Versatile Mage

Translated by XephiZ

Edited by Aelryinth

Chen Yi’s mother had stayed in the North Burning Valley for some years. Even though her movements were impaired, she had still learned secrets of the place that most Hunters would never have the chance to learn about.

As Chen Yi recalled her mother’s description of the terrain, the party arrived in front of a flat-topped hill right in the middle of nowhere. Chen Yi told the party that her mother was active around this hill.

“This flat-topped hill feels really out of place. The entire North Burning Valley is flat without any sign of rising terrain or mountains, and then there’s this hill right on the flat ground…” Zhang Xiaohou raised his head, staring at the steep wall of the hill.

It looked more like a volcano, yet unlike most volcanoes, which were wide at the bottom and narrow at the top, the hill was more like a pillar poking into the blue sky.

“Are you sure this place has the Fire Calamity Fruits? Even so, how do we get up there?” asked Mo Fan.

“The inside of this fire pillar is hollow. My mother told me that there’s a gap around the bottom of the hill usable as an entrance. Let’s try finding the gap, to start with,” said Chen Yi.

Going around the huge fire pillar, the party did find a gap leading into it. In comparison to the size of the hill, it was only a small crack, but to humans, it was like a cave open in the stone, which grew more spacious the further their group ventured deeper into it.

The group could sense the path becoming steeper as they went in deeper. The walls in the cave were like half fire crystal and half rocks, with very smooth surfaces. The group managed to pick up some Soul Seed Pieces along the way. The cave felt like a good place to explore, too. If they looked carefully, they would be able to find one or two Soul Seeds.

The sound of metal clanking suddenly echoed in the completely dark cave. As it was deadly silent a moment ago, the sudden noise felt rather spooky.

The clank did not have the usual crisp ring, but it sounded dull and unpleasant, similar to the sound of someone scratching their nails on the blackboard. The cave was already dark to begin with, thus when the group heard the eerie noise that appeared out of nowhere, they could not help but feel rather nervous.

“I guess I’m not the only one that heard that?” Zhang Xiaohou scanned his surroundings with chattering teeth.

“Any idea what that was?” agreed Zhao Manyan.

“Who cares what it is, let’s continue forward. Worrying about it won’t help. If it were hiding in the dark, we’ll never know what it was,” Mo Fan said indifferently.

Mo Fan had assumed that if the creature had the ability to kill them all, it would have done so straight away, instead of trying to scare them with the noise.

On alert now, everyone quickened their pace. The hill was extremely high, even climbing straight up alone would take a long time, let alone following the path in the cave.

The party did hear the same noise again for a few times, but the creature never appeared, thus everyone simply ignored it.

Moving forward in the dark for a long time was boring and it easy to be overwhelmed by fear. Fortunately, everyone in the group was fairly courageous, and did not lose their nerve from the strange noise.

After climbing to a certain height, the gaps along the walls had lava flowing out of them, flowing in the furrows along the path.

The lava served as a light source, allowing the party to get a better look at their surroundings. Zhao Manyan’s Brilliant Light was no longer needed to light up the path. The lava on both sides was enough to light up the cave as bright as day.

“HAHA, the Burning Valley isn’t as intimidating as we thought. Look at the lava flowing on both sides, it seems to be welcoming us with red carpet and lights!” Zhang Xiaohou walked in the front, enjoying a moment of pride and satisfaction.

The lava’s temperature was extremely high. An ordinary human would easily burn into ashes in it, while a Magician could barely protect their flesh. That being said, they would still burn until bones were left if they stayed inside it for too long. Meanwhile, Fire Magicians were able to endure the temperature, but it was totally dependent on their cultivation. Those with high cultivation would not have any problem taking a shower in it…

Mo Fan was clearly not at that level yet. He tried to poke his finger into the lava on the side. It was hot, yet did not pose any threat to his life. Well, it was like putting a finger inside boiling water!

“By the way, did anyone notice that the lava is covering more area?” asked Chen Yi all of a sudden.

It did serve as a reminder to Mo Fan. The path inside the cave was both wide and narrow at different sections, but there was basically enough space for the group. Like the cave of an underground river, the lava was flowing out from the cracks on the walls. At the start, it was bursting out like spring water, and its red glow was directing the group as they moved forward. However, it turned out that the drains on both sides were full of lava, which were even pouring out from some of the sections, flowing toward the path everyone was taking.

“Maybe there’s more lava the higher we go. Don’t worry, the lava will flow down. There’s more than enough space there, it won’t block our path,” said Zhao Manyan.

“That sounds convincing… but what if it’s another reason?” asked Xinxia worriedly.

“What reason?” asked Zhang Xiaohou.

While they were chatting, Mo Fan stood beside the lava drains and observed its flow carefully. He clearly remembered that everyone had mentioned that the lava was flowing slowly before, yet it was already surging toward the lower sections of the cave. Some areas were already covered in the red lava, which began to spread toward the path they were taking.

It had only been less than a minute!

“I think we should leave here at once!” Mo Fan’s expression was totally different than before, his voice determined now.

“Why?” asked both Zhang Xiaohou and Zhao Manyan, who were still thinking of the priceless Fire Calamity Fruits.

Chen Yi was not willing to give up either, as the Fire Calamity Fruits were right at the top of the hill.

“Just do what I say!” Mo Fan yelled at the group, as he had no time to explain.