Chapter 1226: Fate Trajectory, Recruiting New Members

"I am certain that I did not participate in any conspiracy against Kelifu. To me, this whole thing is entirely an accident. If the Seven Towers intends to frame me, I will certainly rise up and resist!"

Xia Duo said decisively. At the same time, this was his most honest thought; if a Senior Arcanist is determined to cause destruction, even the Seven Towers would find it extremely troublesome.

Precisely because of this, in Netheril, Senior Arcanists hold a status second only to Great Arcanists, and their opinions are widely sought before any major decisions are issued.

Of course, when it does not involve core interests, especially personal safety, Senior Arcanists generally respect the results of collective decisions, with the minority submitting to the majority.

In a few extreme cases, whether it is a Senior Arcanist or a higher-ranking Great Arcanist, they will try their best to avoid them beforehand. If it truly reaches that point, it will inevitably end with one side completely compromising or total annihilation.

Xia Duo does not wish for such an extreme situation to happen to him, but if it really did, he would absolutely make his opponent experience the crazy retaliation guided by the Unrestricted Warfare ideology from his hometown.

……

Behind the desk, Iolum listened silently to Xia Duo's statement. He did not expect his nominal student to have such a fierce attitude.

Previously, he had always thought Xia Duo was mature for his age, skilled at planning, and good at compromising. Seeing him like this now reminded him of what he was like when he was young; perhaps this is the true appearance of a young person.

"Rest assured, the Seven Towers will not do that, and I will not allow such a situation to happen!"

After thinking for a moment, Iolum took another book from the bookshelf behind him, sent it in front of Xia Duo, and said in a gentle tone:

"These are some details regarding the recent negotiations between the Seventon Council and the Northland nations concerning the Northland Alliance. Take it back and read it; prepare early!"

"Negotiation details?"

Xia Duo did not understand why Iolum suddenly mentioned this, but he still stretched out both hands to "pluck" the book from the void in front of him.

Just as he was about to flip it open to take a look, he suddenly thought of something. A flash of surprise appeared in his eyes, and he asked with slight hesitation: "Does Teacher mean—I can leave Seventon and return to Nan Jing now?"

"Yes."

Iolum nodded slightly and pointed to the newly appeared ornament on the table, explaining:

"Even the 【Fate Trajectory】 cannot find any possibility of your involvement in this matter. The Seven Towers will have nothing to say. If you want to return to Nan Jing, you can leave now."

Following the direction of Iolum's finger, Xia Duo once again cast his gaze toward the strange ornament in the corner of the desk. Is this thing, which resembles a multi-layered filament structure, called "Fate Trajectory"?

Could it really detect fate?

Xia Duo felt it was more likely used for lie detection. Of course, it might not only have a lie-detection function; otherwise, one could just find a Priest with strong divine favor instead of using this specifically.

Perhaps it also has some function of verifying Reality. If so, it might really be related to the legendary "Fate".

While pondering, Xia Duo unknowingly let his gaze linger on the 【Fate Trajectory】 for a while longer. Seemingly noticing that Xia Duo had become interested in the 【Fate Trajectory】, Iolum said with a smile:

"What? Curious?"

"A little." Xia Duo withdrew his gaze and said truthfully.

"Then this 【Fate Trajectory】 is yours!"

"What?!"

Xia Duo almost doubted his own ears, wondering if he had misheard something, but Iolum's calm voice appeared in his ears again:

"I said, this 【Fate Trajectory】 is yours!"

This time Xia Duo heard clearly, but he was even more confused. This 【Fate Trajectory】 sounded very high-end; could it be that just because he was curious about it, Iolum gave it to him so casually?

Xia Duo felt very puzzled.

Facing such a wise old man who understood the ways of the world like Iolum, Xia Duo did not hide his thoughts. To this, Iolum's answer was—

"To me, this is just a toy. As long as I want, I can make another one at any time. Its true function is to Link Magic Web, allowing the Magic Net to reveal fate, limited to things that happened in the past within the native Magic Net environment."

"However, don't expect to use it to predict the future or trace back the past. If there is no Divine Grace or Holy Power from the Lady of Mystery, it will have no effect."

After hearing Iolum's answer, Xia Duo finally understood that this 【Fate Trajectory】 was not some unique Magic Item, but rather more like a mass-produced product.

Theoretically, any Magic Item can be mass-produced. Only a few that use certain substitute elements for materials require analyzing the elements replaced by those materials or finding those materials.

Except for a wooden base, this 【Fate Trajectory】 is entirely composed of extremely fine Mithril wires, belonging to a category that can be completely mass-produced.

As for Iolum saying it "cannot be used without Holy Power or Divine Grace," Xia Duo is not worried. The Magic Goddess and the Lord of Radiance have great goals; all of Her Divine Magic can be converted into general Arcane Magic!

In layman's terms, even the effect of 【Fate Trajectory】 obtained through Divine Grace and Holy Power can be converted into Arcane Magic and can be learned by an Arcane Spellcaster who is not a Priest of the Goddess!

Additionally, through Iolum's answer, Xia Duo seemed to have discovered a secret. Of course, strictly speaking, this secret is not really a secret.

The most magnificent and spectacular Arcane Temple in Netheril is in Yiaole Mu Ling, and the place with the highest proportion and number of Magic Goddess Priests is also in Yiaole Mu Ling.

Although Iolum has never explicitly expressed any inclination toward Faith, isn't it an easy inference to make that he possesses the Holy Power and Divine Grace of the Magic Goddess?

Xia Duo even suspects that Iolum giving him the 【Fate Trajectory】 this time might also be for the purpose of "recruiting new members" for the Goddess's group of Priests.

But for such solicitation, Xia Duo is not moved at all. Even though he personally participated in the Ascension Ritual of a new god and has already begun to execute certain steps of the Ascension Ritual himself, his understanding of gods is still very lacking.

Even if there were no hidden dangers in having Faith in the Lady of Mystery, he would not do it. He still understands the principle of "better to be the head of a chicken than the tail of an ox."

Once Holy Power is accepted, it means joining a more rigorous order led by another existence, which will inevitably cause interference with the order he has created.

He prefers to use his own order to include, absorb, and assimilate the orders of other existences, or in the words of his hometown, "seek common ground while reserving differences."

Clearly, accepting Holy Power means accepting the "difference" between other existences and himself, which counts as actively accepting assimilation; this is something Xia Duo cannot accept.

As the saying goes, there are no two identical leaves in the world, nor are there two identical thoughts, and this also destined that Xia Duo will not accept the Holy Power of any god.

Of course, Xia Duo could also accept it first and then abandon it after using it. If it were in some unavoidable or emergency situation, perhaps doing so would not be a problem.

But if one does this frequently, I fear they would forget how the words "Divine Punishment" are written.