Chapter 2509: Refusing Treatment

While Saville and Yinaole were talking over there, Xia Duo finally "woke up" amidst Niya's affectionate calls.

Because he was worried that Niya's acting might not be up to par, he had only instructed her to try not to speak; Niya's performance just now was decent enough, but now that he had woken up, there was inevitably a risk of her slipping up.

Thus, as he woke, Xia Duo coughed forcefully, spitting out a mouthful of blood that sprayed into the air; this was something he hadn't discussed with Niya beforehand, and since this body had been sealed in Hengchun Square all this time, Niya truly thought something had happened to him and immediately cried out in alarm, her voice far more emotionally rich than it had been just moments ago:

"Xia Duo, what's wrong? Don't scare me!"

"I, I'm fine, it was just some stagnant blood in my chest; I feel much better after spitting it out. Why are you all here? What about that assassin? Have they been caught?"

In Xia Duo's "victim persona," although the assassin had launched a desperate final strike before the sealing, if someone had acted in time, they still could have intercepted some information.

When Xia Duo asked if the assassin had been caught, he was actually asking if they had obtained any clues or identified the assassin; regarding this question, Niya finally entered the silence of the established procedure.

Just as Saville was about to speak, Yinaole took the initiative to explain, saying that clues about the assassin had already been found and were related to the Demon Descendant, telling Xia Duo not to worry as the Northland Alliance was already aware of the matter and would investigate it to the end.

After hearing this, Xia Shao's expression relaxed, and then he naturally fell unconscious; seeing this, Niya immediately began to sob obediently, and Yinaole stepped forward to examine him before telling Niya, Seventon, and the present Badijiaer and Jilan:

"Xia Shao's soul aura is still very weak; it seems this contingency was not without its price. The Restoration Ritual at Ruier Gao Ta is already prepared; should we have them come over now?"

But on the other hand, Jilan had never thought of becoming the leader of the Seven Towers himself; there were already significant rifts between Ruier Gao Ta and the other four factions of the Seven Towers, with one side specializing in the Bloodline Domain while the other focused on general domains.

For such questions, a single counterexample is enough to prove its fallacy.

As for going to the Temple to recuperate, that was even more impossible.

For a long time, the status of Ruier Gao Ta within the Seven Towers could not be called marginalized, but at the very least it was not mainstream; it only appeared active in the past because it followed the Princess closely, and now is its normal state.

This question actually had a clear answer in Netheril long ago; before the Princess Ascension Ceremony, who knows how many times Holy Power healing was introduced, yet she still succeeded in her Ascension to Godhood.

Seeing Xia Shao wake up, Badijiaer actually no longer wanted to proceed with the Restoration Ritual; the cost of the late-stage preparations is vastly different from that of a completed ritual.

Thus, Badijiaer said with a troubled expression: "Bishop Benniditas and Priest Kate came for Xia Shao's resurrection, and now that he has survived, having them come over might be inappropriate. If it is just for recovery, it would be better to send Xia Shao to Saville's Temple, as the environment there is favorable for soul recovery."

But the only person who truly rejected any Holy Power healing or other such effects was Weide.

The most significant reason is that the Council's power has diffused, and the Seven Towers can no longer achieve extraordinary external advantages through internal consensus; every tower in the Seven Towers needs to win over other Arcanists and even lords as much as possible.

Hearing this, not only did Yinaole and Seventon, who were clearly biased toward Xia Shao, frown, but even Jilan, one of the Seven Towers' own, was somewhat displeased.

Not to mention anything else, that Bishop Benniditas who volunteered to come is nearing the end of his life, and it is only Divine Grace and Holy Power that maintain his current state; once too much Divine Grace and Holy Power are consumed, perhaps the ritual would become the moment of this venerable elder's passing.

The Restoration Ritual was already prepared, and even if it wasn't needed for resurrection, the ritual itself had powerful restorative effects; to suddenly give up when they were at the final step was truly despicable.

Under such circumstances, if he didn't know how to fight for it, then Jilan would be too incompetent as the Controller of Ruier Gao Ta.

However, Xia Duo could also understand Badijiaer's thinking; recently, Xia Shao had been too active in Saville, stealing the limelight from the Seven Towers, and although he was currently suffering, his life was not in immediate danger, so suppression naturally followed.

Besides, there was the Death Priest Kate; as far as he knew, Xia Shao had not purchased a 【Resurrection Covenant】, and under such circumstances, forcing a resurrection or soul recovery would cost far more than normal.

【Xiaoxiang App search "Spring Gift" for new users to get 500 book coins, old users get 200】 But Xia Duo was not without ambition; the Bloodline Sequencing Project was the trump card he used to overtake others and return to the mainstream, and with the era of the New Covenant approaching, the relationship between the Seven Towers could no longer be as harmonious as it was in the past.

But before Xia Duo could finish expressing his opinion, Niya, as Xia Shao's wife, took the initiative to express her refusal, because Niya knew Xia Shao's intentions very well and was unwilling to have too much contact with priests under such circumstances.

If possible, just maintaining him with conventional means would suffice.

Moreover, it wasn't just Xia Shao; there were potential collaborators from the Sweet Water Three Planes and those already in the Main Plane, but among all collaborators, Xia Shao, with his special bloodline, was almost a natural ally of Ruier Gao Ta.

The only people who generally believe that accepting Holy Power healing will cut off their Ascension Path are those who are extremely confident in Magic and extremely arrogant about themselves; they don't actually believe that such behavior will cut off their Ascension Path, but rather they are too extreme and want to compete with the gods at every turn.

Badijiaer, or rather the Seven Towers, although they did not wish for Xia Shao to die, were not so kind-hearted as to hope for Xia Shao to recover perfectly; a crippled Xia Shao might better serve their interests.

Jilan knew that Xia Shao had been walking quite close to Weide recently; if he were influenced by Weide to reject Holy Power, it would be a great pity. Most importantly, Jilan also knew one thing: those who participated in the Princess Ascension Ceremony all perceived the Princess's Holy Power to some extent, yet Xia Shao, a key participant, never did; perhaps the intention to refuse had appeared long ago. Under such circumstances, the competition between the Seven Towers became even more intense; even if one finally obtained the Speaker's seat, it would not be as beneficial as the gains brought by competition.

"Does Lord Xia Shao also believe that accepting Holy Power healing will cut off his Ascension Path?" Jilan asked curiously.

【A novel app that has been running stably for many years, a source-changing app used by old bookworms, comparable to the old version of book-chasing artifacts,】

The most typical example is Weide; one of his most widely circulated quotes in Netheril is "Gods are merely stronger Arcanists," and after Weide said this, many people in Netheril used this sentence to encourage themselves.

The reason Jilan was dissatisfied with Badijiaer's behavior was undoubtedly that he had already regarded Xia Shao as a target for future cooperation; although the closeness of this cooperative relationship might not exceed the past internal relations of the Seven Towers, compared to the relationship between the Seven Towers in the New Covenant era, it might not be inferior by much.