Chapter 739: Cloud Qi Conjectures and Soul Mutations

While Xia Duo pondered the changes that the Communication Magic Tool would bring to Netheril and what the Tower of Time could gain from these changes, he finalized the general framework of the transaction with Steward Saituosi of the Ming Shui Chamber of Commerce.

As for the specific details of the transaction, they would need to wait for the appraiser from the Ming Shui Chamber of Commerce to arrive before negotiations could continue, though Xia Duo would not need to personally step in by then.

In terms of business negotiations, whether it was Dailike, the dedicated Commercial Director of the Savile Territory, or Aiboke, who had long served as the Material Supervisor of the Tower of Time, both were more experienced than he was!

……

Returning to the Tower of Time, Xia Duo took out the Magic Scroll Printing Machine, which he had only used once since its creation, printed a batch of Rank 2 【Simplified Weave Background Communication】 quasi-Magic Scrolls, and only after handing them to Jianaer did he return to his own quarters.

Behind his desk, Xia Duo subconsciously took out his Spell Notes and placed them on the table, but his eyes were unfocused; his mind had long since flown to the statue anomaly he had just seen in Savile Town.

In the past, the Saville Statue in the center of the Savile Town Central Plaza had never exhibited any peculiar aura, at least not one that Xia Duo had ever discovered before today.

He guessed that what was entwined upon it might be the legendary "Faith Power."

In this world, faith or belief possessed true, non-illusory power; this was beyond doubt, and even Xia Duo was a beneficiary of such power.

In the past, almost every time he underwent Bloodline Awakening, it was after a group activity or receiving the cheers of the masses; of course, this most recent time was not.

But before that time, he had a small reputation in Seventon and even the entirety of Netheril; if nothing else, the title of creator of the 【Arcane Maze】 alone could bring him countless—

Belief Power that he speculated could trigger Bloodline Awakening!

Ever since he formed the hypothesis about Belief Power, Xia Duo had deliberately observed whether he had been absorbing mysterious energy after his last few Bloodline Awakenings.

The most recent time, he discovered an anomaly different from the previous ones, but considering his new ability after awakening, 【Cloud-Treading】, he simply dismissed those anomalies as "Cloud Qi."

After all, there was the old saying from his hometown: "Wind follows the tiger, clouds follow the dragon." Since he could control wind and water and tread on clouds, having a bit of Cloud Qi seemed quite normal.

Yet when he discovered the anomaly on the Saville Statue in the Savile Town Central Plaza, Xia Duo felt that his previous guess might have been wrong; perhaps the "Cloud Qi" he had observed on himself before was not Cloud Qi, but Belief Power.

However, this thing was truly very similar to Cloud Qi—like light, like mist, drifting and ethereal, invisible upon close inspection, and only visible when one was not paying attention to it.

Behind his desk, Xia Duo changed from his usual focus and put himself into a relaxed, distracted state. He did not deliberately think about the anomaly on himself, but instead recalled the peculiar aura anomaly he had just seen on the Saville Statue.

In a trance, he seemed to see a wisp of "Cloud Qi" suddenly emerge near the skin of his hand resting on his knee, but just as Xia Duo wanted to observe it, it vanished in an instant.

Although it was only for that one moment, he still saw what he wanted to see; it was indeed somewhat similar to the peculiar aura entwined on the Saville Statue.

But strangely, at that moment, he was also very certain that the "Cloud Qi" on himself and the anomaly on the Saville Statue were absolutely not the same thing!

Xia Duo had no research on Belief Power or Faith Power; everything was based on assumptions, guesses, and intuition.

This time he guessed that perhaps the Belief Power directed at different people was entirely different, which was why it gave him a sense of being similar yet different.

However, the premise of all his current guesses was that what was entwined on himself and the Saville Statue was Belief Power or Faith Power.

Xia Duo could not yet distinguish between the two; he could only say that it might be a special power produced by intelligent beings.

……

After observing for quite a while, Xia Duo could not find any more useful information; this mysterious and profound thing was giving him a headache.

But he also knew that existence was reasonable; there must be a set of standardized operating rules behind this thing to support it, only he had not yet discovered them.

"Is it related to the Soul?" Xia Duo made the guess quite naturally.

With this thought, he immediately took action; one condition for becoming an Arcanist was the necessity to actively perceive the Soul.

Because the will was another facet of the Soul besides consciousness, Arcane Fire needed to be combined with the will to exist stably for a long time; otherwise, it would be assimilated and absorbed by the external Magic Net environment.

After all, the essence of Arcane Fire was a special Psionic Creation made from Magic Net Strings torn from the external Magic Net and rewoven.

The combination of Arcane Fire and will required the Spellcaster to actively perceive the will and use the will to permeate the Arcane Fire; ordinary people, who could only passively perceive and apply their will, could never accomplish this operation.

Xia Duo was already an Arcanist, so re-perceiving the Soul was effortless; he only needed to trace back directly along his consciousness or will.

It was just that perceiving the Soul required being in a state of extreme focus, even far exceeding the focus during Spellcasting; without long-term Focus Training, it was simply impossible to achieve.

In the past, Xia Duo had even suspected that it was precisely because of extreme focus that the Soul was born.

Of course, this was wrong, as he knew without needing to verify it.

It was already a settled fact that ordinary people in this world also possessed Souls; how could it be that only quasi-Arcanists possessed Souls!

……

The Soul had no form, or rather, it transcended form, yet it was a real and concrete existence, not a virtual existence that only existed in imagination.

Perceiving the Soul again, Xia Duo still could not help but want to complain.

When other Arcanists first perceived their Souls, although they also had no form, they would immediately transform them into a form identical to their physical bodies based on their own cognition.

But Xia Duo's remained formless; although he could constrain it to take the shape of his physical body, once he stopped paying attention to it, It would return to its original state.

Or rather, It had no original state and was forever changing.

It was hard for Xia Duo to accept that his Soul was like this, so he could only comfort himself with the fact that he was from Earth; after all, he couldn't be some indescribable thing!

That would make it even harder for him to accept!

However, this time, the situation seemed to have undergone a slight change.

Although the Soul was still in an indescribable state when he first perceived it, when Xia Duo tried to fix its shape again with a "let's try it and see" attitude—

An accident occurred—

Even though Xia Duo stopped paying attention to It, It did not return to its original state; it just remained stably existing like that, and even emitted wisps of radiance, illuminating a small space around It.

"Sea of Consciousness? Sea of Spirit? Purple Mansion? Divine Palace? Spirit Platform?"

Xia Duo was instantly stunned, and at the same time, he instantly withdrew from the state of extreme focus; his consciousness returned to himself, while his body was still sitting securely behind the desk.

"How is this possible?" Xia Duo could not help but ask a soul-searching question.

Other Arcanists in Netheril did not have a situation like his; the Soul was just the Soul, located in a position that was extremely distant in perception, with no other existence around it, just that one lonely Soul.

When Xia Duo was an Advanced Arcanist, it was also that kind of situation. After advancing, although he didn't usually use his Soul, he would occasionally perceive it, and there had never been a situation where the Soul glowed and illuminated a space!

He did not know whether this situation was good or bad, but he knew that being special would certainly attract malicious gazes!