Chapter 3170: The Struggle for the Artifact

————It will be later~~

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The School held more weight in Luodasi's heart than his own descendants, because descendants might join other schools due to differing philosophies.

But everyone in his own school was a fellow traveler with consistent philosophies; cases like Kalishi's, where one joins first and then breaks away, were actually extremely rare.

This also filled Luodasi with resentment toward Kalishi; otherwise, he would not have actively chosen to participate in this Northland investigation operation.

Hesitating for a moment, Luodasi took the initiative to speak again:

"I can tell you some intelligence about Kalishi, but what can you give me? As you said, I am merely a Consciousness Copy created by you at will. What meaning does your current promise have for me?"

"Luodasi, you don't need to test me. What I promise is something you cannot imagine—it is Reality, a possibility for you, this virtual Consciousness Copy, to return to reality!"

"Return to the real world?"

Although Luodasi could not distinguish the truth or falsity of his current environment, Xia Duo's repeated mentions of a Consciousness Copy still made him yearn for that so-called reality.

"Up until seventy years ago, Kalishi had not shown anything unusual. Just like other outsiders, after learning Psionic Magic, he returned to his hometown very quickly, leaving only a Psionic Avatar in Zhamu Dasi."

"Originally, I always thought Kalishi was a respectable elder, and I never even doubted his identity, until he suddenly had a dispute with the school some years ago, and I realized he was actually an Elf!"

"What Kalishi stole was the Primary Mentor's Glabella Bone kept in the school's Meditation Room. The school was so good to him that even after the conflict arose, they did not strip him of his right to enter the Meditation Room. I didn't expect him to have harbored evil intentions long ago and stolen the Remains of the First Mentor."

There are so many Projection Planes, and the intelligent beings within them are countless; if one were to only bring back Knowledge from them, it would be too wasteful.

So many beings with real Wisdom—if they cannot transcend the virtual and enter reality, it would be too much of a pity!

"Let's start by briefly talking about his experience learning Psionic Magic in Zhamu Dasi!"

Luodasi ultimately chose to take a gamble because he had no other choice. He dared not gamble on whether other copies would gamble; in fact, from the moment he had that thought, he had already compromised with Xia Duo.

Moreover, involving the First Generation Psionic Mentor, that so-called remains had an even more extraordinary symbolic significance. If this matter were true, the pressure facing the Anti School would likely be immense.

In the Consciousness Cage.

Thinking for a moment, Xia Duo continued to ask: "Why exactly did Kalishi have a conflict with the Anti School and eventually break away? As a Lingneng Dashi in the school, you shouldn't be unaware, right?"

If virtual characters from the Projection Plane could be transformed into the Main Plane, it would be a very, very large gain for Xia Duo's future plans.

"What aspect of intelligence about Kalishi do you want to know?"

"Is it enough to just tell you intelligence regarding Kalishi?"

This time, Luodasi's expression appeared even more ferocious. Clearly, that so-called "Primary Mentor's Glabella Bone" must be an indispensable treasure for a Psionic Mage.

Of course, these were all excuses he used to convince himself. In reality, Xia Duo had not heard of any treasure from the Northland Alliance, and he wasn't even sure if Kalishi's theft was true; otherwise, he wouldn't have kept asking.

Therefore, starting from enemies might be a decent choice.

Xia Duo had always wanted to conduct experiments in this area, but because the characters in the Projection Plane possessed real Wisdom and a real self, it was impossible for Xia Duo to truly treat them like objects.

Once he decided to speak, Luodasi had no psychological burden. Anyway, he was talking about the intelligence of that traitor Kalishi; he simply didn't care what consequences that would bring.

Such a promise was not insignificant, especially for the virtual Luodasi, but Xia Duo was not overflowing with love, treating a prisoner with such favor; rather, he was acting on the principle of utilizing waste, starting a new project of Turning False into Real.

Luodasi gritted his teeth when mentioning Kalishi's theft; it seemed he truly hated the other party very much. Xia Duo nodded to show he understood and asked again for details about the treasure.

Although Xia Duo was not sure if this was a play directed by Zhamu Dasi, he figured they wouldn't use a fake treasure as a prop.

This question was critical; Xia Duo wanted to hear Luodasi's explanation.

An experiment cannot be equated with a reward, nor can it be equated with punishment. An experiment is an experiment; it is unrelated to good or evil, and carries no bias.

"Kalishi came to Zhamu Dasi about two hundred years ago. I wasn't born then, so I have limited understanding of what happened at that time. I heard more from others, so I cannot be sure if it is true or false."

"I am also unclear about what happened seventy years ago, but it was from that time that Kalishi's main body began to appear frequently in the school. It was also then that I had contact with him."

"If he said he could, that could only be a lie to you, so my answer is: as long as the information you provide satisfies me, I will find a way to let you enter reality from the virtual."

"So what exactly happened seventy years ago? And what treasure did he steal now?"

It is not just Luodasi; in the future, if other enemies are captured by him, they can be handled according to this precedent. Of course, this is only aimed at enemies, because enemies are a matter of stance, unrelated to good or evil, so handling them this way is also unrelated to good or evil.

"As far as I know, Kalishi experienced two Artifact Baptisms before successfully Awakening Psionics. His talent could not be considered good, nor could it be considered bad; in Zhamu Dasi, it could only be considered average."

"Later, he completely broke away from the school. We originally thought Kalishi might join the Zeqi School afterward, because in recent years our school and the Zeqi School have had a somewhat deteriorating relationship. After Kalishi broke away from us, his best choice would have been to join the Zeqi School, but no one expected that Kalishi would actually steal a School Treasure and then flee back to the Northland!"

If it were criminals within the Territory, in some people's eyes, those might be better experimental materials, but in Xia Duo's view, what criminals need most is to accept punishment and undergo reform, not to participate in experiments.

Because the virtual consciousnesses he knew were not just Luodasi alone; so many seemingly real characters in the Projection Plane were actually virtual, at least relative to the Material Plane.

Seeing that he couldn't fool his way through, Luodasi could only reveal the matter. That he was currently unable to control his own fate was one aspect, but more importantly, Kalishi had fled back to the Northland, and the situation of that treasure had likely already been known by the Northland Alliance, so him speaking now did not count as leaking secrets.

"Because Kalishi was an Elf, he was not well-received in Zhamu Dasi at first, until he transformed himself into a human and changed his name to Airi, only then did he gain the school's recognition and was granted an Artifact Baptism."