Above the mage

Chapter 265 Ice Jade Wutong

"Unknown creature, female, 11cm tall, weighing 1-2kg, with a light and agile physique, possessing wings and the ability to fly, with a keen nervous system, fast reaction speed, extremely high intelligence, and energy flowing within her body, possessing extraordinary strength."

A simplified model of Flora has already emerged in Gaode's mind.

Even without Flora using any special abilities, the Mandela Eye's "Insight" ability still detected subtle energy flows on Flora's body, thus deducing that Flora possessed extraordinary power.

Although it's rough around the edges, the potential of this ability has been fully realized.

The golden symbol in Gaode's left eye disappeared in the next instant.

He has broken free of Mandela's Eye.

[Insight] The ability is useful, but it also consumes a lot of resources.

In just that short time, he had already consumed half a drop of his liquid mana.

However, Gaode Maps can accept this level of overhead.

After all, this is a second-tier Mandela Eye, while he is only a first-ring mage, which is already considered a leap in rank.

"Master, your eyes are right again."

Flora, however, was relentless. She flew to Gaud and stared at his now-normal left eye, as if she needed an explanation from him.

"Lady Flora's Common Tongue is getting better and better," God praised.

At first, they could only communicate through telepathy.

But as time went by, Flora unknowingly became fluent in Common Tongue.

Even when he was learning the language of Ace, Flora, who was listening in, also learned the language.

"Lady Flora has such a great talent for languages~" he said, half-coaxing and half-sincerely praising her.

"Of course!" Flora looked up at God, instantly forgetting the topic they had just discussed.

The sun shines brightly in the sky.

Phoenix is ​​located in the heart of the country.

Here, the intense magic almost solidifies into a tangible form.

When Gao De entered Phoenix, he was slightly surprised by the city's intense magic.

Because in any corner of this city, the concentration of magic can reach "10", which is only found in the basic training room of Seres Academy.

At that time, he concluded that the core of Phoenix must be a high-level spiritual land, but he could not determine its specific level.

The fact is, Phoenix's spiritual land is an astonishing fifth-tier spiritual land.

In this sacred land, besides the abundant magic, there is also a powerful, omnipresent ice elemental energy.

But that's nothing compared to what's truly awe-inspiring. In the very center of the sacred land, a divine tree, seemingly formed from solidified ice crystals, sways gently in the wind.

The tree was not very large, only about three meters tall, and it was completely transparent, emitting a faint blue light.

Its trunk is straight and smooth, as if it were carved from the purest ice crystals. Every inch of it has a crystal-clear texture, and you can even see the veins in the tree.

On the translucent ice crystal tree trunk, there are some fine cracks, through which a faint blue light shines, as if the source of the tree's life is flowing.

The branches are slender and elegant, each one like a work of art meticulously sculpted by an artist, possessing an indescribable beauty.

The leaves also have the appearance of ice crystals, and each leaf shines brightly in the sunlight. From a distance, they don't look like leaves, but rather like countless diamonds inlaid on the branches.

These ice crystal leaves swayed gently in the breeze, making a crisp sound, like heavenly music.

The leaves seemed to breathe, constantly releasing a faint chill.

However, this chill does not make people feel uncomfortable; instead, it gives them a refreshing feeling.

Its roots are deeply embedded in the ground, as if they have become one with the earth.

The whole tree exudes a sacred and solemn aura.

"War Mother, two more cracks have appeared on the Ice Jade Wutong tree today," a middle-aged man dressed in a robe made of animal hide reported nervously to the young woman beside him under the tree.

The young woman had flowing silver hair, deep blue eyes, and an aura of icy coldness emanating from her, seemingly originating from the same source as the Ice Jade and Wutong trees.

Behind her stood a longbow as tall as a person, seemingly formed from solidified ice crystals, gleaming in the sunlight with a light like that of an ice-jade parasol tree, exuding an awe-inspiring and powerful aura.

Upon seeing this ice bow, the young woman's identity becomes obvious.

Sunefa, the master of the blizzard.

"This situation has never occurred before in the records." Sunafa frowned slightly.

"The Ice Jade Phoenix is ​​Phoenix's guardian tree, and any abnormality in it could bring unexpected changes to Phoenix." A hint of worry flashed in her eyes.

The middle-aged man nodded, his expression becoming even more tense. "War Mother, I have carefully examined the area. The environment within the spiritual land has not changed at all. There are no signs of external attack on the Ice Jade Wutong tree, nor are there any other creatures present. These cracks seem to have been generated by the Ice Jade Wutong tree itself."

Sunafa's gaze lingered on the Ice Jade Phoenix Tree for a moment, then she stretched out her fair-skinned hand and gently stroked the two newly appeared cracks on the tree trunk.

She closed her eyes slightly, as if sensing something.

A moment later, Sunafa opened her eyes, a faint light gleaming in her deep blue pupils.

"The ice elemental power on the Ice Jade Phoenix Tree is weakening."

The middle-aged man's heart tightened. Although the appearance of the crack was not a good omen in itself, the weakening of the ice element power was what truly indicated that the Ice Jade Wutong was undergoing some kind of bad change.

Sunafa took a deep breath, a sense of worry rising within her as well.

The changes in the Ice Jade Wutong tree are by no means trivial.

"Summon all the elders of the clan for an emergency meeting to brainstorm and see if we can find the cause and a solution. If we allow the situation of Bingyu Wutong to continue to deteriorate, the consequences will be unimaginable," she said.

"Yes, Mother Zhan, I'll make the arrangements right away," the middle-aged man nodded immediately.

The emergency meeting was held in the Elders' Hall.

The Elders' Hall is a huge circular gray stone building, covering an area of ​​over a thousand square meters, with its exterior walls made of neatly arranged stones.

Outside the Elder Hall, hunters in armor served as patrolling soldiers, vigilantly surveying the surroundings, creating a solemn and dignified atmosphere.

As soon as the notice to convene an emergency meeting was issued, all the elders of the Zhenbing tribe immediately put down what they were doing and rushed to the Elder Hall.

This includes Elder Grant, who is currently busy with interrogations and "revenge."

"Grant, I heard you arrested a few people in town last night. You're a wheat farmer, yet you're concerned about such things. You're really dedicated. Just don't overstep your bounds. After all, some things aren't your responsibility. It's never good to get involved if you insist on it."

Elder Grant, who had just arrived outside the Elder Hall, was met by an old man wearing a silver robe embroidered with a wolf totem.

It was Donald, the Great Elder of the Zhenbing Tribe.

Donald was extremely tall and, despite his advanced age, maintained a robust physique.

His hair and beard were already gray, but they were neatly combed.

A pair of sharp, hawk-like eyes were set deep in their sockets, seemingly able to see into people's hearts, and their gaze revealed an undeniable majesty and coldness.

He had a broad forehead, deep wrinkles etched between his brows, and a slightly downturned mouth, which gave him an imposing and dignified air.

Grant's face stiffened as he looked at the other person's seemingly expressionless face and cursed inwardly.

Your grandma is lucky.

When he arrived, he already knew the reason for the emergency meeting—there was a problem with "Ice Jade Wutong".

For the Zhenbing tribe, the matter of the Ice Jade Wutong is of paramount importance.

Before Bingyu Wutong, everything else was trivial and had to be temporarily set aside, including the interrogation.

As the saying goes, the longer the night lasts, the more things can go wrong. If the matter of the Ice Jade Wutong is not resolved in time, and it drags on for a while, given Donald's methods, he will surely find a way to suppress the matter of the Ice Thread Worm framing him.

The thought of this made Grant feel extremely upset.

However, on the surface, Grant maintained a calm demeanor and replied in a composed manner, "Elder, this matter was entrusted to me by the War Mother, so it cannot be considered overstepping my duty. Moreover, those people are suspected of poisoning our clan's Golden Radiance Wheat, which is under my responsibility, so this matter is naturally closely related to me."

Donald seemed to regard the matter as none of his business, nodding slightly in agreement and saying, "I see, that's true."

As they were talking, the two of them entered the Elder Hall together, and then turned a corner to arrive at the council chamber.

Inside the spacious room, there was an extremely long stone table.

Dozens of chairs were placed on either side of the long table.

At this moment, the dozens of chairs were almost full of people, all of whom were elders of the Zhenbing tribe.

They were all whispering and talking quietly to the people next to them.

At the very front of the long table were two seats of honor.

That's where the War Mother and the Grand Elder are located.

As Donald entered, many elders in the room stood up and greeted him as the Great Elder.

Donald smiled and gestured for everyone to sit down, saying there was no need to be polite. He then walked over and sat down in the leftmost seat of the two main seats.

In the culture of the Zhenbing tribe, the right side is considered the most honorable.

The elders who stood up to greet Donald were all reformers, members of the Grand Elder's faction, and made up a full four-fifths of the crowd.

The remaining elders who did not get up were the conservatives.

In fact, a few years ago, the disparity between the conservatives and the reformers was even greater.

However, after Sunefa returned with the Blizzard, many people who held onto their ancestors switched their allegiance to the conservatives.

Grant also found his seat and sat down.

The chair he was sitting in was located in the lower middle part of the long table.

This position also symbolizes their status within the clan—Elder Grant, while not the least powerful among all the elders, is only in the lower middle tier.

After all, although Jin Huimai is important, it can only be considered a "skilled job," which is hard labor.

As Donald took his seat, the conversation in the council chamber gradually quieted down.

The majority of people have arrived, except for Sunefa, the War Mother.

Not long after, a young woman dressed in a dark blue battle suit decorated with silver patterns walked in.

As soon as she entered, she removed the cloak covering her head, revealing her smooth, silvery-white hair.

Sunafa was very young, with delicate and three-dimensional features. Judging from her appearance alone, she looked more like a noble lady than a war mother. However, her deep, icy eyes gave her a powerful aura that was different from that of a noble lady.

She went straight to the empty main seat and sat down, without any preamble, and got straight to the point:

"I've already told you beforehand why I called you all here."

"The Ice Jade Wutong tree began to develop cracks inexplicably half a month ago. At first, only one crack would appear every one or two days, but now, two or three new cracks are forming every day."

"I just went to see the Ice Jade Wutong today. Not only are there more and more cracks, but the ice element power within it has also begun to weaken."

Sunafa's voice was deep and powerful, carrying an invisible sense of pressure that made everyone present involuntarily straighten their posture.

"The Ice Jade Wutong is not only the guardian tree of our clan, but also the core of Phoenix. If something happens to it, it will have a huge impact on our clan."

"We must do everything in our power to find the root of the problem."

The atmosphere in the meeting room gradually became heavy.

Everyone looked at each other, and no one dared to speak first.

"Could it be a problem with the sacred site?" Donald finally broke the silence.

"I've checked, and there's nothing wrong with the spiritual ground. Neither the magic concentration nor the ice element power is different from before," Sunefa said.

"Could it be some kind of disease or pest infestation?" Grant, who had just experienced the ice line insect infestation, was very alert and raised another possibility.

"Insect infestation is also unlikely. Given the condition of the Ice Jade Wutong tree, no insects could survive in such extreme cold." Before Sunefa could reply, another elder sitting opposite Grant had already spoken up to deny the conjecture.

Grant thought about it and didn't insist any further, because the temperature of the Ice Jade Wutong itself was below minus one hundred degrees Celsius.

Few creatures can withstand such extreme cold, and in fact, very few people in the entire Zhenbing tribe dare to directly touch the Ice Jade Wutong.

"As for diseases, that's somewhat possible, but the Ice Jade Wutong is a divine tree that is unique in the world. Even if a high-level magic plant master from another region came, it would be difficult to find the problem with the Ice Jade Wutong, let alone us rough folks," the elder added.

The people of the North are a nomadic people. Although the Zhenbing tribe no longer needs to live a nomadic life because of Phoenix's excellent geographical location, they still have very little experience in agriculture—volcanic land is their only area for cultivation.

"I've considered the possibilities you mentioned, and after inspection, they seem to be unrelated. The cause of these cracks doesn't seem to be external factors, but rather something within the Ice Jade Wutong tree itself," Sunafa said in a cold voice.

Everyone present fell into deep thought upon hearing this.

Sunefa was not surprised by this situation.

If the problem with the Ice Jade Wutong tree were so easy to solve, she wouldn't have needed to convene this emergency meeting.

"Elder Grant has been in charge of the Golden Wheat cultivation for so many years and has a wealth of experience. He should be the most knowledgeable about cultivation among us, and can be considered the clan's number one cultivation expert. Why don't we let Elder Grant give it a try and see if he can find out where the problem lies?" Donald suddenly spoke up in the dead silence.

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone's eyes turned to Grant, who was also deep in thought.

Upon seeing this, Grant's expression immediately tightened—how could he not know his own limitations?

They might be a little better than others, but that's just a difference of fifty steps laughing at a hundred steps; they can't be called experts at all.

Donald's words, though seemingly casual, were actually putting him on the hot seat.

"What does Elder Grant think?" Donald added fuel to the fire.

Grant didn't know how to answer for a moment, and subconsciously glanced at Sunefa.

He naturally wanted to refuse.

In this situation, if he were to refuse, he would not only lose face for himself, but also for Sunefa.

After all, he was on Sunafa's side.

But if I agree, what's the point besides wasting time? I might even cause things to get delayed because of that wasted time.

For a moment, Grant felt caught in a dilemma, while secretly resenting Donald's cunning and lack of understanding of the bigger picture.

The Ice Jade Wutong is a matter concerning the entire Zhenbing tribe. Under such circumstances, it's truly shameless of this old guy to still have the mind to make trouble over it!

Just as Grant was cursing Donald in his heart, a figure flashed through his mind in a flash, making him shudder.

Although I am not an expert, I do know a real expert!

(End of this chapter)