Chapter 2064: Yierlan's Changes

If the Arcane Garden inside a Mage Tower were merely for the sake of having an extra plantable area, it would actually be quite unnecessary; only by constructing a Growth Array does it possess practical value.

The several farms within the Floating City have vast lands, so it is not strictly necessary to build Growth Arrays, but having them and using them are two completely different matters.

However, in the short term, Xia Duo has only planned for the Growth Array of the First Farm to alleviate the food shortage in the Territory; as for the other few farms, they can be considered later.

Of course, Xia Duo's true meaning is that once there are more Advanced Rank Mages in the Tower of Time, these tasks can be handed over to those Advanced Rank Mages.

This can both train their practical abilities and prevent them from being idle and causing trouble out of boredom.

……

After resting for a day, Xia Duo brought the Growth Array materials that he had Saixili prepare in advance and arrived at the First Farm; Saville and Niya both came over to help.

But when the three were busy until noon, news came from the Seven Towers that they would send Bulundesi to deliver some important information.

Having no choice, Xia Duo could only return to the Tower of Time temporarily; as for the work at the First Farm, he could only trouble Saville and Niya for now.

Tower of Time, Reception Room.

When Xia Duo arrived, he saw Bulundesi pacing back and forth in the room, appearing very anxious, and he immediately had a few guesses about the purpose of the other party's visit.

"Councilor Bulundesi, it has only been a few days, what instructions do the Seven Towers have again?"

"Lord Xia Duo is joking. I have come this time under orders to request Lord Xia Duo to go to Seventon on the first day of next year to attend Master Eriwen's Ascension Ritual."

"The first day of next year?"

Upon hearing this, Xia Duo could not help but feel shocked, "Has the time for the final ritual been set?"

"Yes. In fact, looking at the entire process of the Ascension Ritual, the ritual had already begun by the time I set off to come here."

"I understand. Do the Seven Towers have anything else you need to convey to me?"

"This—"

Bulundesi hesitated for a moment, a look of struggle appearing on his face, but he finally spoke: "Lord Huo En asked me to tell you that if it is convenient, you can come to Seventon a few days early."

Although Bulundesi did not say some things explicitly, combined with his previous experience in Siluwende, Xia Duo could fully guess that Huo En asking him to go a few days early was either to deal with some difficult problem or to stand for the Seven Towers' Ascension Order.

Xia Duo did not want to choose either, so he declined: "I am currently busy with the construction of the Floating City and am afraid I cannot spare the time, but I will not be absent from Master Eriwen's Ascension Ritual."

Master Eriwen's Ascension Ritual is not only one that Xia Duo will not be absent from, but nine out of ten other Great Arcanists of Netheril will likely not be absent either.

It is just that the elves' attitude toward Netheril's second Ascension Ritual might be revealed on that day.

……

Soon the main business was finished, and both sides exchanged some of the latest information they possessed according to custom; of course, on Xia Duo's side, it was mainly Bulundesi speaking and him listening.

"The turmoil within Yierlan is gradually subsiding. According to the information we have gathered, the Ilfaran Crown King Helien intends to make concessions to his opponents in order to complete the true unification of Yierlan as soon as possible."

"Does Councilor Bulundesi know what specific concessions are being made?"

"I know. Even if I didn't say it, Lord Xia Duo would likely receive relevant news in a while."

Bulundesi forced a smile and continued: "Originally, the Ilfaran Crown King Helien wanted to establish a system similar to the Executive Advisory Group of Ilfaran.

"It is just that the real power of the Ilfaran Executive Advisory Group is greater than that of the Crown King, while Helien wanted to use the name of an advisory group to truly grasp the absolute power of Yierlan.

"However, now that Crown King Helien has abandoned his previous plan due to recent military failures, he has turned to compromise with his opponents, drawing experience from Keman and Ilfaran to set up a Mage Leader, a War Commander, and a High Tree Elder Council that encompasses all parties."

"If I remember correctly, Yierlan already had a High Tree Elder Council before, right? Is there any difference between this one and the previous one?" Xia Duo asked.

"Lord Xia Duo remembers correctly. The previous High Tree Elder Council also encompassed all parties; the difference lies in the actual power."

Bulundesi explained further: "The past Yierlan High Tree Elder Council was actually just a place for various Upper Families to vent their dissatisfaction and had no real power. Now, the High Tree Elder Council that Crown King Helien wants to establish has the power to formulate new rules; as long as the High Tree Elder Council passes them, the Crown King must also obey, and it also has the power and duty to supervise the Crown King."

"Then what is the difference between it and Ilfaran's Executive Advisory Group?" Xia Duo asked again.

"The difference is significant. Ilfaran's Executive Advisory Group manages almost everything in Ilfaran, and the Crown King only has the power of supervision, whereas the Yierlan High Tree Elder Council can only formulate new rules and supervise the Crown King; as the supervised party, the Yierlan Crown King is the one who holds most of the real power."

"I see."

Xia Duo understood everything at once. Yierlan wants to integrate the various forces within the country, and centralization is almost an inevitable choice. However, Crown King Helien initially wanted to use the name of an advisory group to concentrate all power in his own hands. Later, because of the failure of the Sluwen war, he had to compromise, but even so, the power held by Helien still far exceeds that of the Ilfaran Crown King.

But no matter what, Yierlan has finally begun the process of centralization. From this perspective, the failure of the Sluwen war may not necessarily be a bad thing for them.

Of course, for Xia Duo, this may not necessarily be a good thing.

It is expected that the Seven Towers will also feel tremendous pressure. In the past, although Netheril and Yierlan had many irreconcilable conflicts of interest, they maintained relatively good opportunities with some Upper Families within Yierlan.

After all, the interests of Yierlan are not equal to the interests of the Upper Families, and the collective interests of the Upper Families are not necessarily equal to the interests of any individual family.

But once centralization is completed, those Upper Families in Yierlan will find it difficult to have any public interest entanglements with Netheril, and everything will have to be conducted by the Yierlan authorities.

As for private matters, because of centralization, the Yierlan side will inevitably impose restrictions or even punishments on this, and the cost will be unknown compared to the past.

But compared to the changes within Yierlan, Xia Duo is more worried about whether the Seven Towers will be stimulated by this to carry out some centralization reforms in Netheril as well.

Although this is indeed beneficial to Netheril as a whole in the long run, Xia Duo does not have much identification with Netheril. Once the Seven Towers pushes for centralization reform, where will the Daxia Territory go?

Even if Xia Duo now has a Floating City, the Floating City is not omnipotent. The reason why Xia Duo's Floating City can act as a deterrent is largely because it belongs to Netheril; if it did not, Yierlan would probably be the first to jump out and cause him trouble.