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

"What a fake demon!"

For these experienced hunters, identifying the presence of the false demons in the desert is not difficult.

These plant-like demons grow in the sand, so where they exist, the sand is much more compact than in ordinary deserts.

These monsters are also incredibly effective at stabilizing sand dunes, but unfortunately, humans have yet to find a way to tame them.

When everyone felt that the sand beneath their feet was no longer soft, they immediately made a judgment and stopped walking.

Without a command, the Wang brothers, both scouting mages, immediately set off. They were both dual-elemental wind and earth magic users, with a secondary focus on shadow magic. They moved like butterflies flitting among flowers across the sand, deftly using magic to dodge any unusual movement beneath their feet.

But this is by no means easy; the False Terror Demon is not a slow-witted creature.

Once prey appears within its hunting range, the vines and roots hidden beneath the sand will immediately burst forth, forming a plant cage that engulfs the prey on the ground and drags it into the deep sand like a snatching eagle or a goose.

In some places, there might only be one false demon, which is fine, but in other places there might be seven, eight, or even more than a dozen. The thick vines that suddenly burst out of the ground could practically form a forest.

Even with the Wang brothers' superb escape skills, they faced numerous dangers, and even transforming into shadows could not save them. Therefore, Ace, as their backup, needed to use magic to rescue them in time.

Fortunately, the members of the Xuandu Hunters Group were all elite mages, and under Wu Xuan's guidance over the years, they had developed a cautious and prudent attitude.

They explored and walked until the sun was high in the sky before they finally crossed the sandy area where the false demons were located.

"Hoo~~~~ Ha~~~ Hoo~~!"

Heavy breathing came from the Wang brothers' mouths. Casting magic along the way was effortless, but dodging the unknown number of pseudo-fear demons under their feet made them extremely nervous.

"Damn it, Commander, we'd better stay away from this weird place in the future. It's absolutely deadly!"

"My brother is right. The performance we just showed is probably better than even the elite scouts among the military mages," Wang Long said smugly.

"Haha, Lao Wang, you should go back and tell the girls how awesome this is," Ace laughed.

"Old Ai is right, we'll take you to find the best girls when we get back!" Commander Wen Du patted his chest confidently.

After passing the territory of the False Demon, the rest of the journey was much smoother, with only minor demons and monsters around. With Ding Yumin, a master of mental magic, by their side, the group passed through smoothly.

After looking at the flat desert for a long time, nothing seemed particularly special, until the sand dunes in front of me gradually began to sink in.

It was as if a large piece had been suddenly scooped out of a smooth cake, revealing a cliff-like depression in everyone's eyes.

The depression itself wasn't steep, but the difference in elevation between the two locations was nearly a kilometer. Therefore, when they stood on this basin and looked down, the section connecting the two locations appeared to be very steep.

This is a basin where you can see that the sand gradually decreases in this area, replaced by the Gobi Desert.

On the Gobi Desert, the originally desolate yellowish-brown gradually turns reddish-yellow at the edge of the field of vision, and the terrain rises abruptly as you move forward along the reddish-yellow surface!

And the ground, upon suddenly stepping onto the stage, turned into a pure crimson!

The vast expanse of reddish rock forms part of this basin, stretching all the way to the horizon where a mountain range lies.

The mountains were bare and devoid of anything, yet they were a deep, blood-red color, with rays of light rising upwards, painting the sky with a pinkish glow, creating a fiery red world amidst the sand and earth.

A breeze swept in from the horizon, carrying with it the heat, dryness, and a faint smell of sulfur.

"It's the Flaming Mountains!"

Upon seeing this crimson world, Wu Xuan's eyes immediately lit up.

"Haha, we've finally arrived, let's go!"

Wen Du was overjoyed and took the lead, walking towards the Flaming Mountain. The others also smiled and followed suit.

As they traveled, Wu Xuan also shared the information he had acquired about the Fire Soul Seed.

"According to military intelligence, the Soul Seed is located at the saddle between two mountain peaks, where there is a crevice guarded by more than a dozen Firewing Serpents. If we find the Firewing Serpents, we will be able to find the Soul Seed."

Upon hearing the name Firewing Serpent, Lingling, who had been lacking interest, finally became somewhat interested.

"Firewing Serpents, if I remember correctly, each of those things is a commander-level being. Are you sure there are more than ten of them!?"

"The military's intelligence should be correct."

"That's quite strange. Firewing serpents have very high temperature requirements for growth. The amount of fire power absorbed by a pair of firewing serpents during their growth is enough to keep a volcano that is about to erupt dormant for a hundred years."

Lingling gazed thoughtfully at the Flaming Mountain at the edge of the sky. "A dozen or so Firewing Serpents could drain a volcano dry. Even a Soul Seed Flame should have been completely absorbed by now."

"So, that's not soul fire?!"

Upon hearing Lingling's words, the hunters, including Wendu Wuxuan, widened their eyes and kept swallowing.

"Could it be the legendary Heavenly Seed? If it really is, I don't want it anymore. I'll sell it and split it among the brothers. After this job, we'll retire on the spot."

Wen Du, his bear-like eyes wide open, was the first to express his opinion.

The other members of the hunter group exchanged glances, all tempted. They were a close-knit group, but ultimately, they were in it for the money.

If it were a chance to pull off a big score and live off the rest of their lives, they wouldn't be able to refuse.

"What a pipe dream! Wake up. If there really were celestial beings here, would the military be selling you this information?"

Lingling shook her head, immediately dispelling these people's wavering thoughts.

"What I mean is, this Flaming Mountain is no ordinary place; it's actually able to support more than a dozen Firewing Serpents. Those Firewing Serpents must be indirectly absorbing the Flaming Mountain's energy through that Soul Seed."

"In that case, the military must have been worried that these firewing snakes would be raised to an even higher level by the Flaming Mountain, which is why they sold the intelligence."

Leng Qing's eyes flickered slightly, and he immediately made a guess.

The vast Flaming Mountain is definitely not home to just the Firewing Serpents and their powerful group. Demons also fight for territory, and if the Firewing Serpents grow stronger, other demon groups will be driven out of the Flaming Mountain.

These demons may go anywhere, but they will most likely visit human cities.

Therefore, it is necessary to nip the danger in the bud.

From another perspective, the demonic situation here might have been painstakingly managed by the Northwest military, and it could be disrupted by the growing power of the Firewing Serpent. What would happen then is anyone's guess.

"Ah! Is that what happened? What a disappointment." Wen Du's bear-like eyes widened even more, revealing a hint of regret.

"Not entirely. Since Flaming Mountain has such a powerful foundation, then that soul seed is definitely not simple." Shaking his head, Wu Xuan was quite pleased.

They planted the demon detector again to get a clear understanding of the situation in the entire basin. As they continued to advance, they suddenly heard the Divine Dust Tiger roar.

"Aww!!"

Everyone paused, turning to look at Bai Mo and the others, or more precisely, at the Divine Dust Tiger beneath them.

A layer of bright yellow light flowed from Shenchenhu's body, running out along his thick tiger paws that were pressed against the ground.

"What's wrong?" Wen Du asked, puzzled.

Contracted beasts are often more sensitive than mages, so no one thought that Shenchenhu had suddenly gone mad.

Something's wrong with this ground.

Bai Mo raised an eyebrow and relayed the answer Da Ju had given him.

"Could it be an endless gravity corridor?"

Upon hearing this, Wu Xuan guessed that they hadn't encountered the gravity corridor since they entered.

The initial effect of gravity in the gravity corridor is imperceptible as one walks in; it only deepens gradually, like a frog being slowly boiled in water.

By the time you discover it, you're already doomed.

As the bright yellow light emanating from Shen Chenhu spread across Wen Du and the others, a feeling of ease emanated from them, as if they had been freed from invisible shackles.

In just a moment, everyone realized what was happening, and cold sweat poured down their backs.

"It really is a gravity corridor! We've unknowingly entered one!"

"Fortunately, Brother Bai's Divine Dust Tiger discovered it early; otherwise, by the time it truly sensed it and could use earth magic to resist gravity, it would have been too late!"

Wu Xuan also let out a deep breath and immediately instructed several high-level earth-element mages in the team to begin controlling the earth element and altering the gravity around everyone.

The most important thing in navigating the endless gravity corridor is to detect it in advance and build an anti-gravity field in advance.

Otherwise, once trapped within the gravity field, the earth element would be completely absorbed by the gravity corridor, making it difficult even for a high-level earth mage to wrest control of the earth element from the gravity corridor and thus resist gravity using magic.

Other magical elements will be pushed out by the heavy gravity corridor.

"Big Orange is still the best." Lingling stroked the fur on Big Orange's back and said happily.

The other members of the hunter group also praised him one after another, and Shen Chenhu gently raised his head with a proud look on his face.

As they continued forward, they could see a yellow, distorted halo gradually taking shape around the group, with wisps of twisted power intertwining around it.

The entire gravity corridor is quite long, stretching all the way to the foot of the Flaming Mountain.

The basin is quite vast. They could see it clearly from above, but it took another night to get to the foot of the mountain.

The intense heat was palpable, with lava seeping out in some places and flames occasionally erupting everywhere. The entire mountain range had a gentle slope but was over a thousand meters high, resembling the shape of a steamed bun.

"The Firewing Serpent is located in the middle of this mountain range, at an altitude of about nine hundred meters, where the temperature is very high."

The Wang brothers returned from their exploration, both wearing pre-prepared ice armor, a magical artifact specifically designed for unusual environments.

It has no defensive capabilities and can only be used once; its main function is to cool down.

But at that moment, it was discovered that the ice armor on the two of them had long since melted, leaving only a thin layer of ice shards clinging to their clothes.

"How are the road conditions in the middle?"

"There aren't many powerful demons, but there's a lava beach that's not easy to get through."

Nodding, Wu Xuan said, "We all need to go up. More than ten Firewing Serpents are not easy to deal with. As for the High Temperature Ice Armor, we still have plenty. It should be enough to last through a battle."

He didn't mention using a magic barrier. With the enemy right in front of them and a battle about to break out, using a magic barrier to resist the high temperature at this time would not be a wise move.

"Let's go then."

Bai Mo nodded. A dozen or so commanders? He was already getting impatient.

Upon reaching the mountain, Bai Mo put away the Divine Dust Tiger, as its domineering aura was too obvious and could easily attract demons.

In the desert, they were just traveling, so they would surrender if they were caught, and at worst, they would fight. But that's not possible now.

My footsteps landed on the crimson mountainside, and even through the thick soles of my boots, I could feel the scorching heat.

As you continue upwards, you can clearly feel the temperature rising sharply. At first, you can bear it thanks to your high-level mage physique, but later you have to wear ice armor to resist the high temperature.

"How about I call out Senior Jiang Feng? She should be able to cast a heat-insulating barrier, and this place is also very suitable for her to cultivate."

Seeing Lingling's distressed expression, Leng Qing couldn't help but say something.

"No, this mountain is not safe. Senior Jiang Feng, as a monarch, would attract attention if she appeared rashly. It would be better if she appeared while we were fighting the Firewing Serpent."

Shaking his head, Bai Mo exhaled, feeling as if he were exhaling a ball of fire.

He looked down at Lingling. She wasn't a mage, and even though she was wearing several magical artifacts that could regulate her body temperature, she was still feeling unwell. Her black hair was already soaked with sweat.

Looking around, he searched the group but couldn't find a single decent ice mage.

Most of the destruction mages in the Xuandu Hunters Group do not specialize in ice magic, because the group leader is a fire-type super-tier mage, and ice magic is not a good match for them.

Leng Qing and Ding Yumin, one a Flame Monarch and the other a cultivator of fire, both possess extremely high tolerance for high temperatures but lack cooling methods.

After searching around, it seems that only he has some means of insulating against temperature.

"I'll just create a barrier."

As Bai Mo spoke, he picked Lingling up and carried her on his back. Dark golden light surged in his eyes, and a magical energy barrier that could isolate high and low temperatures was immediately formed.

Immediately, the heat gradually subsided.

"How are you feeling? Are you feeling better?"

"It's better, but it's not good for you to be like this." Lingling lay on Bai Mo's back, her voice still a little muffled.

"Your mana is theoretically unlimited most of the time, but sometimes it will run out. Doing this frequently will lead to a habit of not conserving mana."

Calculating every unit of magical energy is a skill that every hunter must master. Bai Mo understood this in his heart, but he joked on the surface:

"What, now Teacher Lingling wants to give me a lesson?"

"Hmph~"

With a light laugh, Bai Mo didn't mind that the other person was ignoring him and continued upwards. As the altitude increased, the temperature also rose.

Gradually, a flat mountain appeared before them. It was a relatively gentle place, and there weren't many demons around.

Or perhaps it exists, but they just can't see it.

This entire mountain plateau, spanning two to three kilometers, is situated amidst churning lava!

As you can see, the lava flowed out from the cracks in the ridge, gradually submerging the hillside, and then flowing down to the lower areas on both sides of the terrain.

The entire lava-covered hillside has only two prominent rock formations, which are the higher, unsubmerged areas.

This was indeed the lava flats the Wang brothers had mentioned! The even hotter heat felt like a giant hammer hitting their faces, making their brows twitch. (End of Chapter)