Chapter 1452: Sudden Combat, Cause of the Accident

At this moment, if it were someone lacking combat experience or with poor mental fortitude, they might scream as they fell from the sky, only to be smashed into a meat patty.

But Xia Duo was not any of the types mentioned above; he was not only calm in his mindset, but his combat experience was also not inferior in the slightest. He was seen unhurriedly channeling his Bloodline Power, transforming into a mass of light gas.

The altitude that had been dropping rapidly instantly stagnated. Although he returned to his human form the next moment due to the influence of the unknown spellcaster's spell, the altitude at this time was already sufficient for him to land safely.

And after landing, the real blow had only just begun.

But at this moment, Xia Duo also had the leisure to track the opponent's lock while evading their Dispel Magic. That was the downside of Scrying spells; once detected by the opponent, there was a possibility of being tracked in reverse.

The unknown spellcaster might know his identity, but they did not know that he was already a Great Arcanist at this moment, rather than the Senior Arcanist he appeared to be on the surface.

He was able to follow the invisible link on the ninth layer of the Magic Net with a more composed posture and track them. In just an instant, Xia Duo gained a second perspective.

It was a place similar to the Ancestral Spirit Hall of the Grey Eagle Tribe, only the altar was not enshrined with a bird-shaped wood carving, but a living, flowering Green Vine.

And surrounding the altar, eight Elves were gathered in a circle, performing Joint Casting. At the same time Xia Duo tracked their location, the opponent also discovered Xia Duo's discovery.

Through the effects of the Scrying and anti-Scrying spells, the gazes of both sides seemed to pierce through the invisible void and collide fiercely.

With just one glance, Xia Duo felt the opponent's resolute intent. He immediately realized that either the Langasi or the Green Vine Tribe must hold a great secret.

And it was highly likely that he had been discovered by the Elves when he was searching for abnormalities in the major tribes earlier; it was just that the opponent had remained hidden, only striking with thunderous force at this moment.

Xia Duo felt this was very thorny, and what was even thornier was that the opponent was currently inside the Green Vine Tribe, projecting the spell effects over from a considerable distance.

He could certainly do the same, exchanging blows with the opponent across the distance, but this method, similar to firing cannonballs at each other on Earth, would make it impossible to determine a winner in a short time.

Even if he were a Great Arcanist, it wouldn't work, not to mention that the opponent was led by two Senior Mages and assisted by six Elite Mages; their configuration of spellcasting ability was not inferior to his.

And once it dragged on, the opponent might have backup plans, so he had to finish the battle quickly.

In fact, the moment he "saw" those eight Elf Mages, Xia Duo realized that they absolutely could not be the true backers of the Green Vine Tribe.

Because those eight Elf Mages were all Wood Elves, not Moon Elves or Gold Elves. Although the social status of Wood Elves in Yierlan was not as low as in Cormanthor due to their large numbers, it was not high either.

If a Wood Elf High Mage had appeared at the Green Vine Tribe at this time, Xia Duo might have thought that they were the true backers of the Green Vine Tribe.

But since they weren't even High Mages—or rather—didn't even have one, how could they have the confidence to provoke him?

Even if they didn't know his background, causing a conflict with a Netheril Lord would easily lead to them being reprimanded within their own country.

Harming one's own people more ruthlessly than enemies—this was not a phenomenon unique to human society; it existed in Elf society as well.

From this, Xia Duo judged that there must be a greater backer behind this group of Elf Mages, but he did not know much about the situation within Yierlan, far less than he was familiar with Cormanthor.

For a time, he could not guess what faction they belonged to.

However, in the blink of an eye, Xia Duo had already decided to go all out. In the current situation, it was clearly the Elves who had made the first move; even if it went to the Northland Alliance, he was not afraid.

In Netheril, no one would reprimand him, but these Wood Elf Mages would not have such good treatment.

Perhaps their enemies at home were just waiting for this excuse!

Thinking this way, Xia Duo immediately took out the Teleportation Scepter he had prepared for the trip to Evereska. Come to think of it, this scepter had not been officially used since it was completed!

Now that the two sides were still at a distance, Xia Duo worried that rashly displaying stronger power would make the opponent abandon this place and run away; using a Magic Item was just right to paralyze the opponent.

Thus, while Xia Duo parried the opponent's long-range formed spells, he waited for an opportunity to launch a surprise attack.

Long-range spell confrontation usually involved formed spells being projected from a Spell Source Point to a distant location. This method of spell confrontation could not interfere with, dispel, or even counter the opponent during their spellcasting process.

One could only counter them with spells of opposite effects, or forcibly erase the spell effects by combing through or suppressing the Magic Net.

The former required real-time analysis of the actual effect based on the specific elements of the Magic Net String combination; in battle, unless one was very familiar with the opponent, it was basically very difficult to succeed.

Although it was difficult, as long as it succeeded, even if there were slight differences, at least it could cause the opponent's intended purpose for the spell to fall through.

And forcibly erasing spell effects, although it looked much simpler, one had to know that not all spells could be forcibly erased by suppressing the Magic Net.

Even if it could be erased, it involved the Spell Energy Level; in reality, some effects might still exist, or it might fail to have any weakening effect, and the opponent's spell would act completely upon oneself.

Accidents that generally occurred in a Spell Laboratory usually had this as their direct cause—the Spell Suppression Field took effect, but it did not take effect completely.

As long as it exceeded the protection limit of one's own Protective Spell, the accident would inevitably occur.

Although Xia Duo was engaging in this long-range spell confrontation, which had little practical meaning, because he wanted to find an opportunity for a surprise attack, the level of danger was not much less.

After all, the opponent had taken the initiative previously, and most of the Protective Spells that had originally existed on Xia Duo had been stripped away. At this moment, he was like a person wearing cloth armor bayonet-fighting someone wearing full steel armor.

Due to the long distance, there was actually a limit to the flexibility of both sides, so as long as there was the slightest carelessness, even if Xia Duo was a Great Arcanist, it was possible for him to flip over here.

Of course, it was still very simple to leave; he could just walk away, and the opponent could not stop him.

It was just that if he left now, he shouldn't expect to have such a good opportunity again in the future.

What's more, Elves were very sensitive to the attitude of humans; if you retreated here, they might push their luck there. Next time, even if Xia Duo wanted to negotiate properly, it might not necessarily work.

Only by pinning them down and beating them into submission now, while the conflict was happening, would there be a premise for further dialogue.

Xia Duo guessed that perhaps there was no secret at all in the Langas Plain; it was just that his prying had made the Elves feel offended, which led to this situation where they had to fight as soon as they met.

If that were truly the case, then he would be too wronged.

But regardless, it was true that the strong possessed a greater right to speak.