Chapter 398: New Projection, Yinguang City

This news caused Xia Duo to lose focus for a moment, his spell instantly spiraling out of control, but the next moment the suppression effect of the Spell Laboratory appeared, dissipating the impending chaotic magic into nothingness.

"Niya is back?"

While pondering why Niya hadn't replied before and why she had suddenly returned now, Xia Duo put away his Spellbook, preparing to go meet her, but just then, the Tower Spirit sent another message:

"Agent Xia Duo, Yuanhao Shijian has appeared. Will you teleport?"

The so-called "Yuanhao Shijian" refers to the discovery of a Projection Plane. It had been about a month since the last time a Projection Plane was discovered, and since the existence of a Projection Plane is extremely brief, Xia Duo didn't hesitate at all and immediately ordered the Tower Spirit to teleport.

As for the meeting with Niya, it wouldn't be too late to wait until he returned from the Projection Plane; after all, no matter how much time passed in the Projection Plane, the time elapsed in the Main Plane would still be very short.

The next moment, Xia Duo appeared in the Projection Hall of the Plane Exploration Layer of the Tower of Time. He was no longer unfamiliar with the relevant procedures, and the moment the scene shifted, he entered a state of Spellcasting Focus.

Immediately following was the transition of consciousness, and when he "saw" the silver void, he knew he had made it in time again, not missing this extremely rare opportunity.

He just didn't know what kind of creature he would be projected as this time?

While he was busy imagining the upcoming scene, Xia Duo suddenly felt a sharp pain in his arm, and then he heard someone scolding, "Ruien, focus your attention! This is already your third mistake today. If there is a next time, I will suggest that Lord Tailun kick you out of the training camp!"

The words "Ruien" and "Tailun" were like lighthouses in the dark, instantly illuminating Xia Duo's hazy memory. He quickly remembered the identity he had projected into this time—

Ruien, an Elf orphan whose parents died in the war between Yierlan and Siluwende. Although the war eventually ended with Siluwende becoming a vassal state of Yierlan, those who died because of the war would not come back to life because of it.

And the so-called "Lord Tailun" was the current Supervisor of this training camp. Having also experienced the war, Tailun treated these war orphans in the camp very favorably, so a camp meant for training Sword Singers was turned into a large orphanage by Tailun.

As his vision gradually cleared, Xia Duo saw the Gold Elf instructor in front of him, who was wearing an angry expression. At the same time, the memories associated with him also responded.

Xia Duo immediately apologized, "Sorry, Instructor E Mo Lei. I will definitely pay attention next time. Please don't tell Lord Tailun."

"Hmph!"

Seeing that "Ruien" had a good attitude, E Mo Lei did not continue to scold him. With a cold snort, he turned and walked toward the other Elves. Just then, another Elf made a mistake.

The highly condensed wind element on their blade scattered, not only injuring themselves but even injuring other Elves!

But this time, E Mo Lei did not shout loudly; he went over to cast a spell to heal that Apprentice immediately, and afterwards, he gave detailed guidance in a soft and gentle voice.

Seeing this scene, Xia Duo recalled more of "Ruien's" memories. Even within the Elves, there were those who practiced racial discrimination, and this Instructor E Mo Lei was one of them.

"Elf" was just the general term humans used for the race. The Elves called themselves the Tai'kuise Clan, meaning "the people," but within the people, they were divided into branches such as Aier, Te, Sai, and Sirei.

Among them, the Gold Elves were the Aier-Tai'kuise Clan, because the former Elven Kingdom of Aryvandaar was incomparably powerful, having nearly wiped out all other Elven Kingdoms and unified the entire Elf World.

Therefore, many Gold Elves often considered themselves the heirs to the former glory of Aryvandaar, and consequently looked down upon other Elves.

The scene Xia Duo had just witnessed, where E Mo Lei was so kind to the other Apprentice, was fundamentally because that Apprentice was a Gold Elf, while "Ruien" and most of the other Apprentices here were Wood Elves.

Of course, that "Lord Tailun" was also a Gold Elf, but he did not have racial discrimination.

Xia Duo couldn't help but sigh that in a big forest, there are all kinds of birds. Projecting into an Elf twice made him more convinced that so-called "Elves" were just another kind of "human."

The common flaws of intelligent life existed everywhere; the "pure and good Elf" of his imagination did not exist at all. Whatever kind of humans there were, there would be the same kind of Elves!

Having managed to get through the morning training, as soon as "class" was over, Xia Duo ignored the play invitations from the other little Elves and ran home as fast as he could.

This time, he not only wanted to make full use of the time here but also wanted to find some valuable things to bring out, such as the refining technology for Mithril.

The last time he projected into an Elf, he didn't know that Netheril hadn't mastered Mithril refining technology at all. Plus, since he was projecting within the Arcane Union and Aiboke had paid the "money," he hadn't even thought there would be a next time.

At that time, he was focused on making full use of the time and didn't leave until the Projection Plane dissolved.

It's just that he didn't know how long this Projection Plane would last!

Returning "home," Xia Duo discovered that the family assets of this projected Elf were far inferior to the last time. It was just an old treehouse; no villas, no courtyards, no household Magic Items—none at all!

And in the process of returning home from the training camp, Xia Duo also discovered that this Yierlan city named "Yinguang City" was not at all comparable to Sukanweisa City where he had projected before.

Although both were forest cities, Sukanweisa City already had the appearance of a modern metropolis, with complete infrastructure of all kinds, stone-based materials, and even as a border city, it had quite a rich nightlife.

But in Yinguang City, Xia Duo could not see any signs of prosperity; instead, decay was revealed everywhere. The most critical point was—there was no Mythallar here, as if it were a city that could be abandoned at any time.

The only building that looked relatively high-end was the "Yinguang Ta" in the center of the city.

Xia Duo searched Ruien's home, but didn't find anything of value.

Aside from the sword in his hand and a small mirror in the house that could project the image of an Elf couple, there were no other Magic Items; and as for books, there wasn't a single one.

It was miserable to the extreme!

This also shattered the impression that Elves were always wealthy; at the very least, the era in which Yinguang City was located was far less prosperous than the era of Sukanweisa City.

And from the moment he learned that the kingdom he was in was Yierlan, Xia Duo understood that the era he was currently in was very close to Netheril.

As the saying goes, even a rotten ship has three pounds of nails.

Now, Xia Duo was prepared to do some thorough scavenging. After searching the house repeatedly to ensure nothing was missed, Xia Duo quickly ran toward the city center.

Projecting into an Elf again, he still quite missed this lithe figure; every step was a leap, effortless, as if there were springs installed under his feet.

Before long, Xia Duo arrived near Yinguang Ta. Watching the soldiers constantly patrolling in front of the tower, Xia Duo temporarily gave up the idea of entering and instead wandered around the perimeter.

He was looking for places where Mithril refining technology might exist. Generally speaking, this would require tracking Mithril Mines, but in Ruien's memory, there was no information about any Mithril Mines.

Xia Duo thought that perhaps this refining method was not considered a secret in the current era; after all, every Elven Kingdom possessed it, and there was no need to keep basic methods confidential.

If it were really as he thought, then as long as he found someone with experience in manufacturing Magic Items, he might be able to find the refining method.