Chapter 650: Capturing Souls, the Afterlife

Of course, this "curse" was merely a way for Xia Duo to describe it; it was not a spell with any real power, nor did it have any effect on the Magic Net.

In fact, there should be no one within the Tower of Time capable of truly cursing Xia Duo.

The Drow Assassin's sudden death also startled the others in front of the Drow Prison on the negative first floor; the smiles they had worn because Xia Duo had successfully made the Drow Assassin "speak" had not even faded before they suddenly witnessed this scene.

Aiboke immediately stated, "I had already removed everything possible from his person earlier."

The ordinary cells of the Tower of Time only provide Suppression of spells, not the physical movements of the prisoner; it is highly unlikely the Drow Assassin committed suicide via magic. He must have hidden poison somewhere on his body, and upon realizing he might leak information, he committed suicide immediately.

Who could have imagined that a Drow Assassin, known for being "cruel" and "cunning," would commit suicide so easily? Both Xia Duo and Aiboke regretted having locked him in an ordinary cell.

Even if he wasn't locked in a Stasis Chamber that could confine even consciousness, his physical movements should have at least been restricted.

With almost no hesitation, Xia Duo immediately sent a private Sending to Niya, "Can the Tower of Time capture souls? I still have many questions I haven't asked!"

The Projection Plane: Arcane Empire can capture souls, and it can even resurrect the dead. When Xia Duo first projected there, he encountered the academy being ambushed by Elves, and many graduates died, but a teacher intercepted the souls of about ten people, and the headmaster then had them sent directly to the Resurrection Department to be resurrected.

Afterward, ten of those dead graduates actually appeared at the graduation ceremony.

As long as the time is short enough and the action fast enough, it should be possible to intercept that Drow Assassin's soul; afterward, whether it is resurrection or direct interrogation of the soul, perhaps the Great Arcanists would have a way.

Niya, having received Xia Duo's Sending, felt incredibly surprised by this idea of his, because capturing souls is a relatively taboo matter in Netheril as well; both the Lord of Death and the Lord of Radiance have made promises regarding the afterlife.

The only difference is whether it is in the Underworld or the Sea of Light.

And Mages have long understood that whether it is the Underworld or the Sea of Light, both are some kind of special Plane, in the direction of the Astral Plane, yet even more distant than the Astral Plane.

Even if somewhat illusory, it still counts as a form of psychological comfort, knowing that this life is not the end and there is an afterlife to be found.

Under these circumstances, while soul research is not an absolute taboo like that of Necromancers (researching Negative Energy does not count as being a Necromancer; mass-producing Undead is), it is still a topic people are quite reluctant to discuss.

As for someone like Xia Duo saying directly that he wanted to capture a soul, Niya had never thought of it before today. After the surprise, she subconsciously frowned; besides the taboo surrounding this matter, there was also—

She did indeed have a method for capturing souls.

Niya had also just heard the mission described by that Drow Assassin, which was to search for weak points in the ley lines on the Surface, thereby opening more exits to the Underdark.

And the human territory mentioned by that Drow Assassin was very likely near the Savile Territory, or perhaps even within the Savile Territory itself, which made Niya very uneasy.

After only a moment of hesitation, she decided to capture the Drow Assassin's soul; she absolutely had to find out where that ley line weak point was, and she also needed to continue asking for more intelligence regarding the Drow.

In Xia Duo's eyes, after Niya received his Sending, she was first surprised, then frowned, and immediately teleported away. Others, including Xia Duo, did not have Permission Level to teleport on the negative first floor and could only travel via the Elevator.

Just as Xia Duo thought Niya was angry or something else was wrong, Niya suddenly appeared again, holding a red Gemstone larger than a quail egg in her hand.

But unlike ordinary Gemstones, this Gemstone was emitting a strong Magic Aura under Magic Vision, so eye-catching that it was impossible to ignore.

Clearly, this was a powerful Magic Item in the form of a Gemstone.

Could it be used to capture souls? Xia Duo speculated to himself.

"You all leave first, I will handle this!"

Niya said quickly, and before the others could react, she teleported everyone, including Xia Duo, to the Public Level.

On the Public Level, Xia Duo glanced at Aiboke and saw that his eyes were also full of confusion, not to mention Xiaolei and Saixili, who seemed not to have realized they had already arrived at the Public Level and were still dazed.

Immediately after, Xia Duo and Aiboke were teleported back to the negative first floor, but this time, Xiaolei and Saixili did not follow.

As soon as Xia Duo arrived, he saw Niya holding that red Gemstone-like Magic Item, observing it closely before her eyes, but judging by her tightly furrowed brows, the result seemed very unsatisfactory.

"Niya, what's the situation?" Xia Duo asked.

"Sorry, Xia Duo, Uncle Aiboke, because time was urgent just now, I teleported you away without notifying you." Niya put away the Gemstone and looked at Xia Duo and Aiboke.

She then added, "I just tried to use the Soul-Binding Gem, but I didn't intercept anything."

Niya's tone was somewhat low; if she had known this, she would have brought the Soul-Binding Gem over as soon as she had locked that Drow Assassin up.

It was a pity that time could not be turned back; no one could foresee every situation. Next time they encountered such a situation, perhaps they would have to prepare in advance.

"What are you talking about? What exactly is going on?" Aiboke, who had been confused for a long time, finally spoke.

"Uncle Aiboke, it's like this: Xia Duo reminded me to intercept that Drow Assassin's soul, so I went back to get the Soul-Binding Gem. I didn't expect to be a step too late. It's all my fault; if only I had thought of it sooner!"

Seeing that Niya's mood was somewhat low, Aiboke comforted her, "Don't think too much; didn't I not think of it either! If you want to determine where that ley line weak point near the Savile Territory might be, I have other ways."

"What way?" Niya immediately perked up and asked hurriedly.

Even Xia Duo cast an attentive gaze; the traces left by the Drow would disappear after the day passed, and they couldn't use that Black Ball Detector, so what other way could there be to find the ley line weak point!

Xia Duo was very interested in the method Aiboke mentioned.

However, Aiboke's next words greatly disappointed Xia Duo. He said, "I just thought about it; that Drow Assassin wanted to search for ley line weak points, most likely through that Black Sphere Sonic Artifact. We can also use it to search around the Territory."

Niya was very happy about this, but Xia Duo knew that just knowing how to "use" it without knowing how to "analyze" it meant it was basically unlikely to find the so-called ley line weak point.

Of course, Xia Duo did not voice his opinion at this time, so as not to let Niya have her hopes dashed again. Having a hope to hold onto might lead to a solution later!

At the very worst, they would just have to accept the status quo. In any case, if the sky fell, there were taller people to hold it up. Xia Duo believed that the Great Arcanists would absolutely not allow the Drow to open Underdark exits within Netheril at will.

After bustling about, it was already late, and the three did not continue to discuss anything, soon dispersing.