After a crushing battle, Monkey sat wearily on a high point, the data collection now complete. It was confirmed that there was indeed an Earth Element spirit seed in the nearby valley.
Although tired, he knew his Big Brother was here to help him gain benefits, so he quickly tidied up. Then, with the Flame Howl Wolf leading the way, they moved towards the location of the spirit seed.
However, Mo Fan did not choose to directly enter the Lizard-Skull Great Demon tribe's valley. Instead, he took Monkey to search for a cave that led to the underground river.
In the original world, the Armored Giant Lizard could only be killed when it was injured.
But now?
Since he hadn't been here, the Armored Giant Lizard was certainly at its peak combat strength. The corpse of an Armored Giant Lizard wasn't worth much, and he wasn't planning on risking that much.
The two searched for about ten days and finally found the Earth Element spirit seed for Monkey.
Of course, Mo Fan also eliminated many Lizard Demons during these days.
Within the Dongting Lake area, Lizard-Skull Great Demons were rampant and could be seen everywhere. Even if Mo Fan had killed thousands of them these past few days, they could still be found everywhere.
Upon returning to the city, Monkey went back to report to Wei Fang, while Mo Fan headed to Hangzhou. Although the Book of Thunder Element Constellations wasn't used, Teacher Tang Yue's trouble, or rather, the Totem Black Snake's trouble, had arrived.
Because the Totem Black Snake had appeared. Although this time it didn't appear in the center of Hangzhou, it appeared in the academy where Xin Xia was!
This was something Mo Fan hadn't expected.
However, it was normal for the Totem Black Snake to appear during this sensitive period. But its appearance naturally caused unnecessary trouble. Zhu Meng, a councilor from the Court Mage Association, even directly targeted it.
In fact, Zhu Meng had been eyeing this Totem Black Snake for a long time.
Just as Mo Fan arrived in Hangzhou, Teacher Tang Yue brought him to the Magic Association in Hangzhou.
They took the elevator all the way to the top floor of the building, where there was a full panoramic conference hall with an impressive style.
As they approached the entrance of the conference room, a group of uniformed men stood guard. Almost all of these men were High-Level Mages.
They didn't wait long before Teacher Tang Yue's senior brother led them inside.
The conference room had a standard large round table, with about seven or eight well-dressed men and women seated around it.
The remaining twenty-odd people all stood to the side; judging by their uniforms, they were mostly members of the Judgment Association.
Those guarding outside had already reached High-Level Mage strength, so those inside naturally wouldn't be any worse. Here, Mo Fan also saw Leng Qing, the Vice President of the Demon City Judgment Association.
However, the Demon City Judgment Association was also under the management of the Lingyin Temple Judgment Association. So she was also considered part of the Tang family's faction.
At this moment, a middle-aged man with a thick beard at the conference table slammed his hand down, righteously declaring, "People have died, and you are still protecting that venomous snake! I came from the Magic Court this time not to negotiate with you, but to eliminate the hidden danger in West Lake by order and bring peace back to Hangzhou. You'd better hand over the Sky Serpent as soon as possible for us to deal with!"
Teacher Tang Yue glared at the thick-bearded man with anger in her eyes, muttering curses under her breath.
Clearly, in Teacher Tang Yue's view, Zhu Meng, who was targeting the Totem Black Snake, was a bad person.
"Calm down, calm down, Councilor Zhu Meng, you know the Sky Serpent's abilities. Going after it with such murderous intent will only cause greater trouble. Everything needs to be resolved slowly," an elder judge said with a smile.
"Don't say so much useless stuff. This time, you can't protect it anymore!" Zhu Meng said very forcefully.
"Protect? Why should we protect it? The Totem Black Snake has been in this city for countless years; this is its natural habitat. I truly don't understand what right we have to drive it away?" an elder, clearly holding a stance of protecting the totem, said indignantly.
"That's your totem; what does it have to do with us? What I care about is whether this demon will cause widespread chaos!" Zhu Meng said, his momentum undiminished.
"I don't think you're worried about the Totem Black Snake causing chaos. Rather, you're worried that as long as it exists, your hidden danger strategy can't be fully implemented, you can't gain more supporters, and you can't become the President of the Magic Court!" the old totem guardian retorted angrily.
Zhu Meng looked at the old man with the goatee, and instead of getting angry, he smiled.
Mo Fan watched quietly from the side. He had to admit, those who played power games were truly actors!
Just then, Teacher Tang Yue couldn't help but stand up and say, "The Totem Black Snake won't harm people. How can you claim those two corpses were caused by the Totem Black Snake?"
"Where did this ill-mannered girl come from? Is this your place to speak!" a court guard next to Zhu Meng shouted loudly.
Zhu Meng, however, glanced at Teacher Tang Yue, seemingly recognizing her. He waved his hand, signaling the guard captain beside him not to worry about such an understanding issue.
"Everything needs evidence. Just dragging out two corpses and saying the Totem Black Snake killed them, don't you think that's ridiculous!" Teacher Tang Yue continued to retort angrily.
"Teacher Tang Yue, don't be rude, step down."
Judge Tang Zhong stood up and, after a rebuke, looked at Zhu Meng and said, "My niece is not wrong; everything needs evidence. With our totem's ability, if it really wanted to kill someone, it wouldn't even leave a body. Why would it inexplicably leave two rotten corpses that were only discovered a week later? To pin the blame for these two corpses on our totem is simply too much!"
Zhu Meng looked at Tang Zhong, but his attitude was extremely firm: "Investigating cases is not my business; my duty is to eliminate hidden dangers. Its public appearance in the bustling city is enough to list it as a primary hidden danger. Now I only give you two days: either you hand over the Totem Black Snake yourselves, or I will personally take action!"
With that, Zhu Meng turned and left directly.
"Alas, I never thought that despite our careful protection, it would still be caught with a handle," Tang Zhong sighed, looking incredibly melancholic.
"What should we do now? Zhu Meng is determined to deal with the totem this time, and he has reason on his side. Even if we appeal to a higher council, it probably won't calm down," Hei Yu said.
"Actually, Zhu Meng is just putting on a show for a while. If he wants to deal with the totem, let him deal with it. If he really had the ability to defeat the Totem Black Snake, he would have done it long ago; why wait until today...? Isn't it because he fears the totem's strength?" Councilor Luo Mian said, stroking his beard.
Luo Mian clearly also knew about the Totem Black Snake's shedding, and the reason he said this was simply to reconfirm it.
Tang Zhong was also very helpless and explained about the Totem Black Snake's ten-year shedding cycle.
Then Tang Zhong looked at Teacher Tang Yue and said, "Teacher Tang Yue, I think you need to take the totem away from here in advance and find a safe place for it to safely pass its shedding period."
Teacher Tang Yue nodded in agreement.
She naturally didn't want anything to happen to the Totem Black Snake.
After all, to her, the Totem Black Snake was like family!
"I'll be responsible for protecting Teacher Tang Yue and the totem," Hei Yu said.
Judge Tang Zhong shook his head and said, "The totem during its shedding period is very sensitive. Any Commander Level creature or High-Level Mage among humans appearing within twenty kilometers of it will provoke its hostility. Teacher Tang Yue is the only one whose strength exceeds this limit and will not be regarded as an enemy by the totem."