Chapter 1688: Limitations and the Arcane Furnace

What Saville does not know, however, is that in Xia Duo's planning, being a Great Arcanist is not the ultimate goal for a Mage, but rather more like the starting point of the true Magic Path.

Currently, mainstream Netherese Mages are single-mindedly pursuing upgrades while neglecting to "advance technology." This is indeed due to factors in the real environment; upgrading is the fastest way to gain power, but it is also easy to fall into a vicious cycle of blindly pursuing power because of this.

Magic is Knowledge, and Knowledge can bring power, but it is not equivalent to power.

Xia Duo knows that Saville is still relatively open-minded—after all, he was brought up by Iolum—but the limitations of certain eras are unavoidable.

Furthermore, Niya's test papers and the apprentices' test papers are two completely different things. This is not about the depth of the Magic Knowledge involved, but rather that the former was tailored by Xia Duo after analyzing Niya's mastery of the Promotion Compendium.

As for the apprentices' test papers, they are the general version, with the emphasis on being comprehensive. This does not really do much for the few exceptionally talented Elite apprentices; it is more about helping them establish their own Knowledge system.

It can be said that Xia Duo's education for Niya is entirely an Elite education tailored to her aptitude, and it is no worse than what Saville received from Iolum.

It is just that it is very difficult for him to explain these issues to Saville; in the end, it would likely boil down to one sentence—"Do you think your teacher is inferior to you?"

Xia Duo knows the principle that "a disciple need not be inferior to the teacher, and a teacher need not be more virtuous than the disciple," and Saville should not find it hard to understand, but being able to understand does not mean being able to accept it.

Xia Duo does not want to argue with him about this, so he simply called Niya over.

"Xia Duo, you're here!"

When Niya appeared, she was holding a book; she likely teleported immediately without even having time to put it down.

"Saville says I'm mistreating you; help me explain."

As soon as Xia Duo said this, Saville's eyes widened, "Good lad, I never said you were mistreating Niya!"

However, he also knew that with Niya present, anything else he said would be superfluous. Without waiting for Niya to explain, Saville snorted coldly at Xia Duo, "Are we still going to look at the upper levels or not? If not, I'm leaving."

"Look, of course we are going to look."

The real business had not even been discussed yet, so how could Xia Duo let Saville leave? With Niya's company for the subsequent inspection work, Xia Duo's pace slowed down a bit, and he looked more meticulously.

From the Public Level upward, in order, are the Energy Center, Library, Apprentice Dormitory, Private Research Lab, Control Center, and the Traction Anchoring Core at the very top.

Among them, the Energy Center corresponds to the Element Pool of the Tower of Time, but Xia Duo did not place the Positive and Negative Energy Pool at the top and bottom of the Mage Tower; instead, he redesigned it to be placed together with the Four Elements Pool.

Of course, the biggest change is not limited to this; the main energy for the No. 1 Spire will no longer come from the Element Pool Magic Array, but from a Magic Array that Xia Duo calls the 【Arcane Furnace】.

The Tower of Time also has a similar existence, but it only serves as a supplement to the Element Pool.

And in the No. 1 Spire, the Element Pool will exist as a large-scale Energy Buffering core; of course, it also possesses the basic functions of an Element Pool.

At least for now, before the Floating City is completed, Xia Duo is not prepared to "burn" Arcane Crystal to provide energy for the No. 1 Spire.

And after the Floating City is completed, if the No. 1 Spire is installed on the Floating City, then the 【Arcane Furnace】 can directly obtain energy from the 【Mythallar】.

As for the Traction Anchoring Core at the top of the spire, it is the main functional facility of the spire series, used to control the functional platforms outside the Floating City.

One spire corresponds to one platform; they all belong to the auxiliary devices of the Floating City and can be flexibly added or removed as needed.

The inspection ended, and Xia Duo was very satisfied with Saville's work; basically, all the various requirements he had previously raised were met.

Walking out of the Mage Tower, Xia Duo bowed to Saville and said solemnly: "Thank you so much this time; if it weren't for your help, I wouldn't know what to do!"

This bow did not have any element of performance; it came entirely from the heart.

However, in Saville's view, that might not be the case.

"I know what you want to say, don't worry! I have already left the construction manual for space expansion in the Blueprint Room of the Control Center. If you had passed by there just now, you would have already gotten it."

After speaking, Saville stared closely at Xia Duo's expression, seemingly wanting to see a trace of embarrassment, but unfortunately, Xia Duo had none.

He indeed wanted the technology related to space expansion, especially this technique of fusing Semi-planes into different spaces; he considered himself incapable of such means.

Previously, he had always thought that the space expansion of the Tower of Time was just simple space expansion and did not associate it with Semi-planes; he thought only the Arcane Garden was a Semi-plane.

In reality, the space expansion outside the Arcane Garden was also transformed through a Semi-plane.

Xia Duo undoubtedly wanted this technology, but wanting it is one thing, and being grateful is another; the real business he was prepared to discuss with Saville was this matter.

It was just unexpected that Saville had already given him the item in advance, though he had not yet gotten his hands on it.

The Control Center is not a single room, but an entire level, composed of areas such as the Blueprint Room, Detection Room, Control Room, Private Research Lab, and Study.

Just now, they only went to the most important Control Room and did not go to the other places.

Seeing that Saville was still staring at him, Xia Duo hurriedly bowed again, "Expressing my gratitude once more; that construction manual is indeed what I need. If there is anything I can do for you, let me know at any time."

"What could I want you to do? Just be good to Niya."

After speaking, Saville turned and left. After taking only two steps, he seemed to suddenly think of something, stopped, turned his head, and said to Xia Duo:

"By the way, are you really not planning to build a Spell Pool in the No. 1 Spire? If you need to, I can also help."

"No need, the internal functions that should be there are basically all there, and I can also call upon the Spell Pool of the Tower of Time for external use, and you know—the Blue Crystal Plane."

"Hmph, as long as you know what you're doing."

After speaking, Saville left without looking back.

Of course, he did not go anywhere else after leaving; instead, he walked toward the No. 2 Spire. Xia Duo promised to give him a Mage Tower, but it is currently just an empty shell without a Link Magic Web.

Saville naturally obtained the design drawings for the No. 1 Spire while renovating it. Since he accepted Xia Duo's invitation to stay in Nan Jing, he might as well finish this Mage Tower himself.

On the other side, after Saville disappeared from their field of vision, Niya suddenly blurted out, "I feel like Great-Grandfather seems a bit lonely!"

"Exiled for nearly a hundred years, and after returning, the only people he knows are a handful; how could he not be lonely!"

It is hard for Xia Duo to imagine what Saville has experienced over the past few decades, but he can empathize with this feeling of loneliness and alienation; after all, he is also a person far from home!

Thinking of this, Xia Duo could not help but hold Niya's hand, "When you have time, talk to him more and tell him that Nan Jing will always be his home."

The latter part of this sentence was actually something Xia Duo was also telling himself.

Niya looked at Xia Duo and nodded earnestly.

"Mm, I will!"