Versatile Mage

 Mu Ningxue looked at Mo Fan, waiting for him to keep going.

 “It’s something that Zhao Manyan told me before. I was quite curious why he was suddenly interested in Totem Beasts and even started researching about them,” Mo Fan recalled the words that Zhao Manyan had told him and linked them to the information about Baxia that Chairman Shao Zheng had told him recently. He organized the information before explaining it to Mu Ningxue.

 “Zhao Manyan told me the legend of the Black Tortoise, how it had two descendants. One is the Black Totem Snake, and the other is Baxia. Based on Old Bao and Chairman Shao Zheng’s speculation, the wooden clapper that Zhao Manyan found is a symbolic artifact of Baxia, something that was normally in the possession of the chiefs of the ancient tribes that were protected by the Totem Beasts. Take a look at this; it’s the pattern of the Totem Beast that Jiang Shaojun was searching for. I believe it’s the seal of the Black Tortoise.”

 Mo Fan took out Jiang Shaojun’s journal. There was a scribbled line tagging the Black Tortoise in it.

 Most importantly, the seal of the Black Tortoise looked very familiar to Mu Ningxue…

 “The…the seal of the Black Tortoise seems to be the combination of the seals of the Black Totem Snake and the wooden clapper!” Mu Ningxue concluded after recalling the pattern on Zhao Manyan’s wooden clapper.

 “Exactly, it’s the combination of both! The two seals can combine into the seal of the Black Tortoise… it basically verifies the legend that the Black Tortoise had two descendants, Xuanshe and Baxia!” Mo Fan exclaimed.

 Mu Ningxue nodded. She noticed Mo Fan was quite excited after solving a mystery.

 “Look at this part of the feather,” Mo Fan placed the mysterious feather on the wall and used his hand to cover a part of it.

 “Mm, it’s similar to the Moon Moth Phoenix’s pattern, you already mentioned that,” Mu Ningxue said.

 “If our speculation of how the Black Totem Snake and Baxia are related to the Black Tortoise, it means the Moon Moth Phoenix is actually one of the descendants of this feather’s owner!” Mo Fan said.

 Mu Ningxue’s heart skipped a beat upon hearing the words. An indescribable excitement was echoing in her heart!

 If the Moon Moth Phoenix was only the descendant of the feather’s owner, what exactly would the Totem Beast that the feather belonged to be like?

 “Hang on! If we already know the Moon Moth Phoenix’s Totem Seal and the seal of the feather’s owner, we can use subtraction to find out the seal of the other Totem Beast?” Mu Ningxue was excited after realizing that.

 “Exactly!” Mo Fan nodded quickly.

 The formula for the Totem Seals was simple. The seal of Baxia + the seal of the Black Totem Snake was the seal of the Black Tortoise!

 It also implied that the seal of the mysterious feather’s owner – the seal of the Moon Moth Phoenix = the seal of an unknown Totem Beast!

 The traces of Totem Beasts had been erased by time. It was extremely difficult to search for clues about them. However, if they knew the seal of a Totem Beast beforehand, it might be a useful clue to tracking down that Totem Beast!

 “Maybe Jiang Shaojun figured out how the Totem Beasts are related to one another from the drawings here?” Mu Ningxue recalled what Lian Xishan said.

 “That must be it. He insisted on exploring the south even if it meant going alone. He must have figured out there was a powerful Totem Beast there using the Totem Seals. He even mentioned it in the journal!” Mo Fan exclaimed eagerly.

 Jiang Shaojun had found the truth to a Great Totem Beast with the help of the Totem Seals. However, no one had believed him back then, so he decided to prove it himself.

 A man who was so passionate about the past, a man that was willing to sacrifice everything to seek the truth, a man who had discovered the secrets of the Totem Beasts ended up missing… Mo Fan had heard Jiang Shaoxu talking about her brother Jiang Shaojun many times. He could not relate much to the man, but now that he had discovered the secret, his heart was pounding heavily too!

 What could the Totem Beast that the feather belonged to, the creature whose rank was higher than the Moon Moth Phoenix, be? On the other hand, what was the Totem Beast that was on the same level as the Moon Moth Phoenix?

 What was the Great Totem Beast that Jiang Shaojun kept mentioning in his journal? Was it the same Totem Beast that the feather belonged to? Or was it something else?

 “Even though I don’t really understand why you are so passionate about the Totem Beasts, I strongly believe you will find the other Totem Beasts, beyond the Black Totem Snake and the Moon Moth Phoenix,” Mu Ningxue encouraged him quietly.

 Mo Fan could not tell for sure either.

 Why was he so passionate about the Totem Beasts? Was it because of their power?

 Was it because he was interested in the overwhelming strength of the Totem Beasts? Was he fascinated by the fact that he could roam freely across the world if he could subdue one or two of them!?

 “By the way, do you know what happened to Zhao Manyan?” Mu Ningxue said as the thought crossed her mind.

 “About that, there’s something I couldn’t understand,” Mo Fan replied.

 “What is it?” Mu Ningxue was quite curious too. She had heard the specifics of Zhao Manyan being eaten by a giant creature from the others.

 “If Baxia was following us all the way from Japan to Venice, why did he show up all of a sudden after the end of the World College Tournament? I kept feeling that things aren’t as simple as they seem!” Mo Fan said.

 Mu Ningxue glanced outside the building and happened to see the Black Totem Snake poking his enormous head closer. It was obvious that the Black Totem Snake was aware of Mo Fan’s presence, and had come to greet him.

 A thought crossed Mu Ningxue’s mind when she saw how friendly the Black Totem Snake was to Mo Fan, “Mo Fan, is it possible that Zhao Manyan’s life was in danger? Baxia didn’t show up to destroy anything, nor was he trying to eat Zhao Manyan. He was actually trying to protect him!”

 Mu Ningxue’s words immediately cleared up Mo Fan’s doubts!

 Yeah, Baxia had obviously been following Zhao Manyan, since the wooden clapper was its symbolic vessel. Zhao Manyan was like the chief of the ancient tribe the Totem Beast was protecting, so he suddenly showed up when Zhao Manyan’s life was in danger!

 Why did he not think about that in the first place!? That meant that something did happen to Zhao Manyan…

 “Do you remember what Zhao Manyan was discussing with you?” Mu Ningxue said.

 “He seemed pretty dispirited, mainly because of his father. He was hoping to make his father proud of his contributions. There was something he wanted to tell me too, but he didn’t say it in the end. It felt like it’s going to hurt if he said it,” Mo Fan recalled.

 “Aren’t you very close to him? Why would he not tell you about it?” Mu Ningxue asked.

 “I…I don’t know,” Mo Fan had no clue either.

 “Normally, there are a few possibilities why he didn’t want to say it. First, it might hurt the person he’s talking to. Second, it might hurt someone that’s as important as you are to him. Third, it might hurt himself,” Mu Ningxue told him.

 Mu Ningxue was able to give Mo Fan a different view of the questions he had. If Baxia only showed up because Zhao Manyan was in danger, was Zhao Manyan not willing to tell him everything because it was going to put his life in danger?

 A loud cry from the sky interrupted Mo Fan’s thoughts.

 Mo Fan and Mu Ningxue went outside and saw Nighthawk and his Light-Curtain Eagle circling in the sky.

 The Black Totem Snake had already submerged into the water, just so he did not scare the Light-Curtain Eagle so much that it would not dare to land.

 “Mo Fan, something bad happened!” Nighthawk said with a frown.

 “What is it?” Mo Fan said.

 “We’ll talk after we reach the Lingyin Enforcement Union,” Nighthawk signaled Mo Fan and Mu Ningxue to come onto his Light-Curtain Eagle.

 —

 They rode the Light-Curtain Eagle as it flew across the lake and headed toward Lingyin Mountain…

 Nighthawk brought them straight to the prison. Tang Zhong and Tangyue were there too. They were wearing terrible looks. They could not find any word to say when they saw Mo Fan and Mu Ningxue.

 Mo Fan looked into the prison and saw one of the cells had a huge pool of blood and a corpse that was beyond recognition in it.

 In the other corner, Houndman looked up with a ferocious gaze. His hands were covered in blood. The blood was slowly dripping onto the floor.

 “He killed Ke Lingxi,” Tangyue said with a self-blaming look, “I shouldn’t have locked them up in the same cell.”

 Mo Fan was astounded by the sight.

 The minds of the prisoners were suppressed when they were in the cells, meaning that they could not cast a single spell. In other words, Houndman had killed Ke Lingxi in the most brutal way.

 Ke Lingxi’s death meant that they no longer had any evidence to accuse Continent Councilman Su Lu!

 “Why did you do it!? The offenses you’ve committed aren’t even that serious. You just needed to spend a few years in jail, and you could still be a Mage after that. However, there’s no way you’re coming out of prison after killing Ke Lingxi!” Tang Zhong snapped.

 “I’m more afraid of Su Lu than being imprisoned forever,” Houndman looked up. He did not wear a proud grin, like things had gone according to his plan. Instead, his face was pale and he was covered in a sweat of uneasiness and fear!

 Su Lu hated being let down by his men the most. Houndman knew he would suffer greatly if not only did he fail to accomplish his mission, but he also ended up bringing trouble to Su Lu.

 Houndman would rather make amends, even if it meant committing a serious offense by killing a committee member of the Research Union. He would rather spend the rest of his life in jail than be punished by the enraged Su Lu!

 “Is that guy really that scary?” Mo Fan asked, seeing Houndman’s reaction. It was hard to imagine why a man who was almost unbeatable in the Advanced Mage would be so scared of a person!

 “You don’t understand, you will never understand… you better be prepared too. Su Lu never forgives anyone that opposes him. Soon… you will be wearing my shoes,” Houndman curled up in the corner. It felt like he was suffering from a mental disorder.

 1“… let’s go,” Mo Fan sighed.

 Tangyue was still blaming herself for it. Mo Fan reassured her that she was not to blame.

 Tangyue might be an Enforcer, but she was too kind to understand how twisted humans could be. It was definitely not her fault…