Chapter 1275: Symbols of Legitimacy and Reporting Intelligence

To avoid the elves' gaze as much as possible, the only way Xia Duo could think of was to use a Magic Array to maintain a spell for Avoidance of Detection at the 9th Circle or higher for a relatively long period.

If he were to cast it himself, it could barely work, but it would certainly not be as stable as a Magic Array; if he could not obtain supplies from the Vengeance Tribunal, he would have no choice but to take the risk.

As for contacting the Great Arcanist among the Empire Remnants, Xia Duo had never considered it; the matter of the Elven Divine Sword was too inconceivable, and he simply could not explain it.

And if some Great Arcanist became interested in him—or more accurately, in his memories—that would be a disaster, not a blessing.

Even if he handed over the Elven Divine Sword, it was not certain that he could get the other party to give it up.

Even for Xia Duo himself, if he encountered something too bizarre and extremely important, while being interested and having the ability to understand it, would he not try to understand it?

If he were the Great Arcanist among the Empire Remnants, and he knew that an Advanced Rank Mage—even if he later discovered it was an Archmage—had suddenly obtained the symbol of royal power of Cormanthor, Xia Duo would absolutely make sure to find out every detail of that Advanced Rank Mage, from every cell inside and out to every bit of memory!

This didn't even need to be considered!

Involving the Elven Divine Sword, as long as Xia Duo didn't say anything, it was impossible for others to suspect him; it was simply too bizarre.

Even within Cormanthor, after the Crown King investigated to no avail, at most they would suspect that the original sword-forger had hidden it, or suspect that they were colluding to start a rebellion.

It was even possible that this matter might cause the forces dissatisfied with the Crown King within Cormanthor to truly begin colluding; without the 【Sword of Ruling】, the holders of the other two Elven Divine Swords would be the legitimate rulers.

One is the Army commander, the other is the Mage Leader; without the legitimacy brought by the 【Sword of Ruling】, how could the Crown King command them, and how could he rule Cormanthor?

Having "personally" experienced the 【Divine Sword Trial】, Xia Duo knew very well that the Crown King did not have a direct subordinate relationship with the holders of the other two Divine Swords.

The Crown King's authority over the holders of the other two Divine Swords essentially stemmed from the 【Sword of Ruling】, as well as the inertia of the superior-subordinate relationship over the past thousand years.

Of course, the original holders of the other two Divine Swords might not necessarily live as long as the Crown King; all three Elven Divine Swords had Longevity effects, but only High Mages could remain in the Mortal Plane for an almost indefinite period, although they would eventually lose the vast majority of their power, retaining only the final strike.

If the holders of the other two Divine Swords had changed and were no longer the original old acquaintances, then the Crown King might not be able to suppress the ambitions of the young.

Not to mention reigning for a thousand years, even living for a thousand years is something very few elves can achieve; there will always be young power-holders who are dissatisfied with the status quo and want to covet higher positions.

Xia Duo was looking forward to what would happen within Cormanthor after the 【Sword of Ruling】 disappeared; if a small-scale Crown War could break out, that would be very interesting.

Perhaps the Arcane Empire Remnants could reappear on the Surface with the support of Illefarn and establish a second Empire.

It is a pity that it would surely take a very long time; considering the Time Loop, Xia Duo estimated that he would not be able to see that day.

……

Stowing the 【Summoning-Sealing Array】 from inside the cave into his Personal Space and simply clearing away some traces he had left behind, Xia Duo then left the cave.

Afterward, he flew north at high speed, and only when he approached the Empire ruins did he stop and send a directional Sending toward the ruins.

Soon he received Yilisi's reply, which was, as usual, an instant teleportation coordinate based on Magic Web Background Fluctuation positioning that required target confirmation.

Xia Duo teleported to the coordinate location and met Yilisi in a bush; as soon as they met, Yilisi looked cold and questioned him:

"Eight days have passed since the mission began, what have you done?"

"I have obtained extremely important intelligence!"

Xia Duo was unhurried; with the Empire Remnants about to face a massive search by Cormanthor, faced with important intelligence, even if it were a lie, Yilisi would absolutely not dare to ignore it.

Not to mention that he really did have important intelligence!

Sure enough, after Xia Duo said this, Yilisi's expression softened slightly, but she still didn't have a good look on her face, "Come back to the branch with me."

For safety reasons, if it really was important intelligence, then Cormanthor's level of attention to it would be very high; talking in the wild might arouse the other party's vigilance.

The Vengeance Tribunal's branch base was equipped with highly protective measures for Avoidance of Detection; talking there would be much safer.

To this, Xia Duo did not refuse and returned to the branch base together with Yilisi.

……

The base was empty; everyone had been sent out to carry out missions. After Yilisi brought Xia Duo back, she asked directly in the hall:

"What exactly is the intelligence? You can say it now!"

"Yes, My Lady."

Before coming, Xia Duo had already organized his words, and now it was just a matter of reciting them:

"My Lady, I learned a heaven-shaking secret from a Cormanthor demon—uh, elf! There is an Underground Passage in the Dragonspine Mountains that leads to the Underdark and connects to the elves' mortal enemy, the Drow!"

"As the saying goes, 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend.' Now that the Empire's situation is critical, if we can establish contact with the Drow and fight against Cormanthor together, perhaps it can make the Empire's situation a little better."

There was not a single lie in Xia Duo's words, he just omitted some details.

He did indeed learn the location of the Underground Passage from a Cormanthor elf—Patriarch Aoruipusi of the Silver Leaf Family—but Aoruipusi was not a Cormanthor elf of this Projection Plane, but of the Main Plane.

After listening to Xia Duo's account, Yilisi's expression immediately became serious, and her eyes were full of sharpness; she approached Xia Duo, stared into Xia Duo's eyes, and continued to ask:

"Where is it?"

Xia Duo took out the simple map he had prepared in advance and handed it to Yilisi with both hands, "The Underground Passage is at the location marked with the red dot on the map!"

Yilisi took the map but did not look at it immediately; instead, she continued to press: "What about that elf?"

"That elf is no longer in this world!" Xia Duo did not lie about this either, because Aoruipusi was not a person of this world (Plane) to begin with!

Yilisi only thought that Xia Duo had killed the elf, showing a look of regret and embarrassment, but she quickly put away her emotions and said to Xia Duo:

"This matter is very important; I need to report it to the superiors immediately. You rest in the base first; I estimate that the superiors will soon send someone over to inquire, so think about how you will say it!"

Xia Duo understood that the other party was reminding him that he might encounter a lie detector; after all, during the Empire period, the Judgment Division was to some extent the most proficient at this!

"My Lady, I guarantee that there is not half a lie in what I just said; I am willing to accept the organization's further Inquiry!"

"Very good, go and rest!"

"Yes."