Age of Adepts

Sainz couldn't help but ask when they were both seated properly in the hall.

"Tell me, why have you come looking for me?"

"I wish to request an audience with Great Adept Sarubo!" Since Sainz already asked, Greem naturally went with the most direct answer.

The scrawny little old man couldn't help but start laughing sinisterly, as if he already foresaw the answer.

"Lord Sarubo is not like us. He has long since left the camp and established a mystic realm of his own. Contacting him is not going to be that easy!"

"But you definitely have a way to contact him, don't you? "Greem chuckled.

Sainz took a good look at Greem, sizing him up and down. Finally, he couldn't help but sigh once more as he said, "Who would've known that even Lord Sarubo would have made a misjudgment. Otherwise, he never would have let an individual as excellent as you slip through his fingers!"

"He didn't exactly misjudge me. I just want to take this opportunity to resolve certain misunderstandings and conflicts we had in my earlier years."

"Kehkehkehe…those trivial affairs that happened within the planar world are somehow still worth your effort. You have only just advanced to Great Adept. You don't understand how the major players like us think. For people like us, power is a power that you can truly control. As for the World of Adepts? Heh, given the damned rejection of the planar consciousness, there's not much we can intervene in."

"But the World of Adepts is still our homeworld, isn't it?"

"True, true, true. What you say is very true indeed! However, you aren't innocent enough to believe that the entire Adept Faction is sustaining their losses in the planar wars with the Great Adepts that rise from the World of Adepts, are you? Once every few hundred years?"

"You should know that our adept faction is constantly at war with the gods, dragons, demons, and the gazers. There is no way we would have been able to sustain our efforts by relying on new blood from the homeworld alone.

"The higher-grade adepts possess major planeworlds in their hands, comparable to the World of Adepts. The production of fighting force from these major planeworlds ensures the adept faction retains the tremendous power required to intimidate all our enemies."

Greem listened silently.

Since advancing past Fourth Grade, the difference in the dimension of his existence had qualified him to learn of the true secrets of the universe. Greem could sense the curtain obscuring the true face of the world slowly pull open before his eyes as he listened to Sainz speak.

A new world, completely different from his previous understanding, was starting to come into view.

"Why is it that every Fifth Grade Great Adept that steps out of the homeworld will stop at a camp in space for a long time? On the one hand, it's because they have nowhere to go, while they themselves lack the ability to establish a mystic realm of their own. On the other hand, it's to adapt. To adapt to their new bodies, their new soul, and to all this new knowledge.

"I know that for a person as young as you to advance to Fifth Grade, you must have experienced terrible bloodshed and cruel conquests. Upon turning into a Great Adept, the way you see the universe, the planeworlds, and resources will have to be different from before.

"The planes you have visited and conquered in the past were mostly small and medium-sized planes. The native creatures there are either foolish and slow or possess power yet lack the ability to properly wield it.

"Fighting against such enemies was no different than wrestling with sheep, even if they had hundreds or thousands of times your number. With enough time and space, you could easily drag them to their death, even when faced with absolute danger and disadvantage.

"Why? Tell me, what is it that gave you such power and confidence?"

Greem listened to Sainz's question and pondered. "Planar advantage…grade advantage…knowledge advantage……"

"Indeed. These were the things that gave you confidence. Thus, the enemies are no more than sheep in your eyes. They might grow horns, even claws and fangs, but it will never change their essence as sheep. And we…we are wolves! They are prey, and we are predators. It isn't our decision, but something that was decided by the difference in our planeworlds.

"You can imagine the converse. If their worlds were stronger than ours, they would never let go of this opportunity to raid resources and the population. The World of Adepts is only a large planeworld. The resources it needs to grow and become a mega-sized planeworld like the Abyssal World and the World of Disasters is simply far, far too much.

"Throughout this process of gathering the required resources, the enemies we will be facing will no longer be those lesser planes weaker than ourselves. The enemies that Great Adepts face are often large planeworlds, comparable to the World of Adepts. And the wars between large planeworlds are beyond what you have experienced in those tiny worlds.

"That is why these camps in the realms beyond are like rookie camps for newly advanced Fifth Grade to gather resources and familiarize themselves with the conditions of war. Hehehe. People like us are little more than rookies who have yet to sharpen our fangs in the eyes of the adepts of higher-grades."

Greem's body trembled as a complex expression flashed across his face.

Meanwhile, Adept Sainz continued cackling oddly as he further revealed more harsh truths of the world to Greem.

"Don't be discouraged. Almost every newly advanced Fifth Grade adept will have to experience this adaptation of the mind and body. You were once an uncontested, omnipotent individual within a planeworld. Here, you are little more than a rookie who possesses some power.

"Still, don't get dejected. At the very least, compared to those low-grade adepts, we make up the backbone of the adept faction. The higher-ups won't just let us die so easily!"

Upon hearing all these shocking truths, Greem took a deep breath of air. He couldn't help but ask out of curiosity, "Sir Sainz, why is it that you revealed so much valuable information to me?"

"Kehkehkehe, I just want to tell you that all those conflicts in the World of Adepts that you care so much about hardly matter in the eyes of a Sixth Grade Great Adept. He is constantly busy waging war against those major planeworlds. Where would he have the time or effort to care about all those messy affairs in the World of Adepts?"

Greem thought for a moment and asked, "If planar conquests are so dangerous, are there Great Adepts that dislike them and choose not to participate?"

"Kehkehkehe, of course there are! Do you not see the one dozen Fifth Grades lingering inside the camp? They shut themselves in their rooms, never emerging and only collecting resources for their research and experiments."

"Then…do the superior adepts not forcefully make them participate in planar wars?"

"Hehehe, no, that doesn't happen! After all, the direction and preferences of every adept differs. There's no way to bind someone and force them to do anything. However, for adepts who excel at killing and fighting, actively participating in the planar wars organized by superior adepts is perhaps the quickest way to strengthen oneself.

"Take our Camp Exodar, for example! The true owner of the camp is Seventh Grade Great Adept Lord Erlendwald. He chose to join Lady Barbara's forces and they are currently waging war against the Beast God. I heard it's quite an intense battle indeed."

"You mean…only Eighth Grade Great Adepts have the right to declare war against a major planeworld. They will then gather some Great Adepts to strengthen their forces and serve as the main army," Greem asked.

"Indeed!" Sainz nodded and said, "The so-called wars between major planeworlds are not limited to just one or two planeworlds. These are often horrifying wars that span dozens if not hundreds of planeworlds. For the sake of hurting the enemy to the best of their abilities, these wars always begin on the peripheral planeworlds. The invader will crush their enemy's resource worlds, fortress worlds, and faith worlds in an overwhelming blitz.

"In those cases, the weaklings out there are the cannon fodder of this war, while we are the backbone of the fighting. We are either deployed to take down stubborn fortresses or to deal with opponents of the same grade as us.

"I'm sure you can imagine how crowded it is in those worlds, with millions upon millions of ants fighting in them. Meanwhile, outside the planeworlds, dozens of Fifth Grade Great Adepts, vassal gods, and clones wage battle. I'm sure you will never be able to forget such an experience once you've experienced it for yourself!"

Greem fell silent for a moment. Finally, he shook his head and smiled bitterly, "It seems like you have a purpose in mind, with all that you've told me today."

"Kehkehkehe, as long as you understand!" Sainz broke into a sinister smile. "The situation over on Lady Barbara's side is apparently quite tense; they still lack manpower. As such, recruitment orders have been sent to all the camps. You can choose to join, or not to. You enjoy absolute freedom.

"However, before you reject the offer, I hope you will take a look at the terms of recruitment first."

Having said that, Sainz took out a communication crystal and tossed it at Greem.

Greem caught it and slowly extended his Spirit into the crystal.

The next second, he extracted a tremendous amount of data with the help of the Chip.

[The Beast War: Adept Recruitment Order

[Individuals Recruited: Fifth, Sixth Grade Great Adepts

[Mission Content: Ensure the successful advance along the West Line!

[Mission Sponsor: Great Adept Erlenwald

[Mission Rewards: Two small planeworlds, 1,000 siths of origin substance, a Fifth Grade material of your choosing, and 30,000 otherworldly slaves. All spoils obtained during the war belong to the individual.]

Apart from the simple terms described in the crystal, the rest of the information contained descriptions of the Beast War's current state. The recruitment this time was completely voluntary. The recruited Great Adepts were to follow Great Adept Erlenwald and wage war along the West Line, destroying all planeworlds that worshipped the Beast God along the way.

Of course, these invasions' main forces were the Third and Fourth Grades, along with endless hordes of adept forces and voodoo beasts. The purpose of the Great Adepts' presence was to protect the invading forces from being assaulted by ultra-grade opponents.