Full-Time Magister: I Had No Intention of Reaching the Dimensional Throne

Chapter 174 Testing Poison on Oneself, Super-Rank Vanishing Without a Trace

Biyi City, located east of Dongting Lake, is a city under near-military management. As a crucial barrier protecting the eastern flank, no disturbance near Dongting Lake escapes their notice.

In the fortress conference hall, Qiu Xin of the Military Intelligence Bureau looked at the true intelligence about the recently rampant "God of Slaughter" of Dongting Lake.

"Bai Mo? Young people these days are so reckless."

Qiu Xin put down the intelligence report and called out to the outside.

"Someone, go find Bai Mo, that so-called 'God of Slaughter of Dongting Lake,' and send him somewhere else. Some of the big guys in the Lizard Demon Tribe have already got their eyes on him."

The messenger, who had just brought in new intelligence, paused for a moment upon hearing this, and then hesitantly reported:

"Military Intelligence Agency, that killing machine has already entered Huyang City in the north and even bought a train ticket to Jiangcheng."

Two rivers embrace a bright mirror, and two bridges span a rainbow.

It wasn't until he boarded the high-speed train from Huyang to Jiangcheng that Bai Mo realized he had traveled from south of Dongting Lake to north of it in just one month.

It was late April, and now that he was in Jiangzhou, he planned to visit Jiangcheng to see the flowers and take a rest.

In addition, there are no flights to Huyang, so you need to transfer to get back to Mo.

The month-long battle yielded excellent results; the goal was achieved, and the Earth-type Nebula of the Divine Dust Tiger was also used to nourish the essence of a general-level being.

After leaving the station, Bai Mo took a taxi to her booked hotel, only to find that many areas were fenced off, including major roads, which caused the driver to take a long detour.

Moreover, there weren't many pedestrians on the road, and even those who were there seemed to be forced out, or were tourists like him.

At the edges of those sealed-off areas, there were people standing guard and patrolling. Any normal person with eyesight would be suspicious upon seeing this scene.

"Master, what's going on? Why is everything sealed off?"

"Sigh~ It's said that an evil poison mage released a plague, and the authorities have sealed off those areas to prevent its spread!"

The driver sighed, unable to understand why there were such wicked people in the world who harmed others without benefiting themselves.

"Poison mages? Plague?" Bai Mo frowned, then asked, "Are there many places that have been sealed off?"

"This..." The driver hesitated for a moment, seemingly organizing his thoughts, "There are quite a few, but compared to the entire city of Jiangcheng, it's not a lot."

This topic seemed to have opened up a floodgate of conversation for the driver, who continued:

"I don't know where this plague came from. At first, only one area was isolated, then another area appeared, then two or three areas, and then it became what it is now."

"The authorities have been saying they're working on it and investigating..." He lowered his voice as he said this, speaking in a low, almost whispering tone.

"Let me tell you, rumors say that even many highly skilled monks have contracted the plague, and some have even succumbed to their illness!"

"The monk has also contracted the disease?"

"Of course! I heard it's even a healing type!"

The driver glanced at him in the rearview mirror and smiled.

"Young man, you came to Jiangcheng to admire the flowers, but you've come for nothing. This year is truly cursed; not a single flower in the entire city is blooming well."

The vehicle happened to drive into a main road lined with flowering trees, and Bai Mo took the opportunity to look around and found that although the flowers were in bloom, they were withered and looked lifeless.

"Master, let's get off here. I'm going to look around."

Bai Mo said something, paid the fare, and got off.

As he walked, he pondered the matter. The Bai family head said something had happened in Jiangcheng. Could this be what he meant? And what about the unrest in Jiangzhou that Li Tao mentioned?

Was this "plague" really caused by the poison sorcerer?

As he paced back and forth, pondering these thoughts, he plucked a few notes from his fingers, exploring the situation within a radius of eight kilometers.

Bai Mo raised an eyebrow; in some areas, its sound waves couldn't penetrate and were blocked.

Even dimensional magic is blocked; it seems that those so-called blockades and isolations are not just empty words, but are taken extremely seriously.

He walked at a leisurely pace and soon arrived at his booked hotel. He didn't go in because he saw someone.

Bai Mo stepped forward and greeted him, "Teacher Bai Mei."

"Bai Mo! What are you doing here? This isn't the place."

Upon seeing Bai Mo, Bai Mei's expression changed, and he was about to say something when he heard a gentle-looking woman leading them at the front speak sharply:

"White Eyebrows!"

Bai Mei paused for a moment, then somewhat awkwardly asked, "What are you doing here?"

"I spent a month traveling around Dongting Lake, so I'm here to rest for a bit before heading back to Shanghai in a few days."

As Bai Mo spoke, he glanced at them a few times and felt that some of them looked familiar.

After thinking for a moment, he looked at the gentle woman who had just reprimanded Bai Mei and asked hesitantly, "Dean Lin?"

"Are you a student at Pearl Academy?"

Dean Lin adjusted his glasses and glanced at Bai Mo. The other teachers and others in the group also looked at Bai Mo.

They were attracted by Bai Mo's claim that he had spent a month playing on Dongting Lake. However, Dongting Lake, as one of the three most dangerous lakes, is not a place to have fun.

Moreover, the cultivators present were all quite powerful, and Bai Mo had only recently finished his killing spree, so they could easily sense the murderous and bloody aura emanating from him.

After realizing that Dean Lin had acknowledged his identity as the Dean of the White Academy at Pearl Academy, Bai Mo had his own guesses.

"Yes, my name is Bai Mo."

"I've heard of you."

Dean Lin nodded slightly. During the conversation, Bai Mo followed them into a quarantined area, and then, under their instructions, put on a brooch that appeared to be a protective shield. Dean Lin then said:

"As you've probably heard, a plague has broken out in Jiangcheng. We were sent by Mingzhu Academy to help cure those afflicted by the plague."

"I heard it was a poison mage who poisoned it?"

Seeing that she stopped at the entrance to the quarantine zone and didn't go in, Bai Mo knew that she didn't intend to take him in, so he also stopped.

"At the beginning of the plague, that was indeed our thought, but we later found that even if all the infected areas were isolated and the Magic Association conducted a full investigation, the incidence of the disease did not decrease, whether inside or outside the region."

"What is that?"

"We have a suspicion that the Hunter's Guild also has a bounty pool specifically for Hunter Masters to investigate this matter. Are you interested?"

Good heavens, so it's a mission. Bai Mo was wondering why he was being taken into the quarantine zone, but before he could speak, Bai Mei said:

"Dean Lin, Bai Mo's cultivation level is too low, and what if he gets infected?"

Dean Lin raised his hand to stop Bai Mei from speaking. He didn't look at anyone, but just stared at the windows of the quarantine building, some bright and some dark, and spoke in a low voice.

"All you know is that this plague is exceptionally powerful, and even healing magic cannot completely cure it, not even my magic."

Furthermore, a group of teachers and students from the Healing Department of Jiangzhou Academy also contracted the plague. Some of them even became terminally ill and died, faring worse than ordinary people who fell ill at the same time.

"Do you know how they got sick?"

The crowd behind Dean Lin fell silent. Some had heard some of it, and became even more silent. Others didn't know, but seeing their colleagues' reactions, they remained silent as well.

"They initially traced the patients' movements—what they did, what they ate, where they went—but found nothing. They couldn't find any source."

The soft voice, like the still waters of a calm lake, flowed gently into everyone's ears. Then the sound of the water continued:

"Later, in order to find a way to cure this plague, the master of healing at Jiangzhou Academy, along with a group of healing teachers and students, made a decision: to test the poison on themselves, drinking the blood of the sick!"

Behind Dean Lin were many healing-type monks from Jiangzhou, all of whom had heard of this matter and had complex expressions upon hearing it.

"So apart from this group of people, and those who did not take proper precautions and came into contact with patients, all the other monks are completely unharmed."

Taking a deep breath, Dean Lin looked at Bai Mo and said:

"In the past few days, we have also made some discoveries about this plague. It is not a simple poison, but a mixture of curse and poison. And our bounty has also yielded some results, namely that the source of this cursed poison may be related to some plague water demons that suddenly appeared in the waters near Jiangcheng."

"The dean wants me to go and eliminate those water demons?"

Bai Mo was puzzled. In his opinion, even if Jiangcheng was short-handed, it wouldn't be this urgent.

"The plague water demon is being dealt with. If you want to help, that's not out of the question."

Dean Lin gave a light, feignedly relaxed laugh and continued:

"I heard that you are a master hunter from the Azure Sky Hunting Grounds, so I would like to ask you to investigate the source of those plague water demons."

"The source? Those plague water demons aren't the source?!"

"Yes, we discovered that those plague water demons were just demons that spread the plague after being infected with it; they did not possess the ability to curse or poison."

Nodding slightly, Dean Lin added, "Jiangcheng can hold out for a while longer, so you don't need to rush."

"Okay, I'll investigate." Bai Mo nodded.

Upon hearing this, Dean Lin smiled with satisfaction. She had met many scions of prominent families, most of whom prioritized profit above all else. Bai Mo's agreement changed her perception of the Bai family.

After a moment's thought, Dean Lin took out a spatial scroll and handed it to Bai Mo.

"A demon capable of infecting so many creatures must be incredibly powerful. Here, take this, just in case."

Bai Mo accepted it without hesitation.

After bidding farewell to Dean Lin and the others, Bai Mo immediately accepted a mission to eliminate the plague water demon and arrived at the area around the lake.

"Dude, where did these water sprites come from?"

Pretending to be a minor earth mage, Bai Mo followed the others in the group and asked a question.

"They were originally water sprites around the lake, but recently they've gone mad and keep running towards the shore."

Standing on the shore, Bai Mo watched as the jade-scaled fish demons leaped and thrashed in the churning lake water. Infected with the plague, they had turned purple. Their eyes were filled with nothing but madness.

Although these fish demons cannot go ashore, they can control the lake water to create high waves that can reach the shore and turn the land into a marshland.

Furthermore, they are infected with the plague, and if they were to infiltrate, the people in the city would be in great danger.

According to Dean Lin's speculation, most of the plague in the city originated from water contaminated by these plague water demons.

Although there was a water purification device, it only purified a portion of the derivative plague poison belonging to these water demons. The more fundamental plague poison carried by them was not purified.

The inherent poison doesn't spread or diffuse; it's not present in all water. It hides in a particular drop, waiting for someone unfortunate enough to ingest it.

This plague is extraordinary; even Dean Lin's super-level healing magic cannot cure it. That's why it's necessary to find the source of the plague water demon.

While using rock barriers to block the waves that were swirling up and trying to crash onto the shore, Bai Mo asked.

"So that's how it was? Aren't these jade-scaled fish demons from somewhere else?"

"You're not a local, are you? Jade-scaled fish demons have always lived around this lake, but they don't live anywhere else. And as long as you don't go to the center of the lake, they won't bother you. I don't know what disease these things have."

A glint flashed in Bai Mo's eyes, and his sonic detection instantly enveloped the entire lake, only to find that there were no formidable demons within.

This suggests that many of the plague water monsters were not directly infected, but rather that the problem stemmed from the water itself.

But if it's a water problem, how do you investigate? The original plague toxins are already hidden in the water droplets, they don't spread, and they don't have any obvious color.

You can't tell just by looking at the water flow.

Moreover, Jiangzhou has a very well-developed water system, and Jiangcheng is even more so.

Bai Mo felt a bit tricky and scratched his head.

After dealing with the water monsters, he arrived at the Hunter's Hall. As a Hunter Master, he was qualified to know and investigate the Jiangcheng plague, so he was matched with a Hunter Girl.

"I want to know everything about the Jiangcheng plague. You can use the money in the card as you wish."

Sitting in the comfortable living room, Bai Mo lazily lay on the sofa, propping his chin up and talking to the hunter girl with a standard oval face.

"OK."

With a polite smile, the hunter girl walked out.

Bai Mo drank two cups of tea and scrolled through a few short videos before the hunter woman leisurely returned. Without Bai Mo asking, she began to speak:

"The plague in Jiangcheng was first discovered three months ago. When it was found to be spreading rapidly, the authorities immediately implemented strict isolation measures and then dispatched healing mages. In the following months, the plague spread throughout Jiangcheng at unpredictable times and locations. Currently, three of the city's nine districts are under complete quarantine."

"Where did the plague come from? Do you have any clues?" Bai Mo asked.

"There are three guesses." The hunter girl nodded slightly.

"Tell me everything."

"Four months ago, a mountain near Chenghu Lake in the upper reaches of the Changhe River suddenly collapsed, turning a one-kilometer radius around it into a dead land, and all the demons living in that area were wiped out."

The hunter girl paused for a moment, then continued, "This was discovered by a hunter who explored the area, but found nothing except a pit and a kilometer of corroded ground."

"Originally, this might have just been the work of a powerful mage or demon who was passing by, but later, when a plague broke out in Jiangcheng, people went to explore it."

"Any discoveries?"

"It appears to be the tomb of an ancient feudal lord. There are no spirits, and the reason for the mountain collapse is unknown. The hunters who explored the area suspect that it was caused by the leakage of ancient toxins from the tomb."

Therefore, the plague can be eradicated by killing all the plague water demons. Currently, most of Jiangzhou's military mages are focused on blocking the plague water demons that are moving through the various waterways.

Shaking his head, Bai Mo didn't take this judgment seriously at all. Those water demons were not the source of the poison. Killing them all might stop the spread of the plague, but how could the plague be eradicated?

"Let's talk about the second one?"

Nodding slightly, the hunter girl's voice and expression became serious.

"A month ago, two high-ranking hunters jointly investigated the distribution of the plague water spirits, hoping to find the source of the plague, but their whereabouts remain unknown!"

"Nowhere to be found!"

(End of this chapter)