Chapter 1823: Re-projection, Elder Shaerwen

At noon that day, Xia Duo and Niya were eating lunch at the Lord's Villa in Linshui Village as usual. Just halfway through, the two stopped their chopsticks almost simultaneously and looked at each other:

"A Projection Plane has been discovered!"

"Mm, I'll head back first; you finish eating and then come back!"

Time waits for no one. After saying this, Xia Duo immediately teleported back to the Tower of Time, and then teleported consecutively to the Plane Exploration Layer. Under such circumstances, Niya certainly would not stay in Linshui Village, but instead followed him, staying by Xia Duo's side the entire time.

When Xia Duo activated the Astral Projection, she only softly said, "Be careful," but Xia Duo no longer had time to reply; his spirit and consciousness were suddenly sucked into the ball of light above the Projection Hall.

First came a very brief pause, followed immediately by a high-speed leap. Xia Duo had already experienced this process many times before.

But it must be said, every time it left a very deep impression on him, including this time—

It was just like the Yaoyue flight in science fiction movies on Earth, only in the movies it was a spaceship that performed the Yaoyue, while at this moment, what Xia Duo was performing the Yaoyue with was his consciousness!

On Earth, consciousness is usually described as—the reflection of the objective material world in the human mind, the sum of various psychological processes such as feeling and thinking.

In other words, consciousness is just a metaphysical concept, not some concrete thing.

But in the world of Magic, there are always various experiences that can make one deeply feel the reality of consciousness and the reality of the soul.

At this moment, his consciousness was like a stretched noodle, constantly being elongated during the process of the Yaoyue, until a silver void appeared before his eyes.

Magnificent, vast.

But immediately after, the silver void disappeared. In a trance, Xia Duo felt countless soft rays of light appear around him. Although these lights were not irritating, they even gave one a relaxed, pleasant feeling.

But such a scene could not help but make him think of his previous experience in the 【Projection Plane: Underdark】—

After entering the Projection Plane that time, there was also light around him. At that time, he had transformed into a Drow who was extremely afraid of light; for him, the illumination was almost like the torture of a thousand cuts.

That experience left a very deep impression in his heart, one could even call it a "shadow." Encountering countless rays of light again upon entering this Projection Plane, Xia Duo had some bad premonitions in his heart.

Releasing his Perception, Xia Duo wanted to see what the environment around him was like, and also what race he had turned into this time.

But after several attempts at Perception, there were still only countless rays of light around him. As for himself, he felt that the race he had transformed into this time was very different from before; at least, he had not yet been able to perceive his own body.

Or perhaps he had perceived it, but this body could not be controlled by him, as if it had been imprisoned by some kind of power.

"How could this be?"

Xia Duo was plunged into deep confusion at this moment. Although in terms of "physical sensation," he did not feel any discomfort, this feeling of being unable to control himself and his surroundings made him feel exceptionally uneasy.

"What on earth is going on?"

Despite the confusion and the unease, Xia Duo did not give up and was still trying hard to perceive himself. There was one thing he was certain of, and that was—

Since he could project over here, no matter how special this body was, it was possible for him to control it.

Although entering a Projection Plane involves many coincidences and randomness, there are generally certain rules to follow. It is similar to throwing a glass ball onto a flat floor; it might not stop accurately at a certain spot, but the place where it stops must have a depression.

This depression can be seen as the degree of compatibility between the Projection traveler's consciousness and the individual in the Projection Plane. Some depressions are the right size, some are slightly larger, and some are slightly smaller.

But there is always a degree of compatibility that can be understood and controlled.

Of course, having said that, Xia Duo also set a deadline for himself. If he could not successfully control this transformed body and obtain Spellcasting ability within a month, he would leave.

Being trapped in this body was of no benefit to his Plane Exploration, and even less useful for designing a Mythallar. One month was the limit he could accept; he didn't want to waste any more time than that, and it would be better to go back and try again.

If he was lucky, this Projection Plane might still support him in projecting a few more times. Even if he was unlucky, there was still the last resort of the Arcane Union; in any case, he could not just keep wasting time here.

Because he was unfamiliar with the body, although he had Perception, it was incomplete. Xia Duo's concept of time was very vague, and he only calculated it based on the time he perceived in his heart.

About two days later—of course, the actual time might be even shorter—on this day, Xia Duo was feeling somewhat irritable, wondering whether he should return to the Main Plane early.

Although he had gained some harvest in these two days, for example, the body he had transformed into now did not need to eat and would not feel weak.

And the light outside would have periodic changes in brightness, and so on.

But these were of little help to him in controlling this body. Instead, during the long period of imprisonment, his patience was worn down very quickly. Just from the two days he perceived in his heart, he was already unable to hold on much longer.

One can imagine what a month would be like as an ordeal.

"Should I return early?"

Undoubtedly, once such a tempting thought arose, it would not disappear easily. Xia Duo's heart was continuously wavering, until he "heard" a voice in Elvish that could be called heavenly music—

"Elder Xilin, the pruning and maintenance for tomorrow afternoon have been arranged. Does the Elder have any other instructions?"

"Elder Xilin," "pruning and maintenance"—once these two concepts appeared, Xia Duo immediately "unlocked" part of the memories of this body. So "he" was an Elder of the Sharwen Tree Council!

The so-called "pruning and maintenance," naturally, was not what an ordinary person would understand as trimming hair or nails, but rather the dead branches and withered leaves of Xilin, this special Elder.

Yes, the body Xia Duo had transformed into this time was actually a tree, or more accurately, a Treant!

Before, he had racked his brains for a long time, but he never thought of this. After all, in the Main Plane, although the existence of Treants was not a secret, their presence was low enough that one might not think of them at all.

Regarding the Elf's inquiry, Xia Duo did not answer. On one hand, he had not yet been able to control this body and did not know how to reply; on the other hand, he did not want to communicate with the outside world before having a general understanding of Xilin's memories.

In any case, he was a tree now; not replying should be the norm, right?

Sure enough, in the absence of any reaction from Xia Duo, the other party still gave the reply, "Understood, I will have your gardening team come over tomorrow."

After the Elf's voice completely disappeared, the irritability Xia Duo had accumulated over these two days also vanished. At this moment, he was like someone who had just discovered a novel toy, exploring everywhere.