Chapter 1049: Another New God Funds the Arts

However, Zhenna did not immediately give Saide any instructions, but instead said to Xia Duo:

"Lord Xia Duo, it seems our meeting today must come to an end here. Something has come up unexpectedly that I must handle personally. We shall continue our exchange when there is another opportunity."

Seeing that Zhenna did not appear to be lying, Xia Duo wondered what could have happened to make even a Great Arcanist so anxious, but he quickly replied:

"No problem, President Zhenna. Please go attend to your business; I look forward to our next exchange."

Zhenna nodded, then instructed Saide: "After I leave, you continue to host Lord Xia Duo for me."

"Yes."

Afterwards, Zhenna did not speak directly, but used a Communication Spell to convey some information, to which Saide nodded repeatedly.

On the other hand, although Xia Duo had no intention of prying into the secrets of the Ming Shui Chamber of Commerce, perhaps Zhenna was truly in a hurry, or perhaps she underestimated his research into communication spells, as she did not choose a complex encryption method while transmitting.

Among Elf Magic, there is a technique called "Wind Message" that is quite adept at stealing and cracking the content of communications.

As luck would have it, Xia Duo happened to have mastered this technique, and he just happened to intercept a portion of Zhenna's message and successfully cracked it.

This portion of content consisted of only one sentence—"A new god has appeared in the Heavenly Realm"!

Upon hearing this sentence, Xia Duo was greatly shocked. How long had it been since the Princess's Ascension to Godhood, and yet another new god had appeared!

However, this news was overheard from Zhenna, so its credibility was very high.

But because he had only overheard a few words, it was difficult for him to judge the current situation; perhaps that new god had appeared and then fallen, or perhaps the new god did indeed exist but was not born from the Main Plane.

As for what the situation really was, Xia Duo felt as if a mischievous kitten had been placed in his heart, scratching away.

He wanted to ask Zhenna, but it would be hard to explain how he knew the news that "a new god has appeared." Just as he was hesitating, the Magic Net around him vibrated briefly and violently.

By the time Xia Duo regained his composure, President Zhenna had already disappeared, and only he and Saide remained in the Reception Room.

"Lord Xia Duo, the President asked me to stay and host you. Let me show you around the Headquarters. This was originally a private estate of an Eaerlann Elf, and it only became the Chamber of Commerce's Headquarters after the President bought it. The scenery is still quite good."

Xia Duo could see that Saide was trying hard to remain calm, yet could not hide his shock. Perhaps Saide himself had not noticed, but in Xia Duo's eyes, it was as obvious as ink dripping onto white paper.

Even while showing him around the Headquarters, Saide was often distracted, but this actually gave Xia Duo an opportunity. It had been difficult to ask anything or explain how he knew about the new god while in front of Zhenna.

But now, Saide was clearly preoccupied, so it would be perfectly normal for him, as a friend, to show concern and probe a little.

After Saide was distracted once again, Xia Duo took the initiative to remind him, "Consultant Saide, I wonder what President Zhenna just told you? You have been distracted the whole time. If it is convenient, could you tell me?"

"Ah! Lord Xia Duo, my apologies. It is just that the news was so shocking that I find it hard to stop thinking about it. As for what the news is—"

Saide's expression changed several times, but in the end, he still did not say it. "My apologies, Lord Xia Duo, the President did not permit me to disclose it to others."

"……"

Xia Duo was speechless. He could see that Saide had a strong desire to confide, but every time the words reached his lips, he swallowed them back, which made Xia Duo anxious to death.

This also made him even more interested in the news of the "new god."

Even Zhenna, who was close to the Princess, had only just begun to plan the Ascension Ritual; it was unlikely that others could have any advanced operations, though it could not be ruled out that they were acting in secret.

Seeing the Princess succeed, perhaps he had also started to try, and then succeeded as well.

Of course, this was merely Xia Duo's speculation; there was currently no evidence that the new god was related to Netheril, and it could also be an Elf.

It could even have been born from another Plane.

"Ascension Ritual!"

At the thought of this, Xia Duo instantly lost the desire to continue the tour. He wanted to return to the Tower of Time to study that Ritual Book properly.

However, he did not leave immediately. Leaving now might make Saide think he was leaving because he was dissatisfied that no information was disclosed, and the friendship that was currently in its budding stage might be thwarted as a result.

Whether it was for utilitarian reasons or etiquette.

Xia Duo ultimately insisted on finishing the tour of the Ming Shui Chamber of Commerce Headquarters. The exquisiteness here was indeed good, but unfortunately, in order to use this place as a Headquarters, the Ming Shui Chamber of Commerce had renovated it.

And he could see that the person who led the renovation intended to create a unique style here that was distinct from the Elves, yet superior to them.

But based on the aesthetic concepts Xia Duo brought from Earth, as well as his experience of transforming into an Elf many times in the Projection Plane.

The renovation by the Ming Shui Chamber of Commerce failed to escape the cage of the Elf style, and instead made the place lose its luster, almost completely losing the charm of the Elf architectural style.

Setting aside the merits of the Elves themselves, in all fairness, the Elves' artistic attainments were undoubtedly quite high, and their architectural styles were also very much to Xia Duo's liking.

Here at the Ming Shui Chamber of Commerce Headquarters—

What a pity!

This was Xia Duo's most intuitive feeling after the tour ended. But at the same time, he also felt worried about the invisible influence of the Elves, and for this reason, he couldn't help but have an idea, which was—

To sponsor local artists in Netheril!

Regardless of the form of their art, as long as they dared to question the Elves and were brave enough to innovate, he would support them.

Of course, in this process, adding a bit of his own private agenda was only to be expected.

It could even be said that Xia Duo wanted to use his own private agenda to influence and inspire the local artists of Netheril, not only to break the spiritual shackles of the Elves but also to create a civilized environment that suited his own preferences.

……

After leaving the Ming Shui Chamber of Commerce, Xia Duo did not continue to stroll around the city of Seventon, nor did he go to the sea to roam, but instead came to the Arcane Union.

As a 5th-Level Member, he was already qualified to have an exclusive private Laboratory here. Of course, this was only the Permission Level to use it; he could not take away the equipment and facilities inside.

After entering the Laboratory, Xia Duo took a brief look around and found that the environment here was not as good as the Tower of Time, so he immediately lost interest.

However, he did not come here to conduct any experiments, but to transfer the Ascension Ritual materials.

Even though the Dimensional Bag he was using now was produced by the Tower of Time, and the creator was the former Tower Master Eps Saville himself.

But a Dimensional Bag was essentially a small, spell-restricted area connected to the Ether Plane. If someone were traveling in the Ether Plane and happened to discover this area.

Or if they encountered a professional spell thief, wouldn't that be a tragedy!

It was safer to keep it in his Personal Space.

The reason he chose to transfer it in the Arcane Union's Laboratory was also because this was the only place in Seventon where he could cast spells at will.

In other places, it would either be too conspicuous or there would be various restrictions.

Don't look at how easily Xia Duo obtained the Ascension Ritual materials; if it were an ordinary Mage, they might not have even heard the name of the Ascension Ritual!

It was better to be cautious.

Xia Duo set up layers of Protection in the Laboratory, especially against Scrying spells; he had cast almost every spell he knew, including Elven Magic, to cover himself.

Only then did he quickly take the data books out of his Dimensional Bag and place them into his Personal Space.

Inside the Personal Space, Xia Duo did not need to take them out to examine them; he could directly control the data books to turn their pages from within.