Translated by XephiZ

Edited by Aelryinth

As they entered the city located in the foreign space, Mo Fan found it hard to believe that the city was sealed off for a very long time when he noticed the pleasant scent of flowers lingering in the air. There was not even the slightest sense of decay. The enormous black storm was like a wall of time, freezing the time in the confined space.

"I'm afraid this is one of the earliest cities in South America. Look at the ancient flower crest on the entrance!" said the observant Jiang Shaoxu, pointing at the symbol at the entrance.

"Are you familiar with South America's history?" Mo Fan was surprised at how knowledgeable Jiang Shaoxu was.

"How would I know that? I only know a thing or two about the flower. It's called Li Fan, an extremely rare species that went extinct around thirty years ago in South America. When they were still around, these rare flowers were used to produce wine. My grandpa has a bottle of Li Fan wine. He said that he will only open it when I find my Mr. Right. In addition to that, these Li Fan flowers were very unique. Back when there weren't many Psychic Magicians around, it was used as anesthesia, just like poppies can. It was able to pacify and calm a person down. Poppies are rather harmful and addictive, but a Li Fan flower doesn't have any of its side effects. It is said that the origin of the Psychic Element is somehow related to this flower," Jiang Shaoxu explained in one breath.

A flower that could be used like a Psychic Spell? It was the first time Mo Fan had heard of it. He found it quite interesting.

"Can you tell how old this city is?" asked Nanyu.

"Not really. The flower was rare and valuable, but I have no idea when mankind started using it. However, I believe there might be records of cities or families that used the flower as their crest in Peru's history. We can easily find out once we left this place. Besides, I'm not really interested in its history, I'm just curious if there are more Li Fan flowers here that have already gone extinct in the outside world..." replied Jiang Shaoxu.

It was obvious that Jiang Shaoxu was quite interested in the Li Fan flower. She had already started searching around the ancient city. The city was not that big. It looked calm and peaceful, not like there was danger anywhere.

The group split up to explore the city. Mo Fan followed the guidance of the Essence Orb and searched for the energy source that he was desperately in need of.

The city was well-preserved. It looked like it had remained the same as it was in ancient times. The streets were free of dust, and the houses were not even slightly damaged. It felt like they had entered an elegant and beautiful foreign city, except there was not a single person inside. It felt calm and peaceful.

---

After crossing the wide streets, Mo Fan discovered a spectacular fountain at a crossroads.

It was spectacular because it had a statue of a glamorous woman on it. The curvy waist and smooth stomach were rather eye-catching.

Her body ratio was slightly different than Asian people. She had a longer upper body, and a stunning bust. Her slender figure and impressive bust were things that most Eastern women lacked.

The light emitted by the Essence Orb had reached its strongest level. Mo Fan lowered his head and looked into the clear water in the fountain, before glancing at the statue of the glamorous woman with a veil on her face.

"Is the water something similar to the Underground Holy Spring?" conjectured Mo Fan.

He placed the Essence Orb into the fountain. However, there was nothing special about it apart from being a little bit cold. The Essence Orb did not seem to be absorbing any energy.

"This...this is just normal water!" Mo Fan cupped the water with his hands and took a sip of it. It was tasteless!

Mo Fan was confused. If the water was not the source he was looking for, why the heck did the Essence Orb brought him here?

Did Old Bao trick him? Was the Orb broken?

After spending some time pondering, Mo Fan still could not figure out where the energy source was. He lifted his gaze and stared at the statue that looked very alive.

"Maybe it's inside the statue?" Mo Fan jumped to the center of the fountain and probed inside the statue with his will.

After inspecting the statue closely from her head all the way to her toes, Mo Fan still did not found anything. However, the Essence Orb was clearly brighter when he was standing closer to the statue. It almost felt like the Orb was about to fly onto her.

To Mo Fan's astonishment, Little Loach Pendant was showing a reaction too, as if it was drooling over some food.

Mo Fan was utterly speechless. Why were they suddenly interested in a statue of a woman instead of showing some interest in a female Orb or a female loach?

Was the statue hiding something inside it?

Mo Fan knocked on the statue. It felt like it was hollow inside.

As he knocked on the statue harder, the statue began to break into pieces. It seemed to be made of sand.

Mo Fan did not mean to destroy the historical relic. He watched the statue crumble to the ground, revealing a crystal cup inside it. The cup was holding a kind of clear, glowing liquid.

The Little Loach Pendant immediately emitted a bright glow. If one was to describe its reaction based on a human, it was like a person's eyes were about to fall out from their sockets. The Little Loach Pendant wanted to drink the liquid in the cup in one eager gulp!

Meanwhile, the Essence Orb was flickering brightly too, as if it was yelling at Little Loach to let go of the liquid, it's mine!

"What the heck is this thing? Well, it must be something good.." Mo Fan concluded.

Anything that the Little Loach Pendant was excited about was surely something precious. However, considering that he needed to fill up the Essence Orb the most, he placed the Essence Orb inside the cup to absorb the energy.

However, he soon had a headache, as the Essence Orb had only absorbed a third of the liquid before it acted as if it could not absorb any more. The level of the shiny liquid stayed the same.

Mo Fan then gave the liquid to the Little Loach Pendant, yet it could not absorb the liquid at all. It was only swimming around inside the cup.

"Why the hell are you so excited about if you can't absorb it!?" cursed Mo Fan.

He had never seen such a senseless pendant. Did it seriously just want to join the fun after seeing the Essence Orb's reaction?

There was still two-thirds of the liquid left inside the cup, but the Essence Orb could not absorb anymore. Mo Fan had no choice but to put the liquid away. He would worry about what it was and its uses later.

The Essence Orb had absorbed a third of it. It was definitely good news for Mo Fan. If he was able to fill it, he no longer had to worry about paying the debt of using the Demon Element.

----

Everyone seemed to find something useful in the city. Mo Fan immediately regrouped with the others after he found what he came for.

Jiang Shaoxu found the Li Fan flower she was interested in. She was smiling like a little girl who had found a small stalk of red flower.

Mo Fan had no idea what the others had found, yet looking at the time, they were meant to head back soon. The city was not big, so it was meaningless to stay any longer since there was nothing valuable left.

----

After waiting for Zhao Manyan to replenish his energy, the group left the non-aging city.

The moment they stepped out of the magic aura protecting the city, a pair of yellow eyes suddenly sprang open in the storm above it.

The eyes were staring at the group. The eyes watched the group leave, and slowly closed up as the group left the area protected by the yellow lightning.

Little Flame Belle was lying on Mo Fan's shoulder, and did notice the strange eyes. She waved her arms around, trying to tell Mo Fan she saw a pair of eyes in the sky. However, Mo Fan was not too bothered by it, as he did not see anything when he looked up.

----

"How's the situation? Are the birds still out there?" Nanyu asked Ai Jiangtu, who was still in the same spot.

"It looks like they're gone," answered Ai Jiangtu.

"It took you guys long enough; we almost thought you have all been torn into pieces by the storm. Seriously, stop wasting our time," said Zu Jiming.

"If everyone's here, let's hurry back to the city. It's not safe staying in the wild," said Mu Tingying timidly.

They still could not believe how relentless the strange birds were. Most members on the team only wanted to go back to the city, just so the team could ask for help when needed!

Everyone started heading back along the same route. The team did not encounter any accidents when they were crossing the canyon, since Lu Yilin was no longer there to fool around.

----

Everyone immediately went to bed after the team returned to Hanmi City. Although they were quite nervous when crossing the canyon, the journey was not too dangerous without Lu Yilin's silly deeds. The team was actually more worried about the strange birds, as no one knew when they would appear and ambush them again.

Mo Fan stayed in his room and started inspecting the unique liquid he had found. However, he was obviously not the expert when it came to identifying rare loot. He was utterly clueless about what it could possibly be. He almost mistook it as mineral water and drank it.

Little Flame Belle was still complaining about the eyes she saw. Mo Fan was quite worried now. If Little Flame Belle actually saw the eyes, he could not help but wonder what the eyes in the storm were from...

Why were the eyes watching them above the ancient city?

"Forget it, it's meaningless to overthink it. Anyway, I've filled up a third of the Essence Orb. it's a great profit for me!" Mo Fan stopped thinking about all the nonsense and went to bed.

A lot of strange things happened, yet they could just mind their own business. Mo Fan was not interested in them at all!

------

Mo Fan was just about to fall asleep when he received a response from Lingling.

Mo Fan had immediately told Lingling about the liquid when he returned to Hanmi City, hoping that Lingling could tell him its uses. Lingling was pretty efficient too. Mo Fan had only taken a hot shower and closed his eyes for a quick rest before she responded.

"Mo Fan, where did you find it?" asked Lingling.

"In an ancient city inside a storm. It was hidden inside a statue," said Mo Fan.

"It's Time Liquid! You should be grateful that my grandpa's library has information about it. Unfortunately, it did not mention its uses. It only has a name, and a brief description of its origin. It is refined with some kind of ancient herb; the procedures were extremely complicated, and were lost to the world," said Lingling.

"Time Liquid? It sounds like it has something to do with time. Speaking of which, the city stood quietly inside the storm, as if time didn't flow in it. Are the two related in any way?" Mo Fan asked.