Chapter 1701: Niya's Promotion, The Unexpected Arrival

After understanding some recent developments regarding the land-grant ceremony, Xia Duo was not prepared to ask anything further; he still felt very reassured by Laidun, only asking Laidun to submit the results of the Territory's prospective resident regularization assessments to him before the Midsummer Festival.

This group of people mainly refers to those from the Grey Eagle Tribe who joined the Territory last year; some of these people insist on their traditions, but there is no irreconcilable conflict between the traditions of the Langasi and the atmosphere of Daxia.

Therefore, the vast majority of the newly joined Langasi are actively integrating into the Territory, and just as Laidun said earlier, quite a few people have already completed the assessments regarding language and regulations.

To learn the Netherese language in less than a year and reach a certain level of understanding of the Territory's regulations—if one were to say such people are not actively aligning themselves with the Territory, how could they have achieved these things?

So, in this year's Midsummer Recruitment for the Tower of Time, Xia Duo plans to recruit some Langasi Apprentices, and for this, it does not matter even if the age limit is slightly relaxed.

……

After Laidun left, Xia Duo sat in the Study for a while longer, thinking about some matters, before summoning Aiwa over.

"Has the candidate for the Seventon office been decided?"

"It has been decided; they can depart at any time."

"That is good. Just get some good rest recently; I will send you all to Seventon after the Midsummer Festival."

"Yes."

Knowing that Aiwa did not like to talk much, Xia Duo did not ask questions back and forth like he did with Laidun earlier, only instructing the other party to have a good gathering with family and friends, then let them leave.

……

After Aiwa left, Xia Duo did not linger either; he went to take a look at the Territory Guard's Airship training situation, then returned to the Tower of Time alone, where Niya was already waiting for him in the top-floor Study.

"Xia Duo, I have finished my test paper, and I just checked it myself—it's all correct! Not a single question is wrong!"

"Is that so?"

Xia Duo did not doubt what Niya said, but he was a bit surprised; one must know that in order to test Niya's mastery of the *Promotion Compendium*, every set of questions he created would have a certain component that went beyond the syllabus.

Otherwise, if she scored 100 points every time, how would he know what her specific level was?

Seeing that Niya was still waiting for his response, Xia Duo could not help but smile, "All correct is good. You don't need to go to the Blue Crystal Plane this afternoon; I will give you another set of test papers. If you can get them all correct this time, then I—"

"You what?"

"If you can get the afternoon's test paper all correct, then I will congratulate you on your successful 'promotion'!"

"Really?"

Niya was immediately overjoyed, but the next moment she felt a bit hesitant, "So fast? You aren't tricking me, are you?"

"No, I have seen your progress during this period of time. Although I am a bit surprised, it is also within my expectations," Xia Duo sighed.

In all honesty, if Niya were not his wife, he estimated he would be very jealous; if he had a teacher like his current self back then, who could track his learning progress at all times and provide targeted guidance—

Then he would definitely have been able to possess his current achievements in a shorter amount of time.

Sometimes, people only know how many detours they have taken when they look back.

Having received Xia Duo's recognition, Niya immediately became happy again, "Then can I start researching the Communication Mythallar?"

"Yes, if everything goes smoothly this afternoon."

After finishing, Xia Duo added another sentence, "Of course, it will be like before—only in the morning; in the afternoon, you still have to go to the Blue Crystal Plane to help!"

Just hearing the first part, Niya was quite happy, but the latter part reminded her of the fear of being dominated by test papers over the past few months.

Although she thought that she might have already ended those days, and this matter was beneficial to her, for a moment she really did not know how to vent, so she just hummed in a spoiled manner and said:

"You only know how to exploit me!"

"……"

Xia Duo was speechless for a moment, "Don't use new words you just learned randomly! I am only asking for your help because I trust you; you saying it like that makes me very sad."

As he spoke, Xia Duo even put on a pained expression.

Niya's heart tightened; although she knew Xia Duo was acting, she did not continue on this topic any further.

"I'll go prepare for the afternoon's exam first; I'll wait for you at Linshui Village at noon."

"Good."

Xia Duo nodded and watched Niya disappear, then he directly occupied the top-floor Laboratory; he planned to make another trip to Seventon after the Midsummer Festival.

Besides looking for channels for Spirit Quality other than the Seven Towers, those high-quality Magic Items customized by Jilan Tower were also due for delivery.

Xia Duo attached great importance to that group of wealthy patrons; after all, the funding gap for the subsequent construction of the Floating City might have to rely on those wealthy patrons to help out!

This matter could be said to be quite important.

It is shameful to say, but since returning from Seventon, he had been fully devoted to the construction of the Floating City and the No. 1 Spire, almost forgetting about the orders.

Which is to say, he hadn't even started working on those orders from Jilan Tower yet!

Originally, when Bulundesi came to Nan Jing, he had already remembered this matter, but later, it was clear that creating a Tower Spirit held a greater attraction for him.

Until now, with only two or three days left until the Midsummer Festival, he finally remembered; he really was quite derelict in his duties.

Fortunately, those wealthy Mages from Jilan Tower had taken a liking to the 【Microscope】 he customized for Aoerdelin, which saved the time for design and testing.

Taking the previous plan and using it directly, completing it before the Midsummer Festival would be more than enough.

……

The day before the Midsummer Festival.

Xia Duo had originally thought that there wouldn't be any accidents until the Midsummer Festival, but he didn't expect the accident to come so suddenly.

It was already afternoon on this day when Depake suddenly returned to the Tower of Time to find him.

"My Lord, news came from the Ming Shui Chamber of Commerce; they have contacted a dignitary from Evereska. The other party proposed that if we want to discuss military procurement, we should meet tomorrow. Tomorrow, the Portal from Seventon to Evereska will be temporarily closed, so I must depart now. As for the No. 1 Spire, My Lord should send someone else to keep an eye on it."

"Meet tomorrow?"

Upon hearing this, Xia Duo immediately frowned, "Does the other party not know the significance of the Midsummer Festival to the Netherese?"

This is just like in his hometown, where foreign clients could clearly have scheduled the meeting time earlier or later, yet they chose the time on the most important New Year's Eve for the people of his hometown.

The Netherese do not celebrate the New Year, but the Midsummer Festival is basically equivalent to the New Year; if this wasn't intentional, what could it be?

"Who from the Ming Shui Chamber of Commerce did you contact before?" Xia Duo asked Depake.

"It was a manager at their Headquarters named Buerkan."

After finishing, Depake added, "It was introduced by Consultant Saide."

"Then did the people from the Ming Shui Chamber of Commerce contact you just now and mention the reason from Evereska?" Xia Duo asked again, "Did they not have any explanation? To schedule it on the Midsummer Festival—one dared to propose it, and the other dared to relay it!"

"The Ming Shui Chamber of Commerce didn't say anything; they just relayed the Elf's request."