Age of Adepts c1-1513

by Zhen De Lao Lang, 真的老狼

  The war against the beastmen had been raging on for over seventy years now. It had happened almost at the same time as the eruption of the magic tides.

  It was obvious that Witch Barbara, who had organized this attack, was also trying to take advantage of the magic tides to tear off a fatter, juicer piece of flesh from the beastmen pantheon. By exterminating the believers, she could weaken the strength of Beast God Arugel.

  As for when these two true bosses would clash and how they would clash? That was not information that someone of Greem’s level would ever come into contact with.

  Perhaps, at this moment, the true masterminds of this war were watching and assessing the actions of Greem and all their other pawns through an even loftier and higher lens!

  Greem felt an indescribable and unusual feeling in his heart at the thought of this.

  At this moment, however, the shout of an adept could be heard from the circular hall.

  “An ultra-grade force has erupted in the beastmen capital of Plane Behta of Skyriver Front. They summoned the clone of Kanbr through a blood sacrifice. Estimates suggest the clone to be Fifth Grade. Requesting reinforcements from headquarters!”

  The fortress spirit’s voice rang out in Hall Cloud almost instantly.

  “Adept Gerritsen of Hall Cloud, please assign reinforcements to Plane Behta immediately.”

  The Fifth Grade clone of Vassal God Kanbr obviously didn’t require Sixth Grade Gerritsen to mobilize. Thus, Gerritsen opened his eyes and glanced at his six subordinates in the hall. His gaze quickly landed on a male adept known as Piotr.

  “Piotr, you go! If possible, try not to fight. You just need to intimidate the enemy and make sure they don’t slaughter our forces,” Gerritsen calmly gave the order, and the Fifth Grade order stood up and bowed.

  The next second, an array lit up in a corner of Hall Cloud. Significant spatial fluctuations radiated from the array.

  It was important to note that the command center was trillions of kilometers away from the nearest battlefield. Landing there through a personal portal was impossible. Only these incredibly stable ultra-long-range portals could allow for traveling such incredible distances.

  Great Adept Piotr hastily stepped into the array. A few seconds later, white-light flashed as he vanished without a trace.

  A short moment later, another adept that belonged to Hall Cloud hurried over and found a seat to sit down in, replacing Adept Piotr’s position.

  The machine of war would not stop once it was started. It would only come to a pause once one side had been completely defeated.

  For the next month of Greem’s shift, numerous battles broke out on the frontlines, and more and more Great Adepts were sent out by the day. As many as four missions had landed in Hall Cloud during this shift so far. The other Great Adepts had all been sent out, leaving only Greem and another Great Adept idle.

  Was this special care being extended toward him?

  Greem couldn’t help but be curious, but he didn’t ask.

  The one-month period quickly came to an end, and the next six people were called in. Greem and the others who had been holding the shift were then allowed to rest.

  Every shift change meant that they had five to six months of rest.

  They were allowed to move freely during three of these free months.

  They could choose to rest in Boulder Fortress during this time, or they could teleport to a warring plane on their own dime to collect the local resources and knowledge.

  However, they would have to rest and wait in Boulder Fortress for the next two months. If the fighting got too intense, they would have to replace the Great Adepts in their shift at Hall Cloud.

  The point being that Hall Cloud must always have six Fifth Grade Great Adepts at the ready at all times.

  If this was the same across all twelve crystal halls, that meant Boulder Fortress possessed the tremendous ability to deploy seventy-two Great Adepts all at once.

  Of course, if they were to disregard the consequences, they even had the potential to deploy a hundred and twenty Great Adepts simultaneously!

  Chapter 1454 - Try Not to Compare

  Boulder Fortress. Great Adept living area.

  This place was an independent living area completely separate from the other regions of the fortress. The only ones that could enter this place were the Great Adepts.

  Greem traveled through the wide and brightly lit stone corridors alone. He took a few turns and finally arrived before a wooden door.

  Deng! Deng! Deng!

  A long time after Greem knocked on the door, a middle-aged adept opened the door. The adept’s face was dark, and a mean-looking green lizard lay on his shoulder.

  He glared at Greem with a hostile look before coldly saying, “What is it?”

  “You are Adept Karon from Mountainshade Plane, aren’t you?”

  “Indeed, that is me! You are…?”

  “I am Greem from the World of Adepts. I came here today because I have a favor to ask of you,” Greem’s face was full of smiles.

  “Greem…World of Adepts……never heard of you,” Karon mumbled to himself. It was obvious he didn’t like being disturbed during his leisure time. However, seeing as Greem was an adept from the homeworld, he suppressed his anger and let him in.

  As the adept faction’s top-class fighting force, a Great Adept’s rooms were naturally quite well-furnished.

  With spatial expansion magic, the rooms that were only one or two hundred square feet in size were easily expanded to over ten thousand square feet. The interiors were then arranged into different areas and furnished according to the preferences of the Great Adepts.

  Apart from the large living room, study room, bedroom, and bathroom, there was also the meditation room, sealing room, elementium altar, alchemy lab, and other magical facilities.

  The Great Adepts could basically complete any experiments they wanted here in their room without setting foot outside.

  This Adept Karon was an earth-principle adept with a natural affinity for earth elementium. That was why stepping into his room was like instantly showing up in the depths of a dry and harsh desert. Drifting sand particles filled the entire room except for a folding chair and a parasol placed underneath a palm tree in the middle of the desert.

  Apart from these, not a single thing could be seen in the entire desert.

  Adept Karon led Greem along, and the two of them instantly came to the palm tree after two or three steps.

  “Since you’re already here, why don’t we sit down and talk!”

  Karon leisurely lay on his chair and waved his hand. The sand under Greem’s feet quickly formed into the shape of another folding chair. The next second, the yellow sand peeled off as a soft, brand-new rattan folding chair appeared.

  Elementium simulation was possible even for Fourth Grade adepts.

  However, Fourth Grade adepts could only simulate the most basic of substances. They couldn’t simulate materials with more complicated structures. A simulated rattan chair was clearly more complex than a wooden chair.

  Greem smiled and sat down.

  As Greem sat, a surge of fire burst forth from deep underground, instantly reforging the rattan chair into a black-and-red magma chair.

  “I feel more comfortable sitting in this chair,” Greem smiled as he said.

  “Feel free to sit on whatever you like, as long as you’re comfortable,” Adept Karon replied with a smile, as if indifferent to Greem’s actions. However, the yellow storm spinning deep in his eyes was not as calm as before.

  This was his room. The arrays, runes, energy, and wandering elementium in this room were all under the direct control of his mental consciousness. Greem was actually able to use his own elementium principles to forcibly change the room’s environment and ‘steal’ a bit of elementium control from out of Karon’s hands.

  That…already indirectly demonstrated Greem’s masterful principle-manipulation ability and power!

  Adept Karon was somewh
at upset still, but he treated Greem more seriously upon seeing that.

  “What is it that made you come find me, Sir Greem? Something special?”

  “Not really. I only heard that Adept Karon was exceptionally skilled at the modification of living creatures, which was why I paid you a visit.”

  “You want me to create a voodoo beast for you?” Adept Karon appeared to be extremely proud of his craft. His face was filled with pride when he heard Greem’s request. “I’m afraid that’s not possible. I’ve been working on the creation of a peak Fourth Grade voodoo beast, so I’m afraid—”

  Adept Karon suddenly fell silent before he could finish. He looked at the seven-meter-tall corpse that had appeared before his eyes with horror and shock.

  “…a many-armed giant, and a Fifth Grade one and that. The body is so well-preserved too……”

  Adept Karon leaped up from his chair and lunged at the corpse of the giant. He ignored the grime and burn marks on the body and softly caressed the thick hairs of the giant as he carefully examined it.

  “Fifth Grade…it’s actually a Fifth Grade. If I’m not wrong, this many-armed giant used to be advanced Fifth Grade in life, with an earth affinity. What a shame…you didn’t know how to preserve the body in battle properly. Over 35% of its body is damaged…fortunately, the magical organs in its body are still there.

  “Wait, where is its heart? That’s the most important organ in its body! Wait, and its head? If it’s advanced Fifth Grade, it must have managed to crystallize a Crystal of Petrification. Where is it? The Crystal of Petrification? You didn’t lose it, did you?”

  The Crystal of Petrification?

  Greem frowned as he casually took out the many-armed giant’s eye from an alternate dimension. He tossed it in his hand as he asked, “You talking about this?”

  Adept Karon turned his head and looked at the yellow crystal. He immediately ran over, grabbing it with his hands as he looked it over and over. It seemed like he didn’t trust his eyes, so he grabbed the Crystal of Petrification with both hands and activated a trace of the petrification powers within.

  A thread-like beam shot onto the hand rest of the rattan chair. The next second, unusual petrification power spread within the folding chair, even transmitting to the sand beneath it. The chair, tree, parasol, and all the sand within a dozen meters turned into gray rock.

  “What pure petrification power! Adept Karon couldn’t help but admire. It was apparent that he loved this Crystal of Petrification immensely. If Greem weren’t of the same grade as him, Adept Karon would probably rob him already.

  “Adept Karon, you haven’t given me a reply! Can you help me turn this into a Fifth Grade voodoo beast with these materials?” Greem couldn’t help but speak up and interrupt Karon’s frenzy.

  “Difficult…very difficult…almost impossible,” Karon couldn’t help but mumble.

  “You can’t do it?” Greem’s face turned dark. It was somewhat beyond his expectations.

  “Not that I can’t do it. Rather, the damage to the body is quite severe, so the body’s power will regress to some extent after it has been turned into a voodoo beast. Without the Crystal of Petrification, I’m only confident in turning it into a beginner Fifth Grade. With the crystal, the odds of making it intermediate Fifth Grade are quite high!” Karon was still mumbling. His eyes were filled with deep pity.

  He might be a Fifth Grade Great Adept now with excellent biological modification abilities, but he was having a hard time finding Fifth Grade living materials. As such, he could only piece together Fourth Grade parts for his projects.

  The fact that he could still create peak Fourth Grade voodoo beasts despite being limited by his materials was already a testament to his exceptional ability!

  “Intermediate Fifth Grade,” Greem brooded in silence.

  He had just advanced to beginner Fifth Grade. Being able to obtain an intermediate Fifth Grade voodoo beast was excellent. Moreover, it would be an earth voodoo beast that excelled at defense.

  However, Greem wasn’t satisfied yet. He thought for a moment and took out a soul crystal from an alternate dimension, then asked, “What if you had the soul of the many-armed giant as well?”

  “The soul? You have the soul of the many-armed giant?” Karon was surprised. He then realized something. “The body, the Crystal of Petrification, and the soul are all in your hands. Could it be that you killed this many-armed giant alone?”

  It was no wonder Karon asked.

  For Fifth Grade Great Adepts like themselves, it was impossible to kill an advanced Fifth Grade magical creature solo. It typically required the work of an entire team and, even then, it would be a trial of life and death.

  If they were fortunate enough to succeed, the spoils still had to be shared between the entire party. Under such circumstances, being able to obtain one-fifth or even one-sixth of the spoils was already impressive.

  Yet now, Greem had obtained almost all the spoils for himself!

  That seemed like it was only possible if he killed the many-armed giant through his power alone.

  Greem only gave a few nondescript explanations in response to Karon’s question.

  “It isn’t all that surprising. There was a surge in the magic tide a while ago, wasn’t there? This many-armed giant was a minor Scourge Lord who was dumb enough to come into the World of Adepts to make trouble. Hehehe, taking advantage of the fact that he was greatly weakened within the planar world, I went to great lengths to finally kill it!”

  “Hss,” Karon couldn’t help but inhale as if he had an aching tooth.

  This Adept Greem was a little too lucky! To think he was able to run into such a fortunate occasion.

  Karon’s face filled with envy.

  However, he had no idea that Greem had only been peak Fourth Grade when he killed this many-armed giant. If he knew that, he would probably be ten times as shocked!

  “Alright, Adept Karon, you still haven’t told me. Can you create an advanced Fifth Grade voodoo beast with the many-armed giant’s soul?” Finally, Greem couldn’t help but ask this question he was most concerned about.

  “It is very likely!” Karon lowered his head and thought for a moment before saying, “With the Crystal of Petrification, and a few more resources, the damaged portions of the giant’s body can be regenerated. However, you must be prepared. Without the most important head and heart, the product’s final quality will be inferior to the original thing.

  “Moreover, with the soul of the giant, the voodoo beast will be able to gain some unusual abilities. It might even have a chance of becoming your contracted soul partner.”

  “I already have a soul partner!”

  “Give it up! You must know that this could be an advanced Fifth Grade soul partner. It has got to be—” Before Karon could finish speaking, Greem released the Fifth Grade Spirit of Pestilence from a tome-shaped divine artifact. The Great Adept’s face twisted up.

  “Goddamn! Bloody hell! what in the…you…you aren’t the bastard of some super high-grade Great Adept, are you!?”

  Chapter 1455 - Strange Seed

  An advanced Fifth Grade soul partner, or a piece of beginner Fifth Grade Soul Equipment with the potential for evolution? Even Karon knew which was more important between the two.

  Karon felt his heart bleed profusely when he saw Greem flash so many high-grade materials and equipment.

  Were Fifth Grade resources so easily obtained?

  Even a Fifth Grade adept would have to risk their lives to obtain such excellent resources. Otherwise, all they could get their hands on would be irrelevant leftover pieces from the dead bodies of Fifth Grade creatures. If you had to piece all your materials together in such a fashion, how were you ever supposed to create something of genuine quality?

  “Alright, alright! With this soul crystal that belongs to the body itself, the chances of creating an advanced Fifth Grade voodoo beast will increase significantly. After I create the voodoo beast, I estimate that it will have a si
xty percent chance of being intermediate Fifth Grade, and a forty percent chance of becoming an advanced Fifth Grade. That is, of course, if I can successfully provoke the disaster power within the soul crystal to turn into a disaster aura,” Karon analyzed from his professional angle.

  Greem nodded in satisfaction. The Chip’s conclusion after its analysis was very similar to Karon’s own. At Fifth Grade, the difficulty of creating high-grade items was no longer just a matter of compatibility of elements. It was also about the manifestation of the principle powers contained within the magical materials.

  The higher the grade of the material being processed, the harder it would be. The adepts had even established a field known as material studies for this purpose. The purpose of material studies was to examine how to preserve and stimulate biological activity in their materials to unleash the principle powers within them to their greatest extent.

  If such a high-quality many-armed giant corpse was given to Lich Kanganas, it could turn into a Fifth Grade undead. However, the earth principle powers and disaster power contained within the material were not compatible with death power. There would be a significant loss in combat strength.

  The Chip estimated that it would be lucky if the many-armed giant retained beginner Fifth Grade power after being turned into an undead!

  Meanwhile, the fact that Karon dared to promise so much clearly meant that he was very confident in his biological modulation and modification skills.

  “Since Master Karon is so confident, may I inquire what price I need to pay for your services?” Greem couldn’t help but take on a serious tone.

  The difficulty of crafting was incredibly high; an ordinary Fourth Grade adept would have no chance of succeeding. Meanwhile, hiring a Fifth Grade Great Adept would undoubtedly come at a significant cost.

  Even Karon couldn’t help but fall into thought at the question.