Xu Yi's ideals were full and flourishing, but reality laid its bare bones before him.
According to the plan, the first step in deploying Mana Signal Towers was to erect them throughout Xu Yi's Private Fief. This would serve both to promote them and to turn Xu Yi's Private Fief into a testing ground, making all kinds of trials and further research easier.
Once this step had progressed far enough, the next would be to expand the deployment of Mana Signal Towers throughout the Stantin Duchy, bringing the entire duchy into the magic network Xu Yi envisioned.
Yet while the first step had met with no obstacles, the second ran into a major roadblock almost as soon as it began.
The Xinfei Merchant Guild first approached another noble lord of the Stantin Duchy whose lands bordered Xu Yi's Private Fief, intending to erect Mana Signal Towers on his private lands and expand the magic network the guild had built.
But during their negotiations, the noble lord flatly rejected the Xinfei Merchant Guild's proposal.
This came as a great surprise to Xu Yi.
Because this noble lord's private lands lay so close to the Xinfei Merchant Guild, he had long enjoyed an exceptionally close partnership with the guild and had profited enormously from it.
Before this, he had never objected to any request from the Xinfei Merchant Guild and had always complied without reservation. Yet during these negotiations, he took an unusually hard line, leaving no room for further discussion and declaring that under no circumstances would he allow the guild to erect Mana Signal Towers on his private lands.
His fierce reaction puzzled everyone in the Xinfei Merchant Guild. Xu Yi even visited the noble lord himself over the matter, explaining in person what Mana Signal Towers did and how