Chapter 1002: Initial Perception, Astral Wind

Tower of Time, Plane Exploration Layer, Astral Perception Area.

Xia Duo met Dewan here, who practically treated the Plane Exploration Layer as his home, but unfortunately, since becoming a full-time Astral Mage for the Tower of Time, Dewan had not yet discovered even a single Projection Plane.

It would be impossible for Xia Duo to say he wasn't disappointed by this, but seeing Dewan with bloodshot eyes and hair as messy as a bird's nest, he couldn't bring himself to say anything urging.

Now that he couldn't go to Seventon for the time being, he had no choice but to participate in the exploration himself.

Previously, Niya had brought back materials related to Plane Scholars and Astral Mages from Giles Tower; Xia Duo had mainly studied the Plane Scholar side, but he had also learned about the Astral Mage side.

The reason Astral Mages were chosen to be Priests was mainly because Priests underwent long-term perception training and possessed powerful perception, making them more sensitive than ordinary Mages in the Astral Plane, which was a spiritual world.

Of course, since they were called Astral Mages, they certainly had to understand Magic; otherwise, let alone making relevant judgments, even the most basic operation of the Exploration Array would be very troublesome.

Dewan still had some foundation in this regard; he was previously a Mage Apprentice, and later, due to family reasons, he accidentally perceived Holy Power, but he still remained in the Tower of Time to continue receiving Magic Education.

And this was precisely the main reason Xia Duo was cultivating him.

As for Xia Duo himself, having experienced multiple Bloodline Awakenings, he believed his own perception ability would not be weaker than Dewan's, and now that he was going to participate in the exploration himself, Dewan happened to become his guide.

After all, when it came to proficiency in operating the Exploration Array, or even experience in exploring the Astral Plane, Dewan, who had been working here for over a year, was clearly a step ahead.

……

After setting the relevant parameters for the Exploration Array with slight unfamiliarity, Xia Duo prepared to begin projecting his Perception, and during this process, Dewan also offered his own advice:

"After you project your Perception into the Astral Plane, don't be in a hurry to perceive or discover anything; first let your heart calm down until you can look directly at the silver radiance that fills your field of vision before considering anything else."

"Mm." Xia Duo nodded to indicate he understood.

What Dewan said was not mentioned in the materials about Astral Mages that Niya brought back; it should be considered his own experiential knowledge.

However, Xia Duo had experienced his consciousness briefly staying in the Astral Plane during his previous Projection Plane journeys, so he was already mentally prepared for what the Astral Plane looked like in Perception.

Of course, he would also listen to Dewan's advice; after all, this was his first time performing Astral Perception, so it was better to be safe.

……

As the Perception projection partition in the Plane Exploration Array activated, Xia Duo quickly felt a sensation similar to his previous Projection Plane journeys.

His consciousness suddenly left his body and then rose rapidly; after experiencing a scene similar to a Space Jump in science fiction movies on Earth, he entered a magnificent and vast silver void.

If he were still on a Projection Plane journey at this moment, he would have transformed into a specific living being in some Projection Plane the next moment.

But that was not the case.

He was performing Astral Perception, so this silver void occupied his entire "field of vision" throughout.

Xia Duo collected his thoughts and tried hard to calm himself down, but facing this vast, boundless, and unchanging silver void, he could not control his inner feelings, and emotions of emptiness and fear arose.

It was very much like the "deep space phobia" often written about in science fiction movies on Earth.

And just as these negative emotions arose, he felt a breeze suddenly rise from nothingness around him.

This wind was extremely weak in his perception, yet it appeared to be extremely strong, actually shaking the void where Xia Duo's perception was currently located.

Even, he felt as if he were being blown by this breeze, slowly moving.

No, to be more precise, it should be that he was falling, and the speed was getting faster and faster; such an encounter made Xia Duo unable to help but worry about the final destination of the fall.

Was it some mysterious and unfathomable Abyss? Or was he falling back to the Main Plane?

Subconsciously, Xia Duo wanted to leave, and so, just like in the Projection Plane, after the thought of leaving arose, his consciousness shrank violently.

Re-experiencing a scene similar to a Space Jump, he returned to his body.

"Hoo—"

Feeling the familiar and solid ground beneath his feet, Xia Duo felt a sincere and inexplicable sense of peace. After calming his mood slightly, he asked Dewan beside him:

"How long did I just spend?"

Dewan was stunned for a moment, then replied: "Less than a second!"

Hearing this answer, Xia Duo did not feel too surprised; the Projection Plane also had similar properties, possessing an independent time-flow effect.

In layman's terms, no matter how long one stays in a Projection Plane, the time in the Main Plane will not change in the slightest, but once one leaves the Projection Plane and returns to the Main Plane, the time experienced in the Projection Plane will take effect instantly.

That is to say, if someone hides in a Projection Plane for ten years, the moment they return to the Main Plane, they will be ten years older.

Now the Astral Plane seemed to be the same; although Xia Duo had returned from the Astral Plane very quickly just now, the time he perceived clearly exceeded one second.

As for what the time rules in the Astral Plane actually were, that was not something that could be fully understood by one or two perception projection experiments; it required more systematic experiments.

Currently, Xia Duo had no plans in this regard.

……

After steadying himself, Xia Duo quickly asked Dewan about the situation of falling in the Astral Plane; this was also not within the scope recorded in the Mage Training Manual about Astral Mages that Niya brought back, and he wanted to hear Dewan's opinion.

"A breeze? Falling?"

After hearing Xia Duo's simple description, Dewan looked at him with a surprised face, his eyes full of disbelief, "You were actually able to stir up an Astral Wind?"

"Astral Wind?"

It was the first time Xia Duo had heard such a term, and he hurriedly asked Dewan, "What is an Astral Wind? This isn't content from that Astral Mage manual!"

"The Astral Wind is a spiritual storm in the Astral Plane; it is the result of a powerful consciousness intensely contacting the Astral Plane, which is a spiritual world."

Dewan first explained the concept of the Astral Wind, then revealed the origin of his information, "I heard it from Mage Kasa, but I can at most stir up a ripple in the Astral Plane; I didn't expect you, Xia Duo, to be so powerful now that you could stir up a spiritual storm!"

Xia Duo ignored Dewan's exclamation; he noticed the somewhat familiar name "Kasa." If he remembered correctly, this Mage Kasa should be a low-level Mage assigned to the Academic Affairs Office of the Tower of Time, belonging to the teaching staff sequence.

But a low-level Mage actually knew information about the Astral Plane?

Xia Duo couldn't help but develop a strong interest in this Mage Kasa; the last time he heard the name Kasa was when he was interviewing all the Official Mages of the Tower of Time.