Versatile Mage

Edited by Aelryinth

The water started receding even more quickly. It was initially flowing out of the two doors along the walls. They had no idea if it was flowing to the other chambers or somewhere else. However, when the Advisor Mummy died, the water started flowing to the left and right, too. When the water was gone, two other doors were visible along the walls.

Shreev knew which door they had to take, but the team had trouble moving their feet after what they had gone through.

“Let’s take a rest. We should all rest up before entering the next door,” Mo Fan proposed feebly.

He would be lying if he told the others he was fine after enduring the lightning strikes. Mo Fan had a feeling that even a Commander-level creature would have no trouble taking him out now.

The group sat down on the ground and treated their wounds. Their greatest mistake was not bringing a Healer with them. It would only take a Healer several minutes to deal with their fatigue and the wounds left by the lightning. However, it would take them a few days to recover with only the aid of medicines.

——

Mo Fan was able to recover quicker than the others due to the advantage of having demon’s flesh. In addition, he also had the medicines that Xinxia had lovingly made for him. He already felt restless after a day and a half of recovery.

He opened his eyes and noticed the others in a ‘hibernating’ state.

They were, in fact, in deep meditation. A Mage could enter a half-asleep, half-meditating state to quickly recover their energy. It was more efficient with the help of medicines. Normally, a Mage in this state would only leave a slight hint of consciousness behind. They were more or less asleep if they did not sense any enemy with murderous intent. They could not hear what the others were saying.

“You’re seriously not normal,” Mu Bai’s voice came from behind him. Mo Fan had thought he was the only one awake.

“Why didn’t you take a rest?” Mo Fan asked.

“I wasn’t injured,” Mu Bai replied.

“True. It’s so boring to wait for them all to recover,” Mo Fan said.

“Don’t you feel it’s worth our time to take a look at the creature up there?” Mu Bai pointed at the Huntsman Spider above them.

The Huntsman Spider was extremely weak and timid. The others did not bother wasting their time on it. The creature did not dare to avenge its master, either.

It was, in fact, quite rare to see such a timid demon creature, despite its menacing appearance!

“It’s just a useless spider, why should we waste our time on it?” Mo Fan asked.

“Didn’t Shreev mention that the Pyramids have a strong level of hierarchy? The numbers of the low-level servants are in the tens of thousands, and they have to serve the nobles for eternity…” Mu Bai replied with a stern look.

“Ninety-nine percent of the people were servants of the nobles during the era of the Pharaohs. Isn’t it normal for the Pharaohs and nobles to rule the same way after they became undead?” Mo Fan said.

“They can just enjoy their status in peace. Why did they keep attacking living cities? Wouldn’t they be losing their undead soldiers for nothing?” Mu Bai countered.

“The undead are ruthless and savage. Killing is like drinking and eating for them. It’s their basic need,” Mo Fan replied.

“That might be the case for the undead in the Ancient Capital, but I’m afraid it’s different for the undead in Egypt, especially after seeing their strict hierarchy in this Pyramid. It’s true that deaths might inject new blood into the undead army, but it’s only a matter of time before living creatures die. The rulers of the undead could just wait for that to happen. It is totally unnecessary for them to waste their undead attacking the cities,” Mu Bai corrected him.

Mo Fan listened carefully to Mu Bai’s analysis. He initially thought Mu Bai was just sharing his thoughts, but when he thought about it logically, it did seem like the undead in Egypt were trying to achieve different goals with their wars.

“You saw the pool when we first came in. It’s the essence that the Pyramid has refined after gathering lots of vengeful spirits, lone souls, and hatred from the outside world…” Mu Bai went on.

“Mm, this Pyramid is like a factory. There must be quite a number of the hidden chambers we saw. The one we fell into was only one of them. How is it possible that such a huge Ashen Storm of Hatred only consisted of the few vengeful spirits we saw in the hidden chamber?” Mo Fan admitted.

“Lone souls, vengeful spirits, hatred… these are the products of mass killings! The Pyramids will take in a huge amount of them regularly, and so do most of the undead, which means it’s the reason why the Pyramids keep waging war against the humans: to supply them with high-quality air for them to breathe! If the fresh air of death is filtered by the low-level creatures, wouldn’t that mean the servants and the Underworld Warriors are only taking in the residue, thus the essence of it is given to these Mummies in their own chambers?” Mu Bai theorized.

“You’re saying that the Pyramid is treating the deaths caused by the wars as fertilizer, with different irrigation levels?” Mo Fan stared at Mu Bai. He finally realized how smart the guy was.

“Yes, irrigation levels! Those higher in the hierarchy get to enjoy the more refined air. Their corpses did not rot, even after a few thousand years, because they are constantly being nurtured, granting them even greater power…” Mu Bai agreed.

“So that’s why they keep waging war against the living!” Mo Fan realized, but at the same time, a great chill ran down his spine.

Humans relied on reproduction to live on, but the undead relied on killing to live forever!

Such a detestable old society, such detestable Pharaohs!

“Didn’t Shreev mention before that the essence is transported to the chambers? I have already searched the chamber, and I didn’t find any channels…” Mu Bai continued.

“It must be hidden somewhere?” Mo Fan offered unhelpfully.

“This structure is built by the old civilization. It is unlikely it could set up a hidden channel without any traces. Besides, the structure of the Pyramids strictly adheres to standard conventions. I learned some architecture in the past, and I’m sure that there is no special channel in this chamber,” Mu Bai said confidently.

“Aren’t you knowledgeable?” Mo Fan jibed.

“Every time my cultivation got stuck at a certain level, I would spend some time learning something new. New discoveries in other areas helped me clear the doubts about my cultivation,” Mu Bai explained.

“So, when did you learn how to make an aphrodisiac?” Mo Fan had to ask.

Mu Bai’s expression sank, as if he was going to fall out with Mo Fan if he mentioned it again.

“I’m just kidding, tell me what you think,” Mo Fan smiled.

“I believe something is fishy about the Huntsman Spider. It’s not a low-level creature, yet it’s extremely weak. It’s completely useless, apart from its annoying screeches. It’s also very timid. If it’s that useless, why did the Advisor Mummy bother keeping it? Just for decoration? I find it hard to believe it kept the spider for so long, even if it was only treating the spider as decoration,” Mu Bai conjectured.

“Are you saying that…” Mo Fan’s eyes widened.

“Exactly,” Mu Bai nodded.

Mo Fan opened his mouth wide. He finally said after some time, “That’s…that’s incredible!”

“It’s brilliant, isn’t it? Now that we’ve discovered the secret, perhaps we can take advantage of it,” Mu Bai smiled.

“Take advantage?” Mo Fan was confused. He had a strange look after seeing the smile on Mu Bai’s face. He said, “This world is seriously messed up. I personally think since the Medusae are quite similar to humans in some way, it’s still acceptable if we ignore their snake bodies, but a spider that is incompatible with a human in every way… holy crap, how did they do it? Through its abdomen?”

Mu Bai did not understand what Mo Fan was talking about at first. However, he eventually realized what he was up to. His lips started twitching subconsciously…

“Mo Fan, I’m really impressed by how dirty your mind can be. Who told you that the Mummy was keeping the spider to deal with its loneliness? I’ve figured out the meaning behind the wars waged by the Pyramids and discovered how the Mummies in these chambers were nurtured, and that’s the conclusion you come up with? Is there something wrong with your mind!?” Mu Bai grunted.

“…I was just joking, of course I know what you meant!” Mo Fan let out a hollow laugh.

“So tell me, what’s the spider for?” Mu Bai challenged him.

“Well… I think my mind is a little messed up still from the electric shock. Master Mu Bai, could you please explain it to me?” Mo Fan replied shamelessly.

“The spider is the channel that transports the essence!” Mu Bai said.

“Oh, I thought the spider was the receiver, little did I know it’s the… put that ice sword down, what are you thinking? You clearly lack a sense of humor. I understand now; the spider is a jar full of essence. The Mummy was able to live for so long and grow stronger because the spider was transferring the essence into its coffin through its silk!” Mo Fan put on a serious face for this revelation.

“The essence is some good stuff,” Mu Bai said thoughtfully. “I believe only the Ruler-level creatures get to enjoy it.”

“But Shreev said something about an ancient drawing, and the first creature on it is a spider. Doesn’t that explain why there’s a spider in this chamber? It might not be the channel that you think,” Mo Fan rebutted.

“It’s only Shreev’s speculation, based on his ancient drawing. We’ll know the truth once we take the creature down and do some experiments on it. Only two of us are awake now… let’s keep it quiet,” Mu Bai proposed quietly.

“Mu Bai, why do I feel like you’re getting better at things like this?” Mo Fan patted Mu Bai on the shoulder, like a father who was glad that his child had grown up.

“Don’t you have a Soul Container? You can take the essence while I take its heart and organs. I’ll use them to forge a high-quality Magic Tool,” Mu Bai said.

“Sure!” Mo Fan nodded.

They were each taking what they needed. Since there was not much to share, the two decided to split the loot before the others woke up!