Chapter 1219: Several Possibilities, Time Line Issues

Previously, Xia Duo left the Astral Plane because he perceived the appearance of an unknown existence behind him, one whose scale far exceeded that of the plane Suo En had created.

At the time, he speculated that it was very likely reinforcements for those natives, and given that almost overwhelming, all-encompassing momentum, Suo En and Kelifu should have been able to perceive it as well.

That is to say, if Kelifu had chosen to leave the Astral Plane at that time, he would have left together with Xia Duo and would have appeared 【alive】 in the Projection Hall of Giles Tower together!

If he did not choose to leave, unless he had been instantly killed by the powerful existence of the hunter reinforcements at that moment—but this possibility was extremely low—then only one most likely speculation could be drawn—

Kelifu did not choose to leave immediately.

This speculation led to two other more likely possibilities—

One is that Kelifu was killed by the reinforcements of the native hunters, and the feedback on his true body was that the true body turned into dust.

But there is a major problem with this speculation: even if an Astral Projection Avatar dies, it does not affect the true body.

Unless it was subjected to some special attack, such as the great sword resembling liquid metal in the hands of the hunter leader that Suo En mentioned earlier, or a soul-attacking spell.

But such an attack, for Kelifu who could leave at any time, would be like an ordinary person using a blade to kill a High Mage who could teleport away at any moment.

It is possible, but the probability is extremely low; anyone with a stronger sense of crisis would know to run away in advance.

As for the other speculation, it is very simple: it had nothing to do with the native hunters, and Kelifu met with an accident only after shaking off those native hunters.

As for what kind of accident led to Kelifu's death, Xia Duo also had a few more likely speculations—

One is that Kelifu did not want to waste the opportunity to go to the Dream Ruins accompanied by Suo En; even though he had already returned to the Main Plane, he did not give up, continued to head to the Dream Ruins, and then met with an accident there.

The other is more of a conspiracy theory, basically inseparable from Suo En, and it might even be related to someone on the Main Plane!

And after Xia Duo asked that question, Lander seemed to understand what Xia Duo meant, "Are you saying that Kelifu might have met with an accident only after you left the Astral Plane?"

"Yes!" Xia Duo nodded seriously.

He felt that the possibility of Kelifu being killed by the native hunters was extremely low; he found it hard to imagine any existence capable of instantly killing Kelifu, leaving him not even a shred of a chance to escape.

He basically believed that Kelifu either died in the Dream Ruins or died due to some conspiracy targeting him; if it were the latter, then Suo En's suspicion was infinitely high!

As for why the two did not leave the Astral Plane at the same time, yet returned at the same time (in terms of life status effects), that is the special nature of the Astral Plane.

Even if Xia Duo stayed inside for 100 years and Kelifu stayed for 1 second, when the two returned, they would both return to the Main Plane at the moment immediately following their departure; for the Main Plane, almost no time had passed.

This also means that if two people did not head to the Astral Plane at the same time, it would be almost impossible to meet in the Astral Plane!

This is precisely the problem that Xia Duo found terrifying upon deep reflection.

In the past, he often wanted to meet people from the past, or rather, people from the future, in the Astral Plane or the Projection Plane.

But in fact, the basis for his existence is that there are no people from the past in the Astral Plane, or if there are, that person from the past has lost the Time Anchor from when he entered the Astral Plane!

Correspondingly, he also cannot meet people from the future in the Astral Plane; if he could meet them, it would mean changing the future, and then the person from the future would not exist.

Space-time coordinates automatically, and they simply would not meet.

If he stayed in the Astral Plane until he met a person from the future, he would also lose the Time Anchor of the moment he entered the Astral Plane on the Main Plane.

In layman's terms, he could not return to the past relative to the future; even if he knew the future, he could not change anything through this.

Of course, these are just Xia Duo's speculations, merely a logically self-consistent but difficult-to-verify speculation derived from a small amount of known facts through thought experiments.

If one could meet people from the past or the future, according to Xia Duo's speculation, they must come from other Time Lines, and then this world would be even more complex and profound.

He suspected that Prophecy might be using gods to peer into a future Time Line; if this is true, then gods are not affected by Time Lines and might even transcend Time Lines.

Additionally, if his speculation is completely wrong and the past can be changed.

Then such a world is even more terrifying, as it means one's own existence is extremely easily shaken; perhaps he himself is already the result of the Time Line being changed countless times, yet he does not know it!

This problem is truly terrifying upon deep reflection!

Xia Duo truly did not wish to think too much about such problems, so after giving the two speculations regarding Kelifu's death, he stopped talking about it entirely.

The possibility of a conspiracy theory is not high, and the possibility of a conspiracy theory involving Iolum is even lower; with Iolum present, he was not very worried about becoming a victim of a conspiracy.

If it were an accident, given his status as a Senior Arcanist, he would not end up as a scapegoat bearing the blame.

After figuring this out, Xia Duo felt much more relaxed; although he was a party involved, he examined the handling process of the several Great Arcanists with the mindset of a bystander.

……

"Lord Xia Duo, you may leave now, but before the Seven Towers announces the results, please do not leave Seventon; we may have some follow-up questions for you to confirm."

"I understand." Xia Duo did not argue, only saying, "Then I will stay at the Arcane Union for the time being."

"Very well."

After Badijiaer finished speaking, he signaled that Xia Duo could leave.

Xia Duo took one last glance at Kelifu's remains still lying on the ground, sighed silently in his heart, exchanged a look of confirmation with Iolum, and then left the Projection Hall without looking back.

……

After Xia Duo left, Badijiaer and the others continued to discuss, but no matter how they discussed it, they could not escape one question: Kelifu's true cause of death.

If this problem is not resolved, then at this critical moment when the Northland Alliance is about to be established, the consequences triggered by this incident will be very serious.

Whether it was the people of the Seven Towers or Iolum, the expressions on their faces were quite grave, especially Sikumu's.

Kelifu died on his turf; regardless of the reason, this incident would have a considerable negative impact on Giles Tower.

Having just taken over Giles Tower, such a thing happened; Sikumu's displeasure was almost written on his face.

"So what should we do now? Is anyone willing to go to the Astral Plane to investigate?"

Sikumu's tangible gaze swept back and forth over the crowd several times, but he did not receive any response; this scene made him feel suddenly angry.

Is this still the Seven Towers?