Chapter 1468: Light of Civilization, Extreme Longevity

After hearing Iolum's explanation, Xia Duo did indeed feel a slight desire to retreat; in the past, he would never have rushed to involve himself in such a matter.

But if everything went smoothly, the potential benefits contained within were truly astonishing; at the very least, he would gain the friendship of the Akaola Crown King Family, as well as tangible rewards from Netheril.

The most direct of these was, naturally, the life extension spell; if he was expected to cast a life extension spell for the Crown King, how could he not be given the relevant spell?

Although Xia Duo believed that even if he did not do this, Iolum would still give him the life extension spell if he asked, he preferred the idea of a fair exchange over receiving a reward for no merit.

This was partly due to Xia Duo's sense of morality, and partly, to a certain extent, a rational decision; if he asked for benefits directly, Iolum might not say anything at the time, but it would thin out the rapport they had worked so hard to build.

Of course, mere profit was not enough to make Xia Duo participate in a mission with such significant risks; what truly made him dare to participate was the current situation in the Northland.

First was the Akaola Crown King Family; they certainly did not want Akaola to be annexed by Cormanthor, and they wanted to maintain their rule, even if their territory had now shrunk to just a corner of the Listar Forest.

Second was Netheril, or more accurately, the Seven Towers; they certainly did not want Akaola to be swallowed up, as that would mean there would be no buffer between Netheril and Cormanthor in the future.

To take a step back, one would never want to see a future competitor or even an enemy become stronger.

A divided Listar Forest was a good Listar Forest; only then would Cormanthor not be single-mindedly thinking about external expansion—if they couldn't even unify the Listar Forest, what face did they have to expand?

Xia Duo had a deeper understanding of Cormanthor; unifying the Listar Forest was arguably the most urgent matter for the Cormanthor Crown King, as it concerned the legitimacy of his rule. (The True King in the prophecy: first unify the Listar Forest, then unify the Elf World.)

And the other nations of the Northland, including Yierlan, which had a good relationship with Cormanthor, did not necessarily want to see a unified Listar Forest.

With only Cormanthor as the obstacle, what reason did Xia Duo have to be afraid of doing this?

As for a conspiracy, that could only mean Akaola had long been secretly controlled by Cormanthor, but that was basically impossible.

Even if that were the case, exposing it just to trap a Great Arcanist of Netheril would be too unworthy; it could be used at a much more critical moment.

Xia Duo felt that there were indeed risks, but the risk only lay in the fact that it would openly pit him against Cormanthor in the future, yet the real world was not black and white.

The logic of the game between nations lay in interests and losses; as long as he could bring benefits to Cormanthor, or make them unable to afford the loss of not having him, then even if they were openly hostile, Cormanthor would preserve itself as much as possible.

Undoubtedly, Xia Duo had the ability to achieve this, especially in the future, after the Floating City rose and the power of Arcanists expanded greatly; besides him, who would look at elves with respect?

By then, perhaps the humans of Netheril would hate him, the traitor, even more!

From inferiority to arrogance, it often happens in a single thought; when suppressed emotions erupt, even Xia Duo would be unable to cope.

Fortunately, the Northland Alliance had now been established, Netheril had gained the status of a major power it had long awaited, and humans had, to a certain extent, achieved equality with elves.

It was just that the bearing of a major power was not cultivated overnight, and how things would develop in the future was truly uncertain!

The history of Netheril that Xia Duo learned before he transmigrated was simply a nightmare for non-spellcasters; whether human or elf, as long as an Arcanist had a need, they could be put on the experimental table at any time.

Or perhaps there was no need for a purpose at all, just playing out a "destroying you, what does it have to do with you!"

Of course, the Netheril in that history was ultimately destroyed by someone's arrogance.

Such a nation, in Xia Duo's view, could not be called a "civilization"; if it could not even sustain itself, how could it be called a "civilization"?

And Cormanthor in that history, although not destroyed by Netheril, suffered much from its aggression; the direct cause of its final demise was the Drow and time, but it was also inseparable from Netheril.

Undoubtedly, Xia Duo was the light of civilization for the future; besides having the confidence to ensure Cormanthor would not strike at him even if they were hostile, he also had the confidence to become the mainstream within Netheril.

In this world, ordinary people (in the broad sense) still made up the majority; as long as he could represent the interests of the vast majority of ordinary people, he would undoubtedly be trusted and protected by them.

As long as one adhered to the Scientific Development View and persisted on the correct path, the tiny minority of "Elite" elements would never be able to stir up any trouble and would only drown in the vast ocean of people's war.

……

After a conversation with Iolum, Xia Duo obtained a brand-new life extension spell as he had wished; of course, accordingly, he also needed to make a trip to Akaola at an appropriate time.

Finally, Iolum instructed: "An elf's body is ultimately different from a human's; I have listed several feasible alternatives above, and I believe you can handle them well."

Xia Duo flipped through the thick notebook, nodded, and said solemnly: "Rest assured, I will ensure everything is foolproof before I take action."

Just as the pages of the notebook turned, Xia Duo caught a glimpse of keywords like "Elven Heart" in the notes, and he had some guesses as to how Iolum had researched this life extension spell.

Of course, these were not necessarily bad guesses; it could also be like the volunteers in the 【Projection Plane: Empire Remnants】 who voluntarily dedicated themselves to the medical cause!

……

After returning to his residence.

Xia Duo then took out the notebook to read it in detail; this spell was named 【Extreme Longevity Technique】 by Iolum, and like the life extension spell kept in the Tower of Time, it was a Transmutation spell.

But this spell was much more complex, and Xia Duo could even see the shadow of the Tower of Time's life extension spell in it; of course, this might need to be said the other way around—

It should be that one could see the shadow of this spell in the Tower of Time's life extension spell!

Its basic principle was to restore the body to its youthful state and provide a certain constant effect; the lifespan of the soul itself was extremely long, and for the time being, there was no need to make an issue of that.

However, this spell used a special consumable material when casting, which was not mentioned in the Tower of Time's life extension spell.

And this consumable material was named 【Life Source】 by Iolum; its source was naturally normal life, and the younger, the better.