Mo Fan at his best – Versatile Mage

Mo Fan’s expression changed drastically.

This was like a dog sneaking into a wolf pack, only to suddenly be exposed.

That was exactly their situation now. At any moment, he and Zhao Manyan could be torn apart by the surrounding sea monsters.

For a brief moment, the two monster factions battling across the nearby seafloor actually stopped fighting. The Merfolk and the sea monsters both discovered the two humans at the same time, and an eerie silence spread through the deep water.

Roar! Roar! Roar!

Moments later, the sea monsters erupted into a frenzy. Their bloodthirsty eyes locked tightly onto Mo Fan and Zhao Manyan, and their maws opened wide as they surged forward together.

A human.

A fresh, living human.

In the deep sea, that was a rare treat.

Only because the Merfolk tribe was caught in the middle of a siege and could not fully abandon their defensive formation did they not also rush toward the two humans.

Mo Fan’s expression turned grave.

His Shadow concealment had failed, and he could not simply reactivate it. Shadow concealment was a kind of deception. Once exposed in full view and locked onto by so many hostile gazes, its effect would drastically diminish. Unless he could completely shake off their attention and change how the enemy perceived him, hiding again would be almost impossible.

“Who exposed us?” Zhao Manyan asked, his voice tight.

Mo Fan did not answer immediately.

Although they were in danger, he remained calm. Since hiding no longer worked, then they could only fight their way through. The only thing that made him cautious was the being that had secretly broken his concealment.

His Shadow Element was not weak, and his spiritual control was already far beyond most mages of his level. For something to detect him under these circumstances, it could only mean that a terrifying spiritual-type demon was nearby.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Sea monsters attacked from all directions.

Zhao Manyan immediately raised both hands. Water and Light magic erupted together, forming layers of defense around them. A deep-blue water dome opened first, then pale golden Light Blessing spread over its surface. The two protections overlapped, softening the pressure of the water while blocking claws, teeth, and scales from crashing directly into them.

The first wave of sea monsters slammed into the barrier.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The defensive dome trembled violently.

Mo Fan let out a cold snort.

Lightning flashed around his body.

Purple-black arcs spread through the surrounding water in an instant. Under Mo Fan’s control, the lightning avoided Zhao Manyan’s barrier and expanded outward like a violent net. The charging sea monsters stiffened mid-rush, their bodies convulsing as the electric current drilled through their muscles.

“Fiery Fist!”

Bluish-black flames gathered around Mo Fan’s arm.

Even underwater, his fire did not die out. Little Flame Belle’s calamity fire clung to the spell fiercely, while Space Magic compressed the flame into a dense shell. The Fiery Fist shot forward like a burning meteor wrapped in silver force.

Boom!

The flame exploded among the sea monsters. The surrounding water shook violently, and several Warrior-level demons were blasted out of formation, their scales scorched and cracked by the burst of high-temperature fire.

“Damn, you can still use Fire like this underwater?” Zhao Manyan shouted while struggling to maintain the barrier.

“Just defend,” Mo Fan said.

“I am defending! Do you think this young master is sightseeing?”

More sea monsters surged forward.

Mo Fan’s eyes gleamed silver.

Space rhythm spread outward, and several demons that were about to reach Zhao Manyan’s barrier were suddenly pulled sideways by invisible force. Their bodies crashed into one another, disrupting the surrounding charge.

But there were too many.

The pressure continued to rise.

Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!

Zhao Manyan’s Water-Light dome trembled harder and harder. His face gradually turned pale. He had already consumed too much magic energy crossing the battlefield earlier, and now he was being forced to defend against an entire sea monster swarm.

“My magic energy is almost empty!” Zhao Manyan shouted.

“Hold on a little longer,” Mo Fan said.

“What are you planning?”

Mo Fan’s gaze had already locked onto a dark shadow in the distance.

Splash!

A long object whipped down like the heavy tail of a python, raising wave after wave of violent water. It descended from the darkness with frightening speed, aiming directly at their defensive dome.

Zhao Manyan sensed it and immediately strengthened his protection.

“Light Blessing—Guardian!”

Golden light spread across the Water Shield.

At the same time, Mo Fan’s Space Magic reinforced the outer layer, twisting the pressure around them into a curved invisible wall.

Boom!

The python-like strike slammed into the barrier.

The entire defensive shell was blasted backward across the seafloor. The impact rang through the water like a muffled bell, and Zhao Manyan nearly lost control of the spell. A crack appeared across one of his shield magic tools, but the barrier held.

The long object struck again.

Boom!

Then again.

Boom!

Each blow made the defensive dome tremble violently. Zhao Manyan gritted his teeth, pouring the last of his Water and Light magic into the protection, while Mo Fan used Space Magic to redirect part of the force away.

No matter how the hidden creature attacked, the barrier did not collapse immediately.

“Mo Fan!” Zhao Manyan shouted through clenched teeth. “Whatever you’re going to do, do it fast!”

Mo Fan’s eyes narrowed.

With Zhao Manyan blocking the attacks, he finally had enough focus to lock onto the mysterious being ahead.

The next moment, his expression changed.

“This is…”

He saw a towering, majestic figure standing proudly in the deep sea like a female giant.

Its upper body was covered in blue skin, with a sharp, narrow head and long, strange facial features that vaguely resembled a woman. But there was no beauty in it. Its lower body was made entirely of thick, ferocious tentacles growing from the waist downward. Those tentacles intertwined like chaotic seaweed, contracting and spreading slightly as they moved through the water.

At first glance, its silhouette might have resembled a woman.

But in truth, it looked far more like a ghost from the deep sea.

Alien.

Grotesque.

Illogical.

A creature that seemed to defy human understanding.

Zhao Manyan’s face twisted. “What the hell is that thing?”

Mo Fan’s expression became extremely serious.

He knew this type of demon.

It was known as a Demon Trench Wraith.

Its formal name was the Sea Fiend Divine Race.

They possessed terrifying intelligence, and their attainments in spiritual power reached the pinnacle among sea monsters. In the future, even powerful Psychic Mages had suffered greatly against them. These creatures were not merely fighters. They were the oracles, priests, and strategists of the Sea Monster Empire.

They were called a Divine Race because their entire species served as the brains of the Sea Monster Empire, responsible for military command and strategic planning.

No wonder his Shadow concealment had been broken.

The Sea Fiend Divine in front of him was nearly Monarch-level, and with its specialization in the spiritual domain, seeing through his concealment was hardly surprising.

What was more sinister was their ability.

They could devour human souls, absorb memories, mimic identities, replace people, and control them.

Mo Fan had not expected to encounter such a creature so soon.

“This is too early…” Mo Fan muttered. “The battle between the sea monsters and the Merfolk—is it because of this thing? Are they plotting something?”

Countless thoughts spun through his head, but Mo Fan’s heart gradually settled.

Now was not the time to dwell on the reason for its appearance.

To face a near-Monarch being, he would have to go all out. Not to mention, his current state was far from ideal. He and Zhao Manyan were surrounded by sea monsters on all sides, and Zhao Manyan’s magic energy was already nearly exhausted.

This was extremely dangerous.

Still, Mo Fan did not panic.

After all, the Sea Monster Empire did exist in the Pacific. Thousands of years ago, it had clashed with the Four Great Totems, leaving both sides heavily damaged. Mo Fan had not encountered them before only because his activity range had been too narrow.

Screeeech!

The Sea Fiend Divine let out a sharp cry like a female sea ghost, commanding the surrounding sea monsters to attack.

Splash!

Countless sea monsters surged forward like a tidal wave, each one ferocious and crazed. The Sea Fiend Divine standing behind them released a strange spiritual illusion to assist the offensive. The water seemed to distort, and ghostly shadows flickered between the monsters, making it difficult to distinguish which attacks were real.

Zhao Manyan’s eyes blurred for a moment.

Mo Fan immediately struck his shoulder with Space force.

“Wake up!”

Zhao Manyan jolted violently, cold sweat forming on his forehead despite being underwater.

“Damn… that thing almost dragged my mind away.”

Mo Fan’s expression hardened.

“Fine then,” he muttered. “Capture you, and I’ll soul-search to find out what’s going on.”

Rumble!

In an instant, Mo Fan’s spiritual world erupted.

Fire, Lightning, Summoning, Shadow, Space, and Light all stirred at once. Six different magical auras surged from his body, rotating around him like violent stars. Little Flame Belle merged into his body, causing calamity fire patterns to spread across his arms and neck. Little Lightning Belle’s aura also awakened in his Lightning Star River, filling the surrounding water with purple-black arcs.

This was not the Demon Element.

This was Mo Fan forcing all six of his elements into full combat output.

Flames wrapped around his right arm.

Lightning gathered around his left.

Silver light burned in his eyes.

Shadow spread beneath his feet.

A faint Light radiance protected his mind, while the Summoning gate behind him trembled faintly as if it could open at any moment.

Mo Fan’s aura rose sharply.

The surrounding sea monsters instinctively slowed.

Even the Sea Fiend Divine’s ghostly spiritual illusion trembled slightly, as though it had sensed that this human was not prey that could be swallowed casually.

Of course, compared to his peak state, Mo Fan had already consumed a large amount of magic energy. His Shadow and Space had been drained heavily during the infiltration, and Zhao Manyan was nearly empty from maintaining the deep-sea barrier.

At most, Mo Fan could maintain this overloaded six-element battle state for a short time.

He had to end this fast.

The good news was that he had deliberately prepared several high-grade recovery resources before diving so deep. Those resources could help him squeeze out a few more minutes of combat time.

That was the real reason he dared to dive this far without calculating every bit of return magic energy.

As for the Demon Element…

Mo Fan’s eyes darkened slightly.

That was his true final trump card.

Unless he was forced into an absolute dead end, he would rather not use it. Once the primal Demon Element awakened, its power would far exceed his current six-element state, enough to push him into a level that could challenge a Supreme Ruler.

But the burden was not something to take lightly.

Mo Fan could bear it only because of his unique dual innate talent and the support of multiple elements inside his spiritual world. Anyone else who tried to copy it would be torn apart from the inside before gaining even a fraction of that power.

That was why he had only prepared weaker, safer auxiliary resources for Mu Bai and Zhang Xiaohou.

The real Demon Element belonged to him alone.

Mo Fan looked at the Sea Fiend Divine through the dark water, calamity fire and purple-black lightning intertwining around him.

“Zhao,” Mo Fan said calmly, “stay behind me.”

Zhao Manyan swallowed and strengthened the last layer of his defense.

“You better not mess this up.”

Mo Fan smiled coldly.

“Relax. I’m about to make this ugly thing regret exposing us.”