Chapter 2153: Focusing Gem

When Xia Duo woke up again, besides Saville at the bedside, Yinaole had actually come as well. Recalling that Saville had just returned to the Floating City from Daxia Territory, he must have gone to find Yinaole during that time.

"How much time has passed since I returned?"

Xia Duo had now lost his concept of time; the constant Magic Moment indicated it had been over a year. It was possible that the time elapsed within the Mental Image World had overlapped, and he truly did not know how long it had been since he returned from the Cloud Palace Night Banquet.

"It is already the third day since you returned!" The person who answered was Niya.

"Three days already?!"

Xia Duo was startled, then laughed at himself: "Then leaving now won't be considered impolite; it was agreed beforehand that I would leave after three days."

Hearing this, Niya couldn't help but pinch Xia Duo's hand, saying crossly: "You're still thinking about Calimshan? It's because of them that you ended up like this!"

If she had previously felt some curiosity about this bloodline kingdom far in the south, now only disgust remained. Coupled with the fact that her initial impression of Calimshan was not very good, she only wanted to stay far away from there now.

Saville finally found an opportunity to speak: "That Executive Fahede feels very sorry about your encounter and asked me to bring you a condolence gift."

"What is their attitude toward Zhamu Dasi, and has the situation regarding Mohawi been confirmed?"

Xia Duo did not ask what the gift was, but instead asked about Calimshan's attitude toward Zhamu Dasi and information regarding Mohawi. Of course, the latter was more important to him at this moment.

Regarding this, Saville's expression appeared somewhat disappointed: "Although Calimshan is willing to believe that Zhamu Dasi was the mastermind, because they are already in a state of war with Zhamu Dasi, and because they did not suffer any actual losses in this matter, they are not prepared to make a big fuss over it. I think they might even want to use this to reach a ceasefire with Zhamu Dasi!"

"The Elves—" Xia Duo said subconsciously.

"Yes, as you thought, Kaitemier has already started fighting with Zhamu Dasi. This is also the first time Kaitemier has actively initiated a war in nearly two thousand years!"

"Sigh—"

Xia Duo couldn't help but let out a long sigh. It seemed the information provided by Cormanthor was correct; Prince Xisi was indeed the successor chosen by the Crown King of Kaitemier, only he died in Zhamu Dasi's conspiracy before it could be made public.

However, there was one thing Xia Duo hadn't expected: the mettle of the Kaitemier side was actually so strong, and they had believed his one-sided account directly without seeking verification from him.

Besides having had suspicions before, perhaps the prophecy results from not long ago were also very unfavorable to Zhamu Dasi!

"Xia Duo, don't worry about these messy affairs in the south. Saville came to tell me that you are in danger; what exactly is going on?"

Yinaole attracted everyone's attention as soon as he spoke. Niya also stood up from Xia Duo's bedside with some embarrassment, while Xia Duo said to Yinaole with some apology:

"I have disturbed you, Teacher. This time, I may truly need your help!"

Following that, Xia Duo recounted his encounter with the Mental Image World attack and how he escaped, omitting the details of the Equation Spell and only briefly describing the general process.

But even so, it made the other two Great Arcanists feel the danger involved. Niya, disregarding Yinaole's presence, sat back down at Xia Duo's bedside and held her husband's hand tightly, unwilling to let go for even a moment.

"This is the first time I have been so close to the Mental Image World. I originally thought it was just a legend; I didn't expect it to be real!" Yinaole couldn't help but frown and mutter.

"Me too. At first, I didn't even realize my consciousness had been dragged into the Mental Image World."

Xia Duo reached out and pulled a small Amulet from inside his collar: "Teacher, look, the Mind Amulet didn't work. This time it was just a stroke of luck; if I encounter it again, I won't have such good fortune."

"So the current situation is—that Psionic Illusionist named Mohawi cannot afford to lose, or because the Mental Image World collapsed, he projected his own consciousness into your Soul?"

"That should be it. Teacher, do you have any way to strip away or seal the other party's consciousness?"

"This—is very difficult!"

Yinaole pondered for a while, took out a purple Gemstone radiating a strong Magic Aura from his robe, let Niya give it to Xia Duo to hold, and then continued:

"The Soul Domain has always been obscure, and I haven't delved into it much. This Focusing Gem might make your will more resilient, allowing you to hold on until the other party is completely defeated."

Yinaole's words made Xia Duo feel somewhat disappointed; the other party also seemed to think that there was no other effective solution besides holding on.

But he himself could not accept his fate like this. Holding on and fighting a war of attrition could only be considered a last resort. If there were a normal method to strip away the foreign consciousness information, he naturally would not choose to hold on and consume his energy.

However, the moment the Focusing Gem was in his hand, Xia Duo felt his spirit jolt. It seemed he could cast spells at will without needing to intentionally maintain them—this really was a treasure!

Perhaps an ordinary person who had never come into contact with Magic could have a chance to instantly cross the threshold of Spellcasting if they obtained this Gemstone, though without understanding the Principles of spells, they would inevitably be injured by randomly triggered spells.

Now, under the enhancement of this Focusing Gem, Xia Duo felt that he might be able to perceive the Soul. As for whether he could resolve the foreign information intrusion after perceiving the Soul, he would only know after trying.

"Teacher, I am sorry to have troubled you to make this trip. However, this Gemstone is truly very useful to me, so I need to keep it with me for a while."

"Don't be too happy too soon. That Focusing Gem was made by a friend of mine using a Gemstone obtained from an Astral Plane adventure. Its effect comes largely from the Gemstone itself, not from a spell. It will suffer wear and tear as long as it is used; this is the only Gemstone I have left."

"Then what about your friend—the maker?" Xia Duo asked hurriedly.

If he could obtain more of these purple Gemstones, perhaps he could research spells related to will focusing from them. Even if there were other costs, at least it would be more versatile than rare Astral Plane materials.

But Yinaole shook his head with a sorrowful expression: "That friend of mine was keen on Astral Plane adventures. You should be no stranger to the situation in the Astral Plane; that fellow will likely never be able to return to the Main Plane."

The Astral Plane has the existence of time, but no concept of passage in the usual sense. Anyone who enters the Astral Plane instantly gains eternal life, but the price is—

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As soon as they return to the normal Material Plane, the time they spent in the Astral Plane will instantly pass on them.

In other words, an ordinary person with a lifespan of only one hundred years who stays in the Astral Plane for over one hundred years will instantly turn to dust upon returning to the Material Plane.

Another thing is that time in the Astral Plane and time in the Material Plane do not have a one-to-one correspondence. It could be one hour in the Astral Plane to one minute in the Material Plane, or it could be the other way around.

Theoretically, if a person could instantly perceive everything in the Astral Plane, they would very likely be able to see their own physical body relative to the Material Plane, as well as some Astral Plane Adventurers from the past, present, and future eras.