Greem and Mary of the Crimson Clan
Kerala of the Dener Clan
Alfred of the Molten Fire City
Declan of the Fabres Clan
Nicolas of the Entom Clan
Matthew of the Bane Clan
Mirva of the Annemdor Academy
Mornashen of the Gaia Clan
Andrew of the Ahlden Clan
Ashton of the Smalley Clan
Ariza of the Mansour Clan
Adrea of the Claire Clan
Mila of the Kunis Clan
Roderick of the Hill Clan
It was a small parchment, but it detailed all the Fourth Grade adepts of the Central Lands, as well as the situation with their clans. The names of Freed and his Jorma Clan had already been scratched off with a thick red line at the end of the list.
This single cross wasn’t just writing off two names, but the lives of tens of thousands of other people.
With the death of Freed, the extermination of the remnant Jorma forces was well underway. All Jorma clan members had already been gathered together for public execution. Adepts that possessed the Jorma bloodline were also being systematically ‘dealt with.’
Of course, it was fine if ordinary members of the Jorma clan somehow managed to slip away. The Crimson Clan did not have the time or energy to chase them all over the world. However, direct bloodline descendants of Freed and those with adept talent that had somehow avoided the disaster of Kerslin Castle had to die!
The Crimson Clan had already sent out large packs of vampires to hunt down these stragglers. They would be hunted to the very ends of the world and silenced.
That was perhaps the cruelest and most savage side to the adept wars!
Greem had always understood the value of life, but he did not want to leave behind any potential troubles for the massive cause he was working toward.
The Jorma Clan was easy to deal with. Without Freed, they were sheep to the slaughter without a chance to retaliate. The only things that troubled Greem at present were the ‘allies’ on this list.
He read the list from top to bottom and from the bottom to the top again. The only person that Greem could trust among all these names was Mary. Greem couldn’t even put too much trust in Adept Kerala, who had been most enthusiastic and helpful in the past few days.
Of this list, Mary was firmly on his side, while Kerala, Declan, and Alfred could be considered true allies. As for the rest? They had either succumbed to the Crimson Clan’s influence or were merely fearful of death. Either way, none of them could be trusted at all.
Should the Crimson Clan show signs of weakness, or any unexpected incidents occur in the Central Lands, these adepts would be the first to turn on him. As long as Greem remained powerful, they could only hide their ambition and malice in their hearts.
Furthermore, of these other adepts, Mirva, Nicolas, and Matthew were the renegade factors. They surrendered after everyone else had, and they also had quite the grudge with Greem. These two things alone ensured that they would not just settle in silence.
However, the Central Lands desperately needed stability to prevent those wolves of the other regions from encroaching. That was why even Greem could only accept the surrender of the three adepts, despite his own desires.
If necessary, Greem would even console them to avoid a war.
Mirva, Nicolas, and Matthew had only chosen to surrender at the very last moment. It was apparent that they were still hung up on the conflict. If Greem didn’t punish them at all, he would not be able to intimidate the fence-sitters and keep them in line. However, if the punishment was too harsh, it might stir a sense of sympathy and resentment in the hearts of the adepts. It would make it much more challenging to commence with the assimilation that was to come after.
The Chip might be assisting Greem, but he was still not very good at dealing with such complicated scenarios. He had spent most of his life in meditation or laboratories. Politics was not something he was particularly acquainted with.
Fortunately, the World of Adepts was a world where power reigned supreme. As long as he held the greatest military power, his opponents would not dare to take any actions that crossed the line.
Moreover, time would always be on his side!
While Greem silently thought about how to deal with Mirva and his two friends, he could hear gruff voices and shuffling steps outside the door to his room.
“What’s the matter, Billis?” Greem asked impatiently.
The door opened, and Billis bowed as he replied with his strange insectoid hiss, “Clan leader, it was Adept Mirva. He was worried you lacked servants to wait on you and sent a few maids over.”
Maids?
Greem’s gaze reached past Billis and saw the few slender figures standing behind him.
“Let them in!” Greem replied.
“Yes, my lord!” Billis then turned around. His glassy green compound eyes swept past the young women as he hissed, “You may go in now!”
Greem had also made preparations of his own for this stay in Annemdor Academy.
Fourth Grade Thunder Dragon Arms remained in the Crimson Fleet, with Meryl serving as the commander. Meanwhile, intermediate Third Grade Bug Adept Billis accompanied him into the academy.
With a Third Grade bug adept guarding the entrance, and the Fourth Grade Shadow Demon by his side, Greem was more than a match for any ordinary Fourth Grade adept even though he was still injured. It was because of his confidence that Greem agreed to the offer to stay in the academy.
Five women in total entered the room. They were all exceptionally beautiful. Two of them even gave off traces of magic.
Greem lifted his head, and his eyes swept over their bodies. A subtle smile appeared on his face.
Maids? Judging by their dress and etiquette, Greem could tell that these were not true maids. They were noble ladies used to a luxurious life. As for the two women with magic fluctuations? They were Second Grade female adepts.
Mirva had sent them here.
The two women that radiated magic stepped forward at the same time and bowed.
“Lord Greem, please hold no suspicions against our clan leader. He means no ill will.”
“Oh?”
“The clan leader was worried that my lord lacked servants, which was why he sent us here.” The woman pulled the sleeve on her shoulder down, revealing a rune resembling a brand. She said softly, “To avoid any doubts or misunderstandings, the two of us have had all our magical power sealed away. If my lord does not trust us, my lord is free to examine the seal.”
The other adept also pulled off her shirt, revealing the brand on her shoulders and snow-white bosom. She kneeled and said,, “Don’t worry, my lord. We are female adepts trained meticulously by the clan. We have been trained in that aspect and will be able to satisfy you!”
The two female adepts were very straightforward, but the three normal girls were already blushing bright red, their heads practically disappearing into their chests.
They had been sneaking glances at this terrifying adept of legends ever since they entered the room.
However, they never expected the legendary fire adept that was famous throughout Zhentarim would be such a young and handsome man.
As it was close to bedtime, Greem was not wearing his usual robe. Instead, he only had a thin spidersilk night robe around himself.
Greem was not even four hundred years old at this point. He was still well within the youth of his long lifespan. Even though his Physique had gone down due to the severe injuries he received recently, his body was still as muscular and attractive as before, with perfectly proportioned limbs.
More crucially, due to his body being constantly soaked in magic energy, every inch of his skin and flesh contained explosive fire energy. The fire energy blended with his life force, forming an incredibly masculine and wicked aura!
In addition, the influence of the fire laws had also made every one of Greem’s movements radiate an aura of unquestionable authority.<
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Greem lay casually on his wooden chair, his long, dark red hair scattered behind his back. Much of his chest could be seen where the robe ran down his body. You could even see a faint layer of dark red energies surging beneath Greem’s perfectly smooth skin from a distance.
Even without his renown as a legendary fire adept or an ultra-powerhouse, this body alone would allow Greem to attract all the women he wanted.
At the very least, these three carefully selected women and two adepts were all flustered and breathing heavily.
Suddenly, that feeling of humiliation at having been forced to be a cheap woman used to serve another man had vanished without a trace. They licked their lips lightly. They suddenly felt like it wasn’t all that difficult of a task to sacrifice their bodies for the clan.
“Leave me! Billis, find a room for them,” Greem could sense every change in their psychology with the Chip’s aid. He chuckled coldly and sent them away.
Of course, Greem wasn’t some abstinent monk. He didn’t want to ruin the golden opportunity he had created due to simple lust.
Once the five women had left dejectedly with Billis, Greem put away the parchment and started to consider a new question that had just appeared in his mind.
He did not seem to have a single descendant even now. That…might become a significant problem in the near future!
It was important to note that the core of any adept clan was its bloodline.
The Crimson Clan he had established had developed into a titan, but what exactly was the clan’s core bloodline? Of course, that would be his direct descendants!
That way, the Crimson Clan would naturally gather around his direct descendants, even if Greem would have to one day leave for space due to advancement to Fifth Grade.
However, he did not seem to have any descendants at all, nor was it likely he would have a descendant any time soon. It seemed like this problem was another issue that would have to be dealt with promptly!
Chapter 1338 - Greem’s Wicked Thoughts
Lineage. It was the most important issue in the World of Adepts!
Bloodline would determine your starting point and future potential, while lineage would decide whether certain groups of individuals would accept you.
The reason adept clans had appeared was because of the formation of isolated groups around certain core bloodlines.
Take Greem, for example. He was already a Fourth Grade legendary fire adept. If he could leave behind a bloodline, those among his direct descendants who could awaken that bloodline would possess fire affinity and weak law powers far surpassing that of their peers.
Greem’s bloodline descendants would have superior magical talent and attributes from the moment they were born!
Moreover, their odds of advancing into high-grade adepts were also much higher.
These were advantages that ordinary adepts had no access to!
However, bloodlines were much like streams and rivers. They gradually become muddied and polluted with the flow of time and the assimilation of different lineages. After a few generations, the essence and law aura in Greem’s core bloodline would vanish without a trace, reduced to an ordinary bloodline.
For the sake of preserving the purity and concentration of the core bloodline, many adept clans had stringent rules regarding copulation. Clan members were only allowed to partner with each other, thereby preventing the introduction of a foreign bloodline.
The larger and more powerful the adept clan, the more common incestual relationships were. The most direct consequence of this was the appearance of more and more deformed descendants. Geniuses were often born alongside idiots.
Many high-grade adepts would try endlessly throughout their long lifetime to mate with numerous partners, hoping to give birth to a descendant with their origin bloodline. However, as their power continued to increase, and the magic continued to influence their biology, this chance would become smaller and smaller.
In the end, the terrifying energy radiation of high-grade adepts would be beyond the tolerance of ordinary women. The woman would probably die in the adept’s arm before they could even finish.
High-grade adepts could only set their sights on intermediate-grade adepts or female creatures of foreign planes if they wanted to create offspring.
Some more extreme adepts had even started considering the possibility of ‘creating’ offspring through the alchemical combination of bloodlines to avoid the whole unlikely reproduction process.
Greem had experienced an unstoppable rise to power in the past, leaving him constantly busy and with a never-ending list of enemies to deal with. He’d never had the time to think about descendants or offspring.
Now, with the increasingly clear situation of the Central Lands and the seemingly unstoppable rise of the Crimson Clan, the more profound problems hiding between the wreaths of glory and victory started to surface.
It was time he had a child!
For some reason, when this thought appeared in his head, it started to occupy his entire mind like weeds growing in the wild. He began to become a little restless.
In his current state, the odds of giving birth to a child with an ordinary woman were close to nil.
No ordinary beauty would reject Greem’s grace.
However, his gene factors were far too potent for mortal women. The fearsome fire radiation alone would kill most life that existed in the universe, let alone the eggs of those frail, helpless women.
At this point, Greem had relationships with two high-grade female adepts, Mary and Alice.
Mary’s bloodline powers were far too powerful. Any child born with her would only be a vampire with no chances of inheriting the other person’s bloodline. If Greem wanted to have a child, Alice would be the only option left to him.
However, Alice was always hidden in her Tower of Fate, making even meeting her a complicated affair. Moreover, nobody knew whether her identity as the Witch of Fate would cause unknown effects on her child.
Greem propped his head with his hand while setting down a new mission for the Chip.
“Chip, begin new research question on how I should create a bloodline descendant.”
[Beep. Research topic constructed. Required information has been extracted. These are the initial summaries:
[Filtering from database. Target: all acquainted female organisms.
[All female organisms of Second Grade and below have been excluded, as they will not be able to survive host’s energy radiation.
[With a Second Grade female organism as the body of conception, the odds of offspring survival is 3.6%, while the odds of host mother survival is 21%. With a Second Grade female organism as the body of conception, the odds of offspring survival is 8.1%, while the odds of host mother survival is 52%.
[Target candidates include Meryl and Emelia.
[Meryl’s red dragon bloodline is the most compatible with Host. The base odds of offspring survival will increase by 32%. Odds of inheriting the red dragon bloodline will be 34%.
[Emelia possesses plant attribute, which conflicts with Host’s origin bloodline. Offspring’s regenerative factor will be significantly boosted. Odds of inheriting plant attribute will be 11%.
[Now filtering through Fourth Grade candidates. Strongly advise against Mary as the host mother. Odds of offspring inheriting vampire bloodline is at 100%. Said odds cannot be controlled by any means.
[Candidate: Alice. Fourth Grade. Human female. Candidate is the best one for Host within the database. Candidate’s Fate talent can perfectly merge with any attribute or bloodline
Note 1: Fate talent will positively affect offspring, though effects remain unknown.
Note 2: Candidate’s Physique should be improved slightly before conception.
[Potential methods for improving Physique is listed below.]
……
…………
Northern Lands, the Tower of Fate.
Lucia and a few other witches were gathered around a wooden table, l
istening carefully to Alice’s lecture in a bright hall.
Alice stood in the center of a hall, dressed in a soft silk robe that accentuated her curves. She had a jade-white belt around her waist, while her silky silver hair was scattered down her back. She had a tranquil and peaceful face, her sharp, blue eyes like deep oceans that gave her a sense charm of mystery.
While Alice was softly explaining the means of manipulating Fate magic to her students, a sudden chill rushed up her heart.
There was no need for divination crystals or her Staff of Divination. Alice simply frowned, and she understood the cause and root of this chill.
“Greem, you bastard,” The gentle Alice immediately turned into a spooked Persian cat. She raised a hand, created a ball of purple light, and hurled it into empty space.
The air was torn apart as the purple light slipped into the void, vanishing without a trace.
However, before the torn space could mend together once more, the other witches heard a pained cry from the other side.
It was a familiar voice. It seemed to be that legendary fire adept Greem, who was raising a riot in the Central Lands!
The witches were surprised and started making looks at each other.
Her companions made a few subtle signs at her, and Lucia silently reached her hand under the table, taking out a divination crystal from her sleeve.
She rubbed the crystal, and the mists of Fate in it started to dissipate. Just as a strange image was about to appear, Alice’s grating shout rang by Lucia’s ear.
“If any of you dare to use divination magic for no good reason, I will make you witch trainees again for three years!”
Lucia’s heart leaped, and the magic power was dispelled. The divination that was about to form also vanished without a trace. The crystal was once again shrouded in mist.
After ‘fiercely’ intimidating her disciples, Alice waved her hand, and the Staff of Divination appeared without a sound.
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