Above the mage

Chapter 250 Zhenbing Tribe

Loich and Catherine set off again with God, and changed course for the second time.

The destination has changed from the Snowfield Guardian Headquarters to the former site of Snowfield Camp, and now to the Zhenbing Tribe.

Having changed his mindset and accepted reality, Gaode gradually began to feel a sense of anticipation.

In fact, he had always been very interested in the Zhenbing tribe, the most powerful and ancient tribe in the North.

It's like when you go to a country, you always want to visit its capital, otherwise it feels like you've come for nothing.

Previously, Gaode was in a hurry to plant trees, so naturally he wouldn't waste time on such things.

But now that the die is cast, there's no going back to the Zhenbing tribe.

In that case, let's treat it as a small group trip full of novelty.

Loich provided the ride and was responsible for taking him around, so how can he not be considered a "chauffeur"?

In addition, there are exotic and diverse prey to eat throughout the trip, so how can it not be considered "local specialty dishes"?

"Even if everything goes smoothly, it will take almost a month to get from here to the Zhenbing tribe," Loychi said to Gao De as he carefully compared the map.

The North is vast, and even at their pace, travel time is usually measured in months.

Gao De nodded, mentally estimating that, given his current rate of adaptation, he would be able to fully adapt to the forbidden ice needles within his body before even reaching the Zhenbing Tribe.

At the same time, his gaze naturally fell on the map in Loich's hand.

Loich didn't care and let Gao De watch.

The map in his hand came from the Snowfield Guardian.

As the oldest sect in the North, the maps drawn by the Snowfield Guardians are naturally far more detailed and cover a much wider area than those of the Snowfield Clan.

The map covers not only the western region, which accounts for more than 90% of the population of the North, but also parts of the sparsely populated central region.

While looking at the map, I tried my best to memorize it.

As a mage's level increases and their mental strength grows, their memory will also improve accordingly.

Therefore, even with such a complex map, it is still possible to memorize it with a little more effort.

After all, memory maps are much simpler than memorizing textual information.

"Just take a look at it yourself, don't spread it around." After looking at it for a while, Loich rolled up the map, put it back in his pocket, and then casually typed a message on Gaode.

Maps are extremely secretive and precious knowledge for every faction in the North; you can't buy them even if you have money.

Loich's willingness to let God see it was already an extra favor out of remorse. If God wanted to copy the map and sell it for resources, that would be absolutely unacceptable.

Gao De understood this principle and nodded in agreement, saying, "That's natural."

"Everyone says that the Zhenbing tribe is the most powerful tribe in the Northern Territory. Just how powerful is it?" Out of curiosity, Gao De asked another question.

At that time, Chief Ximo of the border tribe of Dor had given him a general overview of the northern border, but Chief Ximo was only the chief of a small tribe and had limited knowledge, so his introduction was only very rough and simple.

As a hunter of the Snowfield Guardians, the oldest sect in the North, Loych's knowledge and experience naturally far surpassed that of Chief Shemo.

"The Zhenbing tribe has a population of over 500,000, and among them, there are more than 10,000 hunters with Iceblood." This wasn't exactly a secret, and since Gao De had asked, Luo Yiqi didn't hesitate to answer.

There are no professional soldiers among the Northern tribes.

So-called professional soldiers are not simply those who have combat capabilities; they must undergo rigorous training and be equipped with sophisticated gear.

Northern tribes, who struggle to even guarantee a sufficient food supply, absolutely cannot afford to support professional soldiers.

Because professional soldiers do not participate in productive labor.

Their daily activities not only fail to bring any benefit to the tribe, but also consume a large amount of the tribe's resources.

In the North, the armed forces within tribes are usually called hunters, and they mostly play the role of producers, only transforming into military roles when combat is required.

Tens of thousands of hunters, that's tens of thousands of Iceborn mages.

This power is indeed formidable.

"Regardless of their overall strength, in terms of top-tier combat power alone, they are unparalleled in the snowfield. The entire Zhenbing tribe alone has more than five known fourth-ring mages."

"Although Sunafa, the new war mother of the Zhenbing tribe, is only a fourth-ring mage, she wields the Zhenbing magical weapon, Boreas's original weapon, Blizzard, and has awakened Zhenbing magic. In terms of combat power alone, she is almost invincible among fourth-ring mages. There are even rumors that she is capable of fighting a fifth-ring mage."

"But whether it's true or not, nobody knows," Loich paused before explaining, "because there are no more fifth-circle mages in the North, so the rumors can't be verified."

Gao De paused for a moment upon hearing this, then sincerely remarked, "That's powerful enough."

Let alone a fifth-ring mage, even a fourth-ring mage is an existence that is unattainable for him.

To be even more precise, a second-ring mage could easily crush him like an ant.

The world of mages, with its clear hierarchy, is completely different from the novels Gao De read in his previous life.

In novels, it is perfectly normal for someone of a higher level to challenge someone of a lower level and for someone of a lower level to overcome them.

If you can't overcome those below you, you won't even dare to claim to be a prodigy when you go out. To exaggerate a bit, you might even be able to defy those two major levels.

However, in the world of mages, challenging opponents of higher levels is almost impossible.

First, the difference between high-level and low-level spells is simply too great.

Secondly, each ring upgrade is accompanied by a transformation, a feat awakening, and the existence of ring upgrade spellcasting.

The combination of these two factors is enough to widen the gap in combat power between different rings.

Just like Gaode now, even though he has only just been promoted to a first-level mage, if he were to face a mage apprentice, he would find no reason to lose.

Although the behemoth is called a tribe, the Zhenbing clan's top combat strength has actually surpassed that of the Xien Duchy.

This comparison clearly demonstrates the strength of the Zhenbing tribe.

A "primitive" tribe that struggles to survive is more powerful than a principality, all because of the Iceborn bloodline, or rather, the Iceborn bloodline that has been in decline for many years.

One can imagine how powerful the North must have been at the height of the Iceborn bloodline.

After dinner, Loich and Catherine began their spiritual practice as usual.

With nothing to do and waiting for the two to rest, Gao De, who had silently triggered the forbidden ice needle technique, suddenly remembered that he still had two drops of first-tier ice marrow.

He thought for a moment and then activated Mandora's Eye.

A deep, dark blue glow immediately appeared around the pupil of his left eye.

Gao De raised his head, took out the Ice Marrow, and dripped both drops of Ice Marrow into his Mandora's Eye.

The rich ice elemental power quickly merged into his demonic eye, nourishing and enhancing it.

A moment later, the power of the Ice Marrow had been completely absorbed by Mandora's Demon Eye, and his pupils shone with a clear, bright light.

According to Gaode's classification, Mandora's Eye should be at the first tier (3/72) at this moment, which is still far from being upgraded.

But reality isn't a game; it's not like nothing will happen if you don't level up.

In fact, during the entire upgrade process of the Mandora Eye, every bit of "experience" gained will bring a slight improvement to the Mandora Eye.

For example, when Gaode Maps uses Mandora's Eye to look into the distance, the viewing distance is obviously further, which is roughly equivalent to the focal length changing from 10x to 10.3x.

If it can evolve to the second tier, in addition to the increased viewing distance, there should also be some fundamental improvements.

But I'm still missing a full 69 drops of Tier 1 Ice Marrow. Where can I get that?

(End of this chapter)