Chapter 1019: The Divine Sword Obtained, the Wisdom Gem

Very quickly, the trial proceeded to the third stage, which was also the final stage.

Xia Duo had just been thinking that the third stage might test how the trial-taker would handle other Elven Kingdoms after unifying the Listar Forest.

After all, the first stage tested basic executive ability, the second stage required unifying the Listar Forest, and continued conquest in the third stage was the most easily imagined test.

But unexpectedly, that was not it at all!

Almost without warning, Xia Duo felt an unbearable stinging pain arise from his palms, spreading in turn throughout his entire body.

Amidst this excruciating pain, he also discovered a subtle detail of change, but the agony made it impossible for him to engage in complex thought.

For a moment, he even thought he had been seen through by these high-level Mages of the Projection Plane, and that they were now punishing him.

But that logic did not hold up; if this were a punishment, the host of the trial ceremony would not have said those things to him just moments ago.

Xia Duo had no choice but to forcibly focus his mind; fortunately, his true body was human, and he was an Arcanist who had long been accustomed to focused Spellcasting.

If it were an Elf, it would be very difficult to maintain focus in such a situation, as they did not usually undergo such training; Elven Spellcasting relied more on sensing the Magic Net, passive Spellcasting, and letting the Magic Net respond automatically.

And now, under high concentration, Xia Duo perceived "his own" Soul, in the form of an Elf—it was precisely Laier Akalama.

Having had the experience of perceiving the only Reality of a projection body by overlapping his Personal Space in the 【Projection Plane: Underdark】, he soon found a faint glimmer deep within Laier's Soul.

Although it seemed inconspicuous, it was the only Reality of this virtual body, and even the entire virtual plane.

By means of this tiny projection of real Soul, Xia Duo conversely discovered the virtual, unreal nature of the Soul; with this awareness, he gained a transcendent perspective on Laier's Soul.

Everything thought and felt would still feed back into Xia Duo's inner mind and memories, but it was as if an extra membrane had been added, allowing him to choose to accept much of the information.

For instance, the current pain—setting aside the physical pain of the body itself, there was also the pain of the Soul.

And this pain of the Soul, now that Xia Duo could think completely independently, allowed him to discover through the carrier of Laier's Soul that "he" was undergoing a special Soul interrogation.

He had never encountered this Spell before, nor did he know how to handle it, or rather, he could not directly resist it; after all, there were so many high-level Mages standing outside!

At this moment, Xia Duo finally understood that the so-called final stage of the trial might be to determine the trial-taker's true inner thoughts, ensuring they did not say one thing and do another.

After all, becoming a Crown King would grant immense power—not just the individual power after controlling the Sword of Ruling, but also the political power to maintain the "Prophecy-Trial-True King" system.

If the trial-taker's true thoughts could not be confirmed, and the task were entrusted to the wrong person, the trial would become a complete farce.

Xia Duo suddenly had a moment of realization; perhaps the Crown King of Comanthar in the Main Plane was unable to maintain his original intent, which was why Comanthar failed to fully unite as one.

But then again, a King who had gained a lifespan far exceeding any of his peers, how could he be content to be a figurehead King who ruled by doing nothing? Some thoughts were inevitable.

If it were Xia Duo, he would do the same; as long as he gained enough prestige, or outlived a group of elders, he would certainly reform the system and become a true King.

Of course, now that he was in the trial, he would have none of these thoughts.

Xia Duo carefully perceived the newly appeared information in Laier's consciousness; although he could not perform a complete analysis, he could use Laier's instinctive reactions to guide things in the direction most beneficial to his own interests.

For example, if Laier had an instinctive thought of indulgence, Xia Duo would guide him to generate a thought of restraint; if Laier had an instinctive thought of partiality, Xia Duo would guide him to generate a thought of justice.

Just like that, as Xia Duo continuously intervened in Laier's consciousness, he felt the stinging pain in his body gradually receding, finally pushing all the way to the palm of his right hand.

At this moment, he suddenly felt as if he had grasped a flat, rod-like object.

"This is—the Sword of Ruling?!"

Without a doubt, this was the Sword of Ruling!

Holding the hilt, Xia Duo felt an indescribable, mysterious connection with this sword; he felt a vast power surging within the blade.

It seemed that wherever he pointed, that power would strike.

As Xia Duo withdrew his right hand holding the sword, specks of golden light suddenly appeared, and the surrounding scene gradually collapsed; Xia Duo saw the wide trunk of the Elder Oak not far away, and saw the high-level Mages nodding in greeting to him.

As well as the golden ball of light in front of him that was constantly shrinking.

As the last section of the blade was drawn out, the last golden ball of light on the silver platform also vanished, leaving only golden light like lightning hovering and leaping on the sword body.

Just as Xia Duo had seen in his dream last night—

The blade of the Sword of Ruling looked as if it were carved from stone, appearing pitted and uneven, not very beautiful, but upon closer inspection, every indentation seemed to correspond to a Magic Rune, stirring the imagination.

At the base of the blade, just like the other two divine swords, there was a rune flowing slowly like water; previously, Xia Duo did not understand the meaning of this rune, but now he knew—

It was the Elvish "Aierkuerkelimu," which, translated directly into Netherese, could also be understood as "Great King Sword"; this was the name of the sword.

The sword's guard was a bright, clean silver metal, with a black Gemstone embedded in each end, and there was also a red Gemstone at the end of the hilt.

Xia Duo recognized these Gemstones!

Back in the Main Plane, after the Drow War occurred in Comanthar, a large number of Elven refugees fled into the territory of Netheril.

Many of them fled to the Savile Territory, and Xia Duo, together with the Patriarch of the Silver Leaf Family, Saville, made a small fortune; among them were four relatively precious treasures, which they split equally between the one human and one Elf.

One of those treasures was a Wisdom Gem, which was obtained by Saville.

At that time, the Gemstone was black; according to Saville, Wisdom Gems would gradually change color according to the amount of knowledge stored within them.

From the initial blue, they would turn in order to green, black, brown, orange, and finally the bright red of the most complete state.

However, general family inheritance would include a lot of information about etiquette, crafts, genealogy, and the like, not entirely magical Knowledge; this was the reason why Xia Duo could have chosen first but did not take that Gemstone.

As for his understanding of Elves, he considered himself no less knowledgeable than the true Elves, especially those Elven Commoners.

At this moment, the guard and hilt of the Sword of Ruling were embedded with three Wisdom Gems, and the one on the hilt was still a red very close to the most complete state.

It is said that when the Sword of Ruling was forged, many high-level Mages injected their life's Knowledge and experience into it; it seems that was injected into these three Wisdom Gems!

"This is definitely the greatest harvest from my six trips to the Projection Planes!"

Xia Duo felt joyful in his heart, then turned around, facing the crowd of Elves under the tree canopy, and held the Sword of Ruling high.

At this moment, even the Elder Oak seemed to sense the appearance of the King, parting its branches slightly; the originally fragmented, dappled sunlight instantly turned into a pillar of light, enveloping Xia Duo within it.

Without needing the old Mage from before to say anything more, the Elves had already consciously begun to cheer and shout for the new King's coronation ceremony.