Above the mage

Chapter 287 Huge Gains

This "war" is neither a sectarian conflict nor a matter of life and death; the Zhenbing tribe is not an evil organization, but a prominent tribe in the North.

Therefore, apart from a very small number of high-ring mages from the Icefield Temple who harbored other thoughts, most of them did not really have much resistance to submitting to the Zhenbing tribe.

Their only concern was how Gaode and Sunaifa would treat them after they were incorporated into the Zhenbing tribe.

After the mages remaining at the Icefield Temple chose to submit, Goddard and Sunefah entered the Icefield Temple openly and legitimately.

This ancient building stands on an extremely flat snowfield. Although it is called a palace, it is not a standalone building, but a large complex of buildings connected together.

The Snowfield Guardians are the oldest sect in the North. Because of their doctrine of protecting the snowfields, they had almost never clashed with any forces in the North before Ryan practiced forbidden necromancy and slaughtered the tribes there.

According to normal circumstances, they should be able to continue this tradition for many more years.

But since someone has chosen to make changes, they must naturally pay the price.

The price is a bit high.

"This is our sect's library, where most of our sect's scriptures are kept," Loich said, leading God to a black stone building. "It includes doctrinal texts, as well as spells, cultivation methods, and all sorts of miscellaneous knowledge texts."

This was Gao De's request; his first priority was to look at the Snowfield Guardian's library, not the treasure vault.

Inheritance is what Gaode values ​​most during this trip.

However, the Iceborn mages of the Zhenbing tribe didn't care much about this—their cultivation methods and spells all came from bloodline awakening, so they didn't need these things at all.

This method of relying on bloodline inheritance, while powerful, is clearly a very outdated concept.

Beyond the North, the first of the three great principles for mages is: knowledge is power.

However, correcting the deeply ingrained beliefs of the Iceborn Mage is not something that can be done overnight, and Gao De did not force it.

Although the people of the Zhenbing tribe may not understand the importance of inheritance, they will definitely do as Gao De instructs.

For now, that's enough.

Loich used a secret command to open the door to the library, then led God and Sunefa inside.

The library was extremely large, with stone shelves lining the four walls. These shelves were sturdy and ancient, strong enough to withstand the harsh northern climate and the erosion of time.

On the stone shelf were "books" of various materials.

Some of them can't even be called books, because they are made of animal hides, and some are even made of stone slabs and bones, with some words carved on them.

While it cannot be said to be primitive, it does reflect the long history of the snowfield guardians.

Gao De read through these classic texts with great interest.

He glanced at the doctrinal texts and tossed them aside. These were essentially political books, designed to solidify faith and unify thought; they were used for "brainwashing," and for Gao De, they were the most useless knowledge.

Then there are those miscellaneous knowledge books, which are closely related to life on the snowfield and cover everything from the natural environment to plants and animals.

There are dozens of thick animal hide scrolls in the same series, which record in detail the physical characteristics, habits and other aspects of common creatures in the snowfield.

As Gao De browsed through the book, he discovered that it contained not only descriptions of creatures from the earth veins, such as snow wolves, but also records of small mammals and birds, and even insects.

On another stone shelf were dozens of animal skin scrolls containing information about all the plants in the snowfield, including medicinal plants, edible plants, and even magical plants, detailing their appearance, harvesting methods, growing environment, and other specifics.

In addition, some books record practical skills for living in the snowfields, such as how to find a suitable campsite and how to find food.

These are all experiences accumulated by the guardians of the snowfield over thousands of years.

The Zhenbing tribe also understands many of these things, but they rely more on oral tradition rather than compiling them into books like the Snowfield Guardians.

"Very good. Collect all these books and transport them to Phoenix." Gao De was increasingly pleased as he looked at them, and solemnly instructed the elder of the Zhenbing tribe beside him.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"Master, are books valuable?" A small head popped out of Gao De's pocket.

When she's bored and has nothing to do, Flora is too lazy to move, so she simply hides in Gaode's pocket and takes a nap.

"No, not at all," Gao De said after thinking for a moment.

"Then why is the monk so happy?"

"Because books are the ladder of human progress."

"Who said that?"

"It wasn't me, it was Gorky who said it."

Flora tilted her head and looked at Gao De, seemingly lost in thought.

But Gao De knew what she was thinking.

"It is also a stepping stone for Lady Flora's progress."

"Lady Flora doesn't want to improve." The little head shrank back again.

In the past, she would have been very excited.

Flora has always been a very curious child.

But now everything has changed.

Because after she left Phoenix, the wicked sorcerer began teaching her "arithmetic".

The monk told her that if she mastered math, physics, and chemistry, she would be able to go anywhere in the world without fear.

Maybe it's true. But math is so hard, even harder than magic.

Although she didn't quite understand what "physics" and "chemistry" were, she had already deeply felt the terror of "mathematics".

Lady Flora is not afraid to travel the world, but she is afraid of counting.

Of course, she only thought these words in her heart and didn't say them out loud.

Because the monk always praised her for having a wise heart.

If I were to express my fear of learning arithmetic, would the monk think that I am not actually that wise?

"It's so tiring being a smart person," Lady Flora thought wistfully.

After reading those miscellaneous books, the main event is about to begin.

In one corner of the wall, there is a small room.

The door was opened using a secret command.

Inside are the mage's legacy of the Snowfield Guardians, these precious books recording the sect's core cultivation methods and skills.

The legacy of the Snowfield Guardians actually consists of two paths: Guardian and Hunter.

Hunters excel at tracking and hunting, and are also proficient in various combat spells.

As for the Guardians, they are better at survival and perception.

In addition, beast taming is a common strength of both hunters and guardians.

Nine out of ten of the mages who chose to submit outside the Icefield Temple today were hunters.

Because among the Snowfield Guardians, only the Hunters reside permanently within the sect, responsible for daily management and external affairs.

They would only go out to carry out missions after receiving assignments from their superiors.

The Guardians, on the other hand, spend most of their time patrolling the vast, permafrost plains of the North, only occasionally returning to their cult.

"This room was previously reserved for Archbishop Rune, Inquisitor Ryan, and Chief Quentin." Loich stepped aside, not intending to enter.

This is the secret place of the Snowfield Guardians. Now that the Snowfield Guardians have been incorporated into the Zhenbing Tribe, he cannot see what's inside without the permission of Gaode and Sunefa.

Gao De and Sunafa exchanged a glance, and then went inside together.

Compared to the outside, this room is much smaller.

There were only two stone shelves, with scrolls made of parchment on them.

Gao De started browsing the stone shelves on the left, while Sunai looked at the stone shelves on the right.

"Wilderness Secrets," "Beast Spirit Walker," and "Nature Secrets." These are all cultivation methods displayed on the stone shelf, but there aren't actually many; there are only six cultivation methods in total.

The reason there are so many scrolls is that each practice method contains a lot of content, plus there are summaries of corresponding practice points left by the elders of the sect.

As for what's on the stone shelf to the right, it should most likely be the spell recipe.

Although most of the Snowfield Guardians are Iceborn, compared to traditional Iceborn mages, they often also practice the "Hunter" or "Guardian" schools of training and need to learn and master additional spells.

Of course, the main focus is still on Iceborn magic, with these self-taught spells as a supplement.

In addition, many spell materials are unavailable in the North, so the Snowfield Guardians don't actually have a lot of spell recipes left behind.

However, it is certain that these are all spell recipes that can be made from locally available materials to create magical potions.

"My King, this is the unique spell of the Snowfield Guardians, and also their signature spell. It was improved upon by them based on the spell [Ice Blade], which all Iceborn can awaken."

Sunafa handed the scroll to Gaode.

Gao De took a look and was overjoyed.

【Ice Blade】 is a first-circle spell, a very common ordinary spell. Its effect is:

Creates a shard of ice crystal and fires it at a creature within 120 feet. If it hits, the target takes piercing damage.

Regardless of whether it hits or not, the shards will explode afterward, and the target and every creature within a 5-foot radius that is hit will suffer cold damage.

However, the [Frozen Blade], after being improved by the Snowfield Guardians, is an extremely rare spell.

【Frozen Blade】(Curse Magic, 1st Ring):

Creates a permanent ice crystal shard. After that, the spell can be cast again at any time to launch the ice crystal shard at a creature within a range (240 feet). If it hits, the target will suffer piercing damage and cold damage.

Spell damage can be increased by improving the quality of Ice Crystal Shards.

This piece of ice crystal that was created is the Frozen Blade.

This is actually a growth-type spell.

Of all the spells Gao De knew, none could grow indefinitely. However, after adding points to Feng Ling Yue Ying, the [Wildness and Agility+] skill set possessed this ability.

In the [Frozen Blade] spell recipe, in addition to the corresponding spell model and spell potion recipe, there are also detailed records on how to improve the quality of ice crystal shards.

The method is also very simple: collect ice energy and integrate it into ice crystal fragments to continuously increase the strength of the Frozen Blade.

The so-called "ice sha" is actually a naturally formed gas.

Malevolent energy only forms in dangerous and dark places, often found on battlefields and execution grounds. These places accumulate too much negative energy due to the large number of deaths, and this negative energy gradually condenses to become malevolent energy.

Ice Fiend is formed by adding the condition of an extremely cold place to the formation of fiendish energy.

Gao De didn't stand on ceremony and accepted the [Frozen Blade] directly.

This should be the first level one attack spell he has mastered.

Driven by the allure of the Frozen Blade, Gao De decided to put aside the cultivation methods he couldn't use and diligently peruse the spell recipes collected by the Snowfield Guardians.

There are two sets of fourth-circle spells, five sets of third-circle spells, six sets of second-circle spells, and nine sets of first-circle spells.

High-level spells are not needed yet, so we'll ignore them for now. First-level spells are:

[Sensing Emotions], [Frozen Blade], [Wild Agility], [Mysterious Chorus], [Tidal Net], [Wolf Speed], [Animal Communication], [Hunter's Mark], [Beast Bond].

Apart from [Animal Conversation], the rest were all rare spells, spells that Gaode had never seen in his general spell class.

This excited him.

Without a doubt, these cultivation methods and spell formulas will also be taken away and transported back to Phoenix.

After leaving the library, the next stop was the treasure vault.

The first thing that catches the eye is a variety of magical materials, which are basically the materials needed for magical potions.

The magical materials needed to concoct high-level spell potions are rarer due to their higher rank, so there may be some shortages.

However, as the most basic spells, each member of the Snowfield Guardians has mastered several of them to varying degrees, so the "stock" of spell materials needed for these spell potions is particularly complete.

After careful comparison, Gao De easily gathered the spell materials needed for nine first-level spell potions, and each required at least ten portions.

Compared to the unusable first-level spell recipes from the Zhenbing Tribe, the Snowfield Guardians' recipes were far more reliable.

Not only is the quality high, but it also comes with matching spell materials.

In other words, he could immediately concoct spell potions and begin attempting to construct spell models.

Thinking of this, Gao De couldn't help but smile.

Who says this sect is no good? This sect is fantastic!

In addition to these magical materials, the vault also contains more than twenty bottles of Ice Fiend of varying quality.

"The sect has a total of seven ice caves that can continuously produce Ice Fiend," Loich honestly explained to God. "Four of these ice caves produce Tier 1 Ice Fiend, two produce Tier 2 Ice Fiend, and one produces Tier 3 Ice Fiend."

【Frozen Blade】is the signature spell of the Snowfield Guardian.

And the guardians of the snowfields have been a tradition for so long.

Therefore, it's impossible that the Snowfield Guardians don't have access to the Ice Fiend needed to enhance the Frozen Blade.

"A first-tier ice cave can produce one bottle of Ice Essence every year, a second-tier ice cave takes five years to produce one bottle of Ice Essence, and a third-tier ice cave takes twenty years to produce one bottle of Ice Essence."

Based on a 20-year cycle, the seven ice caves in the hands of the Snowfield Guardian can produce one bottle of Tier 3 Ice Essence, eight bottles of Tier 2 Ice Essence, and eighty bottles of Tier 1 Ice Essence.

"However, if you urgently need low-grade ice energy, you can collect high-grade ice energy that is not yet formed in advance. For example, a third-grade ice cave can collect a bottle of first-grade ice energy every six months."

"The newly formed Frozen Blade is considered to be of rank zero. By infusing it with three bottles of rank one Ice Fiend, it can be strengthened to rank one."

Gao De looked at the more than twenty bottles of Ice Fiend in the Snowfield Guardian's inventory. Only two of them were Tier 2 Ice Fiend, while the rest were Tier 1 Ice Fiend.

(End of this chapter)