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The whispered certainties in the shadows that Greem would fall during this mission vanished instantly, replaced by rumors that Greem would soon become the most powerful adept of the Central Region.

In all honesty, the majority of Fourth Grade adepts that came to welcome Greem had more deep-seated tensions and conflicts with him. However, at their level, the possibility of a direct confrontation was minimal. Most of their disputes were resolved by way of schemes behind the scenes.

Greem walked out of the teleportation array, stopping to cough in his hand before smiling and walking towards the crowd.

The first to greet him was, naturally, Chairman Freed.

The old fox narrowed his eyes and took a good look at Greem. He couldn’t help but betray surprise on his face.

“Good work, Elder Greem!”

Greem covered his mouth and coughed a few more times. It took him a while to catch his breath. He then put on a bitter smile and said, “I was caught unaware by the enemy, and my soul’s been injured slightly. It seems like I will have to find somewhere peaceful and quiet to recover. It might take me a hundred years before I’ve recovered.”

He coughed violently after saying that.

Chairman Freed and the other elders exchanged looks. He then smiled and continued, “Elder Greem, your sacrifices this time were for the sake of the Association. Naturally, the Association won’t abandon you in your time of need. Here is the compensation that the Association is giving you after our discussion. I hope Elder Greem can forget all of our past misgivings and become a true member of the Association.”

Greem took a look around him and accepted the storage ring that Chairman Freed had passed to him. He greeted the rest of the adepts before using the teleportation array behind him to return to Fire Throne.

Once Greem’s frail and weak figure had vanished in the array, the other adepts put away their smiles and put on solemn and stern expressions.

“How was it? Is it true that he is injured?” Chairman Freed was the one who asked the question.

“We have verified the news from Exodar Camp. Greem was attacked by the self-destruction of a Fourth Grade adept from the Adept’s Association while they were returning. It was apparently an incredibly dangerous situation,” Vice-Chairman Mirva replied.

“The Adept’s Association? There might be trouble now,” Adept Kerala mumbled to herself.

The Adept’s Association was one of the three major adept forces of the World of Adepts. Now, one of their personnel had died on the way home without any proper reason. Even though it was a self-destruct initiated by the adept themselves, the Adept’s Association would certainly not accept that truth. An investigation was almost certain. It might even affect the ‘harmony’ between Zhentarim and the Adept’s Association.

This matter concerned Fourth Grade adepts and was not a trivial or trifling issue!

“That’s not the only problem!” Vice-Chairman Mirva sighed again. “I heard that the Dark Witch in their party also died in the other world. It might have something to do with Greem as well. I’m worried that the Northern Witches might start stirring trouble on their end as well.”

The Northern Witches.

All the adepts frowned at the mention of that infamous name. They couldn’t help but display bitter smiles.

They had believed that recruiting the legendary fire adept to the Association would make him a scapegoat for them all. Now, it seems like they were the ones that were going to be the scapegoats that had to manage all the risks and troubles he was bringing with him!

Why didn’t that damned fire adept just die in that other world? If he had just died, none of these problems and troubles would even exist. It would have been so much easier!

Everyone daydreamed in silence, frowning or sighing in frustration.

“Alright, alright. Did none of you hear my question?” Chairman Freed had a deeper frown than any of them. “What I asked was whether he was actually injured?”

“He should be truly injured,” Adept Kerala nodded and replied. “I can sense that the damage to his Spirit is fairly severe. The only question is whether his soul itself has been injured. If it has been damaged, his advancement in the future will be......”

Adept Kerala did not finish her sentence, but everyone knew what she meant.

What was most important for an adept?

The soul, the soul, and the soul.

The physical body could be modified, improved, and even turned into energy. These changes each had their benefits and problems, but they would not stop an adept’s advancement to a higher grade.

Only the soul origin was something that the adepts could never ever touch!

Any changes to the soul would bring about unpredictable and irreversible effects to the adept.

Should the adept damage his soul origin in battle, his foundations for advancement in the future would be affected. Should he fail to mend these wounds, he would not even be able to improve his powers by even a tiny bit.

“He’s hurt his soul origin!” Elder Mornashen Gaia of the Gold Clan was the one to speak up this time. His three-meter-tall physique stood out above the rest, and his light golden skin radiated a powerful energy aura. “I can sense the weakness of his soul. It is not a facade. Given his injuries, a hundred years of solitude is a very optimistic way to put it! In my opinion, he won’t be able to heal his wounds without another two or three hundred years. During these two to three hundred years, he...will probably have trouble even maintaining his power as a beginner Fourth Grade.”

The other adepts did not have any objections to Gaia’s opinion.

After all, among all the Fourth Grade adepts of Central Zhentarim, Mornashen Gaia was undoubtedly one of the most powerful of them all. His clan possessed a trace of the powerful bloodline of the ancient titans. When he transformed into the Gold Titan, he could unleash incomparable might with every action he took.

In terms of combat power alone, Mornashen Gaia was the most powerful adept among all Association adepts!

Even the sly and cunning Chairman Freed could not compare to him in that regard.

As such, everyone believed firmly in his judgment.

“It’s good that he’s injured...very good.” A smile finally appeared on Elder Nicolas’ face. “This way, we of Zhentarim can still relax for a few years. Otherwise, had the legendary adept returned entirely victorious, he would probably start some incredible trouble in Zhentarim!”

Elder Nicolas and Elder Matthew looked at each other, much more relaxed than before.

It couldn’t be helped. The two of them had been the ones causing all the trouble for the legendary fire adept before Greem’s rise to power. Be it the invasion of the five clans or the declaration of war from the Fabres Clan, there were always signs of their shadows working behind the scenes.

They had never truly perceived the fire adept or his Crimson Clan as a threat prior to this. However, with Greem’s gradual improvements, both of them started to feel the immense pressure weighing down on them.

Should Greem successfully rise to power in Zhentarim, it wasn’t hard to imagine where his spear would turn. Surely, he would deal with all the people with whom he had ‘grudges’ and ‘disagreements.’ If that happened, the two of them would most likely be pushed to the frontline of the conflict against the fire adept.

That was something that neither of them ever hoped to happen!

They had already heard that the adept faction had sent out a total of sixteen adepts to that foreign plane. Yet, only ten–no, nine–of them had successfully returned. It was a death rate of over fifty percent. That must mean that the survivors were all elites and powerful fighters amongst Fourth Grades.

They had no confidence in defeating this powerful fire adept who had survived the trials of blood and fire, life and death!

............

Greem’s return instantly invigorated the entire Crimson Clan.

The Crimson Clan had gone into a period of low-profile waiting during Greem’s departure.

It had indeed been a very, very short time since the rise of the Crimson Clan, after all. So quick, that they had yet to construct an effective and efficient system of cultivating adepts. Most of the new generation adepts were still stuck at First Grade. Those who had managed to make it to Second Grade could be counted with two hands.

The only ones that could prop up the Crimson Clan were still the veteran core adepts that had been following Greem all along.

When news of Greem’s return to the clan reached the people, all the core adepts put away their work and returned to the clan headquarters regardless of where they were or what they were working on. They awaited an audience with the clan leader.

Pinecone City.

With the rise of the Crimson Clan, the tiny Pinecone Town had expanded over and over again. Its population and the scale of its trade was almost comparable to a large city now.

The clan had also moved most of its core operations to the Crimson Wing. Fire Throne and the surrounding five kilometers were now Greem’s private abode and shelter. Ordinarily, without an audience from Greem, anyone that entered this area would be faced with attacks from terrifying fire creatures and powerful magical machines.

For a moment, Fire Throne, which had been sealed for over twenty years, was once again open to the public. A giant pillar of flame stood stall in the depths of the primal forest, once again displaying its overwhelming might and power.

The number of Crimson leaders gathered at Pinecone City increased by the day. Amongst them were:

Majordomo of the clan headquarters, Adept Gargamel.

Manager of the northern branch, Adept Meryl.

Knight Leader of the vampires, Soros.

Blood-elf Leader of the vampires, Isa.

Manager of the Capital of Eternity in Lance, Split-Brain Sock.

Chairman of the Goblin General Chamber of Commerce, Snorlax.

Commander of the Brutalblood Army, Drusilla.

Leader of the magical goblins and Dean of the Goblin Research Institute, Gonga.

Head of the assassins, Bug Adept Billis.

Stationed adept of the Goblin Plane, Adept Deserra.

There were also several core members of the clan: Dragonborn Zacha, Goblin Shredder Tigule, Medusa Dana, Manticore Charon, and many others.

When all these members had arrived, Fire Throne was finally opened for them!