Chapter 482: Reminders and Gifts

Xia Duo voiced his doubts, but to his surprise, Master Bailun burst into laughter, "He is extremely busy right now! How would he have the time to pay attention to you!"

As it turned out, Lord Duolaisen of Hawk Territory had been loathed by many lords for bringing an Elf to the Lord's Conference without authorization; while this might seem like a minor issue, it represented a major shift in public sentiment.

Coupled with the fact that the Arcane Union had recently halted negotiations with Lord Duolaisen regarding the introduction of a new type of communication Spell, adopting an attitude of wanting to research it themselves, Lord Duolaisen was left scrambling everywhere for connections, appearing utterly disheveled.

Xia Duo asked again, "Does the Arcane Union really intend to research communication Spells themselves?"

This question concerned not only Lord Duolaisen but also Xia Duo himself, as he had been preparing to hand over the new communication Spell to the Princess as a means to strike at Duolaisen.

Beyond striking at Duolaisen, this communication Spell proposal itself could bring immense benefits. If the Arcane Union were to research it independently, then this opportunity would be considered blown.

"It's not that easy!" Bailun shook his head, "The Arcane Union hasn't even reached a unified opinion on whether they even need to switch to a new type of communication Spell. It's called an Arcane Union negotiation, but in reality, it's just a few Great Arcanists leading the talks privately; it's just that no one else has raised any explicit objections."

"However, Duolaisen's Spell is indeed critical; not only can it perform Other Plane communication, but it also has extremely strong encryption functions. This is the reason why no one has truly opposed it; their opposition is merely directed at the subsequent handling methods."

Hearing Master Bailun's explanation, Xia Duo knew that although Lord Duolaisen appeared disheveled now, the negotiations would ultimately proceed, which meant the Arcane Union did indeed need a new type of communication Spell.

At the same time, Xia Duo thought of another question: "Master, did Lord Duolaisen not register a Spell Patent for his new communication Spell with the Arcane Union?"

"Of course not. If it had been registered, there would be no negotiations at all."

Xia Duo nodded, indicating he understood.

Patent registration only guarantees the benefits that must be paid when others use it publicly; if researched privately, there is no need to pay anything. Given that the Arcane Union currently appeared to be dominated by conservatives, registering a patent would indeed preclude negotiations.

This was because the conservatives were unwilling to promote large-scale updates and replacements; they were satisfied as long as they knew it themselves.

In that case, even if he were to research a new communication Spell, it would very likely be shelved in the end, becoming someone's private collection rather than generating actual benefits.

Of course, the reality was that as long as a patent was registered, it meant the Spell was open; other Mage Towers would have to pay for it if they wanted to know it, and the price would not be cheap.

It was just that without the promotion of the Arcane Union, it would be easily buried unless the Spell was extremely superior and indispensable, and communication Spells clearly did not fall into that category.

As for Lord Duolaisen's goal, it clearly did not lie in patent fees. Wanting to negotiate while simultaneously stalling for time—perhaps the Spell itself had flaws, or perhaps there was a trap somewhere else; in any case, his intentions were not good.

Regardless of whether it was prejudice, that was what Xia Duo believed. Thinking about it this way, his own communication Spell still had great potential.

"Thank you for the explanation, Master. I have no more questions."

In truth, Xia Duo had many questions, but since the Master was being polite, he could not be impolite in return. Ending it as soon as possible was best; having a Great Arcanist hovering before his eyes always made him feel somewhat uneasy.

"Since that is the case, I should be leaving as well." Bailun said this and stood up, and Xia Duo hurriedly rose as well.

"One final reminder: do not attempt to make paper again in the outside world, or any other groundbreaking inventions. You can do these things inside the Tower of Time. Also, do not sell this kind of paper, lest you be noticed. It is never a bad thing for a young person to be cautious!"

"Thank you for the reminder, Master. I will be careful."

Xia Duo's desire to make paper had faded by now. If he couldn't take it outside for large-scale use, what was the point of him making it? If he really needed to use it himself, he wasn't unable to afford Parchment now.

Although it was a bit expensive, it was, after all, a necessary daily consumable.

But why did it feel so stifling!

After seeing Master Bailun off, Xia Duo returned to the Reception Room from earlier, sitting in the chair and unwilling to move for a long time.

"Huh—" Xia Duo suddenly discovered that the gray-brown paper remnants left behind by Master Bailun seemed to have text and patterns on them. This paper was a part he had torn off while fleeing in a panic; though called remnants, they were actually over a foot long.

Master Bailun had folded them and placed them on the table, right next to the carrier for the 【Teleportation Mark】—the Mithril Block disguised as a stone. He hadn't noticed any text or patterns on them when they were folded earlier.

Now that they were slightly flipped up, Xia Duo's gaze swept over them, and he immediately discovered something wrong.

But the problem was, this was new paper made not long ago; how could there be text and patterns on it?

Could Master Bailun have deliberately left some information?

Xia Duo reached out and beckoned; the stack of paper flew toward him immediately, and in the process of flying, it automatically unfolded, presenting the text and patterns on it fully before Xia Duo.

"【Copying】?" Xia Duo frowned; he didn't quite understand Master Bailun's intention.

There wasn't much text, just a brief summary of the basic Principles of a Spell called 【Copying】, and the pattern was the Arcane Geometry representation of how this Spell could be applied to paper. The structure was quite complex, but the characteristics were also very obvious.

This was a 1st Circle Spell.

More specific details would require further research.

However, judging from the Spell Principles, this Spell was somewhat similar to "Tracing." Xia Duo had also obtained similar Spells in the Projection Plane, though the Arcane Empire version of 【Transcription】 was more complex, but also had more functions.

Furthermore, there was an even bigger difference: the Spellcasting materials for 【Transcription】 could be ink, directly forming text, similar to printing on Earth, and the order of the text formation was not the order of the strokes.

But this 【Copying】 seemed to just imitate the brushstrokes of the original text; the Spellcasting target was a pen!

Looking closer, the marks on this remnant paper did indeed have some traces of handwriting. If the interval between Master Bailun's appearance and his visit to the Tower of Time had been longer, Xia Duo would have thought it was handwritten.

But seeing 【Copying】 on the paper, coupled with the short interval, wasn't this just an example of 【Copying】!

But the question was, why did Master Bailun want to leave this 【Copying】 behind?

Encouragement? Mentorship? Or some other kind of reminder?

It touched on all of them, yet didn't seem like any of them. There were clearly better ways to do it; Xia Duo really couldn't figure it out and could only attribute it to the eccentricities of the elderly.

In any case, he was the one who benefited.

"Stop thinking about it!"

Returning to Linshui Village, Xia Duo went to the location where he had made paper earlier, intending to dispose of the wood pulp. However, when he arrived, he almost thought he had gone to the wrong place.

Now, there were no traces of the pit or the wood pulp to be seen here, not even traces of movement; it was completely an untouched forest clearing.

But Xia Duo was very certain that the location where he had just made paper was right here. "It looks like this place was also taken care of by Master Bailun."

At this moment, a sense of relief couldn't help but arise in Xia Duo's heart. If it had been discovered first by Elves or some other bad actors, it would have been troublesome. He must pay more attention to these things in the future.

"A large-scale Scrying Spell triggered by actions or events?"

Thinking deeper, perhaps there were also those triggered by language. Even if he didn't know these types of Scrying methods himself, he should at least master methods of prevention.

Thinking of this, Xia Duo made a silent decision.