Chapter 1020: Four Years of Travel, Magical Intuition

At the foot of the Elder Oak, the banquet and celebration following the conclusion of the Sword of Ruling trial lasted for the better part of a day, from morning until late at night.

In fact, had it not been for the sudden change in Coronal Osons's health, it might have continued even longer, perhaps until dawn.

After the banquet ended, Xia Duo was invited by the follower of Coronal Osons, the High Mage Mikaier, to a tree-top courtyard near the Elder Oak.

Here, he met the last Coronal of Jielunsita, Osons, along with his Advisory Group, members of the Council of Saibohomu, Elf Court Elders, and representatives of the Wuweilun survivors.

Except for Wuweilun, which had been destroyed a thousand years ago and now only had a few survivors left, the heads of all parties involved in the merger were present here. (The Elf Court is a neutral ground; after the merger, the surrounding lands belong to Keman, while some core areas are still reserved for inter-nation consultations or rituals.)

In addition to these Elves, there were also the High Mages who had presided over and witnessed the Sword of Ruling trial ceremony.

The purpose of inviting Xia Duo here this time was to discuss matters related to the merger of all parties, the most important of which was the selection of the capital for the new country after the merger.

In fact, after listening to Mikaier's introduction, Xia Duo understood that his presence was likely just a formality; it was possible they had already reached a merger plan before the Sword of Ruling trial.

However, the selection of the capital was indeed a problem. Basically, apart from the Elf Court, which was quite special and had few requirements for the location of the new capital, every other party hoped to place the capital of the new country on their own ancestral land.

This issue had not yet been finalized, from the initial discussions of the merger to the fact that the birth of Keman had already become a reality.

The identity of this Projection of Xia Duo was a Jielunsita Elf, but the Sun Wing Family did not have much influence in Jielunsita, yet had many entanglements; he did not wish for the future new country to be overly influenced by Jielunsita's powerful and wealthy.

Considering the demands of the other parties, as the future Coronal of Keman, it was necessary for Xia Duo to act impartially, which might also be the main reason these Elves called him over!

"Coronal Osons, Consultant Mikaier, esteemed Elders and Mages, my view is that since the new country is born for unification, it must embody the will of unification. I propose that the new capital be located in the center of the Listar Forest!"

The center of the Listar Forest was actually the Elf Court, but the new capital certainly could not replace the Elf Court; however, it could be placed near the Elf Court, and could also incidentally monitor this neutral ground and nation-within-a-nation that possessed powerful strength.

Xia Duo's proposal was naturally not something all the Elves present could accept, and he could clearly feel the emotional changes of some Elves.

But at this moment, his identity was no longer that of a small Jielunsita family heir, but the future ruler, the Sole True King of prophecy.

That weight was completely different from the past.

After Xia Duo finished speaking, Coronal Osons was the first to express his stance, favoring the construction of the new capital near the Elf Court. Even Jielunsita agreed, and the other factions no longer insisted.

Even the specific location of the new capital was left entirely to Xia Duo to decide.

This gave Xia Duo an opportunity to slack off. He had originally thought he would be very busy after the Sword of Ruling trial, but now he could completely use the excuse of inspecting the new capital site to kill a few years.

Given the consistent style of the Elves, this was also completely normal. Once he finished absorbing the Wisdom Gem on the Sword of Ruling, Xia Duo planned to just pack up and leave.

After all, he was not a real Elf, just a passerby from the Main Plane; naturally, he could not really stay here to play the game of building Keman with the Elves.

……

Thus, in the following years, Xia Duo kept traveling through the future territory of Keman, north to Yuehai, south to Ruiwen Lake, east to Dragon Bay, and west to the Jianfeng Mountains.

In the process, he continuously drew inspiration and Wisdom from the Sword of Ruling, and often sought advice from the High Mage Aierfeiqi.

This Aierfeiqi was one of the High Mages who had presided over the Sword of Ruling trial ceremony at the time; he had promised that if Xia Duo passed the trial, he would willingly serve as a follower, and he later fulfilled that promise as agreed.

Upon hearing that Xia Duo intended to travel through the future territory for a period of time, Aierfeiqi came to guard him on his own initiative. To be honest, if not for Aierfeiqi, Xia Duo would not have dared to walk around so freely.

The Sword of Ruling did indeed possess powerful strength, but it was not manifested in offense; as a king, there were ultimately few opportunities for personal combat.

Besides Aierfeiqi, the recipient of the Sword of Artistry—Istima Galanuode—was also frequently summoned by Xia Duo to exchange knowledge on Magic.

Although most of what Xia Duo came into contact with and studied during this period was related to Elven Magic, he also gained an extraordinary and refined keen intuition regarding the Netheril Magic System.

For some problems, he did not even need to go through cumbersome deduction or calculation; he could obtain the correct answer directly through intuition.

This was something that was almost impossible for him to do before, but now it was happening to him in reality.

And the original goal of this Projection Plane journey—the 8th-ring level Ascension Trial—was completed naturally, as if it were child's play, without him even having to deliberately study for it.

Xia Duo had a strong premonition that if he had obtained the Sword of Ruling as an Elf in the Main Plane, or if his true body were an existence of the Projection Plane, he would definitely be able to become a High Mage in a short time.

The red Wisdom Gem on the hilt contained the life experiences and knowledge of multiple High Mages. Xia Duo wandered within it, as if there were multiple tireless Magic teachers by his side, teaching him at all times.

If he could, he really wanted to bring this Sword of Ruling back to the Main Plane, but Xia Duo also knew that even if he drained his Personal Space dry, he might not be able to manifest this sword.

Not to mention, his true body in the Main Plane was not an Elf; who knew if he would be killed by this sword the moment he took it out of his Personal Space.

……

Four years later, Xia Duo finally finished absorbing the Wisdom Gem on the Sword of Ruling.

Of course, it was only memorized; if he wanted to be able to provide feedback on various problems at any time like the Wisdom Gem, that might require a longer time to fully master and integrate.

However, he had already decided to leave.

This should be the longest time he had ever stayed in a Projection Plane!

A full four years or more; for an Elf, this might just be the time for a short trip, but for an ordinary human, it might be one-twentieth of their life.

Even for Xia Duo, whose lifespan had been extended after multiple Bloodline Awakenings, having grown accustomed to the perspective of an ordinary human, he still felt that four years was a very long time.

And before leaving, Xia Duo was prepared to do one last thing.