Chapter 1768: Unexpected Invitation, Mysterious Faction

As for how the aftermath of the sanctions against the Verdant Tower would be handled, Xia Duo did not continue to pay attention; after the meeting concluded that day, he returned to the Nan Jing almost without a moment's delay.

And just as he returned to the Tower of Time, preparing to close the doors and continue tinkering with his brain-computer, he suddenly received an unexpected invitation.

The inviting party was Elder Weikena of the Evereska Council of Elders, and it came through the channel from the Evereska Nuyian Xuehui to the Netheril Arcane Union.

In other words, what Xia Duo received was actually an invitation from the Arcane Union, only the other party to the meeting was an Elf, and the location was set in Evereska.

"Military potion business?"

Upon seeing such content, Xia Duo instinctively felt that there was something fishy about it. Although he had recently provided Evereska with suggestions regarding a new strategy for the Northland landscape, it was not enough to warrant such fawning over him!

Furthermore, Xia Duo had never had any contact with that Elder Weikena before; the only time they had met was during that formal diplomatic occasion at the Cloud Crown Palace when meeting the Great Elder of Evereska.

Xia Duo did not believe there was any possibility of him being fawned over by an Elf Elder, at least not yet.

If it were purely business, and they wanted to do business with the Netherese, that Elder Weikena should have sought out the Seven Towers, or Zhenna, rather than him, who was far away in the Nan Jing and had no real control over the Netheril Inner Land.

After thinking it over, Xia Duo replied to the Arcane Union, asking them to help decline this invitation.

Besides the suspicious nature of the other party's motives, a more important point was that Xia Duo was currently not interested in the so-called military potion business at all. As for things like potions, the Tower of Time had very little foundation and could not grasp the core technology at all.

If he really were to cooperate with them, the best result would be to become a distributor for the Netheril Southern Border region, but did the Nan Jing even have the economic strength to consume Elven military potions?

Even if a small number of Spellcasters and Adventurers had the ability to consume them, the market was extremely limited, not to mention that this would be stealing money from the Tower of Time; how could Xia Duo possibly do such business?

Additionally, Xia Duo was already impatient to witness the birth of the brain-computer. He had often been distracted while attending meetings in Seventon previously, and the reason he returned to the Nan Jing immediately after the meetings ended was also because of this.

Going to Evereska at such a critical moment now would, to put it lightly, delay the birth of the brain-computer, and to put it heavily, would affect the implementation of a series of subsequent plans.

Especially since Xia Duo had high hopes for using the brain-computer to study the Floating City Mythallar, and the Floating City was a powerful trump card for the Netherese to cope with Elven competition in the future.

A mere Elf Elder was not enough to make Xia Duo change his plans.

……

And just as he was rejecting all external interference and devoting himself wholeheartedly to the brain-computer project, deep in some unknown forest far away, a plain-looking large tree suddenly shook out of thin air.

The next moment, a figure wearing hollowed-out Mithril light armor and a long sword at their waist appeared beside the tree. Those long ears and pale golden skin all indicated the identity of this figure—

A Gold Elf.

However, after this Gold Elf Warrior—let's call them that—appeared beside the tree, they did not make any moves, but instead looked at the surrounding woodland with a dazed expression, as if recalling something, or perhaps searching for something.

After a long while, they raised their head, their gaze seeming to pierce through the sky already obscured by the tree canopy, and sighed somewhat forlornly: "I didn't expect that over a thousand years have already passed! Are there any of my kin or friends still alive?"

The breeze of golden autumn in the forest blew the leaves, making a rustling sound, as if responding to this time traveler, but at this moment, this Gold Elf Warrior was clearly in no mood to appreciate these Nature chants; after a moment of thought, they teleported away toward the distance.

……

At the same time, inside a certain dark secret chamber, several figures who were clearly projections of Spellcasters, despite having the ability to shape light, seemed to enjoy the dark scene more at this moment, letting the light from the only Magic Lamp in the chamber be distorted and dim, filled with an eerie atmosphere.

"He refused," one of the voices said suddenly.

"Find another way," another voice said in an irresistible tone, then asked, "What about Laruian? Is it possible to get him to join us?"

"I have worked with Laruian for hundreds of years; I know his temperament very well. He seems peaceful, but he is very persistent in his bones. I do not believe he can become one of our fellow travelers."

A third figure joined in, and judging by their tone, they were actually acquainted with Laruian. This group of mysterious projections was secretly plotting something, and it seemed that progress was not going smoothly.

"I heard that the west has already found the activation key for Adofier Fortress from back then, and perhaps they will attempt to enter it soon. If everything goes smoothly, we will not only be able to eliminate a traitor who knows us very well, but also control the fortress and truly appear under the sunlight through it."

"Really? That is truly great!"

A distorted figure let out a strange laugh and said in a gloomy tone: "I have had enough of the suppression and disguise all these years. When the day the plan is realized comes, I will definitely tear those bastards who have always been against me to shreds!"

These words of theirs were also the inner thoughts of the other few Spellcasters, but this guy was too excited and mentioned a taboo. The voice that had vaguely possessed the temperament of a leader earlier gave a cold snort of dissatisfaction and directly extinguished this guy's projection.

By the time they projected themselves back in, the secret chamber had already begun to discuss how to coordinate with the west's actions next.

"The old man's movements have been very frequent lately, and he has even contacted the west. I am worried that it will affect the actions over there. I think it is necessary to let the old man go home."

"Do you dare to make a move? Over half of the Mythallar Permission is currently in the hands of those few countries. Don't end up failing to kill the old man and ruining the big event instead."

"Then what do you suggest we do?"

"If you ask me, we should find a way to make the west send an invitation to lure the old man out. At that time, he will be at our mercy."

"How is that possible? The old man currently almost never leaves the Cloud Crown Palace for a moment. Any matters requiring him to go out are handled directly by Laruian. This has already become a convention. How are you going to trick him?"

"Then kill Laruian. Anyway, he is destined never to become our companion. It is better to just kill him and save ourselves a lot of trouble."

"All you know is killing and fighting. Have the lessons learned in the past not been enough?"

The leader snorted coldly again, and the secret chamber fell silent at once. It is unknown how much time passed before the leader spoke a name in a secret language, "I will make him find a way to send the gift over. Wait for my news."

"Will it be too risky to do this? Will the east have any objections?"

"If they have objections, let them come to me. That is all!"

After speaking, the leader immediately dispelled the projection, and after the remaining few Spellcasters discussed for a while, they also left one after another.