Age of Adepts

The terror of high-grade body-refining adepts was something Greem had only understood through books.

None of the body-refining adepts he had met so far had made him so fearful and concerned.

It didn’t mean that body refining adepts were inferior to elementium adepts.

Compared to elementium adepts, body-refining adepts spent most of their resources and time on the refinement and training of their physical bodies. The variety of spells they had mastered was comparatively few.

Even the few spells that body-refining adepts mastered were practical spells to break free of restrictions or close the distance.

The weapon of a body-refining adept was often their very own body. Occasionally, one of these adepts would also use offensive magical equipment that allowed them to unleash their specialties. Their physical Strength was shocking, and their Physique had been refined to a level where they could endure high-grade spells.

Most body-refining adepts were also experts in close combat and possessed fearsome combat techniques to defeat their enemies faster and more devastatingly. Their favorite combat style was to brave the opponent’s attacks, close the gap, and take out the opponent in a single strike.

The reason elementium adepts were powerful was because of their numerous spells of tremendous power and incredible flexibility. However, when it came to instantaneous explosive power and lethality, body-refining adepts were head and shoulders above the elementium adepts.

The might of elementium adepts were more easily demonstrated on the battlefield, earning them titles as glass cannons, exterminators, and destroyers. However, body-refining adepts were classical duelists. They held the advantage in narrow spaces and rapid engagements against opponents of the same grade.

Elementium adepts would have a tough time defeating body-refining adepts of the same grade if they could not create some distance or restrict their opponent’s movements!

Today, Greem experienced this principle for himself.

Gloria was a body-refining adept, one who had reached the ultra-powerhouse level!

Her every movement, even the wind pressure unleashed by her bare fists, could inflict devastating physical damage on Greem. Of course, this was partly due to the fact that Greem’s Physique had decreased tremendously due to his injuries during the last battle.

More importantly, the Chip’s data allowed Greem to come to a horrifying conclusion.

Adept Gloria likely had a piece of ultra-grade magical equipment in her possession! Moreover, it was Strength-type equipment!

This much was obvious from that savage strike earlier.

It was important to note that the main reason for Greem’s dominance over the Central Lands and most Fourth Grade adepts were his two artifacts– the Orb of the Fire God for offense and the Tome of Corruption for defense. Together, their law powers were enough to crush any opponent of the same grade.

If Gloria had not relied on the might of her artifact to shatter the Tome of Corruption’s defense, Greem would not have suffered such terrible damage.

Greem had just escaped Gloria’s range of attack and was instantly surprised by the giant ball of dirt hurtling toward him.

If anyone else had thrown this ball of dirt, Greem could calmly blast it to pieces with fireballs and then deal with the person behind it. When the attack came from Gloria, Greem had no choice but to cautiously dodge aside before flickering away with Fire Teleportation once more.

After three failed attempts to close the distance, Gloria was furious. She turned around, ignoring the sly fire adept as she sprinted toward the Nightmare Castle just a few hundred meters away.

As long as the Nightmare Castle remained, that annoying forcefield suppression would persist.

Even as powerful as Gloria was, she could not possibly catch that slimy fire adept while thirty percent of her power was sealed. Thus, Gloria changed targets, preparing to tear down the castle first.

Given her barbaric, overwhelming Strength, tearing down an immobile castle wouldn’t take much time at all!

Perhaps sensing the tremendous hostility emanating from Gloria, Kerslin instantly went berserk. Fearsome nightmare power tore at the mind of the adept, attempting to drag her into the Nightmare Domain.

Unfortunately, protected by the strange purple light, Gloria’s soul remained as firm as a bastion and unrelenting as a boulder in a river. In fact, Gloria was able to lock onto Kerslin due to its mental attack. She broke free of Greem’s stalling tactics and ran toward the Nightmare Castle.

Gloria stopped abruptly after just a hundred meters and looked down.

Black light glowed from her shadow as a five-meter-tall golem slowly emerged. Two metal claws shrouded in black mists were attacking her glowing purple defenses.

The purple light was shockingly effective when used to defend against energy attacks. However, it was somewhat mediocre against physical attacks. That said, as a body-refining adept, Gloria held no fear of a mere shadow golem.

She let out a battlecry and swung her right fist down upon the black body of the golem.

Clang! A terrifying metallic ring could be heard.

The five-ton heavy, Fourth Grade Shadow Demon forged entirely of shadowsteel was blown away like a bowling ball. Its massive body scraped against the ground at high speed with a grinding metallic noise.

A terrifying hundred-meter-long ditch had been raked across the earth, a small hill of dirt forming at the end of it. Shadow Demon’s metal body was distorted beyond recognition when it climbed up from the ditch, trembling.

“Avoid her. Do not fight her head-on. Use guerilla tactics and focus on harassment!” Greem gave an order, and Shadow Demon levitated into the air before disappearing with a puff of black smoke.

Dong! Dong!

Two completely transparent blasts shot through the smoke, landing on a hill a thousand meters away and razing it from existence.

Overwhelming physical prowess. Even without magic, the wind pressure formed by her punches alone could have such a devastating impact! Gloria’s power could not be more obvious.

“Leaving already? Our fight’s not settled yet!” Greem’s injuries had mostly recovered in those few seconds. He roared in his booming voice as two golden fireballs formed instantly in his palms. He threw them at Gloria.

Gloria had been relying on her barrier of purple light since the start of the battle, neglecting to avoid any of the attacks directed at her.

If the enemy dared attack her, she would simply endure the attack and counter!

Gloria had never gotten the short end of the stick in an exchange of blows.

However, when she turned around and saw the two golden fireballs, her expression finally changed.

What tremendous law power!

What finally moved Gloria wasn’t the size of the fireballs or the fire energy contained within. It was the trace of the fearsome principle power they possessed.

It was evidence that the legendary fire adept had not only gained full mastery of multiple fire laws, but that he had even purified and refined these laws, allowing him access to a sliver of the principle fire powers.

The change from law to principle was not just a change in name. It was a genuine change in the very nature of its power!

One could only continue advancing to the principle level and beyond after fully digesting the law powers that one possessed and assimilating them with one’s soul. It was an evolution of an adept’s soul and the only path of advancing into a principle adept!

Regardless of the core principles the fire adept had mastered, Gloria had no interest in experiencing them for herself.

For the first time in battle, Gloria kicked with her legs. Her body shot a hundred meters back like a lightning bolt, allowing her to dodge the two unusual fireballs.

Boom! Boom!

Two loud explosions rang out. Waves of fire quickly devoured everything nearby.

Compared to the attacks from before, the fireballs’ explosion was weaker and caused far smaller shockwaves. However, everything burned wherever the golden flames passed.

Dirt, sand, fossils, shards of metal, ores, and minerals– everything, including the air itself, had been ignited.

This fire didn’t seem to require any fuel. Golden flames appeared abruptly wherever the trace of the fire principle swept past, burning quietly and gently.

Gloria could sense a trace of ‘eternity’ in these golden flames!

Undying Flames!

Gloria took two steps backward, silently evaluating the golden fires burning in front of her eyes. She was utterly shocked into silence.

She had truly underestimated this Legendary Fire Adept Greem.

It was true that he was only an intermediate Fourth Grade and was still a distance away from advanced Fourth Grade. That was why Gloria had treated him as a luck brat that had only managed to obtain his current accomplishments due to his two artifacts.

Now, it seemed like the mastery of his laws was no weaker than any other ultra-powerhouse. Undying Flames, Undying Flames…though the trace of principle power he had managed to consolidate was still very weak, it was still a trace of principle power.

There was no defense against powers of the principle level as a Fourth Grade adept!

Even as prideful as she was, Gloria had no confidence in enduring the golden flames with her purple light. The scary thing about this golden fire wasn’t the fire itself, but the principle contained within the flame.

Should the principles invade her body, and should she lack a power of equal magnitude to neutralize it, it would be a very tragic ending for her. Gloria shivered at the very thought of it.

Cerveris couldn’t have been injured by these flames, could he? If that were the case, then the law fires in his body would never be extinguished without power of equivalent magnitude to expel it. Even an ultra-powerhouse would have their origin damaged if these law fires were allowed to burn on for an extended period of time.

Gloria’s face couldn’t help but turn pale at the thought of this. She took a few steps backward and put some distance between herself and the golden flames.

“Gloria, this is the Central Lands. It is not the place for Association adepts like you to throw your weight around. If it’s a fight you want, then very well- I will be your opponent!”

A deafening roar filled the night sky. The flames around Greem blazed even higher. He raised both hands, and a rain of meteors crashed down from the sky with tails of black smoke, instantly engulfing the battlefield in a violent inferno.