Age of Adepts

The occurrence of this unexpected event undoubtedly messed up Greem’s cultivation plans.

The urgent matter at hand wasn’t how to increase his power, but to create that Emblem of Fire armband as soon as possible. After all, it was the combination of two set pieces that could provide Greem with actual fire immunity, rather than before where he had to turn into his body of flames to be immune to fire.

If he had no choice but to go into the Fire Elementium Plane, he would not have a single companion who could accompany him.

The Fire Elementium Plane was the world of the fire elementium creatures. Second Grade adepts like Mary and Alice would not be able to endure the burning flames for extended periods of time, regardless of how good their magic resistance was. Even the tough Dragonborn Zacha couldn’t last in this aspect, let alone them.

That was why the only person that Greem could rely on was himself!

If his companions couldn’t survive in the Fire Elementium Plane, what other options were available to him?

The Fire Elementium Plane was a pure elementium plane. The plane itself rejected all other elementium apart from fire elementium. All magical equipment or accessories that needed to absorb external elementium to function would only have one use. They could not be replenished after being exhausted.

Magical scrolls, magical potions, wands, accessories; all of these tools could no longer be of much help to Greem.

What about magical golems then?

These elementium golems were what had helped Greem the most since he started his rise to power. Could he still rely on them to break through the storm this time?

The expectation of his elementium golems quickly fell as he started to delve into more detailed information on the Fire Elementium Plane.

That place excluded all elementium apart from fire elementium to an extreme degree. Elementium golems like the Wind Dragon and the Decayer would rapidly exhaust their internal elementium energy reserve there. The only ones he could use there were probably fire elementium golems.

It wasn’t necessarily a bad thing!

At the very least, the Flame Fiend of Terror would be able to manifest for extended periods without any damage due to the plane’s rich fire elementium. With the aid of the Flame Fiend of Terror, a powerful fire adept like Greem would probably have no problem surviving in the Fire Elementium Plane.

The only trouble was the uncertainty as to what traps the wicked witches had laid around the Fire Lord. If Greem were tracked down by the enemy the moment he entered the plane, he would have nowhere to go in the Fire Elementium Plane where he had no allies or friends!

The event that had happened to him concerned some secrets of the Northern Witches’ higher-ups after all. As such, Greem did not reveal anything about the situation to the people around him. He could trust Mary, but she was an impulsive and irritable person. Greem was worried that she would sneak behind him to find trouble with the Deceit Witches if she found out about the incident.

Thus, Greem handed all of his authority over White Tower to Meryl and returned to Fire Throne under the excuse of performing a major magical experiment.

A fire elementium altar had been constructed in Fire Throne as well, which allowed Greem to open a passage to the Fire Elementium Plane at any time he wished. Thus, Greem felt like there was a need to first travel to the Fire Elementium Plane for reconnaissance.

The creation of the Emblem of Fire armband still required three to four months. It would be best for him to familiarize himself with the Fire Elementium Plane during this time.

After returning to Fire Throne from White Tower, Greem first summoned Gargamel to ask about the tower’s situation. He then set down some tasks to be completed and waved Gargamel away.

Once Gargamel had left, Greem used his authority as the owner of the tower to move the fire elementium altar from the first floor of the tower into his own room.

The massive fire elementium altar had three tiers. It was twenty meters long and thirty meters wide, while each layer was three meters tall.

The marble surface of the altar’s base was carved full of strange magical lines and runes. Many of them were sketches of various fire elementium creatures. An elementium brazier was lit at the four corners of every tier, with a bright yellow elementium flame burning within them.

A wide, thick slab of marble had been placed at the top of the altar. It was the altar platform, where the casters would present their sacrifices to the Fire Elementium Plane.

Ordinary fire elementium altars had two purposes. One was to summon powerful fire creatures from the Fire Elementium Plane through sacrifices, while the other was the Flamegate that Greem needed to use. It was only through the Flamegate that Greem could successfully travel between the World of Adepts and the Fire Elementium Plane.

Once the fire elementium altar had been placed in his room, Greem used his authority to separate a dedicated power channel from the energy room and connected it directly with the fire elementium altar. This way, he wouldn’t need to worry about the Flamegate dispersing on its own due to a lack of energy.

Greem carefully inspected the fire elementium altar once again after he’d done everything. He confirmed that there were no problems before waving his hand and activating the fire elementium altar.

As abundant fire energy surged into the fire elementium altar without stop, the altar started to light up, tier by tier, from the base. The runes and arrays etched upon the altar began to activate wherever the fire energy coursed through, slowly but surely burning with dense and blazing flames.

Greem stood atop the altar platform and hesitated for a moment before taking out the Blaze of Destruction from his storage ring. It was a staff that had accompanied him for a long time. Alice had given him the Blaze of Destruction shortly after her own advancement to First Grade. With the increase of Greem’s powers, this First Grade magical equipment was no longer suitable for him.

If that was the case, then let it unleash its power one more time!

Greem raised his arm and lightly placed the Blaze of Destruction into the narrow socket located at the center of the platform. As overwhelming fire energy flowed into the staff through the altar, the Blaze of Destruction turned bright red in color before turning a blinding white as it grew brighter and brighter.

By the end, the light it emitted was so strong that one couldn’t look straight at it.

The lights glowed and hovered above the altar. They then slowly gathered together and formed into the shape of a phantasmal door of light. Through this shimmering door, Greem could vaguely sense the destructive pulses of fire energy on the other side.

The Flamegate leading to the Fire Elementium Plane slowly opened.

The temperature in the magical room started to rise rapidly. The glimmer of elementium defenses began to show on the surrounding walls, floorboards, and ceiling, repelling the fire energy radiating into the air. Otherwise, the intensity of the fire energy from the opening of the Flamegate would have melted even the enchanted stone materials.

If that happened, Greem’s little secret could no longer be concealed!

Greem’s towering body stood in front of the Flamegate. He looked around him to ensure that all the defense and security arrays had been activated and that all his preparations were going according to plan. It was only then that he turned and leaped into the Flamegate.

…………

This was a burning world!

The sky was burning. The ground was burning. Everything in the world was burning.

There was no air here, nor food, and naturally no water.

Of course, just when you thought this place to be a land void of life, this unique world would prove otherwise with its own odd and twisted planar laws– sometimes fire could also be life!

Greem quickly lost all his physical senses after stepping through the Flamegate.

He had no vision, hearing, sense of touch, and no sense of smell. Even his sense of space had vanished. The only thing that could help him in this strange and twisted world was his extended Spirit.

It was like falling into a dark and bottomless abyss. Everything around him was hidden behind a heavy shroud of darkness, making it impossible for Greem to see anything, even if his eyes were wide open. Greem quickly regained his composure after a brief moment of panic. He started to converse with the Chip.

”Chip, what is it with me? Why can’t I see anything?”

[Beep. According to the planar laws of the elementium world, no other elementium particles aside from fire elementium particles exist here. That is why normal human organs are no longer suited for this new world. Host must direct the reconstruction of the sensory system with his Spirits as the framework.]

”Begin construction now!”

[Beep. Host’s instructions received. New sensory system in process of construction. Estimated time required: Seven seconds. 7…6…5…4…3...2…1.]

As the countdown ended, Greem felt the darkness before him fade away. The shape of nearby objects started to become clear and appear in his vision. The strange mental flux extended in every direction like ripples on the surface of the water, feeding everything it sensed back to the source of the flux.

A brand new world slowly presented itself to Greem, just like that!

Greem slowly turned about and earnestly sensed the world around him.

It was a desolate and quiet plain. Apart from two or three sharp broken rocks around him, there were no other lifeforms or objects.

Greem squatted down in curiosity and felt the soft grass under his feet with his hand. The grass here was utterly different from material planes. All the grass and flowers were of a single color: red. If it weren’t for the fact that the tactile sensation resembled that of grass in the material plane, Greem would have suspected that they were only flames of a different state.

Greem applied some force and plucked a handful of red grass from the ground, placing it in his palm for better observation.

It was an ordinary handful of grass, but everything from its roots to its leaves was bright red. Even the dirt entangled in its roots was a dark red. The fire grass seemed to have lost the constant nourishment of fire elementium upon leaving the ground. It quickly wilted and withered away, losing all of its life force in an instant.

The next second, the grass in Greem’s hand–along with the dirt on its roots–exploded into sparks of fire in a sizzling blast.

Greem could sense pure and concentrated fire energy in these sparks!