Translated by XephiZ

Edited by Aelryinth

"Last night, Lehuo Town was struck by a meteorite, which resulted in a huge fire. Chairman Zhao Yulin's villa suffered a great loss..."

"The weird meteorite contained a mysterious energy, lots of vehicles broke down because of it."

"Lehuo Town is on fire due to the meteorite. The workers were evacuated in time, thus there was no casualty, which could have been a lot worse..."

---

A few days later, the news was still being reported. Even though Lehuo Town was fairly distant from the city, the news reporters still managed to get some information.

"Zhao Yulin does have some power, controlling the news and manipulating it into an accident. I guess the incident did wake him up." Mo Fan turned off the television. The news being fed to the public was somehow acceptable.

Xinxia nodded. The Fiery Sorceress Jiang Feng was protecting the lineage of Flame Belle. Now that the Flame Belle was born healthy, her duty had been fulfilled.

"Brother Mo Fan, I'm going back to school. I've been out for such a long time, my teachers are going to scold me," said Xinxia.

"Mm, I'll send you back."

------

The return journey between Hangzhou and Shanghai only took half a day. Mo Fan sent Xinxia back to school, and returned to the Pearl Institute.

Zhang Xiaohou and Nanyu went back to their headquarters, especially the former who had left urgently, as if something tricky was waiting for him back in the army.

Mo Fan was going to ask Zhang Xiaohou to stay in Shanghai for a few days and enjoy himself, but he had no choice but to let Zhang Xiaohou go because of the urgent matter.

After settling the tasks on hand, Mo Fan paid Huo Tuo a visit.

Considering the length of time, his Armor Equipment should be done by now. Mo Fan was waiting to wear it so he could climb the rankings. His cultivation was too weak, there was no chance he could defeat stronger demon beasts and Magicians if he did not improve anytime soon…

---

When he arrived at the Opal Tower, he went straight to Huo Tuo's shop and saw the guy with the shameless name Li Junnan dozing off at the counter.

"Why is it you again... by the way, your snake scales didn't even have lines, how are they good?!" Li Junnan stopped Mo Fan.

The question had troubled him every night since then!

Mo Fan rolled his eyes, not wanting to speak to the apprentice with a very touching IQ.

"Where's my stuff?" asked Mo Fan.

"Is it Mo Fan? Thanks to the two fangs you've found, I've invented something remarkable, do you want to take a… huh, what's the little fire on your shoulder?" Huo Tuo went up to Mo Fan with squinted eyes.

"My Contracted Beast." Mo Fan was left speechless. He grabbed the little Flame Belle jumping around his shoulders and flicked the little, adorable porcelain doll on her head to teach her a lesson. "Didn't I tell you not to come out on your own? It's fine if you burn someone, but it's no good if you ended up burning the flowers and plants."

"Ling~" The Flame Belle lowered her head. She almost broke into tears, feeling wronged.

Mo Fan felt helpless. Other people's Contracted Beasts would stay in the Contracted Space, and only appear when they were summoned.

The Flame Belle, on the other hand, appeared to have some weird power, allowing her to move freely between the Contracted Space and reality. Mo Fan could not do anything about it.

"This...this... this must be the Flame Belle!" Suddenly, Huo Tuo's eyes glistened like a pervert pedophile seeing an adorable little loli. He was so close to lunging at her!

"Hey hey, watch yourself old man!" said Mo Fan sternly, stopping Huo Tuo, who was trying to hug the little creature.

Huo Tuo coughed awkwardly. "My bad, I was too excited. Kid, give me a price, I'll buy the Flame Belle from you. Whatever the price you say!" Huo Tuo's face was flushed; he did not even act like this when he saw the vampire's fangs!

Little did Mo Fan know, the Flame Belle was basically the dream pet of every Forgemaster!

Normally only Magicians with either Fire or Lightning Elements were able to become a Forgemaster, but the best Forgemasters were always Summoners with Fire Element Contracted Beasts, as they were able to help them in the process of forging Equipment.

Different materials were processed by flames with different effects, so by gaining control of a different type of fire, a Forgemaster would be able to insert more power into the process, and forge higher quality Equipment. Huo Tuo was a Three-flame Forgemaster, as he had three different types of fire to forge with!

A creature like a Flame Belle usually had two different types of fire. In other words, if Huo Tuo was able to get a Flame Belle and train her, he would become a Four-Flame Forgemaster, making him a world-renowned Forgemaster!

The only problem was, a creature like the Flame Belle did not come easily. Most people only heard about it from rumors, instead of seeing a real one. Those who had seen one were not strong enough to take her down, let alone get their hands on a Flame Belle's youngling!

In order to become a world famous forgemaster, the stingy Huo Tuo was willing to expend half of his possessions in exchange for a Flame Belle!

As such, Huo Tuo almost went crazy when he saw Mo Fan with a Flame Belle. He simply asked Mo Fan to give him a price, and he would not blink even if the kid asked for hundreds of millions!

"Calm down, calm down, I'll offer you a thousand million to sell your granddaughter to me? Will you do it? This Flame Belle is not for sale, just give it up!" Mo Fan shoved the mad old man away.

"Mo Fan, oh no, Brother Mo Fan, just sell her to me. I'll pay any price you say!" The old man was unstoppable, acting shamelessly. The only step he lacked was hugging Mo Fan's legs, begging him for the Flame Belle.

Li Junnan was dumbfounded.

He still did not understand the snake scales, and now another shocking question had popped up. Why was his master, who disregarded so many valuable treasures, so obsessed with a little fire porcelain doll? Where was his dignity as a Forgemaster?

---

Mo Fan was totally helpless against the old man Huo Tuo. He quickly put the Flame Belle away.

Huo Tuo could not do anything, either. Mo Fan simply did not want to sell it, regardless of what he was willing to offer!

To fawn upon Mo Fan, Huo Tuo quickly handed the Black Snake Armor to him. The old man, who was initially intending to scam some extra fees from the kid, immediately decided against it.

"How about this; since she's already your Contracted Beast, it would be quite troublesome to sell her to me. I'll take you in as my apprentice. With the Flame Belle, you can easily become a Four-Flame Forgemaster… As for the learning fees, I'll give you a discount," said Huo Tuo sternly.

"See ya!" Mo Fan took the armor and left. -Crazy man, who would want to be his apprentice?!-

Mo Fan was aiming to become the greatest Magician of all time. He had no interest in forging whatsoever!