Versatile Mage

the lava was burning energetically. they could see plumes of fire rising more than twenty meters high, spiraling in the air. when they looked down into the chasm from the edge, the volcanic caldera resembled a spectacular sea of lava. its restlessness was inspiring fear in them.

the expressions of the disciples of the renowned clans that had volunteered to participate in the operation had shifted tremendously. they obviously regretted their hot-headed decision.

mo fan looked down into the chasm and noticed the lava was split into several layers, as if each layer was holding a burning liquid with different effects. when the different lavas gathered in a specific spot, he immediately sensed a formidable energy being formed.

“look out!” he yelled.

as soon as mo fan warned the others, a huge explosion took place inside the chasm. the scorching lava splashed upward like a huge geyser, rising above the team before scattering across the land. the people immediately backed away in fear.

luckily, zhao manyan reacted very quickly, summoning a water curtain to shield the team from the lava!

“i’ve been smashed by the waves at the beach, but it’s my first time being smashed by lava,” dongfang xifeng observed calmly.

“how terrifying is that? if we didn’t defend ourselves, the lava would have easily burned through us, leaving just our bones behind!” mui zhuocheng exclaimed.

“it almost broke through my water curtain,” zhao manyan looked up and pointed at the blue barrier.

the advanced spell was left with holes after the lava splashed on it. it clearly showed how insanely high the temperature was!

“it’s only the lava on the surface. the temperature is going to be higher the deeper we go. i’ve briefly classified the different layers of lava into red lava, brown lava, black lava, and white lava. the red lava’s temperature is at least the temperature of a fire spell of an advanced mage. a water curtain without any special effects will only last for five seconds. the next is the brown lava. it’s mixed with the red lava, and is similar to the surging undercurrents in the ocean. the brown lava’s temperature is twice the temperature of the red lava. a normal water curtain will only last for one second.

“after that is the black lava. the black lava is absolutely terrifying. the explosion just then was caused by the black lava. it usually has a spherical shape, and looks like iron spheres floating in the lava. they are constantly floating around, but when two black lavas come within fifty meters, it results in the scene we just witnessed, an explosion that will blow the lava into the air,” mui guangqing explained to the team.

mui guangqing led the team back closer to the edge after the lava in the air had fallen to the ground.

“take a look,” mui guangqing walked very close to the edge and asked the others to gather around him. he pointed at the spot where mo fan had seen the lava of different colors gather previously, “when two black lava spheres collide, it will trigger a violent reaction. the explosion is as strong as a super level fire spell. after the explosion, the spot where the explosion took place will become like that.”

the others looked in where mui guangqing was pointing and immediately discovered a deep hollow.

“the lava doesn’t flow very quickly. when the lava is blown away, it will take between five to ten minutes to fill up the gap again,” mui guangqing told them.

the others stared at the hollow. as mui guangqing had mentioned, there was no sign of any lava flowing into the hollow. the lava further away was creeping toward it at a very slow pace.

“the red lava’s temperature is already equivalent to an advanced fire spell, not to mention that we are constantly burning when we are inside the lava. apart from a super mage, no one could possibly last for more than two minutes in that, let alone in the brown lava that is even deadlier. does that mean we can only last for half a minute in the brown lava?” dongfang linlin asked seriously.

“exactly, if you’re forcing your way through, even a super mage will be turned into ashes by the brown lava, let alone you guys,” mui guangqing confirmed.

“hey hey hey, stop saying that like it’s nothing important! if the lava can easily burn a super mage to death, what the hell are we even doing here? let’s just go on with our lives!” zhao manyan protested.

“nature will always give us a chance. didn’t i already mention it? the black lava that is scarier than the brown lava is our ally,” mui guangqing said.

“you’re saying that the hollow that is produced when the black lava spheres triggers an explosion is our best chance to reach the bottom of the volcanic pond?” mo fan said.

“exactly, the lava flows very slowly. even if the place goes very deep, you should have time to make your way down to the bottom. you won’t be buried in the red or brown lava when the hollow is there!” mui guangqing stated.

mo fan’s face darkened after hearing the explanation.

was this really the best plan that the dongfang clan and the mui clan could come up with? were they really asking them to wait for an opening produced by the explosion and jump straight into the chasm? going down might be easy, but how were they supposed to come back up?

were they going to wait for the black lava to trigger an explosion again? the problem was… they had no way of telling when the explosion was going to happen!

they were just too many uncertainties. first, their lives were solely dependent on the black lava spheres, which were not even in their control. second, it was difficult to tell if they were going to find something worse as they made their way to the bottom. third, they could not tell how long the hollow would be around for, not to mention that they had no idea where it would show up at!

mo fan finally understood why even the dongfang clan was struggling so much to excavate the fire vein, even when the fire element was their field of expertise. it was like placing a bet with their lives at stake. they were betting on the fact that nothing would go wrong, that their plan would work perfectly, and all their speculations were right. if anything went wrong, the whole team was going to be wiped out!

fan dong finally gathered his courage and said, “uncle guangqing, i didn’t know it was this dangerous. even though i do think i have no other concerns in this world, i’m still reluctant to just get myself killed like that!”

“i…i think i’ll pass too. i initially thought of using this chance to earn a better status in the clan, but nothing else matters if i end up dying here. please apologize to uncle mo on my behalf,” another disciple of the dongfang clan agreed.

everyone on the team was an advanced mage, so no one was stupid enough to risk their lives after learning the danger involved. mui guangqing’s explanation sounded simple, but they only realized how dangerous the whole thing was after seeing the lava and the explosion with their own eyes. the sight was significantly more terrifying than they had imagined! they were already struggling to resist their fear. how were they supposed to jump into the chasm and complete such an insanely difficult mission?

“i won’t force any of you to go down there. i believe you know the way back,” mui guangqing sighed.

fan dong and the other person did not hesitate any further, quickly leaving the place. even staying a second further would cast an inerasable shadow on them.

the others also became hesitant after seeing the two leave.

“mo fan, please spare me, the pyramid was already thrilling enough for me. i still haven’t fully recovered from it after half a year…” zhao manyan said with a twisted face.

zhao manyan did not hesitate at all. he wanted to depart with the two that had wisely taken their leave. unfortunately, mo fan had used shadow imprisonment to keep him there!

“we’ve already lost two of our members before we even started,” qi shan said mockingly, his face cold.

“it’s still doable without them. i knew that some of us would turn tail eventually. it’s a lot better than i thought, losing only two members,” mui guangqing admitted.

“i thought the plan was going to be more reliable. i didn’t expect us to have to rely on luck so heavily. we have to hope that the volcanic pond behaves itself!” mo fan muttered.

“it’s the only plan we can think of. we’ll need you to break the sarkinite rocks at the bottom. sarkinite has the ability to nullify dimensional magic. you can only use the scrolls of space after destroying the sarkinite rocks. it’s going to determine your ability to make it out in one piece!” mui guangqing told him.

“even dimensional magic isn’t going to work in there?” mo fan’s expression darkened even further.

he was willing to have a try at it despite the risks involved, because he had the space element. he was not too worried initially, but when he learned that the space element was no longer usable in the chasm, he really had to think twice about doing the job!

his demon element was still hibernating, so he would have to solely rely on his own capabilities if anything went wrong. he would have difficulty surviving in the extreme heat at the bottom of the chasm. he had really found himself in a pinch this time!

“every elemental vein has sarkinite rocks, hence why it is so difficult to excavate an elemental vein. scrolls of space are incredibly rare, too. our clans only have a few left, but we have no choice but to use them under the circumstances. the only problem is, the space element won’t be able to move through the layers of rocks, since almost every corner in the fire vein has the sarkinite. we’ve managed to find a perfect spot after surveying the place for six months. if you can destroy the sarkinite in that specific spot, you’ll be able to use the scrolls of space!” mui guangqing said.

“i bet it’s not going to be easy to find the spot?” mo fan asked.

“it’s indeed going to be tricky to find it. we don’t really know what the situation is down there. we’ve only determined the spot through simulations. i’ll show you the directions later, and you must determine the exact path to the spot,” mui guangqing said.

“i have a poor sense of direction! i can even lose my directions on the roads, let alone down there!” mo fan protested loudly.

“i have memorized the path,” dongfang linlin said.

“mm, we asked her to do most of the simulations. dongfang linlin will guide you to the sarkinite, but the rest of you must remember the directions just in case something happens,” mui guangqing said.

“by the way, didn’t you mention the white lava, apart from the red lava, brown lava, and black lava? what exactly is the white lava?” lingling interrupted.

“that’s the most important thing i’m going to explain right now!” mui guangqing said with a slightly louder voice.

“f**k me, are you telling me that everything you just mentioned is only the appetizer!?” zhao manyan bleated.