Chapter 975: Scrying the Past, It Has Already Begun

Very quickly, the Magic Image in the center of the plaza finished playing; even though Xia Duo had already seen this footage during the collective rehearsal earlier, he still couldn't help but feel astonished by the wonder of magic.

This footage was just like a film on Earth, recounting the entire process of Daxia Territory from its inception in the Green Pearl Forest to the present day.

However, even a documentary cannot be entirely factual; there are always elements of reenactment or reshooting, but regarding this Magic Image, Xia Duo could say that it was almost entirely composed of real scenes.

The reason it was "almost" and not "absolutely" was because there were scenes where Xia Duo was not present, and Xia Duo could only guarantee that the scenes involving him were exactly the same as in his memory, without the slightest difference!

It was as if someone had traveled back to the past, following the development process of Daxia Territory and recording it all bit by bit, but Xia Duo knew this was clearly impossible!

This must be a more advanced Scrying spell capable of perceiving images of the past!

The fact that his appearances in the footage dropped off a cliff after Xia Duo achieved Advanced Rank was proof of this, because from that time on, he maintained an Avoidance of Detection spell almost every moment.

Especially after Master Bailun came knocking because of papermaking, he was even more vigilant, fearing that someone would find a flaw.

Of course, such behavior was quite common among Netherese Mages; almost any High Mage, unless the situation was special, would hide their own information as much as possible to avoid exposing weaknesses or secrets.

……

The footage ended, and the introduction regarding Xia Duo and Daxia Territory also concluded; Xia Duo bowed slightly to everyone and then returned to his own formation.

But after the silence lasted for a while, Greta still hadn't said anything about the rehearsal ending or doing it again, which made everyone feel somewhat suspicious.

At this moment, Princess Xiya was still standing in the center of the plaza, watching everyone in silence, which was another form of invisible pressure.

"Could something have gone wrong with the Princess's magic?" Xia Duo couldn't help but guess wildly.

Soon, eye contact began to occur among the crowd, but this kind of communication was almost meaningless, as everyone was filled with confusion.

The difference was that Xia Duo also knew to observe the state of the Magic Net around him to determine the Princess's condition, while the others were truly just guessing.

Of course, Xia Duo was not much better than just guessing; he could only see that the magic was still continuing, but he could not see the specific progress of the magic, or even its purpose.

Looking at Greta again, Xia Duo had an outstanding memory; he clearly saw that the frequency of Greta's gaze shifting had increased significantly compared to before, as if she had gone from the calmness at the end of the rehearsal to becoming anxious now!

"Could something really have gone wrong with the Princess's magic?"

But under Magic Vision, Xia Duo did not discover any abnormalities; he dared not use Cloud Qi Vision while the Princess was present, lest he blind his own eyes.

Spellcasting was also out of the question, as it would be discovered by others, so there was only the macroscopic perspective of the Magic Net.

Not long ago in Nan Jing, Master Bailun taught him a spell called the 【Eye of Amastakrinaz】 within the Maihete Lake Mythallar, which could be used to see the macroscopic state of the Magic Net.

Xia Duo had privately named this spell the 【Endless Mystery Eye】, but in reality, this macroscopic perspective of the Magic Net could be obtained through spells, or it could be obtained without spells!

This was merely a perspective for observing the Magic Net!

Ordinary Spellcasters might be accustomed to the microscopic perspective of specific Magic Net Strings and find it difficult to grasp the macroscopic state of the Magic Net, only being able to see it briefly at the moment of contacting the Deep Weave.

But after experiencing this special perspective a few times, Xia Duo discovered that there was no essential difference between this perspective and ordinary Magic Vision.

It was merely a shift in perspective, just like a flat three-dimensional image on Earth; to see the three-dimensional elements in the painting, one needed to adjust the focus of the eyeballs to a specific position.

The macroscopic perspective of the Magic Net was much the same.

In fact, the process of the 【Eye of Amastakrinaz】 spell was simply the process of assisting the Spellcaster in adjusting their Magic Vision angle!

Xia Duo was now able to obtain the macroscopic perspective of the Magic Net without casting this spell; of course, because he practiced it relatively little, he was not proficient at it.

But without a spellcasting process, he would not be discovered by others, and he could try repeatedly.

……

First, maintain focus; only on the basis of possessing Magic Vision could one proceed to the next step.

Following the process of the 【Eye of Amastakrinaz】 spell, Xia Duo shuttled his will through a specific combination of the First Layer of the Weave's strings, without touching any single point.

But because he lacked the assistance of the spell, especially the smooth feeling unique to Elf Magic that fits the Magic Net and allows for passive Spellcasting, he would make mistakes every time he reached a key Node.

And if he made a mistake, he had to start over; fortunately, it was just an adjustment of perspective and wouldn't cause any commotion, otherwise he wouldn't be doing all this!

Even if he were curious about the Princess's magic, he couldn't possibly cast spells to spy in front of so many people.

……

Having had a successful precedent, even if he wasn't proficient at the moment, it was just a matter of trying a few more times; soon, Xia Duo's will shuttled out from the combination of specific Magic Net Strings in the First Layer of the Weave.

Thus, a magnificent, gorgeous, and complex structure overflowing with infinite energy appeared in his field of vision.

He himself, the Mythallar he was currently in, and even all things, were within this magnificent structure; the Magic Net Strings connected everything, interwoven with one another.

In an instant, he once again felt a sensation known as "Heaven and Man Unity"!

However, the most important thing right now was to see what on earth the Princess's magic was doing, and whether something had gone wrong!

Xia Duo quickly observed the surroundings and did not find any macroscopic structures similar to a Mythallar appearing in the surrounding Magic Net; in other words, the Princess's magic did not seem to have caused any obvious changes to the macroscopic Magic Net.

No microscopic changes, no macroscopic changes—could it be that the Princess had deployed Arcane Fire earlier just for fun?

This was clearly impossible!

There must be something he had overlooked!

……

While observing the anomalies in the Magic Net, Xia Duo did not forget to pay attention to Greta's words, actions, and demeanor; however, after a long time without any obvious phenomena appearing, Greta returned to her calm appearance.

But she still did not announce that the rehearsal was over or to do it again, seemingly intending to let everyone wait.

Wait for what? Wait for the Princess to finish casting?

Could it be that the New Year Festival had actually already begun?

Xia Duo felt that this hypothesis of his was truly absurd; if just being here was enough, then there was no need to hold any New Year Festival at all—they could have just found a reason to summon the Pioneers!

But then again, wasn't the New Year Festival the reason for summoning the Pioneers?

Could it really have already begun?

Just as Xia Duo's thoughts were swaying back and forth, Princess Xiya suddenly retracted the Micro Magic Net, and immediately after, Greta announced to everyone—

Today's rehearsal is over, continue tomorrow!

This change came too quickly; before Xia Duo could figure out whether this festival had actually begun, the answer seemed to have already been revealed.

"Could it be that we need to rehearse, and the Princess needs to rehearse too?"

Returning to his temporary residence, Xia Duo was still thinking about this question; now alone, he habitually activated his Cloud Qi Vision—he didn't know until he looked, but upon looking—

"The Cloud Qi has actually decreased?!"

Xia Duo's eyes were filled with shock.