Chapter 419: Sacrifice and War

For the time being, imitating Elf Meditation is merely an attempt by Xia Duo; he holds a wait-and-see attitude, trying it out before sleep without spending too much energy on it. However, if it were truly feasible to replace long periods of human sleep with shorter periods of meditation like the Elves, this would definitely mean more than just having a few extra hours of wakefulness every day.

The most critical point is that Elves can also think while meditating; although this requires long and arduous training, this ability to almost fully utilize time can be said to have transcended the limitations of mortal beings!

Xia Duo envies this ability greatly, but since he is not an Elf, there is nothing he can do; he can only keep trying, attempting to discover the mysteries of meditation so that humans might also be able to perform it.

Furthermore, regarding meditation, in some novels before his transmigration, it was often described as a cultivation method similar to internal energy or immortal cultivation techniques, through which one could both replace sleep and increase magic power or Mental Power.

Having transmigrated to a real world of Magic, Xia Duo certainly had fantasies about this kind of cultivation method, but here, he had never heard of any "Meditation Method" or any other method that could directly and automatically increase one's strength just by practicing.

Perhaps in the future, Xia Duo could research it himself, but for now, it can only be a fantasy; even for Elves, it is impossible to automatically increase strength just by relying on meditation.

……

After finishing breakfast, Xia Duo called out to the Tower Spirit while thinking about his schedule for the day: "Tower Spirit, has Dewan looked at that perception training manual for Astral Mages?"

"Agent Xia Duo, Apprentice Dewan has already read it."

"Oh? So fast?"

When conversing with the Tower Spirit, the response mechanism naturally differs based on the speaker's Permission Level. For Apprentices, the Tower Spirit basically only gives mechanical responses; it simply does not react to questions outside their Permission Level or those it cannot answer, and asking too much might even reduce the response time for the Apprentice next time.

But for an Agent-level authority like Xia Duo, the Tower Spirit can even answer relatively abstract questions. Just like with Xia Duo's "so fast" just now, the Tower Spirit immediately provided the answer—

"Agent Xia Duo, after Dewan left Research Lab 025 last night, he went to the Library and has not left until now."

Research Lab 025 refers to Xia Duo's residence on the sixth floor of the Tower of Time.

"Has not left until now?"

"Yes."

Xia Duo was somewhat surprised that Dewan had pulled an all-nighter, a behavior highly discouraged by the Progress Society. Moreover, Dewan now works at the Tilake Research Lab, which already has a work system similar to modern factories on Earth.

Although a strict time regulation has not yet been formed, the tasks are packed full; he only hopes that Dewan will not delay his work during the day.

Having the Tower Spirit send a cup of Elf Hot Drink to Dewan to boost his spirits, Xia Duo prepared to leave the Tower of Time.

……

Savile Town, port.

The cargo ship from the Rodney Territory had already left, but that Archmage Niuman had brought people to stay in the East; there was still fun to be had in the future!

Xia Duo came here naturally to take the "Lucky Owen" back to Linshui Village. Sain and Dailike came to see him off; Sain was a matter of routine, as he would also come to see him off whenever Xia Duo left before.

Dailike was called here by Xia Duo; Xia Duo had asked him yesterday to record which Chambers of Commerce provided carriages for the people from the Rodney Territory—this had to be noted down in his little book.

However, when Xia Duo saw the familiar names of the Chambers of Commerce on the Parchment handed over by Dailike, he felt a headache; these were the very Chambers of Commerce that had just signed fixed supply contracts with the Tower of Time not long ago.

"Truly the nature of a Merchant!"

Fortunately, the Ming Shui Chamber of Commerce introduced by the Princess was not among them, nor were any local Chambers of Commerce, which made Xia Duo feel a bit better. Let's just put it on the tab for now!

Putting away the Parchment, Xia Duo looked at Sain again and asked very patiently about the arrangements for the Midsummer Festival. In a few days, it would be the Midsummer Festival, which is also the day when the moon is roundest and largest in the year.

There were, of course, activities, though not as grand or solemn as the Midsummer Festival celebrations. However, Xia Duo attached great importance to any activities related to festivals; there is a saying in his hometown: "The great affairs of a state are sacrifice and war."

The so-called "sacrifice" does not specifically refer to "offering sacrifices," but rather to group activities that unite people's hearts, which can be mentioned in the same breath as war. Of course, in the ancient times of Xia Duo's hometown, group activities generally required sacrifices.

And for Xia Duo, the Midsummer Festival has a more important significance because this is the day Netherese use to sacrifice to their deceased relatives, similar to the Qingming Festival in his hometown. In his eyes, this is far more important than any Midsummer Festival.

Not to mention there is a "full moon" hanging overhead.

The new order of the Daxia Territory includes not only the material level but also the spiritual level; in a sense, Xia Duo values the spiritual level more.

He hopes to make the surrounding environment feel intimate.

"Town Mayor Sain, you just said that Bishop Anbulier and Priest Tusi will preside over the sacrificial ceremony together?"

"Yes."

"I see—"

"My Lord, is there a problem?"

"No!" Xia Duo waved his hand, skipping the topic.

Even though he had transmigrated for a long time, he still subconsciously contrasted the Lord of Radiance with the Lord of Death. The fact is—the gods did not conflict, and their believers did not fight either.

The two sides could even jointly preside over the sacrificial ceremony.

"By the way, I heard that a troupe of Elf Dancers came to the Savile Territory during the Midsummer Festival last year?"

What Xia Duo was actually referring to was the "Elf Hot Dance" at the Adventure Bar. During the Midsummer Festival last year, he had been dragged over by Aideliqi to take a look, but they were not Elves, but rather like "Half-Elves."

However, because Xia Duo had been to the Projection Plane several times, for him, a long time had passed since the last Midsummer Festival; if it weren't for the Midsummer Festival, he would have almost forgotten about that matter.

Hearing this question, Sain subconsciously leaned in a step and whispered: "My Lord, those were not Elves!"

"Half-Elves?"

"My Lord, your choice of words is truly apt!" Sain first flattered him, then explained, "They only look like Elves, but they are actually humans; they are the offspring of humans and Elves. Regarding these Half-Elves, Dailike knows more than I do."

"Dailike?"

"My Lord."

Seeing Xia Duo turn his gaze toward him again, Dailike hurriedly replied, "In the early years, the relationship between Netheril and Yierlan was very close. The mothers of these Half-Elves were mostly Netherese, and a few were Elves, but Elf society could not tolerate these mixed-race children. Even if they were born, they would be abandoned in Netheril. Nowadays, most of the Half-Elves in Netheril are settled in the August Territory, because the first lord there was a Half-Elf."

August Territory? Mentioning this name, Xia Duo immediately thought of a visitor to the Tower of Time he had once received—Weierde Auguste. That Mage from August left a very deep impression on Xia Duo.

Besides the fact that he wanted to buy the Arcanist Aquilain who had been captured by the Tower of Time, the most critical thing was that Xia Duo "smelled" a cold, bloody aura on Weierde.

This was the second conceptual existence Xia Duo had perceived; the first was the "Moist" and "Flow" on the elemental path of the Mythallar Ruins, which left an extremely deep impression.

Additionally, Aiwa had mentioned before that he had received professional Rogue training in the August Territory.

(End of chapter)