Chapter 957: Pioneering Tradition, Protective Talisman

"Your Highness shines with boundless radiance; Xia Duo cannot help but feel awe!"

Xia Duo did not know which field the Princess truly specialized in, but judging by the Pioneer Scepter, she should be quite proficient in mental spells.

It should not be difficult to see the authenticity of his statement.

Fortunately, the Princess did not delve too deeply into this question; after Xia Duo answered, she let it go lightly and changed the subject:

"Take out the Territory Document!"

Xia Duo had long been prepared for this; he hurriedly took it out from his Dimensional Bag and handed it to the Princess with both hands, "Your Highness, this is the Territory Document for Daxia Territory."

"Mm."

The Princess took the document but did not update it immediately. Instead, she led Xia Duo to a wall on the side of the Pioneer Hall and said to him, "Although the situation is special this time, the necessary procedures must still be followed. Look at the wall!"

Upon hearing this, Xia Duo looked at the wall. When he and Niya had just entered, his attention had been captured by the Princess, and afterwards, for fear of being impolite, he had not looked at the wall again.

Only now did he discover that the walls of this Pioneer Hall were actually covered with carvings of the pioneers' expansion: from making fire, fishing, hunting, and taming, to even reproduction, all were depicted.

"What you see now is the very beginning of Netheril—the birth of the seven villages: Giles, Gustav, Morain, Jilan, Jiannike, Nasif, and Fenweike!"

"It was precisely because our ancestors constantly pioneered and forged ahead, constantly seeking development and growth, that these seven villages came together, leading to the later Seven Cities Alliance and the Netheril of today."

Starting from the left wall upon entering the Pioneer Hall, the Princess led Xia Duo and Niya to revisit the history of Netheril, or rather, its history of expansion.

Xia Duo was no stranger to this history; he had seen much of it in the libraries of Giles Tower, the Arcane Union, and even the Tower of Time, but those were not systematic and were even mixed with the biased subjective assumptions of the authors.

Now, with the Princess personally explaining the past history of Netheril, it brought Xia Duo a brand-new perspective to examine that period of history.

A mere Pioneer Hall, with only two walls, could of course not fully display the nearly thousand-year history of Netheril, and even with the Princess's explanation, it was not enough.

In fact, the Princess only selected several events of great historical significance to explain, from one wall to the other, from the ancestors at the source of Netheril all the way to the theft of the 【Nether Scroll】.

And at this point, the carvings in the hall came to an end; although there was still space further ahead, it was indeed blank.

Of course, the theft of the 【Nether Scroll】 did not appear in the carvings of the Pioneer Hall; the final carving was a scene from over a hundred years ago when Netheril wiped out the largest Orc tribe within its territory.

Regarding this, the Princess said the following—

"Starting from the annihilation of the largest Orc tribe within the territory, Netheril's external expansion almost came to a halt. Savile Territory is the most recent pioneer territory, dating back nearly a hundred years, but for certain reasons, it could not appear here."

Speaking of this, she paused, turned to look at Xia Duo, and revealed a meaningful gaze: "Next, Daxia Territory will appear here!"

Upon hearing this, Xia Duo felt a sense of being flattered.

At the same time, he also thought that restarting external expansion was not just about expanding territory and borders, but also a transformation in thought!

It was to reverse the current conservative attitude of Netherese Mages towards knowledge and return to the open state before the 【Nether Scroll】 was stolen, so that magic could develop rapidly and fully!

In the past, even the most ordinary Commoner could come to Seventon to read the 【Nether Scroll】, but now, the 【Nether Scroll】 was locked in the Secret Chamber of the Arcane Union; even an Advanced Rank Mage found it difficult to catch a glimpse, let alone an ordinary person.

At this moment, Xia Duo deeply felt that he was at a critical node in history.

"Pioneer Xia Duo, are you willing to inherit the legacy of the ancestors and continue to open up new territories for my Netherese people?"

"I am willing!" Xia Duo agreed without hesitation.

"Good!"

Following this response, a silver scepter appeared in the Princess's hand, and she used it to swipe across Xia Duo's Territory Document.

Instantly, the silver Fuwu on this gold paper document, which was manufactured in imitation of the Nether Scroll, suddenly trembled. When it recovered, a new line of text had been added—

"Netherese Calendar 837, January 5th, Daxia Lord Xia Duo promoted to the Seven Cities Council."

Of course, this was just a brief text record similar to a thumbnail; on the back of the document, there were bilingual annotations in Netherese and Elf, explaining in detail the rights and obligations of a Netheril Lord.

"I hope you truly live up to the responsibilities of a Lord!"

After offering this final encouragement, the Princess handed the updated Territory Document to Xia Duo. Xia Duo took the document, scanned it briefly, put it away, and replied solemnly: "I will certainly not fail in my duties!"

"That is good, go back now!"

"Yes!"

Walking out of the Pioneer Hall, Xia Duo looked up at the sky; it was cloudless and clear, and his mood was excellent.

Although he had only just scanned the contents of the Territory Document, those contents were already deeply imprinted in his memory, and among them, the only thing Xia Duo cared about most was one sentence—

"As long as the Lord acknowledges the ruling status of the Seven Cities Council over Netheril, the Seven Cities Council will also maintain the Lord's rule over the Territory!"

The meaning of this sentence was that as long as one became a formal Lord, one was considered a true ruler of Netheril.

Even a Great Arcanist was subject to this system and exerted great power through it, and once someone violated the will of this system, even a Great Arcanist might not necessarily benefit.

Of course, the actual situation might differ somewhat from the theory, but having become a formal Lord, the protection of the Seven Cities Council would not only mean acknowledging the Lord's ruling status, but also include concrete personal safety guarantees.

If a non-Lord killed a Lord, even a Great Arcanist would surely pay a heavy price.

The Territory Document did not explicitly state this, but the relevant explanatory clauses did not exclude Great Arcanists either, unless the Great Arcanist was a Lord themselves, in which case the relevant exemption clauses for Lords could apply.

Xia Duo had not understood before why Rodney Lord had not died after defecting to and then betraying the Weide Grand Arcanist, even after he passed the position of Lord to his son.

It was not that the Weide Grand Arcanist could not kill him, but that the Weide Grand Arcanist was not a Lord and likely could not afford the price of killing a Lord.

Although this was just a guess of Xia Duo's, it was not impossible.

Although a Great Arcanist was powerful enough to set rules, since they were called rules, they must possess a certain stability and would not be changed at will.

Based on the current rules and past history, a Great Arcanist had not been granted the privilege of killing a Lord at will without punishment.

Xia Duo carefully savored the contents of the Territory Document; he discovered that this status of Lord might truly be a protective talisman!

There was only one biggest reason: to use words from Earth, the Seven Cities Council was the highest authority in Netheril, and this was guaranteed by the Seven Towers Group.

Although power was very dispersed and not concentrated, the highest was the highest, and it must certainly possess a certain authority.

The Seven Towers Group was the most powerful and tightest violent alliance in Netheril; by comparison, the Arcane Union was just a loose alliance of Spellcasters.

There might be the inertia of tradition in this, but more importantly, it was the power of the Seven Towers; as long as the Seven Towers did not fall, the Seven Cities Council would not fall.

At the same time, the various Lords who made up the Seven Cities Council would not fall (relatively speaking).

This was very similar to the United Nations in Xia Duo's hometown; no matter how weak a country (Lord) with a seat was, its sovereignty would ostensibly be respected by all major powers.

If a small country was bullied, the United Nations (Seven Cities Council) would step in to mediate and intervene.

Isn't this just an Amulet?