Ambush

"Grandfather, what should we do?" Lingling asked from her seat nearby.

"The client showed real sincerity — they've already paid. We have to see this through. I'll have Dasheng come over. He should be back from the Demon Capital by now." Old Bao said.

"Hold on — I'm a hunter myself. If I just protect myself, that money stays mine as long as nothing goes wrong." Mo Fan's eyes lit up at the sight of profit.

Business at the Azure Sky Hunting Firm had been dead lately — not a single job in his name. Now that a contract had finally come in, he wasn't about to let it slip through his fingers over something like this. He took the job himself. How hard could it be to guard your own life?

"That won't do. If you die, we — we at the Azure Sky Hunting Firm would be disgraced." Old Bao said with complete seriousness.

Mo Fan could barely believe his ears. Was this old man even listening to himself?!

"You need to be careful," Lingling said earnestly. "Someone paid a serious sum to have Azure Sky Hunting Firm protect you. That means your life might genuinely be in danger."

"I'm not wandering around recklessly — I'll mostly be training at school. What kind of life-threatening danger could I possibly run into?" Mo Fan said.

The words had barely left his mouth when something surfaced in his memory — what Xinxia's history teacher had told him.

If the Black Church's true goal really was the Earth Sacred Spring — if the spring still concealed some even older secret — then wouldn't the Black Church come after him again?

If it was the Black Church, fighting them alone would be genuinely dangerous.

*Could it be that Boss Zhankong caught wind of the Black Church's movements and hired someone to protect me because he can't break free himself?* Mo Fan wondered silently.

Not many people would spend that kind of money to protect him. His best guess was that it was someone from Bo City.

"And don't feel awkward about it. Dasheng is a professional at protecting people — most of the time, the person being guarded doesn't even sense the danger before the threat is already neutralized… Lingling, go with Dasheng for now and keep an eye on Mo Fan." Old Bao said.

"Understood." Lingling nodded.

Leaving the Azure Sky Hunting Firm, Mo Fan found himself weighed down by troubled thoughts.

If it really was the Black Church, this was serious trouble. He had seen firsthand how ruthless they were — there was no line they wouldn't cross to get what they wanted.

And there was something insidious about them, a quality that left no opening at all. Whether it was the former instructor Baiyang, or Yu'ang — who had been embedded within the Mu Clan for over a decade — people like that were nearly impossible to guard against before they showed their hand.

*Whatever. Worrying about it won't change anything.* He'd have to take it one step at a time. He wasn't the same green Basic-Level Mage he used to be — if they sent people after him, they'd better hope they had enough lives to spend.

By the time he made it back to school, night had fallen. Not wanting to take the long way around, Mo Fan decided to cut straight through the artificial lake park.

He had barely reached the lake when several figures flickered in the shadows of a nearby rockery.

With Shadow Element at the intermediate level, he was acutely attuned to the shifting play of shadows. Even through a large decorative rock formation, he could pick up movement on the other side almost instantly.

A knot tightened in Mo Fan's chest. *No way — they mobilized this fast?*

Dasheng hadn't even arrived to protect him yet, and already the Black Church had made their move — brazen enough to lurk around the outer perimeter of Pearl Academy and lie in wait?

"Move in — end it quickly!" a voice rang out. The leader, by the sound of it.

Mo Fan's brow furrowed. He instinctively stepped back several paces, putting distance between himself and the figures so he could take stock of his ambushers.

Several shapes leaped from the rockery. They all radiated magical energy, and the Star Trails coiling around their bodies made it clear they had already begun channeling spells.

A brilliant ball of flame split the darkness, hurled down from the top of the rockery. The churning intensity of the fireball told Mo Fan immediately — this was a third-tier Fire Burst, packing devastating explosive force.

Mo Fan dove sideways. The Fire Burst detonated exactly where he'd been standing, thick flames lashing out in hungry tongues.

His expression hardened. He stamped his foot against the ground, and rose-colored flames surged up around him in an instant—

The flames spread across his entire body, wrapping him like a garment woven from fire — striking and dangerous in equal measure.

When the crimson tongues of flame met Mo Fan's Rose Flame, they scattered like a mischievous child who'd just run into the class teacher — bolting in every direction, not daring to come any closer.

Ordinary fire daring to contest the Rose Flame? Please.

Mo Fan cast a cold glance at the figure who had used Fire Element magic against him — but before he could make out the face, the air pressure over the lake plummeted sharply. The surrounding air currents were being violently torn away—

When the vacuum reached its tipping point, a furious gale erupted in a massive spiral, climbing skyward — starting as a slender funnel and expanding rapidly into a roaring tornado nearly two meters across!

The Wind Disk: Tornado had formed right beside the lake, and the water was sucked upward in its entirety—

In an instant, the dark ribbon of water twisted into a coiling water dragon, its massive body writhing as it surged straight toward Mo Fan.

Mist crashed against his face. His hair stood on end.

As the Wind Disk: Tornado bore down on him, Mo Fan didn't hesitate for a second — he activated the Blood Beast Boots!

Crimson light solidified into armor, encasing both his feet.

The blood-red glow blazed into existence, flooding his legs with tremendous power—

He pushed off with both legs and launched himself a full ten meters through the air.

He knew Wind Disk: Tornado packed tremendous destructive force but moved slowly. Calculating its path precisely, Mo Fan leaped and landed atop a dimly lit lamp post in the park.

He then bounded to a nearby tree trunk, leaving the Wind Disk: Tornado — unable to change course — to crash into the grove with all that lake water behind it. In moments, the entire stand of trees looked as though a typhoon had torn through it, an absolute scene of ruin.

"This kid's nimble," one of the dark figures muttered.

Mo Fan paid no attention. He knew the greatest threat was the Wind Element Intermediate-Level Mage — that one had to be dealt with first.

Mo Fan flipped his palm, and lightning surged up with practiced ease. The arcs of electricity twisted into thrashing violet serpents, streaking toward the man who had cast the Wind Element magic.

**Crackle — crackle — crackle—**

Lightning Seal crackled through the air near the rockery, locking onto its target with precision.

The moment Mo Fan saw the man convulsing, paralyzed and unable to move, he charged straight for the rockery.

**Fwoosh — fwoosh — fwoosh—**

Two fireballs detonated right in front of him. But Mo Fan, armored in Rose Flame, had no fear of fire at this level. He angled away from the centers of the blast zones where explosive force peaked and kept charging at full speed toward the rockery.

"Blood Beast Iron Hooves!"