Chapter 1340: Observations from the Ether Plane: Success and Failure

At a distance of about forty or fifty meters, Xia Duo could see quite clearly, amidst a hazy and dismal Mist, a tower-like entity radiating a strong Magic Aura.

If someone familiar with the design blueprints of the Tower of Time were to see this scene, it would not be difficult to discover, with just a little analysis, that this dazzling tower-like entity before his eyes was the Tower of Time.

Yet outside the Tower of Time, it was not the Daxia Territory that Xia Duo was familiar with, but a forest within the Mist; however, compared to the last time he came here, the terrain and landscape had undergone relatively obvious changes.

This was not the result of shifting the burden onto others after the Semi-plane experiment failed just now, but rather that every time he came over, there would be scenes here that were different from before—seemingly familiar yet not quite the same.

Xia Duo could not yet understand the reason for this and could only treat it as a special attribute of the Ether Plane that distinguished it from the Material Plane.

Of course, the special nature of the Ether Plane went far beyond this.

Xia Duo only had to focus slightly to discover another world hidden within the Mist—the Main Plane.

He could see the scene of the Code Plaza overlapping with the forest, and he could also see the Daxia Territory residents who occasionally passed through the Code Plaza walking through the forest of the Ether Plane.

What's more, Xia Duo's body was currently being pierced by a flagpole next to the Code Plaza, yet he did not feel the slightest bit of pain.

In fact, when he walked forward a step or two, the flagpole simply "cut" out of his body, without the slightest obstruction.

It was as if they were two completely parallel worlds, neither able to disturb the other.

Of course, it was only "as if."

In reality, there are many Spells that can affect one Plane from another; otherwise, the Protection system of the Tower of Time would not have extended into the Ether Plane.

……

In order to avoid affecting the Main Plane should another failure occur during the experiment in the Ether Plane, although the possibility was extremely small, Xia Duo still stayed as far away as possible from the area where the Daxia Territory could be seen.

In a strange, primeval forest.

Xia Duo first constructed a defensive position and a wider area for surveillance, and only then did he return to the defensive position to begin the second experiment of the day.

——【Root Shaping】!

The Ether Plane belongs to a natural creation region; Xia Duo did not need to overlap it with the Material Plane again, and the preparatory work such as Magic Net analysis and Spellcasting adjustments had long been completed. He could now proceed to Create Demiplane Root.

(One can also Create Demiplane in the Material Plane, it is just more troublesome.)

The Plane Root in the pure Ether Plane appeared more ethereal and illusory compared to the scene during the experiment at the Tower of Time earlier.

It seemed as if one could easily blow it out just by breathing next to it, but in reality, it was very stable.

Soon, the Plane Root shaping was completed, and next, Xia Duo finally experienced the benefits of experimenting in the Ether Plane.

Although the environment of the previous experiment took into account the common characteristics of both the Material Plane and the Ether Plane due to Plane Overlap, it was, after all, still different from the environment of a pure Ether Plane.

And the difference was significant.

Xia Duo's most intuitive feeling was that the speed of Element Filling was more than a notch faster than before!

As for the evolution process after the Plane Root was filled with elements, it was not significantly different from the experiment just now; a blueprint is a blueprint, after all.

Next was the time for waiting——

It only took about three and a half hours, saving nearly half the time compared to before!

……

Just like the previous experiment, as the Element Filling gradually drew to a close, the initial form of the Semi-plane gradually became clear.

But compared to before, this time it was a truly independent little world!

Xia Duo could even see the complete outline of the Semi-plane, but when he wanted to reach out and touch it, it was like a dream bubble, completely untouchable.

He waved his arms, passing back and forth through the Semi-plane; this scene made Xia Duo feel somewhat comical, yet also somewhat shocked. If his size were larger, would he also be able to look at and "touch" the Main Plane from such a perspective?

Or perhaps, is there currently an unimaginably great existence looking at the Main Plane from a transcendent perspective?

Xia Duo shook his head, seemingly wanting to shake this unrealistic thought out of his mind, and then calculated the time; it was about time for the Plane to collapse as it had in the previous experiment.

But at this moment, the Semi-plane still existed very stably before Xia Duo.

"Could it be that the previous Plane collapse was truly caused by the experimental environment?"

Looking at the Semi-plane through the Ether Plane, the field of vision was actually greatly obstructed, and his Perception was not comprehensive, so Xia Duo directly cast a Spell to project his Perception Field into the Semi-plane.

With this, the whole world instantly became clear.

But unfortunately, the Semi-plane still showed signs of collapse, only it was different from the previous collapse that reached the material foundation, breaking down matter into elements and energy.

Now it was merely the collapse of the Plane itself; the matter within the Semi-plane still existed stably, but once the Plane collapse was complete, it would be difficult for the matter to remain.

Perhaps it would fall into a "nearby" Material Plane, or perhaps it would transform into a special existence capable of remaining in the Ether Interlayer under the extreme environment of the Plane collapse.

It was just that Xia Duo did not have time to wait for it to collapse completely now.

He had come to the Ether Plane on a whim to continue the experiment, and several hours had already passed; if he didn't go back now, Niya would likely be worried.

If the purpose of research is not to make life better, then what is the point of continuing to research?

Xia Duo was not an extremist who only had truth in his eyes; in essence, he was just an ordinary person with a few ideals, a little awareness, and a few achievements.

……

After returning to the Tower of Time.

Xia Duo was directly "caught" by Niya and taken to the Study, but when he leaned in to try to get close, Niya turned away in a haughty manner, with her back to Xia Duo.

"Niya, I'm sorry for making you worry."

Xia Duo stepped forward and hugged Niya from behind, whispering soft words in her ear; he didn't know if she was tickled by the breath disturbing her ear, or if she just didn't want to admit that she had been persuaded again.

Niya broke free from Xia Duo's embrace, sat angrily on the chair in front of the Projection Window, and even turned her head to look out the window.

Seeing this, Xia Duo was exceptionally delighted; he knew that under his influence, Niya had already surpassed the limitations of the current era and possessed some characteristics of the new-era woman.

Equality consciousness.

Not just equality with men, but equality with the strong.

This was what Xia Duo looked forward to seeing; if it were only a so-called civilization built by pure power, then what would there be to look forward to?

However, expectations are expectations, and delight is delight, but his wife still needed to be coaxed.

Thus, Xia Duo also plopped down in front of the window, facing Niya, and imitated her appearance, looking out the window; just like that, Niya's defenses broke.

"Can you stop copying me!"

"Can you not imitate me?"

"Hmph!"

"Hmph!"