After another hour or two, we walked through the streets of Shanghai towards the market. Xu Zhao Ting also decided to spend all his money on buying a spatial bracelet. I don't know if envy played a role in him or if he just decided it was much more convenient, but I didn't try to dissuade him, he should have enough money.
Upon reaching the market, we split up, as it was faster. Immediately after that, my money began to fly away into the pipe, gradually, of course, little by little, considering their total amount, but still flying away quickly. I bought various monster parts, herbs and potions, various tools necessary for creating artifacts, a high-strength magical sharpening stone, and so on. The last thing I was looking for was a concentration amulet.
It was a rare magical artifact, even rarer than permanent artifacts. To create it, a spirit mage knowledgeable in artifact creation was required. The magical formula itself for creating the artifact was incredibly complex, not to mention that at least the soul of a junior pack leader level was required! Almost until the market closed, I wandered between stalls until I found what I was looking for, in one of the shabby, remote stalls. If not for the urgent need for the amulet, I would never have found this stall. Spending over sixty million yuan, I acquired the item I needed. Of course, it won't protect against high-level magic, and even a strong high-level mage will be able to break through its defense, but the general calming effect will also help me well.
Soon I met Xu Zhao Ting, who had been looking for me for a long time, having bought a decent spatial bracelet with a volume of four cubic meters. After a little conversation, we decided to rent a room, and the next day we would head to Mo Fan, after all, it's not very good to go at night. We found a room quickly, and we also warned Mo Fan that we would come tomorrow, and Xu Zhao Ting arranged a duel. Although Mo Fan teased him a little, he agreed, so tomorrow I will have a good show.
Before going to bed, I decided to cultivate. My whole body still ached, so it was hard to move, especially considering the fatigue after today's excursions, but I could walk almost without attracting attention. My inner energy continued to circulate through my body all day, slightly slowing down after the old man's medicines wore off, but it still continued to heal my wounds. Entering my inner world, I saw the same picture as yesterday, however, cultivation was barely noticeable, but faster, which gave me hope for the success of this undertaking.
The next day, we went to Mo Fan. It's really not easy to get to him, as the housing was allocated on the outskirts of the city. Only Jiaxing Xia was in the apartment. Mo Jiaxingg was on a trip, transporting something somewhere, but we knew that yesterday. But Mo Fan went into the forest, which is not far from here, did he decide to prepare?
"Jiaxing Xia, can you help me?" I immediately turned to her, I wasn't going to postpone my decision, the constant pain reminded me of the necessity of this, and I didn't want to go looking for Mo Fan, didn't he chicken out?
"Yes, what happened?" she asked gently, examining me from head to toe.
"Nothing special, an unfortunate hunting accident," I smiled awkwardly.
"Another one," she looked at me sternly and reproachfully.
"It happened," I shrugged, well, what, tell her about the guardians? Be my guest.
"Okay, let's go," she said, heading towards her room.
"Don't you want to tell her about the guardians?" Xu Zhao Ting, standing nearby, asked.
"No, they don't need to know about it at all," I said, heading after Jiaxing Xia. "And you don't tell, the less they know, the sounder they sleep."
"Yes, perhaps," he said, then thought for a moment and said. "Jiaxing Xia, shall I make us some tea?"
"Yes, of course, everything is in the kitchen," a voice came from the room, and I quickened my pace.
Just like last time, when Jiaxing Xia healed me, I undressed to the waist, showing her my bandaged body. She removed all the bandages and began to study all the bruises closely. It didn't take much time, her face was very focused, I would say she was both irritated and upset at the same time, a very strange combination.
"How did you manage to get such injuries?" she asked, looking reproachfully into my eyes.
"I was thrown by the tail of a giant alligator while hunting, hit a tree, something like that," I said, smiling awkwardly.
"Did he hit you like that a couple of times?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "And how long ago was this? The wounds have healed as if a week has passed, or even two. Or maybe you went to other healing mages, although then you wouldn't have come to me," she reasoned aloud, almost muttering to herself, while simultaneously building a star path.
Gradually, a white glow enveloped me, and the wounds began to gradually close, and the bruises to dissipate. My inner energy also reacted to this, accelerating its rotation, speeding up the healing. This was unexpected for both me and Jiaxing Xia.
"What's wrong with your body?" she asked, looking at me questioningly. "There seems to be some kind of power inside you that strengthens and changes your body, making it incredibly strong and tough."
"I don't know anything about it," I said, putting on the most surprised face possible, I definitely wasn't going to tell her about inner energy and training with the old man!
"I see, with it, your healing will go faster. But this energy also seems to destroy and restore your body simultaneously, so complete healing may take about three weeks, maybe a month," she said, continuing to use magic and simultaneously studying my body.
The old man said something similar, and his books also mention this. Inner energy, after awakening, gradually restores and rebuilds the body, making it stronger and more resilient. The whole process takes about a month, but if you use healing magic, the effect will be better, and it may be possible to finish the rebuilding faster and move on to accumulating inner energy.
"Jiaxing Xia, just don't tell anyone about this," I said, when the healing session was almost complete, and there were practically no traces of bruises and other wounds left.
"Why?" she asked, surprised. "Any healing mage who starts treating you will realize it."
"I don't want anyone to know, just because, is it difficult for you?" I asked her.
"No, then that's fine," Jiaxing Xia said, slightly confused. After we finished, we went to the kitchen, where Xu Zhao Ting and Mo Fan were already waiting for us. They were arguing about something enthusiastically, but there was no sign of anger towards each other.
"What happened?" I asked them, taking a mug of tea.
"Brother Jiaxing Yun. Xu Zhao Ting says he can defeat me, as if he doesn't remember what happened last time," Mo Fan stated confidently.
"As far as I know, he made you sweat back then," I said, slightly surprised.
"He didn't exactly make me sweat; he just skillfully dodged my attacks and defended with his shield, so I had to use mid-level magic," Mo Fan said casually, taking a sip of tea.
"But he wasn't a mid-level mage back then," I said, shrugging calmly.
"Yes. And since then, my skills have grown even stronger," Xu Zhao Ting said, hitting the table with his fist, annoyed.
"Really? I'm not sure about that. How can one break through to the mid-level so quickly?" Mo Fan asked, slightly surprised.
"Don't you feel the increased lightning energy in him, comparable to yours?" I asked, slightly surprised by Mo Fan's behavior. Although my perception far surpasses that of ordinary mid-level mages due to my internal energy, I can clearly see the power levels of Mo Fan and Xu Zhao Ting. The lightning element is roughly at the same level for both; I'd say Xu Zhao Ting is slightly stronger because he has fewer elements. Mo Fan's fire isn't far behind his lightning, and his shadow with summoning is steadily approaching the second stage, but it's still a long way off. Meanwhile, Xu Zhao Ting's wind magic has almost caught up to Mo Fan's shadow magic. Again, fewer elements lead to faster cultivation.
"Huh? Can you feel that?" Mo Fan asked, surprised, pulling me out of my thoughts.
"Yes, didn't you know? Of course, you can't determine the exact level, but you can get a rough idea. Although you need to practice," I replied, shrugging.
"I'll have to try," he shrugged. "Do you really think he can defeat me with four elements when he only has two?" Mo Fan asked, equally surprised.
"Why four? Isn't it three, or have you already summoned your summoned... beast?" I asked, almost revealing the wolf but quickly correcting myself so no one noticed. I need to be more careful with my words and watch what I say during conversations; I've gotten a bit too relaxed.
"By the way, I took your advice and went to teacher Tan Yue, and she helped me with the summoning. So, I actually have four elements at work, not three," Mo Fan said smugly. It's not that I was surprised, but I was pleased to note that Mo Fan would clearly be stronger than in the original, let alone Zhang Xiao Hou, and that Xu Zhao Ting plans to live and develop. It seems there shouldn't be any problems defeating the oceanic race.
"And who did you summon?" Xu Zhao Ting asked, slightly surprised and very interested, while I was lost in my thoughts.
"A dark wolf; it was quite difficult to summon," Mo Fan stated proudly. Yes, canon truly strives to happen. Even with the difference in time and place, the wolf and Mo Fan found themselves bound by fate for the second time, and this is quite a dangerous duo. If Mo Fan uses the dark wolf, Xu Zhao Ting will clearly be in trouble. Of course, this won't decide the outcome of the battle, but it will cause considerable problems.
"And what level is it?" Xu Zhao Ting continued to ask, in the same interested, slightly childish voice.
"Only a mid-level servant for now, but it's developing quickly," Mo Fan said, slightly embarrassed. Damn, I could take down the wolf with my bare hands right now. It's a shame I'm not recommended to fight yet; I could teach Mo Fan a lesson.
"Then, to be fair, Mo Fan won't summon his wolf," I said, deciding to slightly ease Xu Zhao Ting's task, considering it the best outcome.
"No, that wouldn't be fair! I want to be an equal opponent to Mo Fan, and for summoners, their beast is also part of their strength," Xu Zhao Ting stated confidently, while Mo Fan was still processing my words, or at least slightly dozed off. Yes, this is not what I expected, but it will be more interesting for me.
"Then, alright, if you don't mind. You really have few chances," I said, shrugging. If he wants to fight fairly, let him fight.
"See? Even Jiaxing Yun is on my side," said Mo Fan, who had snapped out of it.
"And I think he's just being objective," Xu Zhao Ting remarked calmly.
After finishing our tea, we all went to the forest behind the residential area, to the safety border, even Jiaxing Xia, probably worried someone would get hurt. We came out to roughly the same spot where we found Mo Fan last time. The battle of the year was about to begin.