Chapter 2196 Sandstorm Travel Troupe <TOC> Chapter 2198 Blooming Lorca
Translator: SumTLMan
After parting ways with the Guardian and Patrol, Angel once again activated the Gondola.
High in the sky, Angel took out an orange-yellow stone handed to him by a Patrol. As soon as the stone was placed in the palm, it seemed to come to life, beginning to tremble slightly, and eventually, under a strange attraction, it rolled towards the southeast direction.
Thus, Angel followed the direction of the stone’s roll, letting the Gondola fly off.
After flying for about half an hour, the direction of the stone’s roll in the palm gradually shifted towards the due east, and the Gondola also changed its course accordingly.
Under the guidance of the stone, Angel was on the right track. In less than three hours, he entered the center area of the Wild Stone Wasteland.
Below, earth elemental creatures running around could be seen. They also noticed the Gondola, but since it was flickering with a thick yellow light, a pass given by the Patrol, it was unimpeded all the way.
It wasn’t until they arrived at the entrance to the Rubi Cave that they were stopped for the first time by two giant stone creatures, each twenty meters tall.
These two stone creatures were also Guardians, ensuring the safety of the caverns. After Angel handed the orange-yellow stone to them, they contacted the sage within the caverns before allowing them passage.
Though the caverns might sound narrow and cramped, they are actually a natural cave formed within a giant rock. The entrance to the cave is over thirty meters high, and the interior is even taller, allowing Angel to enter with the Gondola without any issues.
However, out of respect, upon entering the Rubi Cave, Angel put away the Gondola and measured the earth with his feet as he walked towards the depths.
Inside the caverns, main and side paths crisscrossed, with doors of various sizes occasionally visible, from which various earth elemental creatures came in and out.
Suddenly, Angel felt as if he had returned to the body of Magu, with an extremely similar structure. However, because the interior of the caverns was larger, it was also more complex. Standing at the entrance and looking forward was like seeing countless criss crossing paths layered on top of each other.
Without the guidance of the orange-yellow stone, Angel would surely lose his direction in these countless paths.
Following the stone’s guidance, Angel chose a path forward. Along the way, he encountered some earth elemental creatures, which seemed to have been informed of a guest’s arrival. They saw Angel coming in and did not stop him, only looking curiously from a distance without approaching.
Only the naive earth elemental sprites would actively approach Angel.
For instance, in front of Angel, there was a mud sprite about half a meter square, slowly approaching Angel and finally stopping right in front of his feet. If Angel stepped on it carelessly, he would sink into the mud, splashing himself with mud.
Playing such pranks was exactly the mud sprite’s intention.
Or rather, without spiritual intelligence, more than sixty percent of elemental sprites would play similar pranks. After all, wouldn’t it be called a mischievous child if it wasn’t troublesome?
If it were a stealth exploration, Angel would probably lightly punish the mischievous child trying to prank him, but now, with so many earth elemental creatures watching from a distance and possibly the sage’s eyes nearby, Angel couldn’t discipline the mud sprite and could only step over it quickly, pretending not to see.
After walking for about twenty minutes, the orange-yellow stone guided them to a place that seemed like a stone temple.
The stone doors were of a split-push type, currently wide open, allowing a clear view of the spacious interior.
Entering the stone doors, there were many pillars inside, supporting the cyan-gray stone ceiling. On the two sides of the stone walls, there were patterns pieced together with crushed diamonds and black and white gems. These patterns seemed to have no special function, appearing only for decoration, creating a solemn and dignified atmosphere, making the entire interior atmosphere more religious, as if it truly were a stone temple.
When Angel reached the front of the great hall, the orange-yellow stone stopped rolling.
At the same time, a gem person made entirely of yellow crystal drilled out from the ground.
The overall structure of the gem person is not much different from that of the stone people outside, the only difference being that its eyes are deeper.
This citrine gem person is precisely Sage Bortia of the Wild Stone Wasteland.
However, Angel was not paying much attention to the sage at this moment but looked with surprised eyes towards the back of the sage, which is the deepest part of the stone temple’s main hall——
There, there was a circular wall, on which was painted a very exquisite painting. The painting depicted a massive gem turtle that seemed to be able to support heaven and earth, with its shell inlaid with various gems and crystals, hence its name.
The reason Angel was interested in this painting was that the author was Feng. He had also seen a miniature map of this gem turtle in the map of the Tidal Realm.
This should be the full-body portrait that Feng painted for the original monarch of the Wild Stone Wasteland.
“Are you the human, Pat, mentioned by the Patrol? Are you very interested in the painting of Gem Rafler?” Sage Bortia looked at Angel, with undisguised inquiry in his eyes.
Angel nodded: “Yes, I am very interested because the author of this painting is Mr. Feng. I descended into the Tidal Realm also with an intention, to seek the traces left by Mr. Feng.”
With just a few words, Angel revealed a lot of information, which made sage Bortia’s eyes flicker with dim light continuously.
Just as Bortia was thinking about how to ask for more information, Angel asked: “May I come closer to look at this painting?”
Bortia: “You may.”
Angel showed gratitude, gave a half-bow to Bortia, and then slowly walked up to the painting of the gem turtle.
Upon closer inspection, from the brushstrokes and style, Angel was even more certain that the painting of the gem turtle must indeed be Feng’s work.
It was just unknown whether there was any secret on this painting? The reason he wanted to look up close was precisely for this purpose. The pattern on Flame Ruler Herodia concealed a passage to the outside world, so was there a similar hidden space on this painting?
Angel scanned with his eyes, mental power, and finally touched the painting personally. He caressed every detail carefully, to avoid missing anything.
However, he found nothing.
This was purely a painting, with no hidden secrets inside.
Angel sighed, gave up on searching for the third time, turned his head to Bortia with a slightly embarrassed expression: “Mr. Feng is known as the Magic Painter in the outside world, and his paintings are what most wizards are willing to spend a lot of money to chase after. I am also someone who loves art, so I might have been a little excited earlier…”
Bortia’s eyes flickered slightly: “No matter.”
Angel walked back in front of Bortia, straightened his expression, and returned to the main topic: “Mr. Bortia, I have come to the Wild Stone Wasteland this time to seek an audience with Lord Fallen Earth, as I have something I wish to deliver to His Lordship.”
Bortia looked deeply at Angel, did not immediately respond to Angel’s request, but started another topic: “You have the Mark of Earth of Little Inba on you, you must have met them? How are Little Inba and Big Inba living now?”
Angel was stunned for a moment, instinctively nodded: “Mr. Bortia knows the Inba brothers?”
“Their enlightenment mentor was me.” Bortia smiled: “Can you talk to me about their recent situation? I heard, Big Inba has recently taken a special interest in a phantom flame butterfly?”
“When I met them, they were doing well, Little Inba was studying hard, and Big Inba still loves carving and is very protective of the phantom flame butterfly…” Angel said dryly for a couple of sentences, really didn’t know what else to say, glanced at the severed hand hanging on the Blood Night Sanctuary: “Let’s let Dangros speak, it knows more about the Inba brothers’ life than I do.”
After saying this, Angel cast a Magic Hand to hold Dangros in the palm.
Bortia smiled and turned to look at Dangros. Having met Dangros years ago, Bortia was not unfamiliar with him.
Dangros, unphased by the audience, sat upon the Magic Hand, vividly recounting the learning and life experiences of the Inba brothers over the past year.
Bortia nodded from time to time, eyes twinkling with affectionate light, showing genuine care for the Inba brothers.
After discussing the Inba brothers, Bortia then shifted his gaze towards Angel: “Little Inba is willing to entrust you with the Mark of Earth, signifying recognition of Mr. Pat as a friend of our Wild Stone Wasteland. The request you made earlier to meet Lord Fallen Earth, I have already communicated with Highness…”
When was this discussed? A puzzled look crossed Angel’s face.
“While I was inquiring about the current status of the Inba brothers,” Bortia seemed to read Angel’s mind and responded, “Highness is currently unable to come because he had a significant enlightenment through the Voice of the World recently and is now meditating underground.”
“But, he has sent this.”
With a wave of Bortia’s hand, a pure green crystal floated up from the ground. Bortia gently tapped the green crystal, and a grand and profound aura slowly emanated from the crystal, gradually forming a projection around Bortia.
The projection displayed a yellow earth giant adorned with a garland of gems of various colors.
This yellow earth giant was the current monarch of the Wild Stone Wasteland, Fallen Earth Cerny.
From the projection, Cerny did not appear large, as the projection was scaled down. According to Magu, its true form could reach a hundred meters tall, a true elemental giant with formidable strength.
Speaking of strength, Magu praised Cerny’s abilities endlessly, but his expression turned peculiar when mentioning Cerny himself. According to Magu, Cerny was relatively amiable, but he had a strange quirk.
“Mr. Pat, having already formed a deep connection with Bortia, has received a welcomed arrival to the Wild Stone Wasteland,” boomed a resonant voice from Cerny’s mouth.
As soon as the words were spoken, Bortia gave Cerny a glare, then explained with a smile, “Highness means that he and I have discussed matters concerning you, understands your intentions, and welcomes you to the Wild Stone Wasteland.”
Angel smiled and nodded on the surface: “I understand.”
But inwardly, he was speechless. He remembered Magu’s description of Cerny: “Cerny, during his elemental sprite phase, might have been too dull and received a shock. Once his spiritual light developed, he dreamt of becoming a sage and started using precise narrative language, though his choice of words could be slightly inappropriate.”
This was Cerny’s quirk.
Angel had not understood what “could be slightly inappropriate” meant, but now, upon their first meeting, it became clear.
Formed a deep connection? Arrival? Are these the correct usages? This seems even more naive than Dangros!
While Angel was silently critiquing in his mind, Cerny continued, “this one has heard Mr. Pat has a delicacy to hand over, so hand it over now…”
Bortia “cough coughed” twice, interrupting Cerny, “Highness, your meditation must be exhausting, and projecting your voice must consume even more energy. Let me do the talking from here.”
Cerny wanted to express that he wasn’t tired, but at that moment, Bortia threw him a sharp look, and he immediately quieted down, obediently remaining silent.
“Mr. Pat, since Highness has arrived; do you have anything you wish to discuss?”
At this moment, Angel no longer desired to converse with Fallen Earth Cerny and nodded towards Bortia: “I came here this time because…”
Angel briefly recounted his origins and also made clear his intention to pursue Feng.
After outlining the general situation, Angel then took out the Drama Shadow Box Trilogy and handed it over to Bortia.
Bortia immediately opened the first part of the Drama Shadow Box, —Humans and Civilization—, and watched this novel illusionary experience together with Fallen Earth Cerny.
After finishing the first part, Bortia did not express any opinions but, with a furrowed brow, opened the second part, —The World of Wizards—.
Upon the conclusion of the second part, Bortia remained silent; Fallen Earth Cerny wanted to speak but was silenced by a glare from Bortia.
By the third part, —The Future Possibilities of the Tidal Realm—, Bortia saw Angel’s conversation with Magu and Magic Fire Midir and immediately showed a look of seriousness. Magu, being one of the longest-lived sages, holds significant weight in the Tidal Realm. Its words are considered truth by other sages.
Three hours later, after watching the trilogy, Bortia remained silent for a long time before speaking: “The content of the shadow boxes are too shocking; I cannot immediately provide the perfect feedback. I need some time to think.”
Angel: “I will not leave the Tidal Realm in the short term. After you have some insights sir, you can send a message to Mr. Magu.”
Bortia nodded, understanding that the content of the shadow box is related to the future changes in the Tidal Realm. Even if Magu spoke personally, it would still require deep thought.
“Setting aside the content of the shadow box, I would like to ask Mr. Bortia if there is any information related to Mr. Feng?”
Due to the content of the shadow box, along with Magu’s attitude towards Angel, Bortia could see that Angel at least did not harbor overly greedy thoughts towards elemental creatures.
Therefore, it was willing to answer Angel’s query.
After pondering for a moment, Bortia said: “Regarding the savior, I do not know much…”
Bortia then detailed what it knew about Feng’s deeds, narrating them meticulously.
Chapter 2196 Sandstorm Travel Troupe <TOC> Chapter 2198 Blooming Lorca