Chapter 2539: New Trading Methods, Art Festival Invitation

"Lord Xia Duo, I will continue to work on Sikumu, but you should also understand that even setting aside personal relationships, Giles Tower will use their most competitive technology for this trade."

Badijiaer was still trying to persuade Xia Duo, and although Xia Duo felt some dissatisfaction, he was also worried that pushing too hard would lead the Seven Towers to use a secondary product to deceive him.

As long as it was superior to the Plane Exploration Array currently used by the Tower of Time, he would actually find it difficult to distinguish whether it was the latest, and the definition of "latest" was also very vague; what is called latest and what is called strong could be understood differently by both sides.

This made it difficult for contracts to play a role, as only definite things could be bound by contracts. Xia Duo did not care how others did it, but when he signed contracts himself, the content was mostly not about how both parties should act, but various definitions—defining the agreement between the two parties and various specific potential breach scenarios.

The problem now was that Xia Duo had very little understanding of the depth of the Seven Towers' research on Plane Exploration technology, while the Seven Towers did not know much about his Floating City, or more accurately, the Floating City Mythallar.

It was a near double-blind game where both sides wanted to obtain what they wanted as much as possible while paying the least, and in this, it was mainly Xia Duo who first showed sincerity.

Yet his sincerity was actually not much; it was merely clarifying that the Floating City, including the Mythallar, could be traded. That was all, and only this premise made this trade possible.

"Since that is the case, then the Floating City cannot be traded as a whole package. I think it would be better if I provide a portion of the Mythallar details first, and then you provide a portion of the Plane Exploration technology details. After both sides have seen the other's samples, we can decide whether to trade. Lord Badijiaer, what do you think of this proposal?"

Clearly, before the New Covenant was signed and the full Council convened, the basis for mutual trust—where both sides could leverage each other—had vanished. The trade had now become more pure; it was just a trade, so it would proceed according to standard trading procedures.

It must be said that Xia Duo's proposal made Badijiaer very tempted. He looked at Huo En, who was also somewhat tempted, and after the two exchanged glances, they agreed:

Xia Duo certainly did not want to hold some kind of auction; he wanted to make it a true artist's event, featuring local art produced by local artists. Perhaps the creative process drew nourishment from Elven art, but the objects of artistic creation were all local affairs.

Elves would not have the leisure to come over specifically to create something for the Netherese, and even if they did, the protagonists would certainly have nothing to do with Xia Ling.

The Elven Kingdom Grand Bazaar, as its name suggests, is not actually a festival on a specific date, but an activity of artistic exchange, exhibition, and trade spontaneously organized by the Elven Art Festival. The scale can be large or small, and if some famous artists participate, it can even attract a large number of foreign tourists.

"I will promote it within the Gustav High Tower, and if I have time, I would like to go and see it myself." Badijiaer agreed immediately.

Xia Duo had seen many literary works from the honeymoon period between the Netherese and Yierlan; even if the authors were Netherese, the subjects they described were more often the Elven lives they yearned for.

"Just as Lord Xia Duo said, I wonder when we can exchange samples?"

"Then I will have them come to Seventon after the autumn harvest."

"That is not it; it is mainly because the opportunity to work for the Council is rare. I must select one or two from the Territory and send the most capable Elite to Seventon. Additionally, the Territory will be hosting an Art Festival in a while, and I want them to come to Seventon after the festival."

He cast spells back and forth repeatedly, almost filling the Blank Notebook. When he handed the notebook to Badijiaer, Badijiaer's breathing was clearly somewhat rapid.

What Xia Duo wanted was certainly not that kind of art that worships foreign things. From the perspective of outward appearance, the current Netherese still had a lot of room for improvement compared to the Elven Kingdom, but Xia Ling was not without its own progress.

Not to mention Nan Jing, which, under Xia Duo's vigorous development, showed a vitality far exceeding the Inner Land; there were too many things that could be described, praised, and extolled!

"I have many subjects in my Territory who are proficient in law and books. If they could join the Legal Research Association and the Grand Library, that would be for the best." Xia Duo spoke of his plans quite naturally.

"I can hand over a portion of the Mythallar details to you first. You can decide what kind of samples to give me after you have seen them. If the trade is cancelled, then consider this portion a gift from me to you."

"Art Festival?" Badijiaer's thoughts raced, and he felt he could not quite keep up with Xia Duo's train of thought. He asked somewhat uncertainly, "Is it a festival similar to the Elven Kingdom Grand Bazaar?"

"More or less, but the artists are all Netherese."

Xia Duo briefly introduced the Art Festival of Xia Ling to Badijiaer and extended an invitation to the Seven Towers to visit Nan Jing after the Harvest Festival.

Badijiaer paused, but did not refuse. "The establishment of the Grand Library indeed needs the help of Scholars from all over. Scholars from Xia Ling are, of course, welcome."

He wanted to discover art from the people through successive Art Festivals, to unearth the people's art, and in turn, shape a unique humanistic spirit for Xia Ling to counter the invisible erosion of Elven culture in the human spiritual realm.

"Lord Xia Duo is full of sincerity. I will discuss it with Sikumu and the others to send the samples to Nan Jing as soon as possible. I hope that both you and I can get a satisfactory result from this trade. Even if the trade does not go through, we will provide reasonable compensation for this portion of the notes."

"Uh, actually, if Lord Xia Duo is willing, you can have them come now. These two institutions are currently short of manpower! Is there anything they have to be busy with recently?"

The Netherese also had such activities, but they were mostly held for Merchants, intended to sell Elven goods at high prices. The artists themselves did not participate, or the creators of those goods could not be considered artists at all.

As he spoke, Xia Duo used Transcription to imprint a portion of the Mythallar details onto a Blank Notebook in front of Badijiaer and Huo En.

Badijiaer solemnly put away the transcribed notebook. Afterward, the two sides did not talk about the trade, but instead chatted about the newly established subordinate institutions of the Council. Badijiaer asked Xia Duo if he had any suitable candidates.

He was very much looking forward to humanity developing a unique culture rather than being assimilated by Elven culture; this was especially important to him. If the Nan Jing Art Festival went well, he was prepared to promote it in all the territories of the Gustav High Tower camp! It was less of an Art Festival and more of a large-scale auction of art pieces.

"That is a simple matter. The Great Xia Code of Nan Jing is famous throughout the country, and even the kingdoms of the Northland have many legends about it. It is a fortunate thing for the Legal Research Association to have subjects from Xia Ling who are proficient in law join. As for the Grand Library—"

As a human with Elven blood in his body, his perception of Elves was not good, and could even be said to be extremely poor.