required a majority vote.
As such, as long as the majority of Association elders did not oppose the proposal, a Fourth Grade elder could typically exact his will without any problems.
That was perhaps the main reason all Fourth Grade adepts of the Central Region were willing to join the Zhentarim Association!
“I am still a Third Grade at the moment.” Greem lifted his head, looking at Chairman Freed, staring at him, and asked with some degree of confusion.
This contract clearly related to Fourth Grade adepts. He was only a Third Grade adept at the moment. It was obvious that there was something wrong if the Association was so anxious to have him sign the contract.
“You will be a Fourth Grade adept very soon!” Chairman Freed smiled at him, “I have confidence in you!”
Greem still hesitated.
Elder Nicolas, who was standing by the side with a dark expression on his face, said coldly, “What is it? Do you want to reject this contract? I warn you, think carefully about the consequences of rejecting this contract!”
Chairman Freed smiled and waved at Elder Nicolas.
“Don’t scare him. I’m sure Sir Greem will come to the wise and correct decision!”
Chairman Freed very obviously emphasized his tone when saying the word ‘wise.’
However, Greem felt like smashing a fireball right into his face when he saw his superficial kindly smile.
It was just good cop, bad cop!
While Greem was still hesitating, a faint but familiar voice rang out clearly in his mind.
“Sign it! I’ll explain when you come back.”
It was Alice’s voice.
When Alice spoke in his mind, Chairman Freed seemed to have realized something was odd. He lifted his head abruptly and looked to the north.
Greem hesitated no longer. He reached out with his right forefinger and gathered a small yellow flame at the very tip, which he pressed onto the mysterious contract. The instant the fire came into contact with the contract, Greem’s name, written in the adept script, mysteriously appeared above it. The entire contract then erupted loudly, scattering into black mist and dispersing into the surrounding air.
Greem could sense that the mysterious contract had not vanished, but had simply been stored in the core of Kerslin Castle’s animated consciousness.
Color finally returned to the faces of the Fourth Grade adepts when they saw Greem sign the contract. Adept Kerala and Elder Nicolas, who were witnesses to the signing of the contract, vanished without a trace after smiling at Greem and congratulating him.
Soon, only Greem, Freed, and Mirva were left in the secret room.
Greem might not have been a Fourth Grade yet, but judging from how the two adepts smiled at him, they thoroughly treated him like one of their own.
“Here, for you. This is the reward you deserve!”
Freed tossed an exceptionally well-crafted magical ring to him. Small fire diamonds had been inlaid onto the surface of the ring to form the emblem of the Zhentarim Association.
“This is your elder’s ring. You will gain the right to freely enter and exit Kerslin Castle while you wear the ring. At the same time, you will be able to command the adept forces of the Association to some limited capacity. There is also a small storage space in the ring. The five hundred Siths of origin substance we promised you are already in there.”
Even as calm and composed as Greem typically was, he couldn’t help but start trembling when he caught the ring.
After all, the power and influence that this ring represented in the Central Region carried tremendous weight. It most certainly held more power than most adept clans. To be brutally honest, once Greem wore the ring, he wouldn’t even need to lift a single finger to destroy an adept clan. He would simply need to express his will, and plenty of adept forces would be willing to do the deed for him.
After all, there were tens of thousands of adept clans in Zhentarim, but only fourteen Fourth Grade adepts.
It was obvious who held more weight!
“Don’t be too glad yet. Your authority as an elder will remain frozen until you advance to Fourth Grade. Everything here will only officially belong to you once you’ve truly become a Fourth Grade adept. However, I believe that this day will come very soon.” A strange smile appeared on Chairman Freed’s face.
“Also, if I were you, I would teleport back to the Crimson Clan directly and not emerge until I’ve advanced to Fourth Grade. You should know how much of a temptation these origin substances are to a Third Grade adept. Such temptation can drive countless people to walk down the most dangerous and risky of paths.”
…………
Fire Throne.
Gargamel was already standing at the entrance to the teleportation room when the brilliant light of teleportation faded. He bowed respectfully.
“Welcome back, clan leader!”
News of what happened had already spread to the Crimson Clan.
At this moment, the entire clan was boiling with excitement. People were celebrating everywhere. As Crimson Majordomo, there was also tremendous joy and insuppressible excitement to Gargamel’s tone.
“Alright, alright…stop playing these pointless games. The clan leader you were waiting for hasn’t returned yet. It’s us instead!”
Gargamel raised his head when he heard that familiar voice. It was then that he awkwardly realized that only Mary, Meryl, and Emelia were standing in the teleportation array. Greem’s figure was nowhere to be seen.
“La…Lady Mary, where’s the clan leader?”
“Hmph! What do I care? Keep waiting here if that’s what you like to do!” Mary became infuriated at the subject and stormed away in a fury.
“Lord Gargamel, wait here, won’t you!” Meryl was clearly in a good mood and chuckled as she left.
Seeing how confused her father was, Emelia tugged at his sleeves and leaned in to whisper, “The clan leader’s gone to the Tower of Fate!”
“Oh? Oh!”
Gargamel exclaimed for a while before finally understanding.
Chapter 1051 - The Secret Behind
A major astrology ritual had just ended when Greem arrived at the Tower of Fate.
Over a hundred witch apprentices walked out of the astrology hall in an orderly fashion under the lead of a dozen Fate Witches, leaving the vast space to the young man and woman.
These apprentices, who were barely fifteen years old on average, secretly snuck curious looks at the young male adept that had snatched the heart of their leader as they walked away. Even though the fire of gossip blazed in their hearts, the strict and solemn hall was no place for them to start talking amongst each other.
Once all the apprentices and witches had left the hall and platform, Alice walked towards Greem with light steps. He was waiting at the side.
Although the ritual had ended, the illumination stones around the hall had not lit up at all. It was dim in the room, but the ceiling above them was translucent, and the dark skies outside could be seen. Countless brill
iant and enchanting stars lit up the sky, shining as they radiated pure and profound star power. They resonated with the mysterious array carved on the astrology platform.
As Alice walked to Greem under this night sky with the spots of starlight cast down by the countless stars, she looked like a goddess descended to earth. Every smile and every frown on her face was so unbelievably charming, every movement and action so unearthly.
Greem held his breath and silently admired the gorgeous sight. The sublime beauty intoxicated his entire being!
“—hey, hey, what are you doing? I’ve been talking to you for half a day already. Have you been listening?” Alice said gently, a pout and expression of mild anger on her face. However, when Alice’s eyes met with the passionate eyes of the man before her, her white face flushed in an instant.
Greem pulled Alice lightly into his embrace, and his lips found hers without another word. He happily savored the kiss.
Oooo.
After a long while, Alice finally found an opportunity to push Greem away and keep him at a distance. Her face was still flushed, but she spoke up and warned Greem.
“Stop messing around. This is the astrology platform, and I still have many things I need to talk to you about.”
Greem laughed and pulled Alice into his embrace once more.
“I have many things I want to tell you as well. Why don’t we find a more private place to talk?”
Alice’s face turned even redder.
She pressed against his chest with his hand. Her body couldn’t help but start heating up as she felt that strong heartbeat and those firm, warm muscles.
Alice lifted her head and ran into Greem’s passionately burning gaze. She bit her lips softly and shot him a mean glance. It was then that she waved her hand. Their silhouettes shimmered before vanishing from the spot.
It was half a day later that the couple finally concluded their ‘celebration’ after a long time apart. They lay upon the soft bed, limbs intertwined, as they started whispering in quiet voices.
“What’s your plan for these origin substances?” Alice was still panting a little. When it came to Physique, even ten of her couldn’t match up to Greem.
“My understanding of the fire principles improved during this battle. Even without the origin substances, I won’t have trouble advancing to Fourth Grade. My advancement would just be delayed for a hundred years.” Greem was lying on the bed, letting Alice rest on his chest. He stroked Alice’s silky long hair with one hand while caressing her smooth back with the other. “Mary’s a bloodline adept and doesn’t need origin substances as severely as you do. So, it’s best to leave the origin substances for your advancement to Fourth Grade!”
“Hmph! You’re good at talking!” Alice pouted and bit his chest muscle softly with her white teeth. “You know we Fate Witches advance through the power of Fate. What can origin substance do for us? What is it? Are you afraid I’ll get angry if you leave the origin substances to Mary?”
Greem didn’t mind that his ‘lie’ had been exposed. He simply chuckled. “Both of you are women I love, anyway. It doesn’t matter who gets it in the end!”
Alice flirted with him for a bit more before propping herself up on one side. She pulled Greem’s face towards herself, indifferent to the fact that her chest was exposed to him and said with a serious tone, “Greem, I know you are confident in advancing to Fourth Grade, and I know you want to maximize the utility of the origin substances. However, I must warn you that you have to be the one to use this origin substance. Moreover, you have to act fast!”
Greem very rarely saw Alice with such a solemn expression. He quickly suppressed the trace of lust in his heart and frowned. “Why?”
“Because you only have thirty years left to advance to Fourth Grade!”
“What will happen thirty years later?”
“A war. An epic war!”
Greem then heard the name of a shocking and vast world that even he would yearn for from Alice’s mouth as she spoke with her sweet yet seemingly sorrowful voice.
Morrian, a human world led by arcanists, was about to rise from a mid-sized plane to a major plane. Once it succeeded, it would only need another ten thousand years of expansion and accumulation. After that, it would have a chance of becoming a powerful plane that stood at the peak of the multiverse, much like the World of Adepts.
Unfortunately, Morrian was not as lucky as the World of Adepts!
Morrian Plane’s development and growth had undoubtedly alerted many powerful races of the multiverse. The World of Gods, the Dragon Plane, and the Scourge Lords would never allow a new race to appear in the multiverse that could compete with them for territory and resources.
Thus, they sent the powerhouses and elites of their races to Morrian and started a wild invasion.
The arcanists, who held Morrian as their origin plane, had conquered over a hundred lesser planes in the past tens of thousands of years, turning them into outposts that defended the Arcane Empire.
Countless powerful individuals traveled through the remote galaxies, breaking into one lesser planes of the Arcane Empire after another, committing bloody slaughter in each and every one of them. The earth would fall apart, and the sky would shatter. One after another, these lesser planes were destroyed in the fires of war.
The retreating arcanists could only hole up in Morrian Plane, using their floating castles and arcane fortresses to form an impenetrable defensive line outside the planar barrier.
In the past tens of thousands of years, the Arcane Empire had raided and enslaved hundreds of planes of various sizes, taking the resources and treasures they found within to their own plane. They then used those resources to create mysterious constructs that could directly absorb spatial energy for their use.
With an endless supply of energy, the Arcane Empire became incredibly strong and nearly invincible.
If the various powerhouses of the multiverse had not united to attack them, the Arcane Empire might truly have had a chance to transcend and become one of the most powerful forces of the multiverse. Unfortunately, the proud Arcane Empire forged by the arcanists and Great Arcanists was torn to pieces by the swarm of enemies before it could grow to its full potential.
After a few hundred years of war, the defensive perimeter outside Morrian Plane had already been torn to pieces. The powerful Arcane Empire had become a withered flower at risk of falling into oblivion at any moment.
The adepts in the realms beyond also joined this epic war near the middle of the conflict, hoping to obtain valuable information and knowledge from the ruins of the Arcane Empire.
This terrifying and destructive war still raged on in the depths of space.
The Arcane Empire might have lost most of its ability to fight back, but the remnants of the Empire were still a formidable force. In contrast, the various races that had participated in the war, now possessing the absolute advantage, had lost all will to fight. They were only scheming and thinking about how they could obtain the largest share of spoils from the war.
Powerful gods, prideful dragons, and terrifying Scourge Lords sent out the elites of their races and cast them down to Morrian Plane. On the one hand, these elites were to induce destruction everywhere, crushing the rest of the mysterious constructs that sustained the arcanists’ ability to fight. On the other hand, they were to steal the resources and higher knowledge that the Arcane Empire had stored across their floating cities.
Naturally, the World of Adepts did not want to be left behind. They had prepared to send an elite party that would dive deep behind enemy lines to participate in the raiding of resources and knowledge in Morrian Plane.
Such a mission would undoubtedly be hazardous!
Apart from the fearsome arcanists, the adepts on this mission would also have to deal with fierce ‘allies’ whose intentions were unknown. Much like robbers dipping their hands into the same pockets, they would be both allies and competitors with these other forces.
Though the adept
faction might not be the weakest amongst all these forces, they were definitely on the weaker side!
The Great Adepts of the realms beyond determined that the adepts executing this mission would be of Fourth Grade.
After all, Fourth Grade was the limit of power that the plane could contain.
Rather than send a Fifth Grade into the plane and have their power restricted to Fourth Grade, it would be much better to send a group of Fourth Grades. That would prevent waste and inefficiency in allocating military force in the war.
The adepts of the realms beyond would select ten elite Fourth Grade adepts as the main force of this battle. They would execute the missions assigned by the Great Adepts. Each of the major forces were also to select and send a Fourth Grade adept to serve as scouts for the main party. These few adepts were to confuse and disrupt the enemy’s reconnaissance.
That meant that the Silver Union, the Northern Witches, the Adept’s Association, and Zhentarim each had to select a Fourth Grade to accomplish this infiltration mission arranged by the Great Adepts.
It was precisely the indescribable risk of this mission that caused all fourteen Fourth Grade adepts of Zhentarim to be reluctant to participate. In their eyes, this was a mission where one would most certainly die. Thus, after some scheming and planning, the unfortunate ‘scapegoat’ that was Greem was born!
After listening to Alice’s explanation, Greem finally understood the true intentions behind this tournament of peak Third Grade adepts.
He did not start shouting in frustration, nor did he begin cursing and waving his hands. Instead, Greem only frowned. His black eyes seemed to go deeper as he started to calmly and properly think about the situation.
Alice caressed his determined face with her hands and couldn’t help but plant a kiss on his face.
After a long while, she finally said with a hint of infatuation, “Greem, did you know? Your composure and calm demeanor are what enchants me above all else. Anyone else would undoubtedly have started blaming me for making a decision for them. Only you would never lose your calm. Only you would never fail to understand the importance of rational thought!”
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