Chapter 3081: Planning an Artifact

After confirming the focus of the Tower of Time's Plane Exploration Center with Saville, Xia Duo hurriedly returned his consciousness to his avatar; the time was nearly up, and he had to head to Elder Laruian's Golden Maple Manor for his appointment.

……

Golden Maple Manor was very close to Yunfeng Manor, one on the mountainside and the other at the foot of the mountain. Since acquiring Yunfeng Manor, Xia Duo had visited Laruian's place a few times, and comparing the two, he still preferred Yunfeng Manor at the foot of the mountain.

The feeling on the mountain was too distant from the secular world; if it could be said that Elves still frequently passed by the entrance of Xia Duo's Yunfeng Manor, then the Golden Maple Manor on the mountainside could be described as rarely visited.

Walking along the way, one did not see any guards patrolling, as more was left to Magic to manage. It was not until reaching the entrance of Golden Maple Manor that one saw more guards standing duty, serving primarily a decorative function.

Xia Duo had been to Laruian's home before; he did not even need to state his identity to arrive here now, as he was welcomed in by the butler who had received the news and hurried to the entrance.

Although it was not said there would be a banquet, evening invitations from Elves were generally related to banquets, and Xia Duo had long since become accustomed to this. He had even wondered if Kalishi had moved the banquet celebrating the establishment of the Psionic Magic Society to Laruian's home.

However, thinking about it carefully, he felt such a guess could never come true. Psionic Magic was not well-received in the Northland, and even if Evereska had temporarily relaxed controls, it would not be to the extent of grandly celebrating in the home of an Elder responsible for the city's security.

As it turned out, upon entering the manor, Xia Duo was indeed told that tonight was just a small, private banquet, with only Elder Laruian and himself, likely to facilitate their discussion.

……

Perhaps because preparations had been made in advance, Xia Duo did not wait long after arriving, and soon met Laruian, who had invited him, in a private family dining room.

Since his current Saint Form avatar could not eat or drink normally, he simply "tasted" a glass of Cold Flame Wine, and then went straight to the point:

"Elder Laruian, I am curious; hasn't Evereska always been very vigilant about the spread of Psionic Magic? Why was Kalishi suddenly allowed to establish a Psionic Magic Society?"

"And if I remember correctly, your granddaughter Lunaxisi once hinted to me that Kalishi might be taking orders from Zhamu Dasi in the south. Why now—"

Xia Duo did not continue with the rest of his words, but both sides knew this was an interrogation, questioning Laruian whether Evereska had reached some agreement with Zhamu Dasi in private.

Regarding this, Laruian stated with a serious expression, "Evereska has never reached any agreement with Zhamu Dasi, nor have we even had private contact! As for Kalishi establishing the Psionic Magic Society—"

Speaking of this, Laruian's expression became even more solemn, "This issue is relatively sensitive and not convenient to explain here. If Consultant Xia Duo does not mind, I will explain in detail after we change locations. In fact, this is the real reason I invited you over."

Since Laruian had said as much, Xia Duo had no reason to disagree. Afterward, the two went together to the manor's basement, which was actually a Secret Ritual Chamber deep within the mountain.

After Laruian set up Magic Protection for Avoidance of Detection and Scrying, he asked Xia Duo to re-examine and set up an additional layer, then revealed the full story:

"We were not wrong before; Kalishi is indeed a pawn planted by Zhamu Dasi deep in the Northland, but this fact was only confirmed recently!"

"Consultant Xia Duo might have questions at this time: why, despite confirming the other party's identity, did we still allow them to establish the Psionic Magic Society? There is a reason for this."

"Although Kalishi used to take orders from Zhamu Dasi, he no longer wants to continue being a puppet of the south, so he took the initiative to find the Evereska Council of Elders to surrender, and he brought a very shocking piece of news!"

"It is because of this news that we were prompted to agree to the other party establishing the Psionic Magic Society, and even to go further."

This—

Before coming, Xia Duo had considered many possibilities, but he had never thought that Kalishi would first take orders from Zhamu Dasi and then want to surrender to the Northland. Such a major turn of events must be related to the shocking news Laruian mentioned.

Linking this to Laruian mentioning that he had intended to invite him over for a talk, Xia Duo could not help but connect it to the recent abnormal consumption of the Computing Pool Gateway Magic Tool, so he hurriedly asked:

"What news did Kalishi bring? Is it related to the Alliance Public Computing Pool?"

"Consultant Xia Duo truly has keen intuition. The news Kalishi brought is indeed related to the Computing Pool. More accurately—Zhamu Dasi is preparing to use our Northland Alliance's Public Computing Pool to forge a Psionic Magic Artifact."

Speaking of this, Laruian looked at him with a strange expression, "Actually, the source of this matter cannot be separated from you, Consultant Xia Duo."

"Is it because I destroyed an Artifact of Zhamu Dasi in the south before? So they want to make up for it with me now?"

Xia Duo quickly reacted. During his visit to Calimshan, he was attacked by a Psionic Master, and that time could be said to be the closest he had ever come to death.

So, after dealing with that Psionic Master, he chose to destroy a main city of Zhamu Dasi to show deterrence; of course, there was also the factor of his curiosity at the time about the power of the War Spell 【Annihilation Light】.

In any case, with various factors superimposed, he made that decision.

Every main city of Zhamu Dasi enshrined an Artifact, which was the source of their Psionic Magic. Destroying the main city naturally and inevitably led to the destruction of the Artifact within it as well.

Calling it an Artifact does not mean it is an object of a god; it is just a special Magic Item manufactured by humans. For example, the Nether Scrolls also record the manufacturing methods of many Artifacts.

It is just that the methods in ancient times were generally indiscriminate as long as they were useful. Those so-called manufacturing methods for Artifacts basically could not be separated from Blood Sacrifice and slaughter, which seemed somewhat too evil by today's standards.

Zhamu Dasi's Artifacts were similar. Xia Duo had been attacked by a Psionic Master in Calimshan, and the opponent trapped him with a Mental Image World, but ended up being killed by him, and he even seized all of the opponent's memories.

Among them were those related to the manufacture of Zhamu Dasi's Psionic Magic Artifacts.

To manufacture an Artifact, one must sacrifice a Psionic Master who has mastered a Mental Image World. In Xia Duo's view, the so-called Artifact is essentially closer to an immortal Psionic Master without thoughts.

Such an existence does not need to worry about the risk of being entangled and sinking at the mental level with others, and can continuously perform Baptism rituals for others, which is also known as the "Mind Energy Sharing Ritual" among Psionic Scholars.

People who awaken Psionic talent through Artifact Baptism can never escape the influence or even control of the Artifact until they become Psionic Masters and possess their own Mental Image World.

In addition, Psionic Masters can also choose not to be independent and continue to share Psionic Energy with the Artifact. In this case, the Artifact cannot control the Psionic Master, and the Psionic Master has another benefit: they can integrate their Mental Image and thoughts into the Artifact upon death.

Afterward, whenever a New Artifact is born, with the surge of Psionic Energy at the time of its birth, those Echoes of the thoughts of deceased Psionic Masters preserved in the old Artifacts have a chance to return to reality with their Mental Image Worlds and be completely resurrected.

This is also the main reason why the Mental Image World, or those twelve Artifacts, are considered the root of Zhamu Dasi's Psionic Magic System.

Of course, there are only eleven Artifacts now.