Upon hearing this, Mo Fan glanced at Mu Ningxue and joked, "What, are you planning to sponsor me?"
"I can lend you money." Mu Ningxue replied, ignoring his joke completely.
"I probably need around 30 million more, do you have that much?" Mo Fan asked.
"That much?" Mu Ningxue was taken aback. She didn't have that much money.
"I don't have that much. Why do you need so much? And what about Lu Nian? We don't even know what his situation is. If he finds you, what then? You should go back first."
"You're worried about me?" Mo Fan teased again.
"You..." Mu Ningxue was speechless for a moment. Does this guy always focus on the wrong things?
She paused, then continued, "But even if you stay here, how much money could you actually earn? The Lizard Skull Monsters are everywhere, and since they're so common, they're not worth much."
"Huh?" Mo Fan froze. He hadn't thought about that.
He was planning on gathering monster materials while hoping for a lucky break with a rare monster core. But now, with Mu Ningxue's reminder, he realized that he hadn't really thought this through.
"Come on, you at least need to figure out how to earn money properly." Mu Ningxue said, exasperated.
"Alright, fine. Let's head back."
With that, Mo Fan decided to return to the city. He couldn't waste his time out here if the monsters weren't worth much. Once they returned, Mu Ningxue immediately headed back to the capital. As for Mo Fan, after calling Tang Yue, Xin Xia, and Zhan Kong, he returned to Pearl Academy.
Initially, Mo Fan had planned to fake his death to lay low, but with the Lizard Skull Monsters being so worthless, he couldn't afford to stay out in the wilderness any longer. Zhan Kong, after sustaining injuries, had retreated back to the Guard Post and was recovering. His companions, especially Zhang Xiaohou, were relieved to hear Mo Fan was safe.
Back at Pearl Academy, Principal Xiao was happy to see Mo Fan return safely. Initially, this was supposed to be a routine training exercise for the elite students of the two schools, but no one expected things to take such a dangerous turn.
"Glad you're back, Mo Fan. It's good to have you safe." Principal Xiao said.
After explaining what had happened in the wilderness, Mo Fan said, "Principal Xiao, now that I'm entering the main campus, I don't want to stay in the Summoning Department anymore. I want to switch departments."
"You don't want to stay in the Summoning Department?" Principal Xiao was surprised.
"There's barely enough students in that department to form a soccer team, and there aren't any girls either. It's boring. Transfer me to the Fire Department. It's the biggest department at the institute, so there should be more people and more excitement." Mo Fan said.
Principal Xiao shook his head with a smile. Even with so few students in the Summoning Department, Mo Fan had managed to stir up plenty of trouble. If he went to the much larger Fire Department, things were bound to get even more chaotic. However, it wasn't a big issue. The Fire Department's competitive environment might be good for Mo Fan.
"Alright, you can report to the Fire Department." Principal Xiao agreed.
In smaller cities, fire mages were quite rare. But in Pearl Institute, which gathered top students from all over the country, fire mages were more common. Since all the students in the main campus were at least at the mid-level, and many had some financial resources, they could even use Awakening Stones to increase their chances of awakening fire magic if they were particularly passionate about it.
With so many fire mages gathering, the Fire Department naturally became one of the largest departments at Pearl Academy.
Now that Mo Fan was alive and well, he saw no reason to keep a low profile. With his Demon Element as a trump card, there was no need for modesty. Plus, after the events in Bo City and the magic capital, he felt he had already made significant contributions to the organization.
Mo Fan's fire star cloud had already reached the third level, and although there was a huge gap between that and the high-level fire star river, magic was all about gradual accumulation. Even if he had the money to buy the resources needed to advance, he wouldn't attempt a breakthrough just yet. Advancing to the high level required both resources and patience, and rushing it could lead to failure.
The Fire Department at Pearl Academy, known as the Fire Academy, had over two thousand fire mages, with about a thousand regularly attending. Many more had graduated from the department over the years.
Mo Fan had picked a good time to visit—today was the monthly Fire Academy rankings update. The purpose of the ranking was simple: to allocate resources. The higher you ranked, the more resources you received. After reaching the mid-level, the costs of cultivation became astronomical, so to rise above the rest, you needed more resources to sustain your training.
As soon as Mo Fan arrived at the massive Fire Academy lecture hall, he was struck by its fiery red décor. Everything, from the walls to the towering columns, gave off a burning sensation, as if the entire hall was ablaze.
When he sat down, a short-haired girl in front of him turned around and scornfully asked, "Hey, you look new here. You're not from another department trying to cozy up to Ding Yumian, are you? With your looks, don't even bother!"
"Excuse me, but I sat down here first. And how do I know you're not the one trying to get close to me?" Mo Fan retorted playfully.
Although he had guessed who she was, it was still funny how things turned out this way.
However, Ding Yumian, who was seated in front of the girl, hadn't even turned around, so Mo Fan didn't get to see her face.
The surrounding girls turned to look at him with expressions that said, "Shameless!"
Mo Fan sighed. What was with girls these days? Did they all think they were some kind of celestial beings? He had no shortage of beautiful women around him. These ordinary girls wouldn't interest him, even if they paid him.
"You should move to the back and stop being an eyesore. This has always been where we sit. It's been that way for half a year." the short-haired girl, Huang Xingli, said.
"What if I don't?" Mo Fan shrugged and provoked her further.
"Don't push me. I, Huang Xingli, am ranked 300th on the Fire Academy's leaderboard. Dealing with a nobody like you would be a piece of cake. Don't make me teach you a lesson. Healers don't come cheap." Huang Xingli threatened.
"Xingli, let it go. Don't start any trouble." Ding Yumian said, though she still didn't turn around.
Mo Fan decided not to argue further. This girl wasn't too bad, apart from being a bit hot-headed.
(End of Chapter)