Chapter 1470: Vassal Treaty, Astral Projection

"Xia Duo, you have surprised me too much!"

Once the irrelevant people had walked away, the expression on Buluode's face became extremely exaggerated again, "Do you know how surprised I was after I learned from the teacher that you were already a Great Arcanist!"

"You are far too low-key. You must know that when I became a Great Arcanist, I notified the Seventon Council and the Arcane Union immediately. That feeling was truly wonderful!"

"I am not you," Xia Duo replied indifferently.

From the moment he agreed to accept Iolum's recommendation to head to Akaola to extend the life of the Akaola Crown King, it meant that he had given up on continuing to hide his identity.

Iolum might keep it from outsiders, but he should no longer continue to hide it from Buluode and the others whom he interacted with every day.

It was just that, apart from Buluode, the others were not Great Arcanists; otherwise, it would not have been just Buluode who came.

"Alright, you've seen what you came to see, so go back to your work. Also, tell the teacher that I won't be going to the luncheon; no need to wait for me, I have to hurry with things here."

In truth, besides needing to rush the work, Xia Duo also did not want to become an object of curiosity for Luowei and the others. They were originally peers of equal status, but now their status had suddenly pulled apart.

He really didn't know what Luowei and the others would think. In any case, Xia Duo was not a person who loved to show off, so giving them a few days to buffer was a good choice.

……

Buluode came quickly and left quickly. After he left, Xia Duo continued to throw himself into the experiment of partial testing for the Arcane Fire Device.

Thus, ten days later, the partial testing experiment for the Arcane Fire Device was basically nearing its end, during which Xia Duo played an important role.

Besides completing the testing tasks that originally belonged to him ahead of schedule, he also shouldered a large number of tasks for Buluode, Luowei, and the others.

It was also on this day, during the noon luncheon.

At first, it was a normal meal and exchange, but when it came to the end, Xia Duo was kept behind by Iolum alone. He immediately realized that there was likely definitive news from the Seven Towers.

Sure enough, after the two arrived at the Study, Iolum did not hide anything and directly stated the final result regarding the Akaola Envoy's plea for help—

"The Seven Towers have decided to treat the Akaola Crown King, and at the same time, they have agreed to my recommendation. In two days, you will represent Netheril and head to Akaola."

"Two days later? So fast?"

Xia Duo had originally thought that this matter might drag on for half a year or more. He did not expect it to be so urgent. It looked like the Akaola Crown King did not have much time left. He just wondered which longevity plan he would choose?

"I also feel it is a bit rushed, but Akaola is pushing very hard. Besides the Common Defense Agreement, they even signed a Unilateral Consistent Action Agreement that is closer to being one-sided. For this, the Seven Towers also had to show more sincerity."

Hearing Iolum's explanation, Xia Duo felt extremely surprised in his heart. Since when were the Elves willing to become vassals of humans?!

The so-called Unilateral Consistent Action Agreement, in short, meant that whatever Netheril did, Akaola had to follow and do the same, including in war.

This was almost a vassal treaty. Had Akaola fallen to such a state?

"Teacher, do you think there might be a trap on Akaola's side?" Xia Duo asked again.

"Important agreements between two countries certainly cannot be signed rashly. The Seven Towers have already verified it."

Regarding the authenticity of the agreement, Iolum still had the right to speak; he had personally participated in the verification process. Furthermore—

"This time heading to Akaola, you are not going in your true body, so don't be overly worried. Just treat it as a relaxing trip; you haven't rested at all during this period."

Whether he needed a relaxing trip was something Xia Duo didn't actually care about. His hometown tradition was "suffer first, enjoy later." The Independent Arcane Fire Device was of great importance, so it didn't matter if he suffered a bit more.

At this moment, the focus of his attention was still on the "not going in your true body" that Iolum mentioned, so he hurriedly asked: "If it's not the true body, can a mere Projection or Perception Field cast such complex spells?"

Xia Duo could already perform simple projections with an attached Perception Field to cast spells remotely, but the Perception Field could not carry the full will of the Spellcaster, so it could not cast overly complex spells.

The Extreme Longevity Technique provided by Iolum, even if it were the simplest "Elven Heart version," had a high difficulty for Spellcasting, and Xia Duo did not have the confidence to cast it remotely.

Furthermore, the entire territory of Akaola was covered by a Mythallar, and whether the Perception Field could penetrate it normally was also a question. Even if the Elves opened the Mythallar Permission to him, there would still be many actual interferences.

Xia Duo had originally prepared to make the trip in person; he dared to take that risk. But he hadn't expected Iolum to say he didn't need to go in his true body, which made him feel curious.

He even thought immediately of the special Astral Plane projection spell of Giles Tower, which could create an Astral Body in the Astral Plane that was indistinguishable from the original body and possessed the same Spellcasting ability as the original body.

If that Astral Body could be brought to the Main Plane, perhaps true remote Spellcasting could be realized.

Regarding Xia Duo's question, Iolum's answer was—

"Giles Tower will provide an Astral Projection, which is consistent with the original body, is very difficult to be detected, and does not affect normal Spellcasting. As long as it is not killed by a few special spells, even if it dies, it will not harm the original body.

"In fact, during the Snow Melting Competition these years, all participants from Netheril's side participated as Astral Bodies. Otherwise, if a batch of Elite Spellcasters died every year, no matter how much potential there was, it would be exhausted.

"This time, Giles Tower is providing the spell directly to you, not just providing an Astral body. Originally, Sikumu was a bit reluctant; it was only because Huo En and Badijiaer insisted that he relented."

It really was an Astral Projection!

It was just that what Xia Duo didn't expect was that the previous participants of the Snow Melting Competition were actually participating using Astral Bodies. Then, those people who died on the competition field in front of the public didn't actually die?

No wonder most of the previous Snow Melting Competitions were only attended by members of the Seven Towers. The Seven Towers really had a good plan. Those who could participate in the Snow Melting Competition were at least Arcanists, which could be considered Elites.

Sending them to compete, if they survived, they accumulated experience, and if they died, it wasn't a real death. Hiding behind the scenes might allow them to play a greater role.

And those participants sent by other forces, if they died on the competition field, perhaps they would also be absorbed by the Seven Towers!

It really was a profitable business with no losses!

For a moment, Xia Duo even began to calculate who had died in the past Snow Melting Competitions. According to the talent of those people, the probability of becoming a Great Arcanist before the age of forty or fifty was very high.

If one counted back ten or twenty years, among those dead people, at least one Great Arcanist would certainly have been born.

That is to say, apart from the one Great Arcanist per family in the Seven Towers on the surface, in secret, each family at least hid one, or even more.

As expected, Great Arcanists are like college students. Even if they rely entirely on self-study without a systematic and perfect education, with so many people, it certainly wouldn't just produce a dozen or so college students.