Age of Adepts c1-1513

by Zhen De Lao Lang, 真的老狼

  Mystic and profound studies required constant experimentation and searching at every step along the way. Failure was only par for the course.

  That was because of the unpredictable nature of mystic studies!

  According to the Chip’s data’s estimate, mystic studies originated from the delicate changes of forcefields caused by the combination of magical energy and material substances. The difference in materials, environment, and substance caused large, complex, and numerous energy spaces created by the resonance between countless forcefields.

  Under such circumstances, a stable state was temporary, localized, and small in scale. Constant change and flux were what was generally referred to as mystic studies!

  The adept’s magic itself was the pursuit of this unpredictability.

  They used minute, localized energy changes as a lever to move the powers of the planar laws, thus guiding the laws in the direction they wanted. That was the true heart and core of adept magic!

  In this process, the only thing that adepts could control was the guidance process.

  They used chants, handsigns, spellcasting components, and magical arrays to complete the task of guiding the energy. Yet, how did the energy resonance that came afterward succeed at moving the planar laws? How did the movements of the planar laws then spread to the principles?

  Low-grade adepts knew nothing about this. Only high-grade adepts that had finally come into contact with the planar laws could continue researching this domain.

  Take fire magic, for example. The focus of Greem’s research back in First Grade was how to gather more fire elementium particles and invoke more fire elementium resonance when forming his fireball. In other words, he was trying to figure out how he could increase the concentration of energy in his fireball, make its explosion radius larger, and make the fireball itself more destructive.

  At Second Grade, Greem had researched the penetrative effects of fire energy and its conductivity.

  At Third Grade, Greem put his mind to the conversion and assimilation of fire energy with other magic energies.

  At its core, prior to Fourth Grade, Greem’s research on fire magic had only revolved around its superficial physical traits. It had not actually involved the magic origin of fire energy.

  Now, upon advancing to Fourth Grade and mastering some of the lesser fire laws, Greem’s research was finally moving towards the direction of magic origin. There were no pioneers in this domain nor any experience he could draw upon or patterns to follow. He had to figure out everything from scratch, alone.

  Every high-grade domain was a knowledgeable individual with plenty of information on their specific expertise. However, their research was closely related to their own abilities. Should such research and knowledge be leaked, it would mean that everything about them would be made public.

  That would put them in grave danger!

  It was precisely out of such considerations that high-trade adepts always kept their research a secret. They would only teach or trade their knowledge in portions, never offering them up to the public as proper theories as arcanists would.

  In comparison, this situation was much better when it came to the three major adept organizations.

  Through the use of resources, materials, and magical crystals as rewards, the organizations could obtain some inferior research materials and information that were not as sensitive to an adept’s privacy. This information could also be used as a reward, motivating low-grade adepts–who required the information but did not have the ability to embark on such research–to join the organization.

  However, at Zhentarim, the adept organizations were too scattered and fractured. They existed in the form of multiple independent clans. Magic knowledge would only be traded within clans, causing the magic system of Zhentarim to be significantly inferior to the three major organizations.

  If Greem wanted to make progress on his high-grade magic research, he would have to work hard on his own while also finding help from the three major organizations.

  Greem’s relationship with the Northern Witches was tense. Trying to obtain high-grade knowledge from them was impractical. Meanwhile, the Adept’s Association kept to themselves. Trying to purchase knowledge from them without a suitable medium to help him and without a suitable point of association was incredibly tricky.

  In the end, by comparison, the Silver Union was his best choice!

  The Silver Union was indeed a massive adept’s organization that most closely resembled a commercial entity. As long as you had enough magical crystals, there were no spells or resources you couldn’t buy.

  However, the high-grade knowledge useful to Fourth Grade adepts was too expensive. Even with Greem’s wealth, he was troubled by the astronomical price.

  The reason Greem insisted on expanding to space was that he had his eye on its market. Tens of thousands of different planes, each with their own unique distribution of resources.

  Something scarce in the World of Adepts could be much more common in another world!

  If Greem could navigate his way around the massive market of space that combined tens of thousands of planes, he could make a profit by conducting interplanar trade and taking advantage of the price difference. The incredible profit that could be found in space was unimaginable for a small clan stuck in a plane.

  Sending Gazlowe to establish an outpost near Exodar Camp was the Crimson Clan’s first step towards this goal!

  Chapter 1193 - The Orb of the Fire God’s Secret

  Inside an isolated dimension.

  It was a strange space, only one hundred square meters in area.

  There were no windows, walls, ceilings, floorboards, or even an entrance or an exit. The entire space was a sealed room surrounded by an unusual semi-translucent forcefield.

  You could knock on the forcefield if you stood at the edge of the space. It proved that the forcefields were material substances that indeed existed, rather than just an illusion. Strange, colorful lights could be seen outside the forcefields, making it hard to identify where this place was exactly.

  There was no air, no earth, and no water in this space. Naturally, there could be no life either. However, this place wasn’t silent!

  Greem was greeted by a destructive torrent of fire when he entered the space through a teleportation array. The red flames washed over his body but could not injure him in the slightest. On the contrary, they turned into dense fire energy that was almost solid in texture and surged into his body.

  Greem could feel the concentrated fire aura within his body. He could also sense, more than anything else, the commotion and desire of his Spirit. It had been left exhausted from the injury to his soul.

  Here, nourished by the plentiful and pure fire energy, it seemed as if even the wound to his soul was healing. He was reinvigorated and felt like he had before his injury– filled with power.

  The entire space was empty save for the Orb of the Fire God hovering in the air. It was slowly radiating waves of pure fire energy.

  If this was just pure fire energy, the Heart of Principles in Greem’s body could also achieve a similar effect. In fact, the power given off by his Heart was easier to control. The fact that the flames from the Orb could nourish and strengthen Greem’s soul and Spirit meant that it contained something extraordinary.

  Greem didn’t approach the Orb of the Fire God in a rush. Instead, he observed it from a distance.

  The starseal that Alice applied was still active. No unusual energy fluctuation could be sensed within the Orb. The waves of fire energy radiating from it were simply due to the Orb of the Fire God being such a powerful vessel and source of energy.

  The fire energy was gathered from the surroundings and concentrated within the core of the Orb. Most of it was converted into an usual, higher energy and stored. The rest of it radiated outwards in the form of this fire energy that was gradually modifying the environment.

  If Greem didn’t absorb the scattered fire energy in this isolated dimension,
the next time he came in, this place would be a sea of fire energy. If the Orb of the Fire God was given enough time and space, it could even forge a plane of fire or a molten world out of thin air.

  Even this isolated dimension had already been changed slightly by the Orb’s presence.

  The edge of this space was filled with sparks of fire fluttering in the air like ribbons. Meanwhile, the flames were much more concentrated and furious in the area’s center, where the Orb was. Red flames circled the Orb of the Fire God, pulsating and ebbing like waves.

  Closer to the Orb of the Fire God, the fire energy was so dense that it had turned into a liquid state within ten steps of the artifact. It shrouded the Orb in a massive ball of fire and hid it from sight. Even from a distance, Greem could hear the loud rumbling from within the liquid ball of fire.

  Greem stood at the edge of the dimension. Blue light flickered in his black eyes as he instantly scanned every change in the energy of this room.

  The intensity of the emitted fire energy at the edge of the dimension was at 137 points, while the power at the center had reached 335 points. Meanwhile, the intensity within that massive fireball was as high as 628 points.

  If Greem were just a Third Grade adept, he would only be able to move around the edge and center of this dimension. If he got too close to the fireball, his life would be at risk.

  Fortunately, Greem had advanced to Fourth Grade. He also had the Chaos Physique. It allowed him to move freely in a space filled with such concentrated fire energy.

  Greem had intended to use the devices in his laboratory to decipher the secrets behind the Orb of the Fire God. However, the strange element in the fire energy extracted from the Orb would rapidly vanish upon leaving the radius of the Orb’s radioactivity. The fire energy would turn into ordinary fire energy.

  That was more than enough evidence that the greatest secret of the Orb lay within itself.

  Greem casually walked through the mysterious sea formed of fire energy. Every movement of his Spirit would cause a tidal wave to wash across the sea of flames. His Spirit was continually guiding some sort of unusual power into his body. It made him feel warm as if he were soaked in a hot spring of just the right temperature in the middle of winter. It was so comfortable he didn’t feel like doing anything else.

  His body was very relaxed, but his Spirit was only getting increasingly excited.

  Countless fire elementium particles that resonated with his Spirit were surging into his tattered mind, slowly but surely mending the damage there. During this process, Greem’s soul origin was also being nourished and healed.

  Greem slowly walked up to the fireball and extended his right hand into the flames.

  He could feel the scorching heat the moment his arm entered the fireball. If he were any other adept, his arm would have been reduced to ashes in just a few seconds. All of the flesh would have burned away from the shocking heat of the fire.

  However, he was a Fourth Grade fire adept. Such horrifying heat was barely anything to him.

  A short moment later, the fireball trembled, and the energy dispersed. The Orb of the Fire God was taken out of the flames and revealed in its true form– a sphere the size of a fist.

  “Come out and talk! I know you are in there,” Greem casually said, even though there was no one around him apart from the Orb of the Fire God.

  ……

  “Playing dead is not something that works with me.” Greem smiled scornfully as he said, “You better not be a consciousness clone of Sinai, or I will have no choice but to wipe you away!”

  Upon hearing Greem’s vicious threat and sensing the terrifying fire energy that radiated from him, the Orb of the Fire God that had been laying silently in his palm finally moved.

  Flames erupted out of thin air.

  Golden fire appeared from the Orb and gathered together to form an unusual face.

  “How did you sense my presence? Honestly, how? Even those two vicious women from before couldn’t detect my presence. How did you do it?” The voice that came out of the face of fire was young and child-like. It sounded cute, so much so that it was even vaguely enchanting.

  “Vicious woman? Ha! If Alice hears you describe her like that, you will regret it. As for detecting your presence? Hmph! Nothing difficult. I once met a Flaming Tiger with its own consciousness in the Fire Plane. That is why I am familiar with the elementium life fluctuation radiating from you.”

  “A Flaming Tiger with its own consciousness,” The face mumbled to itself, its tone filled with envy.

  “Alright, since you are an artifact spirit with your own consciousness, you should understand what I am about to do to you, don’t you?” Greem threatened coldly. “So tell me, do you intend to open up your consciousness core to me, or do you want me to take the effort to wipe away your existence?”

  The smile on the face disappeared as the voice changed from that of a child to the low voice of a man.

  “Wipe away my consciousness? Haha! Tiny adept, I am not laughing at you, but you wouldn’t be able to accomplish such a thing even if you were a Great Adept! You are just a Fourth Grade adept, while I…am the spirit of Fifth Grade artifact. You can’t do anything to me.”

  Greem chuckled and gripped with his right hand, cutting off all energy supply to the Orb of the Fire God. The face vanished without a trace, reduced to simple sparks.

  “Chip, begin a deep scan. Send the results to me as soon as possible.”

  [Beep. Mission established. Beginning scan.]

  As the Chip’s mechanical voice rang in his mind, two beams of blue light shone from Greem’s eyes, continually changing spectrums and frequency as they scanned the Orb.

  The Orb’s outer layer was a sort of strange crystal, cool to the touch, without a trace of warmth. However, when the scanning waves landed on this crystal, most of the spectrums and frequencies were reflected, unable to penetrate it in the slightest.

  Even the energy spectrums that were fortunate enough to penetrate the crystal layer soon entered a space of fire of seemingly endless size. The flood of fire energy disrupted these scanning beams before they could go any further.

  Greem heard a slight popping sound and turned his head away. Black smoke was rising from his eyes.

  Greem closed his eyes. Two streams of blood trickled from his eyes and flowed down his cheek.

  Hmph! He had not been careful enough. The energy spectrum that had penetrated the Orb had been reflected and caused slight damage to his eyes.

  He could only close his eyes and release waves of holy light from Sodden’s Holy Ring to heal his wounded eyeballs. The fire energy he wielded was indeed most powerful in offense, but it was inferior to pure, holy light when it came to its healing effects.

  After almost five seconds, the itch on his eyeballs finally faded. Greem opened his eyes, and they were back to normal again.

  As expected of a Fifth Grade artifact. Even without its owner’s control and having most of its abilities sealed away, its instinctive ability for retaliation was still able to hurt Greem.

  Greem gritted his teeth and chuckled villainously. He gathered power in his eyes without any hesitation once again, and two blinding beams of blue light shone on the Orb once more.

  This damned thing! He was going to break it in today at all costs!

  Chapter 1194 - Portent of Danger

  The Moonspring.

  A sacred item of the elves.

  It possessed mysterious powers that surpassed the Spring of Life, the Spring of Youth, and the Spring of Magic.

  Drinking from the Spring of Life could replenish lost life force without any side effects.

  Drinking from the Spring of Youth could give eternal youth, leaving a person’s body at their peak and unaffected by the flow of time until their lifespan was over.

  Drinking from the Spring of Magic could help supernatural creatures recovered magic power at a faster rate. The process was gentle and came at no risk.

  Meanwhile, the Moonspring comb
ined the traits of all these elven treasures. When basked in moonlight, the well could periodically produce a sort of wondrous springwater. When the Moonspring’s water was drunk, it could prevent the loss of life force, the fading of youth, and the exhaustion of magic power.

  Even the seeds of the famous Moonwells of the elves had to be soaked in the Moonspring’s water until they sprouted before they could be planted.

  If the Spring of Life was a treasure that could replenish life force for an individual only once in their life, then the Moonspring blessed by Moonlight Goddess Meve was a treasure capable of constantly restoring life force. A support item like this was the best artifact for professions that relied heavily on their life force.

  With the Moonspring, Alice no longer had to be as cautious as she had been in the past when conducting her divinations. She no longer had to fear the backlash of Fate devouring what was left of her lifeforce.

  It was because of how significant and vital the Moonspring was to the Fate Witches that Alice held a massive ceremony the day after she obtained it. She led all of the Fate Witches in a fate prayer ritual in the astrology hall at the top of the Tower of Fate.

  The Moonspring looked like a clear pool of spring water.

  It was only two to three square meters in area, placed in an incredibly simple wooden basin.

  Every time moonlight shone down on the springwater through the ceiling, silver sparks of light would radiate from the liquid, filling the entire hall with the fresh smell of grass after rain.

  Alice had applied a Fate blessing on Greem when he entered Morrian Plane, while she was only Third Grade. That had exhausted nearly eighty percent of her life force. If it weren’t for the power of Fate she had managed to steal with the abduction of the heir of the Morrian Plane, she would already be on her death bed by now.

  Even after advancing to Fourth Grade and extending her lifespan, the lost life force could not be replenished by her advancement. It undoubtedly affected how many years she had left to live after her advancement.