Chapter 2218: Amulet Properties, Time Acceleration

The main reason Niya said this was actually because those people's horizons were truly too low; the income they painstakingly scraped together over a lifetime might not even compare to the cost of one of her experiments.

Sometimes she really didn't understand what her father was thinking; he clearly already knew about certain people's petty maneuvers, yet he deliberately turned a blind eye, leaving a pile of trouble for her.

As for her uncles, although they wouldn't openly oppose her, if inaction was more beneficial to them, they would also choose inaction without hesitation.

This was, in reality, the greatest obstacle to the reform of the Savile Territory—an invisible web woven from power and interests from the top down.

Or rather, this was the Savile Territory itself as understood by most people!

In the past, Niya had never been able to make up her mind to change things; besides the factor of these people, the biggest psychological barrier was actually the tradition passed down from the generation of Savi within the Saville Family.

Because Aipusi hadn't truly died after all, Niya didn't want to see her territory devoid of any familiar appearance on the day her father recovered.

But the development of the era would not accommodate individual feelings; at the same time, deeply influenced by Xia Duo, she also didn't want her territory's people to miss out on a great opportunity for development because of her own personal selfishness.

Finally, there was the return of her great-grandfather, which truly made Niya make up her mind; with her great-grandfather there, even if the territory no longer had a single familiar appearance, her father wouldn't be too sad.

"I've made up my mind. During the Snow Melting Recruitment, I'll have Laiton send people to the north to take over the territory, and I will have Uncle Sain cooperate with them."

"So urgent? Have you thought about how to settle those original people?"

"Uncle Sain and the others can just take this opportunity to retire; after working hard for most of their lives, it's time to have a good rest. If they still have energy, they can also consider arranging for subsequent secondary positions; after all, there aren't many people who can catch up to their decades of experience in a short time. As for the others, I won't worry about that. Do whatever you want to do; just follow the procedures!"

Niya spoke lightly, but this was the first time Xia Duo felt her determination regarding this matter, "I understand. I will have Laiton handle it properly."

"By the way, what does Savi think about this?"

"Great-grandfather doesn't care about these things, but he once mentioned that the statue in the town's Central Plaza is a sentimental attachment of his. As long as that statue isn't moved, I suppose Great-grandfather won't have any objections."

"A statue?"

Xia Duo recalled that it was because he had observed Savi's statue that he had discovered the Cloud Qi, and he guessed that the statue might be related to Savi's early research on Ascension to Godhood.

But nowadays, with the Ascension Ritual being something almost everyone had a copy of, what did a mere statue suspected of being a Faith Carrier amount to!

Thus, he told Niya:

"I won't move that statue, and the name of the Savile Territory will also be preserved. As for you, there are still two or three months left; you have time to probe Savi's thoughts again. If he has any suggestions, bring them up as soon as possible so we can make arrangements early."

"You are being too cautious, but it doesn't matter. I'll go ask again. I believe he will agree and support it."

Niya's tone was full of confidence, and then the two chatted for a while longer in the corridor of the Public Level before parting ways.

……

The next day.

Xia Duo continued to test the Spirit Amulet with Niya. This time he was fully prepared; not only did he prepare as many as six test amulets, but he also designed some illusions to simulate the Mental Image World.

Of course, it was only a simulation, and the actual effect was far inferior. The main thing was that he didn't want to use the Judgment series of spells for testing anymore; he really didn't want to experience that feeling of being unable to control himself even once more.

The testing process was similar to yesterday's: starting from low-ring spells, then gradually increasing, and finally using only high-ring spells to test the specific effective range of the amulet, which was also to verify a guess of Xia Duo's.

After a full day of repeated testing, Xia Duo finally reached a conclusion—

The protection effect of the Spirit Amulet against mental spells was indeed surprisingly good!

Specifically—

It was nearly completely immune to mental spells below the 8th ring, and no matter how many times it endured attacks, it would not cause irreversible damage to the amulet; while above the 8th ring, any single attack would cause irreversible damage to the amulet.

However, the key point was this!

No matter how powerful the mental attack was, an intact Spirit Amulet could at least withstand it once!

In other words, as long as a person was wealthy enough and kept enough Spirit Amulets with suitable attributes on hand, they could completely ignore mental attacks!

This made Xia Duo feel happy while also feeling a bit helpless. The happiness was, of course, because the Spirit Amulet indeed had a high probability of being able to withstand attacks from the Mental Image World.

The helplessness was that this thing could only be used by himself; Niya, who lacked a special bloodline, and many others who needed mental protection, had no way to use it.

"Sigh—" Xia Duo couldn't help but sigh.

"How should I say it?"

Niya suddenly picked up the Chinese phrase, which immediately made Xia Duo laugh. Then he also said in a more intimate Chinese: "My heart feels so uncomfortable!"

And this reaction of his also made Niya laugh. She then comforted him: "Don't worry about me. During this time, I will try my best to avoid going out. I believe you will definitely be able to find a way to transform the Spirit Amulet into a more universal item!"

"Mm, I believe so too. With your encouragement, I will definitely be able to!"

……

In the following days, Xia Duo began to devote his energy to researching the Mental Image World, and at the same time, he didn't forget the design of the Time Acceleration Zone in the Floating City, just waiting to get the Mithril from Kelifu to start work.

Just like that, time quickly arrived at the day Xia Duo and Kelifu had agreed upon.

That morning, Xia Duo delivered the goods in person and, under Kelifu's arrangement, entered a spacious hall that had been prepared in advance inside the Guanghui Zhi Ta.

"Wow!"

Just after entering the hall, Xia Duo was shocked by the scene before his eyes. Standard Mithril Ingots, ten pounds each, were neatly stacked together like a small mountain; the visual impact was so intense.

So much so that Xia Duo was speechless for a moment. Since he had transmigrated, the total amount of Mithril he had handled was about this much, but the Mithril he had handled before didn't require him to pick it up personally, nor was it in the same space-time.

To him, those Mithril were merely a number on an account, and the Mithril stored in real-time in the Tower of Time warehouse had never exceeded five hundred pounds.

Now, seeing this "living" thirty thousand pounds (over ten tons) of Mithril, he truly felt the charm of wealth.

"Lord Kelifu, wasn't it agreed before that payment would be made in installments? Why now—"

"I acquired a bit more on a whim. If Lord Xia Duo minds, then we can still pay in installments according to the previous agreement."

"No, no, no, this is fine too; the money and goods are settled!"

Although in terms of value, paying in installments didn't have much impact on Xia Duo—after all, he got this Mithril to use, not to hoard for price increases—if he was really going to use it, settling early was beneficial to him and could make his plans more flexible.

And for Kelifu, settling early wasn't a bad thing either. In the future, a rise in the price of Mithril was almost an inevitable result; if he acquired enough now, he might even earn back a Mythra in the future!

It was just a pity that Xia Duo didn't have enough capital to play such a futures game. However, regarding Kelifu just saying he acquired a bit more on a whim, exactly how much more he acquired—if he could really earn back a Mythra, then he was truly too good at playing the game!