Chapter 1777: Envoys from the Seven Towers, Negotiating Terms

The facts were indeed as Xia Duo had sensed; on the second day after he returned from Seventon, Bulundesi arrived with the sincerity of the Seven Towers.

In the Reception Room, looking at the 10 Spirit Cores in the small box on the table beside him, if this had been before he obtained the 【Blade of Spiritual Closure】, Xia Duo might have been tempted, but now—

His heart did not ripple in the slightest; he even felt a little like laughing.

Even if I previously expressed a need for Spirit Cores, do you really think you can dismiss me with these now? Even if you could, could a mere ten Spirit Cores make a Great Arcanist risk such danger?

Xia Duo shook his head repeatedly in his heart, "Councilor Bulundesi, I already told my teacher about this matter two days ago in Seventon; I do not wish to get involved. Now, I ask you to convey these same words to everyone at the Seven Towers. Let us stop here for today; I have other matters to attend to and will not be hosting you further."

Having said this, Xia Duo rose, preparing to leave. At this moment, Bulundesi grew somewhat anxious, a fine layer of sweat faintly seeping from his forehead. He stood up, wanting to stop Xia Duo, but halfway through reaching out, he did not dare to continue and could only say sheepishly:

"Lord Xia Duo, it is indeed improper to trouble you with this matter, but please try to understand the difficulties of the Seven Towers. The theft of the Nether Scroll is not merely the loss of a treasure; it potentially poses a threat to the Netheril Magic System. This is closely related to every Arcanist, and now that there is a lead, the Seven Towers cannot possibly give up."

"Did Huo En teach you to say that?" Xia Duo retorted.

Bulundesi was instantly choked up, unable to help feeling resentment toward those above him, but who else among the candidates for Envoy from the Seven Towers had as close a relationship with Lord Xia Duo as he did!

Although very reluctant, Bulundesi still squeezed out a sentence, "This is the attitude of the Seven Towers."

Upon hearing this, Xia Duo was immediately displeased. Although he was very mindful of the big picture, everyone had different views on what the big picture was. At least in his opinion, whether or not the Nether Scroll could be recovered at this stage was irrelevant to the big picture.

On the contrary, letting himself be involved in unknown risks was the true violation of the big picture.

However, Xia Duo also knew that as the Seven Towers Envoy, Bulundesi might not have intended to say these things, but he still wore a look of displeasure:

"If this is the attitude of the Seven Towers, then you may leave."

Words having reached this point, Bulundesi deeply understood the firmness of Xia Duo's attitude. Thinking of the instructions from Huo En and Badijiaer when he came, he felt even more disgruntled. He simply hardened his heart, stopped caring about anything else, and laid his cards on the table:

"Lord Xia Duo, if you agree to participate in this matter, once the Nether Scroll is recovered, that set will be kept in the Tower of Time for the rest of your life."

"The news about that set of Nether Scroll is still just an unverified rumor, and you are already thinking that far ahead?"

Xia Duo shook his head, "This is simply an empty-handed wolf-snaring tactic. If we fail to obtain relevant information this time, or even fail to recover a single Golden Page, what then?"

Seeing Xia Duo's tone soften, Bulundesi felt slightly relieved and asked, "Then what does Lord Xia Duo want? As long as the Seven Towers has it, we will certainly be able to satisfy you!"

"You are speaking empty words again. The things I want are not necessarily things the Seven Towers can satisfy!"

Xia Duo wanted everyone in the Seven Towers to listen to him; could the Seven Towers agree to that? Obviously not. Taking a step back, even if he only required one Gold Coin as a condition, the Seven Towers might still feel it was too much.

Conditions that look like boasting at first glance should just be listened to; if one actually took them seriously, that would be too foolish.

Of course, Xia Duo did not want to make things too awkward with the Seven Towers. Before Bulundesi arrived today, he had already prepared himself for a compromise; the only difference was the price.

"I want the Seven Towers to cooperate with me in recruiting new residents in the Inner Territory. Additionally, I need some records and research materials from Giles Tower regarding Magic Web Background Fluctuation."

Of course, Xia Duo also wanted the vast amount of data and experience the Seven Towers had accumulated in Plane Exploration, but he felt that was too excessive even for himself.

Asking for some new residents was not that hard for the Seven Towers to accept, but for Xia Duo, the size of the population was directly related to the future development potential of his magic civilization.

Because Netheril currently had to develop the Kangqi Plain, Aibi Hills, and Kelong Plain simultaneously, the new residents available for recruitment in the Inner Territory were already nearing a bottleneck.

This could be seen from the fact that the people Buluode had been sending through the Portal recently were becoming fewer and fewer, even showing a trend of single-digit growth.

But such new residents were mostly landless farmers or free citizens looking to change their original lives, and did not involve the number of people maintaining the normal operation of various territories in the Inner Territory.

If one really squeezed, it would certainly be possible to squeeze out more people, which was the main reason Xia Duo asked for population without any burden.

Besides that, there was the "Agricultural Book" released earlier; many lords had already begun to implement it, and some even led large-scale land annexations themselves, which made the number of landless farmers even greater.

It was just that those lords also had places where they needed people, such as developing new land, industrial upgrades, and so on.

But if the Seven Towers came forward to recruit, even if they could not recruit people from territories outside the Seven Towers Council, gathering them from within the Seven Towers would be enough to satisfy Xia Duo's conditions.

Just as Bulundesi said, as long as the Seven Towers was willing to cooperate, Xia Duo's requirements would certainly be met.

……

As for the records and research materials on Magic Web Background Fluctuation, they were entirely requested by Xia Duo for Niya, just as some extra perks.

After the Floating City Mythallar was completed, Niya would continue her research on the Communication Mythallar. Having these materials would be very useful, whether for researching the Communication Mythallar or for further research into the essence of the Magic Net later on.

Previously, when the Princess was still around, Niya had brought back some materials after returning from Giles Tower, but clearly, Giles Tower had kept more.

After all, at that time, no one would have thought that the successor designated by the Princess would actually alienate the Princess's old subordinates and students.

……

Regarding Xia Duo's requirements, Bulundesi felt very surprised. Although he had known before that Xia Duo was recruiting new residents through Buluode, he had not thought that he would use population as a condition.

In his view, Xia Duo might have requested Knowledge or treasures, as these were the most important things for an Arcanist.

Records and research materials related to Magic Web Background Fluctuation could be considered Knowledge, but compared to Knowledge that could be directly put into use, they were still too crude.

Bulundesi had also heard before that Xia Duo's wife, the Princess's student Niya, had chosen Magic Web Background Fluctuation as her research direction after becoming an Advanced Arcanist. Now it seemed these two were truly a loving couple!