Versatile Mage

—

“I will treat what you told me seriously. I’ve already sent someone to Japan’s Xixiong City. Stop worrying about it, it doesn’t help anyway. You should prepare yourself to visit the Parthenon Temple for the Blessing of the God’s Seal. It’s very useful to you,” Old Bao admonished Mo Fan.

“I just feel like he’s still alive,” Mo Fan said in a serious voice.

“I guess that is possible. As you said, the creature could have wiped out the team in Japan if it wanted. It doesn’t make any sense for it to wait until now,” Old Bao said.

“Old Bao, I’ll leave it to you,” Mo Fan said.

“It’s been years since I was last on a case. I’ll give you a satisfying explanation, considering that you won the tournament for our country,” Old Bao said.

Old Bao would not come out of retirement easily. He always stayed in his house no matter what happened, so Mo Fan was actually quite surprised that he was going to investigate this personally.

Since Old Bao had already said this, Mo Fan had no choice but to leave the matter aside.

The great Island Beast had shown up very suddenly. When Mo Fan finally realized the creature had swallowed Zhao Manyan, it was already too late to act, even if he used the Demon Element. He could only let Old Bao investigate the creature and locate it.

—

The prize for the winner of the tournament was the Blessing of the God’s Seal.

The Chinese team headed to Greece. The initial plan was that they would receive the Blessing of the God’s Seal in front of the believers during the ceremony where the Parthenon Temple would elect its Goddess. However, it turned out that the election had yet to conclude, meaning that the Goddess would only be elected some time later. As a result, the Hall Mother would be giving them the Blessing of the God’s Seal instead.

Mo Fan had missed Xinxia. He finally had an excuse to visit the Parthenon Temple and see how she was doing.

For some reason, Mo Fan had a strong feeling that Xinxia was troubled by something.

Currently, there were three Saintesses. Panijia had the highest number of supporters, Asha’ruiya had the most loyal supporters, and Xinxia had a limited number of supporters, but was said to have a formidable background.

Mo Fan had been suspicious of this for quite some time. It was obvious that someone had promoted Xinxia to her current position. The Hall Mother seemed to be responsible for it, but somehow Mo Fan felt like the situation was much more complicated…

——

After arriving at the Parthenon Temple, the Chinese team reached the Ten Thousand Stairs of the sacred mountain under Feng Li and Pang Lai’s lead, and arrived at the Hall of Faith.

Countless people would visit the Hall of Faith to be blessed every day. Many people were willing to throw away money recklessly in exchange for the Blessings from the Hall of the Goddess.

A Blessing from a Probationary Servant could prevent an infant from falling sick or having any infections for ten years. However, it was unlikely that the people of the Hall of the Goddess could give every person Blessings. As such, they only chose from the most sincere believers and those with the highest contributions.

Believers were willing to spend years donating lots of money just for a Blessing. Meanwhile, the Blessing of the God’s Seal was the strongest spell of the Blessing Element. Money could not represent its value.

“Why can’t we wait until the Goddess is elected? It’s not like we are in a rush. I heard the Blessing of the God’s Seal from the Goddess is better,” Jiang Shaoxu asked in confusion.

“It’s possible that the election is having some problems, so they won’t be able to decide who the Goddess is any time soon. The Hall Mother isn’t bad; her Blessing Element is the strongest below the Goddess. Her Blessing of the God’s Seal is quite reliable too. It will at least multiply the base potency of your magic by 1.4 times, or even 1.5 times if you have a good foundation,” Pang Lai explained.

“It’s my first time coming to the sacred mountain. Doesn’t the Parthenon Temple forbid people from flying? If we take the Ten Thousand Stairs, won’t it take us more than an hour to reach the top?” Jiang Yu said.

“Yeah, that’s just how it is. Even though we aren’t believers, it’s still important for us to be respectful considering the favor we are receiving. Let’s take our time; we can enjoy the scenery in the meantime,” Pang Lai replied firmly.

The sacred mountain was verdant and lush, with a pleasant scent of flowers lingering in the air. Each time they reached the other side of the mountain, they would see flowers and trees covering the land into the distance. Colorful petals were dancing in the wind, as beautiful as a painting, while the pleasant scent assailed the nostrils. It was indeed a paradise in the mundane world.

“What’s that? It’s beautiful!” Jiang Shaoxu exclaimed when she saw a cliff with a gap in the middle.

The cliff had a bridge leading to another faintly blue mountain. Between them, a swing like something that out of a fairy tale was hanging in the air. It was thrilling and attractive, and looked very magical.

“On top of the cliff is Saintess Asha’ruiya’s palace. It’s part of the Hall of the Goddess. We aren’t allowed to go up there,” Pang Lai informed her.

Mo Fan looked up the cliff and saw the top of a white structure poking out from the green canopy.

Xinxia had told him that every person above the rank of a Muse would have their own abode. The palace that was built between cliffs, with a direct passage to the Hall of the Goddess, was most likely the highest structure on the sacred mountain. Not only would someone see the sea of flowers and trees from up there, they could also see the entirety of the spectacular Citadel of Athens!

—

The Ten Thousand Stairs reached as far as the Hall of Knights. Non-authorized personnel were not allowed to go any further. The magic Formation protecting the place was extremely powerful. Even the slightest touch would turn a person into dust scattered in the air. The only way up was the Starry Mountain Path!

“If you come here on the seventh of September, you will feel like the path is going straight up into the sky, as if a path has been opened to the stars and connected with this Starry Mountain Path. It’s the most spectacular sight in this world, but unfortunately, not every person is allowed to come here,” Pang Lai informed them, glancing at the Starry Mountain Path leading up to the top of the mountain

“Old Pang, why would you know that if you didn’t come here often?” Feng Li turned around and asked with a smile.

“It’s been a long time since I last came here…” Pang Lai glanced at the Starry Mountain Path with a hint of sorrow.

“Why aren’t there any guards here?” Mo Fan asked after observing the area.

Pang Lai seemed very familiar with the Parthenon Temple. He explained, “This Starry Mountain Path is the only way to the Mountain of the Goddess. The rest of the places are filled with forbidding magic Formations. Those Formations will kill every person that isn’t baptized. No one can break through the ancient magic Formations of the sacred mountain, so this Starry Mountain Path is the only way up.”

Pang Lai pointed at the white arc-shaped entrance of the Starry Mountain Path and at a similar arc-shaped entrance at the top of the mountain and added, “But if there’s an intruder, this Starry Mountain Path will shut itself, preventing anyone from entering the mountain. If someone is on the Starry Mountain Path, the two arc-shaped entrances will activate a powerful magic Formation, trapping the person on the path… do you see those statues? There are four guardian statues with Chaos Magic who can suppress a person’s cultivation to the Advanced Level, or even below the Advanced Level, allowing the statues to easily subdue them.”

“Suppress? Does it work against every Mage?” Mo Fan had to ask.

“Apart from Forbidden Mages, all other Mages will be suppressed by it, and the stronger they are, the stronger the suppression will be.” Pang Lai glanced at the four guardian statues and continued, “On the other hand, the guardian statues are as strong as Great Ruler-level creatures while they are inside the magic formation. Think about it: if a Super Mage only had strength like yours, and has to face the four guardian statues, wouldn’t the statues be able to subdue them with ease?”

“Pang Lai, why are you so familiar with it? Did you try going to the top before?” Feng Li inquired.

“Exactly! In the past, Izisha was unwilling to see me in person, so I had no choice but to take the challenge. Despite having four Elements at the Super Level, they were all suppressed to the Advanced Level. I ended up being seriously injured by the statues, and it took me more than three months to recover. My cultivation dropped too,” Pang Lai replied honestly.

“Master, even you with four Elements in the Super level weren’t able to defeat the four statues?”

“Yeah, the suppression is simply too strong. It’s why even a strong Mage would have trouble making it to the top,” Pang Lai said.

“The Parthenon Temple is pretty merciful to still allow you to come here,” Feng Li chuckled.

“I took the challenge fair and square. The Parthenon Temple has always had a rule. Apparently, in the ancient times, a soldier foresaw that the Tyrant Titans were plotting an act of revenge. The soldier requested to meet the Goddess in person, but the Hall of Knights rejected his request. In the end, the Tyrant Titans did come, resulting in great loss to the Parthenon Temple. Since then, a wise authority constructed the Starry Mountain Path, allowing courageous warriors to take the challenge in order to meet the Goddess in person. Those that make it to the top are allowed to see the Goddess, or any person in the Mountain of the Goddess. Many people are unaware of the rule. It was Wen Tai who told me about it…” Pang Lai said.

“You dared to take the challenge? You were pretty bold back then,” Feng Li exclaimed.

“Chief, what about people that are still in the Advanced Level? Will they be suppressed too?” Mo Fan asked.

“The suppression applied to those that are already in the Advanced Level is weaker,” Pang Lai answered.

“Does that mean we have a better chance to make it to the top?” Jiang Yu smiled.

Pang Lai glared at him and snapped, “Better chance my ass! Even though the strength of a Super Mage is suppressed, they are allowed to use Super Spells still, but the power of their spells will be weakened significantly! I had four Elements at the Super Level, and a Domain for each of those Elements! I can also draw a Star Constellation with a single thought, and my mental strength has also reached the advanced stage! On top of it, I have a full set of magic Equipment too! Even all of you teaming up isn’t necessarily enough to beat me with my strength suppressed back then, and yet I didn’t even see the last statue!”

Everyone was dumbfounded by Pang Lai’s words.

On second thought, it did sound reasonable. Even though Pang Lai was suppressed to the Advanced Level, he was still a Super Mage with four Elements at the Super Level. His comprehension of magic, mental strength, magic equipment, and Domains completely outmatched theirs.

“With your current strength, you won’t be able to defeat the first statue, let alone reaching the top. Do you have any idea what the consequences are? In less serious cases, you will only lose part of your cultivation, but there’s a chance that your Spiritual World will be shattered, meaning that you won’t be able to use magic anymore!” Pang Lai harrumphed coldly.

“Ugh… I was just saying, hehe…” Jiang Yu laughed nervously…