Versatile Mage

Translated by XephiZ

Edited by Aelryinth

The scariest thing about Bei Jiang’s Darkness Corruption was the ability to track down its target. Every person, device, and energy ripple of spells that the target had contact with would provide feedback to the caster. No tracking ability was more impressive than that. Mo Fan desperately needed its power to track down the Cold Prince!

The ability to manipulate shadows was even crazier. Mo Fan would never forget how the demonic shadows had left him with injuries and bruises, or the shadow waiting to backstab him at any moment!

“What is it?” Mo Fan asked when he saw Feng Zhoulong glaring at him.

“Do your ears only hear the things you want to hear? Bei Jiang’s Soul Remnant is a huge problem. It might inflict serious damage on your soul!” Feng Zhoulong exclaimed.

“Oh, that, don’t worry about it, my soul is pretty strong. He won’t have any chance to damage it,” Mo Fan said casually.

“You should treat it more seriously. If you want to obtain the Dark Material, you will need to accept it with your soul. It’s similar to forming a pact with your Contracted Beast, and since the Dark Material is so close to your soul, Bei Jiang’s Soul Remnant can easily inflict serious mental and spiritual damage to you. It will haunt you like your shadow for a long time,” Feng Zhoulong told him.

“Everything will be fine. I wouldn’t take the risk if I wasn’t confident enough. Just teach me how to accept the Dark Material. I’ll deal with the Soul Remnant. Why would I be afraid of his soul if I’ve already killed him?” Mo Fan said confidently.

“Fine, I can tell you’ve already made up your mind. The Dark Material is called the Fiendish Night. It’s more powerful than a Soul-grade Elemental Seed. It can significantly boost the power and abilities of your Shadow Element, but to freely manipulate it like Bei Jiang, you will have to improve your Shadow Element. Your Shadow Element isn’t that impressive at only the first-tier of the Advanced Level,” Feng Zhoulong advised him.

“Of course I will train it harder after acquiring the power!” Mo Fan promised.

“Mm, you can accept the Fiendish Night here. No one will disturb you,” Feng Zhoulong told him.

Mo Fan nodded…

——

Feng Zhoulong soon returned with a container. It looked like a typical magic container that was used to contain souls. It was likely that the Dark Material could not be stored like Elemental energy, and could only be stored like a soul.

“The Dark Material will look for a new master on its own, so you won’t have to guide it into your body and your soul like an Elemental Seed. You just have to wait for it to approach you and accept it. Remember what I told you; the thing is basically Bei Jiang’s Soul Remnant. If you expose your soul to it, it will surely tear your soul into pieces!” Feng Zhoulong said.

“Bring it on, I’m ready!” Mo Fan declared.

Feng Zhoulong did not say a word further. He did not believe Mo Fan was a careless man. He was utterly impressed by the young man after seeing how he had tried to save Leng Qing. Otherwise, he would not have asked Mo Fan to pay him a visit as soon after he obtained the Dark Material.

“I’ll be leaving after releasing it. Be careful!” Feng Zhoulong warned him again.

It was necessary to leave, so as to avoid the Dark Material approaching him!

—

Feng Zhoulong left the room and closed the door, leaving Mo Fan alone with a black mist in the space surrounded by white steel plates.

Mo Fan could see a twisted face in the black mist. It was obviously Bei Jiang. A wisp of his soul had turned into a vengeful spirit. He wondered if it was Feng Zhoulong’s doing.

Mo Fan could see Bei Jiang’s hatred of him from the face. The strong hatred soon filled up the space.

Mo Fan waited patiently for the Fiendish Night to enter his soul. He closed his eyes and meditated. As he thought, his Spiritual World was covered in darkness. It even shrouded the brilliance of his other Elements.

“An imbecile like you is trying to claim my power? HAHA, I’ll definitely make you suffer!” Bei Jiang’s voice echoed in Mo Fan’s mind.

Mo Fan was not bothered by the vengeful spirit. He slowly accepted the Fiendish Night. He was not trying to merge the Dark Material with his soul. It was more like expressing sincerity to one another before forming a pact.

The power of darkness was from the Kingdom of Darkness. The process of drawing the Stars of the Shadow Element was actually sacrificing energy to the Lord of Darkness in exchange for its power. It was different from the Elemental energy readily available from one’s surroundings.

The Curse Element and the Undead Element were the same, too. They were the powers of the Lord of Darkness.

A long time ago, humans were sacrificing souls and lives in exchange for the Lord of Darkness’ power. It was the reason why Dark Magic was forbidden by the Magic Association. Western countries even killed many wizards and witches during a certain era…

Humans eventually discovered the sacrifices offered to the Lord of Darkness did not necessarily have to be their souls and lives. The sacrifices were not restricted to mere fresh blood and death. The Lord of Darkness was more interested in the Dark Energy. Since then, Dark Magic had been slowly accepted by the Magic Association and was included in the teaching materials.

The Dark Contract was not something as terrifying as selling their soul to the Lord of Darkness. It was just an agreement that the person would provide Dark Energy to the Lord of Darkness in exchange for certain abilities, resulting in a mutually beneficial relationship.

It was orthodox Dark Magic, a pact that most Dark Mages had formed with the Lord of Darkness.

As for the Dark Material Fiendish Night, it had an extra requirement. When Mo Fan was trying to form a pact with it, it stated that Mo Fan would have to offer it a Soul Remnant every time he wanted to use its power.

In other words, using the Darkness Corruption would not only cost Mo Fan energy, but a Warrior-level Soul Remnant too!

Every time he cast the Demon Shadow, apart from expending the energy required for an Advanced Spell, he also needed to expend a Commander-level Soul Remnant!

No Soul Remnants meant no power. The energy was for the Lord of Darkness, and the Fiendish Night wanted the Soul Remnants. Otherwise, where did the shadows even come from!?

It was Mo Fan’s first time signing a contract with a high-level Dark Material. He initially thought the Shadow Element had things like the Spirit-grade Seeds and Soul-grade Seeds too, but Zhao Manyan had laughed so hard and called him an idiot after hearing that from him. Since then, Mo Fan felt like his Shadow Element was too inflexible, so it was not that useful in fights anymore.

However, it was no longer the case after obtaining the Dark Material!

Despite having a higher consumption, it did not matter much to Mo Fan, since it was only asking for Soul Remnants!

“Deal!” Mo Fan signed the contract.

The Fiendish Night swiftly entered Mo Fan’s soul and made his Shadow Element stronger, more imperious, and more unpredictable. It also granted Mo Fan two new abilities: the Darkness Corruption and the Demon Shadow!

“Don’t you dare, you imbecile! I will not give my power to you!” Bei Jiang’s vengeful spirit screamed.

It was like seeing his gorgeous ex-wife having an affair with a handsome rich man. He would not allow it, even though he was already dead!

Bei Jiang’s vengeful spirit lunged at Mo Fan’s soul. Since the Fiendish Night had entered Mo Fan’s soul, it allowed Bei Jiang to attack Mo Fan’s soul directly, too. A Mage’s soul was strong since all magic originated from the soul. However, the soul was fragile, too. A single stab could leave a person in great pain, and the damage was usually incurable!

It was Bei Jiang’s perfect chance to take revenge. He had already died, yet he would not allow Mo Fan to get the better of him. Besides, the person that killed him had claimed the power he was most proud of. It was a great humiliation to him!

“Bei Jiang, to be honest with you, I have a special power too. I will normally use it on creatures that I have killed, but to prevent someone as filthy as you from corrupting my precious, I normally just throw the souls of people like you away like trash and let the Heavens deal with you. However, you are too naive if you think you can do anything to me just because I have accepted the Fiendish Night!” Mo Fan replied coolly.

“You’re the one that is naive. I might just be a vengeful spirit, but I can still tear a huge hole on your soul. HAHAHA, besides, Leng Qing is already dead! It’s worth it if I can inflict serious damage on your soul!” Bei Jiang laughed hysterically. He assumed Mo Fan was just bluffing.

“Who told you Leng Qing is dead?… oh, I forgot to mention, my wife is a Saintess of the Parthenon Temple, a candidate for the role of the Goddess. If she can bring a dead person back to life, why can’t she save a person who merely has a wilted heart?” Mo Fan said confidently.

“The Parthenon Temple…” Bei Jiang murmured. He immediately realized why Leng Qing was able to come back to life and send a secret message to the Enforcement Union when she was supposed to be dead!

If it was someone from the Parthenon Temple, it was indeed possible for them to save Leng Qing’s life!

“There’s no way she survived, there’s no way!” Bei Jiang shrieked.

“You are already so close to my soul. I believe you can easily tell if I’m lying or not. You just chose not to believe the truth!” Mo Fan replied.

Bei Jiang’s aura weakened slightly. It was indeed as Mo Fan had said. There was no way a person could lie to their soul, unless even they did not realize it was a lie!

“So you still think you can hurt me? Idiot?” Mo Fan remained calm.

The hate-driven Bei Jiang finally noticed a strong force dragging him in another direction as he was approaching Mo Fan’s soul. The force was like a whirlpool with a radius of over a thousand meters. He was like a tiny plank drifting in the strong current. He had no chance of breaking free from it. Bei Jiang was well aware of what it was, since he was also an Undead Mage!

“A Soul Container!” Bei Jiang was dumbfounded. He could sense the extraordinary power of the Soul Container. It was way beyond the power of the Soul Containers he normally used to collect Soul Remnants and Soul Essences. He could not imagine what level the Soul Container was, that even a powerful vengeful spirit like him was extremely tiny before it!

“I have to spend a Commander-level Soul Remnant every time I use the Demon Shadow. Mm, I have already collected one extra here,” Mo Fan murmured.

The Little Loach Pendant was the master of soul collectors. What chance did a little vengeful spirit even stand against it?

It was the reason why Mo Fan did not treat Feng Zhoulong’s warning seriously. He could easily absorb ten thousand Bei Jiang-class vengeful spirits with the Little Loach Pendant!