Age of Adepts
chapter-342

Apprentices were the bedrock of a clan's continued development.

Only a proper and functional system that raised capable adepts could provide clans with qualified cannon fodder.

Indeed, First Grade adepts barely qualified as soldiers when it came to planar wars, the most crucial aspect of any clan's development. They were the primary force that charged to the frontlines of every conflict. They were the cannon fodder that a clan needed to rely on to expand.

Adepts needed the resources from planar wars in order to compensate for the limited resources in the World of Adepts. It was only in doing so that organizations could cultivate all-powerful individuals that were capable of venturing outside of the world and exploring the galaxy.

As one of the few large and developed planes of the multiverse, the World of Adepts had one of the most resource-rich and biologically diverse realms amongst the other planes. However, its vast lands and bountiful resources were still insufficient for the needs of the ever-expanding adept population.

It didn't matter how vast the world was; it would never be enough.

The World of Disaster was one such example!

If one were to trace the timeline, the World of Disaster was, in fact, a large-sized plane that had developed even before the rise of the World of Adepts.

With the explosive and exponential increase of powerful individuals within the world, there had no longer been enough resources to sustain their needs. The super beings that inhabited the World of Disasters were foolish as well. Apart from occasional raids on smaller planes, most of their resources had still come from exploiting their homeworld.

It undoubtedly allowed them to continue to grow in strength and numbers, but it was a catastrophe for the world that had nurtured them.

The continuous damage to the planar power source caused the World of Disaster to fall into a decline gradually. The environment started to worsen and became no longer able to provide the necessary elements that all living beings required. Food, air, water. Everything was gone.

Seeing the world they inhabited fall into ruin was finally enough to put a stop to the actions of those supreme beings. The state of the World of Disaster had rendered it incapable of sustaining any more transcendent people.

Moreover, the most powerful beings that had advanced to the Ninth Grade through the exploitation of the plane's power source were at risk as well. Their power origin was linked to the plane itself. They would die when the World of Disaster fell apart.

Thus, the eleven Ninth Grade monsters met for a discussion and came to an agreement. The world was to be sealed, and no other being would be allowed to rise to Ninth Grade through the forceful usurpation of the plane's source power. They even set down a new decree, that the Ninth Grade beings of the World of Disaster were to be fixed at eleven.

The Ninth Grade transcendent beings then crowned themselves the Scourge Lords for their courage and might. Every one of them was a domineering individual that could ravage the entire multiverse.

To prevent the continued decline of their world, the eleven Scourge Lords came to yet another consensus. Most of them hid deep within the planet and underwent a deep sleep to reduce the strain on the will of the world. Only fewer than five of the Scourge Lords were allowed to be conscious at any one time.

These awakened Scourge Lords were responsible for excursions to foreign worlds to steal resources, populations, and planar source powers to mend the wounds of the World of Disaster. Such vile and harmful actions had naturally earned them the hostility of most of the multiverse.

Thus, a new dominant race rose within the multiverse as the Scourge Lords continued their wild invasions and exploitation of material planes. These were the Titans.

It was a terrifying giant that could smash a small-sized plane to pieces with their bare fists.

Newborn Titans possessed power rivaling Fourth Grades, and mature titans were no less potent than Seventh Grades. The most powerful of their kind all had the enormous strength of the Ninth Grade.

They were powerful beings that had come into existence due to the will of the multiverse. The purpose of their lives was to hunt and exterminate the Scourge Lords.

They would fight with the Scourge Lords to prevent their continued ravaging of the various plane worlds. Their fights happened all over the galaxy, across almost every cluster of stars within the multiverse. They shifted from one plane to another, leaving behind a trail of dust and debris. Every plane that they had chosen as their battlefield had been reduced to fragments floating in the endless sea of stars.

Countless numbers of Titans died under the frightening attacks of the Scourge Lords. The Titans' blood drifted through the depths of the galaxy, occasionally landing on some of the material planes and finding roots there. Strange beings with powers related to the Titans would come into existence in those places.

Powerful creatures, such as the Oceanic Giants, Galaxy Giants, and the Earth Emperors sprang into being. All of them possessed part of the Titans' bloodline. This blood was also why the adepts of the Gaia Clan, who owned the bloodline of the Golden Titans, were hailed as the most powerful of the bloodline adepts.

The war ended with losses on the sides of both the Scourge Lords and the Titans. Both parties retreated to their homes to rest and recuperate. Thus, a chance came to the weaker worlds. A chance to rise to power. Planets such as the World of Adepts, the World of Gods, and the World of Dragons had an opportunity now.

Even so, these upstart worlds were never able to reach the heights of the Scourge Lords and the Titans.

The World of Adepts might be sufficiently impressive in the multiverse, but only three Ninth Grade adepts had been born as of yet. On the other hand, the World of Gods, which had always vied for control over the multiverse with the World of Adepts, had over a dozen 'major gods'. These were entities with power that rivaled Ninth Grade beings.

Sadly, they were divided internally, split into four or five separate factions, each with their own primary diety. There were deep-seated hatred and ingrained vendettas between each one of them. This was why they were unable to use their overwhelming numerical advantage against the World of Adepts.

Meanwhile, the World of Dragons had a pitiful total of only a single Ninth Grade 'Dragon God'.

That said, the dragons had always possessed enviable bodies and physical strength. Punching above their weight and fighting enemies above their grade had never been a problem. Thus, a single Ninth Grade 'Dragon God' was still a match for both the adepts and the gods. In fact, his power even allowed him to carve out a place for the dragon race and extend their reach many material planes.

…………

Within his home.

Greem couldn't help but close the book when he read to this point. He started fantasizing about the boundless galaxy.

As a transmigrator, and a man that had two lifetime's worth of ideology and thought, Greem couldn't help but desire to assess the world he inhabited from a higher and more complete perspective!

What kind of world was it?

How did the veins of the world look?

Was it an accident that he had appeared in this world, or was it a fated 'variable'?

If his appearance was an intentional plan, then what was the mission he carried upon his shoulders?

Alice was holding a grand banquet in the room next door.

Greem didn't even need to extend his Spirit to know this. He could sense everything happening nearby with his acute senses.

Greem didn't object to Alice's wild adventures and opulent celebrations. In fact, he even sympathized with her.

The Battle of Fate was finally upon her!

It didn't matter how well-prepared she thought she was. The moment Alice stepped into the Tower of Fate, her life would no longer be within her control.

The rise of the Witches of Fate was a consequence of the unstoppable planar law forces.

In the end, the Witch of Fate was only a host and representative for the powers of fate. Fate didn't want the strongest or the most powerful, but the most compatible!

Who would be the one chosen by fate?

No one knew for sure.

Even Greem had no guarantees that she would be the one to live, despite all that he had done for her.

The upcoming Battle of Fate was a real battle of life and death!

Alice was only twenty-three years of age currently. It was already decent that she hadn't gone mad from the pressure that she was facing right now. The immense pressure that was death hung before her eyes.

A such, Greem was not upset at Alice's adventures for the past few years. Nor was he upset at her mingling with the apprentices, or her playing around. There was just sympathy.

If she lost in this Battle of Fate, Greem would lose ten years of his time and an uncountable amount of resources, but Alice herself would pay with her life!

As such, Greem had no intention of interfering with how Alice had intended to spend these last eight years of her life. As long as she was smart and still valued her own life, she wouldn't truly waste away these years.

The chance had already been provided to Alice, and now it was up to her to grab it!

That said, much of what was to unfold still depended on 'fate'!

The matter of the Battle of Fate had made Greem choose to remain within the adept's tower. He had been focusing on his research into the secrets of the multiverse as he waited for the day of the battle to arrive. Greem was already on the verge of despair when it came to the improvement of his own power.

"Chip, display my current bodily attributes!"

"Beep. Order received. Self-examination in process……"

Soon, Greem's attributes projected in his mind.

Greem

Human (half-elementiumized), Male

First Grade Adept

Attributes: Strength 2.8 | Agility 1.3 | Physique 3.9 | Spirit 7

Condition: Healthy.

Seven years! After seven years of arduous meditation, his Spirit had only increased from 6.3 to 7. He was no longer able to feel any increase in his Spirit ever since he reached 7 points.

It was like his current Spirit had reached a threshold. He was no longer able to improve by even an inch.

Greem finally found the fundamental reason for the difficulty in improvement after reading through numerous books within the clan.

His elementiumization was incomplete!

Right now, he had only completed his bodily elementiumization. The progress of his spirit elementiumization was going incredibly slowly.

The lagging of his spirit elementiumization was what burdened his Spirit's improvement.

That said, seven years of time had still allowed him to slowly get accustomed to the Flame Fiend's Heart sealed in his chest. His current skill was able to draw out all the might of the Flame Fiend's Heart. Greem didn't need to be concerned about pollution as long as he kept the unsealed time under thirty minutes.

This improvement was one of the most significant reasons why Greem was willing to 'lend' the Tyrant to Alice!