Chapter 433: Surrealism

Xia Duo did not refuse Niya's invitation; a real Other Plane journey held great appeal for him, something a Projection Plane could not compare to. A Projection Plane was, after all, still the scenery of the Main Plane, merely with different people and eras, whereas an Other Plane could possess scenery completely different from the Main Plane.

Whether out of curiosity or to enrich his research material library, Xia Duo had no reason to refuse. The only thing to worry about was: was it safe for him to just go over like this? He walked a few steps closer and looked at Niya, "Am I just going over like this?"

Hearing this, Niya poked her head forward, half her body emerging from the whirlpool-shaped Portal, and at the same time, she reached a hand out toward Xia Duo, "Give me your hand."

Xia Duo reached out his hand with some doubt and grasped Niya's hand. An inexplicable feeling surged into his heart; the situation that had just happened to Niya also happened to him.

The link between his body and the Magic Net underwent a subtle change. Xia Duo suddenly felt some discomfort, as if a void had appeared within his body, making it difficult for him to even breathe comfortably.

He frowned. Was this what Niya felt just now? What exactly was the use of this?

Just as Xia Duo was pondering, Niya was already urging him, "Come over quickly!"

Xia Duo suppressed his doubts for the moment; the Other Plane was waiting for him. Following the slight force from Niya's right hand, Xia Duo stepped into the Portal.

Once on this side, the scenery before his eyes suddenly opened up. The surroundings were permeated with a pure, walan-colored shimmer, giving one the feeling of being inside a blue Crystal.

Tranquil, serene, eternal—so unrealistic, yet incomparably beautiful.

Looking around, apart from the whirlpool-shaped Portal and Niya, there was nothing else. No fish, no islands, no water plants; it was as if they were in a void, with no leverage above or below.

And it was only when Xia Duo saw Niya's fluffy hair dancing slowly that he realized the two of them were actually in water, yet he felt not the slightest sense of incongruity. The feeling of "a void appearing within the body" that had arisen back at the Tower of Time had also vanished at this moment.

Could this be the true effect of that Transmutation Spell?!

Xia Duo was somewhat surprised and opened his mouth slightly. Immediately, a stream of water surged into his mouth. Well, the Spell did not prevent the water in the environment from entering the body.

"Do not open your mouth to speak. 【Plane Attunement】 can only let us adapt to the environment here, but it cannot help us digest the water we drink." Niya's voice suddenly came, her eyes also carrying a slight warning.

Xia Duo understood immediately and spoke to her using the Sending Spell, "Is 【Plane Attunement】 the Spell you cast earlier?"

"Yes. In years of Plane Exploration, the Seven Towers Group has already created new Spells capable of adapting to Other Plane environments; this is far beyond us." Speaking of this, Niya's eyes could not help but dim slightly.

Originally, the Tower of Time could have developed to be very powerful, but at the most critical moment, the Great Arcanist Saville, her great-grandfather, had gone missing. Since then, the Tower of Time had been on a downward slope.

Although the Tower of Time was completed and the Territory seemed to have expanded somewhat, the trend of decline could not be stopped, and it wasn't until her generation that the first Arcanist appeared.

Thinking that her great-grandfather was not dead, but merely lost in another world, Niya's mood relaxed a little.

She tugged on Xia Duo's hand, "Let's not talk about this. The teacher has already agreed to let me leave 【Plane Attunement】 at the Tower of Time. In a while, I will find time to send the relevant Spellbook back. Now, let's go look at a place further away!"

Although Niya had already been to several Sub-planes while in Seventon, no Sub-plane had been like this one: ethereal, pure, and beautiful to the extreme.

She liked it here immediately.

Xia Duo was pulled by Niya, flying back and forth around the whirlpool-shaped Portal.

It was indeed flying!

In this Plane, the method of movement was extremely similar to the state of using 【Flight】 in the Main Plane; one could drive oneself to fly up and down by will alone.

It was just that, unlike flying in the air in the Main Plane, here one was flying in a body of water, so the speed was certainly not as fast as flying in the air.

The flight of the two formed ripples of dark currents around the Portal, making the walan-colored shimmer in the environment become somewhat undulating, just like sunlight shining on fragments of a mirror, where the fragments cut the sunlight apart, shattering it into pieces.

The two flew toward a more distant place, leaving behind such a trail of dark current light flickering with broken light.

This kind of experience, let alone Niya, even Xia Duo, who had seen many kinds of visual effects on Earth, was deeply fascinated.

Although one could use Spells to create similar scenes, this was like a fantasy world in a special-effects movie; compared to a real fantasy world, the fake was ultimately fake.

This sense of surrealism derived from reality was what Xia Duo was truly fascinated by. Perhaps this was also the reason he liked Magic; it transcended the cognitive reality he had on Earth.

However, as time went on in this world, his cognition was constantly being updated. Now, Xia Duo viewed Magic more like he viewed science on Earth. Perhaps he still liked it (industrialists like technology), but the novelty was much less. Now, his research into Magic was more like going to work.

……

As they flew, the two gradually moved away from the Portal, and they could see more and more. At this time, the scenery was no longer unchanging; occasionally, they would see some water plants, swimming fish, and even stones and coral suspended in the "void."

The trails of broken light from dark currents generated by these objects moving in the water added a touch of vivid color to this magical Water World.

Seeing this, Xia Duo also realized that this world was not just water; other substances existed as well. Perhaps in some place, there might even be an island!

But in any case, the development value of this Plane was actually very limited.

In Xia Duo's eyes, only Planes similar to the Main Plane, where one could extract resources, propagate populations, and farm to develop, were truly valuable Planes.

However, such Planes were certainly not easy to find, and even if found, one might not be able to hold onto them.

The Tower of Time had not even mastered the Spell to seal a Plane, so how could one talk about occupying and developing it? As he flew, Xia Duo's mind was no longer on this Sub-plane.

Suddenly, he felt a little pressure on his hand. Niya stopped, "Let's stop here. No need to continue further; we can come back if there's a chance in the future!"

Although she liked it here very much, spending a large amount of time on this was not quite worth it. There was too much repetitive scenery ahead, and she already wanted to go back.

Unknowingly, the two had moved far away from the Portal. Looking back, the whirlpool had long since faded into the walan-colored background. Xia Duo also felt that the first time should not be too long.

This Sub-plane appeared calm, peaceful, and beautiful, but no one could guarantee whether it held unknown dangers.

"Alright, let's go back!"

Just like when they came, when returning to the Portal, the two also dragged a long trail of broken light from dark currents, arriving beside the whirlpool.

Passing through the Portal and returning to the Preparation Teleportation Hall of the Tower of Time's Plane Exploration Layer, that feeling of a void appearing within the body returned. Xia Duo let go of Niya's hand, but this feeling did not disappear.

It seemed he needed to resolve it himself. Thinking this, he felt that letting go was a bit early. He glanced at Niya, and Niya happened to be looking at him, "Destroying the Node balance will allow you to return to a normal state."

"Alright."

Just like counter-spelling, Xia Duo simply destroyed the combination of a few Magic Net Strings, and the balance of the 【Plane Attunement】 state was instantly broken.

A burst of shattered spiritual light flashed, and Xia Duo had returned to his normal state.

And at this time, Niya had already begun to adjust the state of the Teleportation Hall. This was the first Sub-plane discovered by the Tower of Time; the Portal was still maintained, but the Protection level here was raised to the highest level.

Xia Duo was about to leave, but Niya called him back, "Besides discovering the Sub-plane, I also have some information regarding the Golden Statue Branch Cult that I want to tell you in person."

"The Golden Statue Branch Cult?" Xia Duo immediately stopped his steps.

Activating a Portal consumes more energy than maintaining one. Additionally, every object that passes through consumes energy, and at the same time, one must calculate the depreciation loss of the Magic Array. Therefore, using a Portal to transport low-value items is not very cost-effective.

(End of chapter)