Edited by Aelryinth

Mo Fan quickly shook his head. "Why would I even bother? I'm only a Basic Mage now!"

The Barrier Core had turned the whole place within fifty kilometers into a Magic Sealed Area where only the Earth Element was available. With Mo Fan's current capabilities, he would have to flee for his life like a dog, even if he only found a slightly valuable Earth Crystal in the cave!

He had to remain calm and refrain from stirring up any trouble. He had to stick to his disguise of a student with the Earth Element, for the sake of his country!

He took a few deep breaths of the fresh air in the mountain and reclaimed his temperament as someone who stood aloof from worldly affairs. Didn't the experts living in seclusion always behave like this? Even though his heart was going to stay reckless until he had reached the age of a hundred, he did not mind enjoying some peace once in a while.

Thud!

Mo Fan noticed a sudden movement in the darkness he was staring at. A huge figure slowly came out of the dark ravine.

"A demon creature has shown up!" a Battlemage suddenly yelled while firing a Light Spell into the sky as a signal for others to prepare for battle.

"It seems something is crawling out from the cave. It's a very common sight in this city."

"It looks pretty tough. It's too dark to see it clearly."

"It's coming out, it's out, how reckless is that thing? Isn't it worried that the Mages here are going to blast it into pieces!"

Mo Fan and the group were standing on safe walls. The ravine was very intimidating to look at, but the huge creature coming out from it did not seem to be too strong.

A troop of Battlemages soon showed up. They spread out between the ravine and the walls of the city, working to prevent the demon creature from entering the city.

The monster opened its mouth and roared at the troop of Battlemages blocking its way.

The monster was rather fearless. It charged at the Battlemages with huge strides!

It was around four meters long. Its body ratio resembled a weightlifter with a massive build, something that had undergone long periods of training. It was not that huge compared to other demon creatures, but it was still impressive when the demon creature was charging towards them at full speed!

The monster's hide was light brown. The group only discovered it was covered in rocks after it left the shadows in the ravine. More precisely, it was a Rock Monster!

The Rock Monster charged ferociously, and smashed right through the rock barrier in front of it, a temporary defense the Battlemages had set up. They initially thought it was enough to stop the Rock Monster, yet it had collapsed like mere sand.

Luckily, the Battlemages were well-trained. They quickly moved into formations and stood at different angles facing the Rock Monster.

The Barrier Core was still being set up, hence the Battlemages could only rely on their Earth Spells to attack the Rock Monster. They eventually broke through the outer layers of the stones covering the Rock Monster!

The Rock Monster was kited like a beast trapped in a cage, and the battle ended in a few minutes. The Rock Monster fell to the ground, and broke into a pile of rocks.

"The Rock Monster doesn't seem too strong. I bet we could take it out easily too," Zhou Donghao chuckled after seeing the Rock Monster falling to the ground.

"Yeah, it seems pretty dumb."

"You are overestimating yourself. Without good teamwork, the members of the team would easily panic if the Rock Monster caught one of them. It's very likely that the Rock Monster would wipe out the whole team, since only our Earth Element is available," Lin Qihui refuted after analyzing the fight.

Mo Fan had been paying sharp attention. He had a feeling the Rock Monster was actually tricky to deal with. The Battlemages had a great advantage in numbers while flanking the Rock Monster, which was why the creature looked slow and clumsy. However, it would be different if someone was fighting the creature alone. Mo Fan clearly remembered how the Rock Monster had smashed through the Rock Barrier that several Battlemages had constructed together!

"It's no use if we keep talking here. There are obviously a lot of creatures like the Rock Monster in the cave. Didn't we come to train ourselves? Let's try killing one if we happen to stumble into it!"

"You kept saying how good and skilled you are on our way here. Don't be the first to wet your pants when it's really time for you to fight the Rock Monsters!" Liang Junheng, another member of the group, countered.

Zhou Donghao pointed at Liang Junheng and grunted, "What do you mean by that? Are you looking down at me?"

"I'm not looking down at anyone. I just feel like a dog that bites doesn't like to bark, but those that are weak and timid are usually the ones that bark the loudest. To be honest with you, I'm getting bored of hearing you boast. You were disturbing my sleep on the way here," Liang Junheng sniffed.

"It seems like I'll have to show you what I'm capable of. Otherwise, someone is really going to think he's all high and mighty!" Zhou Donghao snarled in return.

"What are you two arguing for? We are on the same team. We shouldn't fight among ourselves..." Lin Qihui quickly mediated between the two.

"That's right, there's no point arguing with mere words. You won't be able to find out who's better," Mo Fan added when he saw it was the right time.

"Who's better? Humph, we'll see when we are inside the cave the day after tomorrow. You're going to regret it!" Zhou Donghao told Liang Junheng.

"I can't wait to see what you've got," Liang Junheng replied disdainfully.

Zhou Donghao expression was dark. He had obviously fallen out with Liang Junheng.

Tao Jing rolled her eyes at Mo Fan and asked, "You look like a gentleman, so why were you fanning the flames under these circumstances!?"

"Fanning the flames? Did I?" Mo Fan fondled his chin and answered with a stern face.

"You don't want to admit it? It was only a quarrel in the first place, but now it has turned into a duel because of you!" Tao Jing said.

Mo Fan shrugged. He was not willing to admit it.

He was not allowed to stir up trouble, but it did not mean he was not allowed to provoke others to stir up trouble. Otherwise, it was going to be a boring trip!

------

Mo Fan went back to the inn after he achieved his goal. He felt like his Earth Element was about to have a breakthrough, as if his Stars had learned a great deal after witnessing the spectacular sight of the ravine!

Little Loach was very impressive after its recent upgrade. His Earth Element was able to reach the Intermediate Level in such a brief period. It was crazy good!

He should be able to protect himself now that his Earth Element was in the Intermediate Level. It should only take him a few days to learn the Star Pattern. It was very easy to learn how to control the low-level Stars when his rank was so much higher!