Chapter 3131: Iolum's Secret

"Teacher!"

Xia Duo hesitated for a moment, but ultimately chose to trust Iolum. He followed the other's footsteps into this Portal with scattered Magic Aura, his stomach full of doubts.

Behind the Portal was a short passage. Upon turning a corner, he saw a sealed gateway shrouded in intense Magic Aura not far ahead at the end of the passage.

Arriving before the door, Iolum explained to Xia Duo while casting spells to verify Permission Level, "Netheril Magic has been trapped at the limit of the Great Arcanist for a very long time. Although this limit is still rising, quantitative changes have always been difficult to trigger qualitative changes."

"Therefore, some Great Arcanists who have lived long enough will try to find ways to interpret Magic from other perspectives. At that time, I chose Psionic, but it is a pity that there has been no progress all these years."

"Teacher has also studied Psionic?"

Xia Duo was somewhat surprised. After all, Iolum had never mentioned these circumstances before. Furthermore, neither Buluode nor Saville had ever heard that Iolum was researching Psionic.

If it could be said that Buluode was not close enough to him, then as for Saville, Xia Duo—being the husband of his great-granddaughter—had never been told by him about topics related to Iolum and Psionic research.

Researching Psionic was not something that angered both gods and men in Netheril; at most, one would be considered non-mainstream, which was on a completely different level from a Necromancer.

If Saville knew, since he took over the Tower of Time Plane Exploration Center, Xia Duo's communication with him was perhaps no less than with Niya. The two would occasionally chat about Psionic topics, yet he had never heard the other mention that Iolum studied Psionic.

"Teacher, is—is that a real Focusing Artifact?"

Then, he took that Focusing Blade from the sealed warehouse and handed it to Xia Duo, "Take a look, see if it is any different from an ordinary Psionic Artifact?"

As he spoke, Iolum was still skillfully checking the various equipment in the Laboratory, as well as the most strictly preserved research object—

Although a Focusing Artifact is relatively rare, if one were to categorize it, it must of course belong to the broad category of Psionic Artifacts. This also meant that behind this Focusing Artifact, there must exist a Lingneng Dashi who was the first to perceive this sword!

At most, it weighed no more than 1 pound!

While Xia Duo was shocked, Iolum had already opened the Magic door that required multiple layers of verification. He turned around and called out to Xia Duo:

This weight could be compared to a mobile phone on Earth; at that order of magnitude, it was simply inconceivable!

Although he had come into contact with Focusing Artifacts more than once in the memories of Mohawi and Aokesi, in reality, this was the first time Xia Duo had touched such a thing. Before this, he hadn't even touched the fake goods from Kalishi's side.

He noticed that the posture in which Iolum handed it over was very strange; he was actually holding it by the very end of the hilt. From this, he could judge—the weight of this sword must be light, and Iolum wanted him to take the hilt directly.

These artifacts were very different from the swords and blades common in the Northland; they were not crafted from metal, but shaped by Spirit Quality and Psionic together. The blade was transparent or semi-transparent as a whole, and only the non-core hilt might be crafted from other materials.

Saying with his mouth that Psionic was the fantasy of a delusional person, while actually having connections with the Psionic Mages of Evereska underground. It was unknown if it was Kalishi, but it could certainly have an intersection with Kalishi.

Judging from the experience Xia Duo had gained by "devouring" the memories of two Lingneng Dashi, this sword was not the fake goods displayed in Kalishi's Lingneng Shangdian, but a genuine Focusing Artifact!

Therefore, Xia Duo had never suspected in the past that Iolum was actually a veteran Psionic researcher.

After all, the Mental Image World attack of a Lingneng Dashi was very troublesome for an Arcane Mage. If one was not prepared in advance, it could be said to be almost a guaranteed kill.

……

Zhamu Dasi had an obsession with blades. Their ruling class was divided into two categories: Scholars and warriors. The former focused on research, the latter on combat, but both could reach the realm of a Lingneng Dashi.

Xia Duo grasped the hilt handed over by Iolum in one go. Sure enough, as he had judged, this sword was very light. Let alone himself, who had undergone multiple Bloodline Awakening and whose strength was already extraordinary, even an ordinary person could easily pick it up.

Was this something a Great Arcanist who had no deep understanding of Psionic and had nothing to do with Psionic Mages could do?

Besides, Xia Duo had previously asked Iolum for help in order to split Spirit Quality to improve the utilization rate of materials. As a result, after a period of time, Iolum gave him a small blade, the 【Spirit-Closing Blade】, capable of splitting Spirit Quality.

"Come, follow!"

Xia Duo hurriedly followed. Don't look at the heavy restrictions at the entrance; inside, it was no different from an ordinary Laboratory. At most, the specifications were higher, and there were no Psionic anomalies as imagined.

Because it often existed in the shape of a sword, it was also called a 【Focusing Blade】.

A batch of Psionic Artifacts with various shapes, among which what attracted Xia Duo's gaze the most was a Focusing Artifact usually used only by a Lingneng Dashi.

"You're not bad yourself! Counting this time, your hands have already been stained with the blood of two Lingneng Dashi," Iolum said with a smile.

It was just that in the past, Xia Duo himself had no interest in Psionic, and Psionic was far away from him. Plus, Iolum himself constantly reminded him of the drawbacks and dangers of Psionic.

But ordinary means could not split Spirit Quality; once broken, it would immediately undergo Ascension, which was equivalent to disappearing directly. However, the Spirit-Closing Blade could perfectly cut Spirit Quality.

For example, although Iolum reminded him many times not to be obsessed with Psionic, he was still willing to send his student Luowei, who had accidentally lost the ability to perform Spellcasting, to the south to study Psionic Magic.

To this day, that small blade was still kept inside the Tower of Time!

"Of course, I went to great lengths for this sword. I know what you want to say; don't worry, the Lingneng Dashi who created it is already dead."

As for the Lingneng Dashi achieved by Scholars, their choices for the shape of Focusing Artifacts were very diverse, but many also chose sword-shaped Focusing Artifacts.

"I haven't come here much in the last ten years or so. I remember the last time was to help you verify that 【Spirit-Closing Blade】. Fortunately, there is Magic maintenance, otherwise, this place would have been covered in a thick layer of dust long ago."

But thinking carefully, Xia Duo discovered that Iolum's various performances in the past had actually long exposed that his relationship with Psionic and Psionic Mages was extraordinary.

And now, among the collection Iolum displayed, there was such a Focusing Blade with a blade part that was almost completely transparent!

"Teacher has actually killed a Lingneng Dashi?" Xia Duo was very surprised by this.

"Oh!"

Clearly, Iolum had kept it from everyone; it was likely that only certain Great Arcanists who had lived long enough, as he hinted in his words just now, knew about this matter.

Among them, the Lingneng Dashi achieved by Psionic Warriors were usually also called 【Blade Lord】, with wearing a 【Focusing Blade】 at the waist as a sign.