Chapter 1500: Root-Digging and the Irritated Keluosi

The emergence of a Great Arcanist can often have a profound influence on the region where they are located, and even for the entirety of Netheril, it has no small impact.

The Southern Verdant Tower Alliance has a relatively long history, dating back at least two hundred years; initially, it was merely a mutual defense alliance formed by the lords of that region out of necessity to cope with the Orc Tide.

Later, after all the large Orc tribes within the Nether Territory were wiped out, large-scale Orc Tides no longer appeared, but the form of the Verdant Tower Alliance was preserved.

Developing to this day, it can be considered the largest force in the south of the Nether Core Region.

Once such a force produces a Great Arcanist as its leader on the surface, its cohesion will become unprecedentedly strong, and it will inevitably have more demands for benefits.

And where will more benefits come from? They can only be squeezed from the surrounding territories, or even from the entirety of Netheril.

After Iolum briefly introduced Keluosi and the Verdant Tower Alliance he belonged to, Xia Duo immediately thought that the Seven Towers would likely have to suffer a major loss.

The rise of the Verdant Tower will have almost no impact on territories far away from it; after all, this era is still primarily based on self-sufficiency.

At most, they might receive fewer benefits from the Arcane Union, but that actually has little impact; as for its surrounding territories, perhaps joining the Alliance would be a good choice.

This is not a difficult decision to make.

The only one to be greatly affected is likely the Seven Towers; to be a leader and a ruler, one must naturally consider the overall situation. If others cannot provide the benefits required by the Verdant Tower, they can only come from the Seven Towers.

Xia Duo kept pondering the impact of this matter on Nan Jing and the Tower of Time, failing to notice that Iolum had already left.

Seeing Xia Duo lost in thought, Buluode found it somewhat difficult to understand:

"Xia Duo, why think so much? Even if the Verdant Tower rises, it won't affect us. The ones who should have a headache are the Seven Towers. For us, we should be happy instead; only then will the value of the Arcane Union's existence be more highlighted."

"……"

Xia Duo was speechless for a moment. In truth, in his heart, he leaned more toward the Seven Cities Council rather than the Arcane Union. Once the Arcane Union gains actual power, it will exert stronger control over subordinate units, which is not conducive to his development.

As for the Seven Cities Council, as long as it does not change its feudal essence, it can only be considered a nominal ruler to Xia Duo.

This is conducive to the birth of a true civilization from within it to replace it. In a sense, Xia Duo and the Seven Towers are the true alliance of interests.

Of course, he is not ambiguous when it comes to reaching out to the Seven Towers for benefits, or rather, what Xia Duo wants to do is to constantly undermine the Seven Towers until the so-called "Seven Cities Council system" is hollowed out.

It can only be said that even though Buluode has applied to become a Pioneer Lord, he still lacks the awareness of a true lord.

Regarding the rise of the Verdant Tower, Xia Duo is relatively optimistic for the time being. Just as Buluode said, no matter how it rises, it is difficult to affect the neutral faction of the Arcane Union.

For now, as long as Xia Duo hitches a ride with Iolum, he does not need to worry about the rise of the Verdant Tower having any adverse effects on him; instead, he can take advantage of the opportunity of the other party's rise to fish for benefits for himself.

He is clear that the process of a force rising and obtaining more benefits cannot possibly happen suddenly; there must be a continuous process and a relatively stable method.

For a Mage organization, if it wants to obtain more benefits and cannot directly seize them, it can only sell products, realizing profits by utilizing certain shares or discounts ceded by the Seven Towers.

In this process, competition might become intense! Industry might just develop this way!

This is probably the benefit Xia Duo is looking forward to the most.

Of course, Xia Duo does not count on the Verdant Tower to open up the market for him to harvest; the Tower of Time will definitely participate in the competition, and perhaps it is not impossible for conflicts to arise with the Verdant Tower.

As for what to do in the future, Xia Duo decided to wait and see, and look at the Verdant Tower's reaction first.

At the same time, he is clearer about one thing, and that is—the birth of the Independent Arcane Fire Device will have a more profound impact than the rise of the Verdant Tower.

Thinking of this, Xia Duo is even more looking forward to the practical application of the Independent Arcane Fire Device.

……

Two days later, the Southern Verdant Tower.

The newly promoted Great Arcanist Keluosi, who should have been infinitely glorious, was sitting in his Study with a gloomy face at this moment. The light in the Study was somewhat dim, which further highlighted Keluosi's mood at this moment.

At yesterday's Alliance meeting, he was in high spirits as he pitched his deep integration plan to the lords and senior Mages within the Alliance, but before he could even say "who agrees, who opposes," voices of opposition appeared one after another.

What made him even more annoyed was yet to come. After the meeting, he originally thought about talking to those few opponents privately to ask what exactly they were dissatisfied with.

Yet he did not expect that one of the opponents would suddenly reveal himself as a Great Arcanist, sternly warning him not to forget the original intention of the Alliance's founding, which was to gather together for self-preservation, not to satisfy one person's ambition.

This turn of events caught Keluosi off guard. He had thought he was the only Great Arcanist in the Alliance and should also be the only leader, but now another one had popped up.

Then, when the Alliance needed the other party most before, why didn't the other party stand up?

Why now of all times? Isn't this deliberately targeting him!

Keluosi later had no heart to see the remaining few opponents, so he returned to his Territory in low spirits and called his younger brother Kaboer back from Seventon. He asked Kaboer to test those opponents in his capacity as a Councilor of the Arcane Union.

But the result can be imagined.

If even Keluosi himself could be opposed, what different result could a younger brother bring?

The only benefit was probably that Keluosi did not need to personally experience that embarrassing scene.

Just as he was pondering what to do next, the light in the Study suddenly became bright. Keluosi subconsciously squinted his eyes. Looking at the figure appearing in the light, he knew it was his younger brother Kaboer who had returned.

"How is it? What did Lord Koch say?" Keluosi asked with concern.

"Sigh—"

Kaboer shook his head, "Lord Koch said that the Alliance is doing just fine maintaining the status quo and does not need to make any changes."

Upon hearing this, the anger that had already gradually dissipated in Keluosi suddenly surged again, "These stubborn old antiques, do they really think I covet their meager possessions? The times have changed. If one cannot adjust and adapt in time, one will inevitably be abandoned by the new era!"

The furious Keluosi got up and paced back and forth in the Study as if venting his rage. Finally, he stopped in front of his younger brother Kaboer, stared into his brother's eyes, and asked:

"Do you also think I am very radical and ambitious?"

"I—" Kaboer hesitated for a moment.

Seeing this scene, how could Keluosi not know his brother's heart? Instantly, anger surged from his heart again, and he roared: "Get out! Get back to your Seventon!"

He did not expect that his own younger brother, whom he had always thought understood him best and believed in him most, would choose to believe in others at this moment!

This kind of blow was even worse than all the opponents in the Alliance combined.