Age of Adepts

Greem and Sanazar’s battle thoroughly destroyed the forest.

In the next three days, the power of the two adepts slowly rose to a peak before gradually descending. In particular, there were two points in time where their tremendous power was put on full display.

The first was ten hours after the start of the battle. Greem, who was being overwhelmed by Sanazar’s tremendous Strength and Physique, suddenly erupted with shocking power. For a while, he was able to perfectly match Sanazar in pure physical Strength.

Since then, it had become Greem’s turn to beat down on Sanazar. It was a ridiculous sight.

He had incredible Strength equal to Sanazar’s own, incomparably powerful fire magic, and that indefensible and fearsome holy light. All of those allowed Greem to fight like a madman, suppressing Sanazar beneath him and leaving her scrambling to stay in the fight.

Fortunately, this situation only lasted for eight hours.

Eighteen hours after their fight started, Sanazar’s power suddenly spiked as well. She managed to defend against Greem’s wild assault and turn the disadvantageous situation back to the delicate balance from earlier.

These two moments were naturally the instants they respectively analyzed the planar laws and broke free of the planar suppression. Through this time difference, some people who paid more attention could naturally figure out certain secrets about the two adepts that they would rather keep hidden.

Both of them were supposed to be peak Third Grade adepts. Even with the difference in the elementium and bloodline systems, their abilities should still be nearly the same. Yet, Greem had somehow managed to eliminate the influence of planar suppression a whole eight hours before Sanazar was able to do so. The information revealed by this number was already enough to draw the attention of certain people.

Even though the planar suppression still affected them, it was negligible now.

The terrifying destructive power unleashed by these two Third Grade adepts who were able to fight with all they had was put on full display in this battle.

In the entire twenty-seven hour duration of their wild battle, every piece of the green forest within fifty kilometers of them was ravaged and stripped of all life.

Greenery faded and lives were extinguished wherever they went. Craters and burn marks of varying severity littered the scorched ground. Moreover, the bottom of these craters were all filled with either scorched cracks or glowing green liquid.

Looking from high above, a dark blight had appeared in the center of the vast forest. Dark red magma that had yet to cool down could be seen everywhere, along with the blindingly bright green liquid, turning the place into a death zone where no life could approach.

Finally, after twenty-seven hours of bitter fighting, both adepts felt worn out. They had no choice but to stop the battle and treat their wounds instead.

After all, they only wanted to determine a victor, not kill their opponent. There was no need to push the opponent over the edge. Moreover, if their condition deteriorated too severely, they would not be able to fend off the opponent’s last gambit. As such, they both decided to hold back at the right moment and recover to a safe threshold before they continued fighting.

If the bloody fighting had been a direct confrontation, then the next contest came in the form of their regenerative abilities.

Whoever could recover faster would have the initiative in the next battle. Whoever was slower at healing would lack the confidence and capital to fight; their opponent would bitterly suppress them.

However, the two adepts could not truly let their opponents calmly recover, even during this period of rest.

Greem casually opened a Flamegate, summoning hundreds of fire creatures from the Fire Elementium Plane to lunge at Sanazar, who was treating herself a kilometer away from him.

Greem had never summoned the Flamegate a single time before this.

The reason for this was simple. The summoned fire creatures were far too weak. They lacked the ability to interfere in a battle between Third Grade adepts. If he had the time and energy to summon a Flamegate, he might as well cast a Vicious Fireball. That would probably inflict more significant damage on his opponent.

However, now that it was a period of rest, the advantage of the Flamegate’s ability to relentlessly summon fire creatures could finally manifest.

Greem didn’t care if these fire creatures could wound Sanazar in any capacity. He would be happy as long as they could somewhat disrupt her recovery.

After some hesitation, Greem took out the golem talisman and released the elementium magical machine. He then commanded it to charge at Sanazar as well.

The elementium magical machine had been seen in public several times after all. There was almost no chance of concealing its existence. That was why Greem had only released it once both his and Sanazar’s power had fallen to their lowest.

Of course, there was no way Sanazar had not been prepared for this signature Third Grade magical machine that was always at Greem’s side. A cold and sinister smile appeared on her face when she saw the metallic giant rise from the ground.

“I’ve been waiting for you!”

Sanazar mumbled to herself, before lowering her head and taking out a gray wooden flask from her pouch, which she flung at the charging magical machine. The wooden flash was only the size of a palm. It was inconspicuous and appeared not to be enchanted with any sort of magical protections either. Just as expected, it simply shattered upon the machine’s chest.

Blue liquid scattered across the ground when the flask shattered. A strange golden pea soaking in the liquid fell at the elementium magical machine’s feet.

The moment the pea touched the earth, the round, flat pod cheered. The six thin leaves beneath the pod curled into a jagged shape, anchoring it firmly to the ground. The roots beneath the leaves pierced into the earth like sharp blades, quickly spreading and digging deeper into the ground.

A golden pea.

The Chip in Greem’s mind found all information on golden peas in one-thousandths of a second and sent it to him. Greem read through all the information in an instant, and his expression instantly changed.

“Destroy it! You must not let it take roots!”

Greem roared an order at the elementium magical machine.

There was actually no need to shout. The moment the magical machine had already lifted its thick metal legs to stomp down on the golden pea was the same moment it received the warning signals from Greem.

Unfortunately, it was too late!

An earthshaking explosion rang out. The ground beneath the magical machine split open, and a green plant over five meters in diameter burst forth, entangling the device and pushing it further up into the sky. Like an endless flight of stairs to heaven, the green plant grew without pause, extending even further and longer. In the blink of an eye, it had brought the elementium magical machine above the clouds, causing it to vanish from sight.

“Dammit! I knew it was a Magical Pod.” Greem couldn’t help but curse as he watched the thick shoots continue to grow upwards wildly. As the Magical Pod was rising far too quickly, the sound of whistling winds could even be heard close to the plant itself.

The Magical Pod was both a magical creation and a strange spell of its own.

Having been soaking in the Springwater of Regeneration, it would grow wildly upon leaving its wooden flask, whisking away all things within ten meters of where it landed. In all seriousness, the Magical Pod had no offensive power. It had only unintentionally blown the elementium magical machine away due to its wild growth.

When used at the right time, Magical Pods could have the effect of banishing or entangling spells.

Of course, most of the time, adepts that cultivated Magical Pods used them to save themselves.

At least, to Greem’s understanding, there was no spell that could instantly ‘transport’ the caster several hundred kilometers away. However, cultivating a Magical Pod required a hefty amount of Springwater of Regeneration. The price of doing so was costly.

Magical creations like the Magical Pod could not grow forever either. Its growth was only the result of several dozens of years of accumulated life force erupting in a single instant. Even a Third Grade adept like Greem would have trouble thoroughly destroying it while it was growing. Moreover, the Magical Pod had already extended several hundred kilometers in just a matter of seconds. Greem would have no chance of retrieving the elementium magical machine even if he spent the effort to destroy the shoot.

The elementium magical machine would be eliminated from the rest of this battle!

Damn! Such an excellent means for survival and she used it to deal with his elementium magical machine. Faced with such a wasteful and extravagant method of banishing his elementium magical machine, Greem could only curse. There was nothing he could do.

After seven seconds, the short lifespan of the Magical Pod came to an end.

A sound resembling that of burning paper rang out as the gigantic plant instantly turned to ashes, leaving behind only a massive crater and a sky full of scattering ash.

Meanwhile, the magical machine that had been whisked away was nowhere to be seen. It might have crashed somewhere else several hundreds of kilometers away.

Cough.

Greem couldn’t help but let out a silent sigh.

Fame could be a double-edged sword, indeed. With every step he took towards the pinnacle of power, every secret that he possessed no longer remained a secret. He became the target of research and investigation for tens of thousands of adepts. Those who dared participated in this battle of the best probably all had various means meant to counter Greem’s unusual tactics. They were simply waiting for him to reveal his hand!

What about Remi, his Spirit of Pestilence?

Greem let out Remi probingly, and Sanazar immediately took out an ancient scroll. The scroll radiated with an overwhelming magical aura.

Spirit Sealing!

A Third Grade magical scroll!

It could temporarily seal a magical creature that existed in a spiritual form, containing them within another dimension.

The scroll was Third Grade. Naturally, it would have no problem dealing with the beginner Third Grade Remi. After all, Remi was a spiritual creature.

Greem’s expression froze. He had no choice but to have Remi turn back into a rune and attach it to himself.

What was his plan now? Summon Arms?

However, Greem rejected his own idea without even attempted to verify its feasibility.

Summoning otherworldly creatures was a spell, after all. If Sanazar were prepared, a simple wand with Banish would send the thunder dragon all the way back from where he came. When that happened, Greem would have exhausted a large amount of Spirit and magical energy for nothing!