Chapter 3276: Mutually Beneficial, A Contract Template

Therefore, upon hearing that the goal Xia Duo sought help with was related to the Dream Abyss, Taide made up his mind that he must investigate this matter thoroughly.

Thinking of this, Taide gave his promise to Xia Duo, "If this matter is truly as you say, I will certainly not sit idly by. I will first report to my superior and postpone my original mission for a period of time."

"I thank Divine Envoy Taide for your righteous act, sparing the living beings of my Mortal Plane from the threat of the Abyss."

Xia Duo certainly would not lie in front of a Divine Envoy, and his gratitude was from the heart; not only because it was highly likely that Taide would help find the traces of the Moonshadow Family, but also because through this matter, some Abyssal threats could indeed be eliminated for the Main Plane.

Although he now held a weapon of mass destruction like the War Spell Platform, he dared not say he could withstand an invasion from the Abyss. The most powerful aspect of the Abyss did not lie in those specific and powerful demons, but in the infection of the Abyssal Aura, which could change the essence of a Plane—something for which the Main Plane currently had no effective response.

One could only rely on the power of the gods, especially the Lord of Radiance.

The Boundless Wilderness where the Kingdom of Radiance was currently located was the result of the Lord of Radiance purifying the Abyss, and the Kingdom of Radiance was currently at war with the Eternal Night Abyss; if they were victorious, the Order Domain might perhaps gain significant expansion once again.

At present, the power of the Abyss had already appeared in the Main Plane, and not just in the confirmed Dream Abyss; during the previous Drow War, the Drow summoned so many demons that the subsequent effects had yet to be completely cleared away to this day.

This was simply a huge time bomb that could explode at any unknown moment. If he could obtain the aid of the Kingdom of Radiance, the burden on Xia Duo would undoubtedly be much lighter.

However, the Kingdom of Radiance would not easily interfere in the affairs of the Mortal Plane; even if an Abyssal invasion occurred, as long as they did not receive a request for help, they would not intervene.

Of course, it was quite simple to produce a request for help. Xia Duo's current method of coming directly to the Kingdom of Radiance to recruit people counted as a request for help from the Mortal Plane, and the prayers of believers before dying at the hands of demons also counted.

The former was difficult for ordinary people to achieve, while the latter was much simpler; as long as Netheril was invaded by demons and someone prayed, provided it was confirmed to be an Abyssal invasion, the Kingdom of Radiance would likely take action.

The primary work of Holy Sword Divine Envoys like Taide was usually to combat the Abyss. Perhaps the Kingdom of Radiance did not speak of "performance," but there were inevitably corresponding requirements for a Divine Envoy's promotion.

Between a Divine Envoy who was idle all day and one who actively fulfilled their duties, who was more likely to be promoted?

The result was self-evident.

In fact, when Taide previously gave Xia Duo the Blessing Holy Seal, it was indeed just a casual blessing at first to help Xia Duo avoid infection by the Abyssal Aura, but later, Taide had separated a portion of his own essence to upgrade the temporary blessing into a permanent Holy Seal.

A large part of the reason lay in the fact that Xia Duo had summoned Taide in the Mortal Plane to purify the Shenyuan Zhidi, curbing the growth of Abyssal power, which perfectly aligned with Taide's primary duty of combating the Abyss.

This was also the main reason Xia Duo was confident in asking Taide for help again; it was mutually beneficial. Otherwise, if he were to disturb a Divine Envoy with trivial matters all day long, even if Xia Duo had low emotional intelligence, he would not be able to do such a thing.

……

Next, Taide transformed into light and brought Xia Duo back to the Holy City, finding Divine Envoy Richi, who was still serving in the Holy City. The other party was a Law Book Divine Envoy and also a friend of Taide; naturally, he would prioritize his friend when there was any good opportunity.

"Richi, you shouldn't be unfamiliar with this Mage Xia Duo, right?"

"Of course I'm not unfamiliar. The provider of the new Soul-Binding Spell—how could I, as the handler, not be familiar with him!" Divine Envoy Richi said with a smile, his attitude very friendly.

Recently, he had received quite a few thank-you letters from colleagues on the Eternal Night Battlefield. Although the direct object of their gratitude was not him, he had still basked in quite a bit of the reflected glory.

Once the influence of the new Soul-Binding Spell fermented further, he even felt that he might be promoted to an Arbitrator Divine Envoy because of it.

"Mage Xia Duo, please briefly introduce the contract tracking matter again, so that Divine Envoy Richi can have a rough judgment."

"Mm."

Xia Duo responded, then recounted some basic information about the Moonshadow Family, such as their use of the power of the Dream Abyss to manufacture Inspiration Potion, and most crucially, the Sacred Contract triggered by a Mithril Mine.

After listening to the general situation, Richi pondered for a moment and asked Xia Duo, "Have you brought that Sacred Contract with you? Or, please allow me to perform an investigation on you."

"I have brought the contract. Previously, out of caution, I specifically added clauses allowing for subsequent negotiation and modification of the contract's content. Furthermore, this contract is still within its validity period."

When Xia Duo signed this Sacred Contract with the Moonshadow Family, he had indeed not considered that one day he might use this contract to track them, but coming from a more developed commercial society, he was very sensitive to the various clauses of a contract.

It was impossible for him to bind himself to a contract from which he could not escape, so for any contract, he would clearly define the validity period, whether the clauses could be negotiated and modified, and how to modify them; all content had to be clear and unambiguous.

This also meant that all the contracts he signed—especially Sacred Contracts—were calculated by the volume, whereas Netherese Mages of the same period, no matter how shrewd, would at most add a few exemption clauses.

They were far from being as comprehensive as Xia Duo; this was the true manifestation of a civilization's foundation that far exceeded the era.

The Sacred Contract he signed with the Moonshadow Family was a thick volume, and what was even more extreme was that the requirement to sign a Sacred Contract was not proposed by Xia Duo, but was actively proposed by the Moonshadow Family.

Thinking they could restrain this "Netherese" with a Sacred Contract, in reality, when it came to contracts, this so-called Netherese was far more proficient than those Elves.

Even now, when Xia Duo took out that thick Sacred Contract, Divine Envoy Richi couldn't help but ask, "Just how many contracts did you sign?"

"Not many, just one; it's just written in more detail."

Xia Duo said casually as he handed the contract in his hand to Richi. Richi took the contract with a hint of curiosity in his eyes, and upon opening the first page, he immediately let out a soft exclamation:

"This format? It's too rigorous!"

Seeing Richi's surprised reaction, Xia Duo couldn't help but wonder if this contract of his would be treated by Richi as a template for contracts and promoted throughout the Kingdom of Radiance?

If that were truly the case, it would certainly not be good news for him.

If the Radiant Priests of the Main Plane also grasped the spirit within it and actively promoted it in Netheril, then his advantage in terms of contracts would cease to exist, and from now on, everyone would have to compete fairly.

Of course, if the contract text could be standardized, it would be an unmitigated great thing for the commercial development of all of Netheril and the Main Plane.

By comparison, his own small private interests were not worth mentioning; he still hoped more that the Main Plane could develop.