Chapter 1055 - 516: Fire Thief

Chapter 1055: Chapter 516: Fire Thief

Li Ang put the matter with Sif aside for the time being. The information on the demon can be shared with the Cloudwalkers Guild, but he decided not to disclose Sif’s identity or the fact that she had left.

Regarding the demon behind the scenes and her identity, Li Ang planned to make arrangements after obtaining some interim results from his investigation.

"I thought I was about to make a friend," Diao said indignantly when Sif was mentioned.

"A friend?" Li Ang was a bit surprised.

"Yes, while you were busy discussing things and didn’t notice, I chatted with her at the edge of the marshland in the Golden Country and when we got the Destiny Cold Wave."

Diao frowned in recollection, "She approached me first, asking which tribe I came from on what island."

Li Ang looked at Diao’s rarely seen coffee-honeycolored skin and the colorful body painting made using Spiritual Paint, remembering how he had helped her draw a few strokes during nighttime cultivation before. Indeed, she looked like she was from a primitive tribe at first glance.

But Zultin Marsh can’t be considered a typical tribe.

"What did you say?"

"You told me not to mention Zultin Marsh and the Land of Ten Thousand Spirits to outsiders, so I only said that I came from the Spirit Cultivation Place, but she..."

Diao said with some embarrassment, "I don’t know how to describe it in words spoken outside; she was very tactful in speaking, making me feel quite agreeable and somewhat elated with just a few words."

Perhaps that is what giving emotional value means? Li Ang wondered.

In any case, Sif must be very adept at understanding people at her age; she could fool even the Cloudwalker, let alone make Diao feel elated.

"I thought she genuinely wanted to make friends."

After the anger faded, Diao lowered her head in dejection.

"Perhaps she does." Li Ang said to her.

The young girl still kept her head down but turned to glance at Li Ang sideways.

"She came to the Golden Country because of the demon’s purpose; although we don’t know what its goal is, in a different situation where she doesn’t have to fulfill these purposes, you might meet again, and she might treat you sincerely then."

"Alright." Diao pouted.

Seemingly dismissive, yet her mood improved significantly, unable to hide the lightness in her movements.

Li Ang himself only half-believed what he said, imagining an ideal outcome and hoping it would be the best ultimate ending.

"However, she asked quite a bit about you." Diao resumed in an ambiguous tone.

"About me?"

Li Ang raised an eyebrow; he didn’t need to imagine to know he was about to endure the tormenting stares from the surrounding girls.

"Did you know her from before?" Lily asked.

"Not at all; why would you think that?" Li Ang quickly replied.

Although it could be connected, since Viel had undoubtedly talked about Li Ang as a person, despite never meeting Sif Taube.

"Just a feeling," Lily said.

Your feeling is almost prophetic, Li Ang thought.

But seeing Lily in her nun attire resembling a Holy Servant vestment, he was rendered speechless.

Could the ’sect’ be the real definition of a sect?

Li Ang shook his head and asked Diao, "What did she ask?"

"She asked if you have any great achievements and how strong you are; actually, it might not be best for me to say, as I don’t know so much myself." Diao’s words carried a hint of emotion.

"Honestly, it’s quite hard to summarize."

"Then she asked what you’re like, whether you’re easy to get along with, and if you have any bad habits..."

Diao’s tone turned more emotional.

"I doubt Mr. Li Ang knew this professor beforehand, seeing as you often go to Thousand Tower City to check records."

"Not really all the time," Li Ang said helplessly.

Among those present, only Elaphia knew the truth, yet she stopped short and eventually just sighed.

Moving forward, the Cloudwalkers, who hadn’t found any traces of Sif, slowed down their pace and paralleled Li Ang’s group.

In the conversation, half of it was assessing the current space, and half was a review of the previous battle with the Demon Dragon.

A Xiang’s view of Li Ang had significantly changed, given that those Spirit Casting Arts and Apocalypse Device are formidable beyond ordinary capabilities, which your typical strong person can hardly resist.

"Can your final move recreate your original Magic?"

A Xiang’s question piqued Elaphia’s curiosity as well.

They focused on the Call of Ten Thousand Spirits.

Although Li Ang used it for the first time, he already understood its operating principle.

"Generally, it’s based on the strength of the desire of All Spirits to assist me during Magic Casting to determine how many effects manifest. Among them, it indeed reproduces the skills I originally possess, and even if I use them myself, the effect may not be as good."

Li Ang hadn’t immediately used the Eye of Celestial Destiny or Reflected Illusion on Fafnir because he discovered that while these moves are powerful, from a Spirit Casting perspective, perhaps only another Spiritual Forger could block them, but for them to take effect, he must already be strong enough himself.

Fafnir’s Spiritual Format is upper rank in the Legendary Level, nearly next to the true Dragon Ancestor’s Demon Dragon. To pry its Spirituality with Spirit Casting basically requires exhausting most of Li Ang’s energy at that time, with consumption slightly less than that of the Apocalypse Device.

Given such, he might as well directly use the Eternal Rebirth Scythe to give it a strike.

Yet Call of Ten Thousand Spirits bypassed this limitation, or rather, represented the collective past will of Nebis; no single entity could bear the power of All Spirits.

With All Spirits replacing Li Ang in casting Magic, the final effect could transcend his own limits.

However, it’s not like you can get whatever you want; the whole thing is more like a lottery.

If you’re lucky, or if the All Spirits are in a good mood, pulling ten times in a row for Spirit Casting Art—it would take the return of a Primordial Being, otherwise, no one could withstand it.

But if you’re just getting basic manipulation methods like Spiritual Shock or Spiritual Enhancement repeatedly, then you’re done for.

However, this bad scenario is only in Li Ang’s imagination. Based on the actual experience of using Call of Ten Thousand Spirits, it tends to draw powerful skills, and the spirits of the Land of Ten Thousand Spirits give him face.

"Why can you still call out other people’s phantoms?" A Xiang was very curious and kept asking.

Li Ang didn’t explicitly explain the lottery mechanism, but he could say a little about this.

"This involves the communication and understanding between the Spiritual Manipulation master and the World Spirit."

"Is it similar to how some mages can summon Ancestral Spirits?"

"You can think of it like that."

"Can you show it to me again?"

"No, I’m tired."

"Alright then."

Call of Ten Thousand Spirits not only consumes energy but also has a "hard cooldown." After the All Spirits assisted Li Ang before, he’s temporarily unable to hear their voices, and to summon them again would require waiting for some time.

After discussing Call of Ten Thousand Spirits, Li Ang thought about the teleportation gate to the Land of Ten Thousand Spirits he obtained alongside it.

He’s not sure if using it would really take him back to that dimension filled with fluorescent light and a celestial curtain flowing with stars. He briefly considered using this move to escape Fafnir, but he couldn’t confirm whether he would return to the same spot, and furthermore, he’s unsure if he can bring others in, and even if possible, it’s unlikely he could bring everyone here.

"Is that material held by the dragon called Source Material?"

A Xiang talked about the Source Ore Vein that emerged during the collapse of Throne Hill.

"The Deus People use it to craft various miraculous creations, and who knows, maybe Sisyphus added it to the weapon possession he showed us."

The latter half was purely Li Ang’s speculation, but it helped A Xiang further understand.

"Zelas tricked us into searching for the Golden Country, but only focused on that material, indicating its value is equivalent to the core reward of a Secret Realm, which I can imagine."

As the Celestial Team Leader, A Xiang knows how to evaluate the value of treasures.

"But looking at it now, since even the Dragon Blood Prince values it highly, its significance extends far beyond."

A Xiang’s speculation was correct; for the Deus People, it’s entirely strategic resources.

Source Material can be smelted into Refined Steel Blocks, but what Fafnir wants to do with them is unclear. Li Ang speculated that since he regards Esso’s Golden Flying Chariot as a treasure, he might be aiming to recreate certain things from the Ancient Era.

"Speaking of which, what’s Ernest trying to achieve by building such a huge facility here?"

Even without lighting up the area, everyone could still glimpse the colossal facility in the dark.

"Ernest’s construction scale is not an exaggeration to describe it as ancient ruins. But with the passage of time, it’s covered in dust, and there aren’t very precious treasures left," said Elaphia.

"What are those dragons trying to do by coming in?" Lily asked.

Li Ang had a hunch, but it required further exploration to make an accurate judgment.

"Let’s keep going forward."

As they were about to reach the central area, a Cloud Wanderer Guild member suddenly spoke up.

The area was strewn with work equipment and workbenches, and many notes and memos left behind have value. Li Ang glanced casually and found that several blueprints had been unlocked. However, for him at the moment, only the methods for forging Treasure Artifacts were valuable.

"Look at this."

The guild member handed over a few sheets of paper, and after Li Ang gave them a casual read, he and Farlonio recognized them as pages recording Ernest’s thought processes. The knowledge contained could only be understood by artisans, but it also recorded some dialogues loaded with information.

"Can I inherit the mantle of the ’Fire Thief’?" Diao read out the text.

Everyone was either stunned or puzzled.

The former was naturally Li Ang, Aifei, and Falo. They hadn’t heard this phrase for a long time, and even when they first did, due to limited information associated with it, they merely noted it down without delving deeper.

"What is a Fire Thief? Isn’t fire easily created with magic power? What’s there to steal?" Lily scratched her head.

Li Ang glanced at this guy whose cognitive ability was similar to his daughter’s. Despite her love for books, they were always unorthodox... Should he be glad she at least understood that "thief" means stealing? Li Ang sighed inwardly.

"This term deliberately refers to a person with a special identity; the focus is on what that ’fire’ represents."

Li Ang explained to her, "According to our previous speculation, this flame is the Creation Furnace’s permission, which determines whether mortals can forge Treasure Artifacts."

"So, looking at it this way, Master Ernest wanted to succeed the ’Fire Thief’ in letting mortals continually have the permission to forge Treasure Artifacts?" Diao summarized.

"It’s likely so."

"Could you tell us more?" A Xiang rhetorically got closer and asked with a smile.

Li Ang and Aifei roughly described the encounters at the Mountain Copper Furnace and the origin of the Orichalcum in his hand.

A Xiang was astonished at hearing that the Dome Furnace Association could already forge Treasure Artifacts. For a modern Sky Knight, the Creation Furnace and its permissions are not particularly his concern.

Additionally, as a partner in this cooperation, he had learned more about the uses of Source Material. ℴℴ𝘮

"It seems that although Ernest’s Secret Vault doesn’t have specific treasures, it holds something even more precious," A Xiang laughed.

"But there’s still one question." Farlonio said, "In Ernest’s era, mortals still possessed the permission to forge Treasure Artifacts."

"He might have experienced something that led him onto a mysterious path never heard of before," Elaphia said.

Everyone’s gaze turned towards the center of the place, perhaps holding the truth of this secretive matter.