Age of Adepts

The Fire Elementium Plane, somewhere close to Molten Altar.

There was a dark red cloud floating high above in the sky.

A strange old man was stood quietly inside the cloud. He wore a black tuxedo, sleek, straight pants, and a spotless pair of boots. The white hair on his head that betrayed his age was combed finely and neatly.

He wasn’t using any flying device, nor were there any apparent traces of magic around him. He simply stood there in the cloud, bending over only slightly as he silently evaluated everything happening below at Molten Altar.

From the outside, he looked just like an ordinary old man. It was impossible to find anything unusual about him.

However, given the incredibly harsh environment of the Fire Elementium Plane, he would never be able to survive if he was just an ordinary person, not to mention the fact that he was able to peek on Molten Altar while evading Greem’s spiritual senses at such a close distance!

The old man seemed to have been hiding in the cloud of fire for a long time now. He had basically looked over every unusual detail and aspect of the construction site. In particular, he seemed very interested by Split-Brain Sock and that small teleportation array connected with the Capital of Steel in space.

Of course, the instant Greem appeared, the old man stopped staring and instead began only observing with his passive spiritual senses.

After confirming Greem’s actual grade numerous times, the old man took out an old-fashioned, ticking pocket watch from his breast pocket. He rubbed the metal lightly a few times before carefully putting it back into his pocket.

The stopwatch wasn’t very large. It was golden, and it appeared to be made out of brass. However, when the old man’s finger ran over the watch’s metal surface, an unusually powerful and mysterious law fluctuation slowly spread outward.

It was understandable that Greem had not been able to detect this old man, owing to his exceptional stealth abilities. Now that such obvious law fluctuations were spreading outward like a ripple everywhere within a thousand meters, Greem would be disgracing his title as a Great Adept if he still remained ignorant.

Greem was discussing the matter of capturing more slaves to form an army capable of defending the territory with Lasbes. All of a sudden, he lifted his head. There was an unconcealable shock in his eyes.

[Beep. Detecting signs of time law fluctuations. Currently tracing the origin.]

Time law…Greem was surprised. Time laws were perhaps the most sought-after law power within the planar worlds. Along with the space laws, they were considered the most powerful of the planar laws.

However, both temporal and spatial abilities were incredibly difficult to acquire through training. They demanded tremendous innate talent to learn. That was why Greem had never met any adept apart from Alice who possessed such powers, despite the countless adepts he had met in his life.

It was only natural that Greem would be taken aback when sensing this unusual law fluctuation in the Fire Elementium Plane now. His eyes quickly swept his surroundings to search for the origin of that fluctuation.

Greem stood solemnly as blue light gleamed in his eyes, scanning the skies for any presence. Golden ripples spread outward and silently contacted the intangible planar laws hidden behind the scenes.

There were traces–slight, yet present–where the laws clashed.

Greem’s gaze quickly followed the trace to a thick red cloud hovering in the sky above the valley. He then increased the frequency of the beams shooting from his eyes. His vision pierced through the red cloud and allowed him to see that old man standing in the cloud clearly.

A human?

No…and also not possible!

A different adept might not have been able to see through to the old man’s true form. But as a Great Adept assisted with his Chip, Greem was able to pierce through the appearances and lay eyes on the opponent’s power origin.

The old man looked like a humanoid amalgamation composed of principle power. The insides of his body consisted of dense, tightly-meshed threads of power. His clothes, flesh, bones, skin, and even the beating heart inside his body were all made from countless layers of threads of power tightly woven together.

Upon energy spectrum analysis, these threads of power were revealed to be of the same origin as Greem’s powers; it was fire elementium. That meant this entity was also a native creature of the Fire Elementium Plane.

Apart from his power origin, Greem also spotted three or four unique luminescences around him. These were clearly powerful magical items. In particular, the energy radiance shining from the old man’s right chest was beyond anything Greem had ever seen. Moreover, it was the source of the law fluctuation from before.

So the law fluctuation wasn’t his own power, but the power of mighty magical equipment!

Greem couldn’t help but let out a small breath of relief upon knowing that.

“Sir, why don’t you come down and have a seat now that you’re already here!” Greem said softly.

The old man didn’t bother with courtesy. He chuckled, took a single step, and instantly appeared in front of Greem.

Greem’s expression hardly changed, but he was, in truth, terribly shocked. Even his pounding Heart of Principles couldn’t help but pause for a beat.

That had been 2,139 meters.

There were 2,139 meters between where the old man had been and where he had now appeared. Greem had not sensed any trace of magic, supernatural power, or mystic abilities. Yet the old man had managed to traverse that distance in a single instant all the same.

If it wasn’t for the Chip’s senses indicating that the old man was indeed present, Greem might have suspected that he was just a realistic illusion.

Greem didn’t know him, but Emberweb Broodmother Lasbes clearly knew the old man.

This Fourth Grade fire lord that had feared no creature until Greem came along immediately crouched upon seeing the old man. She then exclaimed respectfully, “Lord Hegel!”

The old man patted his impeccable dress suit and turned to look at Lasbes as he said, “Congratulations, Lasbes. It’s only been a short while since we met. To think you’ve already found a master.”

Lasbes’ mouthpart clattered slightly on her ugly face, but she could only sigh and lower her head.

Meanwhile, Greem was already secretly communicating with Lasbes.

“Who is he?”

“Hegel…Fifth Grade……a subordinate of Sixth Grade Fire King Zetas. Lord Zetas has not stepped out of his chambers in nearly ten thousand years. This Lord Hegel usually manages the affairs of his territory.”

Subordinate? A subordinate, my ass…this was the freaking principle clone of a Fire King!

Greem screamed in his mind, but he did not reproach Lasbes.

After all, the broodmother did not possess such a sharp scanning ability as Greem did that allowed him to see through this Hegel fellow’s true nature. That was why it was understandable that she had come to regard Hegel as a human subordinate of that Fire King.

A human? Why did the Fire King create a principle clone with a humanoid form? Could that Zetas fellow have some unknown connections with humans?

Greem wondered to himself as he greeted Hegel warmly.

He could distinctly sense that Hegel was more powerful than him, even though he was no more than a Fifth Grade clone. If a fight were to actually break out here in the Fire Elementium Plane, Greem would not have the slightest advantage.

“I see, it’s Sir Hegel. I wonder which fair wind it is that has brought you here? Welcome! I have not tidied up at all, and the place is a little crude. So sorry that you have to see this!” Since there was no chance of winning, he might as well go for the soft diplomacy route. Greem was perfectly flexible and willing to adapt to the situation.

“Haha! Here in the Fire Elementium Plane, there’s no need for all that boorish courtesy. All the flowery stuff isn’t exactly a custom here either. Best to just tell each other what we have to say!” Hegel calmly replied.

“Indeed! If that is the case, then I will speak frankly. May I know what business has brought you, Sir Hegel, to Molten Altar?”

“Nothing in particular. I had simply heard the news from my subordinates that an unfamiliar, otherworldly individual had appeared around here and is currently ‘recruiting’ all over the place, which is why I came here personally to scope things out.”

“And…what have you found?”

“Hehehe, judging from what I’ve seen, you must be from the adept civilization, right?”

“Indeed!”

“May I know what planeworld you’re from?”

“The World of Adepts!” Greem hesitated for a moment but gave the true answer in the end.

At their current level, there were many things you couldn’t simply lie about or say without thinking. What you said could often cause unknown effects in your future.

“The World of Adepts? Homeworld of the adept civilization…and you look so young. You must be an exceptionally gifted individual amongst the adepts!”

Greem couldn’t quite figure out what the old man was going for, so he could only reply with a few courteous words of humility.

“You are trying to become one of the Fire Kings, am I right?” Hegel suddenly asked.

Greem’s breath halted as his mental consciousness instantly boiled to a peak. He narrowed his eyes, and the fire energy within him started to come alive. The principle protection of the Tome of Corruption glowed beneath his skin.

If necessary, Greem could instantly cover himself in multiple layers of magical defenses with all sorts of functions and purposes. The Scorched Earth divine spell inside the Orb of the Fire God, along with the Halo of Rot from the Tome of Corruption could both provide the enemy with a nasty surprise.

Two Fifth Grade attacks launched from the will of his mind; even this unusual old man could not endure such a ferocious assault.

Greem finally put on a ‘gentle’ smile after he had made all his preparations.

“So what if I am? And what if I’m not?”

The atmosphere suddenly turned cold and stern!

“If you do not intend to become a Fire King, then we can simply ignore what I just said. However, if you do have such intentions, I feel like it is necessary for us to have a dialogue,” Hegel’s expression remained unchanged as if he wasn’t bothered by Greem’s wariness.

“A dialogue? About what?”

“About the path to becoming a Fire King!” A smile filled with ‘sincerity’ appeared on Hegel’s face.