Versatile Mage

Both the Elemental Sensors and Demon Creatures Distribution Scanners were useful inventions, but they both shared the same shortcoming; their energy ripples would attract the demon creatures nearby when they were functioning. The range was not far, but it was still troublesome.

Jiang Shaoxu’s Pacify was not effective against demon creatures agitated by the energy ripples. It was similar to putting a loudspeaker close to a residential area occupied by the demon creatures. There was no way the hot-tempered demon creatures would not come to take a look…

“Any movement?” Zheng Tong looked around. He seemed calm, but the look in his eyes had betrayed him. He was feeling uneasy, as it was his first time in a desert.

“Not yet, only ten minutes have passed,” Wang Jiuming said.

“Shouldn’t we be happy about that? If we are safe for the whole hour, won’t that mean we’ll be perfectly safe for the next five kilometers?” Jiang Shaoxu said.

“The device is just a reference, a data point. Even if there are no demon nests within five kilometers, it doesn’t mean we are safe,” Lingling corrected him.

“The little girl is right, the device is only a support tool. We still have to verify the safety of the path by exploring it on foot…” Wang Jiuming smiled. He seemed quite friendly.

“Speaking of which, where’s your Commander friend? Why is he running around for no reason? Isn’t he worried that he will be surrounded by the demon creatures?” Lu Fang asked Mo Fan when he realized Zhang Xiaohou was missing.

Normally, people would stick close together in a place like the desert to avoid losing their way. The chance of finding a missing person in a desert was less than ten percent. No one would dare to take the risk.

“Brother Lu Fang, don’t you worry about Commander Zhang. He was once a Scout; even if he accidentally stumbles into a horde of demon creatures, he has no problem escaping unscathed. He always managed to lead the demon creatures in the opposite direction of the team, too. As for losing his way, it is quite unlikely either. He left some turbulence in the air along the way. He can easily find his way back to us.” Tong Li was quite familiar with Zhang Xiaohou’s capabilities.

“Oh, that’s great,” Lu Fang nodded.

Mo Fan was not worried about Zhang Xiaohou. The man was too reliable, if Mo Fan was to compare him to Guan Yu and Li Kaifeng, who were in charge of reconnaissance on the national team. The two were incomparable to Zhang Xiaohou in terms of experience. He was the least likely to be surrounded by demon creatures on this whole team. He was too fast for them!

“Strange, why didn’t a single demon creature show up yet? Don’t tell me there isn’t a single creature in this area? That’s not possible. According to the information we have, there should be a bunch of Deathsand Carapace Insects below the Big Yellow Mountain. Were they really so slow that they haven’t noticed the energy ripples of the device, or Wang Jiuming’s device isn’t functioning properly?” Zheng Tong asked.

“It’s already collecting data,” Lingling said.

“That’s strange… something is coming!” Zheng Tong looked ahead and saw a gust of wind without any sand approaching them.

Zheng Tong quickly focused. He began to channel a Star Pattern under his feet.

“Calm down, it’s Zhang Xiaohou,” Mo Fan smiled.

It was a faint-blue wind, the color of Zhang Xiaohou’s Soul-grade Seed. The army had given Zhang Xiaohou lots of resources, since he was their brightest star. With the contributions he had made, the resources he received might even surpass those given to the national team. After all, the national team was only taking part in a tournament. They were incomparable to Zhang Xiaohou’s military contributions!

“Brother Fan, I saw a bunch of demon insects ahead. They seem to be heading our way. After they left their nests, I stole their eggs and lured them south. They won’t bother us for some time,” Zhang Xiaohou came back and reported.

“You…you lured the demon insects away? There are a few nests of them!” Ge Ming exclaimed, his eyes wide.

“They seemed particularly worried about their eggs. I only stole the eggs from a single nest, but the demon insects from the other nests came to flank me, too,” Zhang Xiaohou shrugged.

“And you managed to come back unscathed still?” Wang Jiuming was struggling to believe it too.

The rest of the team was relieved. They never thought their journey to the desert would be so smooth. They had managed to avoid a few battles that they thought were inevitable because of the outstanding capabilities of these outsiders.

These people had always been walking on a knife-edge since they became Hunters. They were glad to see how reliable these outsiders were. It was comforting to have people like them as their teammates!

“It turns out that we have overcome the threat here too,” Ge Ming smiled. He awkwardly rolled the paper that contained the strategies he had come up with beforehand and tossed it aside.

He had done a lot of preparations prior to the expedition, including analyzing the habits of the demon creatures and finding their weaknesses. His men even practiced certain formations just to handle the demon creatures, yet they had yet to use even a single spell until now.

Many teams of Hunter Masters would be covered in wounds and bruises after making it this far, yet when it came to them… it was like they had come for a vacation instead. The danger was resolved while all they did was have a casual chat.

—

“The scan has finished. Old Lu, come analyze the data,” Wang Jiuming retrieved the device and handed it to Lu Fang.

Lu Fang took the device and inserted the data into his own device. However, before the transmission was even done, Lingling spoke up.

“We have to leave now so we can reach the other side of this mountain here. We’ll be safe once we reach this place in the basin before the sun goes down,” Lingling had already printed out the map. She gave Ge Ming a copy casually.

Lu Fang’s lips twisted. He was about to rebuke the little girl when he took a glimpse on the map and the scatter plot of the demon creatures. His expression shifted instantly.

“What is it, Old Lu?” Ge Ming asked when he noticed Lu Fang’s reaction. Ge Ming was having difficulty believing the map that a little girl came up with.

Lu Fang glanced at the sun before looking back at the map. He said in a grim voice, “We have to go now. We’ll be in great trouble if we don’t leave this place before night comes!”

The group immediately packed their stuff and proceeded along the journey.

——

Zhang Xiaohou and another member of the group were scouting ahead. The others started to use magic to quicken their pace.

Zheng Tong and Wang Jiuming did not understand why Lu Fang would believe Lingling’s map all of a sudden, but it was Ge Ming that voiced his concern in the end, “Lu Fang, what’s wrong? Why do you look so pale?”

“The information we have isn’t accurate. The Deathsand Carapace Insects aren’t the only species under the Big Yellow Mountain. The Night Terror Pseudomorphing Demons are there too! They are living around forty meters down from the surface and have scattered across this area and the areas within four kilometers of where we are.

“The sun is going down soon. Once the sunlight disappears, these Night Terror Pseudomorphing Demons will drag every living creature above the surface into the sand. They are too many of them. We won’t stand a chance!” Lu Fang said grimly.

“What… screw that information vendor, he told us there wasn’t any danger under the Big Yellow Mountain! I swear I’ll kill him once we made it back!” Zheng Tong snapped furiously.

Night Terror Pseudomorphing Demons were the last thing that the travelers in a desert wanted to see!

“Didn’t we encounter a Pseudomorphing Demon in Jinlin City? Are the Night Terror Pseudomorphing Demons similar to it?” Mu Nujiao whispered to Mo Fan when the name crossed her mind.

“Yeah, they are the same species residing in different habitats. The Night Terror Pseudomorphing Demons usually live in dry places, and they only appear at night, as they aren’t fans of the sunlight. According to the information on Lingling’s tablet, there are at least five hundred Night Terror Pseudomorphing Demons in this area. They will all come when their roots sense movement above the sand. You can imagine how scary that would be,” Mo Fan had actually done his homework before coming here!.

Mu Nujiao fell silent immediately. Their whole team was almost wiped out when they stumbled into a single Pseudomorphing Demon back in Jinlin City, and now there were at least five hundred of them in this area… they were basically walking through a living cemetery!

“Little girl, how did you know they are Pseudomorphing Demons?” Lu Fang asked while picking up his pace.

“My name is Lingling!” Lingling said in displeasure.

“Oh, Lingling!” Lu Fang was panicking, but he was relieved too.

If the team waited he finished analyzing the data, it would be dark by now. All his efforts would be in vain, since as soon as the sun went down, the roots of the Pseudomorphing Demons would spread across the place.

On the other hand, Lu Fang was quite surprised too. How quickly was Lingling able to analyze the data? The girl had managed to analyze the data quicker than him!

The information they had stated that the area was occupied only by the Deathsand Carapace Insects. However, it was obvious that the person had only come during the day. If it was at night, even an entire army would be eaten alive by the Pseudomorphing Demons!

“There aren’t many life forms under the surface, yet they were covering a huge area. That alone caught my attention. Besides, there are only two kinds of life forms within five kilometers from us. One is hidden underground, and the other is the Deathsand Carapace Insects. These Deathsand Carapace Insects are something that flesh-eating demon plants hate the most, as they are unable to digest the thick carapaces of the insects. It proves that the life forms under the surface are the Pseudomorphing Demons, as they ate every species other than the Deathsand Carapace Insects!” Lingling stated.

“Hehe, luckily you learned what they were!” Lu Fang exclaimed.

“You forgot about day and night; it’s a deadly mistake,” Lingling chided him like she was an instructor.

Lu Fang had an awkward face. Luckily, they did manage to avoid the grave danger…

The desert was absolutely terrifying. If they stuck to their initial plan, the team would have been trapped by the Pseudomorphing Demons when night arrived. It was difficult to tell if they could even clear a path through the demon creatures. The more Lu Fang thought about it, the scarier it was!

“Quick, let’s go! I can see the curtain of night extending toward us!” Zhang Xiaohou said.