Chapter 1876: Partial Success, Changing the Subject

—Disintegrate Magic Energy!

Xia Duo immediately let the spell he had been maintaining for a long time fall; at the same time, Sample 43 seemed to have been subjected to some kind of powerful restraint, its body no longer trembling.

But this quiet waiting felt exceptionally agonizing; Xia Duo subconsciously frowned. The fact that it did not explode immediately meant his previous hypothesis was partially successful, but the fact that it did not return to normal meant his Purification Plan had ultimately failed.

"Did it fail?"

Xia Duo was still somewhat unwilling to give up. He did not stop the Longevity Technique but continued to maintain it, a large number of Magic Net Strings weaving over Sample 43's body, emitting a strong Magic Aura.

And this light seemed to herald life, to herald hope. Xia Duo was unwilling to give up; it was not until he perceived that Sample 43 had completely lost its vitality that he reluctantly stopped the spell.

Looking at Sample 43, which seemed to have died quietly before him, Xia Duo could only accept reality no matter how unwilling he was. Yet, just as he wanted to clean up the Jinjufazhen to start the next experiment, an unexpected change occurred in the corpse of Sample 43—

The withered, peculiar skin on the right side split and peeled away, revealing fresh Elf flesh; at the same time, other Demon Descendant characteristics began to recede.

All of this happened extremely rapidly; by the time Xia Duo collected his thoughts, the change had already been completed.

The target was still a Wood Elf, but its eyes had turned into the golden pupils of a Gold Elf. In reality, a mixed-blood of a Gold Elf and a Wood Elf would also exhibit similar characteristics.

Whether Sample 43 was a mixed-blood Elf before could be confirmed by asking around later, but for now, Xia Duo was more inclined to believe it was the effect of "Bloodline Collapse + Gold Elf version Longevity Technique stabilizing the bloodline."

Viewed this way, the experiment should have been a success, but why didn't the sample come back to life?

Recalling that among the many mutated individuals, only Mila still retained a trace of her original consciousness, while Sample 43 had lost its original consciousness from the very beginning.

Perhaps it was precisely because the consciousness of the mutated individuals had long since dissipated, and what was ultimately saved was merely an empty shell!

"Is that so?"

Xia Duo re-examined Sample 43, which had recovered its Elf appearance. It had indeed lost all signs of life, but the body still possessed vitality. If a normal consciousness were to inhabit it, perhaps it really could recover!

……

Next, Xia Duo tried the Longevity Technique purification plan a few more times. The results were mostly consistent with Sample 43, ultimately yielding only a soulless shell.

In a few cases during the experiment, the body simply disintegrated, which counted as a total failure.

"It seems the key to the problem is indeed the consciousness!"

Xia Duo thought of Mila again. Perhaps Mila was the true key; only by finding a way to restore consciousness from her would it be possible for other mutated individuals to be truly saved.

Of course, that was only a possibility. In fact, Xia Duo was more inclined to believe that those mutated individuals whose consciousness had dissipated were gone forever.

It still came back to the saying, "Creation is harder than destruction."

Additionally, the Longevity Technique plan was still imperfect. Setting aside the few cases where the body simply disintegrated, even those bodies that appeared to have returned to normal still retained the influence of the Demon Bloodline.

It was just that at this point, they could accept some more intense purification methods, such as high-intensity Positive Energy Baptism or other means, to completely purify the Demon Bloodline or render it dormant.

……

Some time before dawn, Xia Duo did not continue the experiments but returned to the Study to organize his experimental records, which also served as a way to relax and rest.

Although this avatar did not require rest, that was on the condition that it was not overused; resting and maintaining it occasionally was the only way to extend its usage limit.

After dawn.

Xia Duo arranged to meet Saijisi to continue surveying the Mythallar Nodes. With most of the permissions for the Old Mythallar, the efficiency of the subsequent survey would be countless times higher than before!

Once the survey was complete, he could devote himself entirely to the New Mythallar project.

DC District.

When Xia Duo met Saijisi, the other party looked exhausted and listless, which made him glad he hadn't gone to Cloudtop Tower yesterday afternoon to attend that handover ceremony.

If he had gone, not to mention whether he would have run into the high-level Mages of Shaerwen, the meaningless social activities alone were something he was very resistant to.

Drinking and feasting all night, only to end up with a sense of emptiness.

Of course, the Elves might have enjoyed it, but Xia Duo respectfully declined.

"Saijisi, your state is not good! Why don't you go back and rest first? I can handle it myself today."

"No, I can do it!"

Even for an Elf, and even if it wasn't that kind of matter, no one would be willing to admit they couldn't do it. Hearing Xia Duo's words, Saijisi immediately cast a spell on himself, and his spirit was visibly restored to a high state.

"Although it will take more time to rest later to make up for my current state, the permissions are already in hand, and we must complete all the survey tasks today!"

Beyond the refusal to admit defeat in the face of Xia Duo saying he couldn't do it, Saijisi mostly wanted to complete the Old Mythallar survey work as soon as possible. After all, Evereska Independent now had no obstacles, and the Mythallar had become the thing holding them back.

"Alright then, I also want to devote myself to the New Mythallar project as soon as possible."

Since Saijisi insisted, Xia Duo naturally would not object. What surprised him was Saijisi's previous words—that all the survey tasks had to be completed today.

It seemed that it wasn't just the representatives of various countries who handed over permissions yesterday; it was likely that the sensible Controllers in the city had also handed over their permissions in advance after learning that the negotiations had concluded successfully!

"I will give you the permission key; you can cast the spell yourself to obtain the permission. We won't act together today; splitting up is more efficient. Even with the permissions, it won't be easy to finish the remaining survey tasks in one day!"

Saijisi said this with a serious face, then earnestly bowed to Xia Duo, "Thank you for your contribution. If it weren't for you, Evereska's independence would never have been so smooth!"

Saijisi's attitude almost gave Xia Duo a fright. He thought the Elder Council had discovered his true identity (Xilin), but he immediately realized that Saijisi must be referring to the discovery of the Demon Descendant.

This had indeed broken the deadlock in the negotiations for Evereska. Of course, Xia Duo had done much more behind the scenes, but that didn't need to be said.

"We are companions, and Evereska's independence is also my goal. All of this is what I should have done."

"But Asuosi, why are you unwilling to join the Elder Council?" Saijisi asked again.

"I don't want to be troubled by too many trivial matters. The most urgent thing now is to dismantle the Old Mythallar and build the New Mythallar as soon as possible; we can talk about other things later."

Xia Duo used official business to change the subject, so Saijisi did not continue to press him. However, he had already decided that once the Mythallar was built, he would definitely find a way to persuade Asuosi to join the Elder Council; this was the status Asuosi deserved.

It was also the return Evereska owed to those who contributed.