Versatile Mage c1-2021, page 331
Fire in the form of dragons exploded forth. The fiery dragon pillars soaring into the sky were a great contrast to Nara Orisora's petty blood-light. Nara Orisora did not expect Mo Fan to possess such a formidable cultivation despite being of similar age to him. He quickly stopped his channeling and dodged aside.
As the fiery dragons rose into the sky, the spreading flames still caught Nara Orisora, setting him aflame as he was knocked high up into the sky by Mo Fan's punch!
"Telekinesis: Illusionary Claw!"
Mo Fan gathered his focus, pulsing with a deep silver glow. Nara Orisora was just knocked flying by Mo Fan's Fiery Fist when the Illusionary Claw dragged him back!
Falling Strike!
The claw dragged Nara Orisora toward the ground with great strength.
The impact was quite heavy. Nara Orisora was obviously not the kind of demon creature with outstanding physical capabilities. He was starting to lose consciousness when he slammed into the ground.
"Thunderbolt: Wild Strikes!"
Mo Fan was already an expert at casting Intermediate Spells. He immediately followed up with lightning strikes when Nara Orisora was thrown to the ground. Purple-black lightning dragons struck Nara Orisora and the ground and turned into lightning chains. Even the two red-faced demons who were sealed in their places were hurt by the lightning!
"I thought you were better than that; it's time to put an end to this... Sky-Flame Funeral!"
Mo Fan had no intention of wasting his time. He immediately used his ultimate.
Blazing red flames burst to life on Mo Fan's palms!
At his command, the densely-packed Stars in the Fire Galaxy were aligned quickly. A bright burning path formed between them as they reached certain positions. As more Star Patterns were constructed, they combined into a spectacular Fire Constellation, signaling that an enormous amount of energy was about to be poured out!
"Eat this… f**k me!"
Mo Fan was indulged in the destructive aura coming from his hands when a little accident took place. The two hundred and fifty-sixth Star was connected to a wrong Star, which caused the spectacular Star Constellation to collapse within an instant!
The Star Patterns gradually disappeared as the Star Orbits dimmed. The flames engulfing Mo Fan dissipated as soon as he made the mistake!
The Star Constellation disappeared, leaving Mo Fan standing there blankly. The expression on his face was worse than the one he would wear after eating a fly.
The breaking of the Advanced Spell was a huge contrast compared to the Intermediate Spells Mo Fan had cast so adeptly. Even Nara Orisora was stunned for a moment. In fact, Nara Orisora was quite scared of Advanced Spells!
"Damn it, how could I make a mistake at a time like this!" Mo Fan was annoyed at himself and anxious.
An Advanced Spell required three hundred and forty-three Stars. It consisted of seven Star Patterns, each constructed with forty-nine Stars. Mo Fan had a high chance of completing it if he took his time, but if he quickened his pace, it would significantly increase the complexity. Mo Fan had yet to fully master the process!
Nara Orisora was not stupid. He immediately floated away when he saw Mo Fan's mistake. He placed his hand by his lips and began to utter some chants.
It looked like he was chanting some scriptures, yet the tone he was making sounded rather evil. Mo Fan could see two bloody rays coming out of his palms and shining upon the two red-faced demons.
The two red-faced demons immediately cried out wildly as if they had gone into a frenzy. They were tearing their own flesh with their claws!
The lumps of meat fell to the ground. They were simply tearing themselves apart!
Mo Fan had no idea what the two red-faced demons were doing, yet when he saw the two familiar faces after the demons tore open their heads, great rage erupted in Mo Fan's heart!
The two faces were none other than Mu Ningxue and Zhao Manyan!
"I know you're using some kind of illusion. These demons are definitely not them, but your filthy act has indeed made me mad! If I don't beat the shit out of you today, my surname won't be Fan anymore!"
Mo Fan was still wearing the Focus Necklace. He would not be fooled easily by a petty trick trying to use his weakness to confuse his senses!
Chapter 773 - Eliminated by the Fiery Sword
Translated by XephiZ
Edited by Aelryinth
Mo Fan had felt pity for Miyata and Nara Orisora when he saw the memory fragments in the wooden clapper, but no longer felt the same way now!
A righteous man would never abuse the Curse Element to harm innocent people, even if he had the ability to do so. The demon spirit was trying to use his relationship with Zhao Manyan and Mu Ningxue to mess with his mind, just so he would make a mistake again when casting spells. Mo Fan was utterly disgusted by it!
A pitiful person would have detestable parts too. The saying was absolutely right!
"Little Flame Belle! Possess!"
Mo Fan was extremely furious. The Rose Flame that had perfectly merged with his body grew restless.
Not long after the Rose Flame engulfed Mo Fan, a brown flame emerged. It was the Calamity Fire, the purest yet most imperious flame in the world. Since Little Flame Belle was already bound to Mo Fan's spirit, being possessed by her simply granted him an endless supply of fire.
It felt like Mo Fan had just put on a burning robe. Even his hair was standing upright. Fierce flames sprouted under his feet, launching him like a burning arrow towards Nara Orisora!
Mo Fan was utterly reckless. The two red-faced demons that had disguised themselves as Mu Ningxue and Zhao Manyan tried to stop him, yet they were knocked flying by the flames engulfing Mo Fan.
Nara Orisora quickly backed off after losing the protection of the red-faced demons, withdrawing temporarily.
Nara Orisora was in a panic. He initially thought Mo Fan was only an ordinary Magician from China who had come to Japan to train himself. To Nara Orisora's surprise, not only was Mo Fan an Advanced Magician, his strength was also different than most Magicians. His entire body was full of explosive power!
"Trying to run away? Did you ask my fists for permission!?"
Mo Fan came to a stop, leaving trails of scorching waves on the ground. He did not purposely aim the Fiery Fist at Nara Orisora, as he knew the demon spirit was still within its coverage.
Flames burst forward and took the form of a ferocious wolf in the middle of the flight, an enormous, enraged lupine ramming forward. The small Cursed Pattern stood no chance against it!
Little Flame Belle's training lately had been a great success. She could now transform into a giant wolf. Her appearance was basically the same as the Swift Star Wolf, yet she was around eight times bigger than it was. When Mo Fan combined the two types of flames, he never thought the result would be a ferocious wolf charging forward. The flames were even stronger than the Fiery Fist: Nine Dragons!
The fiery wolf left Nara Orisora with no escape. The ground it sprinted across was scorched black. The enormous beast quickly devoured the tiny Nara Orisora.
Nara Orisora's silhouette clearly turned slightly fainter after the collision and the burn.
Mo Fan had noticed it too. He saw the demon spirit turning fainter when it was recovering after being hit before. The demon spirit must be something like a phantom. Its body would dissipate after receiving a certain amount of damage.
"You have come to stop me when you don't even understand anything. Do you really think you can kill me? I'm invincible!" The smile on Nara Orisora's contorted after receiving the serious blow.
His face turned red with bones growing out on his forehead. His fangs were exposed in the now too.
The demon spirit was basically a monster. No matter how respectable and pitiful he was, or the fact that he used to be a kind monk in the past, he had turned into a demon with a strong l.u.s.t to kill.
"I really don't understand why you're still keeping your appearance as a monk. You've used Miyata's spirit to lure people into your trap. You are using revenge as an excuse to acquire more power. Look at you, your appearance is only so twisted because you've taken so many innocent lives!
"I suggest you get rid of the curse and return the souls you've kidnapped to the people before my sword is ignited!"
Invincible? Did he think Mo Fan was too stupid to observe the truth?
"I don't need you to teach me what to do! Everyone who tries to stop me shall die!" roared Nara Orisora.
A malevolent blood curse appeared on Nara Orisora's body, with red strings like hair spreading in all directions while writhing wildly.
The dense, blood-colored hair converged on Mo Fan, yet he remained standing in the same spot.
The little trick did not pose any threat to Mo Fan. His burning aura of the Rose Flame and the Calamity Fire could easily burn the cursed hair to ashes.
Mo Fan had raised his hand high up in the air when he was talking. Fierce flames followed his hand and flowed up into the form of a long sword.
The burning runes inside the fiery sword were shining. The outer layer's teeth were swaying. The sword was an impossible ten meters long!
Mo Fan was holding the hilt. He glared coldly at Nara Orisora, who was struggling to escape the range of the attack.
Demon spirits did not have blood or flesh. Their curses were hard to defend against, yet they were just mere phantoms formed by hatred!
"Flame Sword!" The giant ten-meter fiery sword slashed forward in a huge arc.
Nara Orisora's cursed hair was split in half without any resistance. The sword cut the demon spirit perfectly in half, starting from its head. Its residue dissipated to the two sides with the fierce flames.
The fiery sword was incredibly powerful. Nara Orisora's bisected body tried to join together again, yet it was so faint that it was almost invisible.
The flames lunged at the demon spirit mercilessly and burned what was left of it into ashes. Nara Orisora's hate-filled eyes lingered in the flames, just to remember Mo Fan's face.
If he was still alive, he could remember Mo Fan's face and try to get his revenge as a ghost... yet he was already a ghost now. The unique Vessel had only granted him a slightly different skin and power compared to other spirits of the deceased. The fiery blow was enough to completely erase his existence from the world!
Some remaining flames were still burning on the ground. A long smoldering scar was left on Manying Mountain. Even the tombstone was thoroughly destroyed.
Mo Fan looked at Nara Orisora's soul dispersing in the burning air. He did not let the Little Loach Pendant collect the disappearing soul.
Once the demon spirit was slain, the curse would disappear on its own, too. It was what Mo Fan had hoped for!
At the very least, he did not let Mu Ningxue down...
Chapter 774 - A Stronger Vessel
Translated by XephiZ
Edited by Aelryinth
...
The monks were admitted to the hospital. Japan had its own City Hunters too, but since the problem had been resolved, the monks did not want any more trouble.
Back at Yanming Temple, Mo Fan hurried his way to where Mu Ningxue was resting and saw her awake. Nan Rongni was feeding her some aromatic mushroom soup.
Mo Fan smiled when he learned that she was fine.
"Strange, I thought I was sleeping for a long time. Why is the sun just setting when I woke up?" asked Zhao Manyan in a confused voice.
It turned out that the guy was still clueless about what happened. Mo Fan was too lazy to explain it to him.
"When we came back, the people whose souls were kidnapped before woke up too. However, their souls were separated from their bodies for too long. Their souls had lost too much energy. Even if they managed to wake up, their bodies would be extremely weak, and their lifespan would be reduced too. It is difficult to revert the damage done to a human soul," said Jiang Yu.
"They always say Japan has lots of ghosts; we already stumbled into one, even though we're staying at a temple. Such luck!"
"The Magic Association of Xixiong City must be investigating it now. They will soon discover that we're here illegally. We should leave as soon as possible. We're still quite far away from Tokyo," said Nanyu.
Xixiong City was the westernmost place in Japan, while Tokyo was located in the east. They basically had to travel across all of Japan to reach there. It was quite a long journey without taking a plane.
---
The team was prepared to leave Xixiong City early the next morning. Nan Rongni was walking around holding a bowl of medicine in her hand.
"Did anyone see Zhao Manyan? He hasn't drunk his medicine yet," asked Nan Rongni.
"Nope, did he seriously go missing again early in the morning? Damn, don't tell me something happened to him again?" Mo Fan's heart tightened.
"Isn't he right there!?" Jiang Yu pointed at the path leading to the back of the mountain.
Zhao Manyan hurriedly returned from the back of the mountain and regrouped with the others. Gong Yu who was still holding a grudge against him snapped coldly as the team had wasted some time waiting for his return, "Can you not run off for no reason? Do you seriously think we're on vacation?"
Zhao Manyan was too lazy to talk to Gong Yu. He sidled over to Mo Fan and nudged him, "Hey, I have something to tell you, I had a very long dream last night, it's related to the temple in the back of the mountain. The dream was too complicated, so I can't really explain it all to you, but I feel like everything has happened for a reason..."
"Err, didn't anyone tell you what happened?" said Mo Fan.
"What happened... (sigh), don't worry about it now, I've gone straight to the back of the mountain after I woke up, guess what I found there?" said Zhao Manyan in a mysterious tone. His eyes were flickering with joy.
"I bet you found a wooden clapper with carvings of some ancient words on it," replied Mo Fan.
Zhao Manyan was dumbfounded. He raised his thumb at Mo Fan and said, "You're a f**king genius, how did you guess it? It's a wooden clapper indeed. The place was exactly the same as what I saw in my dream, so I took the wooden clapper with me. I'm sure that it's a piece of treasure!"
Saying this, Zhao Manyan slowly opened up a piece of cloth he kept in his pocket. Inside it was the strange wooden clapper vessel in the run-down temple!
Mo Fan was shocked. He immediately took a few steps back.
Zhao Manyan was even more confused. Why was he scared of a wooden clapper?
"Holy crap, how did you take it?" Mo Fan stared at the eerie wooden clapper vessel in disbelief.
"How did I take it? With my hand of course... (sigh), I know it's wrong to steal it, but the place is quite run-down. It's better for me to take it then leaving it there to rust away. Besides, I feel like it's calling me when I was asleep. On top of that, it's somehow related to the dream I had. I think… I'm predestined to find it!" said Zhao Manyan in a serious voice.
Mo Fan was having difficulty interpreting the situation. The truth was, they had gone back to the run-down temple after dealing with Nara Orisora, to decide what they were going to do with the vessel. To their surprise, the wooden clapper's Magic Lock was as strong as it was before. They could not do anything to it at all.
They could not even touch the wooden clapper vessel, let alone take it away.
To his surprise, Zhao Manyan had a dream about it and even took it with him!
Was the Magic Lock not stopping him?
"Nanyu, can you check this out?" Mo Fan felt something was not right. He quickly called Nanyu over.
Nanyu did some checks and realized that the wooden clapper vessel was bound to Zhao Manyan's soul. However, she could not tell if it was because it had taken Zhao Manyan's soul away before, or because the vessel had lost its previous owner...
Mo Fan tried to touch the wooden clapper. As he thought, the yellow forbidding force emerged again and rejected him strongly. Zhao Manyan was so shocked that he even threw the wooden clapper away.
When Zhao Manyan went to pick it up again, it had returned to normal without posing any threat.
Nanyu frowned as she fell into deep thought.
She looked at Mo Fan and asked him to follow her to a corner.
"What's going on? Is there something wrong with the wooden clapper? I feel like it's quite evil; maybe it's better to leave it here," said Mo Fan.
"First of all, I think the wooden clapper has chosen its new owner as Zhao Manyan, whose soul was kidnapped first. I believe it had something to do with the dream he had, but I think he wasn't dreaming. It was his soul going deep into the wooden clapper, and somehow he has acquired its approval," said Nanyu.
The Magic Lock was not only effective against Mo Fan, it activated when everyone else tried to touch it, including Mu Ningxue.
"Is that even possible?" Mo Fan was left speechless.
Did Zhao Manyan seriously obtain a strange piece of treasure just by sleeping?
"Normally, it's more likely that you'd become the wooden clapper's new owner since you've killed the demon spirit inside it. However, from what I can tell, the wooden clapper is actually repelling more… maybe I shouldn't say repel, I think it's afraid of you. From what I know, the wooden clapper most likely gave birth to the demon spirit since it has been ownerless for a very long time. The person who defeated the demon spirit would usually become its new owner. Instead, it's rejecting you more strongly than before. The only explanation is, you already own a Lifetime Vessel, and its level is higher than the wooden clapper!" Nanyu stared at Mo Fan.
Mo Fan was startled. He was going to look at the Little Loach Pendant on his neck subconsciously, but decided against it when he saw Nanyu's sharp gaze.
"Am I right, Mo Fan?" Nanyu's lips curled upward slightly. The expression in her eyes felt like she had completely read his mind.
Chapter 775 - Lifetime Vessels
Translated by XephiZ
Edited by Aelryinth
As a matter of fact, Nanyu was no longer interested in the wooden clapper. She was more interested in Mo Fan's vessel now. Otherwise, she would not have dragged him to the side.
