As Cicia made her appearance, the surrounding dark mist seemed to quickly dissipate. However, the mist only receded about twenty meters with Cicia at the center, and further away, it was still shrouded in darkness.
But the space revealed by the receding mist made Angel raise an eyebrow involuntarily.
Originally, he thought this dark mist was an empty wasteland, but unexpectedly, the place was quite delicately constructed.
The floor was made of smooth marble tiles arranged in a checkered pattern, surrounded by several simple yet elegantly patterned stone pillars. And above them was palace-level carving and stained glass.
The pointed roof’s center was obscured by mist, but Angel could basically guess the situation here.
"Earlier, I thought this space was a void-like consciousness space. But I didn’t expect to summon this Primeval Flame, which can’t be done in a consciousness space, so is this a real existing space?" Angel spoke while looking around: "Elegant as a palace, yet hiding secrets beneath, this scent of alchemy can’t be concealed."
As Angel spoke, he looked at Cicia: "Am I inside your shell now?"
Cicia: "I prefer to hear the full name—Cicia’s Box—instead of ’shell.’
"Earlier, Vay also entered your... well, Cicia’s Box. In his perception, a long time passed, yet we outside didn’t see Vay ever leave, and he quickly came to his senses. Why is that? Is it the ability of Cicia’s Box? Related to time?" Angel asked curiously.
If it’s truly related to time, it would be a pleasant surprise. Angel has always wanted to study alchemy tools related to time, but until now, he’s never seen one.
However, in Culori’s illustrated compendium, he had seen a mysterious object related to time: the Time Postcard. Its effect is to send a postcard to a certain moment and person in the future, and the postcard can carry a power for the future recipient to temporarily use.
Unfortunately, this mysterious object already has an owner and is currently stored in the Orderly Guild. Even if its Hoopa Coefficient is not high, the Orderly Guild would rarely use such time-related mysterious objects, let alone lend them to others for research.
Looking at Angel’s eyes full of curiosity, Cicia snorted, without immediately responding, and instead walked gracefully past Angel. Then, four or five meters away, she erected a tall throne made of deep mist colored glaze and dark ice crystal.
Cicia stepped up the Level 5 stairs, lightly flipped her silk skirt, and sat imposingly on the throne.
Only when Cicia sat down and looked at Angel from above, did she slowly speak: "Time powers? It seems you’re not familiar enough with prophecy system powers. Asking this question only proves your ignorance."
Not a time ability? It’s a prophecy system ability? Although Angel didn’t know exactly what prophecy system ability it was, Cicia wouldn’t deceive him about it.
Since it’s unrelated to time ability, most of Angel’s curiosity faded away.
"I admit my ignorance." Angel looked up at Cicia sitting high, with a slight smile: "After all, I’m not even twenty yet."
Originally, Cicia intended to suppress Angel’s arrogance with the throne and oversight, but Angel seemed completely unaware of it, and again mentioned "I’m not twenty yet," instantly breaching the defense of Cicia, who already didn’t want to remember how long she had lived.
Twenty-year-old Cicia, still a "child" protected by her parents in the Ivory Tower.
While across, the not-yet-twenty Angel was as cunning as a fox, without a trace of fear in conversation, moreover, holding the Primeval Flame, crucial to the entire Baiyuan race.
In comparison, perhaps Cicia’s first half of life wasn’t as illustrious as Angel’s.
Upon this thought, Cicia felt mocking Angel’s ignorance instead ridiculed herself, a breach through and a critical hit.
Cicia took a deep breath, trying to calm her emotions, at least not to be belittled by a "child" under twenty opposite her.
With a cold, glamorous face, after being silent for several seconds, Cicia felt she had somewhat calmed down.
Then she spoke: "Time hasn’t changed, I just tapped into a part of your thought and sensation. Time hasn’t changed, nor have you. What’s changed is only your perception of thought."
Cicia didn’t care if Angel understood, she simply explained, then immediately shifted the topic to the most concerning Primeval Flame.
"Since you’ve brought out the Primeval Flame, and know about the Ancestor Altar, I assume you came prepared?" Cicia tilted her chin up: "Go ahead, what’s your purpose? What do you want, or what do you want to know?"
Cicia was very confident in her tone, believing that Angel was definitely coming for her.
Otherwise, why would he ask if she’s a Baiyuanian? Why brought up the extinguished Ancestor Altar proactively? And showed the Primeval Flame?
Even "sure" of Angel’s target being herself, potentially making exorbitant demands, Cicia still had to face the challenge, because the "Primeval Flame" wasn’t fake, it genuinely existed, representing hope for Baiyuanians.
However, Cicia didn’t want to be a sucker, so she staged this "Mist Dispersal, Throne Appears, Overlooking All Living Things" scene.
This wasn’t a farce, but a clearly useful "ceremony." Yet Angel hadn’t stated the "price," so Cicia hadn’t let the ritual reach its end.
Only when Angel proposed a price would Cicia let the ceremony truly reveal its meaning.
The divine throne overlooks all. Any undertow will be guided to reality, all shadows will reveal their true form, fools will be rewarded, and the greedy’s schemes will turn to wasted paper.
...
Angel looked at Cicia, whose chin seemed ready to touch the sky, with a slightly odd expression.
Did his intention seem misunderstood?
He wasn’t here to sell the Primeval Flame... Although the purple and white Primeval Flame were incomplete due to damage, Angel did intend to sell them eventually, but as a precaution, he would wait until Dororo ignited the Ancestor Altar before doing so.
Yet now, Cicia seemed to have mistaken his showing of the Primeval Flame as part of a transaction?
Did he come prepared? With the Primeval Flame traveling all this way to negotiate with her?
"Don’t you think you’re being too confident?" Angel tilted his head, looking at Cicia with a puzzled expression.
Cicia’s expression turned dark: "What do you mean?"
Angel stroked his chin: "You just said I’m ignorant. I admit that, but did you forget?"
"An ignorant me, how could I know there’s an alchemy golem serving as a ticket booth in an otherwise valueless ruin? And that inside its seemingly plain box is a ticket seller who has never shown themselves before? And this ticket seller was once a Baiyuanian?"
"Oh, right, almost forgot to add the prefix. This Baiyuanian stayed inside a small box in a different space for over ten thousand years without showing face."
"Under these circumstances, how do you suppose I knew of your existence? Do you think I have lived for millennia and met you in Naraku City thousands of years ago?"
Angel’s series of questions left Cicia a bit dumbfounded.
Seems like that might indeed be the case?
What he said seems to make sense?