Dangross was quick in action. Angel had barely rested for ten minutes in the Illusionary Realm’s small cabin when Earl Mi, standing watch outside, reported the arrival of an Elemental Sprite.
Angel stepped outside and saw an Earthfire Grub about the size of an adult’s lower leg, slowly inching its way to the cave entrance.
This Earthfire Grub was an Elemental Sprite, not possessing high Spirit Intelligence, so Angel didn’t greet it; he simply watched quietly to see what it would do.
The Earthfire Grub moved forward with a "crawl," at a fairly brisk pace.
Curiously, it glanced at the entrance, slightly irritated by the icy aura coming from inside, but the fire within its body from Dangross urged it to enter.
The Earthfire Grub hesitated for a moment, then continued crawling inside.
As soon as it stepped into the icy cavern, the Grub shivered from the cold, suppressing its instinct to flee, and crawled up to Angel.
The Grub raised its flame-topped head with pea-sized eyes, glancing at Angel. It seemed to convey, "Is this the person that the big guy told me to see?"
Whatever impression the Grub had of Angel was unknown to him, but Angel clearly saw the Grub spit a puff of slightly gray flame onto the ground before him, then turned around and sped away at an incredible speed, disappearing out of sight.
Standing at the entrance, Angel felt somewhat disheveled. The earlier scene gave him the impression that a bratty child was forced to meet a parent’s friend, only to spit disdainfully and leave brusquely.
The feeling was peculiar, and this wasn’t the first time.
After the Grub departed, it wasn’t long before a small lizard covered in Magma appeared before him. Similarly, the lizard circled Angel once, then left.
Though the Magma Lizard didn’t spit at him, Angel still sensed a subtle disdain...
"I clearly asked Dangross to summon his underlings for a look, so why do I feel like I’m a Joker being gawped at in a Circus?" Angel shivered, deciding not to think about it further. Even if he was being watched, at least he could see different Fire Sprites and maybe find one that suited him, right?
Angel wasn’t impressed by the Earthfire Grub or the Magma Lizard. It wasn’t that they lacked Potential, but both were mixed with some earth elemental energy. While such Elemental Sprites could be trained for cross-realm elemental tricks, they were less useful for Alchemy support.
So, even as they left, Angel didn’t stop them.
He waited a bit longer, and seeing no other Elemental Creatures approaching, he returned into the Illusionary Realm’s small cabin to meditate.
After meditating, Angel checked his surroundings and found no Elemental Creatures outside. He contacted Earl Mi to confirm that in the three hours of his meditation, not a single Elemental Creature had come.
"Didn’t Dangross say he had hundreds of underlings? Could it be that Dangross was lying and only has a few underlings?" Angel muttered to himself. Reflecting more, it didn’t seem right, since he witnessed Dangross recruiting underlings at the Lava Lake firsthand—using sheer charisma and allure—it shouldn’t be lacking in followers.
Unable to figure it out, Angel decided to stop dwelling on it and turned his focus to another matter—
The Earth Mark bestowed by Little In-Ba.
The Earth Mark was given to Angel by Little In-Ba at Big In-Ba’s behest, as gratitude for Angel’s Ghostfire Butterfly gemstone sculpture.
In essence, the Earth Mark is somewhat similar to the Flame Mark given by Odeclass, both being seals of one’s power and aura. The condensing force in Angel’s surrounding aura was Little In-Ba’s earth aura.
However, in terms of level and effectiveness, the Earth Mark falls short of Odeclass’s Flame Mark.
The Flame Mark can release powerful flame forces, form a shield, and even borrow part of Odeclass’s dragon might to intimidate opponents. Little In-Ba’s Earth Mark, however, provides only a trace of its aura, neither useful for defense nor attack, and doesn’t leave any marks on Angel’s body, purely an "aura mark" recognizable by those familiar with Little In-Ba.
Indeed, Big In-Ba could make Earth Marks too, even more powerful than Little In-Ba’s. The reason it requested Little In-Ba to provide the Earth Mark was simply that Little In-Ba’s mark was more favored.
Little In-Ba is a very clever earth elemental creature with ideals, ambitions, and an adventurous spirit. Hence, it chose to study abroad, learning more knowledge from sages in other regions. Big In-Ba was actually brought along by Little In-Ba.
Such a disposition is extremely rare in the earth elemental tribe.
Because of Little In-Ba’s personality, it had visited many other elemental creatures’ territories. As earth creatures are generally non-confrontational and inherently powerful, Little In-Ba faced no hostility and even made many friends in those regions.
It can be said that during its travels in the past decades, Little In-Ba has made friends all over the world.
Big In-Ba knew that Angel’s future would take him not only to the Wilderness of Stones but also to other elemental creatures’ territories. If Angel were to meet Little In-Ba’s friends, Little In-Ba’s Earth Mark could bring Angel many conveniences.
This is why Big In-Ba insisted on Little In-Ba giving him a mark.
Though a bit reluctant, Little In-Ba eventually, with some shyness, merged its aura mark into Angel’s aura field.
Now, Angel can manifest the earth aura within his field to allow others to recognize it, simply by channeling it. Even without channeling, the earth aura continually surrounds Angel, though it takes high Perception to detect it.
However, this Earth Mark constantly consumes its energy, and according to Angel’s calculations, if not frequently activated to manifest, it remains for at most three months.
This might be a limitation set by Little In-Ba itself, as it doesn’t particularly favor Angel. In its view, the Tidal World is vast, and Angel probably wouldn’t traverse beyond the Wilderness of Stones within three months. The time limit helps meet Big In-Ba’s request without offering too much aid to Angel.
What Little In-Ba doesn’t realize is that, at Angel’s pace, three months is more than enough to traverse the Tidal World multiple times. So the three-month stipulation is perfectly sufficient for Angel.
After clearing up the situation with the Earth Mark, another two hours passed.
Earl Mi, who had been quiet all this while, finally sent word again.
To Angel’s mild surprise, the newcomer wasn’t an Elemental Sprite but a mature Elemental Creature.
Although a mature body, this Elemental Creature wasn’t large, appearing as a Flame Sparrow engulfed in bright orange flames, comparable in size to a typical adult peacock.
Angel noticed the Flame Sparrow had a long tail feather, one of which burned with a brighter shade of orange-red flame.
It looked very much like the Flame Sparrow he had seen at the volcano, used by Magicfire Midir to convey messages?
"Are you one of Dangross’s underlings?" Angel asked curiously.
The Flame Sparrow flew into the cave, not acting like the unruly Elemental Sprites, calmly standing outside the Illusionary Realm’s small cabin. Hearing Angel’s question, a barely perceptible awkwardness flickered in its flame-lit eyes. After a while, it nodded and said, "I used to be. I’m now part of the Royal Guard. You may call me Fespanra, sir."
Royal Guard Squad? A look of realization flashed in Angel’s eyes, thinking it must be the group of Flame Sparrows hovering around the volcano’s crater.
So, is this Flame Sparrow really the one he saw before?
Angel voiced his doubts, and Fei Spanrui nodded, "Yes."
Upon hearing Fei Spanrui’s answer, Angel felt a slight sense of disappointment. This particular Flame Sparrow happened to be the type of pure fire creature he was searching for. Its flame temperature was especially suitable for him, and its bright orange-red tail feather, if fully unleashed, could rival High Order Fire Melting Methods, saving him much effort in alchemy... Unfortunately, this sparrow belongs to Midir the Ghostfire’s subordinate. Convincing it to leave would be difficult unless by force.
For Elemental Sprites, even if force is used, their spirit intelligence can be slowly guided in the future. However, an originally intelligent elemental creature can easily backfire if forced, especially since elemental creatures can guide elemental side cultivation, and if it sabotages during cross-discipline cultivation, it could affect one’s entire life.