Versatile Mage

Translated by XephiZ

Edited by Aelryinth

The Rift Valley of Tianshan Mountain was not the grassland in front of the group. They had to make their way around a few smaller peaks below Tianshan Mountain and enter a barren land first.

The Mailong Private Military Group had departed quite late. When the group, now consisting of over a hundred people, reached the entrance of the Rift Valley, many Mages had already set up their tents or built temporary huts with their magic.

“What’s going on here? Are these people here to watch the show?” Jiang Yu wondered aloud.

The Rift Valley had only been discovered recently. It had a lot of things valuable to groups who were not planning to go to the Scar of Tianshan Mountain. Normally, people would be competing fiercely for the resources in the Rift Valley, yet they had set up tents outside the valley instead!

“Go and find out what they are up to,” Kuma ordered Tommy, the captain of the third team.

Everyone could tell that Tommy was an experienced Mage. He blended into the groups in no time.

Tommy returned after asking around for a while and reported back to Kuma, “It sounds like landslides are happening in the Rift Valley. They had buried a Hunter Group that went into the Rift Valley half a day ago alive,” Tommy reported to her.

“Are these people so afraid of a little situation? Did they forget it’s Tianshan Mountain, the Land of the Brave?” someone scoffed aloud.

“It’s not that simple. The landslides happen randomly, and they are quite deadly, especially if the people are stuck in the Rift Valley. They have nowhere to run and no chance to stop the landslides,” Tommy corrected him sternly.

“We have so many people in our group. Couldn’t we just build a wall and stop the landslides?” Kuma asked.

“It won’t work. The Rift Valley goes from a higher altitude to a lower altitude, especially in the longer segments. The landslides continuously pick up momentum and more rocks and mud along the way. They will only slow down when the terrain is flat. They would simply bury us all alive,” Tommy said.

“Do these landslides have any patterns?” Kuma asked.

“We can set out now. We will be safe if we reach the canyon before sunrise,” Mo Fan told Kuma.

Kuma, Tommy, and other captains turned to Mo Fan. A proud senior harrumphed, “Where did this rookie come from? Did he have a right to speak?”

Kuma waved her hand to silence Gavin.

“Are you familiar with the landslides?” Kuma asked.

“The landslides are happening because the ice higher up the mountain is melting, thus turning some of the sections in the Rift Valley into a rapid drainage channel. The rapid current picks up the mud, sand, and rocks along the way and eventually turns into landslides. Therefore, we should be on the move when the temperature is still low and there isn’t much sunlight. It’s going to warm up quickly after the sun rises, meaning more landslides are going to happen,” Mo Fan said easily.

“Is that true?” Kuma asked Tommy.

“A few experienced Hunters did mention it as a possibility, but everyone has their own saying,” Tommy said.

“We’ll set out now. He’s one of us now, so we should believe in him… Young man, it turns out that you’ve come prepared?” Kuma asked with a smile.

Mo Fan obviously did not prepare himself. It was part of the information Lingling had purchased! He was not willing to share the information that had cost him a fortune with the others if he did not need their help to clear a path.

—

The people of the Mailong Private Military Group headed into the Rift Valley. Humans enjoyed following the crowd blindly. When the Mailong Private Military Group went into the Rift Valley confidently, the rest of the hesitant groups started following them too.

The Rift Valley was not a long narrow path, there were countless forks along the way. It was difficult to tell which path was going to lead them to the higher altitudes. After all, the Rift Valley was incredibly long. No one could determine whether the path was actually going to lead them to a higher altitude, nor could they guarantee the path would be clear. Some might end up in a dead-end after traveling for a few kilometers.

The Rift Valley was like a maze, the paths were meandering and interconnected. People might even circle around and end up in the same spot if they lost their way. They would not know if they were going in the wrong direction.

There was little sunlight to guide them in the Rift Valley. Certain segments of it were deep and narrow. The people could only see jagged rocks around them instead of the sky when they looked up, and had to carry torches to light up the surroundings. Other segments were spacious and clear, like an actual valley with plenty of sunlight and flat terrain. They would think they had reached open land if they could not see the walls of the mountains in the distance.

“Damn it, how the hell do we know which way is the right way?” Gavin grumbled impatiently.

“It should be that way there.”

“Should? I don’t want to go back to the cave full of spider poop again!” Gavin cursed.

The group had just made their way through a cave. It was the only path to go deeper into the Rift Valley. The people who explored the Rift Valley first also mentioned a spider cave along the way, so the group assumed they were heading in the right direction. However, the later paths kept leading them back to the spider cave.

“We can ask the Chinese man. Didn’t he come prepared?” Tommy remembered Mo Fan.

“We’ll set up a camp here and rest for now. I’ll ask him for some advice,” Kuma said.

Kuma asked the group to rest on the spot while she went to the ninth team.

—

“Do you know which way we should go from here?” Kuma asked.

Mo Fan glanced at Lingling when he noticed Kuma looking at him. How could he possibly know the answer?

“Just follow the direction the landslides are coming from,” Lingling said.

Kuma initially thought the little girl was kidding, yet she smiled as she realized something, “That’s right, the landslides are happening because the ice higher up the mountain is melting. The landslides are only occurring because there’s a clear path to send them down. Smart!”

“I suggest you not set up camp here,” Lingling added.

“Why is that?”

“I think the cave is full of digested corpses instead of poop,” Lingling replied.