Chapter 225: Mandora

The "snow leopard's" roar shook, causing the accumulated snow layers to start shedding snowflakes continuously.

It was clearly coming for Gao De.

Those eyes, looming in the snow mist, stared straight at Gao De, like burning flames, scarlet and full of hatred; the snowflakes flying everywhere could not hide the fierce light within them.

It could even track him here; this wasn't a "snow leopard," it was a dog! Gao De cursed inwardly, truly not expecting this "snow leopard" to be so persistent and omnipotent.

But since enemies had met, their eyes were red with hatred, and with the other party's speed, it was unrealistic to think about running again.

Then fight. Gao De felt ruthless in his heart; he was the type to fight if he wasn't convinced.

After all, he had already swallowed the magical plant, and the matter was irreversible.

However, just as these thoughts flashed through his mind in a split second, and before he had started doing anything, someone had already acted a step ahead of him.

Du Wei!

He looked at the "snow leopard" pouncing over, his brow furrowed.

Du Wei extended his right hand, pointing forward, with rich magical light flashing at his fingertips.

The next instant, a rich magical fluctuation permeated the "snow leopard's" path.

Immediately following, a large amount of crystal-clear magical snowballs gushed out of thin air; they poured toward the "snow leopard" like dense bullets at an astonishing speed and density.

Even if its speed was agile and its reaction fast, facing such dense magical snowballs, it was unavoidable.

2nd-circle Evocation spell, Snilloc's Snowball Swarm! These magical snowballs were not only numerous, but each one contained an impact force that could not be ignored, instantly disintegrating the "snow leopard's" offensive.

Under the impact of the magical snowballs, the snow leopard was knocked to the ground.

However, as a ley line creature with tenacious vitality, it was clearly not that fragile to be killed in seconds by one spell.

So, the next moment, it shook off the accumulated snow on its body, temporarily ignoring the injuries on its body, its eyes flashing with an even fiercer light; it had already held a grudge against Du Wei as well, preparing to make a comeback.

But would Du Wei give it a chance to breathe?

In Du Wei's hands, spells seemed to have no casting time or delay.

Clearly, the previous spell had just been released, and a split second later, the next spell was already cast.

Almost the moment the "snow leopard" stood up, Du Wei's right hand waved lightly again.

A flashing green arrow condensed from his palm.

The surface of the arrow flowed with an ominous corrosive aura, and the color was even green to the point of black, as if it could corrode everything it touched.

This green arrow tore through the air, carrying a sharp whistling sound, and shot rapidly toward that "snow leopard."

Just at the moment it was about to hit, the arrow exploded, turning into a rich mist of strong acid, instantly enveloping the "snow leopard's" body.

Still a 2nd-circle Evocation spell, Melf's Acid Arrow! The corrosiveness of Melf's Acid Arrow was far from comparable to the cantrip Acid Splash, rapidly eroding the "snow leopard's" fur and muscles, making a sizzling sound.

The air was filled with a dizzying corrosive acid smell.

Facing this fierce spell offensive, the "snow leopard" let out a painful roar, struggling hard.

Seeing this, Du Wei's face had no emotional fluctuations.

Everything was within his expectations.

The two spells he cast, the former was an area-of-effect attack spell to ensure a hit, and the latter, although a single-target attack spell, also had an additional bonus effect in terms of hit rate.

Both were attack spells chosen specifically for the "snow leopard's" characteristics of quick reactions and agile movements.

It could be seen that Du Wei's combat quality on the spot was extremely high.

Strike while the iron is hot.

His third spell had also been released at this time.

Above the "snow leopard's" body, an illusory but dazzling morning star appeared.

It was not cast from ordinary iron, but condensed from pure magical power, emitting a faint light; although the form was illusory, it contained terrifying power.

Spiritual Weapon.

The appearance of the morning star made the "snow leopard," which was already inconvenienced by its injuries, feel an unprecedented threat.

It let out a shrill roar.

But it was just a dying struggle.

Following Du Wei's control, the illusory morning star turned into a stream of light, tore through the long sky, and accurately smashed into the "snow leopard's" skull.

After a painful whimper, the aggressive "snow leopard" turned into a corpse and fell onto the snow layer with a thud.

Gao De's spellcasting movements stopped abruptly.

Du Wei's spellcasting was truly too fast, to the point that the three consecutive spells seemed to have been cast at the same time.

The whole process looked like flowing water, without any flaws, beautiful beyond words.

From the appearance of the "snow leopard" to it becoming a corpse, it took less than three seconds.

If nothing else, in terms of combat alone, Du Wei was indeed much stronger than him.

It wasn't just that the magic user level was higher than his; the spellcasting coherence and spell reserves during the combat process were also far superior to Gao De's.

Did he awaken a feat to speed up spellcasting or something... Gao De subconsciously pondered in his heart.

Thanks to Du Wei, a battle that should have been extremely difficult was easily resolved just like that.

Gao De only felt that the stone in his heart had fallen, and he became relaxed.

He was naturally grateful to Du Wei.

"Many thanks; if you weren't here, I'm afraid I would have suffered heavily this time," Gao De said.

"A second-circle late-stage Snow-Spotted Leopard; how did you provoke it?" Here, Du Wei seemed to have just done a trivial thing and did not pride himself on it.

He just glanced at the Snow-Spotted Leopard that had turned into a corpse and asked casually.

The "snow leopard" ley line creature that Gao De hadn't recognized after a year of study at the Sairisi Academy was called out by name by Du Wei.

This was also the gap in foundation.

Regarding Du Wei's question, Gao De didn't deliberately hide it and briefly introduced the course of events.

"Oh," Du Wei said after listening to Gao De's description, pondering for a moment: "Your luck is truly good."

"That magical plant should be Mandora's Tears."

"Mandora's Tears?" Gao De repeated the name. Clearly, this was knowledge beyond the scope of the Sairisi Academy's basic courses.

"A type of fourth-circle magical plant that only appears randomly in the snow region." Du Wei was not surprised by Gao De's question.

This knowledge was not something ordinary people could come into contact with.

"Within ice layers that are sufficiently cold and pure, there is a small probability of 'Ice Essence' appearing, and within that Ice Essence, there is a further small probability of a 'Mandora's Tear' gestating and growing."

"Therefore, 'Mandora's Tears' could appear anywhere in the snow region, and you can only be lucky enough to run into it; wanting to specifically find it is equivalent to looking for a needle in a haystack."

"Although its rank is only fourth-circle, in most cases, its value even exceeds that of a fifth-circle magical plant."

"Besides its rarity, the main reason is that after taking 'Mandora's Tears,' the user's eyes will be strengthened by 'Mandora's Tears,' and their vision will be permanently improved."

"And if you are sufficiently compatible with 'Mandora's Tears' and absorb the medicinal properties sufficiently, it is even possible to gain the ability of 'Mandora's Magic Eye'."

"Mandora's Magic Eye can allow you to possess the ability equivalent to magnifying and zooming in on your vision, with extremely wide applicability."

After finishing, Du Wei didn't take it to heart and said calmly: "However, this is only a small probability event, so don't be disappointed; the benefits ahead are already big enough."

Then, he received Gao De's long silence.

Subsequently, Du Wei reacted abruptly, looking at Gao De with suspicion: "Could it be that you..."

Gao De nodded slightly and said "indifferently": "As you said, my luck is truly good."

"..."

After a moment of depression, Du Wei forcibly suppressed the "anger" and shock in his heart and gave Gao De a reminder: "Refining magical plants containing ice elements into medicinal liquid and dripping it into the eyes, after absorbing enough ice element power, Mandora's Magic Eye can continue to improve."

It was still an improvable ability.

At this moment, Gao De's mood became incomparably wonderful.

This luck was indeed good, he couldn't help but sincerely exclaim. However, it was mainly reflected in Fuluola discovering this "Mandora's Tears."

As for being able to gain "Mandora's Magic Eye," Gao De estimated it wasn't because his luck was good, but more the credit of Adaptation.

Since they had run into each other, Gao De took the opportunity to mooch off the resting spot Du Wei had cleared and the campfire he had created with magic.

The charcoal he carried with him was limited, so saving a little fuel was always good.

Incidentally, he also mooched a dinner.

It had to be said that hot soup with spices added tasted delicious.

After filling their stomachs, the two stared at each other for a while, didn't chat, and finally turned their backs to each other and started practicing their cultivation methods.

The only one who didn't need to practice cultivation methods, Fuluola, was looking around boredly.

After the cultivation method practice ended, the two, relatively speechless, each took out their sleeping bags and started to rest.

And at this time, it was Gao De's time to show his sense of superiority.

Compared to Du Wei, whose body was clearly shivering slightly unconsciously, Gao De was as relaxed and comfortable as if he were sleeping on a fire pit.

I don't know if it was because the food at night was not bad, but Gao De rested exceptionally well this night.

When he woke up the next day, Du Wei had already used spells to recreate the bonfire and was warming himself and preparing breakfast by the bonfire.

"You certainly slept well." Du Wei said expressionlessly after seeing Gao De wake up.

"Sleeping well is better than not sleeping well," Gao De shook his head and said softly.

"So this is the source of your courage as a rookie to challenge Mount Dandong?" Du Wei was angry.

"So you claim to be a veteran, yet you have always been caught up by me." Gao De said again.

"Magic user, why did he leave?"

"He is anxious."

"What about us?"

"We are not anxious; let's eat first."

After a simple breakfast and replenishing energy, Gao De took out the barley seed he had picked up in the Snow-Spotted Leopard's cave from his pocket and handed it to Fuluola.

"Lady Fuluola, is this barley seed valuable?"

"Not valuable."

Fuluola just glanced at it and gave the answer.

Not a magical plant, yet it could retain vitality in an environment of minus sixty degrees... "Then can it still sprout and grow?" Gao De asked again.

"Yes, but it needs to be cold enough, otherwise it will die of heat."

"How cold is cold enough?"

"As cold as it is now, or colder."

"What an amazing barley seed."

"Lady Fuluola is also not afraid of the cold, and not afraid of the heat."

"What an amazing Lady Fuluola."

"Yes."

Carefully putting away this "magical" barley seed, Gao De glanced at the corpse of the Snow-Spotted Leopard that had completely frozen in the distance.

As a second-circle ley line creature, its fur and bones were very valuable.

The former, whether for making magical paper or "luxury goods," was a highly sought-after material, while the latter was the raw material needed for certain magic potions.

It was just that its fur had already been corroded by acid into an unrecognizable shape, and as for the bones... they were too heavy.

So Gao De could only resolutely get up and leave this place after lingering for two glances.

When the sky gradually darkened, Gao De once again saw Du Wei, who had already cleaned up his resting place, lit a bonfire, and was preparing dinner.

Gao De grinned and shamelessly crowded over.

"Mooching again." Du Wei glanced at Gao De with an expressionless face, then said expressionlessly.

"I thought about it carefully and realized it shouldn't just be a matter of spices; the food you carry is good stuff itself."

"Only just realized; truly a wild boar can't eat fine bran."

"Eat more and you'll get used to it."

"..."

"This portion is yours."

"Why did you set off so quickly today? You were already gone when I woke up."

"To shake you off."

"Really?"

"Otherwise?"

"Since it was to shake me off, why are you still waiting for me here?"

"Who is waiting for you?"

"You."

"... I just saw that the supplies you carry are limited, and the fuel you can find here is getting less and less, so I was afraid you would freeze to death on Mount Dandong."

"Thanks."

"... No need."

"I suddenly thought, you said your purpose is to enter the northern realm, so in fact, you don't actually need to reach the summit like me."

"I have no family business to inherit, and my time is not as precious as yours. Since you want to compete with me on this, then I'll just take some time to compete with you."

"..."

As a result, the next morning, when Gao De woke up, he found that Du Wei, who had left a step ahead, had unexpectedly left him a pot of meat soup.

This guy... Gao De shrugged.

Generally speaking, Du Wei, who had poor "sleep quality" at night, would get up very early the next day and then set off early.

And Gao De, who set off a step later, would catch up with Du Wei, who had to spend time organizing the resting place and preparing dinner, when the sky gradually darkened.

Then it was just a matter of course to mooch off the resting spot and food supplies.

Time passed quietly in the two's chasing and catching up.

Gao De also knew in his heart that the main reason Du Wei set off early was that he defaulted to taking on the responsibility of cleaning up the night camping spot himself.

On occasional nights, after each finished their daily cultivation method, the two would also chat aimlessly for a few sentences.

"People like you from wealthy families, is it just like what is written in biographical novels, where brothers and sisters are at daggers drawn and frame each other from childhood?"

"I thought you wouldn't care about my family's affairs."

"We can be considered friends, so it's normal to be curious about a friend's family background."

"Friends..." Du Wei was silent for a moment, then said faintly: "Most are like that, but my family is not."

"Why? Is your family more harmonious?"

"It's not because I don't have brothers and sisters."

"No brothers and sisters? Very rare; could it be your father..."

In Gao De's impression, these noble families, besides having a lot of money, had a lot of children.

"No." Du Wei decisively interrupted Gao De's association and then said: "My father has no brothers and sisters, and my grandfather didn't either. In my family, loyalty and devotion to one's partner has always been a tradition."

(End of chapter)