The Scarcity of Lightning Mages
*Still not fast enough.*
Even with twice the cultivation time of others, plus the 20% cooldown-reduction buff from his Stardust Artifact — and with all that time split evenly between his two demanding ladies — Mo Fan was only marginally ahead of an idiot like Mu Bai.
If he wanted to keep his Lightning Element hidden, that slim margin was nowhere near enough to compete against the Mu Clan and their bottomless wallets.
The real question was: how exactly was he supposed to maximize his power growth?
In a moment of desperation, he looked it up online. The answer: *buy a Stardust Artifact.*
That got him absolutely roasted.
Well, obviously — of course a Stardust Artifact was the best thing for cultivation. The problem was whether any ordinary person could actually *afford* one.
But from where Mo Fan was standing, there didn't seem to be anything better.
*What if I upgraded my little Loach Pendant to Spirit Grade? Like the one Mu Ningxue carries around...*
*A Mortal Grade Stardust Artifact only gives a 20% cultivation bonus. If I upgraded to Spirit Grade, I'd get 40%. Even juggling both the Lightning Element and Fire Element at the same time, I'd still be pulling ahead of most people. Mu Ningxue's starting point is so far above mine — the fact that she's already been accepted early by the Imperial Capital means her strength has already reached, maybe even exceeded, university-level requirements. If I keep grinding at this pace, I won't have the power to survive whatever the Mu Clan has planned for me.*
Mo Fan didn't regret making enemies of them. Having enemies bearing down on you was exactly the kind of pressure that forced you to find every possible way to grow stronger.
For now, the one path that could rapidly push his power forward was a Stardust Artifact.
Teacher Tang Yue had mentioned that his little Loach Pendant could be upgraded by absorbing the death souls of Demon-Beasts — meaning he had to go out and kill them. If he got lucky enough for a Refined Soul to drop, the Loach Pendant would level up to Spirit Grade.
For someone like Mo Fan, who already cultivated at twice the normal rate, a 40% bonus on top of that would be like strapping a rocket to his back.
*That's the only road.*
With his mind made up, the only thing left to do was act.
Heaven had handed him every advantage — to squander it would be to confirm he was useless.
The Field Expedition was over, and there was still roughly a month of summer vacation remaining. Without hesitation, Mo Fan pushed through the doors of the Hunters' Alliance main hall.
The Hunters' Alliance was an organization that brought scattered hunting squads together under one roof. Every day, thousands of hunter-mages packed its hall, each searching for the right bounty.
Mo Fan had already done his research: a single Spirit Essence fetched as much as five million on the open market.
Hunting Demon-Beasts was currently his only means of making money. Whether he could actually scrape together five million was another question entirely, but both Remnant Souls and Spirit Essences could only be obtained by killing Demon-Beasts. This was the one path open to him.
Going it alone against a Demon-Beast?
Mo Fan shook his head immediately. He simply didn't have that kind of ability yet — which meant his first move had to be finding the right hunting squad.
Nearly every mage who frequented the Hunters' Alliance operated as part of a team; those capable of solo hunting were vanishingly rare.
The Hunters' Alliance hall was a constant churn of people — it felt like a stock exchange floor crossed with a job fair.
A massive LCD display dominated one wall, scrolling through the latest bounties alongside their prices. The cheapest started at 100,000 RMB; the higher-end listings ran into the millions.
Mo Fan stared at those million-class bounties, practically drooling.
Complete five of those, and he'd have enough to buy a Spirit Essence and upgrade his Loach Pendant.
Too bad that wasn't something just anyone could manage.
*"Iron Hammer Squad seeking one Ice Element Mage. Must have 3+ years of combat experience, strong team cooperation skills, and a polished command of Ice Element techniques. Bounty accepted. Average pay: 20,000 RMB per member, expected completion within 2 months!"*
*"Wind Element Mage wanted — squad urgently seeks an experienced Wind Element Mage to lure One-Eyed Demon Wolves. All other elements, do not apply!"*
*"Fire Element! Fire Element Mages, where are you? Join our Blazing Wind Squad — efficient bounties, steady cash, come collect!"*
Scanning the room, Mo Fan noticed that many of the mages coming in to join squads had brought actual printed resumes. The resumes apparently listed their career start date, how many bounties they'd completed, and even the difficulty grades of those bounties.
His head spun. He genuinely had no idea where to begin.
Apparently, freshly graduated mages got turned away constantly — their experience against Demon-Beasts was simply too thin. One wrong move in front of a Demon-Beast meant death, and nobody wanted to babysit a fresh graduate.
As for Mo Fan — he hadn't even graduated yet. He was barely a second-year magic student. Taking someone like that along was pure dead weight, a guaranteed liability. The Field Expedition had already proven just how bad that could get. Finding a suitable squad was going to be nearly impossible.
"Damn, even being a mage requires credentials these days. What is this world coming to..." he muttered.
He'd barely finished the sentence when someone came charging past him and crashed right into him.
"Sorry, sorry! The City Demon-Hunting Squad is recruiting new members — I've really got to go try my luck. So sorry about running into you!" The collision came from a slight young man in thick-framed glasses, who turned to Mo Fan with an apologetic grimace.
"City Demon-Hunting Squad?" Mo Fan's interest sharpened.
"You haven't heard of it? They specifically clear urban threats — hunting Demon-Beasts that might be lurking somewhere in the city. The City Demon-Hunting Squad has always been the top pick for every Hunter-mage. Think about it: if you can serve as a city guardian instead of trekking out into some godforsaken wilderness where you don't know if you'll come back alive, who wouldn't choose that? Not to mention their pay has always been great..." The young man pushed his glasses up as he explained.
"Yubin, you're wasting your time." A veteran hunter nearby laughed dismissively. "A magic high school grad like you — no experience, no real strength — the City Demon-Hunting Squad won't give you a second look. Not unless you're a Lightning Element Mage."
"I... I'll just try anyway," Tong Yubin said, looking mortified.
"They're recruiting Lightning Element Mages?" Mo Fan's eyes lit up.
A city-based squad — that meant operating entirely within city limits. For Mo Fan, who still had school to attend, this was an ideal arrangement.
Out in the wilderness, who knew how many days a single bounty might drag on.
"Lightning has always been the most sought-after element in any squad. Squads will happily take in a Lightning Mage with zero experience and build them up from scratch — there just aren't enough of them out there. The skills hit like a truck, and the element is absurdly rare. If *I'd* awakened Lightning, I wouldn't have to swallow grief from the old-timers every single day," the veteran hunter said with a sigh.