Above the mage

Chapter 236 Trading

as predicted.

The next second, the young hunter abruptly stopped, turned around, and stared wide-eyed:

"A large reward of Ice Marrow, and becoming a guest of honor in the Zhenbing Tribe?"

Whether it's the former or the latter, it's enough to make one's mouth water and be tempted.

Ice marrow is the most widely accepted "currency" in the North. With a large amount of ice marrow, there is basically nothing you can't buy.

The Zhenbing tribe is the leader of the three large tribes in the Northern Territory. Becoming a guest of honor of the Zhenbing tribe is like rising to the top in one step.

"Yes," the Snowfield guard nodded.

Are there any restrictions on participating in the challenge?

"No, anyone can participate, regardless of gender, age, or race. Anyone who is willing can take on the challenge."

"Nothing needs to be paid?" the young hunter couldn't help but ask again.

"No need," the older Snowfar guard saw through the young hunter's thoughts. "That's the Zhenbing tribe, what could they possibly want from you?"

"If you believe you have the ability, or are unsure whether you do, our clan has set up a testing point in the center of the camp and will present you with the only piece of Zhenbing that our clan possesses for testing."

"Although it's just a small piece of pure ice, it's certainly not comparable to the Pure Ice Sword. But it's a good opportunity for you to test your skills. After all, if you can't even lift your own clan's pure ice, then there's no point in trying to draw the Ice Sword. This way, you won't have made a wasted trip."

Upon hearing this, the young hunter's breathing became heavy.

He didn't ask anything more, just nodded heavily, and then led the snow dog into Snowfield Camp.

If nothing unexpected happens, they should head straight for the testing site set up by the Snowfield clan.

Not to mention him, even Gao De was tempted by these words.

A large amount of Ice Marrow reward.

Although no specific quantity was mentioned, given the status of the Zhenbing Tribe, the use of "a large amount" suggests that it must be quite substantial.

However, it's just a passing fancy; I wouldn't actually take any action.

Firstly, Gao De was well aware that True Ice weapons have always been exclusive to Iceborn. If someone could truly draw the True Ice sword, they must also be of Iceborn blood, not an outsider like him.

Although he has [Adaptive], it is not impossible for him to adapt to the coldness of the True Ice weapon.

However, according to Chief Himo, God was certain that with his current 100.1% increase in cold resistance and his rudimentary Ice Protection Body, he was still far from being able to withstand the chill of the True Ice weapon.

That's a special thing that can only be formed in extremely low temperatures of minus 100 degrees Celsius.

One would need to at least reach the intermediate level of Ice Protection Body before having a chance to challenge True Ice.

He is still a long way from reaching that level.

Since evolving the Elementary Ice Body, Gao De's cold resistance has completely stagnated.

The reason is simple: the environment in the North no longer stimulates his body, so he doesn't need to adapt.

Secondly, for Gaode, the most important thing right now is planting trees.

He is currently quite far from the Zhenbing tribe.

It's fine to stop by and watch the excitement if you're passing by, but it's impossible to spend a lot of time specifically to go to Zhenbing Tribe just to join in the fun.

Gaode can distinguish between what is more important and what is less important.

While he was pondering this, it was finally his turn in the not-so-long queue.

The two guards at the gate, Snowfield, frowned slightly and glanced at God.

The outsider's identity and demeanor on Gaode Maps are indeed too conspicuous.

The natives of the North have never been fond of outsiders, so it's no wonder they had such expressions.

Despite their dislike, the two guards didn't make things difficult for Gao De.

They simply asked Gaode two questions, including its origin and purpose.

Although God could understand their language, the two guards were not Iceborn and did not possess the ability to understand languages, so they could not understand his Common Tongue.

In the end, Gao De barely managed to answer the two guards' questions through gestures, and was allowed to enter despite their somewhat impatient attitude.

"They want to make their fortune in our North, but they don't even learn the language of Ace. Outsiders are so arrogant." As they entered the Snowfar tribe camp, God heard the murmurs of the others in the group behind him.

Although it was meant to be a sarcastic remark, Gao De's heart stirred.

It seems necessary to learn Ace language... After all, [Language Proficiency] only allows him to understand Ace language, not to speak it.

With such a language barrier, doing many things in the North is really inconvenient.

Moreover, it is foreseeable that after planting Yggdrasil, the North will be practically his "old lair" and he will spend a lot of time there.

Therefore, mastering the language of Ace is even more essential.

Moreover, for Gaode, learning and mastering a language is actually not that difficult.

First of all, his memory is exceptionally outstanding.

In addition, with the aid of [Language Proficiency], the difficulty of learning Ace language is undoubtedly reduced by several levels, given that one can fully understand Ace language.

Finally, the people I'm currently interacting with are all Northerners who speak the Ace language, making it easier to learn the language in this environment.

It's like in a past life, some people who couldn't learn English in China could quickly learn it after being sent abroad for a period of time.

While thinking, Gao De continued walking and officially entered Snowfield Camp.

The campsite is densely packed with tents, with wide walkways that allow people to move around easily, clearly indicating that it was specially planned when the campsite was set up.

Gaode noticed that many tents had heavy animal skin curtains hanging at their entrances to prevent the cold wind from getting in.

Around the tent were piles of daily necessities.

The small tents are the dwellings of the Snowfar people.

But there were also some larger tents with animal skin curtains with painted patterns hanging at the entrance; those were the "shops" set up by the Snowfar clan themselves.

Gaode kept looking around as it went.

Aside from the two drops of first-tier ice marrow, the valuable things he had were some magical plants he brought from Dandong Snow Peak, nine first-tier ice soul stones, and two first-ring ice wolf pelts.

Although Baruch followed up by killing more snow wolves, he was so focused on "getting kills" that he didn't bother to preserve the integrity of the pelts.

Secondly, they lack the skill and time to cut off a complete piece of fur.

Thirdly, their own carrying capacity was already close to its limit, and they also needed to store some food, so they definitely couldn't add anything more.

Therefore, he did not obtain any more snow wolf pelts.

This is actually why many ley line biomaterials remain expensive.

Hunting ley line creatures is inherently difficult, but the challenges of gathering materials and transporting them back to the city are also significant factors contributing to the high price.

Gao De walked along the main road of the camp, without entering any of the Snowflake Clan's shops. Instead, he walked all the way to the end and came to a corner that the Snowflake Clan had specially opened up for people to set up stalls.

This is the liveliest place in the entire camp.

Not only the Snowfarers set up stalls here, but also many people from other tribes can find an empty spot to set up a stall without paying any fees.

These stalls are very simple. They just find an open space, spread out an animal skin, and display the goods they want to sell.

Furthermore, these stalls all represent a very primitive form of barter trade.

The stall owner displays his items; if you see something you like, go up and ask him what you need. If he has it, you can exchange it.

Alternatively, one could offer something of their own to exchange with the other party, and if the other party is willing to exchange, the transaction can also be successful.

Undoubtedly, this method of trade is primitive and extremely inefficient, but it is perfectly suited to the North.

There was no unified government in this area; it was a primitive tribal system, and the basic conditions for the formation and circulation of currency did not exist.

A quick glance at the stalls revealed a wide variety of items, mostly local specialties from the Northern Territory.

For example, there are magical plants that grow on the snowfield, some special minerals, or materials from snowfield ley line creatures, mostly fur and bones, as well as special products produced by various tribes.

Gao De walked around the stall and, just as Baruch had said, soon found the auxiliary materials needed for the [Wild Agility] spell potion.

It was a stall run by a young woman, who was probably from the Snowfar tribe.

Based on my experience queuing up earlier, 99% of the people from other ethnic groups are male.

In the primitive environment of the snowfield, men's strength and stamina make them more suited to going out.

Of course, if one possesses the bloodline of the Iceborn, this distinction between genders does not apply.

However, it's rare for ordinary Iceborn mages to set up stalls in places like this.

Moreover, people from outside the tribe generally don't bring "worthless" things like magical plants.

Gao De squatted down and picked out two level-zero magical plants from the items the young woman had laid out: Ice Fang Grass and Frost Face Flower.

Outside the northern border, the market price for two level-zero magical plants is approximately 6 gold.

But in the North, the value of magical plants is definitely much lower.

Moreover, these two magical plants were most likely picked by the young woman when she was herding livestock outside.

For her, these two level-zero magical plants were practically useless; they were just something to try her luck with.

Therefore, when Gao De picked out these two magical plants, the young woman's face visibly lit up with joy.

"Do you need these two herbs?" she asked.

Gao De nodded, then crossed his arms and asked in Common, "What do you want to exchange?"

The young woman naturally couldn't understand what Gao De was saying, but she instantly grasped that Gao De didn't speak Ace language, and guessed Gao De's question based on his gestures and the current situation.

"Food or something to keep you warm will do!" she said.

For the people of the North, food, fuel, and warm clothing are their eternal necessities.

Upon hearing this, Gao De thought for a moment, then took out a piece of ice wolf meat weighing about three pounds from his bag and handed it to the woman.

This is what he cut off from the snow wolf he killed to keep as food; he hasn't finished eating the rest yet.

The woman took the piece of ice wolf meat, examined it carefully, and upon discovering that the meat was of superior quality, she nodded with utmost satisfaction.

A simple transaction was completed.

A piece of wolf meat was so easily exchanged for two level-zero magical plants.

This is something that would be hard to imagine outside the North.

This shows just how precious food is to the people of the North on the snowy plains.

After the transaction was completed, Gaode did not leave immediately.

He took out a complete ice wolf pelt from the package, and while making the same hand gesture as before, said, "Learn Ace language."

God spoke these words in Ace language, syllables he had secretly memorized after hearing the people behind him muttering.

The young woman was quick-witted and immediately realized, "You mean you want to trade this wolf pelt for me to teach you Ace language?"

Gaode nodded.

The young woman didn't immediately agree. Instead, she pointed to the fur in Gao De's hand and asked, "May I take a look?"

Gao De simply handed her the snow wolf pelt.

The young woman took the wolf pelt, gently stroked it, examined it carefully, and then her eyes lit up. She asked in surprise, "This is the pelt of a Ringed Snow Wolf?"

Gao De nodded slightly.

The higher the rank of a snow wolf, the stronger its fur's insulation against the cold.

Therefore, the pelts of the first-ring Ice Wolf are still quite valuable.

Clearly, the other party is already interested.

However, after thinking it over carefully for a moment, she said softly, "I can teach you Ace language, but I can't guarantee that you will definitely learn it. We need to set a time limit."

"I can teach you for two months, and whether you learn it or not, the trading will end after two months. I'm only available after dark each day, but I can guarantee to teach you for at least two hours a day."

"Moreover, if it exceeds two months, we may have to migrate again, so two months is already the limit."

"Is this okay with you?"

Gao De thought about it and nodded in agreement.

Two months was too long for him.

According to Gaode's estimate, after about a week of learning, his Ace language level should be sufficient to support him in the most basic daily communication.

Once you've mastered the basics, you won't need to spend any extra time or effort learning; you'll naturally become familiar with it through regular communication.

The young woman seemed even happier to see that Gao De had agreed.

"My name is Lana, and I live in that tent," she said, pointing to a small tent not far away. "You can come find me tonight."

Gao De nodded and didn't ask for the wolf skin back.

You can run away from a monk, but you can't hide from the temple. Now that you know the other party's "address", you don't have to worry about her running away.

In fact, the reason why Gaode chose her was not only because he thought Lana was quick-witted, since teachers always need to be smart, but also because he realized that she was a Snowfowl who had lived there for a long time.

Furthermore, the fact that a young woman would set up a stall suggests that the adult male in her family is either away or has had an accident.

In northern tribes, men are the most important labor force in a family.

Families without adult men are bound to be in dire straits, and in such cases, they are naturally more willing to accept transactions.

Just as he expected, the deal was completed smoothly.

Gao De then found two more auxiliary materials needed for the [Wild Agility] spell potion at other stalls.

However, the remaining two auxiliary materials are both zero-ring earth vein biological materials, so they can't be obtained at a bargain price like magical plants.

In the end, Gao De went through a long and complicated process, first using a Tier 1 Ice Soul Stone to exchange for a complete, skinned frozen white fox from a hunter.

Then, the white fox was split in two, and the two vendors exchanged the remaining two types of auxiliary materials for each of them.

Now, the only ingredient missing from the [Wild Agility] spell potion is the final main ingredient: half an ounce of Blue Butterfly Crystal Powder.

As a Tier 1 material, it's indeed unlikely to appear at these small stalls.

However, there is still a chance to find them in the "shops" run by the Snowfield clan itself.

The maps that Gaode Maps needs most are only available in the "Shops" section.

(End of this chapter)