Chapter 2499: The Soul Has Disappeared

"It cannot be Niya; it must be the Five-Member Committee of the Progress Society!"

Saville seemed to have thought of something and looked toward the crowd surrounding Xia Duo's statue. Indeed, he did not spot any members of the Five-Member Committee, but there were quite a few members of the Progress Society present, and each of their eyes revealed expressions of agreement.

Regardless of whether they had the ability to take revenge, the resentment they felt in their hearts toward Yierlan at this moment was not the least bit diminished.

Since the members of the Progress Society's Five-Member Committee had all undergone the Inheritance Ritual, Saville, as the tutor for these Quasi-High Mages, was quite familiar with Dien, Sami, and the others, and he also knew that they and Xia Duo had known each other since their humble beginnings.

"What is this about the Five-Member Committee?"

Yinaole had not taken it to heart when he just heard Saville mention this term, but now that the Five-Member Committee seemed to have seized control of the Floating City and had even issued a notice of revenge, it was worth his serious attention.

Regarding this question from Yinaole, Saville felt somewhat troubled, not knowing how to explain the concept of the Progress Society, and in the end, he only said vaguely:

"Teacher, you can consider the Progress Society to be Xia Duo's firmest supporters within the Tower of Time, and the Five-Member Committee is the representative of the Progress Society. They do not have full permission levels to control the Floating City, but they can call Niya out, and Niya also trusts them very much."

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The implication was that even if the Five-Member Committee could not control the Floating City to take revenge in three days, they could still call Niya out and persuade her to mobilize the Floating City for revenge.

Hearing this explanation, the wrinkles between Yinaole's brows deepened. Just then, Saville added, "If Niya decides to take revenge in three days, I will also support her."

Although Saville did not have a very deep bond with Niya because he had been exiled to a foreign realm in his early years and only returned in recent years, she was, after all, his blood relative, and he was also very satisfied with Xia Duo, his great-granddaughter's husband.

It was impossible for him to remain indifferent when Xia Duo had been attacked. The reason he could still maintain restraint now was, on one hand, that the unclear situation indeed required restraint, and on the other, he felt that Niya had more decision-making power in this matter.

Saville's statement made Yinaole's expression even gloomier. At this moment, he was no longer so certain about his earlier suspicion that all of this was self-directed by Xia Duo.

Once the suspicion faded, anger struck his heart, which was already as firm as mountain rock, even more fiercely. Although Xia Duo was not a student who had followed him since childhood, the importance he placed on Xia Duo was not a bit less than those he had raised from childhood, and perhaps even more!

No matter who was behind that assassin, daring to use such despicable means to attack his student, at this moment, Yinaole was beyond furious. He took a deep breath and stepped forward to continue examining Xia Duo's statue.

"Teacher, how is Xia Duo's condition?" Saville asked cautiously from the side.

He knew that Niya's state in three days was closely related to Xia Duo's current state. Regardless of how Xia Duo was now, it would not affect his support for Niya's revenge, but if Xia Duo's condition were better, Niya's mood would also be better.

"A very sophisticated spell. Not only is time frozen, but space is also in a state of stasis. However, this state also interferes with external Scrying. I can only determine that Xia Duo's body itself has no obvious trauma, but the soul is gone."

"The soul is gone?"

Saville felt very surprised by this, and then, as if thinking of something, he hurriedly added, "Xia Duo's soul should not have perished. The spirit of the Floating City is connected to the essence of his soul. If Xia Duo's soul had perished, the spirit of the Floating City would also have dissipated."

This was actually the principle of the Mage Tower's inheritance. When the previous Tower Master was alive, they could perform a portion of the Inheritance Ritual, but to truly inherit it, one had to wait for the previous Tower Master to die or perform an isolation at the Plane level.

In other words, Xia Duo's soul was very likely still in the Main Plane; otherwise, the spirit of the Floating City would have dissipated due to losing its support.

However, according to general experience, once a living being's soul leaves the body, it is attracted to the Outer Planes, and even if it maintains a connection with the body, it is difficult for this connection to last long.

Therefore, Saville was more inclined to believe that Xia Duo's soul was still in his body; otherwise, it would be troublesome.

"Teacher, would you like to check again?"

"Hmm."

Yinaole did not refuse, because he also knew the consequences of Xia Duo's soul leaving his body very well. But even after he exhausted his methods, the result remained the same—

This body frozen in time and space did not contain a soul!

"Closely monitor the state of the Floating City's spirit. I am going to find the Seven Towers to demand an explanation."

What Yinaole had just said was to inform the Seven Towers of the situation here and urge them to come up with a solution; now, he was going to directly demand an explanation from the Seven Towers.

After Yinaole left, Saville drove away the members of the Tower of Time gathered at Hengchun Square. Afterward, he personally set up a Protection Jieti before returning to his Laboratory in the Floating City Research Zone.

He wanted to search for Xia Duo's soul in his own way. At present, it was confirmed that the spirit of the Floating City was normal, and the Learning Machine integrated into the Spirit Thought Network was also operating normally. So much favorable information was enough to prove that Xia Duo's soul had not yet encountered the worst-case scenario. As long as it could be found back in time, everything could be salvaged.

In the Northland, this turmoil triggered by Xia Duo's attack spread from the Tower of Time and Seventon to the entire Netheril, and then rapidly expanded to Yierlan and even the entire Northland Alliance.

Most observers were contemplating what impact this incident might have on themselves and the Northland where they were located, while a small portion, especially Yierlan, were more concerned with the incident itself.

At this time, Yierlan had already received news of the assassination attempt on Xia Duo. Whether it was Crown King Helien or the various Elders of the Council, they were all gnashing their teeth and muttering—

Who exactly was it that would rather sacrifice a High Mage just to splash dirty water on Yierlan?

Along with the confusion and anger came more realistic considerations: how to handle the aftermath of this matter. They had already received news that if they could not provide a perfect solution within three days, Xia Duo's followers would likely launch a war of revenge.

Thinking of that Floating City that had caused terrifying damage in Zhamu Dasi in the south, the upper echelons of Yierlan could not help but feel a chill. They were not worried about a war weapon alone, but once there was a sophisticated Spellcaster to operate it, the situation would be completely different.

After the upper echelons of Yierlan discussed it, they all worried in unison that Netheril might take the opportunity to escalate the situation. After all, in this situation, Yierlan was in the wrong, and even if they took it to the Northland Alliance to argue, it would be difficult to gain much agreement.

Not to mention the impact of the Sluwen war not long ago.

Once a war started, Yierlan would likely have no allies to support them. Even if Netheril aroused the vigilance of other countries in the Northland Alliance due to this act of war, the losses for Yierlan would have already been caused by then.

Added to the losses from the previous Sluwen war, having experienced two consecutive wars within a short period, neither Crown King Helien nor the Elders of the Council wanted to imagine such a bleak future.