Above the mage

Chapter 282 Evolution: The Body of a Magic Ninja

The vast white snowfield stretched as far as the eye could see, like an endless ocean, with the cold wind howling across the land, occasionally whipping up layers of snow waves.

After a four-day march, the Zhenbing tribe's 5,000-strong force had covered more than 200 kilometers.

This speed is even faster than Gaode Maps expected.

At this moment, they are less than 400 kilometers away from the Icefield Temple, where the Snowfield Guardians' headquarters is located.

As they drew closer to the Icefield Temple, the mages in the main force grew increasingly excited.

Their relatively primitive lifestyle has allowed the people of the North to become accustomed to the harsh natural environment and to possess astonishing resilience and adaptability.

They possess a primal, untamed spirit.

This wildness is not only physical strength, but also an indomitable spirit.

The people of the North have never been afraid of fighting; in fact, they crave it.

Because they were used to obtaining the food necessary for survival through fighting.

Therefore, aside from Sunefah, the ruler, and the elders who had to worry about logistics, resources, and other tedious matters, everyone else was filled with a burning desire to fight.

Gao De rode on the back of a strong snow wolf, his gaze sweeping over the long, serpentine caravan.

Snow Wolf was Elder Grant's pet. He himself did not go on the expedition with the main force, but sent his pet with Gaode instead.

At this point, Gao De was completely certain that the Zhenbing tribe truly respected and trusted him, this "outsider" who had become the new king because of a prophecy.

Even though he was young and weak, and even though his orders would cost the Zhenbing tribe dearly, he still believed that the tribe would resolutely obey and carry them out from top to bottom.

Sunefair said he could lead the True Ice to a glorious revival, unify the North, and support him as the ruler of the True Ice tribe.

This is a heavy responsibility and a very difficult task. Gao De first needs to determine whether the Zhenbing tribe is worth taking on this responsibility and whether he can control the Zhenbing tribe.

His attack on the Icefield Temple was both a revenge mission and a test for him.

If Zhenbing Tribe and Sunafa fail this test, then Gaode will treat Zhenbing Tribe as a tool.

After all, although the Northern Territory is relatively "poor", the Zhenbing Tribe still has some resources, which is enough for him, at least for a first-ring mage.

Clearly, by now, Gaode's heart has gradually begun to accept Zhenbing Tribe.

The entire tribe, from the most ordinary members to figures like Sunefa whose strength far surpassed his, unconditionally trusted him.

This trust gave him a profound sense of mission and belonging.

The sun is about to set.

The main force has already skillfully begun searching for campsites and preparing food for the night.

After setting up camp, Gao De didn't sit idle; instead, he inspected the temporary camp.

Everyone who sees Gaode approaching will temporarily stop what they are doing and bow with their hands on their chests.

Their primitive way of life and primitive social structure have also given the people of the North a primitive simplicity.

Outside the North, there is absolutely no place where people would show such respect to a first-ring mage because of a seemingly unfounded prophecy.

Everyone's food is the same air-dried meat, which is made by putting it in a pot and boiling it with water to make soup, and then swallowing it in one gulp.

It may look simple, but its specifications are actually quite high.

Few tribes in the northern border region possess the strength to produce enough rations to supply a force of five thousand people for nearly a month.

"The food problem still needs to be solved first." Gao De remained silent on the surface, but various thoughts flashed through his mind.

Without a stable food source, the so-called glorious revival and unification of the North are nothing but castles in the air and simply cannot be achieved.

This principle is certainly not only understood by Gaode.

The problem is that understanding the principle doesn't mean you can put it into practice.

However, Gaode has Flora, so the food problem is actually quite understandable for him.

After walking around the camp, he returned to the tent that the Zhenbing tribe had set up for him, where there was a pot of stewed meat soup.

Unlike other people's dried meat soup, Gaode's soup is made with fresh perilla snake meat.

This was killed by the main force while they were on their way.

The Purple Perilla Snake is a second-ring earth vein creature. If Gao De were to encounter a Purple Perilla Snake alone on the snowfield, he wouldn't even have time to run away.

However, it was dealt with by a third-ring Iceborn mage as soon as it appeared in the face of the main force of the Zhenbing tribe. Gaode didn't even have time to react, otherwise he would definitely have told the other party to hold back.

—This is another benefit of becoming the king of the Zhenbing tribe.

With this identity, he seems to no longer need to worry about acquiring the source, at least up to the fourth ring.

As long as Gaode needs it, someone will help him hunt ley line creatures.

The abundant ley line resources in the North can definitely meet most of his needs.

However, there is plenty of time ahead, and the most important thing right now is to continue the journey, so Gao De was not in a hurry to ask the Zhenbing tribe to help him obtain the source.

Gao De picked up the pot of perilla snake soup, ready to start eating, when he caught a glimpse of Flora craning her neck and peering into the pot.

His hands paused immediately, he smiled slightly, and picked out a small piece of perilla snake meat from the pot.

Although it was described as a small piece, Gao De compared it to Flora's size and realized that it was absolutely enormous for a little girl.

He thought for a moment, then carefully tore off a tiny piece of snake meat before handing it to Flora.

Flora leaned closer, sniffed the air, and then looked up at him.

"What is this?"

"For Lady Flora."

"Oh~" Flora frowned slightly; she clearly wanted to ask what kind of meat this was.

That wretched mage!

Flora's eyes darted left and right. She stretched out her hands and took the piece of snake meat in a cupping motion, then carefully took a bite.

"Hiss!" The next moment, Flora gasped for breath, saying anxiously, "My mouth is burning!"

Gaode laughed heartily.

The taste of perilla snake meat is unusually spicy, and Flora has never liked this type of food. For example, when Chief Himo served her ginger tea, Flora thought it was poisonous.

"It's spicy, but it warms you up; it's a good thing," Gao De said seriously.

"Lady Flora isn't afraid of the cold!"

"Oh, I forgot~"

"Mage, you're not smart!" Flora said angrily to God, who was laughing heartily, already preparing to hold a grudge.

After finishing the entire pot of meat soup, including the broth and meat, Gaode picked up the "North Wind" card.

A familiar chill surged through him in an instant, and a thin layer of ice instantly formed on his palm.

But that was all; the thin ice merely condensed in the palm of the hand and did not spread further.

After these days of continuous adaptation, Gaode Maps is getting infinitely closer to being completely immune to the cold of the north wind:

By enduring the extreme cold, your cold resistance increases by 268%.

Enduring extreme cold increases pain tolerance by 99.9%.

You are currently suffering from the effects of extreme cold, and your body's recovery ability is increased by 79.6%.

This is the progress of his [Adaptive] specialty under the stimulation of [North Wind].

The cold resistance has increased by 68% on top of the intermediate Ice Protection Body, which shows how terrifying the cold of the [North Wind] is.

However, at this point, the improvement of cold resistance has once again stalled.

The stimulation of the north wind is no longer enough to drive a rapid increase in cold resistance.

Similarly, as his cold resistance increased, the North Wind could no longer cause him any further damage from the extreme cold.

However, Gaode was still extremely excited.

The reason is also very simple.

My pain tolerance has actually been stuck at 99.9% for two days, just like the signs before evolving into the initial Ice Body.

Gao De had a premonition that he would break through this bottleneck today.

If nothing unexpected happens, after the breakthrough, [Adaptive] should also be able to evolve into an effect similar to "Primary Ice Body".

Thinking this, Gao De tightened his grip on the hilt of the sword [North Wind] even more firmly.

As he moved, the chill from the north wind intensified.

The chill felt like needles, pricking Gao De's palms painfully, but he gritted his teeth and kept his grip tight.

This continued for about half an hour.

Gao De's eyes lit up, and once again the room was filled with white light as he saw the daylight. A crisp sound came from within his body, as if some shackles had been broken at that moment.

"To withstand the pain of extreme cold, one's pain tolerance increases by 100%."

The bottleneck has finally been overcome.

Some mysterious information has already surfaced in Gao De's consciousness:

[Your body constantly experiences extreme cold and pain, which increases your tolerance for pain, allowing you to adapt and evolve into a body of ninja.]

[After evolving into the body of a Dharma Ninja, you will have an extremely strong ability to concentrate, and it will be difficult for external suffering such as hunger, thirst, cold, heat, and pain to affect your spell casting, cultivation state, and crafting.]

[By enduring prolonged pain, your mind becomes exceptionally resilient, granting you greater resistance to enchantment spells that directly attack and interfere with the mind.]

[The body of a Dharma-endurance practitioner is accompanied by pain, giving you a small chance of foreseeing impending disasters and suffering.]

After acquiring the Intermediate Ice Body, Gao De finally gained a new ability through Adaptive Force: the Ninja Body.

Like the [Intermediate Ice Protection Body], the [Ninja Body] also has three buff effects.

The first two gain effects are easy to understand and don't need much explanation.

The last one, "there is a small probability of having a premonition of impending disaster and suffering," is somewhat mystical; at least Gaode can't currently imagine how such a premonition works.

Moreover, there's a lot to say about this "low probability".

10% can be considered a small probability, but similarly, a small probability could also be 0.01%.

After thinking about it for a moment, Gaode shook his head and stopped considering it.

Ultimately, this ability shouldn't be taken too seriously.

It's good to be able to predict disasters, but the most important thing is to have the ability to resist them, rather than relying on that.

Of course, if I could foresee it, even if it only happened once, this ability would be enough to recoup its cost.

The only downside is that the [Ninja Body] doesn't have a prefix like the [Ice Body].

This means that it is already in its complete state and cannot be improved further.

Before Gao De could fully recover from the joy of gaining new abilities, a picture suddenly appeared in his mind: hordes of white skeletons and deep, inky black mist rushing towards him.

However, the scene was fleeting, as if it were just an illusion.

But even that fleeting moment of sight sent a chill down Gao De's spine.

What happened?

Gao De was stunned for a moment, then his whole body trembled as he realized what was going on.

This is the ability of the [Ninja Body] to "predict impending disasters and suffering with a low probability"!

He had thought this ability would be a little Easter egg, and that its details would be revealed someday in the future, but he didn't expect that he would use it just a moment later.

Is this considered a "first-purchase bonus"?

While finding joy amidst hardship, Gaode has already taken action.

He quickly left his tent and ran towards another tent not far away.

That's Sunafa's tent.

"It's me," Gao De said softly but urgently from outside the tent.

Almost as soon as he finished speaking, the tent flap was suddenly flung open.

Sunefa's cool and beautiful face appeared at the door.

Her eyes, a deep, dark blue, held a questioning quality: "My king, is there something you need?"

"There might be an attack tonight."

No sooner had Gao De finished speaking than a strange creaking sound suddenly rang out in the temporary camp, making everyone's heart clench.

The next moment, an even more chilling scene unfolded.

Suddenly, a series of cracking sounds erupted from the originally calm and extremely thick snow, as if something underground was stirring and eager to break free of its restraints.

Immediately afterwards, the thick layer of snow exploded as if torn apart by an invisible giant hand.

With a deafening roar, one huge crack after another was blasted open.

One after another, skeletons rose from the cracks in the snow, like evil spirits summoned from the abyss of death.

These skeletons varied in shape, but without exception, they all exuded a chilling aura of death.

Their white bones gleamed a ghastly white under the moonlight, and their eye sockets suddenly flickered with eerie green phosphorescence.

In the instant of their resurrection, these skeletons cruelly pounced on the nearest living person.

The skeletons' arms waved in the air, their white bones gleaming, as if they wanted to tear apart any obstacle in their path.

Although their movements were stiff, they were exceptionally fast.

Because everything happened so suddenly, the Iceborn mages of the Zhenbing tribe had no time to react, and many of them were immediately tackled to the ground.

Despite being mages with powerful magical abilities, they were pinned down by the skeletons at close range and had no time to cast spells.

Without the aid of magic, they are ultimately just mortals, so how could they possibly contend with skeletons that have no sense of pain and are incredibly strong?

So once you're knocked down by a skeleton, there's almost no chance of getting back up.

With a tearing sound, the skeletons used brute force to rip open the arms, thighs, and even heads of the Iceborn mages, splattering blood everywhere and staining the snow red, plunging the entire camp into chaos.

The desperate screams of the wounded Iceborn mages were truly terrifying.

Just as Gaode was standing in the tent, a skeleton crawled out and tore the tent open, revealing a scene of utter chaos inside.

It's easy to imagine that if Gaode hadn't had a premonition and left the tent in advance, he would be in serious trouble, if not dead.

(End of this chapter)