Versatile Mage

translated by xephiz

edited by aelryinth

mui guangqing looked rather awkward, but soon regained his serious expression and replied, “we believe the white lava is the core of the fire vein at the bottom of the caldera, where the meteorite smashed into the mountain. if we aren’t mistaken, its temperature should be high enough to burn a ruler-level to ashes within a minute.”

“are you being f**king serious now!?” zhao manyan screamed at the top of his lungs.

“the white lava should only appear in fixed locations, which is why we need a fire spirit summoned beast to cross the white lava and set the space coordinates. none of us have gone inside, so you’ll have to act according to the situation. if you can’t find a way to cross the white lava, you’ll have to leave with the scrolls of space,” mui guangqing said.

the fire spirit summoned beast obviously referred to little flame belle.

in other words, the white lava was located at the bottom of the volcanic pond. it had the highest temperature, and could set anything on fire with the slightest touch. even a ruler-level creature had no chance of enduring its heat. advanced mages like them would be burned to ashes if even a single drop of the white lava touched them!

the only way across the white lava was using the scrolls of space.

however, they were a lot of uncertainties when using the scrolls of space, especially when they had no clue how many walls, rocks, or obstacles there were in the surroundings. using the scrolls of space recklessly was only going to get themselves killed. because of that, someone had to cross the white lava first and set the coordinates where the scrolls of space would teleport them to!

only then would they be able to teleport to the right spot!

“your job is done once you’ve set the space coordinates. leave the excavating to professionals like us,” mui guangqing said blithely.

——

they went through the plan once again. it turned out that they only had a single scroll of space. it was currently in the hands of mui zhuocheng, who was also a space mage himself. it was the mui clan that had provided them with the extremely rare magic scroll. mo fan would have been more than happy to keep it as a safety measure, but it was unlikely that mui zhuocheng would give it to him.

all magic scrolls were uncommon. only a very few factions had the skill to produce magic scrolls, not to mention something as extravagant as the scroll of space. mo fan had seen asha’ruiya using one before when they were at the top of mount tyrant. mo fan could still feel chills running down his spine whenever he recalled the shadows of the enormous creatures above the clouds, and the giant hand looming over them.

the mui clan had seriously gone all out this time, offering the use of the scroll of space that they treated as the clan’s heirloom and heritage. nothing was better than the scroll of space when running away; the distance it could cover was a lot greater than using blink!

mo fan’s blink could teleport him less than three hundred meters. the walls in the volcanic pond were clearly more than a thousand meters thick, so it was impossible for him to teleport out of the volcanic pond with blink. the thought of teleporting into the lava accidentally was already creating great pressure on his thoughts…

——-

after the team was done with the preparations, all they needed was a suitable time to jump into the hole.

mui guangqing kept his eyes on the volcanic pond all the time. he was waiting for a longer opening before giving the signal.

every time a hollow appeared as a result of an explosion, the lava would scatter across the place. it was suicide to fly above the lava, so the team could only wait at the edge patiently until a hollow was formed closer to the edge they were standing at.

it was a long wait. hollows would not appear all the time, and due to the size of the volcanic pond, most of the hollows either appeared closer to the center or on the side opposite where the team was at…

“it’s here, the next one is very close to us!” dongfang linlin said.

“it won’t do, it won’t last for long. the hollow is going to fill up before you can make it to the bottom,” mui guangqing shook his head.

“but we’ve waited for so long.”

“we can’t afford to rush it.”

“it seems like the wind is blowing in our direction. the lava is going to splash on us. should we choose a different spot?” mo fan said.

“we’ll wait here, have some patience.”

——

mu bai was playing an important role on the team, since he was an ice mage. not every mage had outstanding fire resistance. those that were appointed to enter the volcanic pond had already put on magic equipment of the ice element and the water element, but they were still struggling to endure the heat. the longer they waited, the more unbearable the heat was.

“hang in there. i know it’s very tough, but our chance might arrive in the very next second. well, there’s also a chance that we will have to wait here for a whole day…” mui guangqing reassured the team.

“at this rate, i’m going to be worn out before going inside,” zhao manyan said.

mu bai had expended a significant amount of energy. to make things worse, the lava kept falling in their direction because of the strong winds.

“damn it, where did the wind even come from? there was barely any wind before!” zhao manyan cursed.

mu bai lifted his gaze and looked into the sky. he suddenly noticed the thick cloud of volcanic ashes drifting away, as if someone was dragging the orange and brown mist to the west…

the wind was strong enough to blow the volcanic ashes away?

for some reason, mu bai suddenly recalled what the hooker xiao zhou told him the other night…

“then you must come back safely. the west kunlun wind is going to start blowing the night after tomorrow. it will drive the clouds and the dust away, so the sky will be the clearest by then. if you come here again, you’ll see the stars as i’ve mentioned.”

the west kunlun wind?

wouldn’t that mean the wind was going to blow the volcanic ashes away, too?

mu bai immediately looked at the scorching rock peak that he had not bothered to watch before.

he was utterly dumbfounded by what he saw; the scorching rock peak, which was initially shrouded by the volcanic ashes, was now visible. it was as sharp as a sword, pointing imperiously at the sky. he could see a giant pair of red wings extending slowly out from atop it. they were absolutely shocking, despite the distance between them!

the west kunlun wind had blown the volcanic ash cloud away!

mu bai also recalled mui guangqing mentioning that the dominator of sun ridge was not well-behaved at certain times. was he referring to when the west kunlun wind was blowing!?

“damn it, why did the wind have to come at this time!?” mui guangqing yelled when he finally realized what was happening.

xiao zhou had grown up around here. she might not be a mage, but she was familiar with the shifting of the seasons at kunlun mountain. she knew the exact day when a strong wind would occur… mu bai learned about it the night before, but it did not occur to him that the two events were related!

he did not think the volcanic ashes that they were relying on to conceal them from the creature’s vision and senses would be blown away by the west kunlun wind!

the fat was seriously in the fire now. the group of people above the volcanic pond was completely exposed under the proud gaze of the great ruler. its eyes were obviously sharp as a ruler-level creature. it could easily lock its eyes onto them at their current distance!