Age of Adepts

“You…what’s your situation right now?”

Kanganas had been busy trying to accuse Greem earlier. However, his sharp senses as a high-grade lich allowed him to detect the unusual nature of Greem’s soul fluctuation instantly.

“Why do I smell principle powers on you? Could you have managed to push your fire laws to the level of the principles?”

Kanganas’ mental fluctuation seemed high-pitched and excited, unlike its usual cold and sinister tones. Obviously, he was shocked by his finding.

It had only been a little while since he last saw Greem; it had been no more than a year. It was barely enough time for a nap or a stroll for individuals at their level. How could he have undergone such a tremendous change in such little time!?

Greem’s horrifying advancement speed had completely upended Kanganas’ understanding of everyday reality!

He could actually smell a thick scent of principles on Greem. Kanganas knew full well what that meant for a Fourth Grade adept.

That was why he asked his question so impatiently. He wanted to hear that terrifying ‘answer’ as soon as possible!

“How should I put it? My current situation is very complicated!” Greem said calmly, “More accurately, I should be considered half-advanced!”

“Half-advanced?” The Fourth Grade lich was confused by what Greem had just said. He could hardly understand what ‘half-advanced’ was. Advancement was advancement. What was ‘half-advanced’?

“The meaning is simple. I have already mastered one fire principle. However, my Spirit hasn’t reached the required threshold yet, so my path to advancement is stuck.”

“Mastered a fire principle…Spirit below the threshold,” Lich Kanganas couldn’t help but mumble to himself.

He repeated these words to himself over and over. The more he thought about it, the more surprised he was.

How did such a strange thing happen?

His Spirit didn’t reach the threshold, which meant it had not reached the 50 point threshold yet. By what means had Greem compressed and combined the fire principles? How had he refined them and raised them to the level of the fire principles?

Could that be the credit of the Orb of the Fire God? Could owning high-grade divine equipment that was perfectly compatible with your soul origin actually allow you to refine the law powers and rise to the level of the principles?

At the thought of that, Kanganas’ heart that had been cold and silent for several thousand years wanted to start beating again. He also had high-grade divine equipment compatible with his soul origin.

The Ancient Reliquary of Winter possessed the principle powers of both death and cold. If he could completely merge the reliquary with his soul, then it would definitely be able to unleash more power than the fire adept’s Orb of the Fire God.

It was important to note that Kanganas had also become an ultra-powerhouse after obtaining the reliquary. If he could obtain the means to refine and uplift the law powers from Greem, he might be able to advance into a Fifth Grade Great Lich instantly.

When that happened, he would become one of the most powerful individuals in the Alliance of Liches with the reliquary. He could command many other liches.

The titles for liches at the various grades differed from adepts.

Third and Fourth Grade liches were known as Liches. Meanwhile, peak Fourth Grade liches were known as Demigod Liches, Fifth Grade liches were known as Great Liches or God Liches, Sixth Grade liches as Lich Elders, and liches above Seventh Grade were known as Lich Kings.

The most powerful lich in the multiverse right now was a Seventh Grade lich king. Liches of higher grades had not appeared yet!

“Where are you right now? I’ll come over and meet you now,” At the thought of all this, Demigod Lich Kanganas couldn’t help but turn restless. As for their earlier disagreements because of the Death God’s tomb? That was all water under the bridge when it came to a matter as important as advancement.

“Coordinates 09123,18237,” Greem casually sent over the coordinates of the mega-rift.

A short moment later, the portal that had been compressed to only a hundred meters in width rippled. A crystalline skeleton dressed in intricate magical robes emerged and arrived in the World of Adepts.

“Enemy attack!”

“Prepare to attack!”

“Be careful, it seems to be a lich.”

The Ahlden Clan adepts circling the portal on flying beasts put up elementium barriers and took out their wands. They were prepared for a fight.

“You can stand down. He’s my guest!” Greem’s gentle but booming voice rang out in the skies above.

Upon hearing this, all the adepts hastily dispelled their spells. They stopped their chants and left the vicinity.

Meanwhile, Kanganas, who had hurried over in a hurry, lifted his head and looked at the thousand-meter-tall Greem.

He opened his mouth wide, and the short staff in his hand almost fell out of his grasp.

He looked Greem over and over. Finally, he carefully flew up before Greem. He exclaimed in surprise, “No wonder you said your situation is complicated…this is surprising!”

“Apologies for making you see me in such an awkward state!” Greem chuckled, “I ran into some trouble earlier and can only remain in this gigantified state. Fortunately, there’s no loss to my combat power!”

“Can you let me see what fire principles you have mastered?” Kanganas rubbed his palms impatiently.

He was a demigod lich; There was no reason for him to thirst after Greem’s fire principles. As such, Greem did not intend to hide anything. He lifted his giant right hand and extended his index finger.

A small golden flame appeared above it.

The unique magic and abilities of high-grade adepts were always their secret weapons. They would never show them to others so easily. Only ‘friends’ like themselves, who had no direct conflict of interest, would be so generous as to show each other their abilities.

Demigod Lich Kanganas didn’t try extending his Spirit into the fire to explore its secrets. He only silently sensed for the principle characteristics of the fire.

It was a small flame. It might look insignificant, but as it burned on Greem’s fingertip, it caused all the surrounding laws to tremble and quake. All principles powers other than the laws of fire were subtly pushed away on the principle level.

When Greem used his fire principles at full force, the principle powers of the local territory would be temporarily rewritten. Apart from fire, Greem’s opponents would not be able to replenish elementium or laws of any other attribute.

That was the main reason why principle adepts were so superior compared to elementium adepts!

They had the ability to cut off their opponents’ connection with the law system at its source. Without a connection to the laws, it was impossible to fight against a principle adept and their endless magic energy with just individual power alone.

Apart from the might of principles, the fire adept’s fire also possessed a terrifying characteristic of being able to lock on to lifeforms. Should Greem’s fire principles manage to infiltrate his opponent’s body, the principle powers would seep into their soulspace and continue burning forever with their life energy as fuel.

Such a vicious fire principle would never rest until its victim was dead. Without the ability to draw on other principles to neutralize the fire principle, no one would be able to avoid the fate of eventual death.

Kanganas might be a demigod lich now, and he might have the Ancient Reliquary of Deepwinter with him, but he felt a genuine, instinctual fear from his soul when he watched the silently burning flame in Greem’s palm.

It was devastation from the principles, devastation of power, and a devastation of might!

Once upon a time, Kanganas had become proud and arrogant upon obtaining the reliquary.

In his eyes, there were very few opponents of the same grade who were his equals. Even the so-called ultra-powerhouses were split into different ranks. Garbage like Cerveris would not be Kanganas’ match, even if there were a dozen of them. Only an ultra-powerhouse like Gloria, who had experience in space, possessed the qualifications to fight against him.

However, in the face of this human adept he once thought insignificant, Kanganas felt a genuine sense of loss.

This was principle power! Real, bonafide principle power!

Ever since he advanced from an ordinary lich to a demigod lich, he had believed himself to be exceptionally talented. He became exceedingly arrogant. However, who would’ve thought that this would happen? This seemingly irrelevant Greem had managed to find the path to Fifth Grade faster than him. He had become a powerful principle adept.

For some reason, Kanganas felt a flood of emotions at the thought of this.

However, as a sly and cunning lich, there was no way that Kanganas would ever betray these feelings. Moreover, he was only a crystalline skeleton now. Who could possibly read his emotions from that smooth skull of his!?

“Let us work together!” Kanganas suddenly blurted out.

Since Greem was so shockingly powerful, it was only natural to pull him over to his side.

“We were allies, to begin with!” Greem smiled and said. “What is it? Does our promise from before no longer count?”

It was then that Kanganas remembered that he had agreed to serve Greem for two hundred years.

Kanganas had been focused on assimilating the reliquary for the past dozen years. He had left the matter of Horton Magic Academy to his subordinates entirely. Now that he thought about it, he was technically Greem’s ‘subordinate’ in name!

In the past, Kanganas might have scoffed at the suggestion and even forced Greem to change the terms of the agreement. However, now that Greem had become a powerhouse who was superior to him in power and grade, Kanganas was now the inferior.

If that were the case, then he would probably actually become his ‘subordinate’!

Kanganas instantly became nervous at the thought of this.