Chapter 1187: Leveraging Influence, Preparing in Advance

After parting ways with Lord Collins, Xia Duo walked toward the Arcane Union. He walked very slowly along the way, primarily thinking about who would support research into Demon Summoning.

In fact, Lord Collins had just mentioned this issue; there was great controversy within the Seven Towers, and it was clear that those in favor of the research were not few in number.

Even Xia Duo himself, had it not been for the impressions of demons from that game before he transmigrated, would have been more inclined to support research into this new type of summoning spell.

After all, this was a new technology, and the Drow had already begun; if they did not hurry to follow up, they might fall behind in future wars because of it.

But knowing that demons were inherently evil and extremely difficult to control, he was not very supportive of such research. Moreover, things from the Outer Planes were mostly related to the mind, will, and Soul; if something went wrong, it could trigger an irreparable disaster.

Therefore, Xia Duo was more inclined to avoid any research related to demons, except for that related to demon slaying, until he had absolute certainty.

Summoning, or even transforming demons, carried risks that were simply too high. Currently, Netheril did not need such high-risk research; steady development would suffice.

For a moment, Xia Duo even felt that the Demon Summoning spell was something thrown out by the Elves or Drow to interfere with Netheril.

Seeing that the 【Mythallar】 was already in the gestation stage, if it were interfered with, it might perish halfway through.

Although this possibility was extremely low, it was not impossible.

As long as it was possible, it needed to be corrected!

Xia Duo's will was firm; he would not easily change things he had determined, unless ironclad facts were placed before him proving he was wrong.

……

Returning to the temporary residence at the Arcane Union, Niya had already returned. As soon as the two met, Niya began to tell Xia Duo about what happened at Giles Tower that morning:

"The data application went very smoothly. I got all the data I wanted, but afterward, Great Arcanist Sikumu summoned me and told me some things."

"Sikumu?"

Hearing this name, Xia Duo immediately felt something was amiss. He hurriedly pulled Niya aside and asked, "What did Great Arcanist Sikumu say to you?"

"He said that after the Snow Melting Competition, he would convene a Council of Great Arcanists and invite me to attend as an observer."

"Then did you agree?"

"Of course not!"

Regarding this question, Niya's expression appeared somewhat grave. "The data I applied for, logically speaking, I shouldn't have been able to apply for with my current Permission Level, but I succeeded."

"Immediately after, Great Arcanist Sikumu wanted to invite me to participate in the Council of Great Arcanists of the Arcane Union. It's hard to say there isn't some connection here, so I refused."

"Of course, I didn't return the data either. After all, these were things the Master had promised to give me before. Although the Master is no longer here, I won't back down on what I should have."

"What happened after that? Was Great Arcanist Sikumu angry?" Xia Duo asked again.

"Not really, he just offered a few words of encouragement and let me leave."

Xia Duo was not too surprised by this. After all, Sikumu was the successor personally designated by the Princess and had been guided by Bailun to become a Great Arcanist. Unless it was an extreme situation, it was impossible for him to deliberately make things difficult for Niya, who was the Princess's student.

Of course, wanting benefits was also basically impossible; others had students and relatives too, and if there were benefits, they wouldn't fall to an outsider.

Next, Niya continued to recount the morning's events: "After leaving Giles Tower, because I was worried, I went to the Nether Palace to see Lady Greta and asked about Great Arcanist Sikumu's invitation."

"What did Lady Greta say?"

"She contacted a few friends and only then found out that Great Arcanist Sikumu wants to use the Master's influence to push an agenda through the Arcane Union and use this matter to control more of the influence the Master left behind."

Niya's words made Xia Duo frown deeply. The Princess had not died, but had undergone Ascension to Godhood. The influence she left behind, while not permeating every aspect, was still extremely powerful.

Sikumu himself had inherited this influence. Generally speaking, whatever Sikumu wanted to do, let alone within the Seven Towers, even other Great Arcanists would largely not refuse.

Now, Sikumu was actually setting his sights on Niya, which at least indicated that what he wanted to do was difficult to reach a consensus on even within the Seven Towers, let alone getting other Great Arcanists to agree.

Although Niya did not mention whether what Sikumu wanted to do was research Demon Summoning, in Xia Duo's view, it was highly likely!

Of course, even if it wasn't that, it could be some other very radical plan; otherwise, with the influence Sikumu inherited from the Princess, it wouldn't have developed to this point.

After thinking for a moment, Xia Duo asked again: "What is Master Bailun's view on this?"

"I couldn't contact Master Bailun, but Lady Greta told me that Master Bailun might be busy with a Life Extension Spell recently and has no time to attend to the affairs of the Seven Towers for the time being."

Is that so!

Xia Duo roughly knew why Sikumu was so "crazy." Perhaps it was because he lacked an elder by his side to provide constant reminders!

……

Following this, Xia Duo also told Niya about his meeting with Lord Collins, in which he emphasized that there might be significant controversy within the Seven Towers over whether to ban research into Demon Summoning.

Regarding this, Niya expressed great surprise:

"Is there controversy over this kind of thing? I think demons are such dangerous creatures that, let alone ordinary people, even we Arcanists can hardly guarantee our own safety once we face them."

"Besides, there is also the infection of Demon Aura. Although it can be dispelled with the blessing of Holy Power, once many people are researching it, it won't just be the one or two from yesterday; it might trigger an unbearable disaster."

"People's thoughts are different! Some can see the crisis in it, while others only see powerful strength, or perhaps they just want to satisfy their own curiosity."

Xia Duo let out a long sigh. How difficult it was to unify thoughts! Even in an interest group with highly consistent interests like the Seven Towers, internal disputes occurred frequently. Then, how many contradictions were hidden within the whole of Netheril?

……

Over the next few days, just as Xia Duo had expected, people kept asking him for his views on "whether to support research into Demon Summoning."

But apart from a few Great Arcanists and familiar Councilors of the Arcane Union, Xia Duo ignored everyone. He was very busy during this time!

Due to the postponement of the Snow Melting Competition, he prepared to finish the materials he had originally planned to give to Iolum after the competition ahead of schedule. For this, he needed to conduct some experiments at the Arcane Union.

During these few days, this work took up the vast majority of his energy, and it was not until the eve of the postponed Snow Melting Competition that he finally completed it.