Chapter 1996: Summoning, An Unexpected Gain

Ether Plane.

After continuous surveying and confirmation, Xia Duo finally chose a nameless wilderness. Compared to other places, the Ether Mist in this area was exceptionally thin; perhaps for the native creatures of the Ether Plane, this was not a good place.

The facts were indeed so; one could hardly find a single living thing in this nameless wilderness, with only a few half-dead, oddly shaped withered trees existing in isolation, adding the final trace of vitality to this wasteland.

But because the Ether Mist was thin, this area was very suitable for Xia Duo to peer back at the Main Plane. Of course, correspondingly, it was also easier to see this place from the Main Plane.

It was just that the area corresponding to the Main Plane was on the sea; one would have to be a sentient being with relatively strong Perception passing by there by chance to see the scene of Xia Duo summoning the Floating City.

Even if seen, it would be impossible to associate it with the ongoing Sluwen battlefield, so Xia Duo simply did not do any concealment, and the actual concealment effect would not have been ideal anyway.

Perhaps it could deceive observers in the Ether Plane, but for observers in the Main Plane, it was not observation and Perception in the usual sense; there was also the effect of the Plane involved, which is generally difficult to hide with ordinary Magic.

Legends of ghosts are popular everywhere in Netheril; apart from some tricks that were indeed performed by Spellcasters, many were scenes of the Ether Plane seen by people with relatively strong Perception.

……

After all preparations were complete, Xia Duo did not perform any special rituals and directly sent a signal to the 【Blue Crystal Plane】, simultaneously transmitting the real-time coordinates of this area.

The "fluidity" of the Ether Plane far exceeds that of the Material Plane; if there are no anchor coordinates for the corresponding Material Plane, the coordinates within the actual Plane do not possess long-term stability.

As for how long they can specifically exist and what the laws of their changes are, Xia Duo had not actually studied it in depth; he just knew about this matter and would pay attention when he needed to use coordinates within the Ether Plane.

But for research involving the essence of the Plane, the Tower of Time will certainly set up related topics in the future.

After about half a minute, Xia Duo monitored the Plane connection signal, followed by the sharp fluctuation and oscillation of the Magic Net; in the Ether Plane, where Perception itself is blocked by the Ether Mist, this was far less eye-catching than in the Material Plane.

Even in this nameless wilderness with little Mist, the commotion of the Floating City crossing the Plane did not bring much clamor to this long-silent wilderness.

No, there should still have been some; just as the Floating City was about to "surface," Xia Duo noticed that a group of Warp Beasts had appeared on the wilderness at some point.

On a small hill below the place where the Floating City was prepared to descend, they emitted short and excited hissing sounds toward the sky that was still temporarily empty.

"This, this—"

Although he was somewhat surprised by the arrival of the Warp Beasts, what Xia Duo was thinking about at this moment was not the Warp Beasts themselves, but whether these little guys with delicious meat had mistaken the Floating City for a "super Warp Beast"!

It is not that there is no such possibility; judging solely from the process of entering the Ether Plane, whether it is a Spellcaster or a Floating City, there is no essential difference from a Warp Beast.

The reason why Spellcasters failed to attract Warp Beasts was mostly because their mass was too small, and they completed the teleportation all at once; even if Warp Beasts were present at the scene at that time, they would instinctively sense something wrong upon seeing a Spellcaster different from themselves.

Unlike the Floating City, which has a long period of pre-preparations and makes such a big commotion, it is indeed possible to attract Warp Beasts that are relatively sensitive to Plane teleportation signals.

However, Xia Duo believed that when the Floating City appeared, those little guys would definitely discover that what had come was not a peer, but an "Abyss Maw" that would eat them.

Xia Duo loved Warp Beast meat too much and had long wanted to open a farm at the Arcane Union's Ether Forward Base, but unfortunately, he had been tied up with various affairs recently and had forgotten about this matter; now, seeing that there were Warp Beasts actively delivering themselves to his door.

If he could miss this, he would be struck by lightning.

These little guys—if judged by mass, they should actually be big guys, but calling them little guys seems more intimate—were too agile; if it were not for the special overlapping Plane environment of the Ether Forward Base, even Xia Duo would not dare to guarantee that he could definitely catch a few when encountering them suddenly.

Right now, Xia Duo had indeed not made the relevant preparations for capture, and acting rashly at this time might scare these delicious little guys away, but when the Floating City arrived, these little guys would not be able to escape even if they wanted to.

Thinking this way, the next moment the Magic Net in front of Xia Duo seemed to collapse, or as if the sea surface had suddenly parted in all directions, and a sky-blue spherical giant object appeared above the wilderness without warning.

It hovered quietly, as if it had existed there from the very beginning.

Next, just as Xia Duo had expected, the group of Warp Beasts that were excitedly hissing on the small hill on the ground saw this scene, and they collectively went silent, immediately followed by scattering in an attempt to get away.

It was a pity that under the 【Wide-Area Prohibition】, not a single one of them managed to run away; Xia Duo also did not expect that the first mission of the Floating City and its first use of a War Spell externally would be against a group of Warp Beasts.

But regardless of whether the method is high or low, as long as it is effective, the initial success of the War Spell also gave Xia Duo a bit more confidence in the upcoming "peacekeeping operation."

In the Arcane Garden of the Floating City—which is actually the Planting Area near the outermost layer—Xia Duo also used the 【Wide-Area Prohibition】 to set up two temporary confinement areas here and threw the group of Warp Beasts into them.

Of course, in passing, he also found a "temporary placement point" for Naris, whom he had just abducted.

……

Floating City, residential area.

Xia Duo had summoned the Floating City over before he remembered that Jieyi, the first student he had accepted not long ago, was still here; to avoid causing panic to the other party due to the sudden change in the Plane environment, he specifically came here.

In a community square in the residential area, Xia Duo saw Jieyi, who was burying his head in a small desk and indulging in doing problems; seeing this scene, he could not help but mock himself, wasting his worry on this only student.

He did not expect that this guy had no perception of the changes in the outside world at all, but since he was here, Xia Duo naturally had to inspect him.

"Jieyi!"

"Ah?"

Jieyi raised his head blankly upon hearing the voice, looked in the direction of the voice, and immediately showed a surprised expression, stood up and replied: "Teacher! Why are you here!"

"Came to see you, and by the way, check your learning progress over the past two days."

"Oh!"

Jieyi responded, hurriedly pulled a thick stack of test papers from under the desk, and trotted over to hand them to Xia Duo. Xia Duo took the test papers, flipped through them roughly, and had an idea of Jieyi's learning progress over the past two days.

"I'll keep the test papers for now and grade them for you later. But there are some things I can tell you now!"

"Please speak, Teacher—"

"You must pay special attention to Arcane Geometry and Spell Principles; this relates to how far you can go in the future. Of course, if you are only satisfied with tinkering with some small gadgets, then you can also learn them simply, but the future might be another Xiaolei."

Xiaolei is an Intermediate Mage of the Tower of Time, who holds curiosity about all kinds of things, but he is curious about the things themselves, not the Principles behind them.

Although after Xia Duo pushed for the transformation of the Tower of Time, he began to supplement the foundations again, many things are often difficult to find back once lost.

As for the current Xiaolei, it might not be difficult to become a High Mage, but to successfully advance to an Advanced Arcanist, I am afraid it will not be that easy, let alone reaching the end of the Magic Net.

Late bloomers are, after all, in the minority.