Versatile Mage (Web Novel)
chapter-488

Translated by XephiZ

Edited by Aelryinth

Inside the cave within the hill, the boiling lava finally showed some sign of 'falling'. The five Magicians who were trapped in the cave uttered relieved sighs.

The cave was not huge, and the gas produced by the lava would find its way into the cave at times, thus the oxygen in the cave was running thin. If they continued to stay any longer, they might suffocate to death.

The only thing that comforted everyone was the fact that Mo Fan's Swift Star Wolf stayed with them throughout the entire process.

It was the sign that Mo Fan was still alive. Xinxia's gaze never left the Swift Star Wolf. Even when they were closed slightly due to fatigue, they quickly sprang open, as she was afraid that the Swift Star Wolf would simply vanish within the blink of an eye.

"The lava is gone, but we have to wait a little longer. It seems like there isn't any air coming in," said Zhao Manyan.

The group of five continued to wait for the cave to be cleared of the lava. Fresh air finally came into the cave from the gaps.

"Come, let's go and find Mo Fan."

Coming out from the cave, the group quickly headed for the bottom of the hill.

Since Mo Fan was swept away by the lava, he had surely followed the current to the bottom of the hill. They would be able to locate him by following the flow.

Although lava was liquid, it had an extremely high viscosity, thus its pace of flowing was rather slow. A substance like that would easily accumulate in some place, and once it cooled down, it would solidify into rocks instead.

If they could not locate Mo Fan before the lava cooled down, it would be fairly difficult to search for him.

...

The group rushed to the bottom of the cave, yet they could not see Mo Fan anywhere. The panicking group immediately stumbled into another trouble, which was the Two-faced Turtle Demon that was blocking their path!

As soon as Zhao Manyan saw the creature, he had a strong urge to get his revenge. To his surprise, the creature was the kind that stayed in packs too. When Zhao Manyan was about to slaughter the creature, the same type of creature but bigger suddenly appeared from nowhere. Forget about getting his revenge, the group ended up being chased by the Two-faced Turtle Demons!

The party ran away from the Fire Pillar Hill and returned to the valley filled with rocks and sand. To their surprise, the Two-faced Turtle Demons continued to chase after them relentlessly.

"What now? If we can't lose them, we won't have enough time to look for Mo Fan," said Zhang Xiaohou worriedly.

"It looks like a group of people is coming in our direction. Screw it, let's run toward them," said Zhao Manyan as he pointed in a direction.

The group of five ran in the direction of another group. When Zhao Manyan saw their leader was a middle-aged man whose hair was combed into braids, his face was filled with shock.

Chen Yi's expression became rather complicated when she saw the middle-aged man.

"Uncle, why are you here?" said Zhao Manyan, glancing at the man.

The man with braids frowned, before glancing at Chen Yi who stood beside Zhao Manyan with her head lowered. He harrumphed coldly and said, "Nonsense, this is no place for kids!"

"Uncle, save it for later. Please help us get rid of the creatures chasing behind us. One of our friends is still in danger," said Zhao Manyan.

Zhao Yulin was aware of the Two-faced Turtle Demons, whose bodies seemed to be covered in metal. He jumped down from his mount with a hint of disdain on his face.

A few Star Patterns appeared around his body. The Star Patterns were drawn simultaneously, and were completed at a shocking pace. The Star Patterns joined together, forming a three-dimensional drawing surrounding him!

The brown Star Constellation was fully constructed. A brown flicker was emitted from Zhao Yulin's eyes, and as the glow reached its strongest brilliance, a force spread in the direction of the Two-faced Turtle Demons in the shape of a fan.

A brown shadow extended into the distance like a claw, and both the loose sand and the cacti along the way were turned into grey-white rocks instantly!

Petrify, the Advanced Spell of the Earth Element!

It was obvious that the Two-faced Turtle Demon charging right at the front had never seen the unique force before. It tried to resist it with its sturdy armor, yet as the brown shadow swept past it, it was turned into a dead statue!

The other Two-faced Turtle Demons were slightly behind, and were utterly terrified when they witnessed the power of the Petrify. The frightened creatures left their petrified comrade behind and fled in the direction of the Fire Pillar Hill.

"Nice one, uncle!" Zhao Manyan went up to the petrified Two-faced Turtle Demon when the others fled into the distance.

He threw a kick at the petrified beast and broke it into pieces. Zhao Manyan continued to stomp the pieces as if the kick alone was nowhere enough to vent his frustrations, "That's for trying to drop the lava on us when we were trapped in the well, that's for trying to block our path! I told you I'm going to cut you into pieces. Look how many pieces you've turned into!"

"Stop wasting time, let's go look for Mo Fan now!," reminded Zhang Xiaohou.

The group was about to leave when Zhao Yulin stopped them, "Where do you think you're going? Stay with my group. It's impossible to send you back to the safe zone. Who is it that you're trying to save? With your capabilities, you can't even retrieve your friend's corpse."

Lingling glanced at Xinxia and said with a nod, "It's easier for us to find Mo Fan with their help."

The five returned to Zhao Yulin's group. Chen Yi's head remained lowered, and as she walked to the middle of the group, she surprisingly discovered a person wrapped in white cloth on a red horse. The person's pair of black eyes were staring right at her.

Chen Yi said in disbelief, "Mother, why are you here?"

The person wrapped in white cloth nodded slightly. She summoned Chen Yi to her side, but she did not speak a single word.

Chen Yi glanced at her father leading the group in joy. She initially thought her heartless father had given up on searching for the Fire Calamity Fruit, and only knew to enjoy his life in the wealthy Zhao Family. She never thought his father would bring her mother here himself after the Fire Calamity.

However, the group of people that her father had brought were not too outstanding. It was most likely that her father was the only Advanced Magician.

The Fire Calamity Fruit was definitely protected by some powerful creature. These people definitely had no chance of fighting it.

The person wrapped in white cloth seemed to be aware of Chen Yi's worry. She explained softly, "The Drifting Sand River has suddenly become restless, which is most likely due to some unknown evil presence in the west… even the Psychic Magicians are unable to pacify them. Most of the factions have sent capable people whose cultivation is relatively lower to cross the Drifting Sand River safely. Your father is an exception. He's most likely the only Advanced Magician who has managed to cross the Drifting Sand River."