Chapter 1669: The Renovation Begins: The First Penalty Case

In fact, Xia Duo did not get to see Saville's shocked expression, though there was some surprise; after he explained the situation, Saville hesitated for a moment, but ultimately accepted it.

However, Saville seemed somewhat displeased with the name "No. 2 Spire," which was clearly a bit too casual, though he did not say anything more.

Since Saville did not speak, Xia Duo did not pay much mind to it; at worst, once the Floating City was fully completed, he could return the Tower of Time to him, or custom-build a fully functional Mage Tower that befitted his status.

……

Next, Xia Duo became completely busy. At this time, there was only one day left until the Magic Restriction Treaty took effect (July 4th). Although the Auxiliary Mage Tower was a mass-produced item, the process of linking it to the Magic Net could still be called a large-scale magical activity.

Meanwhile, after obtaining the design blueprints for the Auxiliary Mage Tower provided by Xia Duo, Saville combined them with his own on-site inspections of the Mage Tower and ultimately produced a detailed renovation plan for Xia Duo.

Different from what Xia Duo had initially expected, the core of Saville's renovation plan was not spatial expansion, but the establishment of an independent energy transmission system, with all expanded spaces incorporated into this system.

In terms of specific implementation, it was essentially expanding a large number of standard workspaces, and these standard workspaces could all be connected to the Mage Tower's Energy Center with the help of that independent energy transmission system.

Similar to the approach used for the Public Level of the Tower of Time.

As for private residences, Spell Laboratories, and other functional areas, they could be further renovated based on the standard workspaces, similar to the 6th Layer of the Tower of Time.

This plan was basically a replica of the Tower of Time; just from the perspective of satisfying the needs of Apprentices for accommodation, study, and research, the renovated No. 1 Spire would be even more outstanding than the Tower of Time.

After reading the plan, Xia Duo felt there were no problems. Except for a few differing opinions on the spatial layout, he was very satisfied with all other aspects.

However, the spatial layout did not involve fundamental issues, and Xia Duo had no time to chat with Saville about design aesthetics, so he simply mentioned nothing and let Saville proceed according to the current plan, which also demonstrated his trust.

……

Soon, the time arrived at July 4th.

Although very dissatisfied, this day had arrived nonetheless. From now on, a sword named the "Magic Restriction Treaty" would hang over the heads of all Spellcasters in the Northland.

Although this sword was not fatal, it caused continuous suppression and strikes against magical activities in the Northland. By leveraging the Northland Alliance as a major platform, it was a case of "pulling one hair and moving the whole body"; as individuals, it was very difficult for Spellcasters caught within it to resist.

That morning, after finishing breakfast, Xia Duo linked to the Alliance Mishuo. Nowadays, this Mythallar—which had been very rare in the past and lacked a Material Node—had already become a "public notice board" for the Northland Alliance facing the entire Northland and even wider regions.

On the "public notice board," Xia Duo discovered that the recently posted content had one more item. Clicking it open, it was undoubtedly a declaration announcing that the Magic Restriction Treaty had officially taken effect.

"Sigh—"

Xia Duo sighed to himself. When he flipped to other sections to check, he couldn't help but be amused; in the Northland Alliance internal resolution section, the first case regarding a penalty for excessive magic had already appeared.

The one being penalized was actually Cormanthor.

The Main Plane's Cormanthor had not yet formed a relatively unified Mythallar system, so when calculating large-scale magical activities according to the Magic Restriction Treaty, the influence of the frequency factor would occupy an absolute dominant position.

Whereas for a place like Illefarn, which had already formed a relatively unified Mythallar system, the calculation focused more on intensity. In the final tally, Illefarn did not exceed the limit, but Cormanthor did.

This was truly a scene that the people of the Northland loved to see!

However, Xia Duo was also worried that Cormanthor would use this as a pretext to begin a path of internal integration, just as Yierlan was doing now.

As for why Yierlan did not exceed the limit this time, Xia Duo speculated that besides having fewer inherent excessive magic facilities than Cormanthor, it was also possible that they had "borrowed" the excessive magic quotas of Siluwende and Shaerwen.

If not for the fact that Akaola and Cormanthor had reasons that made coexistence impossible, as long as they could have won over Akaola, Cormanthor might have barely passed this time.

"Perhaps the Northland is about to become chaotic."

Xia Duo speculated with some malice. Now that the Magic Restriction Treaty had begun to take effect, could the restorationists of Siluwende still sit still? If they didn't take advantage of the opportunity while the Yierlan Crown King was integrating the interior to truly become independent, the hope for the future would likely become increasingly slim.

And then there was Cormanthor; the Crown King who had reigned for a thousand years was already enough to incite jealousy, and having already possessed near-supreme prestige, did he still intend to seize all power as well?

Of course, Netheril was not without crises.

The trade liberalization already being discussed was one, and the second came from Akaola; as the final piece of the puzzle for the complete Listar Forest, it was impossible for it to be abandoned by Cormanthor.

One of the legal justifications for the Cormanthor Birth was to unify the Listar Forest.

Therefore, Netheril, which had a deep cooperative relationship with it, would inevitably be involved, whether out of the obligations of an ally or to contain Cormanthor's expansion.

This kind of conflict involving fundamental interests could not be bridged, even if all parties were nominally already part of the Northland Alliance.

Perhaps only Illefarn could sit securely on the sidelines; other small nations were bound to submit to the will of the great powers and could not truly make their own decisions. As for Danzo, the mess left behind by the Drow had not even been cleaned up yet, so how could they manage the trivial matters of the Surface?

However, there was an old saying in Xia Duo's hometown: "Fortune and misfortune are uncertain, all depending on the heart." Originally, it was none of Illefarn's business, which counted as "fortune," but if they took this opportunity to stir up trouble and provoked public anger, then fortune would immediately turn into misfortune.

"Then what about myself?"

Feeling that the five great nations of the Northland Alliance were either already approaching a centralized system or had already begun centralized reforms, Xia Duo's judgment of the Verdant Tower Alliance leaned more toward it being a pawn pushed out by the Seven Towers.

If they still tried to deal with the more efficient centralized systems of other nations using a loose alliance system, they would inevitably suffer a great loss. Xia Duo believed the Seven Towers would not fail to see this.

If the Verdant Tower Alliance was not a secret piece of the Seven Towers, then he might have to re-evaluate the power of tradition.

In short, regardless of the result, it was not a good thing for the cause Xia Duo was working hard for, which made him feel worried.

Violence might be able to solve most problems, but it could not force people's hearts. For Xia Duo, who was about to obtain a Floating City, violence was never the problem; the key was how to make others identify with his path from the bottom of their hearts.

Otherwise, unless he watched them at every moment, there would always be instances of outward compliance but inward defiance, or even situations where the order he established was hollowed out.

This problem, even in Xia Duo's hometown, was a long-standing and difficult issue. In history, there was never a lack of those who betrayed their original intentions, and in modern times, even with more advanced monitoring technology, it was very difficult to eradicate the corruption of the human heart.