Above the mage

Chapter 253 The Sword of True Ice

In most northern tribes, there is often not enough food for the tribe itself, let alone the resources to raise snow pheasants and snow hares, which are simply used to improve the diet.

This alone shows that the "happiness index" of the Zhenbing tribe is second to none, at least in the snowfield.

As Gaode was examining the buildings of the Zhenbing Tribe, the biting cold in the air grew stronger and stronger, and the drifting ice elements became more and more concentrated.

The next moment, a touch of coolness landed on his face along with the chilly wind.

Gao De looked up and saw that a vast expanse of snowflakes had begun to fall.

It did snow.

Gao De stretched out his hand and watched the glistening snowflakes fall onto his palm.

Snowfall is perfectly normal on the snow-covered plains.

Therefore, Loich and Catherine were not emotionally affected at all, and simply led God forward on the main road of Phoenix.

With a clear goal in mind, the two headed straight for Elder Grant, whom they were looking for.

As a tribal city with a population of over 500,000, Phoenix is ​​home to not only the Zhenbing tribe but also a large number of people from other tribes.

This place can be described as the most lively and popular spot on the entire snowfield.

Although Gaode Maps is currently only located on the outermost edge of Phoenix, the crisscrossing streets and urban landscape are unlike anything seen in other parts of the North.

Although, in his opinion, Phoenix's cityscape is still too rugged in terms of both layout and appearance.

But being able to build a "city" on a snowfield is already an extraordinary feat in itself.

In addition to the extremely rich ice element in the North itself, God could also sense that as soon as he entered Phoenix, the surroundings began to be filled with pure magic.

This magic concentration is almost equivalent to the magic concentration contained in the basic training room.

That is, the magic concentration is around 10.

At Seres Academy, the basic training room is one of the perks of regular students and can be used for free.

However, such a concentration of magic power can only be achieved within a special magic circle.

In other parts of Seres Academy, the magic concentration does not reach this level.

In Phoenix, this level of magical concentration can be achieved in any corner.

It is clear that, in terms of resources alone, the North is in no way inferior to the outside world.

From another perspective, the North's resources are actually far richer than those of the outside world due to a lack of development.

This applies to everything, whether it's magical plants, magical materials, or various spiritual sites.

Such a strong magic exists even in the outermost areas of Phoenix.

Without a doubt, Phoenix's location at the heart of the region must be a high-level spiritual land, which is why the surrounding area can be so rich in magical energy even without rune magic circles.

Fourth-order spiritual land, or fifth-order spiritual land?

Gao De secretly pondered the spiritual level of the core area of ​​the Zhenbing tribe.

Along the main road, houses of varying sizes and appearances are scattered about, interspersed with many "shops" draped with cloth.

Just then, to Gao De's right, an extremely young boy, who looked no more than fifteen or sixteen years old and was dressed in animal skin clothing, rushed out impetuously and asked a local Zhenbing tribesman, "Uncle, where is the location for the Ice Sword Challenge?"

The middle-aged Zhenbing clansman glanced at the boy, seemingly unsurprised, and casually pointed, "There's a square at the end of this main road, it's right there."

"Thank you, uncle!" the boy said, and then hurriedly left.

"The Ice Sword Challenge has been going on for over three months, and countless challengers have come to Phoenix during that time. So many failures haven't dampened their enthusiasm, and now even a kid who hasn't even grown up yet wants to try his luck."

Clearly, Gao De wasn't the only one who overheard their conversation. Luo Yiqi watched the boy's disappearing figure and muttered a casual complaint.

A thought struck Gao De, and he remembered the Ice Sword Challenge mentioned by the two Snowfox tribesmen when he first entered the Snowfox camp.

"Has it been so long and no one has been able to pull out the Sword of True Ice?" he asked casually.

"Don't even mention it's only been three months. Even in three or thirty years, no one will be able to pull out that True Ice Sword," Loich said with absolute certainty, shrugging his shoulders.

"You're an outsider, so you might not understand. Even a tiny amount of this 'True Ice' is difficult for anyone with Iceblood to withstand. But no, you should know this all too well."

At this point, Loych suddenly remembered that his forbidden ice needles were still inserted in Gao De's body, and said somewhat awkwardly.

He then quickly continued, "Even such a small amount of Pure Ice, with the addition of special materials to insulate against the cold, is so terrifying. The Pure Ice Sword of the Pure Ice Tribe is made of pure Pure Ice and weighs 100,000 times more than the Forbidden Ice Needle."

"In this comparison, the chill released by the Sword of Perfect Ice, while not 100,000 times that of the Forbidden Ice Needle, is certainly not in the same league."

"Even within the Zhenbing tribe, I believe only the War Mother Sunefa can fully wield this Zhenbing sword."

Loich shook his head. "So, this Ice Sword Challenge is ultimately just a mirage, an illusion. Even if they offer generous rewards, it's impossible for anyone to complete this challenge."

"Any Iceborn mage with a bit of knowledge understands these principles, and only these young people have this kind of drive," Loich remarked with a sigh.

"Perhaps someone really can do it," Catherine, who had been listening for a long time, suddenly said. "The Zhenbing Tribe went to so much trouble to create this Ice Sword Challenge and tried every means to spread the news throughout the entire Northern Territory. It can't just be for the sake of creating some hype."

Loich paused for a moment, then thought about it carefully and realized it made sense. He then looked at Catherine and suddenly realized, "There's more to this than meets the eye?"

Catherine nodded, indicating she did know something about it. "This matter concerns an ancient ritual magic of the Zhenbing tribe. They are searching for a very special person."

"However," Catherine paused, offering her assessment, "so many years have passed since that ritual magic. Who can guarantee anything now, given what was said back then?"

After saying this, Catherine shook her head, sparing with words, and said no more.

The streets of Phoenix were bustling with people.

The most bustling path is the one that leads directly to the Ice Sword Challenge area.

However, Loich and Catherine were clearly not planning to join in the fun.

They led Gaode to a small gray stone building.

"We'll stay here for the time being. We're going to find Elder Grant now. You can go inside and rest, or you can wander around Phoenix." Loich handed the key to God.

"As expected of a high-ranking mage, he even owns property in Phoenix." Gao De took the key, looked at the gray stone building in front of him, and thought to himself.

"Okay," he replied verbally.

After explaining these things, the two left, leaving Gao De alone on the spot.

Of course, the reason they were so casual was not because they believed Gao De would obey, but because there were still five forbidden ice needles in Gao De's body.

The forbidden ice needles prevented Gao De from channeling his magic, sealing his spellcasting abilities.

The only one who can remove the forbidden ice needles is Loych.

Both firmly believed that no mage could tolerate losing their ability to cast spells.

Therefore, as long as the forbidden ice needles remain in Gao De's body, they are not worried about Gao De running away at all.

Gao De also understood what the two relied on.

Although the five forbidden ice spells no longer had any effect on him after he evolved the intermediate-level Ice Protection Body.

In other words, the restrictions on him had already been lifted long ago.

However, Gaode did not choose to simply walk away.

The reason is simple: with Loich's abilities, he can track him down even in the vast snowfield. Even if he escapes now, he will be caught sooner or later, and his trump card will be exposed.

Gaode is not prepared to run away until he figures out how the two tracked him down and what the appropriate countermeasures are.

Using the key left by Loich, God opened the door and went inside.

The gray stone building is not large, but it has four rooms.

Gao De consciously chose the smallest room, then went into the small room and sat cross-legged on the fire pit bed.

Then, he took out the small bottle containing two drops of third-tier ice marrow from his pocket.

This was one of the "compensations" that Catherine gave him in advance.

I didn't use Gaode Maps while on the road.

The main issue was that he didn't know what would happen if he used such a high-level ice marrow to enhance the Mandela Demon Eye all at once, or if it would take a lot of time.

In case of any special circumstances, there will always be some inconveniences in the snowy wilderness.

Now that we've settled down temporarily, there's no need to worry about these things anymore.

Gao De took a deep breath, activated the Mandela Demon Eye, and then dripped a drop of Three Tribulations Ice Marrow into his pupil.

In an instant.

An indescribable, boundless power of ice element erupted from that drop of third-tier ice marrow.

Like a surging tide, carrying immense energy, it rushed into the depths of his pupils.

Gao De felt as if his pupils were being washed by an icy river, an extremely exhilarating and strange sensation.

Under such a wash, his pupils began to rise sharply.

After being subjected to repeated "glacial erosion" for nearly half an hour, the ice elemental power contained in this drop of third-tier ice marrow was finally completely exhausted and dissipated.

Gao De opened his Mandela Magic Eye, and his gaze became incredibly clear and bright.

Mandela's vision has become clearer and his field of vision has expanded.

Compared to before, the improvement this time is very obvious.

Afterwards, Gao De carefully sensed the progress of Mandela's Eye's improvement, and couldn't help but sigh in amazement.

The third-tier ice marrow is at the very top.

With just one drop, his Mandora Eye level jumped directly from level 1 (3/72) to (25/72).

This is an explosive improvement.

Based on this calculation, the effect of one drop of Tier 3 Ice Marrow is roughly equivalent to 22 drops of Tier 1 Ice Marrow.

Of course, its value far exceeds that multiple.

Thinking this, Gao De raised his head and dripped the second drop of third-tier ice marrow into his Mandela Demon Eye.

(End of this chapter)