Chapter 1076: Precognition Blessing, Sudden Accident

Just like the day before yesterday, after Luodite and the others received the Portal Access Key sent by Xia Duo, they teleported over quickly with almost no delay.

"Lord Xia Duo, we must trouble you again."

"It is no trouble, as we agreed beforehand. Given the situation at the ruins, what have you prepared this time?"

"We didn't find anything particularly useful, but we did beg for a few 【Precognition Blessings】 at the Sewendun Dashendian, which cost my father quite a significant favor."

Although Luodite spoke as if he didn't care much, Xia Duo could see a hint of pride in his eyes; a blessing that required the favor of a Senior Arcanist to obtain surely could not be simple.

Although Xia Duo had never heard of any 【Precognition Blessing】, he could tell from the name that it might be related to prophecy, perhaps allowing the blessed person to know of a crisis in advance and thus avoid it.

But prophecy is something too mysterious and not necessarily accurate, and this was where Xia Duo's five 【Stabilization Amulet】s had a chance to shine.

Then, Xia Duo promoted the 【Stabilization Amulet】s he had prepared to Luodite and the others, "This kind of Amulet certainly cannot let you predict danger in advance, but it can prevent you from falling into the Ether Plane when you encounter plane separation."

In fact, the most dangerous aspect of this ruin exploration mission is being stranded in another world; if this can be ruled out, other dangers are well within the response capabilities of a group of Advanced Rank Mages.

Exploring this kind of Spellcaster ruin is more about breaking the original owner's protective settings; if one is lucky or clever enough, it is even possible to avoid combat entirely.

Of course, for the sake of safety, one naturally makes as many preparations as possible.

Luodite and the others did not refuse the 【Stabilization Amulet】s prepared by Xia Duo, and when asked about the specific price, Xia Duo smiled knowingly and said what he had long since planned:

"I am also a participant in this ruin exploration mission, so preparing these Amulets for you is also beneficial to me. Let's just cover the material costs, 6,000 Gold Coins!"

That is what he said, but Luodite was not a novice completely ignorant of social conventions; in terms of age, he was even about ten years older than Xia Duo! (Not counting the time consumed in the Projection Plane)

Even knowing that the cost for Xia Duo to craft these five Amulets might be less than 6,000 Gold Coins, he still settled the payment at the market price for standard Amulet-type Magic Items:

"No, Lord Xia Duo, the labor of a Senior Arcanist should not be so overlooked. I think 15,000 Gold Coins is a more appropriate figure."

Luodite could never have imagined that the cost of these five 【Stabilization Amulet】s was less than 3,000 Gold Coins; even selling them at 6,000 Gold Coins, Xia Duo would still make a small profit.

As for 15,000, then Xia Duo would make a huge profit.

Already intending to make money, Xia Duo did not refuse Luodite's offer; although he knew that the market price for Amulet-type Magic Items could be as low as about 2,000 Gold Coins, but who told him to be a Senior Arcanist!

This status alone was worth a 1,000 Gold Coin premium, not to mention that the 【Stabilization Amulet】 was specifically crafted for their exploration mission this time.

If not for considering the background of Luodite and the others, and if not for the fact that he was already participating in this mission, Xia Duo could have demanded a sky-high price from other ordinary Spellcasters.

As long as they still wanted to continue the exploration mission, there was no fear that they wouldn't buy; this is the so-called seller's market.

……

After guiding Luodite and the others to link themselves with the 【Stabilization Amulet】s, Xia Duo checked them once, confirming there were no issues before letting them leave the Watchtower.

Of course, before that, the Mind Link also had to be connected.

Just like last time, after Luodite and the others arrived at Zhenisi, they chose to leave the city first, and only after going deep into the forest for a distance did they open the Portal, teleporting directly to the Mist Region inside the ruins.

After that, it was a flight all the way to the foot of the Mage Tower.

Since everything that needed to be prepared had been prepared, and although the area outside the Mage Tower was also considered part of the ruins, apart from Xia Duo, the others were not interested in the environment here; they wanted to obtain tangible treasures.

Therefore, upon arriving here, Luodite and the others did not delay in the slightest and were about to enter the Mage Tower, to which Xia Duo had no objections.

These people were not his puppets; without any sudden accidents or discovered abnormalities, there was no need for him to intervene in real-time.

The Advanced Rank Mage and Sword Singer Fulanke took the lead, entering the pitch-black Mage Tower entrance first, followed by Luodite's close friend, the Advanced Rank Mage Weiji.

Next were Luodite and Sidier of the Morien Tower, and walking at the very back was Aibuna, a student of Luodite's father, a ruin exploration expert, and a Senior Mage.

Just as the four in front disappeared into the darkness of the Mage Tower entrance ahead, and Aibuna had already stepped one foot toward that dark entrance, Xia Duo suddenly discovered an abnormality—

No, to be more precise, Aibuna's many senses had received abnormal information, but his subconscious was unable to realize this, converting it into some kind of intuition or inspiration.

But this information was known to Xia Duo through the Mind Link; the abnormality that Aibuna failed to discover, Xia Duo discovered, so he immediately issued a warning:

"Aibuna, crouch down!"

Aibuna received the signal and hesitated slightly, but quickly sank his body down; yet, that split second of hesitation caused the Magic Aura on Aibuna's body to dim significantly.

"What's the situation?"

Luodite and the others learned from the Mind Link that there was a situation outside, so they immediately retreated from the Mage Tower and then saw the scene before them—

Aibuna was lying on the ground, the aura of the Protective Spell on his body flickering, as if some invisible thing was constantly attacking him.

"Luodite, Sidier, do you remember the 【Protection-2-14】 spell from the Green Field Plane? Follow my instructions, Joint Casting, do not have any hesitation! Fulanke, do you know Force Field enhancement? Go strike the space half a foot above Fulanke's head, quickly!"

Fortunately, communication within the Mind Link was incredibly swift, and Luodite and the others, seeing Aibuna suffer this accident, could not help but feel that they would be next, so they had no resistance at all to Xia Duo's command.

Luodite and Sidier's Joint Casting still needed a moment, but Fulanke, as a Sword Singer, had reactions that could be called lightning-fast.

Almost at the same time he heard Xia Duo's instruction, his right hand, which had been resting on the sword hilt since he retreated from the Mage Tower, gripped it fiercely and then drew it.

As the sword was drawn, a gleam of light appeared from weak to strong on the sword body covered in Fuwu; before anyone could even blink, Fulanke's sword tip pointed to the space above Aibuna's head.

It was exactly the position of about half a foot that Xia Duo had mentioned.