Age of Adepts

“Alright, a million and two hundred thousand magical crystals it is!”

At Greem’s level, anything that could be purchased with magical crystals was no trouble at all.

Upon hearing how easily Greem agreed to the offer, the store owner’s expression froze completely. There was no joy on his face at all; there was only regret.

At this point, he was certain that the black stone must be some item of incredible value. He should not have come here to the market in hopes of getting lucky just to save that three hundred thousand appraisal fee.

“My…my lord, you…you might have heard wrong. I…I said three million magical crystals!” The adept couldn’t help but stutter as he went back on his word.

“What did you say?” Greem’s face turned dark, and he couldn’t help but narrow his eyes.

A harsh and chilling aura instantly filled the air.

Three million magical crystals were nothing to Greem. If the stall owner had offered three million as the initial price, Greem would have agreed without even frowning.

However, the fact that this adept shamelessly went back on his word after they had come to an agreement was a slap in his face as a Great Adept.

“I…I said three…three million magical crystals. You heard wrong earlier!” At this point, the adept had no choice but to stubbornly insist on his lie. At the same time as he said this, he was screaming the same words over and over in his mind- ‘Please don’t be a Great Adept. Please don’t be a Great Adept.’

He couldn’t sense Greem’s actual grade and, so, treated him as a Fourth Grade who had hidden his identity. Fourth Grades were still trouble, but given the person that stood behind him, he could still bury all this trouble under the ground.

“I will give you one more chance to reconsider what you said. If you insist on going against what we agreed upon, then you should be prepared for the consequences!” Greem chuckled coldly.

The ‘argument’ between the two wasn’t a big commotion, but it still drew the attention of several adepts wandering in the market. A few of the stall owners nearby also folded their arms and watched as the drama unfolded.

This place was a large market. Naturally, there would be enforcer adepts around.

Soon, a group of Fourth Grade adepts in golden robes with golden emblems pinned to their chests appeared amongst the crowd.

“What’s happening? Why are you all gathered here? If you want to buy something, hurry up and do it. If you aren’t buying, then pick it up and leave,” The enforcer adepts pushed apart the crowd and arrived before the stall.

The adept that owned the stall seemed to be a slippery one too. He hastily moved forward and pulled the leader of the enforcers toward him as he mentally messaged something to him.

“Lord Kay?” The leader of the enforcers paused for a moment. He couldn’t help but reply with a question, “How is it that I never heard that Lord Kay had a brother like you?”

“A low profile…a low profile. I’ve always preferred to keep a low profile, which is why I never walked about waving Lord Kay’s name around,” The owner of the stall had an ingratiating expression on his face as he continued to speak with the enforcer mentally.

The enforcer listened with a tilted head as his gaze swept toward Greem.

When the enforcer’s gaze fell on Greem, he paused for a moment. He then rubbed his eyes and took a better look, but he couldn’t help but become suspicious.

He was only intermediate Fourth Grade and couldn’t tell what grade’s Greem was exactly.

“Sir, how may I refer to you?”

“Greem!”

“Why don’t I act as a mediator, and we just let this thing be.”

“Let it be? How so?” Greem chuckled coldly as he said. “I had my eyes set on something and we agreed on a price, which he promptly backtracked on. How should we let this thing be?”

“Sir, you should consider this carefully. Lord Kay stands behind him…that’s a peak Fourth Grade. He once killed two beastmen shamans and a Sword Saint on a planar battlefield a while ago. All three of those enemies had been peak Fourth Grade opponents!”

Killing three opponents of the same grade as a Fourth Grade truly demonstrated tremendous combat prowess. However, trying to scare away a Fifth Grade Great Adept with that much was ridiculous!

Greem couldn’t be bothered to continue wasting his words. He picked up the black seed and threw a storage ring to the stall owner.

“A million and two hundred thousand magical crystals. No more, no less. This is settled!”

The stall owner seemed to feel more empowered now that he had somebody to have his back. He reached and grabbed at Greem’s sleeve and immediately started shouting, “There’s a thief here! A thief!”

A cold light gleamed in Greem’s eyes as the invisible flame barrier that was always around his body manifested abruptly. The right hand of the adept erupted into golden flames upon touching his sleeve.

Aaaaaah!

The stall owner screamed in pain, but he couldn’t extinguish the golden flames on his right hand, no matter what he did. On the contrary, the flames slowly crept up his arm, threatening to ignite the rest of his body.

“My friend, I’d suggest you put that thing down first! I have already notified Lord Kay. If there is any conflict, why don’t you leave it until he’s arrived and the two of you can settle it between yourselves? Is that okay?” The leader of the enforcers was a sharp man.

The more he looked at Greem, the more unusual he seemed. The guard didn’t want to be involved in this messy affair at all. However, Lord Kay was one of the most powerful individuals among the Fourth Grade adepts.

If he just let this fellow burn Lord Kay’s blood-related brother to death, then he won’t be able to explain things to Lord Kay.

While everyone was trying to figure things out, a mean and sinister voice rang out from behind the crowd.

“Who is it? Who dares harm my brother! You don’t value your life, do you?”

The crowd parted upon hearing this voice. A ferocious and muscular bald man with two comically large knives on his back came forth. He wore black leather pants with a dragon-leather armor set that ran across his chest. A violet magical pattern had been drawn on his body.

His every action radiated a tremendously savage and vicious aura!

“It’s Lord Kay!”

“Lord Kay’s arrived. This new adept is in trouble.”

Whispers rang out from the surrounding crowd, their voices filled with fear and wariness toward this ultra-powerhouse.

Greem’s face gradually turned even darker.

The bystanders thought he was afraid. However, only Greem himself knew his feelings. It was more like the feeling of disgust at having stepped in dog shit in new shoes. He was a revered Great Adept, yet he had to deal with these crude boors. What a humiliation to his status!

Perhaps he should never have concealed his identity.

The adept that owned the stall must have eaten the gall of a bear. To think he had the guts to play such dirty tricks on a Great Adept!

Out of his extreme anger, Greem started laughing instead. He turned around and looked coldly at this ‘Lord Kay’ to assess him.

One had to admit that this Lord Kay looked quite impressive.

Moreover, as a body-refining adept, he had managed to forge his will into his body and into the two magical knives on his back. It made him a top-class elite even among the peak Fourth Grade ultra-powerhouses.

This Lord Kay saw the golden flames climbing up his brother’s shoulder the moment he arrived. His fierce brows furrowed as he extended the palms of his two hands wide open. There was a flash of jade-green light as the two magical knives appeared in his hands.

The next second, cold light gleamed. The stall owner’s right arm became completely cut off at the shoulder. The adept himself screamed in agony and was blown away.

The severed right arm fell onto the ground. The flames instantly erupted, reducing the arm to ashes in mere moments.

The crowd gasped, seemingly confused as to why Lord Kay would strike at his own brother the moment he arrived. Only a few people managed to guess that there was something wrong with the flames, which was why he had cut the arm off and prevented it from spreading.

A looked of surprise flashed across Greem’s eyes.

This ‘Kay’ fellow was quite impressive indeed. He was able to sense the golden fire’s hidden characteristics and attempted to sever the Undying Flames’ connection with the soul of the adept with his own ferocious will.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t quite there yet.

He had obviously not realized that the golden fire wasn’t powered by law power, but principle power.

It was a single word’s difference, but it made for a ridiculous distinction.

That was the distinction between man and god!

“Kid, don’t get too cocky! If I wanted him dead, you wouldn’t be able to save him,” Greem scoffed and snapped his finger. The adept who had been knocked into a wall and was now struggling to get up was struck again. Crimson light glowed from his wound as the golden flames appeared out of thin air and started burning again.

Greem wasn’t exaggerating.

Given his current powers, killing a Third Grade adept was as easy as squashing an ant. That said, he was currently on a battlefield in space. He didn’t want to be too cruel, which was why he only exacted a minor punishment with his Undying Flames.

Unfortunately, this Kay, who had spent most of his time in the midst of battle, had clearly been driven mad by his rising fighting will. He shouted out loud, “You dare!” while swinging his twin knives and rushing at Greem.

As he charged forward, the jade green knives flickered, and Kay vanished without a trace.

To think, he still dared to strike at Greem still.

At this point, Greem could no longer tolerate it all. His overwhelming, searing will erupted outward, instantly engulfing every inch of space within a dozen meters of him.

Kay had just teleported five meters behind Greem when he was pushed out of the interspatial layers by an irresistible force.

He waved his two knives filled with savage and violent aura and roared as if he would cleave Greem’s defenses in two the very next moment.

Unfortunately, that was the end of his attack!

Several mysterious fire chains reached out of empty space, quickly wrapping around him until he was thoroughly bound and immobile. The terrifying searing will was then transmitted to his body via the principles, causing his soaring fighting will to become fuel and ignite into flames.

“Ah!” It was at this moment that Kay realized that he was in serious trouble. His fierce eyes opened wide as he shouted, “You…you’re Fifth Grade!”

Fifth Grade…Great Adept.

It was at this point that the crowd finally realized something was wrong. They hastily stepped back and walked away.

Meanwhile, the owner of the stall had turned pale-white as he kneeled on the ground. A good half of his body was already burning up.