Above the mage

Chapter 277 Royal Power

A powerful force?

After listening to what Sunefa said, Gaode fell into deep thought.

The first and only thing he could think of was "Wind Spirit Moon Shadow" in his magical star sea.

Aside from that, Gao De couldn't think of anything else he possessed that Sunefa could call a power that could change everything.

So, the prophecy actually chose "Wind Spirit Moon Shadow" instead of himself?

No. Feng Lingyueying is mine now, a part of me, so choosing Feng Lingyueying is the same as choosing me.

Gao De thought to himself.

From a newly promoted first-ring mage who had no relatives or friends after the death of his mentor He Xi, he suddenly became the new king of a tribe with a population of over 500,000.

The changes were so significant and sudden that Gaode still feels a sense of unreality.

He led Zhenbing to a glorious resurgence and unified the North. Prophecy placed high hopes on him, and each of his goals was a feat beyond the imagination of ordinary people.

Are you feeling anxious? Are you under a lot of pressure?

Gao De thought about it seriously and found that he did not have any negative emotions in these aspects.

He was chosen by prophecy, he was chosen by Sunefa and the Zhenbing tribe.

So if anyone is really under pressure, it should be Sunefa, not him.

Besides, since coming into this world, Gao De has never thought that he would be mediocre.

As a reborn transmigrator with the cheat ability "Wind Spirit Moon Shadow," if I were still timid and lacked confidence, what would be the point of transmigrating? I might as well just burn to death in the library!

Because there is no pressure, Gaode can easily get into character, and many ideas in his mind have already begun to unfold.

With the power of the Zhenbing tribe at his disposal in the Northern Territory, there are countless things he can do.

At least when it comes to "planting trees," we can do it much better and bolder than we thought before.

"I hope you're not seeing things," Gao De picked up [North Wind] again, its blade gleaming with a deep blue light. "Should I return it to you?"

Sunefa shook her head. "The North Wind is both a tool used to find the prophesied person and a symbol of the leader of the Zhenbing tribe."

"I already have [Blizzard], which is Boreas's own weapon. I no longer need [North Wind] as a symbol. Therefore, [North Wind] will be your sword from now on."

"To be honest, I can't control its power yet." Gao De loosened his grip on the hilt of the [North Wind] sword.

Visibly, a thin layer of ice crystals had already condensed in his palm, turning his hand pale with cold.

The chill of the north wind is something that Gaode's current cold resistance cannot completely prevent.

Of course, it's only a matter of time.

With [Adaptive], in as little as one or two weeks, or as long as one or two months, his cold resistance will evolve to the point where wielding the North Wind is no different from wielding an ordinary sword.

"To be honest, me too." Sunafa smiled, a rare occurrence, and opened her fair palm to Gao De.

Surprisingly, a very thin layer of frost had also formed on her palm.

"Won't it hurt?" Gao De asked in shock.

He naturally knew that this was caused by the chill of Zhenbing washing over his body.

In Gaode's memory, Sunefa's "Blizzard" was never far from her.

He naturally assumed that Sunefa's Iceborn bloodline would be able to completely ignore the extreme cold emanating from the Blizzard, but this turned out to be not the case.

The extreme cold of the blizzard can still inflict damage on Sunefa.

Just like the North Wind to him.

He possesses [Adaptive] abilities; as long as he continues to endure the pain brought by the extreme cold of Zhenbing, he will eventually evolve to ignore the pain of extreme cold.

However, Sunefa did not have his specialty.

This means that the price she pays for bearing the [blizzard] all day long is that she has to endure the pain from the extreme cold at all times.

What kind of willpower and thick nerves does that require?

To exaggerate a bit, Gaode even suspects that only masochists could endure such torment.

"It was tough at first, but it's a symbol of leadership. I need it to gain the approval of my people, so I have to bear it," Sunefa explained calmly.

"Later, I no longer needed to rely on the blizzard to gain the approval of my people, but I had also become familiar with the feeling. Although the cold still hurt, this pain allowed me to focus, clear my mind, and stay clear-headed."

Gao De took a deep breath and felt a sense of admiration for the first time towards the woman in front of him, who was also young but already held the position of War Mother.

Bearing immense responsibility and suffering, yet remaining self-disciplined, loyal to his ideals, and devoted to his people, Sunefa is undoubtedly a true leader.

"Come with me. Ever since we saw you arrive in the North in the Iceborn ritual spells, we have made all the necessary preparations for your arrival," Sunefa added.

Gao De, unsuspecting, followed Sunefa's footsteps.

As they walked, Sunafa explained the details of the Zhenbing tribe and Phoenix to Gaode.

The total population of the Zhenbing tribe is approximately 550,000, but the total population of Phoenix is ​​nearly 700,000.

The extra tens of thousands were foreigners.

After all, Phoenix is ​​the largest and only city in the North, making it the most convenient place for trade and boasting the best environment. Many outsiders come here to trade or even reside.

If it weren't for the inconvenient "transportation" in the North, the population of Phoenix would certainly have increased even more.

The most important reason why the Zhenbing tribe is able to live a nomadic life like other tribes is its unique geographical location.

First, it is adjacent to the Kastra volcano.

The volcanic land created by the Castella volcano has enabled them to develop an agriculture that is rare, if not unique, in the North.

However, the arable land on the volcanic land is also limited, and the yield of Golden Radiance Wheat is far from enough to supply 550,000 Zhenbing people.

In fact, so far, the production of Golden Radiance Wheat is only enough to supply Iceborn mages of the first rank and above in the clan.

The main source of food for the Zhenbing tribe is still fishing and hunting.

Phoenix is ​​built on a mountainside, and at the foot of the Wescal Mountains lies a super-large freshwater lake with an area of ​​over 1000 square kilometers, namely the Arctic Lake.

Arctic Lake is rich in a variety of cold-water fish, such as salmon, catfish, and perch, providing Zhenbing people with fish meat that meets their nutritional needs.

In addition, there are the spoils from hunting.

The Iceborn mages of the Zhenbing tribe are organized into hunting teams, and they go out to hunt for food resources for at least half the year.

In addition to a small amount of animal husbandry, the combination of these four factors barely ensured the food supply and demand balance for the Zhenbing tribe.

However, this is only a barely guaranteed guarantee, and its actual ability to withstand risks is extremely poor.

Because if any link in the chain goes wrong, the balance could be completely broken.

This is why Elder Grant was so nervous after the problem with Golden Wheat occurred.

Golden wheat is the staple food for more than 10,000 ice-born mages of the Zhenbing tribe.

Food is of paramount importance to any tribe in the North.

"How much ice marrow is there in Phoenix?" Gao De asked, addressing the question that was currently of most concern to him.

"Actually, it's quite limited," Sunefa said frankly. "The reason why Ice Marrow can become the 'currency' of the North, besides its difficulty in obtaining it, is primarily due to its practical value."

"For most Iceborn mages, Ice Marrow is the only way to enhance their Iceborn bloodline power, and Iceborn bloodline determines a mage's level."

"Which is more important, external resources or one's own strength? It goes without saying."

"Therefore, most Iceborn people will accumulate Ice Marrow after condensing it, and then consume it to enhance their bloodline power once they have accumulated enough."

"It's true that the Zhenbing Tribe is the largest tribe in the Northern Territory, and theoretically should have the largest reserves of ice mage. But you should be able to sense that the ratio of ice-born mages to ordinary people in the Zhenbing Tribe is extremely high, far exceeding that of most tribes."

"Therefore, the Zhenbing tribe also has the most ice-born mages among the northern tribes, and its consumption of ice marrow is also the greatest."

Sunafa no longer treated Gaode as an outsider, and told him all the secrets and secrets of the Zhenbing tribe without any concealment: "We produce about 10 drops of fourth-tier ice marrow, 400 drops of third-tier ice marrow, 2000 drops of second-tier ice marrow, and about 25000 drops of first-tier ice marrow every year. In terms of production alone, it is actually quite a lot."

"However, for an Iceborn to improve their Iceborn bloodline, they need at least 400 drops of Ice Marrow of the next higher rank."

"In other words, to advance a third-ring Iceborn mage to the fourth ring, you need 400 drops of fourth-tier Ice Marrow, and the same applies to others," Sunefa gave an example.

Only fourth-order Ice Mage can condense fourth-order Ice Mage. In other words, it would take the entire output of all fourth-order mages in the Zhenbing Tribe for forty years to supply one person and train a new fourth-order Ice Mage.

Moreover, this is clearly impossible.

The entire clan's output over forty years from all the fourth-ring Iceborn mages is only enough to supply one person?

Unless that person is Sunafa's offspring.

Under normal circumstances, for a third-ring Iceborn mage to collect 400 drops of fourth-tier Ice Marrow to advance further, the only way is to contribute to the tribe, accumulate the drops slowly, and wait for the right time.

Given how sought-after Ice Marrow is, one can only imagine how much Ice Marrow is stored in Phoenix.

However, Gao De didn't need to think too much, as Sunafa had already given the answer: "The fourth-tier ice marrow from last year has already been distributed according to contributions, not a single drop is left. If you need this year's output, I can save some for you. Donald, this year's output of fourth-tier ice marrow should only be 7 drops."

"There are about 20 drops of Tier 3 Ice Marrow left, about 100 drops of Tier 2 Ice Marrow left, and more Tier 1 Ice Marrow left, with a reserve of more than 1000 drops."

That's a pitifully small number.

Because this represents the ice marrow reserves of an entire tribe.

It should be noted that Elder Grant alone offered 15 drops of second-tier ice marrow to express his gratitude.

This is already roughly equivalent to one and a half percent of the second-tier ice marrow reserves of the Zhenbing tribe.

However, Sunefa explained the specific reasons, which Gaode could understand.

Overall, it's because demand far exceeds output.

Ice marrow can only be condensed by Iceborns, but every Iceborn needs ice marrow to improve themselves.

Furthermore, if an Iceborn mage wants to advance to the next rank, they can only do so by relying on a higher-ranking Iceborn mage to condense Ice Marrow.

After all, Iceborn mages can only condense Ice Marrow of the same level, meaning a first-level Iceborn mage can only condense one level, while what is needed to improve the Iceborn bloodline is high-level Ice Marrow.

This means that the reserves of ice marrow will never increase.

Moreover, most of the ice marrow is held in the hands of the Iceborn, and they rarely take it out.

Although Ice Marrow is said to be the 'currency' of the North, it is not a true 'currency' after all, and has its limitations—its consumable nature means that it does not conform to the characteristics of conventional 'currency'.

"I need 71 drops of Tier 2 Ice Marrow," Gao De said after thinking for a moment.

71 drops of second-tier ice marrow are just enough to upgrade his second-tier Mandela Magic Eye to the third tier.

To upgrade a third-tier Mandela Magic Eye to the fourth tier, it would require 72 drops of third-tier Ice Marrow, barring any unforeseen circumstances.

This already exceeds the current reserves of Tier 3 Ice Marrow of the Zhenbing Tribe, so he doesn't intend to take it all and will only take Tier 2 Ice Marrow for the time being.

"No problem, I'll have someone send it to you later," Sunafa replied without hesitation, without even asking about Gaode's purpose or use.

"Does the tribe have any spell recipes in reserve?" God asked again.

"There are some, but they are mostly from you outsiders. As you know, we Iceborn mages are not like you outsiders. We need to build spell models and master spells on our own. Our spells come from the awakening of our bloodline. So we are somewhat short of spell recipes."

This was the expected answer.

"However, the Snowfield Guardians have a vast reserve of spell recipes," Sunefa suddenly added.

Gao De nodded slightly, thought for a moment, and said, "Then please make a copy of all the spell recipes that the tribe currently has."

"No problem," Sunefa readily agreed.

At least so far, Gaode thinks he's doing a pretty good job as the King of the Zhenbing Tribe.

As a leader, the most important powers are two: financial power and military power.

He has now tried both of these rights, and all his requests have been unconditionally fulfilled.

This feels good.

When has he ever been so extravagant?

Gao De was filled with mixed emotions.

This is the advantage of having a power.

While in the prison of Saint Sein, God had already realized the importance of having a force that supported him or belonged to him.

But he never expected that in less than three months, he would actually have his own power, and such a powerful one at that.

Thinking about this, he gradually began to feel a sense of identification with the identity of the King of the Zhenbing Tribe.

As they were talking, Sunafa led Gaode to a building made of black pebbles.

This corresponds perfectly to the dwellings in Sunafana, which are made of white marble.

The black stone buildings are also distinguished from the uniform gray stone buildings in Phoenix, and they are not far from the core spiritual land where the Ice Jade Wutong is located.

"From now on, this place is yours," Sunafa said, opening the door and leading Gaode inside. She explained to Gaode, "Because of the tight schedule, it wasn't built very big."

Upon entering, a strong sense of magic immediately envelops you.

Although the concentration is not as high as that of the fifth-tier spiritual land where the Ice Jade Wutong is located, it is still at the fourth-tier level.

A fourth-tier spiritual land is defined as a magical energy concentration greater than 4500.

At Seres Academy, the rental fee for a mere Tier 3 training room with a magic concentration of 1000 is as high as 10 gold for two hours, and it is not open to students.

One day, he, a first-level mage, was able to own a residence equivalent to a fourth-level cultivation room.

Even princes in the Duchy of Sien do not receive this kind of treatment.

Gaode once again exclaimed in amazement.

And this is just one of the benefits of the new king of the Zhenbing tribe.

"Someone will come to take your measurements later," Sunafa added. "Then, the tribe will prepare a new set of clothes for you."

Given Gao De's current status, now that he is being supported as the new king of the Zhenbing tribe, it is natural that he needs to be provided with a set of clothing that matches his status, which is also a manifestation of his position and authority.

(End of this chapter)