Versatile Mage c1-2021, page 543
Chapter 1192 - Taklamakan Desert
Translated by XephiZ
Edited by Aelryinth
---
---
The truth was, if Mo Fan was given another chance, he would rather take a first-class flight back to Shanghai!
The long-distance teleportation was nothing but torture to Mo Fan. Despite the fact that it only took a short time, Mo Fan felt like his mind was about to explode and his body was about to be torn into pieces after travelling through the turbulence of space!
It explained why the teleportation portal was not available to the public as a way of travel between the main cities. Normal people would surely be shredded by the turbulence of the trip.
---
Mo Fan flew back home after arriving in Shanghai. He fell feebly on the couch.
The filled-up Essence Orb had nullified the consequences of using the Demon Element. The whole trip to the sacred mountain felt like a long dream to Mo Fan. He was completely exhausted after waking up from the dream.
He was still living in the condo he had used when he was studying at the Pearl Institute. As a little reward for representing the national team in the World College Tournament, the school had already gifted Mo Fan the apartment. Mo Fan did not tell Mu Nujiao and Ai Tutu, as the two s.e.n.s.i.t.i.v.e girls might immediately move out of the place.
Xinxia was not around and Mu Ningxue was busy making preparations to establish her own clan. It was acceptable for him to keep two concubines in his own house, right? He was not allowed to cheat, but he still enjoyed watching Mu Nujiao's slender legs as she walked by and Ai Tutu's combination of cute face and huge bust!
---
Mo Fan finally recovered from the dizziness from using the teleportation portal.
He had heard of carsick, seasick, airsick, but he had never heard of 'portalsick'!
Mo Fan headed straight for the Clearsky Hunter Agency that night. Even though he had settled everything on his hands, there was still one thing that kept bothering him: the resurrection of Little Flame Belle!
Little Flame Belle was still a Fire Calamity Fruit. Xinxia mentioned that Little Flame Belle was a living fire spirit of nature. She would only be reborn by placing her in an Elemental Sacred Land blessed with the fire of the Heavens and Earth.
Whenever Mo Fan recalled how Little Flame Belle had sacrificed her life to summon the Fire Calamity, his heart would race in a surge of emotion. He had to bring Little Flame Belle back to life as soon as possible, even if meant traversing mountains of daggers and seas of flames!
---
Liu Ru had long sensed Mo Fan's presence. Her face was still the same, yet her temperament was like an elegant orchid, with her own unique charm.
"Mo Fan," Liu Ru said in a soft voice. She had a happy smile, yet her eyes were a little shy.
"Liu Ru, you look well!" Mo Fan greeted her.
Mo Fan headed toward the bar right away. Liu Ru quickly followed behind him.
Liu Ru had no idea what had happened at the Parthenon Temple. She was clueless about the astonishing deeds that Mo Fan had done, too.
"Oh, by the way, I have found you a Junior Brother, his name is Bola. He will visit us once he is done with all the procedures. You should bring him on a tour around the Magic City. If there's anyone you are not fond of, you can ask him to bite the person," Mo Fan informed Liu Ru as a thought crossed his mind.
"A Junior Brother?" Liu Ru blinked in confusion.
"Yeah," Mo Fan felt like Liu Ru was not a junior as she had been following him first. As such, he could only make Bola a junior instead; it was not like Bola would care.
"Mu Ningxue came to talk to me," Liu Ru said.
"Oh, how was it?" Mo Fan inquired.
"She's really pretty, I would fall for her if I was a man too..."
(Cough cough) "...I didn't ask you about that. What did the rich people that you introduced to her think?"
"Not bad, most people are willing to work with her because of the reputation she earned in the World College Tournament. Some said they were not willing to have a young girl giving them orders… they all agreed after a beating," Liu Ru reported.
Mo Fan was quite amused. Since when had Liu Ru turned into such a violent person?
That being said, it was necessary to be a little brutal, since they were planning to establish a clan.
"I will be going away soon. When Bola is here, you can let him look after the city. The Mu Clan won't stop bothering Mu Ningxue, and the Lu Clan is going to look for troubles. If they can't find me, they would go and trouble Mu Ningxue instead. It's inevitable we'll offend a few factions. We really need a Super Mage to oversee the clan."
"Oh? Is he a Super Mage? He's that strong?!" Liu Ru exclaimed.
Most clans with a Super Mage had a certain status in the major cities. If they managed to recruit a Super Mage, it would be a lot easier for Mu Ningxue to establish a clan, as it would certainly convince the people who were not initially confident in them to join up!
A Super Mage was the symbol of absolute strength. It did not matter what areas they were involved in, just having a Super Mage represented how powerful they were!
"He...he's a lot stronger than a Super Mage," Mo Fan smiled.
Unfortunately, Bola had to remain in the dark because of his identity. He would mostly be protecting Mu Ningxue and Liu Ru in the dark, preventing them from being set up by other factions.
Mo Fan was not too worried about Bola being in charge of their safety. He believed Mu Ningxue would be able to rise in no time and take the enormous Mu Clan on!
---
"Lingling, did you miss me?" Mo Fan asked when he saw Lingling walking out from behind the bar. He could see traces of milk on her lips. She must have just woken up from a nap and had a bottle of milk.
Lingling was quite surprised that Mo Fan had come back so soon. Even though she had learned that he was still alive from Old Bao, she was still surprised to see him well and alive.
Mo Fan immediately picked Lingling up and gave her a big kiss on her tender cheeks, like kissing rosy apples.
"I still want to marry someone!" Lingling anxiously pushed Mo Fan the lolicon away with a long face.
Lingling was rather angry that Mo Fan had gone to the Parthenon Temple without saying a word. He took the Black Totem Snake, but he did not bring her along!
He was up against the Parthenon Temple, surely she could have helped! Mo Fan's approach was simply wild and terrible!
"Show it to me," Lingling said.
"What?"
"Little Flame Belle!" Lingling said.
Mo Fan immediately took out the fruit that Little Flame Belle had turned into. Lingling c.a.r.e.s.sed it. The fruit shuddered, as if it could sense Lingling's presence. It seemed like Little Flame Belle had missed Lingling too!
"It should remember us still, right?" Lingling asked softly.
"Yeah, she does."
"Actually, this might be a chance for her too. If we can find an Elemental Sacred Land for her to be reborn in it, her strength might grow even further!" Lingling said.
"Really? But isn't it hard to find a place like that?" Mo Fan asked.
An Elemental Sacred Land was a place where Soul Seeds, extremely rare at the best of times, could be found. It was time for Mo Fan to look for a new Soul-grade Fire Seed, too. It would make his Fire Element a lot stronger when joined with Little Flame Belle's Calamity Fire. It might be comparable to his Lightning Element, after it was enhanced by the Blessing of the God's Seal!
"There's actually a place that might be quite suitable, but we need to gather more people. It's not the safest place to visit!" Lingling had already done the homework for Mo Fan, as usual.
Little Flame Belle's resurrection was his first priority. Mo Fan could not afford to wait any longer, but when he heard Lingling mention that Little Flame Belle might grow even stronger if they picked the right place, he immediately felt great anticipation!
Little Flame Belle's lineage and strength were outstanding. If she could evolve further, how strong would she end up being?
---
---
"I did consider putting Little Flame Belle back in the North Burning Valley, but the temperature of the place has gradually dropped after the Flame Belles were no longer there. The place is no longer suitable for Little Flame Belle's resurrection. We have to place the Calamity Fruit in a stronger Elemental Sacred Land, that will give Little Flame Belle a better chance of being resurrected. Taking our overall strength into consideration, we might be able to take some risks and try our luck in the Taklamakan Desert. There are rumors that the place is scorching hot from around October until the end of the year every year. Some Hunters also reported that they had seen mountains engulfed in flames in a spectacular manner, but no one has found out the reason behind it..." Lingling explained what she had found out to Mo Fan.
The Taklamakan Desert was located in Xinjiang, between Tianshan Mountain, the Kunlun Mountain Range, and Altyn-Tagh. It was a vast basin, and in the middle of that basin was the infamous Taklamakan Desert!
The terrain along the coastline of China was rather flat, so most cities were built there. The majority of land in the northwest of China was not occupied by humans, but there were countless species of demon creatures!
Elite Hunters would spend most of their time in the west, as the places were filled with death and opportunities.
As for the Taklamakan Desert, even though it was not as terrifying as the Sahara Desert, most Hunters would still pull a long face at its name. Those that were able to come back in one piece after visiting the Taklamakan Desert could boast about it for the rest of their lives among fellow Hunters. Even the military had to hire Hunters when they were on a mission in the Taklamakan Desert, just so the whole squad would not be wiped out.
The desert was scorching hot. A place with high temperatures would have a high chance of nurturing a Fire Seed. Normally, Mo Fan would be reluctant to visit a place where he could easily get lost and lose control of the situation, but he simply cast all his doubts aside, since it was for the sake of Little Flame Belle!
No matter how dangerous the place was, there were still people that managed to come back alive, right?
------
"Brother Fan, you're back, I've missed you!" Zhang Xiaohou's voice said on the other end.
"Mm, are you busy lately?" Mo Fan asked.
"Not really, I've been rather free after we cleaned up Qinling Mountains. (Sigh) I'm actually struggling to get used to it since I've been fighting demon creatures for a long time. Brother Fan, why don't we visit the Qinling Mountains again, perhaps we can find some great treasure there!" Zhang Xiaohou proposed.
"We'll go next time, I have a better place in mind. Hehehe, I promise it won't let you down!" Mo Fan smiled with squinting eyes.
Lingling could not help but whisper, "Can't you trap someone else?"
"Brother Fan, the last time you invited me to Croatia for a vacation..."
"Houzi, I promise that I won't trick you this time. It's definitely a vacation, we'll go witness a spectacular work that nature has made in the west and kill some demon creatures along the way. There won't be any danger," Mo Fan said in a serious voice.
"Alright, I'll pack up my stuff now!"
---
Hanging up the call, Mo Fan immediately dropped his smile and poured himself a glass of iced beer. He emptied the glass and said, "One down!"
Chapter 1193 - Assembling the Team for the Wasteland
Translated by XephiZ
Edited by Aelryinth
---
The wind in autumn was soothing. The cars driving past occasionally would sweep the fallen leaves scattered on the ground into the air.
"Son of a b**ch, were you trying to show off your sports car!?" a young man yelled furiously from the side of the road.
Beside the young man was a man wearing sloppy clothes. He had pierced ears and his hair looked stylish. He also had a faint tattoo on his face. He must have great courage to have a tattoo on his face.
However, the courageous man did not dare show his temper. He stood with his head lowered. He did not dare to snap back at the seemingly ordinary young man who was scolding him.
As a matter of fact, no one would dare to say a word when an enormous white wolf more than ten feet tall was standing beside them!
"Bud...buddy, can you please put your wolf away? It's disrupting traffic and scaring the people, too. I know that you have the license of a Hunter Master, but you have gathered a huge crowd..." A few traffic policemen tried to resolve the conflict, but they too did not dare speak too loudly.
"That's what he gets for mocking me!" Mo Fan spat.
Mo Fan was planning to visit the Hunter Union. Since the place was not too far away, he decided to go for a run for a little exercise. To his surprise, the man with piercings went full torque and drove past Mo Fan while raising his middle finger!
Mo Fan was immediately enraged. He summoned the Flying Creek Snow Wolf right away and intercepted the man's car in only a few seconds.
Were the people of his country blind? He had won the World College Tournament for the country, yet not only did they fail to recognize their hero? The man even gave him a middle-finger while driving past him, forcing him to ruin his image!
"Piss off, the next time I see you, I will tear your car apart!" Mo Fan snapped at the man.
"Yes, yes, I won't do it again!" The man was utterly relieved. He immediately pressed hard on the pedal to leave the place as soon as possible.
"You're still speeding? Don't you know how to drive slower!?"
"Ok, ok!" The man immediately stepped on the brakes and obediently drove the sport car away like it was an electric scooter. The car slowly faded into the distance.
The traffic policemen were relieved. Didn't they always say Advanced Mages would usually behave themselves? They would not bother being too fussy with normal folks. Why did they stumble into an Advanced Mage that seemed to enjoy stirring up trouble? The whole street was screaming after seeing his imperious frosty wolf!.
Besides, there was no ride that would catch more attention than the man's Summoned Beast.
"Speaking of which, your wolf looks quite familiar. He looks like the wolf that the winner of the World College Tournament Mo Fan Summoned," one of the policemen noticed.
Mo Fan smiled. Finally, someone that watched TV! He had such a brilliant performance in the World College Tournament. It did not make sense that no one would recognize him when he was walking on the street!
"It really is, friend; are you Mo Fan's fan, too? You even dyed your wolf the same color as his Flying Creek Snow Wolf!" another policeman spoke up.
"..." Mo Fan had the urge to feed the two policemen to his wolf. Did he really look so different on screen and in real life!?
He had no one to blame but himself for rejecting all the personal interviews. It was quite difficult to see a participant's face clearly on the screen during the matches of the World College Tournament.
---
---
Mo Fan proceeded on his way to the Hunter Union. The man that Mo Fan had taught a lesson just a few moments ago had left his car on the side of the road. He quickly went into a dimly-lit shop.
He went to a corner and smiled as he said to a skinny man with a long chin hiding in the shadows, "I've tested him. He's just a hot-headed fool, he can't endure the slightest provocation."
"Humph, that's not hot-headed, that's something wrong with his brain. Otherwise, he would not dare to do such thing to my brother!" the man with a long chin said.
"Shall we proceed with the plan?" the man with piercings asked.
"Go ahead," the man with a long chin said.
As soon as he finished the sentence, a man wearing half a mask slowly walked out from the shadows. His eyes were flickering with hatred, as if it had set his eyes aflame.
"Just do as you please, we'll handle the rest!" the man with a long chin said to the masked man.
"I swear I'm going to make him pay!"
---
Mo Fan went to the area reserved for Hunter Masters as soon as he reached the Hunter Union.
Hunter Masters were close to the apex of the hierarchical pyramid of the Hunter Union. Most Hunter Masters were Advanced Mages and above. The place was less crowded than the hall where normal Hunters did business. Every Hunter Master would be accompanied by a Hunter Mistress in heels and black stockings. The Hunter Mistress would serve the Hunter Master a glass of wine.
Mo Fan's rank was not low, either. The Hunter Master was classified into levels by the number of stars they had. Those with seven stars could register to be a Senior Hunter. However, they must have made great contributions or completed extremely difficult quests to become a Senior Hunter...
Exploring the Taklamakan Desert was considered a difficult quest by the Hunter Masters. Lingling had made it clear that they would have to join a party on their expedition to the Taklamakan Desert, as the few of them were not enough to take on its challenges. Mo Fan had no choice but to pay a visit to the Hunter Union and see if there were any teams planning to go on an expedition to the Taklamakan Desert.
"I would like some information about the teams that are heading for the Taklamakan Desert. Give me their information, and most importantly, their contacts," Mo Fan said.
"Sure, mister… do you need anything else?" the Hunter Mistress asked with a smile.
"Oh, give me another cup of this, it's quite nice," Mo Fan pointed at the wine that he had already finished.
The Hunter Mistress was startled. She nodded and brought a new glass to the bar.
"Xiao Tu, what do you think? It's rare to see such a young Hunter Master, he's pretty cute too," the beautiful bartender said.
"He's just a nobody," the Hunter Mistress sneered.
---
Mo Fan carefully went through the list and saw a familiar Hunter Group on it.
"Golden Battle Hunters… aren't they the Hunter Group that was almost wiped out on Chongming Island against the Black Vatican? They are planning an expedition to the Taklamakan Desert too?" Mo Fan raised his brows.
