Chapter 1104: Scroll Group Five, All Unlocked Difficulties

However, Xia Duo did not look at this page for long; he merely tasted it briefly before putting it down. The reason for doing so was mainly to verify whether the knowledge within the 【Nether Scroll】 was truly infinite.

But unfortunately, this question could not be verified this time.

Although he only looked for a short while, the content was not at all repetitive with what he had read last time. Moreover, as he was now a Senior Arcanist, he had a bird's-eye view when understanding this basic knowledge, and his actual reading speed was many times faster than his previous visit.

Since a single reading opportunity only lasted three days, it was impossible for Xia Duo to spend all three days reading this basic knowledge.

What he saw now mainly concerned the essence of Magic, including the essence of the Magic Net, the Spellcasting Root, the Principles of Spells, and so on.

Specifically, it consisted of distinct magical systems, analyzing and understanding the essence of Magic from different perspectives.

Xia Duo had read the first page of this group during his last visit. Although this basic knowledge was also important, it was too complex and too fundamental, so it was not worth spending too much time researching it for the current Xia Duo.

This part of the content was most suitable for beginners to broaden their horizons, or for Masters who had reached the end of their current magical system to draw parallels and continue climbing.

The main purpose of Xia Duo's visit this time was not to continue the part he hadn't finished last time, but to look at the content regarding the Plane Domain.

He had learned before that the Nether Scroll was divided into five groups. The first group, which was the page he had just seen, along with the other nine pages, mainly discussed the essence of Magic.

The second group mainly discussed Magic Creation, which was actually the manufacturing of Magic Items.

The third group mainly discussed Advanced Creation, which could be considered an extension and advancement of the second group's content.

The fourth group was the main target Xia Duo wanted to see this time; it discussed the connection mechanisms between different Planes and the role Magic could play within them.

As for the fifth group, it was the most profound, and its content was not limited to one aspect, similar to various frontier fields on Earth.

At the same time, the Golden Pages of the fifth group were not like the first four groups, which could be read at will in a focused state; instead, one needed to finish reading a certain number of pages from the first four groups.

Xia Duo did not know exactly how many needed to be read, but he guessed it would at least require finishing most of the first four groups!

After walking around the circular Secret Chamber, Xia Duo finally stopped in front of the display table where the fifth group of the Nether Scroll was located.

When he came last time, he did not know there were restrictions on reading this fifth group, assuming all Golden Pages could be viewed at will, so he didn't think too much and just picked up and read the first page of the first group.

But this time he knew. Although his reason told him there was no need to waste time, he still couldn't help but set his sights on this restricted fifth group of pages.

This was perhaps the curious nature of humans.

Thinking this, Xia Duo immediately picked up the first page of the fifth group. It felt quite heavy in his hand, yet also very soft, and an invisible force unfolded it. The silver characters on it flowed slowly, looking quite mysterious.

Afterward, Xia Duo focused his mind. Under normal circumstances, these silver characters would form orderly, readable text and allow the reader to know their meaning through some special power.

But now, the silver characters hardly changed at all; they remained in their initial state of slow flowing, and Xia Duo did not understand any of their meanings.

"As expected!"

However, a reading opportunity lasted three days. Since he had already wasted a little time, he didn't mind wasting a little more.

Following the rule of the Secret Chamber that only one Golden Page could be picked up at a time, Xia Duo placed the page in his hand back on the display table and picked up the second page of the fifth group.

He tried to read it, but it was still unsuccessful.

Just as Xia Duo wanted to try the third page, a vaguely familiar voice suddenly came to his ears—

"Lord Xia Duo, no need to try. Your reading record here at the Arcane Union is only one time; you have no way to read the fifth group!"

"Councilor Ansaieluo?" Xia Duo roughly recalled who the owner of this voice was.

One of the twenty-five Councilors of the Arcane Union, Archmage Ansaieluo from Morien Tower. At the welcome banquet last month, Bulundesi had introduced him, saying that Ansaieluo's only duty at the Arcane Union was to guard the Nether Scroll.

Of course, the Secret Chamber was covered in various types of Magic, so he probably wasn't needed for actual guarding, but when someone applied to read the Nether Scroll, he should have supervisory responsibilities.

And Ansaieluo's answer proved that Xia Duo's guess was correct—

"It is I. Ever since that incident back then, no matter who applies to read the Nether Scroll, someone must supervise at all times."

Then, Ansaieluo explained his previous words: "The Nether Scroll appears discrete, but there is a very close connection internally; it is a whole. To read the content of the fifth group, one must finish all pages of the first group, as well as at least three pages from each of the other three groups."

So that was it!

At least he knew it was possible to finish the Nether Scroll!

"Many thanks for the guidance, Councilor Ansaieluo."

"You are welcome. It is my honor to provide help to Lord Xia Duo. I will not disturb Lord Xia Duo further; if you have any questions, just speak up."

Xia Duo nodded, then placed the third page of the fifth group he was still holding back to its original position.

In front of the first Golden Page of the third group, Xia Duo did not immediately pick it up to read, but was thinking about a problem: reading once a year for three days, yet not being able to finish one page in those three days.

Then, to unlock the content of the fifth group, one must at least finish the previous nineteen pages (10+3*3). In other words, an Archmage or Senior Arcanist might not be able to unlock the fifth group of the Nether Scroll even in twenty years.

This was simply too slow!

To quickly unlock the content of the fifth group of the Nether Scroll, one must obtain extra reading opportunities beyond the basic reading count.

Whether it be transferred or gifted by others, or obtained from the Arcane Union.

"It's not easy!"

Xia Duo guessed that perhaps without the theft incident back then, the Arcane Union would have eventually set various conditions for reading the Nether Scroll anyway.

This was the inevitable result of an organization fully utilizing its unique resources to develop.

Regarding this, Xia Duo once again thought about the possibility of obtaining his own 【Nether Scroll】 from the Projection Plane. He had originally planned that if he couldn't materialize it all at once, materializing just a few single pages would also be fine.

But according to what Ansaieluo said, the Nether Scroll appears discrete but is essentially a whole. Would materializing only a few single pages affect its function?

This was a very important question.

If he only materialized a few pages back, only to find they were useless waste, wouldn't that be a waste of the Personal Space he had worked so hard to expand?

Thinking this, Xia Duo picked up the first page of the third group of Golden Pages, then temporarily cast aside all distracting thoughts, focused his mind, and began to read.