Versatile Mage c1-2021, page 480
"Mu Ningxue, withdraw your ice!" Mo Fan said.
Mu Ningxue had frozen the Black Tree Spirits in the woods, and it was time for them to come in handy. As she withdrew the ice, rows of Black Tree Spirits immediately surrounded the place. It felt like the entire jungle was moving!
As more Black Tree Spirits gathered, the place was crawling with black figures. When they realized that their queen had been slain, they let out furious cries, filled with a strong urge to tear the humans to pieces!
"Time to go, my formation won't last for long," Mo Fan put the Fundamental Crystal away and started running, dragging Mu Ningxue with him.
Mu Ningxue had the Wind Element. She had long prepared her Wind Wings.
She nimbly stepped on the trees and flew into the sky with a little boost from the breeze.
Meanwhile, Mo Fan put on the Dark Noble Mantle and dissolved into the pitch-black woods, going invisible without a trace.
Stuck in the formation, Jack let out a furious cry, yet as soon as they broke free from it, the Black Tree Spirits immediately surrounded them.
The Black Tree Spirits had remarkable defense and overwhelming numbers. Even Mu Ningxue struggled to kill them all, and was forced to freeze them with her Ice Element. It would surely take Jack and his crew some time to deal with the Black Spirit Trees.
On top of that, it was impossible to tell how many Black Tree Spirits were inside the forest. They only knew that the whole forest had turned restless when the news of the death of the Tree Spirit Commander was spread among the Black Tree Spirits!
"Don't you dare run!"
Hannah was the only person that was not trapped by the formation. She anxiously summoned her Wing Magical Equipment when she saw Mu Ningxue soaring into the sky.
Beating her blue wings, Hannah quickly chased into the sky after Mu Ningxue. She was around two hundred meters behind.
Higher up in the sky, an Observer Eagle was circling as its camera eyes were capturing the scene. Hannah was delighted when she caught a glimpse of the Observer Eagle.
It was a great chance for her to make a name, by abusing Mu Ningxue's reputation. The woman had been a hot topic across the world, and if she managed to defeat her, everyone would surely remember her name!
"Silent Deadly Bolt!"
Hannah used her Lightning Spell, and a deadly bolt of lightning ran through the space above the black forest, aimed at Mu Ningxue.
Mu Ningxue sensed the tremendous Lightning energy approaching from behind. She quickly dove and dodged the deadly lightning bolt!
"Lightning Explosion!"
Hannah's attack did not end there. At her command, the Silent Deadly Bolt exploded close to Mu Ningxue, spreading wildly out into shocking lightning arcs that upon the area. The lightning arcs almost reached the clouds!
Mu Ningxue reacted swiftly. She withdrew her Wind Wings and wrapped herself inside them, protecting her like a pair of angelic wings.
It was the effect of the second-tier Wind Wings: Shelter, the ability to turn the Wind Wings into a shield to protect the Mage from powerful attacks.
With the Wind Wings protecting Mu Ningxue, she glided along the ground and glanced at Hannah, who was pursuing her relentlessly...
"Don't run, fight me!" Hannah screamed furiously.
Mo Fan had regrouped with Mu Ningxue on the ground. He clearly did not have a good impression of the madwoman. He simply cursed, "Hey, bootches, we don't really have the time for it. Enjoy the hospitality from these Black Tree Spirits!"
Mo Fan activated the Dark Noble Mantle once again. This time, Mo Fan dragged Mu Ningxue into the shadows with him. Hannah was no longer able to tell where they went.
Hannah almost fell from the sky from anger.
It was true that she had a bad complexion, and she hated people mentioning it the most. She almost lost her calm after receiving the critical blow from Mo Fan. She raised her head, screaming into the sky. Several lightning strikes descended fiercely and danced wildly around her!
Chapter 1080 - First Crime
Translated by XephiZ
Edited by Aelryinth
The American team was incredibly strong. The madwoman with the Lightning Element would obviously be a tough opponent to fight.
The reason they fled was not because they did not dare to fight Jack and his crew, but because there were still lots of treasures waiting to be discovered. Only idiots would waste their time on some meaningless battles!
Both Mo Fan and Mu Ningxue were in need of resources. Despite their urge to fight other participants, their current priority was to pillage as many resources as they could!
"I guess there's no need to look for the others. It's fine if we find Jiang Shaoxu or Jiang Yu, but the thought of finding Mu Tingying, Li Kaifeng, Nanrong Ni, and the others disgusts me," Mo Fan told Mu Ningxue.
Mu Ningxue nodded. It was true that the two of them would have an easier time searching the place on their own, as they could easily engage or flee from a battle as they pleased.
"I saw a number of people gathering at that mountain when I was flying in the air just then," Mu Ningxue pointed at a tall mountain, half-shrouded by black clouds.
"More people means there must be something fascinating there!" Mo Fan's eyes glittered instantly.
"So we're going there? I already saw more than four groups of people moving toward it," Mu Ningxue said.
"Don't worry, speaking of which, what Jack tried to do gave me an idea," Mo Fan said.
"What idea?" Mu Ningxue was confused. The man was trying to rob them. What idea could he possibly give Mo Fan?
"The two of us are currently in deep trouble. Once the World College Tournament comes to an end, Lu Yilin's clan will be hunting me, and you will have to fight the Mu Clan, too. If we aren't able to improve significantly in the World College Tournament, we are surely going to have a hard time later. Besides, you need lots of resources, and so do I… if we keep searching around like headless flies, and wasting our time with the people trying to rob us, we won't be able to secure enough resources to achieve our goals," Mo Fan said.
"What are you trying to say?" Mu Ningxue could see a cunning look in Mo Fan's eyes, yet she was struggling to read Mo Fan's mind.
Wasn't the situation obvious enough? The participants were searching for the resources scattered across the space. The treasure hunt was held to test the students' ability to observe, and survive in the wild, while provoking the students to compete for the resources. Was there any other way that could possibly get them lots of resources?
Mo Fan looked at Mu Ningxue and said with a serious face, "Robbing is faster than finding."
Mu Ningxue opened her mouth wide. She was lost for words all of a sudden.
"Think about it. If we try searching for the loot, most of them are being guarded by demon creatures. It's obvious that the organizer has placed the treasure inside the nests or caves of demon creatures. It's tricky enough to deal with the demon creatures, and even when we finally get our hands on the treasure, someone else might be waiting for us just so they can rob us when we have done most of the hard work. If we're unlucky enough to get robbed, we're only going to lose all our loot! Instead of wasting our time, it's better if we focus on robbing the others. It's a lot easier too; we just need to find the right target, take away their loot, and run away. If we're lucky enough, we can steal their loot without fighting them!" Mo Fan said with glittering eyes.
Mu Ningxue was stunned for a while. It took her some time to collect her thoughts, "But...but that doesn't sound right!"
"But do you agree that it's a better idea?" Mo Fan asked.
"Mmm..." Mu Ningxue hesitated.
To be honest, she did not expect Mo Fan to come up with such a wicked idea. On second thought, he was seriously crossing the line. It was surely going to offend lots of people!
"I assume that you've agreed if you kept quiet!" Mo Fan dragged Mu Ningxue over to his side without giving her time to think about it.
It was unlikely that Mo Fan could do it on his own. The sixteen teams that were left in the tournament were all worthy opponents, and each member would possess remarkable strength. It was unwise for Mo Fan to try robbing others by himself.
However, it was different with Mu Ningxue on his team. Mu Ningxue was now strong enough to take on an entire team, and with his multiple Elements, he could take on four to five people at once. Besides, they were not going to fight the others to death. They would flee as soon as they got their hands on the loot, and even if they failed their attempt, they could still run away!
"We can wear masks or change our outfits too. Although it doesn't really guarantee that the others won't know who we are, at least they won't realize our identities so easily," Mu Ningxue proposed.
It was Mo Fan's turn to be left speechless. He looked at Mu Ningxue with a blank face.
Mu Ningxue was slightly embarrassed when she noticed Mo Fan's gaze. She said softly, "Did I say something wrong?"
"No, I just didn't expect you to come up with such a brilliant plan. Xuexue, you really are talented at this!" Mo Fan exclaimed with a smile.
Mu Ningxue simply ignored the comment.
If Mu Ningxue was not in her current situation, she really did not feel like doing something that would damage her reputation. However, when she recalled her situation, bearing the shame of a close relative being a member of the Black Vatican, and how the Mu Clan was picking on her, she felt like she had no choice but to follow Mo Fan in doing evil deeds!
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At the foothill of the Gray Python Mountain, a few students activated their Boots Equipment and were running rapidly toward the mountain ridge in the distance.
The students were incredibly fast. They were able to travel more hundreds of meters in the blink of an eye. Moments later, they were already a kilometer away.
"Let's split up, we'll regroup again once we escape from those French!" an Italian contestant named Angelo said.
The others nodded. They immediately left while providing cover for Angelo.
The five split up and ran in different directions. Shortly afterwards, a few other groups showed up. They looked in the directions of the five students, and were clueless about who they were supposed to go after.
"Damn it, we don't know who took the Heart of Stone. That's the most valuable loot we have found. It took almost twenty people just to defeat the Rock Golem on the mountain, and our French team obviously contributed the most! How dare they take away the Heart of Stone!" a French student snapped furiously.
"Chase after them, they won't be too far away. We can't let them get away!" a Japanese contestant said angrily. The Japanese team had contributed a lot too, and one of their members was severely injured because of it. If they could not find their Healer soon, the student would be disqualified from the treasure hunt!
"You guys, take that way; we'll go this way, and the few of you, go after that woman!" Lyon, a French Mage, directed them.
Not long after they arrived in the space, they had discovered a rare Rock Demon on the top of the mountain. The Rock Demon was incredibly valuable, as its heart was like an energy core of the Earth Element, enough to support a small city. The Constructors desperately needed them for their work.
Since the demon creature was quite an obvious target, more teams started to make their way toward it. In addition, the Rock Golem was fairly strong, so the teams had to work together to defeat it. However, even though they had reached a deal on how to distribute the resources, the Italian team simply took the Heart of Stone and fled. The others realized that there was no such thing as allies in the treasure hunt, since the team with the most resources was most likely going to win in the upcoming matches!
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"HAHAHA, what a bunch of idiots, they seriously think they could lead the team and split the loot evenly like a group of Hunters. We're no Hunters, we're meant to be competitors!" Angelo burst out laughing when he saw that he had shaken off his pursuers.
They had surely earned a fortune. A Heart of Stone was usually sold for four hundred million, and if its quality was higher than average, he could even sell it for five hundred million. There were so many people that had fought against the Rock Demon. If they were to split the profit among twenty people, each of them would only receive a small portion of the profit.
But everything was fine now, since the Heart of Stone now belonged to him!
He was almost at the mountain ridge. Angelo no longer had to worry about the French and the Japanese. He could easily play a whole searching team like a fiddle in the ridge!
"Strange, why is the sky so dark all of a sudden?" Angelo lifted his gaze and saw a pitch-black curtain looming over him. It looked rather spooky.
Crap! Angelo was stunned for a moment, then realized that he had stepped into a trap.
However, as he was about to run away, he was suddenly surrounded by sharp ice cylinders that sealed off his escape routes.
"Who's there?!" Angelo demanded furiously.
The darkness with Giant Shadow Spikes fell down, constructing the powerful confining formation and f.o.r.c.i.b.l.y entrapped Angelo within it.
It did not matter how quick Angelo reacted. It was extremely difficult for anyone to break free once they stepped into a trap set up with the Shadow Element. They could only stand and watch the shadowy swords penetrating their body, which further sealed off their mind, making it impossible for them to move or use their thoughts.
"We kindly accept your generous offering..." a masked man appeared and said in a hoarse voice that was obviously fake.
"Asshole, you shameless prick dares to rob the Italian team, you're going to pay for it!" Angelo cursed furiously.
"So you can still talk, it turns out that your cultivation is quite impressive. You accuse us of being shameless, yet your team isn't any good, either! You're trying to keep the loot to yourself when you agreed to split the profit evenly in the first place. We're only serving justice on behalf of the Heavens," Mo Fan said piously.
Mo Fan walked up to Angelo and calmly took the expensive Heart of Stone from him.
"Let's go!" Mu Ningxue urged Mo Fan. She did not want to waste time.
Mo Fan was too lazy to fool around with the Italia. He purposely said to Mu Ningxue, "How smart was Jack, he knew the guy was going to come this way, so he asked us to intercept him here..."
Angelo almost lost his mind when he saw Mo Fan leaving with the valuable loot, yet there was nothing he could do when he was restrained both physically and mentally. He could only keep the name Jack in mind!
Chapter 1081 - Fan Xue Bandit Group!
Translated by XephiZ
Edited by Aelryinth
Mo Fan had the Space Element, so he did not have a problem opening up a little space to store the loot they acquired.
After putting the Heart of Stone away, Mo Fan exchanged glances with Mu Ningxue. It seemed like this was the first time that Mu Ningxue had done anything like it. Both her expression and gaze did not look natural.
"It's fine, you'll get used to it eventually," Mo Fan tried to comfort her in his way.
"The Observer Eagles must have captured what we did," Mu Ningxue said.
"Don't be scared, everyone is trying to set one another up, too. The only difference is that we're like real bandits, since we aren't wasting our time searching for the treasure. Seriously, isn't it tiring trying to pretend that you're working with someone else, but end up going against your word when the loot is simply too valuable to give up? Come, it's time for us to look for our next target," Mo Fan said.
Their first crime was not as easy as others thought. Mo Fan and Mu Ningxue had been watching the group for quite some time. They were struggling to find an opportunity to strike. Luckily, the Italian team decided to keep the loot to themselves, allowing Mo Fan and Mu Ningxue to seize the opportunity!
"What do we do next?" Mu Ningxue asked. She was no longer fussed about what they were doing.
She did not really care about doing the right thing, but she had always been obedient since she was young, and had always walked the righteous path. She finally made it to the World College Tournament, yet she ended up doing some wicked things with this bad guy, Mo Fan… her heart was still pounding heavily!
Meanwhile, Mo Fan was perfectly fine. His calm face, and the way he tried to comfort Mu Ningxue, clearly implied how experienced he was when it came to robbing other people. He had long gotten used to it...
"Very simple, scout for our next target. Strength isn't the most important aspect of what we're trying to do. We need lots of information, and it has to be accurate, too. I believe we'll need to recruit another person for us to be better!" Mo Fan said seriously.
Mu Ningxue glanced at Mo Fan. She was utterly confused. Why did she feel like Mo Fan was glowing whenever he was up to something wicked?
"Who would that be?" Mu Ningxue asked.
"A Psychic Mage, we're lacking a Psychic Mage… if only we could find Jiang Shaoxu, she would surely be a great help to us!" Mo Fan mused.
"But why..." Mu Ningxue was about to ask something when she sensed some movement among the trees. She locked onto the suspicious figure behind the trees with a sharp gaze.
The person did not expect Mu Ningxue to be so alert. She decided to show herself after a slight hesitation.
The person was a woman with curly hair. Her outstanding, solid facial features made her look attractive and s.e.xy, and her golden pupils were like the icing on a cake, which further set off her nobility.
"I'm sorry, I wasn't supposed to eavesdrop on you, but I didn't expect you to be the one that set the Italian team up. It's been a while!" the girl smiled. It was like she actually practiced how to smile properly. She looked sincere, even without showing her teeth.
"Ayleen, it's you! Don't tell me that a bunch of your teammates is waiting for the perfect time to flank us behind the trees?" Mo Fan chuckled when he recognized the English woman.
"The team consisting of members from different countries I was in just disbanded, so I'm all alone," Ayleen walked forward. Her eyes were fixed on Mu Ningxue. "You've improved so much. You managed to notice my presence so easily, and my Psychic Element wasn't really working on you."
