Chapter 912: The Arrival of the Council Envoys and the Reputation of the Hand of Secrecy

Tower of Time, Teleportation Room.

As soon as Xia Duo returned here, he saw Niya already waiting for him, looking around, her expression quite anxious, so he hurriedly stepped forward and said:

"I'm back, no need to be nervous. Even if we don't pass the inspection this time, it's no big deal. At worst, we'll just apply again in two years!"

In truth, Xia Duo knew very well that given the importance placed on him by those above, the possibility of failing the inspection was extremely low, and Niya was not entirely unaware of this either.

However, being emotional is a human instinct; it wasn't just Niya who felt anxiety and worry—Xia Duo did too, though compared to Niya, he might be a bit more rational.

On the other hand, since Niya had already expressed her concern, he felt embarrassed to keep dwelling on the emotions. After comforting Niya with a few words, the Teleportation Array not far away suddenly erupted with a burst of intense Magic Aura.

Thus, both of them stopped talking. The next moment, a seven-person inspection team led by Archmage Greta appeared on the teleportation platform.

"Lady Greta, welcome to the Tower of Time!"

Xia Duo and Niya stepped forward together to salute, then nodded to the other members of the inspection team.

For Greta, it was because of her status as a follower of the Princess, and also because of her personal friendship with Niya; as for the others, a nod was sufficient.

"Xia Duo, Niya, didn't expect it to be me coming over, did you?" Greta said jokingly.

"I truly didn't! But no matter who it is, I have the confidence to pass the Council's inspection!" Xia Duo answered very seriously.

And Niya, standing to the side, asked the question Xia Duo most wanted to ask, as if they shared a telepathic connection: "My Lady, how is it that you came in person?"

"I've been preparing for next month's New Year Festival recently and have been in contact with many Pioneers. I heard a lot of praise for the 'Handbook of Daxia Territory Development' from them, so I became curious and requested this mission from Her Highness the Princess, wanting to see what kind of changes have occurred in Daxia Territory compared to when I last visited!"

Greta stated her thoughts without any concealment and added: "This is the way to the Reception Room, right? No need to waste time, let's go directly to see the Xia Duo Territory!"

Niya hesitated for a moment, seemingly wanting to ask something else, but Xia Duo knew when to stop, so he spoke first: "Since you are interested in Daxia Territory, my Lady, let's go take a look at the territory first!"

As for the few people behind Greta, Xia Duo ignored them completely.

In fact, when he had nodded to them earlier and they had scrambled to return the salute, he knew these people were likely just going through the motions.

They had absolutely none of the airs of Council Envoys!

Of course, it was also possible that Xia Duo's existence was beyond their ability to put on airs, as he was, after all, a currently renowned Arcanist—the "All-Knowing Observer" and "All-Capable Commander" (promoted by the Seven Towers)!

……

Stepping out of the Tower of Time and into the Mythallar Ruins, Greta looked around and couldn't help but exclaim: "When I came last time, this place was still very bustling. I didn't expect that in just over a year, you would have restored it to this extent!"

"You flatter me, my Lady. This is not my credit alone. Even if you counted Niya and Aiboke, we wouldn't have been able to handle it! It was the help of a few friends from the 【Hand of Secrecy】 that allowed for such rapid progress in the restoration!"

In truth, it wasn't just the Arcanists from the 【Hand of Secrecy】, but several others as well, though Xia Duo was not familiar with those Arcanists, so he did not introduce them.

Hearing the name 【Hand of Secrecy】, Greta immediately showed a look of sudden realization, but then displayed a hint of disdain.

Although this trace of disdain was quickly suppressed, Xia Duo, who had been observing Greta, still noticed it.

Just as he was wondering where the 【Hand of Secrecy】 had offended Greta, her voice, devoid of much emotion, reached his ears: "So it was them! I remember the Mythallar here collapsed two years ago, no wonder!"

After saying this, Greta did not wait for Xia Duo and the others, but flew off toward the distance on her own, seemingly wanting to get a good look at the surrounding territory.

"Everyone, the Archmage has gone to inspect on her own. Do you wish to do the same, or shall I send someone to guide you through the territory?"

"Lord Xia Duo, please send someone to guide us, so as to avoid any unnecessary conflicts!"

Xia Duo was quite satisfied with their tact. He then cast a spell to summon Laidun. Before long, Laidun crossed the Mythallar Ruins and arrived at the foot of the Tower of Time, saluting Xia Duo and Niya respectively before saying:

"My Lord, what are your orders?"

Xia Duo pointed at the people from the Seven Towers and said: "These are the Council Envoys I mentioned earlier. Take them for a tour of the territory. Take them wherever they want to go, but be careful to protect the territory's secrets!"

Just as Xia Duo finished speaking, before Laidun could even open his mouth, a relatively older Mage among the Seven Towers group spoke up first:

"No, no, we won't pry into the secrets of Daxia Territory. We're just looking around, just looking around!"

To this, Xia Duo said nothing, merely nodding to signal Laidun to take them away.

……

With no outsiders present, Niya leaned toward Xia Duo and asked softly: "Aren't you going to follow?"

"Follow for what? Do you think you can restrict an Archmage? Even if you could restrict an Archmage, how could you block your teacher's gaze?"

Xia Duo took one of Niya's hands and patted the back of it lightly, "Don't worry, there is nothing in my territory that needs to be hidden from your teacher. Saying that just now was only to avoid trouble."

In reality, there were indeed many sensitive things in his territory, such as the New Natural Philosophy and the Territory Night School.

Among them, the Night School could not be seen during the day, and the New Natural Philosophy could not be seen by digging into someone's brain; letting them look wouldn't reveal much, so Xia Duo was not very worried.

Of course, the less trouble, the better.

As for Archmage Greta, since she couldn't be stopped anyway, he wouldn't try. He believed that even if she discovered traces of the New Natural Philosophy and learned of the existence of the Night School, and even told the Princess,

That wouldn't amount to much!

Especially since the Natural Druid had not truly been born yet; being sensitive did not mean it could not exist. Xia Duo still had that much confidence.

However, for Xia Duo, only two issues were sensitive, but in reality, for the natives of Netheril, there were far too many sensitive areas.

It was, after all, the territory of a transmigrator!

Perhaps Greta wouldn't even have time to discover the New Natural Philosophy or the Night School before her eyes were dazzled by the various novelties of Daxia Territory.

At the same time, Xia Duo was also curious: what would Greta's thoughts be upon seeing the current Daxia Territory?

And when his "Daxia Territory Construction Guide" and the updated "Development Guide" were released, what would those Pioneers think?