Versatile Mage Chapter 458 - Dunhuang

Chapter 458: Dunhuang

Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
Translated by XephiZ
Edited by Aelryinth
When Mo Fan heard the suggestion of bringing Xinxia along, his first reaction was to shake his head.
“You clearly understand her situation; how is that even possible?” said Mo Fan.
“You have the Swift Star Wolf. He could carry her around, and even look after her safety. The Burning Valley isn’t the safest place to go to, and I was thinking about asking you to find a Psychic, too… Magicians with Psychic Element are scarce as well, and most of them wouldn’t be willing to go with us,” said Zhao Manyan.
The girl’s impaired movement would not be too much of a deal. With Mo Fan’s Summoned Beast carrying her, it was actually safer than walking on her own.
“Even so… she has spent most of her time in school. She won’t have any experience when it comes to dealing with demon beasts.” Mo Fan was still reluctant.
“Alright, I know you don’t want to place her in danger. That’s just my suggestion, you’re the one making the call,” said Zhao Manyan.
“Mm, we’ll send all the information to Lingling. She will know what we lack and what we should be doing next better than us,” said Mo Fan.
…
To Mo Fan’s relief, Lingling was not too obsessed with the dark red soul. She was well aware that her father’s death was something unusual, so she could not afford to be overly hasty.
Lingling had returned to her normal behavior, and her eyes flickered when she heard that Mo Fan was planning an adventure to the Burning Valley.
Dunhuang was famous in their country, as it was the habitat for many ancient demon beasts, those with the purest lineage and longest history. It was also the most brilliant milestone of their country’s Magic Civilization. Hunters always went there to search for the ancient civilization, and those that were lucky would discover a huge amount of artifacts or equipment…
Unfortunately, the Dunhuang region had long become the demon beasts’ habitat, especially the infamous and savage Sand Tiger Horde.
In the south, the One-eyed Magic Wolves were described as savage, and posed a huge threat to mankind, yet they were relatively insignificant compared to the Sand Tiger Horde. The Demon Tiger species had always been domineering and barbarous…
The Burning Valley was located to the east of the Dunhuang region, in the barren sands of the Gobi Desert, where loess swept across the sky, not to mention the extreme heat and hot winds. Even Hunters in foreign countries knew about the place.
The Burning Valley was included in the Dunhuang region, and apart from Dunhuang City, which Mo Fan was familiar with, the Dunhuang region was a lot bigger, occupying almost half of the Gansu province. The Burning Valley was in fact located close to Gansu’s Jiayuguan.
Mo Fan had limited geographical knowledge, yet he immediately came to an understanding when Jiayuguan was mentioned, having a clearer picture of where the place was.
Although the Dunhuang region was fairly dangerous, there were still cities established in certain parts. They could simply fly to Dunhuang Airport and head north-east to their destination, the Burning Valley.
Lingling had been making preparations for the past few days. It seemed like it was her first time going to the desert too, and she looked excited to go on the adventure to the barren sands.
As a matter of fact, Lingling’s father had told her stories about his adventures in the Dunhuang region. She had imagined how the place would look since she was young, and the incident with the dark red soul made her miss her father more, so she decided to visit Dunhuang when Mo Fan told her the plan.
Mo Fan was extremely lucky to have Lingling as his partner. The other experienced Hunters would take a huge part of the commission, whereas, in Mo Fan’s case, he had full control over the rewards. According to Lingling’s explanation, once her fighter grew stronger, they would be able to take on higher-ranked quests!
—-
Mo Fan spent a few days at school before he got a response from Lingling. It appeared that she was almost done with the preparations.
“I’ve looked into it. We’ll have to cross a place known as the Drifting Sand River if our destination is the North Burning Valley. The Drifting Sand River is basically some kind of boundary, and if we don’t cross it, we’ll have to come into contact with Dunhuang’s overlord, the Sand Tiger Horde, which is quite unrealistic…” Lingling showed the map she had drawn out for them.
The map strictly followed the standards, with markings about the density of demon beasts. Such details were extremely important for Hunters, as they were basically dead if they trespassed into areas with a high density of demon beasts.
“How do we cross this Drifting Sand River? If someone managed to get into the North Burning Valley and saw the Flame Belle, there must be some way to cross it.”
“The Drifting Sand River is occupied by the Elephant Sand Soldiers, a kind of Earth Elemental Beast that has been around for hundreds of years. These Elephant Sand Soldiers aren’t particularly strong on their own, but they always stay in herds. They are densely packed across the entire Drifting Sand River, and are the biggest challenge to Hunters who are planning to visit the North Burning Valley!” Lingling swiped her hand across, and an illustration of an Elephant Sand Soldier popped up on the screen.
“Force our way across?” Mo Fan was a simple and violent man.
“Don’t even think about it, even an army can’t do it. The Hunters who made it to the North Burning Valley aren’t elites, but they’ve used some undisclosed methods to cross the Sand Drifting River… I’ve tried at least twenty different scenarios, and none of them would work. The only way, and probably the safest way, is to find a Psychic,” Lingling said sternly.
Zhao Manyan immediately nodded. A Psychic was too important when journeying across these Elemental Beasts’ territories. Many groups were willing to offer half of their loot to a Psychic to join their party, which clearly implied how important a Psychic was in the Dunhuang region.
The rarity of a Psychic was only second to a Healer. Most of them could not be found among the Hunters, as they were kept safe by renowned families, or hired as an ‘official’ by the Magic Associations.
Their party had nothing to offer a Psychic, so Lingling’s immediately suggested that Mo Fan should bring Xinxia along.
Xinxia was the only candidate for the adventure. First, her Psychic Element would guarantee the safety of their journey, and second, her primary Element was Healing, another insurance for the group’s safety.
However, Mo Fan was willing to give up on the plan rather than putting Xinxia in danger.
“I’ve already told Sister Xinxia about it, she’s very willing to go.” Lingling had already acted before reporting.
Mo Fan could only smile wryly.
Speaking of which, the Elements that Xinxia had awakened were too unique. Not only did she awaken the Healing Element, she even awakened the Psychic Element as her secondary Element. She might not have any fighting capacity, but she was no doubt a hot prospect for many parties. Countless factions in Hangzhou had been trying to recruit her!