Chapter 1480: Premonition, Dissuasion

Tower of Time.

Inside the laboratory, Xia Duo looked pained as he disposed of the blood sample before him, which had already turned into something resembling bean dregs; he discovered that he had somewhat overestimated himself.

Even after taking a shortcut by borrowing the effects of the Clone Technique on blood proliferation and differentiation, he had failed to discover the results he wanted after wasting nearly half the blood.

Next, even if he used up all the remaining half of the blood, it was unlikely that any qualitative change would occur; perhaps he should shift his target toward using blood as a substitute for spellcasting components.

While the prospect of detecting various data from a single drop or multiple drops of blood was wonderful, it was estimated that it would be difficult to have any qualitative breakthrough in the short term.

After realizing this realistic problem, Xia Duo decisively became realistic as well, though if the remaining half of the blood were used as a substitute for spellcasting components, it would likely only be enough for one use.

Additionally, there was the issue of volunteers; Xia Duo did not wish to use himself as the target for experiments, as there was a limit to the use of the Longevity Technique.

Aside from the theoretical limit of longevity, in practice, the number of longevity extensions also needed to be as few as possible; it was best if one extension could stack more life data, otherwise, it might affect the effect of the next extension.

Xia Duo felt it was not worth it to sacrifice his own future longevity effects to pay for the elves, but if he used his blood to extend the lives of others, he would also find it psychologically difficult to accept.

Just as he was hesitating over whether to collect more blood for experiments, a message finally arrived from Seventon, which made Xia Duo breathe a temporary sigh of relief.

Although he very much wanted to intercept the subsequent mission, this matter itself, when it came down to it, did not have much to do with him personally; these troublesome matters should be left for the Seven Towers to consider!

The Sending came from Iolum, and the matter the other party spoke of did not exceed Xia Duo's expectations; the Seven Towers had indeed chosen to agree to the request of the Crown King of Akaola, but there were also some changes that caught Xia Duo off guard.

"Teacher, are you going to Akaola in person?"

"Yes, only I understand the Longevity Technique best; others likely cannot manage to extend the life of the Crown King of Akaola before next year as requested."

Upon hearing this, Xia Duo immediately had a bad premonition. If this had not happened, the request of the Crown King of Akaola might just have been pushing for more, but with this development, the request of the Crown King of Akaola seemed more like a conspiracy designed in advance.

The elves might only be guessing, but Xia Duo was very clear about Iolum's importance to Netheril.

Although Netheril's final Mythallar would be born without him now, besides that, as the President of the Arcane Union who maintained balance in all aspects, Iolum's role was also difficult for others to replace.

Even if Iolum were to go in person, he would be using a Projection, but a Projection was not omnipotent; at the very least, Xia Duo had several ways to restrict or harm a body made of a Projection.

If the elves truly had a conspiracy, they might set a foolproof trap, and at that time, it would be a case of "calling to heaven with no response, calling to earth with no reply."

"Teacher, can this matter be delayed? Didn't you often mention the threat from the East before? Could that threat not be Cormanthyr, but Akaola? Or perhaps this trip to Akaola was secretly planned by Cormanthyr?"

Akaola was also in the east of Netheril, so Xia Duo's explanation was not entirely without basis; furthermore, premonitions and divine revelations and the like never had much logic to speak of—as long as the person involved believed them, that was enough.

After listening to Xia Duo's dissuasion, Iolum fell silent. Just when Xia Duo thought he might have said something wrong, Iolum's reply finally arrived late—

"There are some things that must be done no matter the cost; I believe you can understand this!"

Xia Duo could certainly understand, but from his perspective, the current situation was far from reaching the point where Iolum needed to take the initiative to sacrifice himself.

Even if Akaola eventually fell, what could Cormanthyr do? As a human nation, shouldn't they have long been prepared to be enemies with all elven nations?

As the saying goes, "those who are not of my race must have different intentions." Perhaps one shouldn't view the other party through colored glasses during normal interactions, but there should at least be a bottom-line contingency plan!

Could it be that Netheril had been able to exist until now solely because of the care of the external environment, without exerting even the slightest bit of effort itself?

Xia Duo believed that even if Netheril did nothing in the short term, Akaola could not unilaterally overturn the agreement formally signed by the two countries. If the timeline were stretched, it was truly uncertain who would break the agreement first!

In his view, this was the critical moment for the research on the Mythallar (Independent Arcane Fire Device), and as the key figure coordinating all parties, it was best for Iolum to remain calm and composed, meeting changes with constancy.

At this time, he really shouldn't risk going out, and for a not-insignificant amount of time at that.

Even if Iolum operated it himself, it wouldn't take as long as a month, but it wouldn't be finished in two or three days either; the longer the time, the greater the variables.

If something were to go wrong, it would be too late for regrets.

The Seven Towers knew of the existence of the Mythallar project and should know of Iolum's importance. Xia Duo did not know if the Seven Towers had tried to dissuade Iolum or if they simply believed there were no problems on Akaola's side, but he still wanted to try to persuade him again.

Thus, Xia Duo told Iolum about his hypothesis regarding blood testing and proposed the possibility that he was already looking for blood to replace the heart as a spellcasting material for the Swift Scheme.

"Your idea is very good. Once the research on the Independent Arcane Fire Device has some achievements, we might be able to open a new project."

"No, Teacher, you know I'm not talking about that, but about using blood to replace the heart as a spellcasting material for the Swift Scheme. Although it might be unfavorable for long-term longevity, when used on an elf, do we need to care that far ahead? You must know that the Crown King of Akaola would not have lived past this year if not for us!"

After Xia Duo replied, Iolum fell into silence again, and this silence was longer than the previous one, so long that Xia Duo almost thought the other party had already gone to Akaola.

But fortunately, he had not.

"I just tried it; using blood as a substitute spellcasting material might be feasible. Come to Seventon, and we shall discuss it further."

Upon receiving the message, Xia Duo knew that Iolum had been temporarily moved by him, but the specifics would depend on the results of the subsequent experiments.

Then, he gave Niya some brief instructions and set off with the remaining half of the clone blood from the previous experiment.

Seventon, Arcane Union.

Xia Duo had just stepped out of the Teleportation Room when he received a teleportation request from the Tower Spirit. After casually agreeing, he was teleported the next moment into a laboratory he had never seen before in the Arcane Union.

Iolum, Buluode, Luowei, and even Bogesi, Aersong, Gawani, and others were all there. Seeing this scene, Xia Duo couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief; it seemed Iolum was not simply brushing him off, but was truly considering his alternative plan seriously.