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

Chapter 79: Enough and Insufficient

"Yes! Brother Mo is indeed very strong," Zhang Yuan echoed.

After exclaiming in surprise, Zhou Tianyuan and Zhang Yuan skillfully dug out the heart of the Dust Wind Badger, and Mei Qian did the same on the other side.

For true beast-like demons like these, their hearts are the essence of their bodies, an important ingredient in the making of various magical potions. They are arguably the most valuable part of a demon's body, besides its unusual bones and blood.

As for things like different blood and bones, they are generally not common among slave-level demons, so the two of them didn't bother to look for them specifically.

Bai Mo quickly came out to meet them and put the three's spoils into his spatial storage.

Considering that this was a wilderness area that even hunter mages rarely visited, they did not choose to set off immediately for the next location. Instead, they rested on the spot to recover their mana before heading to the next mission location.

Demons don't exist everywhere in the wild. They also consider feng shui when choosing a place to live, and this feng shui refers to the concentration of magical elements.

Therefore, they often fight over territory. The woodland occupied by the giant paw raccoon demon is rich in both wind and earth elements, even though its residual aura provides some cover. However, to prevent other demons living nearby from noticing something amiss, they were eventually surrounded.

After their magical energy recovered slightly, the three of them immediately left.

Today, all four of their missions involved eliminating demon lairs. Besides the one they've already completed, two others were raccoon demon lairs, and the third was a lair of dark poison steel bees.

Dealing with the raccoon demon's lair wasn't difficult. Practice makes perfect, and eliminating these two lairs of demons didn't put the three of them in any danger. In addition, Bai Mo also obtained the essence of two warriors.

"Buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz~~~~~~~~~~~~!"

"Da da da sa sa sa sa~~~~~~~"

The sounds of wings vibrating and friction against the air, along with the swishing of tentacles across the ground, reached the ears of Bai Mo and his companions, who were lurking in a thicket on the opposite bank of the river, carried by the afternoon breeze.

Zhou Tianyuan looked at the small mound of earth on the empty riverbank across the river. It was big enough to be a three-story villa. There was no grass or tree around the mound, only uneven, purplish-black ground. Even a small section of the river nearby had turned purplish-black.

In that eerie and cold region, there were some skeletal remains that had been corroded beyond recognition; they might be human, they might be demonic, or they might be both.

A buzzing sound emanated from the skeletons, and then black figures, each twice the size of an adult's head, flew up.

Their rapidly vibrating wings are translucent, gleaming with a cold, dark purple light in the sunlight. The long, black needle at the end of their large, swollen tails is terrifying, as if one could feel their own decay just by looking at them.

It was unclear whether the limbs were hands or feet, but they were grasping clumps of indescribable things, which flew in swarms into the mound that looked more like a demon's castle.

This was a nest of Dark Poison Steel Bees!

Dark Poison Steel Bees are servant-level demons. They are extremely venomous, their bodies are as hard as steel, and even their honey is highly poisonous. Apart from poison-type mages, no mage needs them.

A typical hive of Dark Poison Steel Bees often contains nearly 80 or 90 bees, far more than a typical hive of Demon Bees. Moreover, a hive of Dark Poison Steel Bees will always have a queen bee and a queen bee.

However, their demon cores are not very valuable because they contain toxins.

Therefore, no hunter was willing to provoke this group of troublesome bees and insects.

The military mages initially didn't want to bother with the Dark Poison Steel Bees nest, which was far away from them, but the toxins they produced had begun to pollute the water supply leading to the mine.

That's why Bai Mo received this commission.

If it weren't for Zhang Yuan, a healing mage, and Zhou Tianyuan's water and ice elemental abilities giving him a combat advantage in this area, and the fact that the Dark Poison Steel Bees are afraid of the cold and lightning, plus the fact that the military's reward was quite substantial, Bai Mo wouldn't have wanted to come here and provoke this swarm of poisonous bees.

"Tianyuan, are you ready?" Bai Mo asked. They had been lying in wait here for an hour. The reason they hadn't moved was because Zhou Tianyuan had a water element amplification magic artifact that could be used near places with abundant water elements, such as rivers, lakes, and seas.

Guiding and transforming the power of nature will greatly enhance the power of the water mage's next water spell, but it will take a long time to prepare.

Zhou Tianyuan is currently only at the first level of the intermediate water element. Even if he greatly enhances his Storm Wave, it will not reach the level of a high-level magic, but it will be more than enough to break through the upper limit of intermediate magic.

Sensing that the moisture was already plentiful, Zhou Tianyuan looked at the star map pressing down on his feet, smiled slightly, glanced at Mei Qian, whose hand was crackling with lightning, and said, "It's been ready for a while, but since it's rare for me to put on an act in front of you, I naturally had to make a little more preparations."

As soon as he finished speaking, the misty water light formed fog around him, and the beautiful blue star map beneath his feet slowly rose, passed through him, and came to the top of his head.

"Surging waves!"

It was as if a river had been lifted up, and the thunderous sound of the water suddenly resounded for miles around. The rising water vapor turned into clouds and mist. By the time the dark poisonous steel bees reacted, a long, surging river had already rushed over.

"A raging flood!"

Then came the towering waves, stretching endlessly, their crests blocking out a large patch of sunlight and plunging the dark purple region into darkness. With Zhou Tianyuan's magical chants, the rising waves stirred the river water, forming a magnificent surge like a towering mountain, as if a cloud cast down by a god, directly striking the nest of the Dark Poison Steel Bees on the bank.

A rumbling sound came from the earth, and the swarming poisonous bees, the mounds of earth that looked like a demon's castle, and the dark, poisonous land were instantly transformed into a swamp.

Many limbs floated on the water's surface: translucent purple wings, menacing venomous needles, disgusting compound eyes, and fragmented bodies.

"Not bad, just a bit long."

"Just tell me, is he handsome? Is he fierce? Is he powerful enough? Is he strong enough?"

Zhou Tianyuan raised an eyebrow, ignoring Bai Mo's nitpicking, and asked directly.

Bai Mo was too lazy to pay him any attention.

That single blow wiped out forty or fifty Dark Poison Steel Bees; it was truly impressive.

"Leave the rest to me."

The danger was not over yet. Bai Mo looked at the mound. The waves had shattered the soil and rocks, but they had also washed away its original appearance.

That was a giant Dark Poison Steel Bee Queen. Its entire body was coiled in a circle, and its wings, which reflected the color of steel, blocked the flood. It spat out nests of dark purple bee eggs.

With a light tap of its antennae, a half-human-sized, all-black poisonous bee, along with the remaining Dark Poison Steel Bees, buzzed toward the three who dared to offend them.

It was the Dark Poison Steel Bee Queen and her minions.

"wind!"

With a shout, Bai Mo stepped out, leaving trails of wind beneath his feet, and suddenly soared into the air. The bluish-white wind began to spread, and each gust of wind transformed into a bluish-white willow leaf. Each willow leaf swirled, tearing through the air with a whirlwind, forming a dense array of swirling wind leaves that rapidly sliced ​​through the swarm of dark poison steel bees.

The Wind Willow Blade was extremely fast. Although a single wind blade was not enough to break through the Dark Poison Steel Bee's steel armor, the wind blades flew in one after another, and after striking, they gathered into an even larger willow leaf-shaped whirlwind.

It directly trapped a swarm of Dark Poison Steel Bees within a tornado formed by countless willow blades and wind blades, the whirlwind tightening ever tighter.

Ding ding ding ding ding~~~~~~~~~~~~~!

The sound of metal clashing against metal was deafening. Blades of wind swept across the surface, leaving erosion-like wounds on the bodies of the Dark Poison Steel Bees, which could only drift along in the rapidly spinning tornadoes.

Soon, these servant-level Dark Poison Steel Bees were shattered by the endless wind blades. Only the warrior-level Dark Poison Steel Bee Queen had sturdy armor, covered in blade marks but without any wounds. She was only slightly dizzy from being tossed around by the raging wind and storm.

Bai Mo knew that Feng Ling's dry wind was stronger than ordinary wind, so its attack power was also stronger, but it was not to the point of being an additional effect. Therefore, it was not difficult to understand why it did not cause much damage to a demon with strong defense like the Dark Poison Steel Bee.

Therefore, before the Dark Poison Steel Bee King could recover, a point of silver light suddenly magnified in Bai Mo's hand. Magic energy surged, the silver light flickered, and with a flicker of the spear, it pierced through the Dark Poison Steel Bee King's head.

Meanwhile, nine Dark Poison Steel Bees that weren't caught in the wind blades rushed towards Zhou Tianyuan and his companions.

Seeing this, Mei Qian released a brilliant purple light from the lightning in her hand, sending out a swarm that paralyzed the small group of poisonous bees. Then, she clenched her fist and swung it, her fiery aura instantly surging, dispelling the surrounding moisture and revealing a huge, fierce fist.

The fierce fist flew out like a rocket, roaring through the air and sending shockwaves soaring into the sky. It struck the nine poisonous bees directly, the scorching flames carrying intense heat, and the fiery sparks exploding with violent energy. It instantly incinerated the nine dark poisonous steel bees into wisps of ashes.

After killing the Dark Poison Steel Bee King and collecting its essence, Bai Mo looked at the remaining Dark Poison Steel Bee Queen. The demon was still lying there, and upon closer inspection, one could see that it was slowly wriggling, trying to escape.

Besides laying eggs, the Dark Poison Steel Bee Queen possesses powerful defense, but its attack power is not much; its wings are merely for show, and it moves slowly.

He stabbed him to death with a single spear thrust and collected his essence. Bai Mo also collected the eggs he had laid; these were the antidote for the Dark Poison Steel Bee venom. Some people at the mine had drunk contaminated water, and this antidote was more direct and effective than any healing mage's method.

Zhou Tianyuan and his two companions were clearly not interested in the contents of these poisonous creatures, and they all breathed a sigh of relief upon completing their mission for the day.

Although no real danger was encountered, the constant feeling of apprehension was unpleasant.

As I navigated the wind-driven rails, carrying the three of us on our way back, a sudden shout reached my heart.

Is anyone there?

Bai Mo suddenly stopped, his gaze sweeping over the three people beside him with a puzzled look. He frowned and asked:

"Did you hear anything just now?"

"Sound? There was no sound except for the wind!" Zhou Tianyuan rolled his eyes, thinking that Bai Mo might have been fighting too much and was too tense.

"I didn't hear it either."

"No, it's probably just my imagination."

Bai Mo frowned again, and was about to start walking when the shout rang out even more clearly.

Is anyone there?

Bai Mo suddenly remembered that he had once chatted with Wu Liu, who told him that the oath mark of these Spark Tribunals had another function: to seek help from their own kind.

If trouble arises or dangers beyond one's control, a special call can be made through the oath mark in the spiritual world. This call will reach all those within a one-mile radius who possess the Starfire Judgment oath mark.

Bai Mo didn't take this matter to heart at first, nor did he expect to be rescued by such means in times of crisis.

The Starfire Judges aren't exactly moral exemplars. If Bai Mo wanted to rely on them, he'd be better off hoping his teleportation scroll wouldn't send him to a demon's lair.

On the other hand, within a mile, or 500 meters, the probability is too small; it's better to shout until your throat is hoarse.

And now, that heartfelt cry of "Is anyone there?"

It seemed to emanate from the very mark of one's own vow.

How desperate must one be to resort to such a method to obtain assistance? And how incredibly lucky that he happened to be passing by just as he was calling out.

Bai Mo guided his thoughts to touch the oath mark, sending a wisp of his heart's voice through it: "Where are you?"

The other party seemed surprised that there was someone there, paused for a moment, and then immediately returned to the mental location.

After that, no matter what Bai Mo asked, there was no response. It was unclear whether he had encountered some misfortune or simply didn't want to answer.

Zhou Tianyuan and the others were completely baffled as they watched Bai Mo close his eyes as if sensing something. They exchanged glances, decided not to disturb him, and silently stood guard to the side.

As soon as he opened his eyes, Zhou Tianyuan immediately asked, "What are you doing? Is something wrong?"

"Prepare your magic, and you'll see when you follow me," Bai Mo said, leading the way while secretly preparing his own magic.

Although he thought it was unlikely that someone would use this to fish, he couldn't let his guard down in this remote area.

The distance of a hundred meters is not far for a mage, and Bai Mo soon arrived at the place where he received the telepathic message.

This was a flat area. Bai Mo looked around and found that there was nowhere to hide.

He frowned, and just as Zhou Tianyuan was about to ask, Zhang Yuan sensed an unfamiliar mental fluctuation and suddenly pointed to a spot very close to him, saying, "Be careful, there's something there!"

Upon hearing this, Bai Mo looked in the direction he was pointing, while Zhou Tianyuan instantly used Water Control to envelop Zhang Yuan, and then also looked in the direction he was pointing.

However, there was only a clump of low weeds there, and not a single insect.

"Hmm?" Bai Mo's gaze sharpened as he looked at the leaves of a blade of grass. The leaves were tied in a knot, clearly the work of a human.

Listening carefully through the sound-detecting device in my ear, I was sure that a faint heartbeat could be heard coming from beneath that land.

With a wave of his arm, Bai Mo unleashed a shower of silver light, which lifted up the soil of that small patch of land, making the faint heartbeat even clearer.

With another swing of his arm, another patch of dirt was kicked up.

Just as Zhou Tianyuan was wondering if Bai Mo had lost his mind and wanted Zhang Yuan to treat him, a figure appeared in his line of sight in the pit.

His breath was extremely weak, and blood kept flowing from his body, but his open eyes were extremely bright. He had a shaved head and faintly visible ordination scars on his head.

How could someone be buried alive in the ground?!

(End of this chapter)