Above the mage

Chapter 800 Bloodline Shackles

The crystal-clear branches of the Ice Jade Wutong tree twist and intertwine, weaving a flowing crown and cloak for Sunafa.

She stood quietly under the sycamore tree, her figure as upright as a birch tree in early spring.

The Sunaifa ring has been completed, and the outcome is already decided.

Even if the opponent is a sixth-tier Void Leader, Sunafa will only be a fifth-tier mage even if she successfully advances to the next tier, and there is still a significant difference in tier.

But Gao De felt an inexplicable sense of certainty and trust.

Sunafa's gaze swept across the entire room, her cool eyes remaining calm and undisturbed.

First, a hint of warmth flashed in his eyes as he glanced at the Ice Jade Wutong, who was firmly guarding the Void Leader and the defensive line.

He then glanced at the group of Northern mages around him.

Several Northern mages were observed to have slight distortions on their bodies caused by the residual energy of the void.

The fine, purplish-black protrusions, like fleshy vines climbing under the skin, looked particularly ferocious.

Finally, her gaze fell on Gao De, or more precisely, on the back of his hand covered in scales.

A barely perceptible hint of anger finally flashed across those usually calm eyes, like an undercurrent surging beneath a placid surface.

She spoke softly, her voice clear and gentle, yet carrying the confident authority of a fifth-ring expert: "Thank you for your hard work."

Swish.

She reached behind her.

A flash of silvery-white light rose up, like an ice dragon awakening from its slumber, and slowly swam into her palm.

The bow-blade, adorned with tiny glints of snow, and the ancient-looking, pure ice magic weapon [Blizzard] fell into Sunafa's hands.

Compared to before, the form of [Blizzard] has changed slightly.

On each side of the bow arm, three slender and sharp icicles extend out, like the folded wing bones of a raptor, or like fangs formed by the cold wind.

The chill emanating from its bowed body intensified, and all energy attempting to approach it was silently swallowed up a few feet away.

Immediately, Sunafa's eyes sharpened, her gaze fixed on the deformed void monster in front of her, which was still restless and restrained by branches.

Although the Void Leader was firmly locked by the Ice Jade Wutong, its aura remained powerful and rampant.

Sunafa's gaze lingered on the ugly mass of flesh for a moment, then she sneered, "You beast."

Ice Jade Wutong has obvious weaknesses. While its defense and endurance are outstanding, it lacks burst damage.

Therefore, it could not kill the resilient sixth-tier void leader, nor could it cause any substantial damage to it.

But at this moment, Sunefa, having completed the ring upgrade, has just made up for this only weakness.

The combined effects of Zhenbing's pure bloodline amplification, her exclusive magic weapon [Blizzard], and her own combat expertise are enough to allow Sunefa to shake the thick defenses of a sixth-tier void creature.

Moreover, the Void Leader is now completely locked down by the ancient tree, making him a sitting duck.

Don't you know how to shoot targets?

The moment the words left her lips, Sunafa gripped the bow firmly with her left hand, and with three fingers of her right hand together, she lightly touched the bowstring.

hum.

The longbow trembled, and the entire bow instantly lit up with layers of light patterns.

Tiny starlight swirled endlessly around the bow.

The three icicles on the bow opened up in response, like a bird of prey spreading its wings.

Fine ice runes appeared on the surface of each ice ridge.

The air around the bow made a series of soft crackling sounds, the sound of moisture in the air freezing.

The bowstring began to vibrate, stirred by Sunefa's fingertips.

A string rang out.

An ice arrow detached from the bowstring and sliced ​​through the air.

The arrow split into five as it flew halfway through its flight, like a crystal breaking apart.

The five tiny icicle arrows first spread out in a fan shape, then quickly converged and gathered at the same target point.

They precisely pierced the joint gap of the Void Leader's left forelimb.

The first arrow pierced the flesh, the second arrow followed closely behind, driving into the same fissure. The third arrow widened the fissure, the fourth arrow penetrated deep into the joint, and the fifth arrow, like a wedge, completely froze the entire joint.

Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap!

Each small ice arrow made a crisp cracking sound as it entered the body.

Once the arrow embedded itself in flesh, it immediately disintegrated into countless tiny ice crystals, like a flower made of ice shards exploding inside the wound.

Each petal is a tiny ice blade, cutting and tearing through everything it touches from the inside.

The second string resonates.

Another icy arrow was fired, which, like before, split into five smaller arrows and then converged at a single point.

Sunafa's fingertips opened and closed repeatedly, causing the bowstring to vibrate continuously.

The third string resonates.

The fourth string sounds.

The fifth string resounds.

Each time the bowstring vibrated, an ice arrow was released from the bow, then split into translucent ice arrows.

The arrow is slender and sharp, with a bright blue body and a trail of frost-like shimmering light at the tail.

Dense as a sudden rain, continuous as the tide.

All the ice arrows followed a precise trajectory, striking the Void Boss's old wounds and weak points in its body.

The sound of arrows piercing the air was continuous.

The relentless penetrating damage and internal frostbite finally became too much for the Void Lord, who was usually invulnerable to pain and fear.

The void energy within its body began to become disordered, and the severe trauma made it go berserk.

The Void Leader's massive, distorted body trembled violently as it struggled frantically, its dark purple void energy surging as it tried to forcefully break free of the branch barrier.

But its struggles were ultimately in vain.

The moment it began to struggle, the ice jade parasol tree surrounding its imprisoned body simultaneously lit up with intense magical light.

The magic surged instantly, tightening the entangled branches even further.

The more fiercely the opponent struggles, the stronger the suppression becomes.

The intertwined ice crystal branches were like unyielding shackles, tightly locking every inch of its limbs, leaving it only able to withstand the baptism of Sunefa's endless tide of ice arrows.

The thick layer of void energy on the surface of the Void Leader was gradually dissipated and disintegrated.

The hard, deformed outer skin cracked and crumbled under the relentless piercing of ice arrows.

The deeper layers of flesh were torn apart and frozen.

The originally thick, flowing dark purple gelatinous fluid was frozen and could no longer flow.

Its dozens of eerie eyes gradually dimmed and lost their focus.

The raging void energy gradually weakened, the body struggled less and less, and the originally strong life force rapidly diminished and withered.

Sunafa's gaze narrowed slightly, and she plucked the bowstring faster and faster.

Large patches of frost began to appear on the Void Leader's body.

The purplish-black deformed protrusions gradually hardened and became brittle, emitting a faint cracking sound.

The purple light in its eye-like organs was like a candle flame being extinguished one by one by the cold wind, and the airflow gushing from its mouthparts began to carry scattered ice crystal fragments.

The last arrow.

The deepest piercing gash was right in the center of the Void Leader's torso.

The split, slender arrow pierced through it, becoming the final straw that broke the camel's back.

The last wisp of dark purple light on the Void Leader's body finally went out completely.

All its tentacles stiffened and shattered in the same instant, turning into fragments of cold sound.

The ice-jade parasol tree loosens its roots at the right time.

The Void Leader's body fell to the ground like an ice sculpture, shattering into pieces.

Sunafa slowly lowered her bow arm, and the light patterns on the bow gradually faded away.

"That's really domineering..." Gaode, who witnessed the whole thing, thought to himself.

Although it's a "brainless" shooting exercise, sixth-tier void creatures are no ordinary targets.

At least if it were a regular fifth-ring mage, Gao De would definitely have no way to deal with a sixth-tier void creature.

The Ice Jade Wutong slowly retracted its branches, returning to its original "delicate" appearance.

It has completed its guardianship mission.

After cleaning up the battlefield and confirming that the Northern mages affected by the void energy were unharmed and that their distorted parts were slowly recovering, Sunafa breathed a sigh of relief.

She turned to Gaode and nodded slightly in acknowledgment.

Gaode nodded in response.

We'll talk about it later.

One of them had just completed the upgrade, and the other had just had his mana drained after casting [Abyss Purification].

We need to restore the situation to a stable state as soon as possible.

The following day, at the city hall.

"The North finally has five rings again." Gao De stood by the window, looking at the increasingly prosperous street scene outside, and let out a long sigh.

His voice carried a subtle sense of exhilaration.

The Five Rings Master is extraordinary in both symbolic and practical significance.

For the Northern Territory, which has long suffered from a lack of high-level combat power, this is a landmark event.

After Gao De finished his sigh, he turned around, looked intently at Sunaifa, and voiced the confusion that had been lingering in his mind.

"Yesterday, while you were advancing to the fifth ring, the power of my bloodline suddenly increased by several degrees... I confirmed it afterwards, and it wasn't an illusion, nor was it a temporary boost; it was a real increase in bloodline power."

"Before this, even among bloodline mages, there was never such a saying as 'when one person attains enlightenment, all their relatives and friends benefit.'" Gao De frowned slightly, paused, and then said, "What's strange is that only my bloodline power was enhanced. I specifically investigated, and the bloodline power of the other Iceborn mages did not fluctuate at that time, even the fourth-ring mages."

Sunafa raised her eyebrows almost imperceptibly.

She hadn't expected this to happen. She lowered her eyes and pondered for a moment before speaking softly, "Actually, it wasn't just you. There were others whose bloodline power also fluctuated significantly when I successfully ascended to the next level."

"There are others?" Gao De asked in surprise.

He had clearly asked around, and no one said they had that kind of reaction.

It's myself.

Sunafa said, "The moment my 'Green Wood Longevity Scripture' advanced to the fifth ring, the power of my bloodline suddenly became stronger... I just didn't expect that you would have the same feeling as me."

"This..." Gao De pondered for a moment, then seemed to have found the key point: "Pure-blooded Iceborn, only you and I."

"That should be it." Sunefa's eyes deepened as she continued, "Do you remember how my solidified Iceborn bloodline power also fluctuated before?"

"It was after that time you killed the Void creature." Of course, Gao De remembered: "After that time, you said that the power of your bloodline suddenly erupted, allowing you to awaken several True Ice spells and also gain a small piece of knowledge inheritance, learning about the existence of Anivia."

"Yes," Sunafa nodded, "Yesterday's ring upgrade was the second bloodline fluctuation, but in fact, there was a third... After killing that sixth-tier void creature, my bloodline power was enhanced once again, just like before."

She tapped her fingertip lightly on the table: "After three consecutive bloodline enhancements, the power of my Iceborn bloodline naturally broke through the fourth ring limit without the need for Ice Marrow enhancement."

"In other words, your 'True Ice Secret Manual' will soon be able to advance to the fifth ring!" Gao De's heart stirred.

"right."

"You killed the void creatures, and the power of your Iceborn bloodline increased, but I felt nothing."

"The Ice Jade Wutong also killed a large number of fifth-tier void creatures before, and you didn't feel anything..." Gao De slowed down, his thoughts unfolding as he connected and compared information, drawing a conclusion.

"Does this mean that as an Iceborn mage, personally slaying Void creatures will enhance the power of one's bloodline?"

"Although we don't know the underlying principle, it certainly seems to be the case for now," Sunafa confirmed Gao De's speculation.

"The only time our bloodline powers were strengthened was when I advanced to the fifth ring. As for the reason—"

"Actually, during the ring-raising process, I had a very strange feeling," Sunefa provided more information.

"When I was breaking through the Five Rings Barrier, I felt something that did not belong to me, like a shackle, covering the source of my Iceborn bloodline."

"It was a very mysterious sensation, as if the source of our bloodline was forcibly shackled, and the continuous bloodline power was being pulled invisibly and transported to some unknown distant place."

"The reason why the Iceborn bloodline has weakened generation after generation and been trapped in the Four Rings may lie in this."

Sunafa paused, seemingly recalling how she felt at the time.

"After I successfully ascended to the next level, I barely managed to shake a crack in this shackle, allowing a wisp of the locked bloodline essence to flow back, which in turn nourished the power of our bloodlines."

"So those void creatures acted out of character, appearing to attack you at the crucial moment when you were advancing to the fifth ring, all to interrupt your advancement, prevent the shackles from cracking, and stop the flow of bloodline power back." Gao De continued, his eyes gradually brightening with understanding.

In ancient times, Skadi, the war mother of the Frostguard tribe, guided by the All-Seeing Eye, led her people on a migration to the easternmost forbidden region of the North...

The all-seeing eye is a being of the void...

Slaying void creatures with your own hands enhances the solidified power of your Frostborn bloodline...

Void creatures appeared solely to interrupt the ascension process...

There are shackles within one's bloodline...

Although these are all fragmented pieces of information, they are clearly connected, piecing together a corner of ancient secrets.

"Yes, this makes me speculate that the continued weakening of the Iceborn bloodline's power is closely related to Skadi, the war mother of the Frostguard tribe."

"Perhaps the power of the Iceborn bloodline is not a natural degeneration of the bloodline, but rather caused by human factors."

"But... so many years have passed. Even an eighth-ring mage cannot have such a long lifespan. Skadi should have perished long ago and could not possibly still exist today." There was a hint of doubt in Sunefa's voice.

"If it truly is related to her, then what power has maintained this ancient shackle after her death?"

She felt she had touched a corner of the truth, but the mysteries that followed only increased.

Both of them fell into thought and remained silent for a long time.

"I was thinking, according to what you said, if enough Iceborn mages advance to the fifth ring and continuously shake that shackle, could the shackle be completely broken..."

'

"So that the bloodline of all Iceborn people can be fully restored, ending their fate of decline generation after generation?" Gao De put forward a bold guess.