Chapter 227

Watching Du Wei disappear from the peak of the snow mountain just like that, Gao De realized that he seemed to have still underestimated this guy's family background.

A teleportation spell that could make a person disappear must be of the fourth circle or above.

"Master Mage, he disappeared."

"He teleported away."

"Can we leave like that too?"

"No."

"Why?"

"I'm not as rich as him."

"Oh~~~"

Gao De looked back at the path he had come from, then let out a long breath.

"Lady Fu Luo La."

"I'm here."

"It's just the two of us again."

"Lady Fu Luo La can count."

"Then let's get ready to set off."

"How much longer do we have to walk?"

"I don't know, we'll know after we walk it; for now, let's go down the mountain first."

"It's going to be a long time again."

"It will be a little faster than going up the mountain." Gao De promised.

And that was indeed the case.

Climbing the snow mountain, the path up often required using both hands and feet, and the footsteps consuming energy in the snow were extremely exhausting, so one couldn't walk too far in a day.

But going down the snow mountain, there was a much easier way.

In Fu Luo La's wide-eyed gaze, Gao De first created a large mass of clear water, and then controlled it to condense into a streamlined ice board with a slight curve.

The front and back parts of the ice board were slightly upturned, the bottom was flat, and the edges on both sides were sharp ice blades.

Condensed along with the ice board were two ice staves with sharp, pointed heads.

【Create Water】 + 【Water Manipulation】.

A combination of two simple cantrips allowed Gao De to create a simple ice snowboard and corresponding ice ski poles.

Gao De patted the pocket on his chest, signaling Fu Luo La to get in.

Fu Luo La didn't hesitate and flew over decisively.

"Hold on tight." He said.

Then, Gao De stepped onto the ice board, his mind moved slightly, casting 【Water Manipulation】 to control the ice board to connect tightly with his boots.

He looked down, the perennial white snow of Mount Dandong covered every inch of rock and crevice.

The sunlight spilled onto the crystal-clear snow surface, reflecting bursts of dazzling light.

Gao De took a deep breath of the cold and thin air, letting the cool breath fill his chest.

Subsequently, Gao De kicked the ground violently, leaped up, and jumped from the mountain top platform onto the snow slope.

Following his movement, the ice board seemed to be endowed with life, gliding lightly down the snow slope, leaving a distinct trail on the snow.

The snowflakes on the trail were agitated by the power of the ice board, dancing one after another, forming clusters of brilliant snow rain, but they were all left behind by Gao De.

The speed climbed in an instant, and in his ears was the whistling wind, mixed with the stinging pain brought by snow particles hitting his face.

But Gao De didn't care at all, completely immersed in this exciting feeling.

The undeveloped Mount Dandong didn't have snow tracks in the traditional sense; it was sometimes wide and flat, sometimes narrow and steep, full of obstacles and sharp turns, all of which tested Gao De's technique.

Gao De tilted his body slightly, using the ice staves to adjust direction and speed, turning left and right smoothly without obstruction, and the moment the tip of the ice stave touched the snow surface, snowflakes splashed.

Every turn he made was precise and accurate, and every leap was a steady landing, showing amazing balance and control.

His experience studying at Jing University in his previous life allowed him to have the good fortune to come into contact with the sport of skiing, giving him a certain foundation.

But at this moment, his behavior was closer to extreme sports rather than simple skiing.

The reason he could handle it was attributed to the precise perception and control of his body brought by the skyrocketing mental power after the circle advancement.

The surrounding scenery became blurry in the high-speed movement.

"Master Mage, you can fly too!"

"This isn't called flying, this is called skiing!"

The voices of Gao De and Fu Luo La sounded faint and intermittent amidst the constantly splashing snowflakes.

The northern realm, the vast and boundless permafrost tundra, was like a silver-white tapestry, quietly and solemnly spread out under this sky.

White was the main tone of this region.

Regardless of any month or any time, the snow in the northern realm had never melted.

The melody of the changing seasons had lost its original rhythm here.

Time seemed to be frozen by ice and snow.

The eternal ice and snow made the land here earn the name "permafrost."

Central northern realm, Ancient Frost Mouth.

This was once the location of the ancient holy land of the Ice-Born tribes.

It was just that a long time ago, it had already been abandoned for some reason, becoming a forgotten ruin, buried in history.

Until recent years, this abandoned ancient ruin was only able to see the light of day again because of the new Warmother of the Enduring Zhenbing tribe.

The very center of Ancient Frost Mouth was a raised rock land.

On this rock land, the Sanctuary of Boreas once stood.

The Sanctuary of Boreas was the pilgrimage site for the Ice-Born tribes in ancient times and the source of the Ice-Born tribes' culture and faith.

It was just that with the decline of Ancient Frost Mouth, the Sanctuary of Boreas also failed to escape the disaster, sinking into the long river of time along with it.

But now, with the reappearance of Ancient Frost Mouth, the Sanctuary of Boreas had also been awakened once again.

The Ice-Born tribes, in the ancient era, were one of the four major branches of the human race, as famous as the Wolf-Born, Dragon-Born, and Sun-Born, and were an important origin of mage civilization, flourishing for a time.

Later, with the rise of mage civilization, the momentum of these four-born tribes whose bloodlines could awaken magic on their own weakened accordingly.

By now, the Dragon-Born were already like the dragons, almost extinct.

The Ice-Born and Wolf-Born lived in the isolated northern realm, seemingly gradually eliminated by human civilization, becoming synonymous with backwardness and indigenous people.

In fact, the Ice-Born tribes were also walking the old path of the Dragon-Born tribes.

Their bloodline power was becoming increasingly thin, as if they had been cursed by something.

The former Ice-Born tribes could produce seventh-circle and even eighth-circle mages solely by bloodline power, but now, among the dozens of large and small Ice-Born tribes in the northern realm, one couldn't even see a fifth-circle mage.

As the former masters of this permafrost tundra, they were gradually being eliminated by this land.

If no variables occurred, perhaps in a few thousand years, the Ice-Born tribes would be buried by the wind and snow of the northern realm.

At this moment, above the Sanctuary of Boreas covered by ice and snow, fire was burning fiercely.

The wind and snow were constant, whistling, and could not extinguish the burning torch.

The Enduring Zhenbing tribe, the most prosperous branch among the Ice-Born tribes in the northern realm.

Now, the most powerful hunters in the entire Enduring Zhenbing tribe were all gathered on this small rock land.

In the ancient era, when the bloodline power of the Ice-Born tribes first began to degenerate, the Warmothers and High Priests of the three major Ice-Born tribes used all kinds of methods but could not find the root cause or the solution.

Finally, it was the Warmother of the Enduring Zhenbing tribe at that time, Oretia, who held the most magnificent ritual magic in the history of the Ice-Born tribes in the Sanctuary of Boreas.

In that ritual magic, Oretia saw the long decline of the Ice-Born tribes that would follow, as well as the hope of revival.

"Awaken the sleeping land!"

"Oh, North Wind!"

"If winter comes, can spring be far behind?"

This was a small stanza of a hymn left by Oretia after the ritual magic, which had been circulating for ten thousand years among all the Ice-Born tribes in the northern realm.

It was said that this hymn indicated the hope for the revival of the Ice-Born tribes.

In that cold wind and ice and snow that even the Ice-Born found difficult to endure, those weather-beaten hunters of the Enduring Zhenbing tribe took off their animal skin clothes, baring their arms and chests. Everyone knelt on one knee in unison.

On the rock land, there were a full ten thousand Ice-Born, but not a single person made a sound.

It was so quiet that one could only hear the whistling sound of the biting cold wind and the sizzling sound of the burning fire.

The huge fire basin ignited a vibrant fire.

The flame core stretched high into the air.

The fire basin was completely ignited.

A new ritual was being opened.

The crowd of the Enduring Zhenbing tribe gathered here did not look at the fire, but looked up at the high platform in the center.

On that high platform stood a woman.

She had a flowing head of silver long hair, a silver as pure and flawless as the first snow of winter, hanging down behind her back.

Her face was refined and otherworldly, her eyes were deep blue and profound, possessing a coldness that seemed capable of peering into people's hearts.

Her skin was fair, even against the backdrop of ice and snow, it remained so, and thus appeared even more otherworldly.

Behind her back, she carried a huge ice bow as tall as a person.

The ice bow was crystal clear throughout, emitting a faint cold air.

The woman let her gaze sweep over everyone.

This was the time when the hunters in the tribe were gathered most completely.

She knew that they were all here to see her.

She was the new Warmother of the Enduring Zhenbing tribe, and also the youngest Warmother in history.

Controller of 【Blizzard】, Awakener of Enduring Zhenbing magic, Daughter of Boreas, the last pure-blooded Ice-Born of the contemporary era, Born of Ice and Snow, Savior of the Enduring Zhenbing tribe.

She was Su Su Su Nai Fa Boreas.

Su Su Su Nai Fa took her ice bow from behind her back and held it high.

This was the ice magic weapon 【Blizzard】 made of Enduring Zhenbing, the weapon of Boreas himself in the ancient era.

It had already disappeared into history like the Ancient Frost Land.

Until Su Su Su Nai Fa found 【Blizzard】 and obtained the recognition of 【Blizzard】.

The Enduring Zhenbing tribe, which had already been facing disintegration, all submitted before the weapon of Boreas.

The biting cold of Enduring Zhenbing pierced through Su Su Su Nai Fa's entire body.

Even though the blood flowing in her body was Ice-Born blood, even though she had already awakened ancient Enduring Zhenbing magic, she still could not be immune to or ignore the biting pain of the extreme cold from 【Blizzard】.

But having been with this weapon for so long, Su Su Su Nai Fa was already very familiar with this feeling, rather than needing to force herself to make a calm expression as she did at the beginning.

In fact, Su Su Su Nai Fa was already unable to leave this pain.

The extreme cold of Enduring Zhenbing could allow her to focus, eliminate all distracting thoughts, and allow her to grow rapidly.

Su Su Su Nai Fa raised her gaze from the faces of the crowd to the fire basins burning fiercely around her.

Screech~~~ At this moment, a long and impassioned long cry sounded from high in the sky.

That was the unique long whistle of a hunting eagle, full of power and the breath of freedom, seeming to be able to penetrate everyone's soul.

But no one on the field looked up, and their expressions had no abnormality at all.

The next moment, a hunting eagle descended from the sky, circled nimbly at a low altitude, and finally landed on Su Su Su Nai Fa's shoulder.

That was a silver-white hunting eagle, its feathers seeming to be condensed from frost, its sharp eagle eyes were such that even the most powerful hunters dared not look it in the eye.

That was Su Su Su Nai Fa's magic hunting eagle, also obtained from the Ancient Frost Land.

Su Su Su Nai Fa took a deep breath, then pulled the bowstring of 【Blizzard】.

The huge ice bow was even larger than Su Su Su Nai Fa herself, but Su Su Su Nai Fa seemed to possess ten thousand jun of strength, pulling the bowstring full without any effort.

With the tightening of the bowstring, a crystal-clear, pure, and flawless crystal arrow was born and condensed into shape under the power contained within the ice bow itself.

Su Su Su Nai Fa held her breath.

The temperature on the high platform dropped sharply at this moment, frost air flowed along the bowstring over her entire body, and then spread outward from under her feet.

Crackle, crackle.

The sound of frost condensing rang out, like a piece of music.

Just as the frost was about to spread beyond the range of the high platform, Su Su Su Nai Fa exhaled and released the string.

The ice crystal arrow flew out, carrying biting cold and an unstoppable momentum, soaring straight up, and finally exploded with a deafening sound in the high sky, turning into countless tiny ice crystals.

These ice crystals condensed again into the tribal emblem of the Enduring Zhenbing tribe in an extremely short instant.

"The ritual begins."

Su Su Su Nai Fa announced softly; although the voice was light, it penetrated the cold wind and spread throughout the entire field.

Swish, swish, swish! Following her voice, the atmosphere on the field became even more solemn and respectful.

All the hunters of the Enduring Zhenbing tribe seemed to have received some kind of summons, taking out the special daggers tied to their waists one after another; the sound of them doing so in unison was like a thunderclap on flat ground.

Taking out the daggers that were emitting cold air, all the hunters pressed the blades against the palms of their right hands, a kind of piety and awe toward the tribe, the ancestors, and the power of nature appearing on their faces.

Subsequently, they closed their eyes and recited the ancient hymn silently.

"Awaken the sleeping land!"

"Oh, North Wind!"

"If winter comes, can spring be far behind?"

Then, they slashed gently.

The blades of the ice daggers cut through the skin, blooming with flowers of blood.

Under the extreme cold, these bloods were not frozen.

Because this was the bloodline of the Ice-Born.

The blood of the Ice-Born fell onto the rock land, as if attracted by some kind of magnetic field, gathering toward the high platform in the center.

And in the center of the high platform, behind Su Su Su Nai Fa, dots of starlight began to appear.

This starlight had a connection and echo with the stars in the sky.

Su Su Su Nai Fa's pupils turned white at this moment, as if she had already traveled beyond the heavens.

Everyone opened their eyes wide, watching Su Su Su Nai Fa on the platform with bated breath.

This process lasted for about one minute.

This one minute of time, for the people on the field, felt as long as a hundred years.

Finally, Su Su Su Nai Fa's white pupils returned to their original deep blue and profound state.

It was just that there was an extra touch of lingering fatigue within them.

"The winter of the Ice-Born tribes has arrived."

"Spring is also not far away."

Su Su Su Nai Fa's voice floated over the rock land like a chant.

"Someone is coming from the peak of the high mountain."

"He will awaken the sleeping land."

"He will bring spring and bring vitality to the permafrost tundra."

"He will let the children of the Ice-Born no longer endure hunger."

"With his help, the Enduring Zhenbing will surely be gloriously revived!"

"The northern realm will be unified once again!"

"How should we find him?" Someone asked the most critical question.

"That person is blessed by ice and snow and will be able to withstand the cold of Enduring Zhenbing."

"That person is favored by nature, accompanied by the spirits of nature."

"That person is enlightened by the world and possesses the most original power in the world."

"Believe in him, welcome him, follow him."

(End of chapter)