Above the mage

Chapter 226 Zhenbing and Spring

As Du Wei disappeared from the snow-capped peak, Gao De realized that he had underestimated the guy's family background.

A teleportation spell that can make a person disappear must be at the fourth ring or higher level.

"Master, he has disappeared."

"They've been teleported away."

"Can we go this way too?"

"cannot."

Why?

"He's richer."

"Oh~~~"

Gao De looked back at the road he had come from, and then let out a long sigh.

"Lady Flora."

"I am here."

"Now it's just the two of us again."

"Lady Flora can count."

"Then let's get ready to go."

"How much longer do we have to walk?"

"We don't know until we get there. For now, let's go down the mountain."

"It'll take a long time again."

"It will be a little faster than going uphill," Gao De assured him.

That is indeed the case.

Climbing snow-capped mountains often requires using both hands and feet to ascend, and the snow on your feet consumes a great deal of energy, so you can't walk too far in a day.

However, there are easier ways to descend snow-capped mountains.

Under Flora's wide-eyed gaze, God first created a large mass of clear water, and then controlled it to condense into a streamlined, slightly curved ice plate.

The ice board has a slightly upturned tip and tail, a flat bottom, and sharp ice blades on both sides.

Along with the ice plate, two ice sticks with sharp, pointed tips also solidified.

[Water Creation Technique] + [Water Manipulation].

With two simple magic tricks combined, Gaode created a simple ice skateboard and corresponding ice ski poles.

Gao De patted his chest pocket, gesturing for Flora to come in.

Flora didn't hesitate and flew over without hesitation.

"Hold on tight," he said.

Then, Gao De stepped onto the ice board, and with a slight thought, he used [Water Manipulation] to control the ice board to connect tightly with his boots.

He looked down and saw that the snow-capped peaks of Dandong were covered with snow that never melted, covering every inch of rocks and crevices.

Sunlight shone on the crystal-clear snow, reflecting bursts of dazzling light.

Gao De took a deep breath of the cold, thin air, letting the icy sensation fill his chest.

Then, Gao De suddenly pushed off the ground and leaped from the mountaintop platform onto the snow slope.

As he moved, the ice slab seemed to come alive, gliding lightly down the snowy slope and leaving a clear trail on the snow.

The snowflakes on the track were stirred up by the force of the ice plate, and they flew up and formed a dazzling snow rain, but Gaode left them behind.

The speed increased instantly, the wind whistled past my ears, and the stinging sensation of snowflakes hitting my face.

But Gaode didn't care at all, completely immersed in the thrill.

The undeveloped Dandong Snow Mountain has no traditional ski runs. The terrain is sometimes wide and gentle, and sometimes narrow and steep, full of obstacles and sharp turns, which tests Gaode's technology.

Gao De tilted his body slightly, using his ice stick to adjust his direction and speed, making smooth and unimpeded turns left and right. The moment the tip of his ice stick touched the snow, snowflakes flew up.

He made every turn with precision and landed smoothly with every leap, demonstrating an amazing sense of balance and control.

His experience studying at Peking University in his previous life gave him the opportunity to be exposed to skiing, giving him a certain foundation.

But at this moment, his behavior is closer to extreme sports than simply skiing.

The reason I was able to control it is thanks to the surge in mental power after the upgrade, which brought me to a more precise perception and control of my body.

The surrounding scenery became blurred as we moved at high speed.

"Master, you can fly too!"

"This isn't flying, this is skiing!"

The voices of Gao De and Flora could be faintly heard amidst the swirling snowflakes.

In the North, the vast, boundless permafrost tundra unfolds like a silver-white tapestry, serene and solemn, beneath the horizon.

White is the dominant color in this region.

No matter the month or time, the snow in the North has never melted.

The melody of the changing seasons has lost its original rhythm here.

Time seemed to be frozen by ice and snow.

The perpetual ice and snow have earned this land the name "permafrost".

In the central part of the North, at the Ancient Frost Pass.

This place was once the ancient sacred site of the Iceborn tribe.

However, it was abandoned long ago for some reason and became a forgotten ruin, buried in history.

It wasn't until recent years that this abandoned ancient site was brought back to light thanks to the new war mother of the Zhenbing tribe.

At the very center of Gushuangkou is a protruding rocky area.

The sanctuary of Poria once stood on this rocky land.

The Boreas Sanctuary is an ancient pilgrimage site for the Iceborn tribes and the source of their culture and beliefs.

However, with the decline of the Ancient Frost Pass, the Sanctuary of Boreas was not spared either, and it too faded into obscurity over the long course of time.

But now, with the resurrection of the Ancient Frost Mouth, the Sanctuary of Porias has been awakened once more.

The Iceborn tribe, in ancient times, was one of the four major branches of the human race, on par with the Wolfborn, Dragonborn, and Sunborn. They were an important origin of mage civilization and flourished for a time.

Later, with the rise of the mage civilization, the influence of these tribes of the Four Barbarians, whose bloodlines could awaken magic on their own, gradually declined.

Today, the Dragonborn, like the dragons themselves, are almost extinct.

The Iceborn and Wolfborn live in the isolated North, seemingly gradually being phased out by human civilization and becoming synonymous with backwardness and aborigines.

In fact, the Iceborn tribes are following the same path as the Dragonborn tribes.

Their bloodline power is becoming increasingly diluted, as if they are under some kind of curse.

The Iceborn tribes of the past could produce seventh- or even eighth-ring mages simply through their bloodline power. But now, among the dozens of Iceborn tribes large and small in the North, not even a fifth-ring mage can be found.

As the former inhabitants of this permafrost tundra, they are gradually being phased out by this land.

If nothing unexpected happens, the Iceborn tribes may be buried by the snow and winds of the North in a few thousand years.

At this moment, flames blazed above the snow-covered Sanctuary of Porias.

The wind and snow continued to howl, but they could not extinguish the burning torch.

The Zhenbing Tribe is the most powerful of the northern ice-born tribes.

Now, the most powerful hunters in the entire Zhenbing tribe have gathered on this small rocky area.

In ancient times, when the bloodline power of the Iceborn tribes had just begun to decline, the War Mothers and High Priests of the three Iceborn tribes tried every method but could not find the root cause or a solution.

Finally, Oretia, the war mother of the Iceborn tribe, held the grandest ritual magic in the history of the Iceborn tribe in the sanctuary of Porias.

In that ritual magic, Oretia saw the Iceborn tribe's long decline to come, and the hope for its revival.

"Awaken the slumbering earth!"

"Oh, North Wind!"

"If winter comes, can spring be far behind?"

This is a short hymn left behind by Oretia after a ritual magic, which has been passed down for thousands of years among all the Iceborn tribes in the North.

It is said that this hymn points to the hope of the Iceborn tribes' revival.

In the biting winds and icy snow that even the Iceborn found unbearable, the seasoned hunters of the True Ice tribe stripped off their animal skins, exposing their bare arms and chests.

Everyone knelt down on one knee in unison.

There were tens of thousands of Iceborn on the rocky ground, but not a single one of them made a sound.

It was so quiet that the only sounds were the howling of the biting wind and the sizzling of the roaring flames.

A huge brazier was ablaze with a vibrant fire.

The flame's core stretched high into the sky.

The brazier was completely ignited.

A new ceremony is beginning.

The Zhenbing tribe people gathered here did not look at the flames, but instead looked up at the high platform in the center.

On that high platform stood a woman.

She had long, flowing silver hair, as pure and flawless as the first snow of winter, cascading down her back.

Her face was beautiful and refined, her eyes were deep and blue, and she had a coldness that seemed to see into people's hearts.

Her fair skin remained even against the backdrop of ice and snow, making her appear even more ethereal.

Behind her was a huge ice bow, as tall as a person.

The ice bow was crystal clear and exuded a faint chill.

The woman let her gaze sweep over everyone.

This was the largest gathering of hunters in the tribe.

She knew they had all come to see her.

She is the new War Mother of the Zhenbing tribe, and also the youngest War Mother in history.

The master of the blizzard, the awakener of the Pure Ice spell, the daughter of Boreas, the last pure-blooded Iceborn, born of ice and snow, and the savior of the Pure Ice tribe.

She is Sunefa Porias.

Sunefa took her ice bow from behind her back and raised it high.

This is the Ice Magic Weapon [Blizzard], crafted from Zhenbing, and is the weapon of the ancient Boreas himself.

It had already vanished into history, just like the ancient frost-covered land.

Until Sunefa found the Blizzard and gained its approval.

The Zhenbing tribe, which was already on the verge of collapse, all submitted to Boreas's weapons.

The biting cold chilled Sunafa to the bone.

Even though she has the blood of the Iceborn and has awakened ancient ice magic, she still cannot be immune to the stinging pain from the extreme cold of the [Blizzard].

Having spent so much time with this weapon, Sunefa had become quite familiar with the feeling, instead of having to force a calm expression as she had at the beginning.

Sunefa has even become unable to live without this pain.

Zhenbing's extreme cold allows her to focus, eliminate all distractions, and grow rapidly.

Sunefa shifted her gaze from the faces of the crowd to the blazing braziers around them.

Jue~~~

At that moment, a long and stirring cry rang out from high above.

That was the unique cry of a falcon, full of power and freedom, seemingly able to penetrate everyone's soul.

But no one on the field looked up, and their expressions showed no unusual behavior.

The next moment, a falcon swooped down from the sky, circled nimbly in the low air, and finally landed on Sunefa's shoulder.

It was a silver-white falcon, its feathers seemingly made of frost, and its sharp eyes were so striking that even the most powerful hunters dared not meet its gaze.

That was Sunafar's magical falcon, also obtained from the Ancient Frostlands.

Sunefa took a deep breath and then drew back the bowstring of [Blizzard].

The enormous ice bow was even larger than Sunefa herself, yet Sunefa seemed to possess immense strength, effortlessly drawing the bowstring taut.

As the bowstring tightened, a crystal arrow, crystal clear and flawless, was born and condensed under the power contained within the ice bow itself.

Sunefa held her breath.

The temperature on the high platform plummeted at that moment, and frost flowed along the bowstring, circulating throughout her body and then spreading outwards from her feet.

Crackling sound.

The sound of frost freezing rang out, like a piece of music.

Just as the frost was about to spread beyond the high ground, Sunefa exhaled and released the string.

The ice crystal arrow flew out, carrying a bone-chilling cold and an unstoppable force, soaring upwards, and finally exploded in the sky with a deafening roar, turning into countless tiny ice crystals.

These ice crystals re-condensed into the emblem of the Zhenbing tribe in a very short instant.

"The ceremony begins."

Sunafa announced softly, her voice carrying through the cold wind and echoing throughout the entire venue.

Swish swish!

As her voice faded, the atmosphere on the field became even more solemn and dignified.

As if summoned, all the hunters of the Zhenbing tribe drew their specially made daggers from their waists, the sound of which was like a thunderclap from a clear sky.

The daggers, emanating a chilling aura, were drawn, and all the hunters held the blades against their right palms, their faces displaying a reverence and awe for their tribe, their ancestors, and the forces of nature.

Then they closed their eyes and silently recited ancient hymns.

"Awaken the slumbering earth!"

"Oh, North Wind!"

"If winter comes, can spring be far behind?"

Then, they made a light stroke.

The blade of the ice slashed through the skin, causing blood to bloom in clusters.

Despite the extreme cold, the blood did not freeze.

Because this is the bloodline of the Ice People.

The blood of the Iceborn fell onto the rocky ground, as if drawn by some kind of magnetic field, converging towards the central platform.

In the center of the platform, behind Sunefa, starlight began to appear.

This starlight is connected to and echoes the stars in the sky.

Sunafa's pupils turned white at this moment, as if she had already drifted off into a trance.

Everyone stared wide-eyed, holding their breath as they watched Sunefa on the stage.

This process lasted about a minute.

That one minute felt like an eternity to those on the field.

Finally, Sunefa's pale eyes returned to their original deep blue.

But there was an inescapable weariness in it.

"Winter has come for the Icefolk tribes."

Spring is just around the corner.

Sunafa's voice, like a song, drifted across the rocky ground.

"Someone is coming from the top of the mountain."

"He will awaken the slumbering earth."

"He will bring spring and life to the permafrost tundra."

"He will ensure that the children of the Ice Age will no longer suffer from hunger."

"With his help, Zhenbing will surely be gloriously revived!"

"The North will be unified once more!"

"How do we find him?" someone asked the most crucial question.

"That person, protected by ice and snow, will be able to withstand the chill of the finest ice."

"That person was favored by nature, and was accompanied by the spirits of nature."

"That person was enlightened by the world and possessed the most primal power in the world."

"Believe in Him, welcome Him, follow Him."

(End of this chapter)