Chapter 2432: Allies

Fortunately, Xia Duo had Niya return to the Nan Jing immediately after Sikumu took power, and she had basically not appeared in Seventon since, using this posture to signal his stance to Sikumu and the Princess's followers.

Especially the latter; after all, both sides still had some friendship, such as Archmage Olong, who had participated in the Orc War in the Savile Territory, and Greta, who had once gifted Xia Duo a legacy of mind spells.

Although Xia Duo was not certain the other party would definitely use Niya, cutting off this possibility could maximize the preservation of the friendship between both sides.

Unless they were enemies, Xia Duo would not easily probe people's hearts.

Just like this time, when he wanted to push the proposal for a ban on intercepting mountain peaks and even sustainable development, he came to ask Yinaole for his opinion first, rather than acting first and reporting later, or using the teacher-student relationship to coerce the other party.

At his stage, everything could be put on the table to be discussed; he said he would go find the Seven Towers, and that was not a pose, but what he truly thought.

It was just that Yinaole's attitude seemed exceptionally firm, and Xia Duo also needed to respect the other party's choice and fulfill the other party's deep, caring heart for his student.

……

Next, Xia Duo argued a few more points, but none of them persuaded Yinaole; in the end, Xia Duo agreed to let Yinaole try to sound out the Seven Towers first, though he made it clear again that the Floating City could be used for the trade.

With enough bargaining chips, plus Yinaole taking action personally, it was unlikely there would be too many surprises in this matter.

Huo Ke rarely let his position decide whether to support or approve, but at this moment, the relationship between Xia Shao and the Elf was still considered decent; even if the two had past grievances, they should be covered up by the harmonious scene.

As for the other few Archmages, Buluode could be considered one of his own; whether he supported it or not largely depended on Keluosi's attitude. Now that Keluosi was already running around for this matter, if Buluode did not support it, wouldn't that be rebellious?

The only surprise Xia Duo could think of was probably Sikumu; that guy was useless at accomplishing things but good at ruining them, but as long as the other three Controllers of the Seven Towers were persuaded, Kelifu alone could not stir up any big waves.

And now, regarding the issue of sustainable development, Xia Shao believed that his few allies should support it; at least their true thoughts should not be too different.

It was just that once it truly reached the meeting stage, this matter would basically have a determined result; otherwise, would they have to go to the meeting to argue?

It was just that for such a major issue, not fully exchanging opinions with all parties before the meeting and going directly to the meeting to speak was somewhat inappropriate; it was very easy to start an argument, leaving several parties unable to step down and needlessly increasing enmity.

Most importantly, the votes Xia Shao had privately secured now largely came from his subjective judgment; even for Yinaole and Magena, who had already clearly supported him, couldn't they be won over by the Seven Towers to cast a dissenting vote?

The rest were mostly Huo Ke and the Arcanist; the former's relationship with the Elf was unclear, and the latter was suspected to be pushed out by the Seven Towers to engage in centralized reform.

Xia Shao contacted the five people one by one, briefly explaining the ins and outs of this matter and its possible far-reaching influence; except for Zhenna, who was somewhat hesitant about the Seven Towers' attitude, the others all clearly expressed their support.

……

Only Weide was an unwavering opponent of the Ascension Order; not only that, he also held a dissenting attitude toward ascension itself. Weide firmly believed that the Arcane was supreme, and gods were nothing more than more powerful Arcanists; he believed that the pure Arcane path could also reach the God Realm.

Braun should be considered a variable; he and Weide did not get along well. Although sustainable development was beneficial in the long run, a person's specific attitude toward a matter would not be changed by the position they were in.

And the Arcanist, located in the south of the Core Area, had also rallied a group of lords from the Verdant Tower Alliance to jointly develop toward the south; even if there were some secret connections with the Seven Towers, sitting in such a position, they should also develop a desire for independence.

As for Zhenna, she was actually an ally of Xia Shao in terms of his choice of the ascension path; although Xia Shao and Yinaole both opposed the Seven Towers' Ascension Order, they still held a somewhat neutral attitude toward ascension itself.

Even Weide, who firmly opposed the Seven Towers' Ascension Order and even ascension itself, might not necessarily choose to oppose it because of the Seven Towers' concessions in other aspects.

Therefore, in terms of ascension, Weide was not Xia Shao's ally.

Let's just assume he is neutral for now.

Since he held a positive attitude, he certainly needed to make some preparations for ascension; even if they weren't used now, preparing in advance was not a troublesome thing, and this required allies.

Even for ordinary people, supporting what was more beneficial for their own descendants was better.

This kind of support was not just verbal encouragement, but rather that as long as Xia Shao convened the Archmage Joint Conference, they would cast a vote in favor.

He prepared to conduct a prophecy here to see what kind of reaction the Seven Towers would have, just as a rehearsal for predicting the movements of the Darkness Society next. After all, in this world, besides an arrogant tyrant, who would truly oppose sustainable development?

……

Furthermore, even if the Arcanist and even Huo Ke, Braun, and Zhenna all opposed it, that would only be four votes; as long as the Seven Towers side did not oppose it entirely, even if the Archmage Joint Conference was convened to vote, Xia Shao was confident he would have the upper hand.

It was just that morality also had to fall into reality; it wasn't that having moral support meant one would definitely win. The actual situation was often the opposite: those who won were the ones who were moral.

Very soon, the two of them acted separately; Keluosi went to the Seven Towers to negotiate, and Xia Shao himself would not be idle. After Keluosi left, he successively contacted his current few allies—

The first three, like Xia Shao, were allies who relatively firmly opposed the Seven Towers' Ascension Order, among whom Weide's attitude was the most neutral, Yinaole's was second, and Magna was somewhat utilitarian; the reason he opposed it was probably more because the leader of the Ascension Order was not him.

Yinaole, Magena, Weide, and Zhenna.

After finishing communication with several allies, Keluosi had not yet returned. Xia Shao was not impatient, but left Keluosi's Study, and then borrowed a high-specification Spell Laboratory at the Arcane Union.

The more stable the Netheril order was, the more opportunities the Arcanist had to be independent; after all, they were nominally in an independent state, and the rest was nothing more than constantly solidifying this point.

In which aspects they could cooperate, they would cooperate in those aspects; other aspects would be temporarily set aside.

In short, before the Seven Towers knew about this matter and fully exchanged opinions, everything was a variable, but from the surface, Xia Shao seemed to have the upper hand.

Furthermore, Huo Ke's relationship with the Seven Towers was not very good, and Xia Shao was still confident that the other party would support his proposal.

The real world was incomparably complex; even allies might have completely different views on the same event, but Xia Shao had always advocated the philosophy of seeking common ground while reserving differences.

After all, sustainable development had moral support.

And Bailun and Kangjienio—the former had long since withdrawn from the public eye, and the latter was also in a state of retirement, but both of them could consider the big picture; as long as it was beneficial to the big picture, it was not difficult to obtain their support.