Age of Adepts c1-1513

by Zhen De Lao Lang, 真的老狼

  “Your wounds have recovered, yes?” Gerritsen asked warmly.

  “Thank you for your consideration, my lord. I am almost completely recovered now,” Greem replied politely.

  “Good, good,” Gerritsen flashed a smile. “You should know that in the time you were recovering, quite a few people asked me about you!”

  Greem’s heart moved when he heard Gerritsen’s implicative words.

  Quite a few people…could anyone that a Sixth Grade Great Adept would take note of be Fifth Grade or lower?

  What is it that had caused even Sixth Grade Great Adepts to take notice of him?

  Greem wondered to himself as he intentionally asked curiously, “Could I know who it is that has been concerned about me? I must pay them a visit and offer my gratitude, granted the opportunity!”

  “Well, you don’t have to worry about that. All you need to know is that people care,” Gerritsen had a mysterious look on his face. “Speaking of which, there couldn’t be a better time for you to have recovered. We are going to launch our primary offense against the orcs soon. Grab the opportunity and grab as much loot as you can for yourself!”

  “The primary offense?” Greem said in surprise. “To my knowledge, our progress in the past three years hasn’t been all that successful, has it? Of the seventeen gods of the orc pantheon, only Fifth Grade God of Hatred Enus has been demoted to a Fourth Grade demi-god, while Sixth Grade God of the Hunt Horr has been downgraded to a Fifth Grade low-ranked god. Trying to wipe out the orcs after such limited results doesn’t seem wise!”

  Gerritsen suddenly let out a laugh. “It seems like you still haven’t gotten used to the pace of life as a Great Adept. With our lifespans that last for upward of ten thousand years, do you think it would be worth it for us to fight the orcs to death over lesser planes? The main reason why Lady Barbara started this war wasn’t for land or resources. It was for the divine origin within the orc gods!”

  Divine origin was a loose term that referred to divine authorities, divine virtues, and divinities!

  “What does that have to do with a battle against the orcs?” Greem was still confused.

  “Without a war, how are we supposed to get divine origin? Without divine origin, what are we supposed to use to craft high-grade magical equipment? Lady Barbara has no grudge against the orc gods. She chose the orc pantheon as her opponent purely because the orc gods are infamous, even within the World of Gods. There’s no concern that gods of other pantheons would aid them while we fight!”

  It was Greem’s turn to be speechless now.

  Even though he had already vaguely guessed this to be the reason, to have a Sixth Grade Great Adept tell him all this in person was still unexpected.

  It wasn’t about values, justice, glory, or being right.

  The adepts had mobilized the force of hundreds of planeworlds and a hundred Great Adepts to wage endless war in the hundred planeworlds of the orc pantheon for nothing other than the divine origin contained within those gods.

  Countless worlds were destroyed in this process, and the number of planar creatures slaughtered in the process was in the trillions. How could those poor bastards ever understand? All the life of a small planeworld could not compare to the value of three to five divine authority fragments.

  How could those individuals fighting on the bloody frontlines understand? That their lives were so cheap and worthless that they were bargained with by their superiors that controlled everything behind the scenes?

  Gerritsen couldn’t help but let out a cold chuckle when he saw Greem’s face turn pale.

  “Given how powerful the orc pantheon is, we will likely trigger a violent retaliation if we push them into too much of a corner. The price we would have to pay for that would be immense. That is why we ought to stop while we’re ahead. It’s fine to give them a break now that we have torn a few pieces of flesh from their bodies and filled our stomachs for the moment. If you still want to obtain any more spoils, the upcoming final battle will be your last chance. Miss this battle, and you won’t be able to find another opportunity to harvest divine origin!”

  “Unless, of course, you challenge a god alone! Hahahaha!”

  Gerritsen seemed to think his joke was funny and started laughing out loud.

  With how frank Gerritsen had been, Greem naturally understood what was being said.

  In all honesty, what Gerritsen said probably resonated with the thoughts of most adepts.

  It was not as if there weren’t treasures more valuable and better than divine origin across the universe. However, the cost of obtaining those treasures was often far greater than simply waging war with the orc pantheon!

  The Great Adepts could gather together and lay siege to a mediocre pantheon, scrambling to scrape together some divine origin from the gods. Such a convenient and inexpensive affair suited the benefits of all adepts. Otherwise, this war wouldn’t have been able to attract so many Great Adepts to join its cause.

  Greem was only feeling somewhat shocked and stunned, having abruptly been exposed to the truth and immersed in this reality!

  He had personally witnessed the deaths of two Great Adepts.

  Those had been Fifth Grade Great Adepts!

  In a planeworld, that would make them akin to gods!

  Greem would feel better if they died for some ideal or greater belief. However, to know that the only significance to their deaths had been to obtain some ‘meager’ material benefit made Greem feel hollow inside. There was a deep sense of emptiness and pointlessness to it all.

  As a Great Adept, he would have to accept the cruel reality of the world.

  Moreover, divine origin was not a ‘meager’ benefit. It was a top-class resource that all Great Adepts pined after. If Greem possessed endless divine origin at the moment, he would be able to forge a dozen pieces of origin equipment and nourish his bloodline to its limit. How difficult would advancement be after that?

  That was why, as shaken as he was, Greem would never give up this opportunity to obtain more divine origin!

  “My lord, where will the final battle you mentioned occur?”

  “Plane Saka!”

  “Plane Saka? That…that’s the origin plane of the Beast God Arugel!” Greem couldn’t help but gasp.

  Most gods regarded the world in which they first ascended to become a god as their origin plane. All the planes they conquered after that were referred to as faith worlds. The status of these two kinds of worlds was utterly different.

  A god would be fine if they lost a faith world. It just meant a reduction in followers and a loss in faith power. However, if their origin plane was destroyed, their god kingdom would also be destroyed. Their grades would lower– if they were lucky. If not, they would die. It was no wonder that all origin planes were a cause of concern for the gods!

  The adepts had chosen Plane Saka as their main battlefield. It seemed like the adepts did this to force the orc pantheon into battle.

  However, the plots and schemes were none of Greem’s troubles. All Greem needed to worry about was whether he was prepared for this battle to get a share of the spoils for himself.

  Chapter 1499 - The Orc Pantheon

  Three years of seclusion provided Greem with not just recovery but also many subtle improvements to his power.

  His lost right eye had recovered and been reforged into the Berserk Eye.

  The voodoo beast that he left with Adept Karon to craft had been finished.

  The four Fifth Grade fire spells the Chip had been constructing were all completed.

  More importantly, after using large amounts of divine virtue to repair his body and nourish his bloodline, the Chip had finally managed to decipher and analyze the prerequisites for principle assimilation. Apart from his short and long-distance Fire Teleportation, Greem would also possess a more subtle and rapid means of mobility from now on– movement through the principles.

  If Greem faced an opponent of a higher grade than him, recklessly choosing to move throu
gh the principles in this fashion would expose him to risk. Against opponents of the same grade as those not acquainted with principle techniques, the ability to hide and move through the principle system was absolutely horrifying.

  Principles were formless, intangible concepts. Worldly weapons and ordinary elementium attacks could not even interact with the principle level. It would be impossible to harm Greem in his principle form without the use of principle weapons or high-grade principle techniques.

  The only problem was that Greem had only fully mastered two fire principles at the moment: Undying Flames and the upgraded Fire’s Clone. In particular, Undying Flames was still a relatively low-level principle. It was lethal and effective against enemies below Fifth Grade, but it was somewhat useless against enemies of Fifth Grade and above.

  After elevating Fire’s Image to Fire’s Clone, Greem gained three fire clones that could freely form and scatter. Each possessed thirty percent of his offensive power. If they merged together, they would become a powerful fire creature with ninety percent of Greem’s power.

  Thus, Greem came up with a pretty ingenious combat strategy.

  He would hide in the principles and wipe out all traces of his existence while having the fire clone remain outside, posing as him. Due to the soul connection between Greem and his clones, he didn’t need to worry about enemies seeing through his ruse.

  If the opponent attacked with the fire clone as their target, then Greem would ambush them from the principles while they were wide open. It would most definitely catch them by surprise.

  It was because of these new, powerful aces that Greem gained more confidence than before. He walked out of his room and stepped upon the planar battlefields once more.

  …………

  Plane Saka.

  The Beast God’s kingdom.

  A vast, endless stretch of grassy plains extended beyond the horizon. The inside of the god kingdom was just exactly to Beast God Arugel’s liking. The orc tribes were scattered all over the plains. A small idol of Beast God Arugel could be found in the center of each and every tribe.

  Here in this mysterious, vast, and plentiful god kingdom, the people had never wanted for food.

  The various tribes’ daily mission was to send out hunting parties to battle with the ferocious beasts and creatures that were left to graze on the plains. Upon victory, they would drag their heavy hunting spoils back to camp, start a bonfire, and begin roasting their dinner as they cheered and danced around the statue of Arugel.

  Hunting, prayer, and living. These orc petitioners that had been liberated from aging and death lived fulfilling lives that would make all orc believers envious of them. Meanwhile, their constant daily sacrifices and prayers gave rise to pure, firm faith power. This faith power was gathered through the idols and channeled toward the Beast God temple that stood at the peak of a mountain at the center of the god kingdom.

  The great Major God of the orc pantheon, Eighth Grade Arugel himself, resided upon a towering throne in the center of the temple there, silently surveying his divine kingdom.

  The only one that could freely extend his will and power within this vast land was him, Beast God Arugel!

  Not even the planar consciousness could extend a hint of its power here.

  He was the king here! He was the god! He was the absolute sovereign!

  Where the will of the Beast God reached, the mountains and valleys would reshape and reform to his heart’s desire. Sometimes crumbling to pieces, sometimes turning flat as earth, and sometimes undulating like an earthquake. Everything within his god kingdom was like plasticine to him. He could freely shape and form anything he wished here.

  If he wanted mountains, towering peaks would rise from the ground. If he desired rivers, surging torrents would burst forth and run across the land. If he wished for winter, chilling streams and freezing blizzards would fill the skies.

  What sustained all these miracles was the endless, surging divine power within the god kingdom!

  The petitioners living within the god kingdom, the mortal followers in the material worlds– all their faith power gathered within the god kingdom and was converted by Arugel’s divine authority into the purest of divine power.

  Arugel, who possessed all this divine power, was the absolute master of this space.

  It was he who had personally created this god kingdom upon which the orc petitioners lived. That was how he had slowly increased his divine power and his grade!

  Gods were immortal!

  As long as his divine body wasn’t destroyed by an enemy, his divine authority taken, and his consciousness wiped from it, Beast God Arugel would continue to exist until the end of the universe.

  Consequently, the way in which gods thought was fundamentally different from mortals!

  At the moment, a dozen strange figures of varying heights and types stood in Arugel’s temple. Most of them glowed with golden divine radiance. It was apparent at a glance that they were clones of certain gods.

  Only one who was seated in a corner did not radiate the unique divine radiance of true gods. Instead, he looked like an ordinary, dejected orc.

  At the moment, a somewhat scrawny orc god whose eyes glowed with unnatural intelligence was talking his head off, explaining to his peers the strategy to deal with the adepts’ invasion.

  Unfortunately, the numerous orc gods present were all emitting a savage, impatient aura. They did not have the patience to execute such complex strategic maneuvers.

  “Do we have to make this so complicated? Those human adepts are all soft eggs. Can they even defend against us if we gather our forces and charge at them?”

  “That’s true! All this shuffling around and tricks and schemes hasn’t managed to weaken the enemy in the slightest; already, our power’s been scattered all over the place.”

  “Right! Right! If I had a say, we should all follow after the boss. Just go all out and wipe out the adepts’ lair. We’ll see what they have to be arrogant about after that!”

  These musclebrains were all muscular and powerful individuals. They had never been fearful of anything in all these years, even when they had to fight with numerical disadvantages. They were rough individuals that would swing their axes at the drop of a hat.

  This personality of theirs had only been amplified by their divine virtue after becoming gods.

  Rough, callous, cruel, savage, impulsive, temperamental.

  These negative words seemed to follow them forever, becoming a label for the entirety of the orc pantheon.

  Perhaps influenced by the restlessness of his vassal gods, even Arugel, the Major God of the orcs, couldn’t help but become agitated.

  “Those human adepts have become increasingly arrogant!” Arugel’s true form was that of a one-eyed orc wearing a crude black suit of armor. The giant eye embedded on his forehead blinked when he spoke of the enemy. A deep-seated hatred was revealed in it. “They’ve destroyed Enus’ origin plane and ravaged many of our faith worlds. We must repay this grudge in blood!”

  Upon hearing this, Demi-God Enus stood up furiously and waved his arms. “Boss, tell us how we’re fighting this! I, Enus, will follow after you, even if I were to actually die.”

  “Yes! I want revenge as well!” Horr, the God of the Hunt, who had demoted a grade due to the adepts, also stood up abruptly. His eyes were filled with burning hatred as well. “We can send out an army of petitioners and wipe out the adept forces!”

  “Very well! That is what we shall do!”

  “Agreed!”

  Only Seventh grade God of War Kodyr, who was the only one with the war domain included in his divinity, stood up and opposed. “My lord, we cannot do this! Don’t forget, the elf and human gods are still waiting for us to show weakness! If we were to go on the offense so recklessly, our backlines—”

  “Shut up, you scrawny monkey! Do you think those fragile elves and unremarkable humans dare find trouble with us? Hmph! If they do dare come, I will challenge them to a divine battle
. We’ll see whose axes are sharper,” God of Slaughter Garon, who was Seventh Grade himself, spat. He had a cruel and savage smile on his face, as if he would fight any challenger to the death.

  “Yes! Divine battle! I think we could kill them just by scaring them to death!” A few of the Fifth and Sixth Grade vassal gods waved their fists and clamored.

  “Cough.” Seventh Grade God of War Kodyr couldn’t help but sigh to himself. He once again felt sad over his identity.

  The orcs needed no strategy or tactics. All they did was gather their forces, shout their battlecries, and charge at the enemy. It put him, the God of War who was planning to develop the War domain as his primary divinity, in an awkward position. It made him seem out of place with all these orc gods.

  On the one hand, he had to resist the influence of the chaotic and disorderly divine virtue deep within him. On the other, he had to try his best to suppress these restless and rowdy peers of his. Kodyr felt distraught over this most of the time!

  However, Beast God Arugel was an Eighth Grade Major God of a pantheon, after all. He could still barely suppress the wild tendencies and impulses within him. He shouted sternly at Kodyr, “Speak, Kodyr. Where are the human adepts planning to attack next?”

  Kodyr’s face turned pale. However, the Major God of their pantheon was asking. He couldn’t lie. As such, he could only reply truthfully, “Judging from how they are mobilizing and judging from the trend of their invasions……”

  “Where?”

  “Your Plane Saka!”

  The temple fell silent.

  An earth rending howl could be heard throughout the skies.

  “Blasphemy!”

  “How dare they!”