Versatile Mage : Reborn As Mo Fan

"Old Zhao, how about you go up and check the sky to see if we're on the right route? Why aren't we there yet?" After some more time had passed, Mo Fan was starting to get impatient.

Running on the water like this was really boring! While Mo Fan could fly too, he generously let Zhao Manyan take this opportunity to show off.

Hearing Mo Fan's suggestion, Zhao Manyan immediately agreed. Initially, he thought about inviting Mo Fan to come along, but since Mo Fan also had his own wings, he didn't bother asking.

After showing off his large wings, Zhao Manyan soared into the sky, but he quickly came back down with a grim expression.

At the same time, Jiang Yu suddenly screamed, "Oh my god, what's that under us?!"

Everyone turned to look as soon as they heard Jiang Yu's alarm. Beneath the clear waters, they saw a massive shadow under the cruise ship. It felt like their whole ship had entered a black sea. The sheer size of the shadow filled everyone's hearts with an overwhelming fear from deep within.

To be honest, if Mo Fan didn't know the creature below was Baxia, even he would have been terrified. After all, a massive shadow like that without any detectable energy fluctuations clearly indicated an incredibly powerful being!

Nobody spoke. They all stared wide-eyed, their bodies frozen in place. It wasn't until the shadow completely disappeared that everyone let out a breath of relief.

"It dived down," Mo Fan said, watching Baxia vanish.

As the shadow faded, the oppressive sense of terror began to ease. After a while, the sea returned to its deep blue clarity. Everyone on the ship felt drained, especially Jiang Yu, who had seen it first—he collapsed onto the deck, utterly exhausted!

The ship continued sailing, but everyone remained silent for a long time. After what felt like forever, Jiang Yu finally stood up, his gaze sweeping over the quiet group.

"I don't know why, but I suddenly feel like a frog in a well," Jiang Yu said.

How much of this world remained beyond human comprehension and exploration? Jiang Yu had thought he knew every type of demon creature—he could easily identify them by just seeing a silhouette. But the enormous shadow beneath them? He had no idea what it was.

"That's probably one of the reasons our mentors sent us out here to gain experience. But a creature of that size must be at least a Monarch-level, right?" Nan Jue muttered.

"Yeah, definitely Monarch-level. Thankfully, it didn't attack us. Otherwise, our journey would have ended right there," Guan Yu added.

Everyone else agreed.

"Anyway, it's gone now. That thing scared the crap out of me!" Zhao Manyan said, relieved.

The others felt the same. Staying alive was what mattered most. As for everything else? It was secondary!

Earlier, when Zhao Manyan had flown into the air, he saw the coastline, but it seemed their course had drifted off. They still needed to sail a bit further to reach their intended port.

Mo Fan finally started to piece together why Baxia had appeared! With its power, Baxia could have easily remained hidden. The reason it showed up was to change their course!

It had chosen Zhao Manyan, urging him to head to that city and retrieve the wooden fish. As absurd as it sounded, it seemed to be fate—totem creatures were capable of influencing dreams, after all. Even without Mo Fan messing with Zhao Manyan, he still would have ended up with the wooden fish, since this was all preordained.

But why had Baxia picked Zhao Manyan? That part was a mystery.

As they entered the safe waters of Sakura Nation, their ship, already registered, smoothly entered the protected zone.

Here, they saw several fishing vessels. In this area, fishing boats were divided into two types. One used machines to haul in thousands of fish at a time, storing them in refrigerated compartments. The other type was much more primitive—just a couple of fishermen with very basic equipment, much like the simple boats near Feiniaoshi City back home.

Sakura Nation also had some traditional fishing boats, but most had been replaced by mechanized ships. With so many ways to prepare fish, their fishing industry was quite advanced.

This safe zone was filled with fishing vessels, all painted in dull gray. When their white cruise ship from China sailed into the area, it looked out of place.

After docking and stepping back onto solid land, everyone felt a slight sense of security. After all, they weren't like Mo Fan; they didn't know that the giant shadow beneath the sea wasn't a threat.

The ocean was a realm they rarely ventured into, but on land, at least they had a better chance of escaping danger—though even then, it wasn't much of a chance.

After leaving the dock and passing through security, they entered Xixiong City. However, they couldn't check into a hotel and ended up finding a temple on a mountainside instead. The temple, in exchange for a hefty donation, agreed to take them in.

They had no choice—Sakura Nation required proper identification for lodging. The temple, called Yanming Temple, was a classic Sakura-style temple. It had a stone gate at the foot of the mountain and marble steps leading straight to the temple above. The temple wasn't very large, and there weren't many worshipers, only a few monks. Aside from them, the only people there were this group of stowaways.

Once they arrived at the temple, most of them, exhausted from the journey, went straight to rest.

Mo Fan, however, didn't rest. Instead, he spotted an evil monk and the girl from the soul vessel.

He didn't know why he was seeing them here, but he wasn't planning on getting involved in Sakura Nation's affairs. So, whenever the monk or the girl tried to approach him, he simply used his space magic to make them retreat.

After sensing Mo Fan's powerful magic, they didn't dare come closer.

Mo Fan wasn't some superhero—whatever happened here had nothing to do with him. Whether it was an evil spirit seeking revenge or something else, it wasn't his problem.

That night, Yanming Temple was eerily quiet. Even the sound of insects was absent. The bustling coastal city below seemed completely detached from the temple's existence. Only a few faint paper lanterns swayed in the dark, casting a ghostly light on the temple, making it easy to overlook its presence altogether.

"Mo Fan, why are you just sitting here? You scared me!" A woman's startled voice came from nearby.

"Waiting for you." Mo Fan, who had been planning to search for the wooden fish, responded.

"Oh~?" Jiang Shaoxu raised an eyebrow, then playfully teased, "Aren't you afraid Mu Nu Jiao will get jealous?"

"Mu Nu Jiao doesn't know. Why would she get jealous?"

"You're so bad~"

"As if you're some kind of saint."

"Alright, let's go. Let's call it a date."

"..."

(End of Chapter)