Chapter 1644: A Crucial Link: The Gift

If Xia Duo were the Controller of the Seven Towers, he would undoubtedly do exactly that!

It is just that the interior of the Seven Towers is almost like a miniature Netheril; if not exactly rife with competing factions, at the very least, everyone has their own demands.

Not to mention that the tradition of Territory independence has lasted for nearly a thousand years; wanting to change it overnight is likely not so easy.

At this moment, Xia Duo even wondered if Keluosi might be a pawn pushed out by the Seven Towers!

The Seven Towers knows that initiating reform from the top down in the name of the Seventon Council would face heavy resistance, so they let Keluosi consolidate power step by step from the bottom up.

The Verdant Tower Alliance, the Seventon Alliance—they are both alliances; once the Verdant Tower Alliance covers the entirety of Netheril, wouldn't it just be the Seventon Alliance with a different name?

And it would be even more centralized and even more powerful.

The more Xia Duo thought about it, the more he felt this was possible; after all, the organizational capability of a collective system far exceeds the current form of the Territory Alliance. To cope with the internal competition within the Northland Alliance, the Seven Towers has every reason to do such a thing.

But if that were the case, Xia Duo's magic civilization plan would likely fall through—or not entirely fall through; he could also implement his plan within the new Seventon Alliance system.

It is just that if that were to happen, he would inevitably have to negotiate with other Great Arcanists; how could that compare to the satisfaction of deciding everything by his own word as he does now!

Although Xia Duo does not pursue a dictatorship, there is still an essential difference between being able to have the final say and actually having the final say.

Sometimes, the correct thing is not necessarily accepted by more people; after all, most of the time, stance comes first. If you are not in my camp, even if you know what you are saying is right, you will still forcibly distort it.

Without a doubt, Xia Duo and the Seven Towers do not belong to the same camp, or at least they have not walked the same path; as long as there is divergence, there will be obstacles.

In a system dominated by the other side, such a divergence is almost equivalent to a dead end; it is very difficult to seek common ground while reserving differences.

For a moment, Xia Duo felt somewhat hesitant.

If he persists in his own path, it might be beneficial in the long run, but in the short term, Netheril might lose out in the internal competition of the Northland Alliance. If Netheril collapses, it would be of no benefit to him.

And if he chooses to go along with the Seven Towers, then his plan would likely be unrealizable for a very long time.

How should he choose?

……

At this moment, on the Lan Bai Xing podium in the center of the venue, Andate Laibu was still talking eloquently, and from time to time, he would look at Xia Duo as if seeking his opinion.

Xia Duo responded occasionally, but his heart could not make up its mind; regarding the choice of the path of civilization, a mere exchange meeting seemed secondary.

"The key lies in the Floating City!" Xia Duo sighed silently in his heart.

As long as the Floating City can achieve the expected results, many problems will no longer be problems, but right now his Floating City is still missing the most important link—

War Spells with strategic significance.

Although strictly speaking, he has not even fully built the Floating City yet, as long as there is a 【Mythallar】 device, there will be a place for War Spells to be used.

"I hope the teacher's side puts in the effort to research a War Spell that fits the Mythallar device as soon as possible!"

As for the present, he must first complete the Floating City; once the War Spells are in place, it will immediately become a pivotal force in Netheril and even the entire Northland.

……

After Andate Laibu finished speaking, Xia Duo gave his critique as usual; he considered himself to have some insight into mind spells.

In addition to commenting on the content Andate Laibu spoke about, he also extended it to a new direction, namely the concepts of the subconscious and the conscious mind.

In Netheril, some mind spells act on the conscious mind, such as interrogation or truth-telling, while others act on the subconscious, such as mind curses.

But there is no clear distinction between the subconscious and the conscious mind; they are mostly referred to by the general terms "mind" or "consciousness." Xia Duo's proposal of the concepts of "subconscious and conscious mind" might trigger a new wave of research into mind spells.

And this, for Xia Duo, is also very beneficial.

The research into "integrating the subconscious and conscious mind," which he has always held high expectations for, has been progressing slowly; it is only because he possesses the bloodline ability of memory retrieval that he can accurately distinguish between the subconscious and the conscious mind.

Otherwise, he would have thought this path was completely unfeasible and would have wanted to give up.

Proposing the concepts of "subconscious and conscious mind" is just a concept; other people's research can save him a lot of time.

……

After Andate Laibu, Xia Duo's critiques would also lead to some novel viewpoints; of course, these were mainly things he was interested in and planned to research.

He cannot do everything by himself; although he cannot recruit all these people into the Tower of Time, as long as he communicates more often, it is always much better than thinking alone or waiting for the High Mages of the Tower of Time to grow up and research them.

Yes, Xia Duo has already prepared to come to Seventon regularly to hold exchange meetings.

Besides the purpose of absorbing the wisdom of the Mages in the Inner Land, there is also the purpose of further increasing his own influence, and his next plan requires exactly such influence!

……

Finally, the time reached late night again, and the exchange meeting drew to a close.

Xia Duo walked to the Lan Bai Xing podium in the center of the venue, and the eyes of the crowd gathered on him. Xia Duo gave a light cough and said calmly:

"This exchange meeting has surprised me quite a bit. In you, I see the tomorrow of Netheril. For this reason, I have specially prepared some small gifts for everyone, and those who performed exceptionally will have an extra surprise!"

After speaking, Xia Duo controlled his Personal Space to completely overlap with the venue. In an instant, a book appeared in front of everyone in the venue, and a few people also had an extra box.

This scene left everyone stunned; some guessed what it was, but more people were just amazed at the great power of a Great Arcanist.

And among those who guessed what it was, some who had an understanding of the Plane Domain were even clearer about the difficulties behind the scene where countless gifts appeared out of thin air to correspond to every Spellcaster.

After everyone received their gifts, Xia Duo separated his Personal Space from the venue and then left.

After Xia Duo left, the people present began to flip through their books or open their boxes, and then bursts of exclamations were heard one after another.

The books were the same for everyone; they were the "Agricultural Book" that Xia Duo had carefully prepared. In the boxes were Magic Items, including five Advanced Rank Magic Items and ten ordinary Magic Items.

There were no high-quality items at all; after all, Xia Duo was still counting on using these to make money, so how could he give them away so easily.

……

Soon, after the venue became a little quieter, Beilaila went on stage to give the closing remarks, and then everyone began to disperse; the exchange meeting officially ended.

However, Beilaila did not leave, and a few others also stayed behind.

After the people from the Arcane Temple came to inspect the venue and the handover was completed, Beilaila brought these people to the Xiu Xi Shi nearby.

Lord Xia Duo was waiting for them right here!