Chapter 2557: Structures Beneath the Ice, Re-exploring the Avatar

Adjusting the perception level of the Perception Field, Xia Duo continued to explore beneath the ice layer. It was much like exploring through normal soil; for solid matter, even ice, the Perception Field, while still able to penetrate deeper, became increasingly strained.

Until the information transmitted back turned into a void of darkness, Xia Duo knew that it would be difficult to find the Dragon Madness Mythallar Control Center solely through remote Scrying.

The final segment of information perceivable by the Detection Array was still ice; at a depth of nearly ten meters from the surface, it seemed he had still not reached the true ground.

Yet, in the process of penetrating the ice layer, within these mere ten meters, he actually discovered some situations that exceeded his cognition. Previously, he had assumed that the further north one went on the Arctic Bingyuan, the less likely life would appear, but now, he discovered that cracks actually existed beneath the ice layer.

Some of those cracks were only the size of a fist, while others were large enough to accommodate a person passing through. According to normal logic, the Arctic Bingyuan never thaws year-round, and the ice layer should grow and expand bit by bit in a relatively gentle manner.

It is hard to imagine cracks appearing within it; even if they were not caused by some creature, it at least indicated one point: the structure beneath the ice layer was far from being as simple as pure ice.

Perhaps there were even more complex structures, and it was even entirely possible that it was similar to the Underdark, forming multiple large cavities where some cold-resistant creatures lived.

Of course, Xia Duo was more inclined to prioritize the depth of the ice layer; further down would be land. Moreover, judging from the fact that mountain ranges extended into the ice field from the west, it was not necessarily the case that there were no mountain ranges in the central region.

Combining this with the fact that the South Pole and West Pole of the Main Plane were oceans, it was possible that beneath the Arctic was also a frozen ocean. Of course, the coastal areas might be mountains or plains, just covered by the ice layer.

As for the east, although it was a wasteland, in the Red Heart Alliance Projection Plane, Xia Duo inferred from the experience of Saint Nuode that the Eastern World was actually very likely near the Main Plane, or even a part of the Main Plane itself.

Under these circumstances, the area east of the east was very suspicious. Normally, it should be an ocean, but now it was a wasteland. Previously, Xia Duo had not thought about this problem in detail, but now it seemed that the Eastern World might be exactly where it was supposed to be!

As long as it could be confirmed next that the Arctic was indeed a (frozen) ocean, then the Eastern World might truly be further east of the Dongji Wasteland.

However, for the moment, Xia Duo did not intend to explore the Eastern World. If it were an Other Plane, he would likely be very happy to adjust his plan and accelerate the exploration progress, but now that he guessed the Eastern World might be part of the Main Plane, there was no need to be so urgent.

……

"It seems I still have to go there in person!"

Xia Duo could not help but sigh; the limitations of Scrying spells were truly too many. If the target area had magic deployed to avoid or mislead Scrying, one might not get any useful information at all, or even fall into a trap set by others in advance.

Besides this, Scrying spells were also prone to triggering the sensing of similar Scrying spells. In other words, if another Spellcaster was also scrying the same target area during his own scrying process, the two would inevitably collide.

At present, Xia Duo had completed his preliminary exploration, and there was not much useful information, roughly only one point: there were more complex structures beneath the ice layer, but this also matched his speculation about the location of the Dragon Madness Mythallar Control Center.

It was absolutely impossible for it to be located within a mass of pure ice.

Next, Xia Duo created a Saint Form Avatar in this Detection Laboratory. Previously, in order to direct the assassination incident, he had sacrificed a Saint Form Avatar, and incidentally verified a guess—

Even if it was an avatar, as long as it continued to undergo Ascension, the consciousness would eventually be annihilated.

In the previous assassination incident, Xia Duo used a Saint Form Avatar to impersonate an Elf, and in the end, he even pushed Ascension to the limit, merging himself into the Mythallar. But an avatar was, after all, an avatar; as long as he returned to the main body before the consciousness was annihilated, he would not have to truly die.

Or rather, Xia Duo's state at this time was closer to a state where pure consciousness could exist independently; neither the avatar nor the main body was a vital point, which was why such a bug was created.

A normal Elf High Mage's Saint Form would reach a point of no return once Ascension reached a certain level, and they could only watch helplessly as their soul and consciousness were annihilated.

……

After creating the avatar, Xia Duo went to see Niya once more. Besides informing her of this exploration mission, it was also to borrow equipment from Niya—

The Xia Duo's Thought robe that had been materialized from the Red Heart Alliance Projection Plane!

Although this piece of equipment was made by Xia Duo himself and given to Niya, the production process had used the advanced equipment of the Red Heart Alliance. Now that he was back on the Main Plane, there were no conditions to make another one in the short term.

With this robe, it was equivalent to carrying a multi-functional War Spell Platform with him. No matter what situation he encountered, Xia Duo was confident he could retreat unscathed.

It was not that he was reluctant to part with a Saint Form Avatar, but that creating such an avatar was very troublesome. The full name of this spell was 【Xilin's Saint Form Avatar】, and it was not intended for use by Elves or humans.

To create this avatar, one needed to re-substitute the memories of the Treant Xilin. After creating the avatar, one also needed to reorganize the memories. If the number of times was high, it was best to strip away a portion of the Soul Fragments contaminated by Xilin's memories.

Therefore, if possible, Xia Duo always hoped that this avatar could be used forever. Theoretically, this was achievable; Xilin's Saint Form Avatar did not have a duration like the Saint Form of an Elf High Mage. As long as the consumption was not too great, it could exist indefinitely.

Since obtaining this spell, Xia Duo had only used it four times on the Main Plane, and almost every time he used it until it dissipated.

If everything went well this time, he hoped that this avatar could be used until the end of time.

……

The process of borrowing the equipment went very smoothly, though Aipusi was very surprised to see Niya take out such a piece of equipment that looked almost completely transcendent.

But Aipusi had been surprised enough during this period, so one more piece did not matter.

"As a precaution, go to the surface less while I am away."

"Mm." Niya nodded. She was just preparing to take her father to visit the Floating City these few days! There was also the Blue Crystal Plane, which was discovered during Aipusi's Stasis period; there was a new Floating City there with Adamantine as its main body, which could also make her father marvel.

Seeing that Niya already understood the situation, Xia Duo transformed the Thought robe into a starlight-shrouded silk glove and wore it on his left hand, then hugged Niya and left directly.

……

After leaving the Floating City, Xia Duo dived directly into the Shadow Plane. Teleportation was the most convenient for long-distance travel, but the commotion of teleportation was relatively large, so it was better to go through the Shadow Plane.

As for the Ether Plane, it was also possible, but finding one's way in the Ether Plane was a problem. If one moved long distances there, one might not be able to return to the Main Plane smoothly, and might accidentally end up in another Plane.