Above the mage

Chapter 439 [Summoning Mounts+]

The only remaining trace of the original essence stored in Gaode's Wind Spirit Moon Shadow is now a tiny fraction of its original power.

The first ring's essence was used up before upgrading to the second ring, and that little bit of essence belonged to the second ring, which was obtained by the previous expedition to the Snowfield Guardians.

Besides that, there was no surplus grain.

This is because it is much more difficult to capture second-ring ley line creatures alive than first-ring ley line creatures.

The people from the clan who went out to capture ley line creatures for Gaode were all second-ring Ice-blooded mages.

For them, capturing ley line creatures alive is actually quite risky.

A basic concept: If you want to defeat an enemy, you only need to be slightly stronger than him; if you want to kill him, you need to be much stronger; if you want to capture him alive without any risk, you need to have overwhelming strength.

Clearly, most second-ring Iceborn mages cannot overwhelm second-ring ley line creatures; being able to defeat a second-ring ley line creature in a one-on-one fight is already quite an achievement.

Therefore, the safest way for Gaode to continue to reap the benefits of obtaining the second-ring origin is to send out the third-ring Iceborn Mage.

However, there are only a little over two hundred Third Ring Mages even in the Zhenbing tribe, who are considered high-ranking members of the tribe, so it's not appropriate to send them out to "do odd jobs" at will.

However, now that Gaode Maps has been upgraded to the second ring road, there's no need to be polite anymore.

He is the King of Zhenbing, and he has already done so much for Zhenbing. It is his right to dispatch people from his clan to serve him.

If he's always worrying about this and that, what kind of king is he? He might as well just be a steward!

Gaode has no psychological barriers to this.

On his very first day of advancing to the second ring, he mobilized nearly ten third-ring Iceborn mages to go out and "hunt" for him.

While waiting for the "hunting party" to return, he focused on building spell models.

After finishing his "homework" for the day, Gao De had just left his residence when he received good news from the Ministry of Agriculture: the Northwest Barley No. 2 (Blood Crystal Wheat * Cold-Resistant Wheat) had been successfully cultivated.

Keep in mind that this was only a little over two weeks after the Ministry of Agriculture began the breeding work for the Northwest Barley No. 2 variety!

However, upon closer examination, it is not surprising.

With the assistance of numerous mages who possess "natural arts" capable of cultivating Blood Crystal Wheat and Cold-resistant Wheat, and with Flora, a veritable "Grand Druid" who never needs rest, leading the already experienced wheat hybridization and breeding work, it certainly doesn't take too much time.

Soon, at the newly developed Flora Fertility Farm, Gao De saw the mature Northwest Barley No. 2 variety.

Compared to the original blood crystal barley, the new generation Northwest Barley No. 2 variety still retains the characteristic of being entirely blood red, but with an additional, inconspicuous brown tinge within the red.

This brown hue comes from cold-resistant wheat.

Gaode's requirement for the Northwest Barley No. 2 variety is to retain the characteristics of blood crystal barley as much as possible.

The cold resistance of cold-resistant wheat is a supplementary characteristic, not a replacement characteristic. The addition of cold resistance should not diminish the effects of blood crystal wheat in replenishing qi and blood and improving physical fitness.

It was precisely because of this requirement that the cultivation of the Northwest Barley No. 2 variety took so "long" of time; otherwise, it would have been successful long ago.

The time invested was worthwhile; this Northwest Barley No. 2 variety perfectly meets Gaode's requirements.

However, there is still a lot of room for optimization.

"The yield per mu can only barely reach 100 kilograms, and it only ripens once in June..." Gao De murmured softly.

This is the data Flora reported to him.

The Northwest Barley No. 1 variety, derived from Jinhuimai* cold-resistant wheat, can yield between 160-180 kg per mu and is harvested once in April.

On the same land, the yield of Northwest Barley No. 1 will be more than twice that of No. 2.

"I'll try to increase the yield per acre, please, Lady Flora," Gao De said to Flora.

Flora patted her chest confidently, without making a loud thud, but her confidence was undeniable.

"In addition, Flora's Abundant Farm has cultivated nearly 200,000 mu of land, but less than 10,000 mu are actually usable." Elsa, who was also there to check on the Northwest Barley No. 2 crop, reported this to Gao De and handed him a farm map.

Unlike Northwest Barley No. 1, Northwest Barley No. 2 perfectly inherits the stringent requirements of Blood Crystal Barley for planting conditions, namely the three key points of "dormant awakening, rusty ironware, and fertile soil for growth".

Waking from hibernation is the simplest thing and doesn't require much attention.

The latter two requirements are that the land must be barren, where no other plants have grown for the past hundred years, and that the soil must contain abundant iron.

The former is relatively easy to find in the North, but finding land where other plants have grown is the real challenge.

However, the latter requires gradual management and cultivation.

Phoenix was not a small city, so after a simple search, they easily obtained a large quantity of rusty ironware.

By burying these rusted iron tools in the reclaimed land, nearly 10,000 mu of usable land was quickly obtained.

However, once this batch of stockpiled goods is depleted, the construction of usable fields will depend on mining iron ore, and the effort required for this is considerable.

Looking at the large tracts of land marked on the map that had been cultivated but were not yet usable, Gao De thought for a moment and said, "The current amount of land in the Abundant Farm is already insufficient to handle the demand. We can temporarily stop the reclamation progress and continue to invest manpower in the reclamation of the Golden Radiance Farm."

"As for the Fengrao Farm, take it slow and don't rush. The Northwest Barley No. 1 variety is positioned as a staple food and needs to be rolled out on a large scale. The No. 2 variety should be positioned as a nutritional supplement. It won't be a problem to wait a little longer," Gao De said to Aisha.

This is similar to the difference between rice and eggs.

Eggs are important, but at most, not having eggs will cause malnutrition, not starvation. Production can be gradually increased.

"Okay." Elsa made some notes in the manuscript she carried with her.

This is her habit, because there are too many things to deal with and too many changes in Phoenix, and if she doesn't record them in time, she will easily forget them.

"Also, it seems like the plains around Phoenix are running out of land?" Gao De put down the map and added.

Phoenix's radiation range is also limited.

“Yes, War Mother discovered this a long time ago,” Elsa put down the manuscript and looked directly at God. “Her idea was to cultivate farms in the snowfield area between Phoenix and Vallar Bay.”

"Okay." Gao De nodded slightly, confirming Sunafa's idea.

The snowfields in the North have a vast area suitable for cultivation, but that doesn't mean that land that meets the planting conditions can be cultivated and planted.

A crucial point is that Phoenix cannot be out of reach; it must be right under their noses.

This was true at least before the North was unified.

Otherwise, it would be troublesome to take care of them, and they would easily attract the attention of other Icefolk tribes.

Afterwards, Flora took Gao De to see the cultivation site of the low-end version of Dragon Bird Blood Fungus.

Since there is only one Frost Lizard hatchling, the amount of its feces and the area it can cover with its daily respiration are extremely limited.

Therefore, the Northern version of the Dragon Blood Fungus cultivation site is even smaller than a small workshop, just a tiny piece of land, where the spores that Gao De extracted from the tail of the Dragon Blood Fungus are planted.

Because the Iceborn mages who have mastered the arts of nature are busy with the cultivation of permafrost and Northwest Barley No. 2, they have no manpower to care for these spores.

So, in the past two weeks, the Northern version of the Dragonblood Fungus, which was not nurtured by natural magic, has only just begun to sprout, but fortunately it is thriving and can be considered to have survived.

As Flora said, because all the conditions are a low-end version, the efficacy of the cultivated Dragon Bird Blood Bacteria will be less than 20% of the original version.

The good news is that it can be made up for over a longer period of time.

"Let's call it Ice Lizard Blood Fungus." After thinking for a moment, Gao De decided to give the Northern version of Dragon Bird Blood Fungus a new name.

Firstly, it's about image; secondly, it's about distancing oneself from the Dragon Bird Blood Bacteria to avoid potential trouble in the future.

After inspecting the Northwest Barley No. 2 variety and the Ice Lizard Blood Bacteria, Gao De took Elsa to inspect the road construction site in Phoenix.

This was his first time visiting the construction site.

But in reality, thanks to Mandora's farsightedness, Gaode has already "inspected" the construction site countless times.

However, Gaode also understands that inspections often have more than just their own significance; they also contain other implications, and the form cannot be ignored.

The simplest point is that if he has been back for so long and has not inspected a single project of the Ministry of Construction, but instead runs to the Ministry of Agriculture every few days, whether he is biased or not is one thing, but it is also a potential hidden danger to the coordination between departments.

Often, the political system is like a big family, with him and Sunefa as the parents and these departments as their children. It is inevitable and reasonable to pay more attention to the outstanding children.

But no matter what, no child should be completely ignored.

The timing of Gaode's choice was also very convenient, as today is the start of the first phase of the Phoenix road network expansion project.

Of course, while it might seem like a coincidence, it was also something he had in mind; he had observed it yesterday through Mandora's Eye.

Therefore, it can be deduced that work should be completed today.

Because it was a day of construction, many high-ranking officials from the Ministry of Construction came, and the main thoroughfare was packed with workers.

As Gao De had initially requested, at least one person from each of the tribes that were incorporated into Phoenix should be selected to join the Ministry of Construction.

Therefore, most of the senior officials from the Ministry of Construction present were from other tribes, with only one or two actually being from the Zhenbing tribe.

Even the current nominal Minister of Construction, Pierre, comes from a foreign tribe.

During this time, Gao De also gained a preliminary understanding of his background. Before becoming the acting minister of the Ministry of Construction, this guy...

He is the young chieftain of a tribe called Arutai.

The Arutai tribe was a medium-sized Ice Clan tribe and the first medium-sized Ice Clan tribe to join Phoenix, because of the "stubbornness" of the young chieftain, Pierd.

It was for this reason, coupled with the fact that Pierre himself was indeed very capable, that Sunefa appointed him as acting Minister of Construction, entrusting him with the heavy responsibility of expanding Phoenix and constructing the Vallar Tunnel.

Gao De arrived with Elsa and Flora, who was just there for the fun. This lineup was definitely top-tier in Phoenix.

Minister Pierre rushed over, nervously rubbing his hands together.

The first phase of the road network project mainly focused on the construction of main roads.

With the main road completed, the zoning becomes clear and concise. The next step is to gradually expand the construction around each zone, one square at a time, which can be the second phase, the third phase, and so on, and even more phases of the project.

It can be said that the first phase of the road network project is the foundation for Phoenix's expansion, and its importance is beyond doubt.

Gaode first took Elsa to scout out the entire road network, and then loaded a fully loaded truck onto the road and drove it through.

In addition, the monks were instructed to tap the road surface with ice picks to check its compressive strength.

Finally, the underground pipelines are inspected.

Everything was very satisfactory to Gaode, even exceeding Gaode's expectations.

After all, his design was far too advanced and demanding, not only for Phoenix, but even for the general public, and difficult to understand.

Bild may not have fully understood the necessity of certain designs, but he still carried out the construction strictly according to the requirements, without any oversights.

That's what makes Beard so excellent.

Anyone who has worked in the renovation industry knows how rare it is to find a construction team that can perfectly reproduce the design drawings.

Satisfied, Gaode didn't hold back his praise, delivering a passionate "speech" on the spot, affirming the Ministry of Construction's achievements and outlining future prospects, which drew cheers from the crowd.

Another week passed quickly, and it was the end of May.

During this period, Gaode successfully mastered his third second-level spell, which was also his first second-level attack spell.

[Face Covered in Blood] (Necromancer, Second Ring):

You've imbued a melee weapon with the ability to inflict a horrific wound on a target's forehead.

When a self-aimed weapon hits a living creature, in addition to the normal hit effect, the wielder can perform a free action to create a bloody wound on the target's forehead, causing bleeding damage.

This is a skill that might be somewhat useless for most mages, but it's a perfect synergy with [North Wind] for High Priests.

As long as you hit the target, you can "scratch it off" immediately.

This spell is so brutal that even Gaode hesitates to test its power.

This annoyance lasted for less than a day.

The next day, the hunting team sent out by Gaode, composed of third-ring mages, returned with their first batch of prey, laden with spoils. While obtaining the essence, Gaode immediately used these prey to test the power of [Bloodstained Face].

In terms of spells, melee spells have a natural disadvantage in application compared to ranged spells.

However, since they belong to the same second-circle spells, the compensation is an increase in power.

The total bleeding damage caused by 【Bloody Face】 can reach as high as forty degrees.

However, this is an ideal situation, because bleeding damage is continuous damage... as long as the opponent heals in time to stop the bleeding, the damage can be interrupted.

Another point is that the visual effect of "blood flowing all over the face" is very prominent.

It cuts a slit right into the enemy's forehead... It's much more brutal than using a wine bottle.

After a series of "slaughter", Gaode obtained its second complete second-ring origin.

As expected, after the landlord had surplus grain, he directly used this source point on [Summon Mount].

With "branches and leaves growing, and light shining brightly," the [Summoned Mount], originally composed of 229 spell stars, was...

The spell model was quickly expanded into a new model consisting of 289 spell stars.

[Summon Mount+] (Conjuration Spellcaster, Second Ring):

Summon a spirit with extraordinary intelligence, strength, and loyalty as your mount, and establish a long-term contract with it:

additional:

[Equipment Sharing]: You can use the same contract method to contract a set of weapons and armor that you are proficient in using. The mount's spirit space can hold them, and you can take out the equipment from the spirit space when you need it.

[Spirit Guardian]: Your spirit mount will be able to take one melee attack against you (absorbing full damage), after which it will immediately disappear.