The cane was just an ordinary cane, but the vines on it were the wood spirit's.
Before this, Angor always carried the wood spirit with him. He only put it away because he needed to go to the Mirror Domain. However, the wood spirit did not want to stay in the bracelet because Dankros was inside.
Angor considered and decided to let the wood spirit follow Elmi into his shadow.
It was not that the wood spirit was not afraid of Elmi. It just chose the lesser of two evils. It was afraid of Dankros and Elmi. However, the blue lantern flower on Elmi's head did not scare the wood spirit at all. In fact, it felt very close to it.
The wood spirit could not tell whether the blue lantern flower was Elmi or not. It only sensed something familiar from the blue lantern flower. Staying around the blue lantern flower gave it a sense of security, as if … it had come to a safe harbor.
Ever since the wood spirit was born, it had always been in a state of fear. It believed that no place was safe, and everything around it would harm it.
This sickness kept it alive until now, but it also tortured it for hundreds of years.
Therefore, when the wood spirit found a strong sense of security around the blue lantern flower, it naturally chose to stay with it.
Even if Angor put the wood spirit into the boundless Shadow Sea, as long as the blue lantern flower still emitted a faint glow, the wood spirit felt very safe. It was as if it was staying in a safe house made of steel and iron, and it did not need to worry about anything outside.
Other people might not understand why the wood spirit suddenly became dependent on the blue lantern flower. However, Angor could sense the wood spirit's emotional state, and he could guess what was going on.
This was probably a special psychological symptom.
When people experienced great changes in their environment and emotional stress, they would also develop all kinds of strange psychological symptoms. The wood spirit was not a human, but it was very close to human nature.
The wood spirits had made the decision to leave the Stairs of Hanging Prison and were determined to keep their word. This was a huge change in the environment. After leaving the Stairs of Hanging Prison and seeing all kinds of living beings, it was normal for the extremely timid and cowardly wood spirits to have emotional reactions.
Under such circumstances, the wood spirit could only trust Angor. And the "blue lantern flower" in Angor's shadow also belonged to Angor.
As a beginner who had never come into contact with his own kind since he was born, not even having much contact with plants, when he suddenly saw such a powerful, tough, and elegant blue lantern flower of his own kind, it was only natural for him to develop some kind of psychological dependence symptoms.
The so-called dependence was to draw energy and emotions from a certain person or a certain thing that one needed.
What the wood spirit absorbed from the Blue Lantern Flower was naturally the emotion it needed and desired the most — a sense of security.
Therefore, it was not completely unreasonable for such a change to occur.
From a certain point of view, the wood spirits' dependence on the Blue Lantern Flower was actually a kind of morbid mentality. But he didn't plan to do so for now. The wood spirit's situation was special. It left its isolated small world and came into contact with a more complicated society. Having someone to rely on was better than nothing.
Also, Angor had a feeling that Sunders, the wood spirit's target, would not treat the wood spirit kindly.
In this sort of situation, it was better for the wood spirits to have a psychological shield than to have nothing to rely on.
As Angor pondered, the wood spirit also noticed the change in its surroundings.
The boundless, dark, and shadowy ocean was gone. It had returned to the outside world.
Instinctively, the wood spirit looked around to see if there was any danger. Of course, it would be better if it could find a place to hide.
As the wood spirit looked around nervously, Angor reached out to touch the staff.
The vines wrapped around the staff instinctively wanted to move away, but the wood spirit sensed Angor's warm presence and stopped.
"Don't worry. I called you out because I need your help with something," Angor spoke in a gentle tone.
Help? The wood spirit suddenly had a strange feeling in its heart.
Before the wood spirit could figure out what this feeling was, Angor placed a green leaf in front of it. It was emitting a strong aura of nature.
"This leaf is a special magic message," Angor explained. "If you want to see what's inside, you need to use the power of nature to remove the shackles on the outside."
Under the tree spirit's curious gaze, Angor shrugged. "The messenger probably didn't know that I don't know much about the power of nature."
Angor looked at the wood spirit with a serious expression. "So, I need your help."
The wood spirit could sense evil intentions, and it could also detect lies through its intuition.
However, Angor did not mean any harm to the wood spirit. Besides, he did hide part of what he said, but it was true.
Therefore, the wood spirit did not notice anything wrong at all.
However, the wood spirit was still a little scared. Even though it was Angor who it relied on, it did not agree right away. Instead, it chose to wait.
Angor stared at the wood spirit for a few seconds and "belatedly" noticed the wood spirit's fear. He patted his head and said, "Ah, I almost forgot. This is your first time receiving a magic message as well. You're afraid of damaging the leaf, right?"
"Don't worry. You can send the power of nature into it. Just a small part will do. It's probably the same as the measurement for an ordinary seed to germinate. "
The wood spirit still did not answer.
Angor did not blame the wood spirit. He smiled gently and said, "I understand why you don't want to do it. How about this? I'll let it do it for you. You should know how to do it next time."
With that, Angor pointed at the blue lantern flower.
Elmi did not say anything and controlled the blue lantern flower to sway. A soothing power of nature began to gather.
When the wood spirit saw the blue lantern flower faintly glowing, many images flashed through its mind. It thought of the gentle glow of the blue lantern flower, and how it was protected by the blue lantern's light all the time. Now, the blue lantern flower was going to help it with such a simple task.
Guilt suddenly rose in the wood spirit's heart, causing it to finally give up on biding its time. Instead, it took the initiative to speak.
"I-I can do it."
Angor was waiting for this. Without hesitation, he told Elmi to stop in his mind. Then, he adjusted his expression and looked at the wood spirit with three parts surprise, three parts joy, and three parts encouragement.
Although Angor did not know if his expression was good enough. But as long as the mood was right, nothing else mattered.
Seeing Angor's "encouraging" look, the wood spirit carefully extended a vine and slowly approached the leaf. It then controlled the vine to gently touch the leaf.
As the wood spirit's nature aura flowed into the leaf, the "shape" of the leaf could not hold it any longer. The "will" contained in the leaf leaked out.
An illusory shadow appeared in front of everyone out of thin air.
Angor was not surprised, but the wood spirit was startled. It quickly hid behind the blue lantern flower.
The illusory shadow was Buru's image. It looked lively, but Angor knew that it was only a recording trick.
Buru's appearance was just a pre-recorded image. It only had one function — to send messages.
"Dear guest, I apologize for disturbing you. Please allow me to express my deepest apologies."
"My master has just returned. If you want to apply for a membership of the Splendor of Stars, you can do so after the night market closes."
"Of course, you can also apply after the night market closes. But my master will not leave while the night market is still open. If the night market closes, he may go into seclusion. "
"Again, I apologize for disturbing you. Please forgive me."
"From Buru, who is always ready to provide excellent service to you."
After Buru finished speaking, he completely consumed the "will" in the leaf and disappeared.
Angor wasn't too surprised by Bru's words. Instead, he looked at the wood spirit behind Blue Deng Hua.
"This is a recording. It's a nature spirit called Buru."
Angor did not care whether the spirit was listening or not. Instead, he explained Buru's words to the wood spirit as if he was talking to a friend. Of course, in order to explain Buru's words, Angor also told the wood spirit where they were right now.
He told the wood spirit that they had left the underground waterway.
Before the wood spirit could react, Angor smiled. "Buru didn't tell me anything about the night market, but it sounds interesting. Do you want to take a walk with me?"
"N-no," the wood spirit said without thinking.
Angor looked at the wood spirit with a sad expression.
The wood spirit felt guilty, but it did not dare to say anything. It could only turn its head away to avoid Angor's gaze.
Angor sighed and spoke in his usual gentle tone. "Alright then."
When the wood spirit tried to avoid his gaze, Angor asked Elmi to send it back into his shadow.
This time, the Wood Spirit did not resist. After a black shadow tumbled, it disappeared.
As soon as the wood spirit disappeared, Angor's expression returned to normal.
He only brought the wood spirit out to lower its guard. At the same time, he indirectly told the wood spirit that he had left the underground waterway.
Everything else, including taking the wood spirit to the night market, was just an empty promise. Angor knew that the wood spirit would not agree to his request.
Of course, Angor would be more than happy to see the wood spirit agree to his request.
After all, he was trying to encourage the wood spirits to be more courageous.
It was necessary to be cautious. But the wood spirit was already too cautious. It needed to move forward, not back down.
The whole thing was simple, and the wood spirit still retreated in the end just as Angor expected. But Angor did not feel like he gained nothing.
The wood spirit needed to change itself gradually. If he did it all at once, the wood spirit would probably develop new psychological symptoms. So, this was good enough.
Angor thought to himself. I can do this a few more times in the future.
…
After meditating for a while, Angor put away the Unbreakable Heart Mirror and left the soundproof room.
Since Granny said that the Splendor of Stars would not be a problem, and there would be some benefits for becoming a member. It was not much, but it was better than nothing. So, Angor planned to meet Buru's master and become a member of the Splendor of Stars first.
As for whether he should stand on the side of Splendor of Stars against Goman King, that was not an option. Of course, it was even more impossible to stand on Goman King's side.
This was also the ideal of the Splendor of Stars.
Apart from becoming a member, Angor also planned to check out the night market Buru mentioned. He already noticed that most of the shops on both sides of the street were closed when he first came to Starry Street. Since Buru mentioned the night market in his message, did it mean that the Splendor of Stars Street would also become lively at night?
Soon, Angor arrived at the main hall of the inn.
During the day, there were almost no people in the inn, but now, there were many more people.
Apart from providing lodging services, the inn also provided something similar to a tavern. At first glance, this place looked like a lively tavern.
Although it was not to the point of being overcrowded, some of the better tables were already filled with people.
Normally speaking, the taverns of supernaturals were more orderly and restrained than those of mortals. This was because supernaturals knew what would happen if they offended someone powerful.
For this reason, the tavern was crowded, but everyone behaved in a very orderly manner.
The supernaturals in the tavern did not dare to look at Angor for too long. They did not know Angor's identity, but they could tell that he was a wizard.
Angor walked to the counter.
Buru was already waiting at the counter. He quickly came to greet Angor.
However, Buru did not speak right away. Instead, he created a simple natural barrier to prevent anyone from peeking. "Excuse me for disturbing you, sir. Are you here to become a member? "
Angor already knew the inside story of the Splendor of Stars from Iron Granny, but he still asked, "I don't think there's anything important I need to do to become a member, right?"
"No, there isn't. If you want to know more about the membership system, you can go and ask my master. "
"Sure. Take me to your master."
"He's in the shop across the street. You can go there directly if you want to see him, sir."
Angor nodded to Buru and left the tavern.
Outside the inn, Angor first looked at the street in the distance. Neon lights were shining brightly, and all the closed shops were open again.
There were also many people on the previously deserted street.
It was not as crowded as the business street in Biren Tree Garden, but it was still a busy street with an invitation-based membership system.
Angor glanced around and saw a shop across the street.
There were no words on the shop's signboard, but there was a picture of a boiler. Below the boiler was a roaring fire simulated by an illusion spell, while pink smoke was rising from the top of the boiler.
(End of Chapter)
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