Chapter 3446: Mutual Guarding

————It will be later~~

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"And it is not just War Spells; in the large Planes, Elemental Alliances that are almost like civilizations will also rapidly imitate them after seeing other types of Spells.

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

"Another factor is that Wind Elemental Creatures are naturally scattered and love freedom; even if an Elemental Alliance is formed, it is very difficult to overcome their nature.

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

"You can never imagine how wretchedly the early Pioneers fled back to the Main Plane when facing a Wind Elemental civilization that had dual Suppression from bloodlines and Magic."

Speaking of this, a flash of terror crossed 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 journey, 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, to 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 Territory, Calimshan no longer seeks further expansion.

"For the civilization of the Main Plane, simply occupying a piece of ownerless land may not necessarily 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, can give birth to Wind Elemental Creatures with special attributes, or allow existing Wind Elemental Creatures to 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 considered very difficult. Calimshan has accumulated considerable experience in this regard; it is nothing more than the time span being 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 the insufficiency of his family's strength, and there was nothing to deny about that. After all, as long as Xia Duo went to the Wind Elemental Plane and compared them with other families, he would know.

The more fiercely one brags now, the more embarrassing it will be when the bluff is punctured at that time.

If the Mairide Family had sufficient strength, they would not have had to pull Xia Duo in. After all, since Xia Duo is 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 Xia Duo's 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 one is unable to prevent the other party from escaping, then one must notify other families immediately to launch a joint operation to expand the scale of the war and eliminate the informed Elemental Creatures as much as possible.

In this process, compensation that should be paid must be paid, and subsidies that should be given must be given. If the Elemental Creatures still learn War Spells in the end, then the involved family may have to suffer a heavy loss.

Under such circumstances, the means to quickly capture an Element Lord becomes particularly precious. Clearly, in the view 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, it can tear off the disguise and reveal its true face as a War Spell Platform.

As long as one can capture more Element Lords and not make any major blunders, even if a few joint operations are convened occasionally, those gains are enough to compensate the other families.

As long as they can capture enough Element Lords, 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 single family can withstand the long-term consumption of the Wind-Chasing War alone. If there is any carelessness and the war fails, it will inevitably lead to the downfall of the family in the Main Plane.

Only joint operations to share risks are the best choice. Under the condition of 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 to get the benefits but are afraid of bearing the risks. Hesitating, they will naturally be left behind by those families that actively participate in the Wind-Chasing War and have gains.

The only benefit of not participating in the Wind-Chasing War is probably that the family's strength will not fluctuate too much, but when other families' strength leaps rapidly and you are standing still, it is effectively equivalent to falling behind.

For thousands of 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 notch.

And the Main Plane is not a peaceful place without disputes. Once a war occurs—and it is an unrestricted 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 their relative strength within Calimshan weakens and their resources are squeezed out, or they are unable to offset the losses of the Main Plane war and subsequently go bankrupt.

Compared to the wars of the Main Plane, the large and small families of Calimshan 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 no small 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 prepared 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 still maintain restraint 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 can inevitably be encountered during the process of family development.

The family is too much in need of vindicating itself.

The reason for having so many worries is more because Talafu is not the heir to the family and can view many problems from a more detached perspective.

There is also the situation of the family's participation in the Wind-Chasing War over the past year or so; while there have been gains, the losses are also impossible to ignore.