Age of Adepts

What exactly were principles?

This question had run throughout the adept civilization for perpetuity!

The earlier adepts had a simple analysis and explanation for it. However, such information had always been considered high-grade knowledge of the adept civilization. Their weaker, low-grade members had no access to it.

The ancient adepts believed that the principles were a basic framework and means of operation manifested by a planar world. Every planar world formed with a sea of magic as its foundation, the core principles as its framework, the lesser principles forming its internal veins, and the derivative laws as flesh and blood.

According to this idea, the more principles a planar world could carry, the larger it would be and the more advanced the plane.

The World of Adepts was one such higher plane; it was close to perfection, with a comprehensive principle system. The World of Adepts was highly regarded in the multiverse and was one of the few major planes among the countless worlds.

The more powerful the World of Adepts, the easier it would be for the lifeforms born in its world to surpass the planar world’s limits to become truly powerful individuals.

However, despite the principles being what made the World of Adepts so powerful, they were also the same things that shackled its growth!

As vast as the World of Adepts was, the principle power it contained was also limited.

There was a limit to the number of ultra-grade adepts it could tolerate. It could not grow and expand without end.

An ancient adept once conducted an experiment and investigation that lasted several tens of thousands of years. They discovered that the World of Adepts contained an approximate total of 2,000-2,300 principles.

A pothole for every carrot!

Which was to say that the World of Adepts could only handle two thousand or so individuals of Fifth Grade and beyond!

The highest floor of the adept civilization was occupied by these two thousand or so ultra-grade adepts.

Once all the principle powers were taken up, the adepts that came after would have no principles to take on and, thus, no means to advance and grow stronger. For these adepts that came after to advance to Fifth Grade, they would have to wrestle with their predecessors for control of the principle powers. Alternatively, they could find ways to increase the number of principles available in the World of Adepts to obtain a chance at advancement.

Of course, if an adept were fortunate enough, the Great Adept taking up their desired principle would die in the depths of space. If that happened, the Great Adept’s origin principle would no longer be occupied, and a new Fifth Grade adept could be born!

There were so many Fourth Grade adepts in the World of Adepts, yet only a few of them could advance to Fifth Grade. Why was that the case? The main reason for it was because their path to advancement was occupied by someone else. That Great Adept had thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of years more experience with their desired principle. To steal control from a Great Adept was nearly impossible.

Thus, foreign incursions and invasions were the only way for the World of Adepts to develop and grow stronger.

Raiding resources, population, souls, and knowledge from other worlds.

Once enough had been stolen from other planar worlds, the World of Adepts’ planar origin would be nourished and grow stronger. The stronger the planar origin, the more world principles that could be born, providing more paths for the younger generations to advance.

As such, principles were one with a planar world!

The stronger the plane, the more principles would be born, and the more individuals that could grow stronger through these principles there would be. That would allow for the planar natives to become more capable of conquering foreign worlds.

The more foreign invasions conducted, the stronger the planar world and the more principles there would be available.

It was a virtuous cycle that allowed for a planar world’s strength to snowball and grow infinitely!

Greem had been able to receive the favor of the consciousness of the World of Adepts, distinguishing himself from the numerous Fourth Grade adepts and obtaining a path to advancement. That certainly had to do with the fact that he had been passionately engaging in interplanar warfare in the past few centuries.

The essence of the Goblin Plane and Lance brought back to the World of Adepts, the knowledge obtained from the Arcane Empire, the mushrooms introduced from the Spirit World, the active unification of the Central Lands, and repelling the abyssal invasion.

All of these events had culminated together, perceived by the planar consciousness as contributions to the World of Adepts. Individually, each of these wars might not have been all that significant. Together, they were enough for Greem to receive the planar consciousness’s favor. It made it easier for him to grasp the principles.

That was why Greem’s current achievement was both incidental and yet also an inevitability!

That said, even among the thousands of principles, there were main principles and branch principles as well.

The Undying Flame that Greem currently grasped was only a lesser principle under the fire principles’ greater branch. If he wanted to grow even stronger from now on, he would have to raid other worlds’ fire principles and nurture the branch principle he currently possessed.

Of course, it would be wonderful if he gained the opportunity to grasp the main fire principle.

However, the World of Adepts had existed for millions of years. The central fire principle was almost certainly in the hands of some Great Adept. Greem’s attempt to peer into the fire principles would certainly provoke hostility and retaliation.

That was why certain enemies had appeared in Greem’s path the moment he chose to become a fire adept. He had been too weak in the past and not powerful enough to draw the ire of his enemies.

The moment he stepped out of the World of Adepts and became a Fifth Grade fire principle adept, he would have to be careful of attacks from the shadows!

…………

It had not been long since Greem mastered his fire principle, but that did not mean he was ignorant of the source of the principle powers and his current situation.

Due to the Chip’s robust database and calculating abilities, Greem’s understanding of the principle powers was superior to some Fifth Grade adepts.

Greem was able to obtain plenty of useful information the instant the elderly adept drew upon his principle powers.

At the very least, he was able to figure out the attribute of his opponent’s principle powers.

It was water!

The elderly adept excelled at a kind of water principle that neutralized enemy attacks with a gentle power.

Water to quench the fire!

Hehehe; it seemed like the mastermind behind the scenes had thought of everything.

All of these clues pointed Greem subtly toward the Great Witch Maysa.

What was to come would always arrive.

Moreover, having the battlefield be within the World of Adepts was always better than having it in space.

After confirming his enemy’s attributes, Greem stopped trying to negotiate. His gigantic body blazed with fire as he abruptly slammed his burning hand toward the ground.

The winds howled.

Even before the palm landed, the rocks around the elderly adept caved downward in the shape of a palm. The imprint was three meters deep. From a distance, you could even see Greem’s fingerprints on the scorched rock

The adept stood silently on the spot, a powerful and mysterious force protecting all space within two meters of him. The bedrock he stood on did not collapse like the surrounding rock. Instead, it remained standing resiliently like a nail.

The old adept tapped his staff, and a flood of cerulean water essence surged out around him as if a portal to the depths of the sea had been open.

The water essence rushed around the adept, forming into a massive water giant. The water giant raised both arms and blocked the palm.

Greem’s blazing palm clashed with the water giant’s arms.

A deafening explosion could be heard as a fearsome shockwave rippled outward. Where the shockwave reached, everything was reduced to dust!

Even the exposed bedrock that had survived Greem’s battle with the pit fiend was not spared.

The energy shockwave traveled for several kilometers and caused mountains to collapse, their rocks reduced to dust.

The flame giant and water giant in the center of the battlefield did not budge at all. The blazing palm and the liquid arms stuck together as the two differing principle powers washed over, clashed with, and neutralized each other. The rest of the elementium explosion that could not be neutralized was released into the surroundings as energy shockwaves.

The war towers, which had only recently been repaired, glowed as the elementium barriers appeared and shattered after only several seconds. Then the energy shockwaves whipped against the towers viciously.

Just ten seconds later, the war towers crumbled and collapsed into a bunch of ruins. As for the Ahlden Clan adepts inside the buildings? They were probably dead if they hadn’t escaped in time.

Meanwhile, the adept tower in the distance stood like a weary traveler in front of the shockwaves. It erected numerous barriers and defenses against the destructive shockwaves and barely protected itself.

Meanwhile, pale-white and light-blue principle power appeared around Demigod Lich Kanganas, turning into an impenetrable barrier that stopped the radiating shockwave and principle powers.

He was in a dangerous place, but his eyes glowed with the light of excitement and curiosity. He stared unblinkingly at the battlefield in the distance, using all his spiritual senses to witness the two powerhouses’ energy fluctuations.

Kanganas looked so excited and tense that it was almost as if he was the one in the fight!

With the water giant protecting the adept, Greem could not hurt his opponent no matter how he tried.

The elderly adept lifted his head and smiled coldly. “Kid, don’t you have any respect for the elderly? To think you would strike with such a heavy blow on your first move…hehehe! Let me show you the true power of the principles!”