Chapter 2447: The Potential Great Arcanist

Thinking this way, Xia Duo thought of another possibility!

Besides the Restoration Baptism of the Priest of the Lord of Radiance, the priests of the Lady of Mystery also have a similar baptism ritual for restoring youth—the Secret Flame Baptism; Aiboke had received one before, and not long ago, Depake also received one.

The only difference was that Aibike's time was paid for by the Arcane Priest using Divine Grace, while Depake was lucky enough to receive it directly during the Star-Leaping Ritual, with no one paying Divine Grace for it; it was all on the generous Lady of Mystery's tab.

In the history of Netheril, there have been no small number of Arcanists who have received the Secret Flame Baptism; could all those people be considered potential candidates for Great Arcanist?

After all, in the current environment, the difference between a Great Arcanist and a non-Great Arcanist is merely in top-tier combat power; if top-tier combat power is not involved, there is absolutely no need to reveal it.

And most crucially, as long as the person themselves does not say it, it is very difficult for outsiders to tell.

Just like Xia Duo himself back then; after becoming a Great Arcanist, he visited Seventon several times and even cast spells within the city, yet no one discovered it. If he hadn't taken the initiative to make it public, perhaps he could have kept it hidden until now!

A similar case is Zhenna; back then, he guessed that the other party might be a Great Arcanist, but that was only inferred from the fact that Saide, a Senior Arcanist, was a subordinate, and there was no conclusive evidence.

In the end, it was Zhenna herself who exposed it because she was considering an alliance with him for the sake of Ascension to Godhood, and later, at his suggestion, she took the initiative to make it public.

It can be said that almost every public Great Arcanist made it public themselves, rather than being discovered by others; whether to make it public or not actually makes no essential difference in terms of benefits.

Taking Xia Duo himself as an example again, after he went public, it was nothing more than gaining the power to convene the Council of Great Arcanists and having others respect him (and his opinions) more; if he wants Mithril, he still needs to pay to purchase it.

If he wants the Plane Exploration technology of Giles Tower, he still cannot get it.

It is more of an improvement in political status; as for actual benefits, they do not exceed those of a Senior Arcanist by much. If someone has no intention of getting involved in power struggles and only wants to focus on making money or doing research, then choosing to hide oneself may not be a bad thing.

Just like Zhenna before; from this perspective, his previous judgment might have been flawed.

But regardless, Xia Duo still believes that going public is more beneficial, not just for him, but for others as well; power and politics are not things you can completely escape just because you don't want to participate, or rather, life itself is a part of politics.

Giving up the right to participate is, in reality, handing over decision-making power to others; to put it more severely, it is handing over the power to control one's destiny to others, and from then on, one can only drift with the tide.

This is something Xia Duo strongly disagrees with.

He is more inclined toward everyone actively participating in political life, speaking for themselves, and making their own decisions; it is just a pity that in the current era, the only ones who can possibly do this are Arcanists!

Unlike in the Red Heart Alliance, where even an ordinary person can participate in the decision-making of national affairs; of course, the ordinary people of the Red Heart Alliance are actually Spellcasters, just that they may not be engaged in research work.

And the experience of the Red Heart Alliance cannot actually be fully copied to Netheril; even if both are magical worlds, the Red Heart Alliance is very special.

First, they were nearly a group of refugees, and at the same time, they were excluded and even hated by mainstream society; later, after developing slightly, they had to face powerful external pressure.

Only in this way was the unity of the Red Heart Alliance forged.

Applied to Netheril, Xia Duo estimates that even if the world were to end tomorrow, there would likely still be a large number of Mages who would only consider their own special status and special abilities, and would insist on maintaining the concepts of the old era at the very moment the apocalypse arrived.

It would be fine if they were considering an even older era, but they are unwilling to completely restore the past; in the end, it is because their selfishness is too heavy, to the point that it outweighs the public interest.

Or rather, in the eyes of those Mages, only they themselves are the big picture; there is no major problem with thinking this way, but they fail to reach the level of "great selfishness is great selflessness," and such low-level selfish desires are almost of no benefit.

……

Xia Duo pondered, not pointing out the fact that Saide had already become a Great Arcanist, but from this, he thought of a breakthrough strategy for the matter of the people of the Sweet Water Plane returning to the Main Plane.

As long as a few more Great Arcanists appear in the Main Plane, causing a de facto dilution of the authority of the Seven Towers, then in order to maintain their authority, the Seven Towers will inevitably try to win over the Netherese from the Other Plane, and compromise will not be a problem.

Next, regardless of whether the Seven Towers are willing to accept it, the power of that small group of people at the top will be diluted; taking this opportunity, perhaps the Seville Covenant can be revised.

Change the fixed seats of the Seven Towers in the Seven Cities Council.

The Seven Cities Council is said to be the highest power institution in Netheril, but in reality, the status of Great Arcanist as the actual ruler of Netheril cannot be manifested there at all.

If one is not a Lord, one does not even have the power to attend the meeting.

But it won't do to completely ignore the Great Arcanists either, so there is the Council of Great Arcanists of the Arcane Union, which makes the powers and responsibilities of the Arcane Union and the Seven Cities Council unclear.

One side has the legitimacy, the other side has the actual power; they are entangled with each other, which is of no benefit to anyone.

Xia Duo once thought about making the Arcane Union the orthodoxy, but the existence of Netheril itself cannot be separated from the Seville Covenant; in other words, it is fundamentally impossible to abandon the Lord Council established based on the Seville Covenant and go it alone.

If one could take this opportunity to merge the two, using the status of Great Arcanist as the condition for obtaining a seat in the upper-level decision-making body of the Seven Cities Council, while the Lords serve as the supporters who maintain the Seville Covenant system and as lower-level participants in the Council.

It seems to be more reasonable; of course, it also changes the ruling status of the Seven Towers from a legal perspective.

If it can be done, then from now on, the Seven Towers would just be a relatively large alliance of Mage Tower organizations in Netheril, similar to the Verdant Tower Alliance in the south of the Core Area.

And because the number of Great Arcanist seats actually relates to how much power a Mage Tower organization has within the overall framework of Netheril.

Although for a time, the Seven Towers might still occupy the upper hand, as long as the system is set, their power will only be increasingly diluted, especially since Xia Duo has already begun to popularize education in Nan Jing.

Of course, these are all ideal situations; the Seven Towers can also popularize education and even form cliques, but for Xia Duo, this is not a bad thing in itself.

He only treats Nan Jing as his basic territory under direct control; as for the rest, it is enough to be able to influence them. Afterward, whether it is the development of Daxia Territory or the development of other parts of Netheril, they are actually mutually promoting.

As long as the Seven Towers are pulled down from the "altar," everyone can receive preliminary and sufficient development.

In this situation, as long as this matter can be accomplished, even if one takes the initiative to bring in Yierlan, or even pays a certain price for it, the actual result is very likely to have more advantages than disadvantages.

Otherwise, whether it is the upcoming return from the Other Plane, the future development and growth of Nan Jing, or the growth of other territories or Mage Tower organizations, all will cause an impact on the existing Seville Covenant system.

Once or twice, it might be able to hold on, but if it happens too many times, disintegration will be inevitable; thus, revising the covenant might be the only choice. Considering it in advance and doing it in advance can minimize the evil consequences of the collapse of order.

Such opportunities are rare, and Xia Duo feels it is necessary to seize this current opportunity.