After the hunters passed by, Tang Yue and Mo Fan finally emerged from the shadows, maintaining the same position they had held while hiding. Mo Fan's arm was still wrapped intimately around her waist, and his hand was slowly sliding upwards.
Tang Yue had noticed his bold move earlier but had chosen to remain silent given their precarious situation. Now, however...
Pinch!
"Oww! Ow ow ow!" Mo Fan yelped, his voice a mixture of surprise and pain.
Tang Yue 's sharp nails dug into the back of his hand with merciless precision. "What the hell are you thinking in this situation, you perverted brat!" she scolded, her voice a blend of irritation and bemusement.
"Ouch! It hurts! I'm sorry, Ms. Tang Yue ! Please let go now!" Mo Fan pleaded, realizing too late that an Advanced Mage's strength was nothing to scoff at.
Tang Yue sighed deeply and finally released her grip. "If these were olden times, people would have beaten you to death for assaulting your teacher!" she admonished, her eyes flashing with a mix of exasperation and amusement.
Mo Fan delicately blew on his hand to ease the pain. "Hmph! Says the same 'teacher' who got on top of her student! Besides, I'm the minor here. If we were in the olden times, you'd be in more trouble than m— mmph?!" His righteous and cunning tirade was abruptly cut off.
"Oh? Is this the mouth that's trying to act smart with me?" Tang Yue 's beautiful fingers suddenly pinched Mo Fan's lips shut, her eyes glinting mischievously.
He immediately nodded his head from side to side in submission, fear evident in his eyes.
"Good boy! Now you better behave for the rest of the mission," Tang Yue said, her tone sweet yet firm as she strode ahead of him.
Mo Fan's lips curled up into a sly smile. "So, you're saying it's okay after the mission?" he asked cunningly, a mischievous glint in his eyes.
Tang Yue halted in her tracks, her back stiffening. Mo Fan quickly caught up to her, sensing the sudden shift in the atmosphere. "Hey, I'm joking! No need to be so serious! So, please cancel that fire burst, Ms. Tang Yue ... Ms. Tang Yue ?"
BANG!!
The ground shook as a fiery explosion erupted just inches from Mo Fan's feet, sending him scrambling back with a yelp. Tang Yue turned to face him, her expression a mix of sternness and barely concealed amusement.
"Next time, watch your mouth, Mo Fan," she said, a playful smirk dancing on her lips as she continued walking.
Mo Fan watched her go, his heart pounding from the near-miss. He couldn't help but admire her spirit and beauty, even as he nursed his wounded pride.
With a rueful smile, he followed her, determined to be more cautious — at least until the mission was over.
....
After a considerable amount of distance between the hunters and the duo, they began to follow them again.
"Wait Ms. Tang Yue , I have a better plan come here." Mo Fan called out to her.
"Hmm? What is it?" Tang Yue asked as she went near him.
"We'll fly!" As Mo Fan said, his entire body was enveloped in a silver glow. He floated a little off the ground.
"You can even do this?" Tang Yue was surprised! She had not seen him fly before.
"My Space Element is not the same as it was before!" Mo Fan said with a knowing smile and in an instant a silver glow also enveloped Tang Yue.
SWOOSH~
WHOOSH~
"Whoa!" Tang Yue yelped in surprise! It was her first time flying like this!
"How is it?" Mo Fan asked as he controlled her with his hand.
"It feels weird to let someone else control my flight path!" She said honestly.
"Don't worry about that, you'll get used to it. Let's go now!" Mo Fan said casually.
"Mhmm." Tang Yue nodded.
...
The view from above was really vast and wide, though all they could see was the brown cracked draught land.
Following the footsteps of these people, the teacher and the student finally found the source of the river.
The source of the river was intentionally dammed up, forming a small reservoir. The current reservoir however, had already dried up due to the Fire Core. There were even some dried fish bones lying within.
The birds eye view had allowed Tang Yue and Mo Fan to see everything from above. They were flying at a height of 400m in the morning clear sky, so even if the people on the ground turned their heads upwards to look, they won't see anything other than clouds and the scorching sun rays.
"Ms. Tang Yue, look!" Mo Fan called out to her and pointed ahead at the ground.
She turned her head to look at what he was pointing at, and noticed a new group of people were arriving at the small reservoir.
The new people were a group of 4 men, and they looked like they came from a distinguished family! All of them were wearing white coloured Tang Suits with red lining in between them and they all had very arrogant faces.
They noticed the 10 party Hunter group and immediately had a hostile aura.
"... The news of an Elemental Core is indeed hard to hide..." Tang Yue sighed at the situation.
"It is a very precious resource after all." Mo Fan said.
To him the fire core was nothing but dirt, he had so many Elemental Cores and other valuable resources and treasures in his house that he couldn't even begin to count them. He had just accompanied Tang Yue because he had nothing to do right now.
The hunter group immediately faced off against the new party. They were looking at the new party as if they had found their long lost enemy!
"Ms. Tang Yue ! Look there!" Mo Fan said again by pointing his finger on the ground farther away from the two groups near the small hillside area.
"So, there he is..." Tang Yue said.
They saw the criminal was hiding on the small hill at least 500m away from them, and was observing the two groups. It seemed that he was waiting to for them to fight each other and finish off the weaker side after their fight.
"He's cunning." Mo Fan scoffed.
"More like he's a coward." Tang Yue refuted him and corrected the sentence.
"Let's see what happens." Mo Fan said.
"It's pretty obvious what will happen." Tang Yue replied.
...
"Pan Xiong, if you don't want to be begging in the streets of Hangzhou, then be a good boy and take your men away. The Fire Soul Core that we, the Dong Fang family, have settled our eyes on will never be shared with others!" stated one of the men. He seemed to be the head of the group, and wore a traditional luxurious Tang suit.
This man was very particular about his clothing, every one strand of hair looked as if were specially done. If he was wandering in the street, it would be normal to think he'd attract the attention of numerous ladies.
The Dong Fang Family?
Mo Fan started to think. Previously, from watching dramas, there'd usually be a person with a surname like this. In groups, they'd be rude and cocky. Every time they spoke, they'd always begin with stating their family name first. It was like they were a part of the royal family!
"So it is the Dong Fang family, those ill-mannered and hot tempered people are also aiming for the Fire Soul Core. The Dong Fang family is famous for their specialization in the Fire Element. This rare opportunity happened to appear in Hangzhou, which is also part of their branch territory. There's no reason for them to let other people get it first," Tang Yue said to Mo Fan.
Tang Yue herself was specialized in the Fire Element, so she knew of the renowned Fire Elemental clans within the country.
"They look like they're about to brawl." Mo Fan said, after seeing these two groups with their swords drawn.
"Meh, it's a common story." Tang Yue said.
"What should we do?"
"We'll wait to the end. I just want to catch that criminal, what happens with the hunters is not really my concern..." Tang Yue spoke. Both parties were well grown adults, they knew the consequences of their actions, so even if she was an enforcer it was not her place to butt in.
While both of them were having a conversation, the four men from the Dong Fang family had already begun fighting against Pan Xiong's Hunter Mages.
All four members of the Dong Fang family were Fire Mages. When those four began to brawl, lumps of blazing flame appeared in their palms. It seemed it was very simple for them to cast Basic Level magic.
All four of them were Tier One Intermediate Mages! The branch family had sent them to investigate the cause of the sudden draught of the town, but the four who came to know about the Fire Soul Core had a change of heart and decided to partake in this opportunity.
In the other group, those ten Hunter Mages didn't look like they were weak, either. The aura that Pan Xiong, Scarface, and Cowboy gave off were Intermediate level. The other seven Mages in the group were elites from the Basic level as well. Third level of Basic Magic cast within three seconds!
This was a relatively average party of Hunters. They had the ability to kill a Warrior-class Monster, but their luck would run out if two or three of them showed up.
"Fire Burst!"
"Fire Burst!"
"Fire Burst!"
"Water Barrier!"
"Water Barrier!"
"Water Barrier!"
"Water Barrier!"
"Ice Spread!"
"Earth Wave!"
The Dong Fang family and the Hunter Mages were engaged in an intense fight. The sound of Fire Burst explosions continuously roared throughout this small reservoir. The dried plants went up in flames from the blazes started by the Mages.
The Hunters weren't someone easy to pick on as well! Four Hunters immediately cast Third Tier Water Barrier and protected the others from the Fire Bursts!
One of them cast Ice Magic to supress the flames immediately. The Ice spread in the surroundings and devoured the flames in a rapid pace.
The others cast Earth wave and further spread the iced ground closer to the Dong Fang family goons! The frozen ground immediately turned into wave and crashed into the Goons of the Dong Fang family.
Mo Fan and Tang Yue watched closely. He realized these Intermediate Mages who had cast their spells first hadn't casted their Intermediate Spell yet.
An Intermediate Spell needed to control a total of 49 Stars. By the time they finished drawing the Star Pattern, an enemy would've already cast a few Basic level spells on them.
Basic Spell's strength wasn't as powerful as an Intermediate Spell, but the casting speed was much faster!!
"You guys cover me, I'll let them have a taste of my Fiery Fist!" shouted the handsome man who wore the traditional Tang outfit.
It was obvious that the four had been grouped together often. The other three instantly stood in a triangle formation to protect the man in the Tang Suit.
His Stars were connecting one by one, rapidly forming a Star Orbit.
The bright Star Orbits crossed once again, evolving into a Star Pattern under the feet of the Tang Suit man.
The moment the Star Pattern was formed, bright red flames wrapped around the Tang Suit man. He looked like a burning soul who was searching for revenge. The heat around him rapidly escalated, causing the local air temperature to rise. The air felt like a boiling cauldron.
"Fiery Fist, Exploding Heavens!"
After seeing the Tang Suit man cast his Intermediate magic, the three hunters standing in front of him immediately got out of the way.
The man roared as he gathered all the flames into his right hand.