Age of Adepts

Divine power crystals. They sounded like they were similar to magical crystals, a concentration of elementium, or a different form of energy!

However, magical crystals were only concentrations of magic energy that could be found anywhere. Divine power crystals, on the other hand, were crystallized, concentrated divine power.

Just as water had a liquid state and ice was its solid state, divine power crystals were the ‘solid’ state of incredibly concentrated faith power.

Under natural circumstances, faith power would never concentrate and crystallize in this manner.

Only gods who used their power to gather faith power could transform the state of divine energy into crystals.

That meant every divine power crystal contained a trace of a god’s power.

These things were quite valuable to adepts!

Greem was still unclear about how he could use these divine power crystals, so he simply put them away as well.

Finally, the only thing left before him was the exaggeratedly large...egg.

Greem had only just approached the egg and had yet to examine it with his Spirit when the egg trembled. A screeching mental message came from within the egg.

Supposedly, when one was communicating mentally, it would be possible to understand them despite language or species barriers. However, this mental message could not express a complete consciousness at all. It could only convey emotions of anger and hatred.

At the same time, a small bolt of lightning crashed down from above Greem’s head.

The lightning appeared golden in color. It wasn’t very powerful, with only one to two hundred points of power.

The lightning bolt did not injure Greem in the slightest, but it did cause his long hair to stand on ends. He also felt a slight tingling throughout his body.

The power of the laws.

Greem couldn’t help but be surprised.

A little life that had yet to develop complete consciousness had already mastered parts of the lightning laws. It was obvious that the Feathered God had truly committed a lot to cultivate this descendant of hers.

If that was the case, then the divine power crystals and the origin substance were also probably prepared for this little guy.

The descendant of a divine creature probably possessed divine traits from the moment of their birth!

Even though the life in the egg was no more than a shapeless embryo at the moment, it already possessed terrifying might comparable to a First Grade adept. In fact, even a First Grade adept’s Chain Lightning could not affect Greem in the slightest, while this little creature was able to paralyze him, if only for the briefest instance.

What should he do with this egg?

Hatch it?

Greem rejected the idea the moment it appeared in his mind.

The resources required to cultivate a divine creature was not something he could afford at the moment.

Greem was not willing to use the divine power crystals and origin substance on this egg. Without the nourishment and care provided by the Feathered God, it would also be challenging to hatch the egg.

Break the egg and devour its contents?

In all honesty, this idea was deeply appealing to Greem.

Ever since he changed his bloodline to that of a starbeast, Greem had desired the flesh of higher beings in the depths of his heart. Their flesh, souls, and everything else was nourishment for the starbeast bloodline.

However, for the prey to be able to affect Greem’s bloodline, that creature would have to be Fourth Grade, at least.

The effects of magical creature meat below Fourth Grade was already minimal for Greem!

The daily meals that he had could only satiate his appetite. The only food that could rapidly replenish his energy and stamina was a Fourth Grade magic energy meal.

However, Fourth Grade magical beasts were extremely rare, even in the World of Adepts.

Apart from adept clans with exceptional power and influence, who could afford to eat Fourth Grade magical beast meat on a regular basis!?

Of course, there were still a few Fourth Grade dragons in Lance.

However, all of those dragons were difficult opponents. Greem didn’t have the confidence to beat them, even if he was at his peak. Not to mention, these dragons all had legions of subordinates. They were also exceptional fighters, making them far more difficult a prey compared to solitary Fourth Grade magical beasts.

At the thought of this, Greem couldn’t help but narrow his eyes.

Perhaps it was time to spread the news throughout Zhentarim and start purchasing information on the location and abilities of Fourth Grade magical creatures in the Black Forest. He could then gather the clan’s forces and hunt them down. That would soon become a regular activity of his.

As for devouring this egg? That would certainly bring about some benefits for Greem’s bloodline.

However, it still felt like a very inefficient and wasteful way of utilizing such a brilliant treasure!

Perhaps there was a better, more efficient way of using the egg.

Greem couldn’t help but give out an order, “Chip, search for methods to use this egg.”

[Beep. Mission accepted. Searching database.]

As expected, the information pulled up by the Chip covered all sorts of domains, including hatching, devouring, blood ritual, cultivation, and many more. The most cost-efficient of these solutions was to hatch the Feathered Serpent and to cultivate it into a fearsome divine creature.

However, this process would take upwards of a thousand years. All sorts of rare resources would also have to be consumed during this process. In all honesty, Greem had absolutely no confidence he could wait around until the Feathered Serpent was grown.

Another option was to conduct a blood ritual to turn the Feathered Serpent’s bloodline into nourishment for Greem’s body. According to the Chip’s estimate, if all went well, Greem would not only be able to heal the damage to his soul origin but also improve his Physique and bloodline potential by a significant margin.

Thus, without any hesitation, Greem chose to conduct the blood ritual.

As Greem made up his mind, the Chip immediately projected a list of items in his mind.

These were the resources required for the ritual.

Greem took out a blank scroll and placed it on his forehead. The list of items was perfectly copied over. He then sliced through the air with his finger, creating a small rift in space. He then put the scroll into the rift.

While he was doing all this, Gargamel was hunched over a table in the Crimson Wing, busy writing away with his quill. Emelia and Eva were by his side, helping him deal with the multitude of clan affairs.

A flash of fire appeared above his head as a rift was torn in space. A scroll glowing with a red rune fell onto his desk.

“These are the items I require soon. Collect them as fast as possible and send them to Fire Throne. Report to me if any of them poses a difficulty.”

Gargamel had just touched the rune on the scroll when Greem’s intimidating voice boomed out in the room. He opened the scroll, and a series of words were projected into the air.

“A Fourth Grade soul altar.”

“30 grams of Serpentbane hops.”

“A set of high-grade soul-transfer equipment.”

“A soul-locking crystal.”

......

......

Row upon row of resources was listed, almost all of them a rare, top-tier adept item.

Even as experienced as he was, Gargamel had only heard of most of these items in name, without having ever seen them before. A frown appeared on his face when he saw the list. His face was full of frustration and hesitation.

“What’s difficult about this?” Emelia still seemed as relaxed as ever. “The clan leader knows the situation and wealth of our clan. We can send over what we have first and try and borrow the others from other clans.”

Gargamel finally relaxed when he heard his daughter break down the task.

“Send a copy of this list to Meryl. We will try and put together what we have. Since the clan leader has directly given out this order, he must be in a hurry. I will pay a visit to the Fourth Grade clans.”

“There’s no need, father. Don’t be in a hurry to go.” Emelia’s eyes rolled around. She couldn’t help but chuckle. “Lady Mary just advanced to Fourth Grade. Our clan will most certainly be holding a banquet. Let news of this spread out first. Wait until the eve of the celebration before you make your visit. The rise of our Crimson Clan is obvious to anyone with two eyes. When that happens, you won’t have to be worried about borrowing a few little resources, will you?”

Gargamel gave it some thought and nodded, impressed by the suggestion.

News of Mary’s advancement quickly spread, and Zhentarim was shocked once again.

This time, it wasn’t just the small and intermediate adept clans that couldn’t sit still any longer. Even the dozen Fourth Grade organizations were moved. The most excited among all of them had to be the vampire clans.

It had been several thousand years since the last Fourth Grade vampire appeared in Zhentarim!

As such, vampires clans of varying size and fame all over the continent couldn’t suppress the call of their blood. They hurried to the Crimson Clan as fast as they could.

In just one month, four vampire clans had already joined Mary’s forces, increasing the number of Third Grade vampires in the Crimson Clan to as many as six!

Of course, these vampire clans all had their own territories in Zhentarim prior to this. Thus, small outposts were established for the Crimson Clan all over Zhentarim, expanding their influence to as many as five regions.

The vampires also rapidly grew to become the strongest faction in the Crimson Clan, with the most potential as well!

An ordinary adept clan was actually home to two Fourth Grade adepts now. Moreover, these two Fourth Grades had a very intimate relationship as a couple.

In all honesty, all the Fourth Grade organizations in Zhentarim felt the pressure on their shoulders when they heard this news.

Anyone who wasn’t a fool couldn’t help but realize that change was coming to Zhentarim!