Chapter 225: A brief stint
As soon as he entered, he saw Old Bao sitting there leisurely, smoking his pipe while reading a newspaper. The old man looked no different from usual, as if the storms outside had nothing to do with him.
Old Bao raised his eyelids when he saw Mo Fan.
“Why are you here?”
He was somewhat surprised. Wasn’t this brat supposed to be participating in National Team training overseas? How did he suddenly appear in Shanghai?
“With your skills, you shouldn’t have been kicked out, right?” Old Bao muttered.
Then, as though he suddenly thought of something, he narrowed his eyes and asked, “Don’t tell me you caused some huge trouble again?”
Mo Fan was speechless.
“I’m such an honest person. Do I look like the kind of person who likes causing trouble?” Mo Fan said seriously.
Old Bao’s lips twitched.
Even he almost couldn’t keep a straight face hearing that.
Seeing Old Bao’s reaction, Mo Fan rolled his eyes, then took out the Condensed Evil Bead he had obtained in Japan.
“I got this during National Team training at the Twin Guardian Towers. This thing is useful to me, but it’s too restless. It keeps releasing negative influence and can easily affect people nearby. I came back specifically to ask for your help. With your ability, handling this shouldn’t be a problem, right?”
The moment Mo Fan handed the Condensed Evil Bead over, Old Bao’s expression changed.
The murky bead seemed ordinary at first glance, but the evil fluctuations within it were extremely familiar to him.
Old Bao’s casual attitude disappeared completely.
“Where did you get this thing?” Old Bao asked immediately. “Tell me clearly.”
Mo Fan briefly explained what had happened at the Twin Guardian Towers in Osaka: the Eastern Guard Pavilion, the prison formation, the soul-origin extraction, General Takagi, Iwata, Mochizuki Chihaya, and the possibility that this bead was related to the Red Demon.
After finishing, Mo Fan pretended not to understand too much and asked, “Old Bao, from your reaction, you seem to know this thing?”
Old Bao fell silent for a moment, then slowly nodded.
He told Mo Fan about Lingling’s father, the Cold Hunter King, and the matter of the Red Demon. That existence was not an ordinary evil spirit. It was a terrifying being born from human evil thoughts, resentment, and twisted soul power. If left alone, something like the Condensed Evil Bead could become a seed for another disaster.
After listening, Mo Fan revealed a look of realization.
Then, after thinking for a moment, he spoke about his own need for the bead and the hidden Demon Element inside his spiritual world.
Old Bao’s expression changed again.
“What? You mean you used the blood essence and didn’t suffer direct backlash? It even condensed into a special magic system within your spiritual world?”
Old Bao naturally knew about the Demon Element.
There were few major secrets in China that he had never heard of. After all, Old Bao was a senior figure of the older generation. Strictly speaking, he was even from a generation before Dean Xiao and the others.
Mo Fan nodded.
“I haven’t truly used it yet. The burden of the Demon Element is too great, and I don’t plan to gamble my life casually. But this bead contains the kind of special energy that might help stabilize or nourish that side of me.”
He paused, then continued, “The problem is that it keeps trying to bewitch people. It doesn’t affect me much, but keeping it around is dangerous for the people near me.”
This was the real reason Mo Fan had returned.
One moment of temptation could be resisted.
Two moments might still be fine.
But if the bead remained near someone for a long time, there was no guarantee they would never slip even once. Once they did, the consequences could be disastrous.
Mo Fan had never truly used the Demon Element’s full power, only enjoyed the physical and spiritual benefits it had quietly brought him. But having one more trump card was never a bad thing.
A hidden trump card meant another chance to survive.
“In short, just tell me if you can handle it,” Mo Fan said directly.
“I can,” Old Bao replied.
Then he glared at Mo Fan. “You brat, you’re asking this old man for help, yet you don’t even have the patience to speak politely?”
“Young people are all afraid of trouble,” Mo Fan said seriously. “I’m young too.”
Old Bao almost wanted to smack him with the pipe.
Just then, the door opened.
Mo Fan turned around and saw Lingling walking in. Her twin braids fell along her cheeks like willow leaves, and her bright eyes immediately fixed onto him.
“Mo Fan, it really is you! I thought my laptop was malfunctioning!” Lingling said with surprise.
Mo Fan’s face darkened. “Little girl, you installed a tracking program on me again?”
Lingling blinked her big eyes, not feeling guilty at all.
“Of course. Otherwise, how would I know when you sneak back?”
Mo Fan was speechless.
This little girl really was terrifying. She never studied properly and spent all day thinking about tracking, investigating, and catching people’s weaknesses.
“Huh? What’s that?” Lingling quickly noticed the bead in Old Bao’s hand.
Mo Fan briefly explained the situation to her, and Old Bao added some details.
When Lingling heard that the bead was connected to the Red Demon and possibly related to the trail her father had once pursued, her expression changed drastically.
However, she was no longer the little girl who would cry and make a fuss.
She suppressed the anger and sadness in her heart, her small face becoming unusually calm.
Mo Fan looked at her and said, “Don’t worry. I brought it back because this thing can lead us closer to the truth. As I grow stronger, one day we’ll dig out everything about the Red Demon and your father’s case.”
Lingling lowered her head slightly.
After a while, she nodded.
Old Bao took the Condensed Evil Bead and began preparing to deal with it. Since there was nothing else Mo Fan could do for now, he left the Clearsky Hunter Agency and headed toward the National Pavilion.
If he remembered correctly, the Egyptian team’s people should be arriving soon.
He was also curious who the new substitute member would be. People like Li Kaifeng and Zhou Xu, who had not made it into the National Team, should still be around the Pavilion.
The Chinese National Pavilion was located inside the Oriental Pearl Mage Tower.
The Pavilion arena was roughly the size of three football fields combined. Its battlefield contained four different terrains: jungle, gravel, rock, and grass. Contestants could use the terrain during battle, and above the entire arena floated a massive hemispherical roof.
As an official member of the National Team and its vice captain, Mo Fan entered smoothly.
The moment he arrived, he saw that someone was already challenging the Pavilion.
The opponent was clearly a Necromancer.
Recently, the National Pavilion had practically become a popular challenge location. Teams from various countries came one after another, and every day there were challengers trying to take the Pavilion’s badge.
What was most embarrassing was that many challengers had won quite easily.
When Mo Fan arrived, he happened to see Dongfang Lie being beaten badly on the field.
“Who’s next?” the staff member of the National Pavilion asked, cold sweat appearing on his forehead.
After Lu Yilin left, there really weren’t many capable people left here.
As for Zhou Xu and Li Kaifeng, they had lost the competition for the National Team and had no intention of lowering themselves to guard the Pavilion.
“I’ll go. Plant Magic should be easier to use against undead,” said a female student wearing black-rimmed glasses.
“Yue Tangxin, are you confident?” Bai Dongwei glanced at her and asked.
Yue Tangxin nodded.
“Alright. Be careful,” Bai Dongwei said.
When Saeed saw that a female student had come up, his eyes narrowed slightly with interest.
“My buddy won’t hold back, so you’d better prepare some defensive magic tools,” Saeed reminded Yue Tangxin, seemingly showing a bit of gentlemanly manners.
However, to Yue Tangxin, this sounded more like provocation.
She said nothing and simply waited for Bai Dongwei to announce the start.
It was still the gray-clothed iron corpse.
Just as Yue Tangxin had analyzed, the iron corpse appeared to be only three meters tall, but its weight was absolutely terrifying. The moment the match began, it displayed fierce momentum.
But Saeed was not satisfied with only this.
He continued summoning.
A murky well appeared again.
Everyone thought another undead head would crawl out from it, but unexpectedly, what emerged this time was a large black bone knife.
The bone knife was black, yet gleamed with a cold light. Its smooth surface even reflected Saeed’s sinister smile.
The black broadsword appeared first, followed by the undead’s body.
Unlike the gray-clothed iron corpse’s even and powerful physique, this was an extremely fat and burly creature, wrapped in layers of white shrouds.
White wrappings were a symbol of Egyptian mummies, but most mummies were dried corpses, skin and bones. This mummy, however, was extremely fat, its belly bulging outward.
It did not look comical.
Because the black bone saber it held was far too vicious.
The white mummy was five meters tall, comparable to a war chariot. Its black bone saber was six meters long. When it stood in the arena, compared to the small human figures around it, the visual impact was tremendous.
“Moo—!”
The mummy roared like a bull, but its voice was not gentle at all. The rumbling sound shook everyone’s eardrums.
“This is my Death Blade Mummy. Enjoy the battle!” Saeed laughed.
The Death Blade Mummy’s aura was terrifying. Before Yue Tangxin could even analyze what kind of undead creature it was, the Death Blade Mummy suddenly raised its six-meter-long black saber.
Sizzle!
A distinct black saber qi flashed across the air.
Immediately afterward, an earthquake-like fissure violently tore open the mud and rock on the ground.
The crack stretched nearly a hundred meters. The demonic vines and forest in the middle were split apart, churned into flying debris and wood chips by the chaotic energy that followed.
Fierce and domineering!
This strike completely shattered all of Yue Tangxin’s original plans.
The remaining saber qi flew straight toward her, tearing a deep gash across her armor and defensive magic tool. It was only a hair’s breadth away from ripping through her skin.
Yue Tangxin froze.
Vine debris flew wildly in front of her. A shocking crack stretched across the ground. Even though the attack had come from nearly a hundred meters away, she felt as if the black bone blade had fallen right in front of her face.
Her heart pounded wildly.
“I admit defeat.”
Yue Tangxin raised her hand, signaling directly to referee Bai Dongwei and also to Saeed.
She did not want to get injured. If she were seriously hurt here, she would not be able to participate in the next special training. She already knew she could not deal with the gray iron corpse and the Death Blade Mummy together, so she chose to give up.
But the Death Blade Mummy showed no sign of stopping.
For a moment, Yue Tangxin’s face turned pale with fright.
Bang!
Just when everyone thought Yue Tangxin was about to be struck, a figure appeared in front of her.
A golden light shield unfolded, blocking the six-meter-long black saber directly.
The impact exploded outward, causing dust and fragments of stone to scatter across the arena.
“Damn it, didn’t you hear her admit defeat?!” Bai Dongwei cursed angrily after realizing what had happened.
Saeed did not truly intend to kill Yue Tangxin, but seeing someone block his Death Blade Mummy’s attack and then hearing the yelling from the other side made his expression turn cold.
“First of all, she should have admitted defeat faster. She didn’t finish speaking before the attack landed. Secondly, it is true that my undead creatures obey my commands, but they are not me. They are inherently violent. Even if I call for them to stop, they may not stop immediately.”
Bai Dongwei was momentarily speechless.
Mo Fan stood in front of Yue Tangxin and slowly lowered his hand.
The golden shield was only Basic Light Magic—Illuminate, compressed and shaped through his control. His Light Element was still only Basic Level Three, but against undead, even basic light could create a brief suppression effect when used properly.
Of course, the real reason he could block the strike was not Light alone.
A faint silver ripple had spread in front of him at the moment of impact, redirecting part of the force, while his Shadow had already shifted Yue Tangxin half a step away from the blade’s killing line.
Mo Fan glanced back and said, “Go down first.”
Yue Tangxin stared at him blankly for a moment, then quickly nodded and retreated.
Saeed looked at Mo Fan. Although this person had blocked a strike from the Death Blade Mummy, he did not think Mo Fan was his opponent.
Judging from Mo Fan’s age, he should be around the same age as him. Perhaps he was also just a Pavilion Keeper.
“Are you here to challenge the Pavilion?” Mo Fan asked calmly.
Saeed frowned slightly. “Yes. You’re the third one to step onto the stage, right?”
“Good,” Mo Fan said. “Then I’ll be your opponent.”
From a distance, Bai Dongwei was immediately puzzled. “Who is he?”
“Instructor, that’s Mo Fan, our Pearl Academy’s Big Devil,” Dongfang Lie explained while enduring the pain from his injuries.
“Official team member?” Bai Dongwei was stunned. “What is he doing here?”
Dongfang Lie had no temper when it came to Mo Fan. Even if he disliked him, he had to admit that with Mo Fan around, this foreigner had no chance to continue acting arrogant.
“I don’t know why he’s here,” Dongfang Lie said, “but with him on the field, that Egyptian guy is in trouble.”
“Instructor, let him fight. I’ve heard of him too,” a girl from Imperial Capital Academy said.
Bai Dongwei thought to himself that even if he did not allow it, Mo Fan was already standing there.
“You saw that girl almost die just now,” Saeed said, looking at Mo Fan. “If you don’t want to suffer, I advise you to step down.”
“Call your team up now,” Mo Fan said. “I’ll sweep all of you out at once and save time.”
Saeed’s expression immediately sank.
Who did this guy think he was?
Did he really think that blocking one strike from the Death Blade Mummy gave him the right to be arrogant?
“My Death Blade Mummy will teach you that stubbornness doesn’t end well!” Saeed said coldly.
He immediately ordered the Death Blade Mummy to attack.
The five-meter-tall mummy raised its six-meter bone saber again. Black death aura wrapped around the blade, and the entire arena seemed to darken.
Mo Fan glanced at it with disdain.
He raised his hand.
A faint golden light first appeared in his palm.
Saeed laughed when he saw it. Light Element was indeed effective against undead, but his Death Blade Mummy was no ordinary undead creature. In the face of absolute power, weak restraint was meaningless.
However, before Saeed could finish laughing, his expression froze.
The golden light in Mo Fan’s hand did not become an Advanced Light Spell.
It was only Illuminate.
But at the moment the golden light flashed, it struck precisely into the Death Blade Mummy’s undead crystal, causing its movements to stiffen for an instant.
That instant was enough.
Purple-black lightning erupted from Mo Fan’s other hand.
Little Lightning Belle’s aura flickered faintly near his shoulder, and the lightning became even more violent, carrying a calamity-like destruction that made the air tremble.
Advanced Lightning Spell—Silent Lightning Death Ray!
The purple-black lightning beam tore through the air and struck the Death Blade Mummy head-on.
The six-meter-long black bone saber shattered first.
Immediately afterward, the lightning pierced through the mummy’s chest and exploded from within. Its undead crystal cracked, then burst apart under the destructive lightning force.
The Death Blade Mummy froze.
Then its massive body collapsed to the ground with a heavy crash.
Dead.
The entire arena fell silent.
“No… no!” Saeed’s eyes widened as he stared at the fallen Death Blade Mummy in disbelief.
That was his greatest asset.
To a Necromancer, losing such a powerful undead was no different from having a piece of his life torn away.
“You… you killed my Death Blade Mummy?!” Saeed stared at Mo Fan with bloodshot eyes, roaring in anger.
Mo Fan clicked his tongue.
“I didn’t expect your Death Blade Mummy to be so weak,” Mo Fan said. “Didn’t you see? I only waved my hand.”
He smiled, then continued, “Besides, this is a fight. You know what fighting means, right? Didn’t your teacher teach you?”
Mo Fan’s counter-question nearly made Saeed vomit blood.
The National Pavilion members standing around the arena were completely dumbfounded.
Even Bai Dongwei, who was also a High Tier Mage, was stunned.
He knew Mo Fan was an official National Team member, and he knew official members were stronger than Pavilion Keepers. But this was far beyond ordinary strength.
Even he could not have killed a Death Blade Mummy so cleanly.
Dongfang Lie gritted his teeth but could not say anything.
This was Mo Fan.
Pearl Academy’s Big Devil.
The Jiuzou's National vice captain.
Officially, he was second only to Ai Jiangtu in standing and value, but in terms of actual combat power, he was number one not just in China but in the world.
Saeed’s arrogance had finally kicked an iron plate.
No.
It was not an iron plate.
It was a volcano covered in lightning.