Age of Adepts

The World of Adepts, Central Lands.

The Crimson Wing.

The sixty-third floor of the Crimson Clan’s origin tower. Mary, Meryl, and several other higher-ups of the clan had come to meet with a messenger from space.

A rarely seen dracolich!

Moreover, it was at peak Fourth Grade. That made him a powerful force even within the World of Adepts.

Any other Fourth Grade powerhouse would not be all that scary if they were alone. However, the presence of a Fourth Grade lich meant the possibility of a powerful and savage undead army. A single lich alone could command such an overwhelming force.

A lich alone was an army!

Moreover, this was no ordinary lich, but a noble even amongst liches– a dracolich. Even if it weren’t here with the banner of the clan leader, its identity alone would warrant the Crimson Clan’s attention.

This mysterious dracolich hastily walked forward and bowed when he saw Mary.

“My greetings, mistress!”

Mistress?

The higher-ups looked at each other and quickly understood what was happening.

It seemed like this was another subordinate that Lord Greem had managed to recruit in space.

“You,” Mary paused and said, “You’re Greem’s subordinate?”

“Yes, mistress!” Dracolich Truman smiled fawningly. “My name is Truman, and I only recently joined my master’s side. I am here at your disposal, in accordance with my master’s orders!”

“Ah. So, where is Greem right now? It’s been a very long time since he last contacted us,” Mary had still been asking nervously in the previous question, but the next sentence was filled with resentment.

Dracolich Truman looked at Meryl, Emelia, and Billis. He started to hesitate.

“Feel free to speak! They are all trusted individuals!” Mary exclaimed decisively.

“Very well…my master currently resides in the Fire Elementium Plane. He is currently in a seclusion of sorts!”

“Mm? It hasn’t been long since he left the World of Adepts. It should be a time for exploration and adventures. Why is he in seclusion in the Fire Elementium Plane?”

“My lord has just recently participated in an orc war organized by an Eighth Grade adept and has only now retreated from the battlefield. The tremendous number of spoils he was able to obtain is more than enough for him to reach Sixth Grade. That is why he has chosen to go into seclusion and slowly increase his power.”

“He’s growing really fast! Could it be…that he’s already preparing for Sixth Grade?”

“Indeed. My lord personally said that there were no longer any obstacles on his path to Sixth Grade. The only things he still lacks are the increase of his Spirit and the accumulation of resources. There are no shortcuts for either of those. He will have to grind it out!”

Hss! That fellow is improving faster and faster! Could it be that even I can no longer catch up to him?

Mary thought silently to herself, her expression betraying her frustration and struggle.

The other three higher-ups who were listening by the side couldn’t help but be shocked. Their eyes opened wide as they stared at each other. They honestly had no idea what expression or reaction they should have right now.

Their clan leader was improving a little too quickly, wasn’t he? It was so rapid that it almost extinguished all thoughts of catching up to him! Moreover, what would be the limit of his growth? He wouldn’t just keep sprinting down this path at the same rate and become one of those higher existences, would he?

Even though the three of them were definitely biased toward their clan leader, the truth was that they had long since been impressed with the idea that their clan leader would eventually become one of the most powerful entities out there.

However, given their potential and ability, they could only accompany him for a short period of a few hundred years. By the time their clan leader became famous throughout the universe, they would probably be rotting in their graves.

If they didn’t work hard and keep improving, they wouldn’t even be able to cheer for him from afar, let alone accompany him!

The dracolich had no idea how a few simple words from him had raised a tumultuous wave of emotions in the minds of the adepts.

For a moment, everyone was stunned!

“My lord sent me here with a few things for you as well. Hopefully, they can help you make it past the threshold of Fifth Grade as soon as possible,” The dracolich couldn’t understand the complex emotions everyone was feeling. He simply continued speaking.

“Oh, what is there? Show me!” Mary wasn’t all too bothered by this revelation.

After all, the divine virtue and divine power crystals from last time already caused a pretty big commotion in the Central Lands. At this point, she was still quite frustrated that she had to constantly send away those bastards that tried to come and trade for divine virtue.

Dracolich Truman sighed and raised his hand to release a bunch of treasures from his storage ring. The entire magical hall was instantly illuminated with blinding light.

A mysterious, prismatic crystal hovered in the air, slowly spinning.

For some reason, Meryl and the others couldn’t turn their gaze away from it.

Their throats trembled. Their eyes were filled with infatuation. They couldn’t help but reach out. They wanted nothing more than to take this crystal for themselves. Unfortunately, their hands were all repelled by an invisible force.

A cold and sinister spiritual flux rippled out and caused them to come to their senses.

Mary was sitting high up on her throne. She looked upon this crystal excitedly, but her expression was complicated and changed every so often.

Finally, she reached out with one hand and waved. The divine authority fragment slowly flew toward her palm and spun there.

“Divine…authority…fragment!” Bug Adept Billis’ hood raised slightly as two glows shone crimson from under the shadow. He named the crystal dramatically with his hoarse voice.

It was no wonder that Meryl, Emelia, and Billis were so impulsive. The temptation of the divine authority fragment was too immense for them.

When it came to sheer talent and potential, Emelia was the best among them. However, even her future odds of successfully advancing to Fifth Grade was no more than 2 percent.

Under such circumstances, a top-class resource like a divine authority fragment would undoubtedly be incredibly helpful!

Being able to advance to Fifth Grade meant ten thousand years of lifespan and a lofty, transcendent status. Either one of these was an incredibly tempting thing for an adept struggling at the gates of Fifth Grade.

Mary closed her right hand gently, grabbing the fragment in her palm. She could distinctly sense the pure principles turning within the divine authority fragment. It was a strange feeling, like constantly merging and synchronizing with the plane system itself.

Mary felt like she could sense every pulse of the world as she held the fragment. She could even faintly make out the massive and mysterious will that permeated this world.

Traces of principle power connected this fragment with the rest of the world. It allowed Mary to sense the presence of the principle system for the first time.

Mary held the divine authority fragment tightly as her emotions fluctuated.

Other people might not know Greem’s intentions in sending this divine authority fragment to her, but Mary knew it clearly.

Greem was giving Mary a new choice!

Mary was a bloodline adept, and while vampires improved rapidly, they started to stall out upon reaching Fourth Grade. There weren’t very many vampires across the universe that had managed to make it past Fifth Grade to Mary’s understanding. There were only some rumors of bloodsucking creatures beyond Fifth Grade in the Abyssal World.

If this was true, it meant that the bloodline limit of the vampire adepts was Fourth Grade. The bloodline limit would stand in the way of making any further progress!

In consideration of the future, Greem had sent over this divine authority fragment.

If the path of a bloodline adept was truly sealed off, then Mary still had one new path to choose from– to ascend into godhood.

In truth, many high-grade adepts who had lost all future prospects sought to ascend into godhood if they refused to simply die off. They would find a small lesser plane and spread their faith there, spending hundreds of years to raise faithful believers. They would then gather all the faith power of the plane and ascend to become a voodoo god.

However, adepts like these were considered ‘alternative.’ They were no longer accepted by the mainstream and often kept to themselves. They hardly ever maintained contact with their former adept companions.

As the bloodline source of most vampire adepts in the World of Adepts currently, Mary naturally received their worship and admiration. The process of becoming a god would undoubtedly be much easier for her if that were what she desired.

After thinking for a long time, Mary finally put the divine authority fragment away and turned to look at the other things.

Ten balls of light glowing with divine radiance.

Divine virtue! Divine virtue!

Moreover, ten of them all at once.

The one thousand divine power crystals seemed less impressive before them.

Just as Mary believed there to be nothing else that could shock her like the divine authority fragment had, her eyes fell upon the prismatic glowing bow.

She didn’t know the bow’s name, nor its grade level, but her eyes couldn’t move away from it once it had landed there.

A Sixth Grade divine bow, Fifth Grade divine boots, and Fifth Grade bracers.

Every one of these things was so valuable and tempting that Mary couldn’t help but toy with them for a while before she put them away.

Meryl and the two others could finally let out their breaths once the prismatic light was all gone.

What was it with their master? How did he suddenly have so many top-class treasures related to the gods? Could he…could he have robbed a true god?

The few of them probably would never have guessed that their master was far more insane than they took him for. He hadn’t robbed a true god– he had devoured one!

Mary naturally knew the value of these treasures could no longer be appraised with this planeworld’s value system. Thus, she reminded Meryl and the others that information on these treasures could not be leaked. Otherwise, untold dangers would be brought upon the clan.

Meanwhile, Dracolich Truman officially joined the Crimson Clan, becoming the third powerhouse of the clan after Mary and Alice!

A peak Fourth Grade dracolich was a terrifyingly powerful existence in any planeworld. Thus, the strength of the Crimson Clan was amplified by a dozen times once again!