Chapter 1127: Observing the Divine Battle, Receiving Bill

After briefly describing the sequence of events, Xia Duo did not directly ask about the whereabouts of Zhenna or Saide, but instead asked Iolum for his perspective on the changes within the Ming Shui Chamber of Commerce.

After sending the message, Xia Duo waited patiently; unlike Saide and Zhenna, who had yet to provide any reply, Iolum's response was faster than Xia Duo had imagined.

He had originally assumed that Iolum was busy preparing for the upcoming Council of Great Arcanists and might not have time to attend to him, or that he was similarly delayed by the same matter as Zhenna and unable to reply.

But the fact was, Xia Duo only waited less than a minute—about a few dozen seconds—before Iolum's reply arrived, and it was not a perfunctory response, but one full of information:

"Some time ago, news came from the Princess that a new god of unknown identity wanted to challenge the Lord of Radiance. President Zhenna of the Ming Shui Chamber of Commerce may have gone to the Outer Planes to observe the divine battle. As for Saide, he just went to Danzo not long ago. The environment of the Magic Net in the underground world is vastly different from the surface, so there may be communication delays or obstructions. You can try contacting him again after some time."

And after this message, Iolum sent another, saying that he could provide the necessary material support in his private capacity for the Tower of Time to attempt a new development model.

"Except for Mithril, which I cannot spare due to my research needs, you may go to my Territory to collect as many Five-Colored Gems as you need; I will give instructions for it."

This, this, this—

Xia Duo had not expected that a normal inquiry would yield such benefits, and what surprised him even more was that Iolum was actually short on Mithril. Could it be that the research on the 【Mythallar】 had reached a critical moment, leading to a surge in demand for Mithril?

However, it was not appropriate for him to ask about such matters directly, so he could only say: "Thank you for your generous assistance, Teacher Iolum. The Tower of Time and Nan Jing will certainly not let you down!"

"I hope so. If you have any difficulties, feel free to contact me at any time!"

Hmm? Xia Duo suddenly felt this sentence was so familiar; he had just said the exact same thing to Xiaolei, and he had not expected to hear it said to him by someone else now.

But the former was his own subordinate, while the latter was him having a backer; no matter how one looked at it, the latter made one feel more pleased.

……

After the communication with Iolum came to a temporary pause, Xia Duo finally knew Zhenna's current situation. Fortunately, it was not god-slaying, though he did develop some interest in that new god of unknown identity.

To dare to challenge the Lord of Radiance just after becoming a god—what exactly gave them the Courage to do so?

Almost subconsciously, Xia Duo thought of the Chaos God. Generally, Order Gods have their own specific Order Domain, and it was basically unlikely for that new god to have a conflict with the Lord of Radiance in the Order Domain if they were able to become a god.

However, the Order God he referred to was a god like the Princess, who took the Order Force as their core.

If one operated according to the Ascension Ritual provided by the Elves, using the Divine Fire as the core, then it was actually not that orderly; strictly speaking, it could also be counted as a Chaos God.

In other words, that new god of unknown identity might also have achieved divinity using the Elven Ascension Ritual, or perhaps they were even the same "God of Nobility" as the one in the Ritual Book Xia Duo had obtained!

Could the new god be some Great Arcanist of Netheril?

Or was the information provided by the Elves leaked, "picked up" by some lucky person, and then successfully followed?

To be able to become a new god right after the Princess, there should have been some signs beforehand, but now Xia Duo had not heard any rumors at all. It was even possible that not even Iolum was aware, otherwise he would not have used "unknown identity" to describe that new god.

For a moment, Xia Duo could not figure out what the background of that new god could be.

Furthermore, he found it difficult to judge what impact the appearance of another new god would have on the current general environment of Netheril.

"I only hope the Lord of Radiance can slap that guy to death! This kind of variable that suddenly pops up is truly annoying!"

As for going to the Outer Planes to observe the divine battle in person, Xia Duo was not that bold; he knew what he could participate in and what he must absolutely not touch unless it was a last resort.

Looking at it this way, Zhenna was truly super brave!

……

Early the next morning, while Xia Duo was having breakfast, he suddenly received a message from Saide. In the message, Saide first explained why he had not replied in time:

"I was ordered by the President to visit King Baside in the Danzo Kingdom. The Dwarf city is protected by Rune Magic, and the underground Magic Net environment is special, so there may be delays or obstructions in communication. I hope Lord Xia Duo can understand."

Subsequently, he gave a clear answer regarding the new procurement agreement:

"Five days later, which is the last day of the third month, I will personally go to Nan Jing to discuss the new procurement agreement with the Tower of Time and settle the balance from the sale of the previous batch of Communication Magic Tools."

"The Tower of Time welcomes Consultant Saide's arrival at any time!" Xia Duo replied very formally.

Afterwards, he notified Saixili of the news that the Ming Shui Chamber of Commerce would be arriving in five days, telling her to prepare well. Of course, Xia Duo did not forget to remind her to pay attention to the new project in Xiaolei's Research Lab and provide full support.

……

After breakfast, Xia Duo left the Tower of Time. Now, there was a group of Bards from the north waiting for his reception in the Territory!

Regarding this group of people, he was truly looking forward to what kind of works they could have created on the ship to Nan Jing over the past month!

However, after arriving at the Territory, Xia Duo did not immediately summon those Bards, but first had someone call for Captain Bill.

……

Inside the Reception Room on the first floor of the Lord's Villa.

Bill looked around with an uneasy expression. Although he could guess that the Lord might want to ask him about what happened on the journey from Seventon to Nan Jing, being in a strange environment and about to face an Arcanist Lord, he still could not suppress his nervousness.

Of course, there was not much fear to speak of. The "Yuanfang" had only arrived at Daxia Territory yesterday afternoon. Although it had only been a short half-day, Daxia Territory had left a very deep impression on him.

The shrewd and capable territorial officials, the very strict territorial order—from the moment he stepped off the ship, Bill had been in a state of constant amazement.

First, it was registration, then he was taken to bathe, and after bathing, he was given new clothes, followed by the assignment of housing and the reading of territorial regulations.

If this were something he had experienced alone, Bill would not have been so amazed; even the Slaves he had purchased on the road had enjoyed a similar process.

This made him very amazed. During the session where the territorial regulations were read, Bill even learned that Daxia Territory actually gave Slaves universal opportunities for advancement!

This point alone was enough for him to believe that Lord Xia Duo was a benevolent Lord.

In his hometown of Halan Territory, the Lord would wantonly conscript the commoners. Like him, having worked for the Lord for decades, he was discarded when no longer wanted, without the slightest explanation or compensation, which was chilling.

But in Daxia Territory, every commoner participating in the expansion would be allocated land, unlike other territories where only a few people close to the Lord could get land.

Even after the expansion ended, according to the laws of Daxia Territory, newly born commoners could also be allocated farmland, which was even more impossible to see elsewhere.

All these things made Bill feel a heartfelt reverence for Lord Xia Duo. He now regretted deeply why he had not agreed on the spot when Lord Xia Duo invited him to join Daxia Territory back then.