According to incomplete statistics, there are many duchies in the Land of Star Curtain, and the number has remained between 70 and 110 for a long time.
The reason for the incomplete statistics is that the vast majority of principalities are too small and the situation is very unstable, resulting in the country being in the process of splitting and reunifying for a long time, and there are countless royal families in exile.
For hundreds of years, the civilization centers of many principalities have been headed by the six principalities and radiated by the great empire of Aurora in the distant central plain. However, with the continuous exploration of truth by scholars for hundreds of years, the scholar system has become more and more perfect and powerful , In recent years, a situation of academic competition between the two duchies of Granville and Sealand has been completely formed.
Standing behind the two duchies are the cold figures of scholars.
At this moment, these three people are from the Principality of Sealand and the small Principality of Satir controlled by the puppet of Sealand.
Ailan was born in a small aristocratic family in the Principality of Sealand. The family ran a maltose business in the northeastern part of the Principality. However, as she matured as a well-known beautiful magician, she gradually attracted the idea of a heir of the Principality's Lia family.
The Lia family runs the most profitable slave business in the Principality of Sealand, and has an inseparable relationship with the prince's royal family.
With the support of the Lia family, she also successfully entered the Royal Academy of Natural Sciences in Zealand, where she learned more advanced knowledge of natural laws. Now she is less than fifty years old, and she is trying to obtain a bachelor's degree for extraordinary scholars.
This kind of achievement can already be regarded as the level of genius that only one person will be born out of every thousand scholars!
Although it cannot be compared with those legendary monsters, it is still a very rare genius.
Recalling the past, she held tea in the sandcastle shelter, looked at the two companions who were gradually falling asleep by flickering the fire, and estimated her on-duty time.
"Mr. Syke, wake up."
She called to the old scholar, the most cautious and decisive old man of the three.
In the past month, he relied on his decisiveness to survive several crises. Similar to yesterday's weird situation, he was also the first to take precautions.
"Um… "
The old man moved a bit, but it seemed like a sleepy baby was still sleeping.
This is very unusual for scholars.
Ailan's complexion changed slightly. She stretched out her right index finger. The energy runes on the nails emitted a light silver light. This is the ink she carefully prepared with 1.5g of mithril and three kinds of high-level monster bone powder to strengthen her ability to fight against evil spirits. The impact of the natural environment.
The moisture in the Furnace Desert is really too scarce!
Even if she tried her best, after expending a lot of energy, the water she could gather was pitifully small, and it fell on the old man's face with a "poof".
"you!!"
Surprisingly, after the old man woke up, his first reaction was extremely angry.
Although in a very short time, the old man rationally controlled his emotions, but Ailan knew that at that moment just now, he almost instinctively wanted to kill himself!
Whoops, whoops, whoops...
Ailan panted, staring at the old man.
The old man gradually relaxed, and then pressed his head in great annoyance.
"How much time did I sleep?"
"One hourglass time."
Ailan also relaxed, and wanted to wake up the female scholar in black in the same way, but saw the female scholar leaning on the black wolf raised her eyes under the shadow of the cloak, and said in a low voice, "No, I didn't sleep."
Ailan froze for a moment, then nodded, and the two looked at the old man who was worried about gain and loss.
He lost his mind and murmured: "Has the hourglass time only passed? Just in a dream, we have spent half a month..."
"us?"
The female scholar in black asked.
"Yes, the three of us left here together, and luckily found an ancient ruin, and we are discussing going back."
The old man kept looking at his old palms, shook his head angrily, and said, "There is a pond that can restore the vitality of cells. I seem to have returned to my twenties, and you, too, kept sighing for your beauty. Everything is so beautiful. "
He raised his head suddenly, full of longing, and looked at the two of them.
"Tell me, is this reality now, or was it just now? Why is it so real there! I've never had a dream so real! If this is reality, why is it so short and there is so long?"
Ailan and the female scholar in black glanced at each other.
This erudite, decisive, and cautious old scholar was so flustered and fragile at the moment, even a little crazy, which made them even more afraid of sleeping, or the dream after sleeping... in their hearts.
Especially the female scholar in black.
It was because of her fear that she did not fall asleep.
"Master Saike, I can tell you responsibly that this is the real world!"
Ailan said firmly.
"Is it?"
The old man muttered in a low voice, then seemed to think of something, looked at Ailan, his expression gradually became strange.
"Then how sure are you that this is the real world and you haven't fallen asleep?"
"I?"
Ailan was about to deny it as a matter of course, but suddenly felt a sense of weightlessness, and then the world was spinning, and she suddenly woke up.
"Ailan, you're finally awake!"
Opening her eyes, what Ailan saw was the concerned face of the old Sai Ke scholar.
The female scholar in black on the side explained anxiously: "You fell asleep just now, and we couldn't wake you up no matter how much we called. The moisture in the air here is very scarce. As a last resort, I can only use the inertia of weightlessness to wake you up."
"Wait, I remembered..."
Ailan rubbed her forehead to hide the fear deep in her eyes.
"It seems that it's my turn to be on duty, but I fell asleep? How long did I sleep?"
"In less than a minute, I kept reading because I didn't dare to sleep, and I tried to wake you up when I found you fell asleep, but I didn't expect you to be unable to wake up. By the way, how much time have you just passed in there?" ?”
Ailan raised her head and looked at the two seriously.
Now, she is still not sure whether this is a dream within a dream or the real reality.
Like an invisible devil, the shadow that disturbs one's spiritual cognition, interferes with oneself behind the scenes, absorbs the fear deep in one's soul, and destroys one's rational will with fatigue.
"It's been an hourglass time."
Alan replied in the affirmative.
"An hourglass!!?"
Sai Ke couldn't believe it: "If you compare the time flow between dreams and reality, four months have passed in one day's sleep! In this case, even for us, it may be difficult to distinguish reality from dreams, right?"
Ailan frowned and stared at Sai Ke.
She said slowly: "Then how can you be sure that this is the real world and you haven't fallen asleep?"
Cyke stared at Ailan, he was stunned.
Immediately afterwards, the three of them looked around at each other, feeling the unprecedented strangeness and fear in each other. A cold breath rose from the tailbone of the back to the back, and goose bumps appeared.
…
Deep underground.
Lei Luo couldn't even move a little finger, but he didn't die.
Silent and boring, in this maddening darkness, he seemed like countless ruins submerged in the ground, quietly waiting for the baptism of time, gradually annihilated and disappeared.
"It's the fifteenth day."
Although this essence clone will continue to be strengthened as the natural law of the astral body's closed cycle is continuously improved, it may take two years to upgrade to the second-level biological level.
What is desperate is that the environment he is facing at this moment is that even if he is promoted to the third-level biological level, he will not be able to escape easily.
"Um?"
Suddenly, Lei Luo in the gravel opened his eyes.
"The pressure above seems to be getting lighter."
Lei Luo felt right.
A moment later, with a panting sound like a wild animal, a palm violently pulled him out of the ground.
"Jie Jie, quack quack, you devil, you are here... this must be the real world!"
Lei Luo stared at the past, narrowing his eyes slightly.
The pitch-black skin and the scrawny figure are almost indistinguishable from a walking skeleton.
He... or her sunken eye socket, one eyeball disappeared, and the other eyeball lost its divine light, without any waves.
With such an image, if it wasn't for the black academic gown she was wearing, it would be difficult for Lei Luo to recognize her. She is the young and beautiful female bachelor under the black robe.
"What did you do to us! Ailan is crazy, and Seke is also crazy. They can't distinguish between reality and dreams. I sacrificed my eyes, and the answer I got was because I was too close to you!"
The monster pinched Lei Luo tightly.
"Tell me! You devil! What have you done to us!!!"