Chapter 1381: Traitors, Loss of Composure

Upon learning that more Elves had arrived in the Nan Jing, Xia Duo, sensing danger, decided immediately not to wait until evening; once Iolum returned from Evereska in the afternoon, he would go to see him.

Casting a Sleep Spell on himself, Xia Duo drifted into a deep slumber. When he awoke, the time had reached the afternoon, and he reckoned Iolum would have returned by now.

Xia Duo immediately sent a Sending: "Teacher, have you returned? I have a very important matter I wish to discuss with you!"

At first, Iolum did not reply. Just as Xia Duo thought he had not yet returned, the other suddenly replied: "I have returned and am currently in the Study. Come here and find me!"

Upon hearing this, Xia Duo did not hesitate in the slightest; he did not even walk over, but instead teleported directly there.

Inside the Study.

Iolum looked toward the door with some surprise, and the next moment, Xia Duo's figure appeared there.

"What is so urgent that it couldn't wait until we met later?" Iolum asked curiously while processing the documents piled on his desk, simultaneously gesturing for Xia Duo to sit down and speak.

However, Xia Duo had no mind to sit down and talk slowly at this moment; he was currently single-mindedly wanting to find some tall figures to help him withstand the pressure from the Elves.

He walked to the opposite side of Iolum's desk, looked at the figure still continuously annotating documents, and said solemnly: "Teacher, two Druids have appeared in my Territory!"

"Druids?"

Iolum immediately stopped the movement of his hand writing, looked up at Xia Duo, "Are you certain they are Druids? How could those traitors suddenly appear in the Nan Jing?"

"Teacher, perhaps I expressed myself incorrectly; it should be said that two Druids were born among my subjects!"

Xia Duo did not directly speak of the New Natural Philosophy. The reason he had to be so circuitous was, to a certain extent, to test Iolum's attitude toward Druids.

Now it seemed that the attitude of the Netheril upper echelons toward Druids was very clear—the word "traitors" was already enough to explain everything.

"Is it the Golden Oak Branch Order? Or the Forest Oath?"

Iolum casually mentioned two human Druid organizations within Netheril, but then told Xia Duo very firmly:

"If members of those two organizations appear in your Territory, find any excuse to kill them; do not give them the chance to spread extreme ideologies! For a Territory like yours located on the edge of a forest, once Druid ideology begins to spread, it is almost impossible to eliminate."

Xia Duo understood Iolum's meaning; he now knew what Iolum meant by the spread of Druid ideology.

Because the magical productivity of Netheril had not been popularized to the Commoners, the living standards of the Commoners were actually extremely low, sometimes even to the point of not having enough to eat.

Thus, that group of human Druids would spread Druid ideology in territories near forests, guiding nearby Commoners to become Druids, so that they could obtain sufficient food and even clothing from the forest.

As for the price, it was, of course, protecting the forest from being logged. For this, those Commoners who had just gained power would even dare to charge directly at a Mage Tower.

It was just that under the overbearing interference of Cormanthor, Netheril could not openly do anything to Druids, unless they had indeed violated local laws.

Yet, those who violated the laws were not the die-hard turncoats like the Golden Oak Branch Order or the Forest Oath, but the brainwashed ordinary subjects.

What the Netheril authorities could do was to limit the Golden Oak Branch Order and the Forest Oath to the vicinity of Seventon as much as possible. The areas around Seventon were all territories with relatively mature development and fewer forests, so Druids did not fare well there.

As long as they were not allowed to run around everywhere, the danger was relatively controllable.

However, the Druids in Xia Duo's Territory were not like those turncoats. "Teacher, if I say that the two Druids in my Territory have absolutely nothing to do with the Elf main gods and were born entirely from the calling of Nature, would you believe it?"

"How is this possible?" Iolum instinctively retorted, "If there is no consent from the Elf main gods, by what right do they possess Natural Holy Power? And if they do not even have Natural Holy Power, how can they become Druids?"

"Teacher, you are right. If strictly following the Elf standards, those two in my Territory indeed do not count as Druids, but their perception of Natural Holy Power is true and undeniable. One of them has not even heard of the concept of the Elf main gods!"

"Elf standards?"

Relying solely on intuition, Iolum grasped the keyword in Xia Duo's words and immediately sensed the potential danger of this matter, so he hurriedly asked:

"What have you done?"

Xia Duo coughed lightly and said with considerable pride:

"Teacher, I merely expanded the narrow Elf concept of forest nature to the external objects of the universe, thereby founding a 'New Natural Philosophy' and guided a former Druid who had lost his Holy Power to accept and practice this theory.

"Not long ago, he already re-perceived Holy Power, a brand-new Holy Power. Besides him, there is also a small child in my Territory who has also perceived the existence of Natural Will, though he has not yet been able to obtain Holy Power."

Upon hearing this, Iolum's expression management nearly failed; his complexion shifted between light and dark, which was quite spectacular. It took a long time for him to recover, and looking at Xia Duo's young appearance, he sighed with a complex tone:

"Young people are truly bold!"

Xia Duo chuckled; as long as he didn't turn hostile on the spot, it was fine. Come to think of it, this was the first time he had seen Iolum lose his composure like this!

Usually, this cheap teacher of his was either looking profound or looking unfathomable; apart from the occasional kindness revealed, there were almost no obvious expressions.

"Teacher, what do you think I should do now?"

"What to do?"

Iolum pondered for a moment, then said: "First, take me to see that different kind of Druid!"

"Right now?"

"Right now!"

Before coming, Xia Duo had anticipated this moment, so he did not doubt it. After asking Iolum, he immediately summoned a Portal in the Study, linking it to the Portal pedestal inside the Tower of Time.

"I forgot to tell you, Teacher, a Mage of the Elves recently came to the Savile Territory. To avoid encountering them, please meet Yatewude at the Tower of Time. By the way, Yatewude is that former Druid who regained the new Holy Power."

Besides avoiding the Elf Mage of the Moon Crown Family, Xia Duo was also worried that if Iolum went over, he might directly wipe out Yatewude, and he might not be able to stop him.

If it were at the Tower of Time, at least it would be safe and worry-free.

Tower of Time.

While greeting Iolum to wait in the Reception Room, Xia Duo also contacted Niya to come and pay a visit. Of course, he did not forget to notify Yatewude to come to the Tower of Time.

Inside the Reception Room, the three of them chatted while drinking tea, waiting for Yatewude's arrival. During this time, Xia Duo also asked Iolum whether he understood conceptual entities produced by theories, thoughts, and philosophies, and what the difference was between them and gods.