Above the mage

Chapter 437 The Yang Family

The fierce winds of the North swept through the blizzard, but stopped and weakened before a stretch of undulating glaciers.

The glacier is shaped like a giant wolf lying down, with sharp ice ridges like its mane and dark blue crevices like its slightly closed eyes.

In the natural canyon at the foot of the glacier, tents made of animal bones and hides are scattered in a neat and orderly fashion.

Outside each tent, there are one or more snow wolves, each as large as a warhorse.

Snow wolves, one of the most ferocious creatures in the North, are feared and dreaded by countless Iceborn tribes. Here, however, they are a far cry from their fierce nature, affectionately nuzzling their master's palm with their noses.

This is the home of the Frostwolf Clan, one of the three great Iceborn tribes of the North.

After waiting for a week, Helica, the current War Mother of the Frostwolf Clan, finally met the person she had expected.

The tent flap was lifted, and the biting wind and snow swept in with a few snowflakes.

The tribe's chief elder lifted the curtain with one hand, and the wolf-tooth necklace hanging on his chest jingled. Half a step behind him was a woman wearing a white animal skin cloak.

Her face was angular, with a gruesome burn mark at the corner of her left eye, and a huge warhammer was slung across her waist.

It was none other than Yarna, the current War Mother of Winter's Hammer.

She strode into the tent, glanced at the horseradish water simmering on the stove, and at the wolf cub held in Herika's arms, its eyes still half-closed, and snorted.

"Herika, you're really calm. Even at a time like this, you're still worried about raising your wolf cubs."

"What time is it now?" Herika asked without changing her expression. She took the earthenware pot off the stove, poured the contents into a cup, and handed it to Yarna, who was sitting cross-legged.

Yarna didn't stand on ceremony. She took the glass of horseradish water, then picked up the wolf milk that was placed next to her and poured it into the glass.

Shake the glass slightly to mix the two ingredients, then drink it all in one gulp.

"You couldn't possibly not have received the news from Phoenix, could you?"

"Are you referring to the fact that the new king of the Zhenbing tribe has awakened the Zhenbing bloodline?" Helica remained calm and composed, taking a sip of spicy horseradish water without adding wolf milk.

"Between you and me, there's no need for pretense, is there? We both experienced the strange phenomenon seven days ago, and our tribesmen already had different thoughts about it. Now that the Zhenbing tribe has released this news, the situation has only gotten worse."

"You can't expect your Frostwolf Clan to be completely unaffected, can you?" Yarna frowned, her voice loud.

"Yes, how could it not have an impact? But what can I do? I can't just surrender to the Zhenbing tribe because of this, and I can't beat them. Can I just pretend nothing happened?" Helica spread her hands.

Her words left Yarna speechless.

Silence fell over the tent for a moment.

Yarna glanced at Helika, then at the Frostwolf Clan Elder who was also sitting cross-legged. After thinking for a moment, she spoke again, "The problem is, we can pretend nothing happened, but what about the Zhenbing Tribe? Will they just do nothing?"

"The fact that Zhenbing deliberately released the news that the new king had awakened the Zhenbing bloodline is a precursor to an operation, and there will definitely be other actions to follow."

"In the past six months, the Zhenbing tribe has been constantly absorbing and annexing smaller tribes, and has even sent people to bring smaller tribes that are far away to Phoenix."

"Sunefair's desire to unify the North is quite clear."

"As two major tribes on par with Zhenbing, we are bound to be seen as a thorn in the side of the unification process by Sunafa, who is eyeing us covetously."

"Zhenbing is both cunning and capable. Are you really just going to do nothing and wait to be swallowed up?" Yarna stared intently at Helica.

"Then what do you think I should do? What can I do?" Helica asked in return, while picking up the wolf milk, pouring it into a bowl, and holding it to the mouth of the wolf cub in her arms.

Before the wolf cub even opened its eyes, it smelled the milky aroma and instinctively stuck out its tongue to slowly lick the milk in the bowl.

Yarna squinted at the wolf cub and said, word by word, "We really can't do anything about Sunefa. Her bloodline is pure, and with [Blizzard], she's just too powerful."

"One Sunafal is already suffocating us, and now there's another new king who has also awakened the True Ice bloodline. In two or three years, when he grows up, he might become another Sunafal. How can our two races possibly protect ourselves then?"

"Sunefah has fully matured, but the new king will need a few more years."

"Zhenbing wants to command us in the name of the new king, why don't we turn the tables and use the new king to counter Zhenbing's tribe?"

As she spoke, a fierce glint flashed in Yarna's eyes, causing the wolf cub, who was drinking milk, to let out an uneasy whimper.

"You're going to attack the new king?" Helica's expression changed slightly, surprised by Yarna's audacity. "The new king has been in Phoenix the whole time, right under Sunefa's nose. How can you make a move?"

“Actually, that’s not the case,” Yarna shook her head and said, “The new king doesn’t stay in Phoenix all the time. He goes to nearby Valar Bay every now and then, and most of the time he is not accompanied by anyone.”

"This is our opportunity."

"What do you want me to do?" Helica seemed somewhat tempted, put down the wolf cub, and looked directly at Yarna.

"Our people in Phoenix were basically wiped out by Zhenbing last year, and we spent a lot of resources to redeem them back to their tribe."

But to be honest, there were still two or three who slipped through the net and escaped their crackdown, and they are still lurking in Phoenix.

"I haven't dared to contact them for the past year, for fear of exposing them as well."

"I imagine the situation is similar for your Frostwolf Clan."

Hearing this, Helica was silent for a moment before slowly nodding. "I still have three people in Phoenix, all of them are old."

"How strong are they? There are three of us on my side: two second-ring Iceborn mages and one third-ring Iceborn mage," Yarna pressed.

"Then why don't you? The three of us who are still here are all from the Second Ring Road."

"Okay, something is better than nothing."

Yarna nodded slightly and continued, "If our two races join forces, we can gather five second-circle Iceborn mages and one third-circle Iceborn mage. We just need to wait for the new king to leave Phoenix for Valar Bay, then we can strike together and capture him en route."

"how?"

"It's too dangerous. If Sunaf is really controlled by us because of the new king, then everyone will be happy."

But what if Sunafar ignores the new king? How can the two of us withstand Sunafar's wrath?

After thinking for a long time, Helica still shook her head. "Faced with Zhenbing, who has two pure-blooded ice descendants, I should be thinking about how to protect myself, not gambling with you."

"No, I have a backup plan."

After Helica finished speaking, Yarna realized that it would be impossible to persuade Helica to take action without presenting something substantial.

She gritted her teeth and decided to reveal some clan secrets.

Yarna tapped the massive warhammer hanging from her waist, her knuckles striking the steel with a clear, metallic clang.

This warhammer, which became the symbol of the Winterhammer tribe, was actually named "The Icebreaker".

The Icebreaker's hammerhead is an irregular polyhedron, cast from three pieces of molten meteorite iron. Its surface is crisscrossed with grooves, and upon closer inspection, crimson crystals are embedded in the grooves, like magma flowing in metal.

The warhammer's handle is three feet long, and at the end of the handle is inlaid a fiery red gem shaped like a dragon's head.

This is a powerful warhammer that allows Iceborn mages to wield the power of fire.

"You should know that the Icebreaker's background is not simple, right?" Yarna asked.

Herlica's gaze swept over the massive warhammer, skillfully concealing the greed in her eyes. "Naturally, everyone knows that without this Icebreaker, your Winter's Hammer would have been wiped out long ago."

"Back when we were still the Winter's Claw tribe, the tribe was in decline and on the verge of extinction. At this critical moment of life and death, the War Mother Valateya chose to leave the tribe and head east alone."

"Her original intention was to find the Frostguard tribe, who had fled to the eastern region, and ask for their protection."

"But in reality, the War Mother of Valatea did not find the Frostguard tribe, nor did she even set foot in the eastern forbidden zone of the North."

"When she entered the central region of the North, she encountered a terrible thunderstorm. In order to avoid the thunderstorm, Valateya War Mother lost her way and unexpectedly came to a place called the Lava Plains."

"On the molten plain, thousands of furnaces stand in rows, eighteen peaks of the Heavenly Forging Mountain stand, and nearly a hundred volcanoes stand in the forest."

"At the foot of these volcanoes, a group of people who call themselves the Yang family have settled down."

"They are very powerful, wield the power of fire, and are highly skilled. Using volcanoes as furnaces, they are adept at crafting all kinds of exquisite weapons and tools."

"Furthermore, the Yang family shares a common belief in a master craftsman who lived for an unknown amount of time and was born in a volcano."

"War Mother Valatea met the Sheep Clan because of this thunderstorm and told them about her identity and origin. After learning about it, the kind Sheep Clan created the Icebreaker for War Mother Valatea."

"I don't need to say more about what happened next," Yarna said.

Herricka could no longer hide the surprise in her eyes.

Meltfield, Sheep Family

She never imagined that such a powerful tribe existed in the desolate central region of the North.

And all they had to do was spend a little time crafting a hammer that could bring Winter's Claw back to life.

"But," after the initial shock came confusion, Helica frowned and asked, "what does this have to do with the plan you mentioned earlier to attack the new king?"

"Of course it's related," Yarna smiled mysteriously, then added, "Don't worry."

"The Sheep Clan is a reclusive clan. When Valateya, the War Mother, left the Molten Plains, it was the Sheep Clan who sent her out."

"After returning to her tribe, Warmother Valateya told her people about this experience. For many years afterward, many tribesmen tried to go east to find the Molten Plains and the Sheep Clan, but they all returned empty-handed, and many never came back."

"We gradually realized that the Sheep Family did not want to be known by outsiders. Valateya War Mother also accidentally entered the Lava Plains because of that thunderstorm, so we gave up the idea of ​​finding the Sheep Family."

"But just a week ago, our Winterhammer tribe welcomed a special guest."

"You mean," Helica, as the war mother of her race, reacted quickly, "the Sheep Clan?!"

"Yes."

"How could that be? Didn't you say they lived in seclusion?" Helica asked, puzzled.

"It was their revered master craftsman who sensed something extraordinary was born in our western North last year."

"This thing possesses a powerful ability to change the North."

"This power unsettles the master craftsman, who wants to find out its source to ensure it doesn't bring disaster to the North."

"Therefore, he prefers the Yang family to send people to our western region to investigate."

"The North is so vast that we can't even find a huge lava field, let alone something they're looking for. They have to seek help from the locals, which means we."

"The Sheep family has been isolated from the world for a long time, and their only interaction was with our Winter's Hammer."

"This member of the Sheep family found our Winter's Hammer by the mark left on the Icebreaker, and expressed his purpose, hoping that we could help him find the thing that made the Master Craftsman uneasy."

"Not to mention the great kindness the Yang family has shown to our Winter's Hammer, given their strength alone, we cannot refuse their request."

"His strength?" Helica grasped the key point.

"It's at least the Fifth Ring Road, and it's not impossible that it's even above the Fifth Ring Road."

"Moreover, unlike Ryan, the Sheep Clan are skilled at crafting weapons, are well-equipped, and possess powerful fire abilities. Even if they are only at the fifth ring, they are far beyond what Sunafa can defeat."

"We are helping him find what he is looking for, while he is temporarily staying with our tribe and waiting for news from us."

"This is the best time."

"Take down the new king and bring him to our Winter's Hammer."

If they could provoke Sunefa to come knocking on their door, how could this Yang family member sit idly by?

I will find a way to use him to take down Sunafa, thus achieving victory in one battle and ensuring that our two tribes will no longer be in danger of being annexed. Then, I will use the new king to coerce the Zhenbing tribe into handing over the Northwest Barley No. 1 seed.”

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, a chance like this only comes once." Yarna's voice rose several notches.

“But,” Helica frowned slightly, sensing something amiss, “from what you’ve said, it seems that the involvement of our Frostwolf Clan is unimportant. So why do you need to come all this way to persuade me to join your plan?”

"Because I am worried that my men will not be able to take down the new king with absolute certainty, and after taking down the new king, I will need your cooperation to help me escort him to the tribe."

"Besides, with something this important happening, I need someone to share the pressure with," Yarna frankly admitted.

"Yarna, what do you think of my wolf cub?" Herika suddenly changed the subject at this moment.

Yarna didn't know what Helika meant by that. She glanced at the wolf cub and subconsciously replied, "Broad head, thick neck, and strong frame. Glossy fur with dense markings and no blemishes. It's a good breed."

"Indeed, it's a rare breed. War Mother Yarna, come back in six months. By then, it will be weaned, and I'll give this wolf cub to you. I wish you every success," Helica said with a smile.

(End of this chapter)