Chapter 1808: Shadow Ambush

Xierdalanna spoke with such conviction that for a moment, Xia Duo could not tell if she was telling the truth or a lie; however, based on his current understanding of Netheril Magic, there did not seem to be any spells that actively monitored the Ether Plane.

But regardless, there did seem to be some truth to the idea that since a Spellcaster resides in a Material Plane like the Main Plane, they would be most familiar and knowledgeable about it.

Within the Plane Domain, what Spellcasters study most is teleportation, not cross-plane scrying and monitoring.

However, after this experience, Xia Duo was prepared to open a research topic on this subject at the Tower of Time; one might not need to use such things, but it is best to have them.

Just like now, the four of them walked swaggeringly right up to someone's doorstep, and because they did not touch the Jieti set by the other party, the other party did not notice them at all.

For Xia Duo, this was hard to accept, even if the Tower of Time was currently in a similar state.

Of course, being able to see does not mean one can enter directly; this layer of Jieti actually exists to prevent Ether Creatures in a spiritual state like Xia Duo's current form from breaking in.

The Tower of Time is the same, only the Jieti here does not seem to be just a Force Field, but has a more complex mechanism.

If he had enough time, Xia Duo would really like to stay and study it properly; he only hopes he can find relevant data inside the base next!

"Ms. Xierdalanna, you may begin casting."

Xia Duo reminded her.

He could enter the Shadow Plane on his own, but he could not enter the Shadow Plane from the Ether Plane; at least, he could not conceal the movements of his Spellcasting during that process.

"Come closer, I'm starting."

Xierdalanna nodded, gave Andaluosike a look, and then began to cast.

Generally speaking, Spellcasters will avoid casting spells next to another Spellcaster as much as possible, because doing so preserves some of the elemental details of the Spell being cast.

The distance at which one is not perceived is related to the other Spellcaster's Perception; normally, within two meters is considered relatively safe, and even if perceived, it can only be gradually identified through the passive reaction of the Magic Net String.

But if the distance is too close, all the details of the Spellcasting will be exposed, which is not a good thing for a Spellcaster.

Not to mention the risk of the Spellcasting process being interfered with or even controlled in real-time.

In fact, for Xia Duo, two meters is not a safe distance either; after his most recent Bloodline Awakening, his Perception has been raised almost to the limit.

As long as he is willing, and combined with his Memory Retrospection ability, every Spellcasting process within a 25-meter radius of him is visible in real-time and can be completely recorded by him.

At this moment, the distance between him and Xierdalanna was separated only by Andaluosike, less than two meters; not to mention him, even Puman could see the other party's Spellcasting process clearly.

Whether it could be fully memorized is another matter; Xia Duo does not know much about Puman, but he could guess that Puman likely cannot perform Memory Retrospection, let alone possess a photographic memory.

As for using a Spell to retrospect later, not to mention that they are in the Ether Plane—which is cross-plane and the environment itself is volatile—one would also have to break through Xierdalanna's Huiwei Tanshi Spell.

It is almost impossible to achieve.

"I wonder if Xierdalanna would still cast in front of me if she knew that her casting was equivalent to being completely recorded by me!"

Xia Duo guessed casually; given Xierdalanna's determination regarding the goal of this trip, she would likely still choose to do so, though she might make some trade-offs in the choice of specific Spells.

……

Soon, as Xierdalanna's Spell was completed, Xia Duo noticed that the Ether Mist around them began to fade away; not just the Mist, but even some of the glowing background in the Ether Plane gradually dimmed.

Until the whole world became dark; in this process, the surrounding environment also underwent some changes, the perspective of the Material Plane began to recede, but everything around them seemed to have been changed by a magnificent power, becoming very close to the Material Plane—

It turned into a very desolate valley, with only a few lonely, twisted alien plants, appearing even more eerie in the dim environment.

This should be the valley where the Lier Chamber of Commerce base in the Main Plane is located, but the Shadow Plane, as the shadow of the Material Plane, does not correspond perfectly to the material world.

According to Xia Duo's own experience, he did not find any building ruins, which suggests that this very desolate valley in the Shadow Plane might be the state of that valley in the Main Plane at some point in the past.

Of course, one must also add some characteristics of the Shadow Plane itself; at least the Main Plane does not have the twisted alien plants that Xia Duo sees now.

If there were building ruins, it might correspond to a scene that could possibly appear in the future of the Main Plane valley.

If it were a complete building, then there is a high probability that there is an identical, intact building in the Main Plane.

The overall style of the Shadow Plane is decadent and gloomy; even if a building in the Main Plane is intact, when reflected in the Shadow Plane, it might be a dilapidated ruin.

Of course, powerful magical buildings like the Tower of Time would appear in the form of magical buildings as well.

Although the secret base of this mysterious organization might not be a very powerful magical building, it would at least appear in the form of a magical building; it was only because it was located underground that it was not seen by Xia Duo and the others.

Next, he saw Xierdalanna walking and stopping in the valley, finally stopping beside an inconspicuous rock wall, and said to Xia Duo:

"From this position inward, go down through three flights of stairs and you will reach the base of the mysterious organization! Let us set up a Restriction Spell first, and then we will return to the Main Plane from here to launch a surprise attack."

Of course, Xia Duo is very clear that while it is called a surprise attack, it will likely evolve into a frontal assault, but as long as the target's escape route is cut off, a frontal assault can actually be equated to a surprise attack.

As for how to cut off the escape route, the Shadow Plane side is the first step.

Blocking plane separation is actually very difficult to achieve without alerting the other party, but Xierdalanna is not preparing to block plane separation; instead, she is setting up a Restriction Spell on the periphery to use this place as a second battlefield.

Of course, if everything goes smoothly, what Xia Duo is doing now might be useless, but as the saying goes, one might not need to use it, but it is best to have it.

What if? What if there are some twists and turns, and the other party successfully performs plane separation?

If there were no such preparations, wouldn't they be dumbfounded when the time comes, only able to watch helplessly as the other party uses the Shadow Plane to escape?

In fact, Xierdalanna's plan also includes blocking Astral Plane teleportation; unlike the teleportation popular in the Main Plane that uses the Ether Plane as a medium, general prohibition Spells cannot restrict it.

It is just that Xierdalanna (by her own admission) does not study Astral Plane teleportation much, so the corresponding prohibition Spells can only be completed by Xia Duo.