Chapter 637: Overproduction, Abandoning Projections

The final step: verify whether the Quasi-Magic Scrolls printed in batches by the printing press can successfully link to the Magic Net.

Regarding this, Xia Duo had not the slightest doubt; there was no reason why something drawn by hand could link to the Magic Net while something printed by a machine could not, unless the Magic Net was deliberately targeting him.

And the facts proved his thoughts were not wrong—all 6 Quasi-Magic Scrolls successfully linked to the Magic Net and were in a state ready to be activated.

Additionally, Xia Duo also thought that for those Mages who were not skilled at crafting Magic Scrolls, these completely identical, even standard-worthy 【Quasi-Magic Scrolls】 could be used for them to practice repeatedly and complete the final step.

"Being a Magic Technician can also be considered a new path to wealth I've opened up for you all!"

Thinking this way, Xia Duo suddenly felt there was no need to release the printing press; as for whether others could research something similar, he didn't care. Could he really point a knife at others and tell them not to do these things?

As long as he could eat the first piece of cake ahead of time, he felt satisfied.

Furthermore, the appearance of the printing press would greatly promote the spread of Magic Knowledge. After all, this thing wasn't just used for printing scrolls; if one added the Paper-making Technique—

Thinking of the Paper-making Technique, Xia Duo's expression suddenly turned very poor. He still remembered the scene last time when he tried making paper north of Linshui Village and was sought out by a Great Arcanist.

Fortunately, the person who came was Bailun, the Princess's teacher. If it had been someone with malice toward the Paper-making Technique, the outcome surely wouldn't have been so easily resolved.

Thinking this way, Xia Duo again extinguished the idea of taking 【Quasi-Magic Scrolls】 out to sell for money. Using them himself was fine, but taking them out specifically to sell was still a bit too eye-catching.

Moreover, based on his understanding of Scrying spells, taking the printing press out of the Tower of Time might be fine, but if he started printing, trouble might come knocking.

Those who resist progress are the key. Even if one added anti-scrying functions to the printing press, it would only treat the symptoms, not the root cause.

"Better to hug the Princess's thigh tightly first!"

At this moment, Xia Duo was again very expectant that Niya would mention the Great Arcanist ancestor could truly return. If Saville could really return, then using this to also hug Iolum's thigh was not unimaginable.

Even, the first batch of Floating Cities would have one belonging to him, Xia Duo!

……

Immediately following, Xia Duo started the printing press again in succession, and 【Quasi-Magic Scrolls】 were soon printed out one after another. However, as he printed, he suddenly discovered that one problem still lay before him, and that was—

Overproduction.

Even with just this one semi-automatic printing press, if he printed freely, supplying the entire Tower of Time would be no problem at all. But no matter how many 【Quasi-Magic Scrolls】 were manufactured, they weren't the real thing; the final step still required a true Spellcaster to complete.

And as long as they were human, there were limits. Like Xia Duo, even though he had become an Arcanist, if he were asked to spend all day linking Magic Scrolls to the Magic Net, he couldn't do many. (Linking to the Magic Net is approximately equivalent to casting the corresponding spell.)

When all is said and done, before solving the machine's automatic linking to the Magic Net, the human factor is still quite important. Only by cultivating more Spellcasters can one occupy an advantage in the foreseeable future.

And once a machine can provide automatic linking to the Magic Net (i. e., Magic Items manufacturing Magic Items), then perhaps all humans can provide is Wisdom.

Xia Duo could not imagine what such a scene would look like, but it was highly likely that a "Ziyou Wangguo" that even Earth had not achieved would appear. Because in this world, energy is infinite; what is lacking is only the way to utilize energy.

From this perspective, Xia Duo could also increasingly appreciate the power of the Magic Goddess, because the Magic Net is the culmination of the mysteries of energy. At the same time, he once again affirmed his own thought: the Magic Goddess cannot completely control the Magic Net.

Or rather, even if She could control the Magic Net, for ordinary people, it wouldn't make much difference. Gods are simply too high and distant; at least Xia Duo could not imagine what kind of existence a god actually is.

But he believed that as long as one persists in the Magic Development View without wavering, even ordinary people will one day be able to rely on their own Wisdom to touch the God's Domain.

……

After printing another batch of 【Quasi-Magic Scrolls】, Xia Duo put this Magic Printing Press, which had only just been born not long ago, into his Personal Space. It was foreseeable that it wouldn't be used for a long time to come.

It really might be a case of "not opening for business for three years, but living off one opening for three years"!

Of course, in reality, it might not be as exaggerated as three years, but as long as Xia Duo wanted, even printing enough 【Quasi-Magic Scrolls】 for thirty years in advance would be no problem at all.

It's just that if he really did that, he might have to consider the issue of whether these scrolls could be preserved for thirty years. (The shelf life of real Magic Scrolls isn't that long either, unless they undergo special treatment or are made with special materials.)

……

And just as Xia Duo finished the construction of the Magic Printing Press and had printed a pile of 【Quasi-Magic Scrolls】 in advance, preparing to return to Linshui Village to take a look, the Tower Spirit suddenly sent a prompt—

"Agent Xia Duo, Yuanhao Shijian has appeared. Do you wish to teleport?"

Xia Duo was stunned for a moment, then realized that it was the Tower of Time's Plane Exploration Array that had discovered a new Projection Plane. Previously, in order to utilize the time difference between the Projection Plane and the Main Plane, he had specifically set up a Yuanhao Shijian, so that as soon as a Projection Plane was discovered, he could immediately teleport over and then project.

However, that was in the past. Even if the time span of a Projection Plane is very long, every minute and every second inside it is returned to the projector's original body. Therefore, after becoming an Arcanist, Xia Duo decided that unless it was truly necessary, he would no longer go on Projection Plane journeys.

Even to deal with the Dragon Disaster or the Drow, there was no need to consume his own precious life.

And as the days went by, Xia Duo's judgment of the current situation became more comprehensive. The Drow were very unlikely to attack, and the Dragon Disaster—a group of creatures without Wisdom—no matter how powerful, how strong could they really be!

He now considered his mindset truly peaceful. Even if he could still feel various potential crises in the Main Plane, they were not things that could be solved by taking a trip to a Projection Plane.

And just as Xia Duo was hesitating, the Tower Spirit sent another prompt, "Agent Xia Duo, Projection Plane No. 007 has disappeared—"

Well, there was nothing to hesitate about now. Although a Projection Plane might exist for a very long time internally, from the perspective of the Main Plane, it could only last for a short while.

If one really spent a hundred years inside a Projection Plane, after coming out, the time of the original body would also rapidly pass by a hundred years. Unless one didn't want to live in the Main Plane, it was best to do this less often.

Archmage Greta had also once conveyed the Princess's reminder to Xia Duo: even if one possesses a special bloodline and a longer lifespan than ordinary people, there is no need to squander it in a Projection Plane.

Those who haven't reached the end of their life can't understand that thirst for life. However, Xia Duo had seen with his own eyes an Archmage transform into a non-human existence for the sake of Longevity, which was a great shock to him. If it were Xia Duo himself, he wasn't sure if he could turn into a non-human for the sake of Longevity.

It is of course very easy to casually boast about "not being human," but how many people can truly accept that comprehensive transformation from body to worldview?

Rather than calling it "non-human," it would be better to call it "non-self." This is truly too terrifying.