Chapter 3445: Revisiting the Elemental Artifact

————Still rushing~~

————

"And it is not just War Spells; the large-scale Elemental Alliances in the Plane, which are almost civilizations in their own right, will also rapidly imitate them after seeing other types of spells.

"The reason they failed to develop a Magic civilization like ours over the long years of the past is indeed largely due to the monotony of their environment.

"Furthermore, Wind Elemental Creatures are naturally scattered and love freedom; even if they form an Elemental Alliance, it is very difficult to overcome their nature.

"If an external invasion war occurs, Wind Elemental Creatures, as beings with Wisdom, are not incapable of overcoming the weaknesses in their nature and subsequently displaying more attributes of civilized order.

"You can never imagine how miserably the Pioneers of that time fled back to the Main Plane when facing a Wind Elemental civilization that held both bloodline and Magic Suppression."

Speaking of this, a trace of terror flashed in Talafu's eyes; it was precisely because he understood that history that he knew its cruelty. The Wind-Chasing War was by no means a relaxed and pleasant Plane trip, but a true war of races and civilizations.

Seeing that Xia Duo was still thinking, Talafu continued:

"So, in subsequent Wind-Chasing Wars, all Pasha Families reached a consensus without exception: to prohibit the use of War Spells during the Wind-Chasing War, and at the same time, minimize the use of non-Elemental Spells to avoid inspiring the local civilization.

"It is also because of such rules that the Wind-Chasing War has become a long-drawn-out war of attrition. In the end, as long as they can win the recognition of the local civilization and occupy a piece of Territory, Calimshan no longer seeks further expansion.

"For the civilization of the Main Plane, simply occupying a piece of ownerless land might not provoke opposition or even war from most countries.

"But for Elemental Creatures, they actually do not care much about territory, something only land-dwelling creatures care about. The Wind Elementals care more about the large wind eyes in the Plane, because these might take them to other Planes and satisfy their curiosity.

"Or perhaps areas rich in other elements, such as rain or sunlight, where Wind Elemental Creatures with special attributes can be born, or where existing Wind Elemental Creatures can master other attributes.

"These are, of course, also the goals of Calimshan in conducting the Wind-Chasing War, but that is more the result of subsequent long-term management, rather than something obtained directly through war.

"Therefore, occupying a piece of ownerless land in the Wind Elemental Plane is not that difficult. Calimshan has accumulated considerable experience in this regard; it is just that the time span is somewhat long, and many gains cannot be obtained immediately.

"This also makes it so that some weaker families, if they do not grasp the timing to withdraw, may very well go bankrupt before the day of the harvest arrives. The Mairide Family is actually such a family."

Talafu frankly admitted his family's lack of strength; there was nothing to deny about this. After all, once Xia Duo went to the Wind Elemental Plane and compared them with other families, he would know.

The harder one brags now, the more embarrassing it will be when the bluff is called later.

If the Mairide Family had sufficient strength, they would not have had to pull Xia Duo in. After all, with Xia Duo participating, it is not just the immediate harvest that needs to be shared with him, but also a share of the long-term management gains.

The point the Mairide Family values most about Xia Duo is his Floating City. Although the Wind-Chasing War prohibits the use of War Spells, as long as it is not discovered—especially not discovered by the local Wind Elemental Creatures—generally no one will pursue it.

If it is discovered and the opponent cannot be prevented from escaping, then other families must be notified immediately to launch a joint action to expand the scale of the war and eliminate the informed Elemental Creatures as much as possible.

In this process, compensation must be paid where necessary, and subsidies provided where required. If, in the end, the Elemental Creatures still learn War Spells, then the involved family might suffer a massive loss.

Under such circumstances, the means to quickly capture an Element Lord becomes particularly precious. Clearly, in the eyes of the Mairide Family, Xia Duo's Floating City is such an existence.

It can usually be disguised as an ordinary fortress, and when a lone Element Lord is discovered or at other critical moments, the disguise can be torn off to reveal the true face of a War Spell Platform.

As long as more Element Lords can be captured and no major blunders occur, even if a few joint actions are convened occasionally, the gains will be enough to compensate the other families.

As long as enough Element Lords can be captured, the Mairide Family can leap to become a top-tier family in Calimshan; this is the charm of the Wind-Chasing War.

Small families or families in decline want to defy the heavens and change their fate, while large families want to maintain their advantages; all must join in. As for a few families developing it privately, that is basically impossible.

No family can withstand the long-drawn-out consumption of the Wind-Chasing War alone. If there is any carelessness and the war fails, it will inevitably lead to the decline of the family in the Main Plane.

Only joint action to share the risk is the best choice. Under fair competition, what reason do large families have not to be confident?

Only those families that are neither here nor there will struggle with whether or not to participate in the Wind-Chasing War. They want the benefits but fear the risks. Hesitating, they will naturally be left behind by those families that actively participate in the Wind-Chasing War and reap rewards.

The only benefit of not participating in the Wind-Chasing War is probably that the family's strength will not fluctuate significantly. But when other families' strength rises rapidly while you stand still, it is effectively falling behind.

Over the past few thousand years, Calimshan has conducted several Wind-Chasing Wars. It can be said that every Wind-Chasing War raises the standard for small families by another level.

And the Main Plane is not a peaceful place without disputes. Once a war occurs—and it is a total war far more cruel than the Wind-Chasing War—there is no doubt that small families have lower risk-resistance capabilities.

In other words, not participating in the Wind-Chasing War almost inevitably leads to decline, either because one's relative strength within Calimshan weakens and resources are squeezed out, or because one cannot offset the losses of the Main Plane war and subsequently goes bankrupt.

Compared to the wars of the Main Plane, the families of Calimshan, large and small, still prefer the Wind-Chasing War. Except for the first Wind-Chasing War, in the subsequent ones, as long as they can restrain their greed, any participating family can obtain significant improvement.

The Mairide Family made such a mistake in the past; greed caused them to suffer heavy losses in the Wind-Chasing War, which is also the main reason why the outside world believes the Mairide Family has declined.

And for this Wind-Chasing War, they have found a powerful ally and are preparing to go all out, but it is unknown whether they will make the same mistake as last time.

Talafu is actually not very sure whether his family can remain restrained in the face of huge interests, after all, the family has been looking forward to this Wind-Chasing War for too long.

So long that many family members have even regarded this war itself as the ultimate goal of their efforts, rather than a routine opportunity that would inevitably be encountered during the family's development process.

The family needs to vindicate itself too much.

"I only hope Xia Duo is calm enough and can obtain enough say in the joint actions!"

The reason for so much worry is largely because Talafu is not the heir to the family and can view many problems from a more peripheral perspective.