Age of Adepts

Fire Elementium Plane, the Molten Altar.

A radiant portal slowly opened in the center of the valley. Greem returned to this place once more.

Compared to before, the shore of the lava lake was much more lively than before.

Apart from molten giants, emberweb spiders, and magical machines, there were also many more fire creatures of various forms. There were low-grade fire elementals, fire spirits, flamespirits, mid-grade and high-grade fire giants, lava giants, magma hounds, and magma beasts.

The entire area around Molten Altar almost seemed to have become a museum of fire creatures. You could practically see half of all native beings that could be found in the Fire Elementium Plane here.

Greem slightly frowned as he looked at Lasbes, who was hurrying over toward him. He said in a solemn voice, “What’s the issue here? Why are there so many lower lifeforms?”

Lasbes hastily crouched when she heard Greem’s question. She replied with her strange, hoarse mental voice, “My lord, this is all hard labor that I’ve enslaved from the surrounding lands to hasten the progress.” Having said that, she lowered her volume intentionally and said in a trembling voice, “My lord, as you know, there is something evil about this Molten Altar. Low-grade creatures will mysteriously disappear after remaining here for too long. So, if we don’t capture more people, we won’t have enough to keep going.”

“Disappear?” Greem paused for a moment, but he instantly remembered what he saw the first time he came into contact with the Molten Altar. He readily believed what Lasbes said.

“Immediately send for people to build an altar for me. I want to sacrifice something!”

“An altar? Please enlighten me, my lord. What order and scale of a fire altar do you require?”

“The highest order…who I need to communicate with this time is the planar consciousness of the Fire Elementium Plane itself!”

Tssss!

Lasbes drew in a breath of cold air.

It was important to note that for Fire Lords like herself, the individuals to whom they directed sacrifices were often the Fire Kings nearby. Without a sacrifice of sufficient magnitude, the planar consciousness would never reply to your request.

Even this veteran Fire King couldn’t help but get excited at having accepted such an important mission.

“Contacting the planar consciousness…a fire altar of that scale and order can’t be laid out that easily. Perhaps only the Fire Kings would have world altars of such high grade,” An awkward expression appeared on Lasbes’ furry spider face.

“You mean to say that we can’t build an altar like that ourselves?”

“It’s not that we can’t, but that it will take a long time. We will also have to go everywhere to search for the required resources. I estimate that it will take us at least ten years, minimum, to construct the altar.”

It was Greem’s turn to be surprised now.

Only now, he truly understood the completely different perception of time and value in two different worlds.

The most powerful Fire Lords in the Fire Elementium Plane never knew the value of stockpiling resources ahead of time. They sat in their homes and slowly improved their powers. Consequently, their desire for outsider resources was much tamer.

They did not have much of a desire for resources, materials, or territory. The point being that they would rather not move if they could. Instead, they could simply spend their days in their lair, slowly accumulating power with the passage of time.

That was how most fire creatures lived their lives, a way of life etched into their very souls.

Without any pressure for survival, there was no impulse or desire for evolution.

Trying their best to scour for resources and knowledge while stockpiling all magical materials that could be needed in the future was the way of life and habit of all adepts in the World of Adepts.

There would never be an awkward situation like this, where a Fourth Grade adept was unable to build a world altar.

Ten years…dammit! Ten years was too long. Who knew if these divine authority fragments would end up becoming a problem if they remained in his hands? It was best to convert them into actual power as soon as possible.

Should he go over to Groms’ and borrow his world altar?

Still, bringing such a valuable sacrifice to the private territory of a Fire King…Greem didn’t believe that Groms would turn on him over such meager pickings, but it would still be risky.

Lasbes couldn’t help but point at the distant lava lake with one of her legs when she saw the frustration on Greem’s face. She had an odd expression on her face. “My lord, isn’t that over there a world altar? Why do we have to build one ourselves?”

Greem was stunned for an instant. He turned around and looked dumbfoundedly at the old and ruined altar standing in front of the lake.

For some reason, when his gaze landed upon the altar, it was almost as if a string in his heart had been plucked. He felt tremors throughout his body, and an overwhelming emotion seemed to overcome him.

“Lasbes, contact Sock and tell him to have all fire creatures and magical machines evacuate from the Molten Altar…now!”

Lasbes bowed upon hearing Greem’s inviolable tone. She then said, “Understood. I will do so immediately!”

This place was the private territory under Greem’s rule, after all. There would be no disapproval or voices of doubt with a single order from him. In less than ten minutes, the bustling worksite had become completely silent. There was not a single moving figure around Molten Altar.

Greem’s tremendous Spirit slowly roamed around Molten Altar, slowly but firmly sweeping every inch of land and space in the area. He scanned the skies and then the ground and even the bottom of the lava lake.

It wasn’t until he had confirmed that there were no abnormalities that he opened a Flamegate in the air. A short moment later, Greem’s light clone he’d left in the World of Adepts walked out from within.

“Have you thought about how you’re going to deal with this divine authority fragment?” The light clone asked curiously.

“I’ve decided!” Greem and the clone only looked at each other to synchronize their minds. Greem instantly grasped everything that the clone had experienced in the past few decades.

Horton Magic Academy had grown even larger than before.

Adept Ainley of the Adept’s Association had successfully advanced to Fifth Grade and had gone into space.

Adept Nicolas of the Central Lands had gone missing in action during battles against the Underground World. His fate remained unknown.

Bug Adept Billis had advanced to Fourth Grade and became a core fighting force of the Crimson Clan.

Many individuals within the clan had also advanced to Third Grade; the middle management was growing steadily in size.

The latest life-extension ceremony held by clan veteran Snorlax had failed. He was on the brink of death now.

The Goblin Plane had submitted a proposal for the creation of the Magic-Energy Titan and was currently requesting resources from the clan.

Meanwhile, in the Northern Lands, Icelady, Berserk Witch, and Lucia–all three of Alice’s aides–had advanced to Third Grade.

……

……

Greem took the fire divine authority fragment that the light clone handed to him and passed the clone a few divine virtue strands. Greem then instructed, “Give these to Mary! With this divine virtue, she will benefit greatly from either improving her Agility or strengthening the powers of her vampire bloodline. Also, tell her that she can meet with me once the adept tower here is complete!”

The light clone chuckled and put the divine virtue into his body. He then turned and returned to the World of Adepts through the Flamegate.

Greem couldn’t help but sigh once the light clone left.

It had only been a few decades since he left the World of Adepts, but it felt like an entire century to him. Even if they related to his own disciples and the people he cared about, all the changes happening there sounded like stories about strangers. There was an indescribable feeling of alienation and distance.

His pursuit of power had caused him to make a great leap forwards. Unknowingly, he had started to cast his companions behind. His past memories remained. Everything that had happened could be conjured up in his mind as fresh as when they had just happened. However, the emotions and humanity attached to these memories were slowly being washed away as he evolved and changed.

His excessively rational and practical mind had not only wiped out all self-deception and delusion. It also caused him to no longer require illusory and transient love and relationships to numb himself!

Traveling throughout the world, exploring the infinite universe, and uncovering the secrets behind this world. This simple and true idea slowly rose to the top of his heart and became the ideal with which he was most obsessed.

The pressure of survival had been what pushed Greem forward before he advanced to Fifth Grade. Every effort he had put into improving himself had been for the sake of survival, for the sake of himself, and for the sake of his clan. For the sake of all these things, he had been sprinting forward with all his strength.

Upon advancing to Fifth Grade, his lifespan had been extended to over ten thousand years, putting him in another dimension of existence entirely. His body and soul’s principle conversion had also caused subtle but fundamental changes to his thoughts and mentality.

The pressure of survival was no longer so immense. Even with Great Witch Maysa lurking within the adept faction and the God of Wisdom, God of Fire, and now the God of the Hunt threatening from outside, Greem still lived his life without worries and in a fulfilling fashion.

If he was pushed into a corner, he would even give up the Capital of Steel in Camp Exodar. He would retreat to the Fire Elementium Plane. This place would never allow foreign beings to invade en masse. Greem’s enemies would have to enter individually if they wanted to search for him. However, it would be like finding a needle in a haystack given the Fire Elementium Plane’s size.

If even this place was not safe, Greem didn’t mind abandoning everything and wandering space.

At any rate, given his ability, he could travel anywhere he wanted. He couldn’t be pushed into a corner so easily!

Moreover, he was all alone. There were no concerns he would leave behind. He wouldn’t stay and fight to the bitter end over the meager territory he had here. It was precisely this unburdened mentality of his that gave rise to this feeling of freedom in Greem.

As he was right now, Greem was filled with curiosity toward the universe. He even had an impulse to travel everywhere, slowly experiencing the wonders and mysteries of the world!