Chapter 236: totems
Mo Fan sat by the window of the temporary residence, his brows still slightly furrowed.
The Water Elemental Spirit had escaped.
That was not entirely unexpected. After all, the Sea Monster Empire had already begun hunting them, and the Merfolk Sea had nearly been destroyed. A nature-born elemental spirit with intelligence would not foolishly remain in a place that had already become a battlefield.
What interested Mo Fan more was the information hidden behind it.
Elemental Spirits, aside from their primary elemental talent, often possessed secondary traits.
Little Flame Belle was a Fire Elemental Spirit, yet as she grew stronger, her existence became increasingly special. The Flame Belle Empress in the original path had even awakened the Space Element after reaching maturity. Similarly, Water Elemental Spirits had always been associated with more than simple water control. Eastern legends spoke of sea maidens whose songs could confuse the mind, while Western mermaid myths often described charming voices and spiritual enchantments.
Perhaps the Water Elemental Spirit Zhao Manyan was pursuing also carried a secondary affinity with the Psychic Element.
That would explain why the Sea Fiend Divine had targeted them so aggressively.
A Water Elemental Spirit with strong water control and spiritual talent would be far too valuable. To the Sea Monster Empire, such a race was either a useful tool or a future threat. If they could not be absorbed, they had to be erased.
“It was only one fragment. I couldn’t see clearly,” Mo Fan muttered. “I’ll have to search later for where they escaped.”
He did not have the Psychic Element himself, so he could not trace those broken memories perfectly. If the Sea Fiend Divine’s memories had been more complete, perhaps he could have found the direction of the fleeing Water Elemental Spirits. Unfortunately, most of what he obtained were scattered images, distorted orders, and fragments of the Sea Monster Empire’s plan.
Still, he had a lead.
The Zhao Family could investigate the ocean routes. The Hunter Alliance could spread intelligence. Old Bao and Lingling might also be able to dig up older records about Water Elemental Spirits and their migration paths.
With enough networks working together, finding them would not be impossible.
Before long, Mo Fan turned his gaze inward, observing the six magic systems within his spiritual world.
Fire.
Lightning.
Summoning.
Shadow.
Space.
Light.
After all his efforts, his Fire Element had already reached High Tier Level Two, while Lightning and Summoning had stepped into High Tier as well. Shadow remained at Intermediate Level Three, Light was still Basic Level Three, and Space relied heavily on his mental strength. His foundation was strong, but the gap between his elements was still obvious.
Mo Fan was not worried.
His path had always been different from ordinary mages.
Others polished one or two elements carefully. He had to feed six hungry beasts at the same time.
The resources he needed were terrifying, but the return was equally terrifying. Every time he raised one element, his entire combat system gained another layer. Fire gave him destruction. Lightning gave him penetration and execution. Summoning gave him battlefield pressure. Shadow gave him movement and assassination. Space gave him control. Light, though still weak, was becoming useful for defense, purification, and mental stability.
And behind all of them, sealed deep within his spiritual world, was the primal Demon Element.
That was his true forbidden trump card.
Mo Fan’s thoughts drifted from the Water Elemental Spirits to the older beings of this world.
Totems.
True Dragons.
Elemental Royalty Spirits.
The deeper he dug into the world’s hidden history, the clearer one truth became: humans were not always the victims in ancient stories.
Not all Totem Beasts were kind to humans either.
The Azure Dragon—Little Loach’s true origin—was a great being capable of living for hundreds of thousands of years. Even death was not absolute for it. Through its Totem Vessel, it could reincarnate again and again, continuing its existence across eras. Compared to such a being, humans were insignificant creatures who could barely live eighty or a hundred years.
Dragons were proud by nature.
They did not submit easily.
Only greater dragons could make dragons lower their heads.
And yet, five thousand years ago, after the great battle between the Totem Beasts and the Sea Monsters, the Azure Dragon had suffered a humiliating death at the hands of humans.
Mo Fan lowered his eyes to the Little Loach Pendant resting against his chest.
Even after that, Little Loach had chosen him.
A human.
It had once again allowed a human to become its Sacred Totem Guardian.
That alone was already an astonishing display of benevolence.
Most of the Totem Beasts had died during that ancient war against the Sea Monsters. However, the lineages of the Five Great Totem Beasts had survived because their elders had deliberately kept them away from the battlefield. Those who survived the war were left in an extremely weak and vulnerable state.
They had turned to humans for protection.
But humans, greedy and fearful, repaid that trust with slaughter.
They hunted the weakened Totems.
They killed their Totem Guardians.
They tried to seize their vessels, refine their remains, and claim the power that had once protected them.
Humans could not truly contend with the Sacred Totem Beasts at their peak, so they spent enormous resources, schemes, and lives to bring them down while they were injured. In the end, some Sacred Totems survived, but their disappointment in humanity was complete.
They separated and went their own ways across the world.
Some died from old injuries.
Some disappeared into forbidden lands.
Some left behind Totem Vessels that were far beyond human reach.
Others hid those vessels among humans, waiting for an unknown future.
Mo Fan thought of the one Sacred Totem that had chosen not to participate in that war.
The Mystical Rainbow Phoenix God.
Unlike the Azure Dragon and the other Totems that fought the Sea Monsters directly, the Rainbow Phoenix God had remained apart for reasons unknown.
It was an eternal bird, a being with no true concept of death. As long as even a trace of its element remained in the world, it could return again. Death, to it, was only a temporary silence.
The Mystical Rainbow Phoenix God was not a single-element creature.
It was composed of eleven Elemental Phoenixes.
Inferno.
Aqua.
Storm.
Gaia.
Lightning.
Frost.
Nature.
Luminosity.
Darkness.
Toxic.
Dimension.
It was one being that could split itself into eleven existences according to their elements. Each Elemental Phoenix alone possessed power comparable to a Low–Medium Emperor being. When united as the Rainbow Phoenix God, its power broke into the Medium Emperor level.
For unknown reasons, it had split itself apart and allowed each Phoenix to reside where its respective element was strongest.
Among the eleven, only the Inferno God Phoenix was widely known to humans.
The Vermilion Bird God.
It was the only one that had actively involved itself with humans, and even it had entered slumber roughly four thousand years ago, along with the rest of its elemental counterparts.
Mo Fan leaned back slightly.
The Rainbow Phoenix God was terrifying because it could unleash elements in their purest and most concentrated state. It could not truly die. It did not originate from Kunlun, and its true origin was unknown. Since it had no ordinary concept of life and death, it might even be the oldest being in the world.
Then there were the True Dragons.
They were similar to Elemental Royalty Spirits in some ways. Long ago, they had appeared through Spatial Portals, descending into this world from somewhere beyond ordinary dimensional boundaries.
Humans, greedy as always, had also tried to make use of True Dragons.
Unfortunately for mankind, True Dragons were too powerful.
Even the weakest True Dragon was a genuine Emperor-level being. The strongest among them could reach Medium Emperor level, or even higher. More importantly, True Dragons were naturally superior within their own rank. A dragon at a certain level could easily dominate ordinary creatures of the same level several times over.
Humans could not capture them.
They could not refine them.
They could not dissect them like they did with weaker Elemental Royalty Spirits.
So humans chose a sneakier method.
They observed how dragons used magic and secretly copied whatever they could understand.
Mo Fan smiled coldly.
In other words, mankind had pirated dragon magic, but the dragons still owned the original authority.
Among True Dragons, there were also lineages.
Ordinary True Dragons could reach Medium Emperor level. Above them were the Ancient Dragons, also known as first-generation Genesis Dragons. Those were High Emperor beings, capable of destroying planets. Fortunately, such existences had not invaded Earth.
They existed in the mysterious Summon Beast Plane.
That plane was not like the Dark Plane or the Luminous Plane. Humans could not physically explore it by any known method. They could only enter through spiritual forms, contracts, or summoning connections.
If the Dark Plane and Luminous Plane were each as vast as ten stellar systems, then the Summon Beast Plane was like a small galaxy.
Even the God of Darkness and the God of Luminosity, literal gods of their respective planes, would not dare invade the Summon Beast Plane thoughtlessly.
There were too many mysteries there.
Too many ancient rules.
Too many beings that even gods could not fully understand.
Mo Fan slowly exhaled.
Elemental Spirits.
Totems.
True Dragons.
Spatial Spirits.
The Sea Monster Empire.
The more he learned, the more he realized how shallow the ordinary magical world truly was. Most mages spent their entire lives struggling over resources, rankings, and titles, never knowing that the foundations of their magic might have been built on the corpses of ancient elemental beings.
The previous generations of humans had captured a Spatial Royalty infant spirit and exploited it to create dimensional magic systems. They had consumed Elemental Royalty Spirits to obtain elemental secrets. They had betrayed Totems after being protected by them.
And yet humans still called themselves the rightful masters of the world.
Mo Fan’s expression turned cold.
No wonder the world was losing its elemental richness.
Spirits were beings born from the elements themselves. They were nature-friendly existences, necessary to the balance of the world. Once their numbers dwindled, the world’s elements would inevitably weaken.
Today’s generation had almost no true Elemental Royalty Spirits left.
Humans had devoured too much.
And now, the Sea Monster Empire was doing the same thing in another form.
One side exploited.
The other exterminated.
The Water Elemental Spirits were merely caught between two greedy civilizations.
Mo Fan tapped the Little Loach Pendant lightly.
“Looks like there’s more to clean up in this world than just the Black Vatican.”
Zhao Manyan, who was lying nearby like a corpse, opened one eye. “Can you not say terrifying things when I’m half-dead?”
Mo Fan glanced at him. “You’re not dead.”
“I feel dead.”
“Then congratulations. You’re experiencing your future Undead Element early.”
“I don’t have an Undead Element!”
“You never know.”
Zhao Manyan gave him a weak middle finger.
Mo Fan ignored him and continued sorting through his thoughts.
For now, the Water Elemental Spirits had to be found first. Zhao Manyan’s future Water path depended on it, and after this trip, Mo Fan felt that letting Zhao Manyan obtain recognition from a Water Elemental Spirit would mean more than simply giving him a powerful companion.
It would also prove something.
That not every human who approached elemental spirits did so for exploitation.
Some could still protect.
Some could still form bonds.
Just then, Mo Fan’s phone rang.
He glanced at the caller ID and saw that it was one of the National Team mentors.
Mo Fan answered.
“What is it?”
The mentor’s voice was serious. “Mo Fan, since you are still in Japan, there is an urgent matter. The Judgment Court has received information that Blue-clothed Cardinals of the Black Vatican are fleeing toward Japan’s western coast. If you can intercept them, move immediately.”
Mo Fan’s eyes narrowed.
The Black Vatican.
After all that complicated ancient history, this matter was much simpler.
No need to ponder.
No need to hesitate.
No need to consider whether they were victims of history.
The Black Vatican deserved only one thing.
“How many?” Mo Fan asked.
“The more you kill, the better,” the mentor replied.
A cold smile slowly appeared on Mo Fan’s face.
Zhao Manyan saw his expression and immediately sat up a little. “Don’t tell me we’re going out again.”
“You can rest,” Mo Fan said, standing up.
Zhao Manyan frowned. “Then where are you going?”
Mo Fan’s Shadow Element spread beneath his feet, darkening the room slightly.
“To handle some trash.”
Zhao Manyan stared at him for a moment, then lay back down.
“Black Vatican?”
“Yeah.”
“Then kill a few extra for me,” Zhao Manyan muttered. “After nearly dying in the sea, I’m in a bad mood.”
Mo Fan walked toward the door.
“Don’t worry.”
His voice was calm, but the killing intent beneath it was unmistakable.
“I’m in a bad mood too.”