Versatile Mage

The path on the back of the mountain was longer than expected. The stone lamps on both sides of the path were overgrown with weeds. The branches of the trees nearby even grew in the direction of the path, as if trying to block them.

It was obvious that the plants were not too fond of having visitors. Mo Fan was currently in a fit of anger, and had the urge to burn everything in his path. He completely forgot about the rule that prohibited them from starting a fire in a sacred mountain like this.

The path started to lead them up a slope. As they arrived at the top, Mo Fan discovered an ancient structure nearby, hidden by thick trees and bushes. It was almost impossible to see it without following the path leading to it.

“I’ll do it, I wouldn’t want you to burn the structure down,” Ai Jiangtu immediately stopped Mo Fan when he was about to vent his anger again.

Ai Jiangtu’s gaze sharpened as a silver glow burst out from his eyes and slashed at the bushes ahead. Its sound was similar to a series of firecrackers.

“Break!” Ai Jiangtu’s clothes flapped wildly in the wind. The energy of the Space Element immediately cleared the branches and shrubs around the structure, leaving a clear path. They were finally able to take a clearer look at the structure.

It was a small, wide-open temple with three stairs, a balcony, and finally a central room.

Mo Fan went up and saw something covered in dust in the temple…

Mo Fan blew the dust away and realized the thing was a wooden clapper. The strange thing was, a wooden clapper usually had a smooth surface. It was commonly used to beat rhythm, yet the surface of this particular wooden clapper was full of markings. These markings were perfectly aligned, with strange fonts in the little squares between the markings. The fonts did not look Japanese, but more like some kind of ancient, magic runes!

Mo Fan had a strange feeling when he saw the wooden clapper. Somehow, he felt like he had seen the strange, twisted fonts before.

“Why is there a wooden clapper here?” Mo Fan tried to touch the wooden clapper, yet it suddenly unleashed a bright yellow arc of electricity. Mo Fan subconsciously withdrew his hand when he touched the lightning arc.

“A Magic Lock?” Jiang Shaoxu stared at the junk-like wooden clapper with a confused look.

Mo Fan could feel his finger turning numb. His gaze was fixed on the lightning arc covering the object.

“It looks like a magic equipment. Strange, why was it left here?” said Nanyu. She was quite an expert when it came to magic equipment. She drew closer to the wooden clapper and inspected it closely.

Mo Fan was left speechless. He had never heard of a magic wooden clapper. What the hell could it be used for? Don’t tell him that using it to beat rhythm would be able to convince the enemy to lay down their butcher’s knife?

Nanyu’s hand hovered over the wooden clapper. She did not touch it directly.

She closed her eyes and tried to communicate with the wooden clapper mentally. Surprisingly, the lightning arc slowly weakened.

“This must be a shield equipment, but its uses aren’t as simple as shielding its bearer. It seems to be hiding some other power,” said Nanyu.

“I only want to know if this thing is related to their condition,” said Mo Fan.

“I’m not sure either, give me some time, I might be able to decipher the text on it. This thing is very ancient. I’ve only seen something similar in Hangzhou,” said Nanyu sternly.

The path had ended here. It was meaningless to venture any further. They had no choice but to wait patiently for Nanyu.

However, a sudden thought crossed Mo Fan’s mind when Nanyu mentioned Hangzhou!

Mo Fan recalled that when Tangyue brought him to the island on West Lake, there was an ancient building there. Its walls had many strange drawings and weird letters. The letters were distorted and incomprehensible, yet they were similar to the letters on the wooden clapper.

“The Magic Lock is quite powerful, can she crack it?” Jiang Shaoxu asked Ai Jiangtu. She was quite knowledgeable in that field, too.

Ai Jiangtu was more familiar with Nanyu than anyone else. He glanced at her stern expression and said, “She’s quite an expert in things like formations, Magic Locks, and ancient curses. I believe she can crack most Magic Locks.”

A Magic Lock was a kind of magic applied to a certain thing to forbid people from touching or approaching it. Its concept was similar to a Magic Formation, supported by some other supplements.

Usually, a vessel was the best carrier for a Magic Lock. Even though it looked like the wooden clapper was merely covered in some strange, scribbled runes, it was likely that the runes were actually a tiny Magic Formation. It would unleash a strong energy to protect it if anyone touched it.

The lightning arc was quite powerful. Even Mo Fan, who possessed the Lightning Element, did not dare to touch it again. More importantly, Equipment with a Magic Lock would remain unusable without unlocking the lock.

They had no idea where Miyata was, so they could only hope that Nanyu could find some useful information from the strange wooden clapper.

Sometime later, Nanyu sneezed softly. It was obvious that she was extremely focused. She would frown at times as if she was experiencing some difficulties.

Jiang Shaoxu ran out of patience. She was just about to speak when Nanyu stopped inspecting the wooden clapper.

“What did you learn?” asked Mo Fan.

Mo Fan did not care about the wooden clapper. He was more eager to learn if the wooden clapper was related to Miyata in some way.

“I think the girl you saw is most likely a Vessel Demon Spirit,” said Nanyu.

“Vessel Demon Spirit, what the heck is that?” Mo Fan’s eyes widened. It was his first time hearing about it.

“It’s a kind of ancient creature. A Vessel Demon Spirit normally needs a very long time to form too…I bet you know that the magic equipment we use is also classified into different levels, normal, Spirit-grade, Soul-grade… Spirit-grade implies that the equipment’s intelligence is awakened. As for Soul-grade, it means the item has acquired its own soul,” said Nanyu.

Mo Fan knew about the classifications. It was the same as Elemental Seeds, normal seeds, Spirit-grade Seeds, Soul-grade Seeds…

“A Soul-grade vessel has its own consciousness, and even their own soul. If the vessel has existed for a long time, and with some exceptional conditions, the vessel can also cultivate and evolve into demon spirits… these demon spirits are similar to elemental spirits, except for the fact that they were born in powerful vessels!”