Age of Adepts c1-1513

by Zhen De Lao Lang, 真的老狼

  After leaving the matter of harvesting the corpse’s resources to his subordinates, Greem shut his eyes and began the self-healing process. He intentionally left the harvesting job to the Fourth Grades of the Central Lands to make them feel involved and improve their sense of belonging.

  Judging from everyone’s positive and eager attitude, they were far more accepting of Greem’s rule now than before. The feeling of pride for the Central Lands had taken root in their hearts and was slowly growing.

  Just as Greem closed his eyes to deal with his wounds, he sensed something. He opened his eyes and stared calmly at the unfamiliar figure approaching.

  This person was not even two meters tall, smaller than even Greem’s finger. However, the tremendous power contained within him was enough to make Greem wary, even if he were in his peak condition.

  It was a reasonably good-looking young man. However, his hooked nose, thin lips, and dark eyebags ruined his impression, making him look like an overindulgent youth.

  Greem no longer judged people by their appearances but by the shine of the energy within them.

  Ordinary adepts could not prevent Greem from seeing everything about their existence through the principle level, even if defensive forcefields constantly shrouded them. However, this young adept was simply a black hole to his senses. Greem could not even discover the elementium attribute of his energy.

  It wasn’t the first time Greem had run into such a situation!

  Gloria had also been able to do such a thing by relying on her Fifth Grade equipment’s protection.

  The unknown man stopped five hundred meters away from Greem and did not try walking any closer.

  They might both be human adepts, but there was no trust or friendship between them. If the adept continued forward, he would break Greem’s ‘safety distance’ and provoke an instinctual reaction from Greem.

  Five hundred meters…that was the perfect distance. Even if one of them showed hostility, the other one would have ample time to react. That was why no powerful adept would ever allow another powerful individual to get too close.

  If an idiot were to be foolish enough to infringe on this safety distance……

  A fight would be inevitable!

  Of course, Ainley and Gloria were a different case. They might not get along with each other, but they were both from the Adept’s Association and had at least enough trust to stay within a reasonable distance of each other.

  “You are Ainley? I have heard of you,” Greem assessed the man and said, “I believe you are the first-ranked ultra-powerhouse of the Adept’s Association!”

  “I am the first-ranked ultra-powerhouse!” Adept Ainley said proudly, but then switched to a cheeky smile. “That said, us ultra-powerhouses can’t really be proud of ourselves in front of you. A Fifth Grade creature…who would’ve expected that even a Fifth Grade creature would die in your hands. That’s unbearably terrifying!”

  “You came here to say this?” Greem had an odd smile on his face.

  “Of course not. I’m here to discuss certain matters with you, sir. I see you are quite badly injured too. Why not let our Association’s healers help you? This should help you recover your combat power quicker as well,” Ainley said seriously when the topic of conversation veered back to proper matters.

  “Also, these are your spoils. Keep them well!”

  Having said that, Ainley lifted his hand and threw out four strange crystals of various colors. They drifted slowly toward Greem.

  Greem looked at the crystals as the Chip’s notification rang out.

  [Detecting four high energy elementium crystals. Peak Fourth Grade. Attributes: Wind, Frost, Earth, and Fire. According to the scans, these should be the power crystals found from the destroyed heads of the many-headed reptile, Fiveface.]

  Who would’ve thought that Ainley was generous enough to give up these peak Fourth Grade power crystals instead of putting them away for himself?

  The cold indifference on Greem’s face thawed slightly.

  Just as he was prepared to talk with this socially-aware Adept Ainley, the Central Lands adepts below broke out into rowdy cries.

  Declan’s bloody figure emerged from the corpse of Fiveface. He lifted up a jade-green crystal in his hands.

  “Fifth Grade…Fifth Grade.”

  Declan was so excited his voice had turned sharp and high-pitched. However, everyone could only think about what he had just said.

  Chapter 1414 - Principle Crystal

  Everyone’s gaze was drawn firmly to the dark green crystal held in Declan’s hands.

  Most of them were hundreds of meters away, but the profound principle flux emanating from the crystal left a deep impression on them. Even Adept Ainley, who had not been moved at the sight of the four elementium crystals, was affected when he sensed the principle fluctuations.

  He abruptly turned his head, searing greed gleaming in his eyes as he stared at the crystal.

  A principle crystal!

  That had to be a principle crystal!

  A terrifying beast howled in Ainley’s heart. He wanted nothing more at the moment than to reach out and cradle the crystal in his arms, to truly appreciate the taste of the principles within. Even though poison was wholly incompatible with his origin attribute, it was still a principle crystal! No one would ever not want it.

  Just as he was about to lose control over his emotions, Greem waved his hand, and a cluster of golden flames wrapped around the crystal. The dark green crystal flew into his hands.

  At the same time, a figure of the same dark green color emerged from his body. He danced on Greem’s shoulder like a lively child dying to get his treat.

  “Gimme, master…I want that thing. I want it, I want it.”

  It was Remi, the Spirit of Pestilence, who had been out of the picture for a while now.

  Ever since the Scroll of Voodoo devoured the Libram of Wisdom, it had advanced from Fourth Grade Soul Equipment to Fifth Grade. However, Remi’s soul was too weak and incapable of controlling such a powerful body. Consequently, he had no choice but to fall into a deep slumber.

  Now, upon sensing a poison elementium crystal with a perfectly compatible origin attribute, Remi was naturally thrilled. He couldn’t wait to devour the crystal to strengthen his soul and poison principles.

  Naturally, Greem would not reject his request. Remi was the artifact spirit of his Soul Equipment. Should Remi become stronger, it would become easier for him to use the Tome of Corruption. He would no longer be in the same awkward position as he currently was, where every use of the Tome of Corruption would exhaust Remi’s accumulated soul power.

  That was why Greem gave the poison principle crystal to Remi without hesitation after obtaining it.

  The one-meter-tall Remi suddenly opened his mouth unnaturally wide and devoured the crystal in a single gulp. He rubbed his bulging stomach in satisfaction and dove back into Greem’s body.

  Adept Ainley, who had been measuring his words and preparing to negotiate with Greem, was stunned in disbelief at the sight. After a momentary pause, the shock on his face faded into disappointment. He even lost all will to make small talk.

  Greem might not know how hard it was to obtain a principle crystal, but Ainley, who had spent years roaming the realms beyond, knew very well.

  Let us begin with the classification of an adept’s power. The traditional adept system divided adepts into nine grades, from First to Ninth. Each grade had its own corresponding standard of power.

  Apart from this, the source of power was also another category by which to divide adepts.

  Adepts of First to Third Grade relied primarily on elementium power. Be it for the sake of strengthening their bodies or unleashing devastation, the source of their magic was always elementium particles.

  These adepts were known as elementium adepts!

  Upon reaching Fourth Grade, adepts would become the most powerful beings in a planar world. They would finally qualify to come into contact with the plana
r laws. At this stage, the adepts would have to work hard to convert their elementium power into the corresponding law powers. In doing so, they would elevate their power’s origin.

  Their grasp and mastery of the planar laws would then become the standard by which their power was judged.

  Adepts like that could typically be called law adepts!

  Meanwhile, the magical powers of Fifth and Sixth Grade adepts were largely driven by principles. They had to concentrate the law powers to form their own unique principle power. It was only when one had mastered a particular principle power that they could rise from Fourth Grade, ascend beyond the limits of the planar world, and become a Great Adept that had transcended death and mortality.

  Thus, Fifth and Sixth Grade Great Adepts were also known as principle adepts!

  As for the powers of those beyond Sixth Grade? Ainley had only heard vague descriptions from others about how the Seventh and Eighth Grade Great Adepts no longer wielded principle powers. They used world powers of an even higher class. What the traits of this power were and where it came from were all questions that Ainley had no answer for.

  The Ninth Grade Great Adepts who stood at the peak of adepts apparently possessed a strange power known as Origin. Of course, Ainley knew even less about Origin and what it was.

  If he weren’t a core member of the Adept’s Association, he probably wouldn’t even have access to the information he already possessed!

  After all, this knowledge was of the most classified information even in the Adept’s Association.

  Ainley had already been stuck at peak Fourth Grade for over three hundred years. Even now, he was still unable to elevate his law powers into principle power. It was the only reason he had resolutely left the World of Adepts to go exploring in the realms beyond.

  It was the same for Gloria and the other Association ultra-powerhouses. They all faced the difficult problem of converting laws into principles.

  That was why Ainley had experienced such tremendous shock from watching a principle crystal disappear before his eyes. The tumultuous rise and fall of his emotions were so intense that his heart almost gave out.

  Principles…principles. Why were they so hard to grasp?

  The main reason for that was because principle powers were utterly intangible. They were mysterious and tremendous forces generated when a planar world moved according to its systems. It was only possible to slowly sense and understand the higher principles by leveraging the laws you had already mastered.

  It was like having a doctor who had never seen the anatomy of a person’s body attempt to deduce the shape of your heart and how it functioned just by feeling his own pulse. It wasn’t hard to imagine how difficult it was!

  That was why every adept who had made it past the threshold to become Fifth Grade were incredibly lucky. They were brilliant prodigies with exceptional knowledge of magic.

  It would have been impossible for them to achieve such unbelievable feats if that wasn’t the case.

  Ainley almost felt his heart break when he saw Greem feed such a valuable principle crystal to a ‘pet.’

  He exchanged a few more meaningless words with Greem before hastily leaving.

  …………

  While the victorious Fourth Grades adepts joyously harvested their spoils and enjoyed themselves, large groups of Association adepts and adept forces swarmed out of the tower and began to clean up the battlefield.

  Greem stood silently at the edge of Inkdeep Valley. With him here, the disaster creatures and mutated beasts were all forced to remain at the bottom of the valley, not daring to show themselves.

  It gave the Adept’s Association a rare opportunity to wrestle back control over the battlefield!

  All surviving mutated beasts were executed, one after another, before being butchered and reduced to magical materials. With such high-quality materials, the Association adepts would be able to create more powerful voodoo beasts.

  The war towers that had been destroyed were cleared out. New war towers were quickly raised on top of their ruins.

  Large groups of Association adepts even flew above the valley on large owls and two-headed eagles to cast down strange green plants.

  These green plants grew at a visible rate upon landing. Like enchanted daggers, their roots and vines dug into the hard stone cliff. Their leaves swayed about in the wind merrily as they devoured the evil and corrupting disaster aura.

  With their help, the mists of the valley slowly thinned.

  Apart from the depths of the valley, which remained shrouded in mists, the area outside the valley was already completely clear and restored to its former appearance.

  As they continued to purify the disaster aura, the World of Adepts’ law chains quickly grew and extended back over this land. The law aura grew stronger and stronger. The planar consciousness conveyed feelings of joy and happiness to every living creature toiling in Inkdeep Valley through the principle level.

  Of course, the low-grade adepts only felt more and more motivated as they worked. They couldn’t understand the existence or source of this mysterious power.

  Meanwhile, the Fourth Grade adepts shut their eyes and focused as the traces of planar feedback entered their bodies.

  It was a rare chance to come into contact with the planar consciousness.

  Nourished by the planar feedback, the adepts were able to gain sudden insights into the planar laws that had eluded them in the past. The principle powers that they could never reach were revealed to them faintly, like no more than a mirage.

  Why was it that high-grade adepts were always eager to participate in repelling planar invasions? That was because the planar feedback and blessings from the planar consciousness after the victory was always a rare opportunity to study the principles.

  If there weren’t a large-scale planar war capable of triggering the planar consciousness’s sense of danger, they wouldn’t be able to obtain a blessing of this level!

  From this perspective, the seven Central adepts who followed Greem here to Inkdeep Valley also obtained their just rewards. They put in the effort, risking their lives to fight with disaster creatures. It was only right that they received such a prize.

  Meanwhile, the Fourth Grades that remained in the Central Lands might have been safe, but they missed out on this opportunity.

  That was why it was always said that danger existed side by side with opportunity!

  The Adept’s Association were not shy to help Greem, the most significant contributor to their victory.

  A dozen Second and Third Grade healers hovered around Greem, using their abilities to help him remove the elementium poison in his body.

  Meanwhile, in the face of the large chunks of missing flesh, the healers shot out green beams and applied healing potions that could stimulate regeneration. They tried their best to patch up all the damage.

  With Greem’s gigantic body and terrifying elementium resistance, any injury would require kilograms of higher healing potions to have even the slightest of effects.

  The fact that the Adept’s Association were so willing to help Greem despite the costs demonstrated their sincerity in wanting to develop a friendly relationship with him!

  With regards to this, Greem simply smiled and accepted their goodwill.

  Chapter 1415 - The Association’s Open Conspiracy

  The Northern Witches and Silver Union each took up a spot at the edge of the battlefield as they recovered in silence.

  After hastily absorbing the planar feedback and catching the fleeting glimpses of the principles they were shown, the Northern Witches gathered around Death Witch Leader Khesuna and started whispering.

  “What is the Adept’s Association planning? One moment, they’re bullying Greem. The next, they are trying to get on his good side. Do they actually intend to get on friendly terms with him?” It was Circe who said this.

  Due to their prior disagreements, Circe had always harbored a deep-seated hatred for the legendary fire adept. No
matter what she tried to do to set Greem back, he still managed to rise without stopping.

  Even she, the Dark Witches leader, had to be extremely cautious in front of him out of fear that he would find some excuse to punish her. Circe couldn’t help but feel her fury flare at the thought of the humiliation she had just recently suffered at his hands.

  The moment Circe said those words, Khesuna’s cold and icy glare landed on her.

  “Circe, I don’t care what disagreements and conflicts you had with Greem before this. From now on, that is all in the past. You must maintain your basic respect and etiquette toward him at all times. Otherwise, if he were to take issue with your behavior, even I wouldn’t be able to save you. Understood?”

  “I understand!” Circe immediately obeyed.

  The two of them were both witch leaders of equal status, but Khesuna had established her reputation far earlier than Circe. Moreover, Khesuna was also an ultra-powerhouse. Among the witch leaders, Khesuna and Pale Witch Leader Silvia were the group’s respected big sisters. They were respected and feared by all the witches.

  Khesuna let out a quiet sigh.

  She could tell that Circe had not let go of her grudge.

  These high-grade witches had taken on tremendous authority and influence since advancing to Fourth Grade. They led comfortable lives where their every whim and will were obeyed. They had never truly experienced the dark struggles and cruel conflicts that occurred among adepts behind the scenes.

  They were too young and prideful. They did not know the severity of offending a powerful adept who was still rapidly growing in power!

  The Adept’s Association was powerful, wealthy, and influential. Yet, even they chose to take a soft stance with Greem instead of establishing hostile relations with a future Great Adept. Meanwhile, Circe had rashly intervened in the conflict between the Fate Witches over some personal interests; she was only becoming more and more involved.