Versatile Mage c1-2021, page 487
"I did, but the Healer is quite special," Ayleen said.
Ayleen had been controlling the Observer Eagles to fly in all directions. She had been expending the energy of her Psychic Element to acquire information from different corners in the space.
"How special?" Mo Fan asked.
"The guy hasn't fought since the start of the treasure hunt. He simply found an obvious spot and set up a booth to sell his services," Ayleen said helplessly.
"A booth?"
"Yeah."
"You can really find all kinds of birds in a huge forest. I have to say, that guy is pretty smart, too. He knew that since every team is split up when the people are teleported here, many participants would eventually be injured, and would have a hard time finding their Healer..." Mo Fan shook his head with a wry smile.
If a Mage was unable to treat their injuries in time, their strength would decline rapidly. Meanwhile, time was of the essence in a treasure hunt like this. No one was willing to let the injuries be a burden to them. They would be more than willing to pay just to get their injuries treated… it was true that wherever there were fights, there would be a business opportunity too! Mo Fan wondered which country was the Healer from, since the person was bold enough to open up a private clinic to make some great profit in the middle of the treasure hunt!
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On a mountain, a huge roar echoed into the sky!
"Asshole, even us bandits weren't so black-hearted!"
"Mo Fan, clam down, calm down, let's just pay the money. The poison is too deadly, a normal Healer might struggle to heal you too," Ayleen tried to convince Mo Fan.
If they did not stop Mo Fan, he would really take the black-hearted doctor down with himself.
Mo Fan had totally lost his temper.
Getting healed once was going to cost him a hundred million!
One hundred million!
Mo Fan had never heard anyone asking for a hundred million just to heal his injuries. He simply had the urge to blast the asshole's skull open with a bolt of lightning!
"Friend, calm down, just calm down, it's only one hundred million, and I can guarantee that you'll fully recover from your injuries. I believe you can easily earn a hundred million from the treasure hunt. Why do you even bother making things difficult for a small business like me? You have to understand that I have to endure the shame of being looked down upon by the world, too. It's not easy for me," the Healer from Sweden was surprisingly proficient in different languages. He was extremely fluent in Chinese!
"Not easy my ass! Ten million at most; treat my injuries now, or I'll rob you too!" Mo Fan said impatiently.
"Mo Fan, I really respect you, I watched your match against the Spanish team. I'm well aware of how strong you are, and I believe you're one of the strongest in this World College Tournament. However, to be honest with you, acting on impulse won't do you any good. The reason I've asked you to stay a certain distance away was because I've set up a barrier. Even the strongest Advanced Mage would need more than four seconds to break through the barrier, and within the four seconds, I can crush the teleporting scroll and run away. Judging by your injuries, you'll need to use the teleporting scroll soon too… in other words, let's not make it difficult for the both of us!" the Sweden Healer, named Tony, replied calmly.
It was not like Mo Fan did not have the money, but he found it extremely unfair when he learned the plump Healer was able to earn so much money when all he did was sit here and cast a few Healing Spells, while his Fan Xue Bandit Group had to work so hard!
"I just find you too much of an eyesore, I don't care if the both of us are going to be disqualified, since I've already earned quite a lot," Mo Fan was as stubborn as an ox.
The guy was out of his mind. If healing someone actually cost a hundred million, he could easily carry Xinxia, who was now a Healer of the Parthenon Temple, around instead of trying to make a living by putting his life in danger!
"Don't be like that, we're all trying to survive in our own way, we all want to make a profit… How about this, I can heal you for free," Tony said.
"No but," Mo Fan harrumphed coldly.
The Sweden Healer grinned like a mischievous businessman, "But, I'll make a deal with you. I've learned some interesting information from the last group of people that came to me, and I believe someone like you will be very interested in it..."
The man continued when he did not receive any response, "Do you know that the Hunter Union has actually prepared something huge for the treasure hunt, like hiding a huge diamond in a pile of gold sand, waiting for someone to dig it out?"
Chapter 1092 - The Miasma of the Lake Valley
Translated by XephiZ
Edited by Aelryinth
Mo Fan looked at Mu Ningxue, Mu Ningxue looked at Ayleen, and Ayleen pondered for a moment before she finally said, "I did hear something about it, but I'm not too sure, either."
"Hehe, so it turns out that you guys are the well-behaved ones. The truth is, before the treasure hunt, many students were collecting information about the greatest treasure through their factions or third parties, since any information will give them a head start over the others. Some teams did not even bother searching for the other treasures after the treasure hunt started. They are all focusing on finding the greatest treasure," the plump businessman from Sweden went on.
"Does that mean the treasure is more valuable than everything else?" Mo Fan said excitedly.
"Absolutely!" Tony chuckled. His eyes would occasionally sweep across Mu Ningxue and Ayleen in a perverted way.
"Say, do you know where this treasure is?" Mo Fan asked.
"I only know something about it, I only learned it from eavesdropping on the team that came to me. They weren't aware that I'm a Sound Mage," Tony chuckled.
Mo Fan looked at the man. He was having trouble understanding why a plump, greedy man like Tony was a representative of the Swedish team, when most of their members looked well-educated with an imposing appearance. Somehow, whenever the man smiled, Mo Fan had a strong urge to beat him up!
"So tell us about it..." Mo Fan said.
"Everyone likes good stuff, and my small business here isn't going to bring me much profit, so I was thinking, if you're willing to help me get the treasure, I'll split the profits with you. Of course, as your teammate, I'll be more than happy to heal your injuries for free..." Tony smiled.
"So how are you going to split the profit?" it was what Mo Fan cared about the most.
"I'll be taking half of the profit, and you can split the rest however you want," Tony said.
"Then I guess I would prefer to disqualify the both of us," Mo Fan summoned a flame with his other hand and waved it in front of Tony.
"(sigh) Why do you always have to use violence? We can negotiate further if you don't agree..." Tony obviously did not want Mo Fan to force him to use the teleporting scroll, since he had not earned as much as he had hoped for.
"If you join us, it means our team is going to have four people. Once we acquire the treasure, we'll split the profit evenly!" Mo Fan said.
"Brother Mo Fan, don't you know the person with the information is supposed to take… alright, we'll do it your way, but you all will have to try your best to retrieve the treasure. Since it's the greatest treasure that the Hunter Union has prepared, it's going to be difficult to secure it if we don't work together. Besides, we're competing against other maniacs too, who won't hesitate to fight us over the slightest conflict," Tony said.
"That's more like it, you should just have said that right from the start, look at the time we've wasted," Mo Fan lowered the fist that he was initially going to throw out. He glanced at Ayleen and said, "Sign a contract with him with the Psychic Element, just in case he's trying to set us up."
Ayleen nodded. They could not guarantee that the cunning Mage was not plotting against them, thus it was necessary to sign a Spirit Contract.
A Spirit Contract was fairly simple. It involved a Psychic Mage planting a Psychic Spell in the mind of the person after obtaining their consent. The spell would only activate when the person violated their promise. Only those from the ancient, renowned clans in England like Ayleen knew how to cast the spell. Not every Psychic Mage had learned it.
"If you lied to us, or do anything to betray the team, the Spirit Contract will reveal your location to me, meaning that I can hunt you down no matter where you run to," Ayleen warned Tony.
"Don't judge a book by its cover! I've sincerely offered you a chance to be rich, and I do understand the importance of teamwork. I won't go against my own words!" Tony said seriously.
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Tony did resolve the desperate situation that the trio was in by joining the team.
Despite how unreliable the man seemed to be, his Healing Spells were fairly impressive. Mo Fan's hand that needed to be healed recovered in no time under the man's Healing Spells.
Mu Ningxue and Ayleen fully recovered from their injuries, too. The trio soon found themselves in healthy condition. As for their energy that was depleted, they could only wait patiently for it to regenerate.
Tony's primary Element was Healing, his second Element was Sound, and his third Element was Poison. He had managed to obtain useful information from the people that asked him to treat their injuries, including the information about the greatest treasure.
"I heard it's located in a lake valley. Unfortunately, I haven't been exploring, so I have no idea where it's at," Tony said.
"Can you find it, Ayleen?" Mu Ningxue asked.
"I'll need some time, you guys can meditate to try and recover some energy while I look for the place that Tony mentioned," Ayleen said.
This time, Ayleen did not try to get the information from the Observer Eagles. She simply cast Mind Control and turned every Observer Eagle nearby into her eyes. She ordered the Observer Eagles to fly in different directions and transmit the images they were seeing to her!
Mo Fan saw Ayleen's pupils flickering rapidly, as if she was observing different views like a projection of slides...
It was Mo Fan's first time seeing someone using Psychic Magic in such a manner. However, Mo Fan had to admit that it was very practical, since it allowed the Psychic Mage to acquire lots of information about the demon creatures' territory across a huge area.
Ayleen could only control twelve Observer Eagles at the same time. The Observer Eagles continued to fly into the distance, and Ayleen maintained her focus on the views that the Observer Eagles were providing.
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Some time later, after Mo Fan had recovered more than half of his energy, he heard Ayleen waking them up.
Tony had almost fallen asleep. He rubbed his eyes and said, "Great Duchess Ayleen, have you found the lake?"
"I've checked many places, but I think the only place that fits the description is toward the end of that mountain range. The whole place consists of valleys, creeks, basins, and ravines, but there's no sign of water. There's nothing there that resembles a lake, but there is a black miasma floating above the place. When I tried sending an Observer Eagle to go through the miasma to investigate the place, it died instantly… I can't tell if it's the place we're looking for," Ayleen said.
"I remember, now that you've mentioned it... those people said they have to find a safe entrance because the place is shrouded by some natural, poisonous miasma… I think it's the place we're looking for!" Tony said.
"Are you sure?" Mo Fan asked.
"Yeah, I'm fairly curious at the start too, because the place they were describing didn't sound like a lake to me, either. A lake must be filled with water, but none of them mentioned the water. They kept mentioning the poisonous miasma instead. I initially thought the miasma was preventing them from entering the lake valley, but now that I think about it, the miasma might be looming over the valley. I believe it's the place we're looking for!' Tony claimed confidently.
"It's quite a distance from where we are now, and we can't stay in this space for much longer. Let's make our way there at once," said Ayleen.
"Sure!"
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Without further ado, the four immediately headed for the valley that Ayleen found.
The mountain range did not seem huge, but as they were sprinting across it, they realized that the space had been compressed. As they traveled to the end of the mountain range, they finally saw a huge sunken area covered by a thick, black miasma, and from afar, it did resemble a black lake...
The black miasma lake was not the usual, flat lake formed in a basin. Some of its areas were flat, some consisted of narrow cracks, and some were separated into pieces by the mountain tops. The giant lake was connected to a small lake that flowed like a river along the mountain. The sunken area was made up of lakes of different sizes joined together, and they had all dried up. It was quite a spectacular view as they were looking down from the top of the mountain!
"It's such complicated terrain; it's like scooping up a needle in the ocean trying to find the treasure here!" Mo Fan was lost in thought as he glanced across the place.
"The people of the Hunter Union wouldn't come up with an unsolvable question. I'm sure there are hints down there, but the question is, how are we supposed to go down there with such a thick, poisonous miasma lingering above it?" Ayleen said.
"Hehe, have you forgotten what my Elements are? Poison is nothing but a mere appetizer to me!" Tony chuckled.
Tony found a relatively gradual slope leading down to the valley. The poisonous miasma was floating at a certain altitude. Speaking of which, it was weird that the miasma was only staying at that height, and it did resemble the calm water of a lake...
However, it was obvious that the valley under the miasma was their destination!
"Come, I'll open up a gap, it's only going to last a few seconds. Let's head down there," Tony was pretty quick with his actions. He immediately opened up a gap in the layer of poisonous fog.
The others quickly followed Tony through the gap. To their surprise, the space under the poison mist was a lot bigger than they thought...
The layer of poisonous mist was around three meters thick, but the four kept sliding down the slope and eventually reached some muddy ground at the bottom after traveling for more than eighty meters!
Mo Fan only raised his head after reaching the bottom. He glanced at the miasma high up that had blocked off most of the sunlight, and his heart was soon filled with terror. It felt like he had fallen to the pitch-black bottom of a deep ocean, and he was surrounded by icy darkness full of the unknown!
Chapter 1093 - The Treasure Thirty-Two Years Ago
Translated by XephiZ
Edited by Aelryinth
"This place really gives me the creeps," Mo Fan had been to quite a few spooky places so far, yet he still felt uncomfortable coming down here, implying that the Poisonous Miasma Lake Valley was indeed scary in its own way.
Ayleen and Mu Ningxue did not seem to enjoy the scenery too. Their breathings were heavier, as the place was indeed very creepy as Mo Fan had mentioned. They were surrounded by pitch-black mountain walls, and the paths were narrow and craggy.
Most importantly, the poisonous miasma was looming above them. According to Tony, if he had not opened up the gap, an Advanced Mage could only survive a few seconds in it. The poisonous miasma was like a natural barrier protecting the pitch-black valley, so they could not imagine what kind of eerie creatures would be here.
Even Mo Fan had a bad feeling about it. He suddenly suspected that the Hunter Union was trying to get the participants killed by hiding the treasure in such a place. The Observer Eagles were unable to see through the poisonous miasma, and if anything happened, he was no longer confident that the teleporting scrolls would be able to bring them out of this place!
To their relief, Ayleen had the Light Element. Otherwise, Mo Fan would really have struggled to find the courage to advance in such a sinister place, without any light to guide them.
"Tony, where do we go now?" Mo Fan glanced ahead with the help of the light that Ayleen had brought forth.
"I heard them mention the treasure is located at the Seven Serpents Dragon Pond. I was standing high up observing the valley before, and I did find a small lake formed by seven rivers. From afar, it did resemble seven giant serpents surrounding a pond. I believe that must be our destination, so I've purposely kept track of our whereabouts. I'm confident that this is the right way. Come, we're about to be the brightest stars in the treasure hunt!" Tony said confidently.
Tony had mentioned that the Poison Miasma Lake Valley was like a world sealed off by the layer of poisonous mist, and the miasma closer to the center was thicker than in the rest of the places. It might be ten, or even twenty meters thick. Therefore, it was impossible to fly in and drop down right on their destination. Even a Ruler-level creature would die trying to traverse the poisonous miasma if it was over ten meters thick.
Therefore, the only way to the center was reaching the bottom from the edge of the miasma, and slowly making their way to the center through the darkness at the bottom!
Since the whole lake floor was immersed in darkness, it felt like they had fallen into a complicated maze. As such, the wise move was to observe the place from high above and use the mountain tops, ridges, and walls that were higher than the poisonous mists as landmarks to remind them where they were.
Mo Fan had to admit that this place was a lot spookier than the demon creatures' territories he had been to before. At the same time, he was even more confused...
However, humans would die for riches, just as birds would die for food. Since they had already come, there was no turning back now. They could only follow Tony as he led them to the Seven Serpents Dragon Pond!
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To the south of the mountain range, two men wearing white robes with golden silk were riding their flying beasts close to the shore of the lake. They were looking down at the poisonous miasma shrouding the sunken area.
"Damn it, we came as quick as we could, but those students still went down before we could stop them!"
