Adam stood outside his apartment building for a few minutes, waiting for Angela and Wayde to pick him up.
Angela had told him that she would be there in a minute, yet after a few minutes, Adam hadn't spotted any blacked-out expensive vehicles that he was used to riding in when dealing with rich and powerful cultivators.
However, when a black van, that one would expect a builder that was on a low budget to drive, parked before him, Adam couldn't help but laugh.
Getting into the front he greeted Wayde with a level of friendliness and respect that Wayde was comfortable with and appreciated, then got into the back of the van where he found Angela sitting with a frown on her face.
"Is this van not to the princess's liking?" joked Adam as he laughed at how Angela was acting and the car that he was sat in.
Adam could live with the bare minimum and had lived in extreme poverty for over 2 years, so didn't have much of an issue with the van. However, to Angela, it was torture and humiliating for her to have to sit in such a vehicle.
"Make another joke and I will kill you" threatened Angela as she swiftly and suddenly formed a blade formed out of water and held it to Adam's neck.
Adam was surprised and in awe of her elemental affinity and speed. It was the first time that he had seen an elemental affinity in use and didn't know that Angela had one.
[No wonder her skin is so smooth and why she is so pretty. It must be a positive side effect of having an Elemental Affinity with the water element] realised Adam as he was amazed by her ability.
Adam pushed away the water blade that was surprisingly sharp, and although Angela was complacent and didn't cultivate much, her speed and skill were incredible. However, that was to be expected as even if her personality wasn't suited to cultivation, she was raised in one of the large cultivation families and must have been trained from a young age.
A low-level Novice cultivator from one of the large cultivation families would easily be able to take out a mid-level Novice cultivator, despite the gap in cultivation level, as they would be much more skilled in combat.
The blade of water hadn't turned to ice, yet was solid and sharp, which amazed Adam who was in awe of what he was seeing.
Just like most of the other cultivators that he had seen in the Maxwell Family, Angela had cultivated externally before beginning her internal cultivation, which gave her quite a durable body that was powerful and had a strong foundation to increase her power and internal cultivation.
There was only so much that the human body could sustain, and external cultivation was necessary for an internal cultivator who wanted to cultivate to high levels.
Because of that, it became a basic requirement for all the cultivators of the Maxwell Family, and the other large cultivation families, to cultivate to at least Rank 5 of the Novice Cultivation Level externally before beginning to cultivate internally.
"Angela, what grade is your talent and elemental affinity?" asked Adam who couldn't suppress his curiosity after seeing her use her elemental affinity.
He knew that it must be incredible as she was greatly valued by her family despite not working hard and she had not only been provided with the strongest guardian, but also was treated well by most of the family.
Her external cultivation was similar to Adam's and only seemed to be at the middle of the Novice Cultivation Level, while her Internal Cultivation seemed to surpass that, despite her seeming to be very lazy and complacent.
Adam was unsure how the elemental affinity worked, but could see that it required the use of her Internal Energy as fuel and probably the moisture in her body and the air around her, to form the water blade.
It was an incredible sight to behold and with an elemental affinity, large gaps in cultivation levels could be overcome in a battle.
"He, that is something that you not worthy of knowing" scoffed Angela arrogantly.
"Then you would be better off forming an alliance with the Epstein Family, without my help, since I am unworthy" stated Adam as he turned to leave the van.
Adam knew how to deal with Angela and as long as he didn't allow her to step on him and talk down to him, while also showed her his worth, she would treat him relatively well.
Although, no matter how well she treated him, her annoying attitude and arrogant nature wouldn't completely go away.
Angela knew that she needed Adam's help and it was his idea in the first place, so had no choice but to reveal her talent and elemental affinity grade to him. However, most people had an idea of what it was anyway, and it was the perfect opportunity to show off.
"It is E:2 graded and is one of the highest that my family has seen in decades" revealed Angela with a gloating expression.
Angela expected Adam to be amazed by the revelation, which he was, but he didn't show it on his face and shut the van side door as he sat opposite Angela.
Her talent grade meant that she had the potential to reach the 8th rank of the Advanced Cultivation Level as long as she worked hard for it and also had the methods and resources needed to do so.
However, with how she was going, she would probably stagnate after becoming a mid-level Advanced Cultivator, since her foundations weren't very strong and she wasn't working hard enough towards her cultivation.
Adam couldn't help but curious as to what her elemental affinity was capable of, and was also curious to see Wayde's elemental affinity that was infamous in New York.
While the ride to Staten Island was also a good chance for Adam to gather more information.