Over the next day, Angel set up a small illusionary realm within this relatively small earth cavern.
Though it was only a small illusionary realm, Angel applied everything he had learned, with nodes complex and elaborate, and used the Nightmare Illusion as the foundation. Even a True Knowledge Wizard would take quite some time to crack it, unless brute force was applied.
But using brute force would introduce another problem... it would definitely trigger the patterns left by the Magic Painter Wizard.
Although Angel didn’t know what consequences triggering those patterns might have, he believed it would certainly not lead to any good outcomes.
After completing all this, Angel placed Toby, who was sleeping in his chest pocket, into the bracelet.
He planned to crawl into the stone hole in the stalactite shortly, and Toby’s size would surely not fit, so Toby had to go into the bracelet. The bracelet had an adaptive size function, so there was no concern about it getting stuck in the hole.
After putting Toby into the bracelet, Angel glanced at Earl Mi in the shadows, contemplating whether or not to store Earl Mi as well?
Under the influence of the Seed of Distortion, Earl Mi’s thoughts had long become chaotic, and the only thing it could understand was Angel’s words. In fact, due to the Seed of Distortion, even when Angel didn’t speak, it could comprehend what Angel was thinking.
At this moment, Earl Mi understood Angel’s mind.
It emerged from Angel’s shadow and slowly sank back into the shadow, disappearing.
Though there were no words spoken from beginning to end, Angel still understood its meaning.
Earl Mi was indicating that once it merged into a shadow, it wouldn’t be affected by the Material Realm.
This meant that even if Angel transformed into an ant, it would enter the ant’s shadow, unaffected by the constraints of physical size.
"That does save some effort." Angel muttered as he removed his clothing and stored it in the bracelet.
Once he was completely nude, Angel began to activate the Shapeshifting Technique, transforming into a slender thread.
The current limit of his Shapeshifting Technique could only shrink him to the size of a standard pearl. This size was already quite remarkable; most Wizards couldn’t shrink beyond the size of the Kulakuka Tribe people.
Angel’s transplanted Transforming Soft-bodied Insect skin was of the highest quality, which allowed his shrinking limit to surpass other Wizards.
However, even at pearl size, he still couldn’t enter the grain-of-sand-sized holes.
Therefore, Angel changed his approach. Since the limit on shrinking could only reach the size of a pearl, he decided to shrink his head to fit into the hole and let his body stretch out—as long as the head could enter, the tail could follow.
Thus, the current thread form was created.
Angel wriggled the thread, examining the exterior of the hole briefly, adjusted his shape a bit to ensure accuracy, and then transformed into a ray of white light, diving into the tiny stalactite hole.
...
After weaving through the winding passage for a while, the tunnel gradually expanded, and by the time it reached the paper door, it was large enough to accommodate the size of a member of the Kulakuka Tribe.
Angel did not immediately enter the paper door but stopped about half a meter away, assuming the form of a miniature human figure, quietly observing the paper door not far away.
It really was just a door drawn with thin paper, covered with numerous intricate Elemental Creatures, numbering over a hundred if counted carefully.
Judging by the brushwork, the style was almost identical to that on the Shannon Royal Family map.
Without a doubt, this paper door was definitely the handiwork of Feng.
The painting skills of the Magic Painter Wizard were naturally impeccable. Every Elemental Creature was lifelike, well... not only did they look real, but Angel knew that getting close to the paper door would cause these Elemental Creatures to leap out, greeting visitors with indiscriminate attacks rather than any goodwill.
But, were these Elemental Creatures real?
Angel thought for a moment and decided to test it.
He transformed his spiritual power into a thread, slowly reaching toward the paper door.
As the spirit tentacle approached the paper door, a small cyan rat, surrounded by electricity, emerged from the door and launched an attack on the spirit tentacle.
The electricity turned into a flickering spear, aiming straight for the spirit tentacle’s position.
However, before the attack could take effect, a shadow shot out from the ground, blocking the spirit tentacle. The electric spear was intercepted by the shadow, which swiftly spread to the vicinity of the small rat, transforming into a shadowy marsh that completely devoured the rat.
This shadow, of course, was Earl Mi, who had activated its defensive state.
After swallowing the electric rat, Earl Mi seemed unsatisfied and continued to extend toward the paper door.
In an instant, more than a dozen Elemental Creatures of varying sizes and natures leaped from the paper door, launching elemental assaults on Earl Mi.
These Elemental Creatures’ attacks looked formidable, but considering that they were actually no bigger than a forefinger, no matter how frightening the attacks seemed, they were already at their limit.
And Earl Mi and Angel, though currently small in size, their energy essence hadn’t changed.
The elemental shock might slightly affect fragile spiritual power, but to those with powerful physical bodies like them, it wasn’t even enough to scratch an itch.
Earl Mi simply engulfed all the attacks with a spread of shadows, incidentally swallowing them too.
Just as Earl Mi was about to launch another assault on the paper door, Angel said, "That’s enough, come back."
Earl Mi offered no rebuttal, returning to Angel’s side and sinking slowly into the shadow.
Angel, at this point, stepped forward.
When he crossed the paper door’s threshold, another electric rat leaped out at him.
With a gentle wave of his hand, Angel turned the electric rat into a wisp of static, which dissipated invisibly.
Angel sensed the residual electric tingle in the air.
"As expected, the Elemental Creatures on the paper door aren’t real; they’re just a magical trick. As long as you have enough energy, you can never get rid of them." Angel looked at the vivid designs on the nearby paper door: perhaps this was a threshold set by the Magic Painter Wizard for those who arrived later in the Tidal World?
Or perhaps it was some kind of hint?
Angel shook his head, deciding not to ponder further. He moved forward to erase another wave of Elemental Creatures, directly reaching the paper door.
Angel extended his hand, intending to push the paper door open.
However, at the moment his hand touched the door, there was no physical sensation; instead, ripples spread through the space, penetrating to the other side of the door.
"Oh?" Angel raised an eyebrow and stepped directly through the paper door.
It felt like passing through a layer of water film.
When Angel emerged again, he was on the other side of the paper door.
Before him lay a long, narrow passage that only a mini-sized human form could pass through, while behind him remained the paper door.
Only now, this paper door no longer displayed Elemental Creatures but was instead engraved with another complex pattern. It resembled the design he had seen earlier in the rock strata, though its effect was difficult to ascertain.
Angel knew better than to attempt researching it in a short period, opting instead to set it aside for later. His priority now was to explore the path ahead.
With this in mind, Angel prepared to turn back and leave. However, just as he turned his head, Angel caught sight of something out of the corner of his eye on the lower right of the paper door—a pattern distinctly different from the others.
"Could it be words?" Angel muttered, turning around to take another look.
Upon closer inspection, it really was text.
Judging by the sharp strokes, it was undoubtedly left by the Magic Painter Wizard.
Written in a slightly playful tone, it read:
"Oh dear, fortunate latecomer, do you wish to find my treasure? I’ve already placed it there~"