The enhancement provided by the Orb of the Fire God was also impressive.
It was 300%. Even though this enhancement was limited to passive and summoning spells, it was still a tremendous improvement to Greem’s combat prowess. The most obvious change was to Greem’s Burning Domain, which had been gradually getting less useful as his enemies increased in power. Burning Domain’s strength had increased from 200 points to over 600, and even 700, points of power.
Such power was more than enough to pose a threat to an ordinary Fourth Grade adept!
Greem’s favorite Flamegate spell could also now summon a great deal more fire creatures. It was an increase from 500 to 1,500 fire creatures. In a certain sense, Greem was now even more terrifying than adepts that specialized at summoning.
Unfortunately, the Fifth Grade divine spell contained within the Orb of the Fire God was now useless due to the divine brand being sealed away. It was basically a missed opportunity for Greem to gain access to Fifth Grade fire spells before he reached that level. It was a huge shame!
Once he was done appraising the Orb of the Fire God, Greem took out the Fire Coral Staff from his Elder’s Ring.
He gently placed the orb at the tip of the staff. The orb clicked as the fire crystal that had been fixed in place by four coral tendrils fell off. Greem put the Orb of the Fire God in its place, and the four coral tendrils converged once more, wrapping around the orb and fixing it in place.
Greem then lifted the fire crystal that fell off and put it away.
In all honesty, this crystal was a potent item as well. Sadly, it was utterly inferior when compared to the Fifth Grade Orb of the Fire God.
After dealing with the Orb of the Fire God, Greem turned and left this isolated dimension. Instead, he went to the dimension where he had placed the Libram of Wisdom.
A small altar silently functioned here. The Libram of Wisdom was placed here, stacked with another unusual book. The energy projection of the two books was somewhat merged together.
As the Orb of the Fire God was compatible with Greem’s origin attribute, it had been possible to suppress the divine brand with the might of the Fate artifacts. However, the Libram of Wisdom was the primary artifact forged by the God of Wisdom for his personal use. There was almost no chance of suppressing the divine brand inside.
Since there was no chance of erasing the divine brand, the only option was to simply destroy the Libram.
Greem was decisive, as well. He immediately summoned Remi and returned him to his former state– his scroll form. However, Remi still kept his intelligence and consciousness.
Through the power of the Bloody Altar and Greem’s aid, the Scroll of Voodoo started to devour the Libram of Wisdom slowly.
This process was exceedingly slow and difficult. A backlash had almost occurred several times.
Fortunately, the Libram of Wisdom was only a ‘dead’ object. Without Hierro’s control, it was quite hard for a Fifth Grade artifact to resist the corruption of the Bloody Altar with its instincts alone. Additionally, with Remi’s intervention as an artifact spirit, it was a relatively smooth process of assimilation.
Remi’s weak soul projection appeared above the books when he sensed Greem’s arrival.
“How is it? How deep is the assimilation now?” Greem asked.
“87%,” Remi replied lethargically. “I need resources. I need energy…this is a really tough nut to crack. You are going to have to find something to replenish my power!”
Was it 87%? That meant it would take a minimum of another twenty years for Remi to devour the Libram full.
“I understand. I will collect the resources you need as soon as possible and bring them to you. Just stay here and finish the task without any worries!”
Greem examined the assimilation progress. After confirming that there were no problems, he finally left the isolated dimension.
Chapter 1225 - True Aristocrats
The Crimson Clan.
A glaring, reputed name.
It had risen from nothing to an age of glory in the central lands in a mere two hundred years.
Two hundred years. That might be long enough for an ordinary human, but for high-grade adepts that stood at the very peak of the world, it was no more than a glimpse in time.
Two hundred years might be enough for a First Grade adept to reach the end of their lifespan, and two hundred years might only allow a high-grade adept to improve slightly. But for the Crimson Clan, two hundred years was already enough for it to grow into maturity and achieve its current excellence.
Due to the limitations set down by the Witch Council, Alice was never able to announce her relationship with Greem publicly.
Consequently, in the eyes of outsiders, the Crimson Clan only had two Fourth Grade adepts.
However, this number was quickly overwritten as an even more terrifying Fourth Grade appeared within the Crimson Clan ranks. His rise to Fourth Grade had drawn increasing attention from the high-grade adepts and made them warier. Rumors and gossip related to the Crimson Clan started to spread all over the land.
Third Grade Thunder Dragon Arms had returned to the Crimson Clan in domineering fashion, appearing before the public as the third Fourth Grade powerhouse of the clan!
Three Fourth Grades gathered in a single clan. Such a thing had never happened before in Zhentarim.
The Crimson Clan was now an undisputed ultra-clan, a glorious aristocrat family that reigned above all other clans in the central lands.
If the Fourth Grade adepts of Zhentarim had only been wondering if Greem had the ambition to unite Zhentarim, they were now certain.
The only question was when he would set his ambition into motion!
The Crimson Clan’s meteoric rise also put the Zhentarim Association’s leadership in an awkward position.
The one dream they had harbored for centuries had not been able to come to fruition. Now, a Fourth Grade adept had appeared out of nowhere and taken up the position they had always yearned for, becoming the center of attention and power of the entire Zhentarim area.
They hated to see this, but there was nothing they could do!
Apart from the three Fourth Grades of the Crimson Clan, Zhentarim had fourteen other Fourth Grade adepts. If they could unite their forces, they would most certainly be able to suppress Greem’s growing influence and power.
Unfortunately, everyone had desires of their own. They each had their own plans and schemes.
Asking them to contribute their forces and obey the orders of the clan in an organized assault on the Crimson Clan’s influence was a good idea. Still, it was a fantasy that would never come to materialize.
This much was evident from Chairman Freed and Vice-Chairman Mirva’s relationship.
The two of them had been partners for five hundred years now. They were extremely close, yet their clan forces showed no signs of assimilation.
The main reason for such a phenomenon was because no powerful adept had appeared in the central lands in thousands of years. Without a strong central figure, the central lands would always remain in a state of separation, never bound together in a single force.
With this period of accumulation and expansion, the Crimson Clan’s foundations had grown ever firmer and more robust.
Apart from their leaders, the Third Grade force that formed the backbone of their military had also taken shape. They were terrifying, both in quality and quantity.
Third Grade:
Vampire Faction: Blood Knight Soros (intermediate Third Grade), Blood Mage Isa (beginner Third Grade), Shapeshifter Spalla (beginner Third Grade), Rothers (advanced Third Grade), Disais (intermediate Third Grade), Bechdel (intermediate Third Grade), Morses (intermediate Third Grade).
Human Adepts: Fire Dragon Adept Meryl (beginner Third Grade), Bug Adept Billis (intermediate Third Grade), Mystique Emelia (beginner Third Grade), Dragon Devourer Oliven (intermediate Third Grade).
Brain-Monster Faction: Brain-Monster Gazlowe (peak Third Grade), Split-Brai
n Mok (beginner Third Grade).
Goblin FRaction: Goblin Magical-Mechanic Locke (beginner Third Grade), Goblin Sage Snorlax (beginner Third Grade).
As for the Second Grades? They were only even more extensive in number!
During this time, the Crimson Clan had also accumulated a sizeable reserve of Queyras alloy through their continuous trade with Molten Fire City. In doing so, the magic generator furnace was no longer a limiting factor for the magical machine army.
There was a time when a hidden force working behind the shadows had contacted Molten Fire City, attempting to pressure its owner and force them to cut off trade with the Crimson Clan. Just as the lord of Molten Fire City was about to do so, Greem approached him and offered up the mushrooms from the Spirit World for trade.
Such excellent resources that could benefit even high-grade adepts were simply too much of a temptation. Alfred, the Lord of Molten Fire City, caved-in to Greem once more.
Three species of those mutated mushrooms were used to trade for Queyras alloy, and the cooperation between the two clans continued.
News of the Crimson Clan having access to otherworldly resources that could increase the attributes of high-grade adepts instantly caused a commotion throughout Zhentarim when it was leaked from Molten Fire City.
As reluctant as they were to continue increasing the Crimson Clan’s power, the high-grade adepts of Zhentarim could not cut off their desire for more power. They couldn’t help but send out representatives in hopes of purchasing these resources from the Crimson Clan.
A resource that could increase the base attribute of a Fourth Grade adept was invaluable.
That was why many Fourth Grade adepts whose progress of improvement had stalled entirely had no choice but to open up their treasuries and offer their riches to trade with the Crimson Clan.
After many negotiations and arguments, the Crimson Clan managed to procure a hundred siths of high-quality origin substance, two spacestones, seventeen bloodline purification potions, and six high-grade bloodline reconstruction potions through the trade of their mushrooms.
Items that could be traded amongst Fourth Grade adepts were often high-grade resources and materials. As for powerful magical equipment? They didn’t even have enough for their own use, let alone to be traded away to other adepts.
Greem was already plenty surprised that they were able to obtain a hundred siths of origin substance in this manner.
Origin substance represented the future of Fourth Grade adepts. It was an absolutely necessary resource for advancement. To think that someone would be willing to exchange origin substance for these mutated mushrooms. That was basically trading away their future for an immediate increase in their power.
Greem could not judge if such an action were the right one.
After all, he had not experienced the tragedy of not having any progress in his power for hundreds of years. Naturally, he could not understand the agony and despair of these adepts. Not everyone would be able to reach the limit of Fourth Grade and use the origin substance to become revered Great Adepts before the end of their lives.
In such a case, it was best to give up on a pointless struggle early on and live in the moment. That might not necessarily be the right way of living!
…………
After a hundred years, Greem had once again returned to the Fire Elementium Plane.
Unlike other foreign worlds, Greem felt no discomfort or planar suppression in the Fire Elementium Plane. In fact, he felt relaxed, more so than ever, from his very soul to his body.
The flames that covered the Fire Elementium Plane had gathered around Greem the moment he stepped out of the portal. They gathered around him, forming circle after circle of flames. Some pure fire spirits that had been born in this world emerged out of nowhere and started dancing around Greem as well.
These fire spirits followed him wherever he went as if he had become the ruler of this world of fire. It was as if the world as a whole breathed and moved to his will.
However, Greem knew very well that he was no more than a medium. What truly attracted the fire spirits was the Orb of the Fire God embedded in his staff.
To avoid others detecting the orb’s presence, Greem had forcefully cut off the orb’s resonance with the Fire Elementium Plane and chased away the fire spirits lingering at his side.
Greem closed his eyes and silently communicated with the world. He soon obtained information on his location from the fire elementium.
The Fire Elementium Plane was too large. Without specific planar coordinates to guide him, Greem would never be able to reach his desired location in his entire life.
When Greem was still a Second Grade adept, walking around the Fire Elementium Plane had been a dangerous endeavor. Danger lurked in every corner. However, now that he had become a Fourth Grade adept, everything here seemed so easy.
Traveling through the Fire Elementium Plane seemed less like an adventure and more of a leisurely stroll!
Perhaps it was the pure fire energy in Greem’s body, but most fire creatures here mistook him for a local. As such, most roaming fire creatures minded their own business when he walked by. They no longer lunged at him as if he was the enemy.
Greem was still dressed like an adept.
He wore a red adept’s robe and further covered himself with a black cloak. The hood was pulled over his face, and he had his staff in hand. He walked across the fiery continent like a traveler casually sightseeing.
When he was in a rush, he would teleport six or seven times with Fire Teleportation, crossing hundreds of kilometers with every teleportation. When he had time on his hands, he would break into the homes of intelligent fire creatures and visit the more powerful individuals among them. When he was bored, he would stop at some land of fire and build a small magical hut for himself before taking a nice nap.
One had to admit that the world consciousness of the Fire Elementium Plane was truly different. It did not give one any sense of urgency, or continuously push you towards improvement as the World of Adept did. Instead, it only contained an indescribable sense of leisure and laziness.
In all honesty, the Elementium Lords, Kings, and Monarchs of the four Elementium Planes were far too lazy.
With the power and size of the elementium planes, they could form a horrifying flood of elementium creatures with a little effort and conquer most known higher civilizations.
Unfortunately, elementium creatures seemed to be uninterested in conquering and invading other worlds. They wasted the tremendous amount of power they had and simply roamed the land leisurely with no higher purpose in mind!
Chapter 1226 - Path of Flames
Only those who had experienced the might of the Fire Elementium Plane could truly understand it.
The Fire Elementium Plane was incredibly vast. It had nearly a dozen times the landmass of the World of Adepts and was still continually growing and expanding.
In truth, the Fire Elementium Plane wasn’t as peaceful and calm as it seemed on the surface.
It didn’t invade lesser planes ceaselessly as the World of Adepts did. But over the eons since the birth of the Fire Elementium Plane, it had also invaded several famous space civilizations in history. However, it was uncertain if these invasions were intentional.
The stories were always different but similar. The flow of events in each particular incident bore shocking similarities.
It always started with the rise of a dominating species that conquered one world after another. When the power of the civilization reached a certain level, they would cast their gaze towards the Fire Elementium Plane, a world with an endless source of troops and fire energy.
Their past victories and success caused these powerful civilizations to lose their minds. They dreamed of conquering and enslaving the elementium planes to turn them into resource planes from which they could take whatever they wanted.
These civilizations had all undoubtedly overestimated their own strength and underestimated the true
might of the elementium planes!
When they opened a direct portal from their homeworld to the elementium plane, it wasn’t them who initiated the charge. Instead, it was an endless horde of elementium creatures that surged into their world, commanded by the Elementium Lords, Elementium Kings, and Elementium Monarchs.
Their dream of conquering the elementium worlds did not come to fruition. On the contrary, their homeworld became ravaged by hundreds of billions of elementium creatures.
The direct connection between the two worlds also caused a clash in laws between the planes. It didn’t matter how well developed these newly risen planes were. How could their laws possibly compare to the ancient elementium planes in complexity and power? Thus, the planar laws were assimilated, and an endless amount of elementium flooded the new world, causing devastating changes to its environment.
Gradually, the new world would be assimilated by the elementium plane, guided by the assimilation of their laws.
The new world would vanish, and the elementium plane would grow much stronger and larger.
Countless powerful beings and species had dreamed of challenging and conquering the elementium planes throughout history. Without exception, all of them had turned into the foundation stones upon which the elementium planes now stood. It had all come about by the elementium planes’ ‘passive’ expansion.
Greem had indeed expanded his worldview just by traveling through the Fire Elementium Plane. He had seen countless fire creatures and diverse species of semi-elementium creatures.
These semi-elementium creatures were new species formed from the assimilation of defeated native creatures from other planes. Such beings were not recorded in the Adept’s Handbook and, thus, possessed research value.
Dustfire Valley, with its strange, unusual scenery. The surging, overwhelming waves of the Sea of Ashes. The Sacred Fire Altar upon which countless fire creatures prayed and worshipped. The volcano ranges covered in smog and black clouds.
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