Chapter 2073: The Ritual Begins, The Disruptor

————Still about an hour and a half left~~

————

Perhaps Kelifu's perspective on the impact of a mortal's ascension to godhood differs from Xia Duo's, but it is undeniable that both parties have at least reached a consensus on opposing the Ascension Order.

Of course, one must also count Magena.

"Then, Lord Kelifu, do you think Master Eriwen's ascension ritual will succeed this time?" Xia Duo naturally threw the same question to Kelifu.

To this, Kelifu shook his head with a solemn expression; just as Xia Duo was about to press for more, the sound of a teleportation spell came from outside this temporarily borrowed Reception Room.

Xia Duo looked inquiringly at Kelifu and Magena; Magena looked somewhat bewildered, while Kelifu replied, "It should be Weide; I invited him over as well."

"Weide?"

Hearing this name, Xia Duo subconsciously frowned. There was some unpleasantness between him and Weide; previously, the other party had secretly controlled the Rodney Lord to harass the Nan Jing and even assassinated important figures in the Territory.

Later, because it escalated to the Seventon Council and the Seven Towers intervened, the matter was considered temporarily resolved, but it was mainly about the other party controlling the Rodney Lord, and there was actually no compensation for the losses to the Savile Territory.

To say that Xia Duo had no resentment in his heart would be impossible, and this also made him somewhat dissatisfied with Kelifu—did you not know about the feud between Weide and me?

As a Priest, Kelifu was naturally better at sensing changes in Xia Duo's emotions than an ordinary Spellcaster, so he hurriedly explained, "Weide is a firm practitioner of the Arcane path. He not only opposes the Ascension Order but is also dissatisfied with the ascension ritual being used again and again. Unless it can be explained clearly with existing Magic Theory, having him join is also beneficial to our voice here. I ask Lord Xia Duo to please be patient."

Having at least received an explanation, Xia Duo nodded reluctantly.

Afterwards, Kelifu went to bring Weide, while Xia Duo sat in the corner of the room waiting for their exchange to end or to see who else might come. But to his surprise, Magena quietly sent a message, asking what kind of feud he had with Weide.

Xia Duo briefly recounted what Weide had done in the Rodney Territory and the Savile Territory before. Magena was silent for a moment, then replied:

"At that time, you were indeed the weaker party, but you are already a strong person now. You can demand that the other party pay the price for the past."

"I will, but not now."

Xia Duo knew very well that Kelifu had invited everyone over to prepare to challenge the Seven Towers after the ascension ritual, or at least to force the Seven Towers to make concessions regarding the Ascension Order. He did not want to ruin the big picture because of his own private affairs.

Just as Kelifu and Weide finished their exchange, Weide came before Xia Duo, handed over a small money bag with golden patterns on the surface, and said solemnly:

"Lord Xia Duo, I apologize for some of my previous actions. Please, you must accept this!"

Things that can be brought out by a Great Arcanist are certainly not ordinary. Through the small money bag, Xia Duo confirmed that it contained an extremely precious Gemstone—

A Plane Crystal!

Such a rare item, along with such a prompt apology, left Xia Duo somewhat stunned for a moment. He knew very well that if it were just about a Floating City, the other party would not have conceded so easily.

One must know that when Weide was sanctioned by the Seven Towers before, he had never lowered his posture like this.

Xia Duo did not take the other party's compensation, but instead asked a question that seemed completely unrelated to the matter, "Why?"

To outsiders like Kelifu and Magena, Xia Duo might have been asking why Weide was apologizing, and the answer might be the order of the Seventon Alliance, or perhaps for the sake of so-called "justice."

But in reality, what Xia Duo was asking was—why a Plane Crystal.

One must know that at the current stage, apart from a very small number obtained from some undeveloped ancient ruins, almost all Plane Crystals within Netheril come from the Seven Towers.

How could such a precious thing be used as compensation!

Weide couldn't possibly have crawled into Xia Duo's stomach to know that his next research direction was the Plane Domain and that he had a need for Plane Crystals!

But that would make even less sense.

Xia Duo could perhaps accept this Plane Crystal, but if he couldn't figure this out, he wouldn't be able to sleep soundly!

Seeming to see the scrutiny and confusion in Xia Duo's eyes, Weide opened his mouth but made no sound, choosing instead to send a private message to reveal something.

After receiving the information, Xia Duo frowned again. What Weide revealed was not anything else, but a design concept for a Magic Web Background Communication Array.

This could perhaps be used in the communication Mythallar that Niya was researching, but why? Just as he was about to continue questioning, the slogan without a trace of emotion came to his ears—

"Everything is Supreme for Arcane!"

Hearing this familiar slogan, Xia Duo was shocked. He subconsciously looked at Kelifu and Magena in the Reception Room, and seeing that the two seemed completely unaware, he looked at Weide in surprise:

"It's you?!"

"It seems Lord Xia Duo must have guessed it!"

Weide then revealed a smile, though he seemed to rarely smile in daily life, and this smile was quite strange, yet the tone revealed in it gave one a feeling of great sincerity:

"Actually, from the moment the Magic Web Background Communication spell was born, I began to pay attention. But unfortunately, the internal confidentiality work of Giles Tower was done very well. It wasn't until Sikumu took power that I knew the source was you."

"But by then you had already grown up; otherwise, I would rather go to war with Yinaole than let you become my student."

"So, the previous matters were indeed a misunderstanding. In this world, we are actually the true fellow travelers!"

"..."

Xia Duo was silent. He needed to take a moment to calm down. Although he had previously guessed that the Great Sage in the 【Projection Plane: Arcane Empire】 was a visitor from the Main Plane, he never expected it to be one of Weide's people!

When Weide skillfully spoke that Arcane Empire slogan, Xia Duo was truly startled. His first reaction was that someone from that Projection Plane had transcended the illusion and come to the Main Plane, but he immediately realized that such a possibility was too low.

It must be that Weide's people participated in or even led the shaping of that Arcane Empire in the Projection Plane.

And the design concept for the Magic Web Background Communication Array that the other party just brought out should not have been a targeted measure based on knowing the Tower of Time's research direction, but rather a hint given based on the Magic Web Background Communication that Xia Duo had created previously.

It is just a pity that Xia Duo did not associate it with that aspect at the beginning, which is why the other party blurted out the Arcane Empire slogan.

As for the Plane Crystal, there could also be a good explanation. As Weide said, he and Xia Duo are true fellow travelers. Perhaps he noticed his actions in popularizing Magic Education in the Nan Jing, and at the same time, based on his multiple experiences of entering the Projection Plane for exploration (it might not be possible to encounter the Arcane Empire if it weren't multiple times), he deduced that what he needed most at this moment might be a Plane Crystal.

Stringing it all together, it all seems to make sense.

But there is one point that Xia Duo does not agree with, and that is the "fellow traveler" that Weide spoke of. The Arcane Empire might also popularize education, but having stayed there himself, he clearly knows how inhumane the Arcane Empire's system is.

Xiao Shu Ting

Not to mention anything else, just take reproduction: as long as one does not become an Official Mage within the stipulated years, one must become a reproductive machine. Moreover, the children born are sent to nurseries for socialized upbringing, having nothing to do with their original parents.

This is certainly due to the huge population demand caused by war, but it also shows the upper echelons of the Arcane Empire's disregard for ordinary people, or rather, for life itself.