Chapter 774: Future Trends, A Breakthrough in Relationship

Learning from Niya that she had come to call him for lunch, Xia Duo, though not yet hungry, was still very pleased that Niya had made the special effort to find him.

The two finished a low-key meal in the Apprentice dining hall within Giles Tower and returned to the Library together; afterwards, Xia Duo continued scanning books, while Niya remained in the adjacent reading room to finish the academic tasks her teacher had assigned her.

……

"Beep—Visitor Xia Duo, the Library is closed to visitors from 6 PM to 6 AM. Please exit as soon as possible!"

The sudden prompt from the Tower Spirit interrupted Xia Duo's book-scanning state, and it was only then that he realized the time had already reached evening.

Resignedly placing the book in his hand back on the shelf, Xia Duo called for Niya, who was still reading in the reading room, and the two left the Library together.

On the way, Xia Duo asked Niya, "Do you know why Giles Tower has a rule that visitors cannot go to the Library at night?"

Recalling the time he spent at Giles Tower after the Snow Melting Competition ended, he felt he had indeed never stayed in the Library until 6 PM; now that this rule had suddenly appeared, Xia Duo was still somewhat annoyed.

There weren't many books left, and he could have finished flipping through them all by staying a little later, yet it had to be dragged out!

Regarding this, Niya could only offer soft comfort, quickly shifting the topic to tomorrow's exchange meeting: "Per your request, everyone attending tomorrow's exchange has had the experience of traveling to an Other Plane. Are you looking to develop in the direction of a Plane Scholar?"

"Something like that!"

Xia Duo said vaguely; in truth, a Plane Scholar was a decent profession, but its limitations were too great, a bit like a train driver.

They might know the train very well, but they certainly don't know it as well as the train's designer or manufacturer.

The research of Plane Scholars into the Plane Domain mainly focuses on discovering new Planes, rather than the essence of Planes or anything else.

What Xia Duo wanted, however, was to achieve the goal of modifying his Personal Space through the study of Planes.

The modifications here, besides basic operations like expanding or shrinking, also included setting up a Magic Net for the Personal Space, modifying the internal environment, and so on.

If his Personal Space were large enough, he could completely bring back a Nether Scroll from a Projection Plane to become his own private collection.

He could even develop a civilization within his Personal Space, accumulating a foundation—the benefits were countless.

Of course, all of this had to start with studying Planes, and studying Planes required having enough Plane materials to allow him to experiment with confidence.

This required exploring and discovering new Planes.

"I think the prospects for Plane Scholars are excellent. Currently, the Nether Territory seems to still have a large amount of unexploited land, but the further periphery is already surrounded by the Elf Kingdom, so the potential for development is limited. Exploring and discovering new Planes might become the future trend!"

Niya analyzed it quite seriously, and by the end, she was somewhat tempted herself: "Xia Duo, do you think I should become a Plane Scholar too?"

Xia Duo looked at her in surprise and answered earnestly: "You can, as long as you find it interesting. Sometimes, interest becomes our best mentor!"

"Interest? Mentor?" Niya was a bit confused. "Is this another proverb from your hometown?"

"Yes. If we do things we aren't interested in ourselves, we won't have any motivation to do them. In my hometown, we place great importance on human subjective initiative!"

Xia Duo briefly introduced the dialectical relationship between the objectivity of laws and human subjective initiative, as well as the guiding philosophy required for understanding and transforming the world that stems from it.

The Memory Retrospection ability allowed Xia Duo to recall many memories from Earth that he had already begun to forget; now, just speaking about the content from his Middle School political textbooks gave him quite the feeling of time reversing—though he knew this was an illusion, an illusion brought about by precise recall.

After listening to Xia Duo's brief introduction, Niya suddenly stopped in her tracks and let out an exclamation: "Your hometown really is a golden age of Magic!"

Xia Duo smiled modestly; compared to Netheril, Earth could indeed be called a golden age of "Magic"!

Of course, now that Netheril had him, it would certainly be able to develop a true Magic civilization.

……

Soon, the two arrived at the periphery of the private residence area of Giles Tower. Xia Duo was about to bid Niya farewell and go to the guest room to rest, but Niya stopped him:

"Go to my place, even if not, not—"

The voice at the end was so small that even with the extraordinary hearing Xia Duo gained after his Bloodline Awakening, he couldn't make out what Niya was saying, only hearing the final sentence—

"It's more convenient to stay at my place!"

Xia Duo thought about it and did not decline. Having returned to Giles Tower after half a year, their relationship had grown much closer; even if Xia Duo had suggested sleeping in the same bed as Niya, she might not have refused.

It was just that Xia Duo himself still had some concerns—what exactly were his thoughts regarding Niya!

If at first he regarded her as a mentor whose coattails he could ride, and his thoughts were simple, then things had changed after they were married. Xia Duo sometimes felt stifled, sometimes felt secretly pleased; in short, it was very complicated.

But accepting reality was not difficult, especially with such a beautiful wife.

And in the continuous exchanges and interactions that followed, the two gradually understood and accepted each other, but as far as Xia Duo himself was concerned, he could no longer distinguish whether this stemmed from his own true feelings or from some obscure utilitarian purpose.

Although he was unwilling to admit it, the latter indeed existed, and to a certain extent, it still influenced Xia Duo's further emotional investment in Niya.

Perhaps this is what is called "a bitch is just being pretentious"!

Or perhaps this is what is called "rationality"!

But people are always complex; there is no one who is purely rational or emotional, and Xia Duo was no exception. Now that Niya had taken the initiative to take a step, how could he not respond!

……

The next morning, Xia Duo opened his eyes abruptly. Turning his head, he saw Niya still fast asleep beside him, and he couldn't help but sigh in his heart: finally, they had reached this step.

Of course, nothing had happened between the two last night. Knowing that the Mage Tower was monitored everywhere, how could he possibly do anything on someone else's turf!

The two simply chatted until late at night. Niya told him many things about her childhood; unfortunately, her mother passed away from illness shortly after Niya was born, and her childhood was not happy.

At least, it was far less happy than the stories Xia Duo told her about his own childhood!

Looking at the delicate and pretty person in deep sleep, Xia Duo suddenly understood: if the establishment of Daxia Territory meant he had a home in this world, then Niya was his family in this world.

"Then let's live well in this world!"

With this thought, the look in Xia Duo's eyes as he watched Niya grew even closer.