Chapter 273: Drawing the Sword (Part 1)

In the center of Phoenix, a building constructed from white flower-stone stands tall.

Compared to other gray-stone buildings, this structure is unique in both its color tone and architectural style; it is the only one of its kind.

It is the residence of Su Su Su Nai Fa.

Having just encountered an ambush but emerging unscathed, Gao De follows Grant and Catherine into the white flower-stone building.

Su Su Su Nai Fa has already been waiting inside for some time.

At home, she is no longer wearing her battle armor, having changed into a robe woven from deep purple ice silk.

The color of the robe is as deep as the night sky, yet it glimmers with a faint blue light, complementing her long silver hair. The upper portion is tailored to fit, outlining Su Su Su Nai Fa's slender and elegant figure while allowing her full freedom of movement.

The robe is also embroidered with complex golden patterns; these patterns are not merely decorative and likely hold some special significance.

The cuffs and collar are inlaid with silver lace, giving the overall appearance a magnificence rare in the Northern Realm.

At her waist, a leather belt cinches the robe, and the lower portion is a long white skirt.

The hem of the skirt is also adorned with gold thread embroidery, further adding to Su Su Su Nai Fa's noble aura.

"Greetings, War Mother!" Upon seeing Su Su Su Nai Fa, the three of them each perform a salute to show their respect.

Although Su Su Su Nai Fa is the youngest among the four, excluding Gao De, she holds the highest status and possesses the greatest strength, and thus deserves respect.

"Sit first," Su Su Su Nai Fa says, gesturing from beside the white flower-stone table.

There are four chairs around the table, just enough for everyone.

The three hesitate for a moment before sitting around the table.

On the table are three cups of an unknown spring water emitting a cold mist, each containing a leaf that looks as if it were carved from ice crystal.

With a thought from Su Su Su Nai Fa, the three cups move on their own, stopping in front of the three guests.

Exactly one cup for each person.

Gao De lowers his eyelids, glancing at the leaf in his cup. It looks somewhat familiar, and after a few more looks, he finally confirms it.

"Is this a leaf from the Enduring Zhenbing Bingyu Wutong tree?"

Su Su Su Nai Fa smiles slightly. "It is."

"This is good stuff." Seeing that Gao De and Catherine do not seem to realize the extraordinary nature of the spring water before them, Grant speaks up to educate them.

"Beyond its status as our tribe's guardian tree, the Enduring Zhenbing Bingyu Wutong is essentially a fifth-rank magical plant."

"Spring water infused with Enduring Zhenbing Bingyu Wutong leaves is equivalent to a high-rank magical potion. Drinking it can refresh the mind and treat certain mental injuries, but most notably, it can permanently increase a magic user's mental power."

"It is just a pity that this mental power-boosting effect only exists the first time it is consumed."

He smacks his lips and adds regretfully, "I have already drunk it once, so for me now, drinking Enduring Zhenbing Bingyu Wutong water is just for refreshing the mind; it's a bit of a luxury."

"Increase mental power?" Upon hearing this, Gao De's eyes light up, and he instantly becomes alert.

There is no other reason; this effect is too rare and powerful.

From the first circle onwards, the increase in a magic user's mental power primarily comes from the soul sublimation brought about by breakthroughs in magic user rank.

Beyond that, at most, certain special talents or the supplementary abilities of cultivation methods can increase mental power slightly.

The channels for increasing mental power are so limited, yet its role is extremely significant.

It relates to a magic user's spellcasting technique, the stability of continuous spellcasting, the speed of learning spells, the rate of cultivation, and even resistance to certain mental spells.

For most enchantment or illusion spells, resisting them requires powerful mental strength.

Now, just by drinking a cup of spring water, one can increase mental power.

Isn't this like a pie falling from the sky? How could Gao De not be excited? He gently picks up the cup and brings it to his lips. Before even taking a sip, a cool, refreshing aura rushes into his nasal cavity.

In an instant, he feels his spirit lift, as if he had just had a good sleep, becoming invigorated.

He no longer hesitates and drinks it all in one gulp.

The next moment, a cool energy flows with the spring water into his stomach and then surges into his brain.

Soon, Gao De feels his soul being cleansed and nourished by this cool energy, followed by a sudden, violent eruption.

It feels like a plant that has suffered a long drought finally receiving rain, suddenly absorbing sufficient nutrients and beginning to grow wildly.

His mental power surges violently at this moment, like a volcanic eruption.

After a dozen breaths, the cool energy dissipates completely, and his mind returns to calm, but his heart cannot calm down immediately.

Gao De centers his mind and uses the "Precision Perception" ability he gained after becoming an official magic user to sense the total strength of his current mental power.

After advancing to the first circle, his mental power had reached "100."

Now, with just one cup of spring water, his mental power has actually increased to "132."

According to the classification standards for first-circle magic users, reaching 40 drops of liquid mana and 133 in mental power marks the mid-stage of the first circle.

And now, although Gao De's mana is still the 20 drops he had when he first entered the first circle, his mental power is infinitely close to the mid-stage of the first circle.

On the other side, Catherine and Grant have also finished savoring the Enduring Zhenbing Bingyu Wutong water.

Although Catherine's magic user rank is high, the mental power increase provided by the Enduring Zhenbing Bingyu Wutong water is not very significant relative to her total mental power.

But no one would be unhappy about an improvement gained without having to do anything.

Grant, meanwhile, has been seriously savoring the excellent taste of the Enduring Zhenbing Bingyu Wutong water.

Beyond its own effects, the spring water infused with Enduring Zhenbing Bingyu Wutong leaves is cool, refreshing, and non-irritating, which can be called a top-tier beverage.

"I heard that you encountered an assassin ambush on the way here," Su Su Su Nai Fa says slowly at this moment.

The attack happened not far away, and as the War Mother, she received the news immediately, but knowing they had handled it themselves, she did not intervene.

Grant nods, and the anger that had just subsided surges up again.

"War Mother, whether it is the matter of the Golden Wheat or this attack, it must be related to Tang Nade!"

"As the Great Elder of the Enduring Zhenbing Tribe, Tang Nade has no sense of protecting the tribe, acting so lawlessly, and even damaging the tribe's interests for his own selfish desires. War Mother, we cannot tolerate him any longer; this time we must teach him a lesson!"

Speaking of this, Grant is trembling with anger.

Golden Wheat is an important crop for the Enduring Zhenbing Tribe, supplied directly to the Ice-born magic users in the tribe, and Gao De is involved in the advancement of the guardian tree.

If either of these two things goes wrong, it will be a major blow to the Enduring Zhenbing Tribe.

It can be said that if these two matters are proven to be backed by Tang Nade, even if he is the Great Elder, he must step down from this position, and the reformist elders standing on his side will absolutely not be able to say a word against it.

Su Su Su Nai Fa naturally understands the anger Grant is showing.

She nods slightly and comforts him, "Elder Grant, rest assured, this time Tang Nade will definitely not be able to escape."

After Grant calms down a little, Su Su Su Nai Fa taps the white flower-stone table with her index finger, turns her gaze to Catherine, and says slowly, "After Elder Grant reported the matter of the Frost Troll yesterday, I investigated the movements of the three of you from the Snowfield Guardians during this period. Archbishop Lu En has been in the headquarters all this time and has not gone out, while Chief Ximo was recently invited by the Vikings to head to Viking Wolf Port. Only your Saint Arbiter Rui An is missing."

"But looking at it this way, only Saint Arbiter Rui An has the time and possibility to kill the Frost Trolls appearing in the Snow Fall Clan camp."

"The human bones found in the Frost Troll territory were also brought back by the people Elder Grant sent to investigate. I have checked them; although the magical power on them is almost dissipated, it does exist."

"It should have been left by skeletons resurrected through the forbidden Necromancy spell 【Control Corpse】."

After Su Su Su Nai Fa finishes speaking, Catherine falls into silence.

With so much information in front of her, even if she cannot be 100% sure that Saint Arbiter Rui An is the mastermind behind everything, she is 80% or 90% sure.

But with the facts before her, she still finds it hard to accept.

Among the Snowfield Guardians, Saint Arbiter Rui An is one of the three people with the greatest power.

As an ancient sect with the doctrine of guarding the snowfield, the person in power is actually practicing forbidden Necromancy and creating slaughter on the snowfield.

This is a very absurd and ironic thing.

It even makes Catherine feel a bit ashamed.

"These are all indirect pieces of evidence and cannot be taken out to directly accuse Saint Arbiter Rui An; he can always find excuses to absolve himself." After a moment of silence, Catherine finally speaks her mind.

What she says is the truth.

Because all the conclusions are inferred from these facts, and there is still a lack of substantial evidence.

"This is not hard to solve; just take down Tang Nade for interrogation and make him confess the mastermind behind it," Grant stands up again.

"War Mother, that hunter squad that was attacked and disappeared, and whose bodies finally appeared in Phoenix, must also be related to Tang Nade."

His tone is firm: "He may not have killed them himself, but he definitely transported the bodies into Phoenix."

"These are seven bodies; if Tang Nade hadn't taken action, how could they have been transported into Phoenix silently?"

After locking onto Tang Nade, many previously incomprehensible points now have corresponding reasonable explanations.

A flash of deep thought crosses Su Su Su Nai Fa's eyes.

"As the Great Elder of the Enduring Zhenbing Tribe, not only does he not take action to avenge the tribe members killed by the murderer, but he also colludes with the murderer; this is simply a betrayal of the entire tribe!" Grant has clenched his fists, like an angry youth.

Su Su Su Nai Fa is silent for a moment, then says, "Elder Grant, what you say makes a lot of sense, but we need solid evidence to take down Tang Nade in a justified manner."

Gao De, who has been listening and keeping silent, suddenly looks up. "Can I ask a question?"

"Go ahead," Su Su Su Nai Fa nods.

Gao De asks a question unrelated to the current topic: "How does the Great Elder's strength compare to yours, War Mother?"

"He is no match for me," Su Su Su Nai Fa states in an extremely calm tone.

There are no qualifiers like "should be" or "under normal circumstances"; it is just an absolute affirmative sentence.

"Since that is the case, why bother dealing with Tang Nade like this? Not to mention these things, his attempt to seize power in the beginning was also a definite fact, and he should have been punished. Why did you, War Mother, let him continue to be the Great Elder?" Gao De is full of confusion.

Whether in recorded history or fabricated movies and novels, those who fail to seize power never have a good end.

"Tang Nade has served as Great Elder for over a hundred years, and his strength is deeply rooted in the Enduring Zhenbing Tribe, and he has many followers."

"Moreover, he is the strongest person in the tribe besides the War Mother. It is not easy for us Northern Realm people to survive on the snowfield, and we must cherish every bit of strength in the tribe."

"If we take action against Tang Nade, the Enduring Zhenbing Tribe will be severely damaged, and it will even expand the contradictions between the many elders, leaving hidden dangers."

"The War Mother does not want to see this scene, so she can only restrain herself."

"To take action against Tang Nade, there must be a sufficiently reasonable reason that even the reformist elders cannot say a word against."

Grant spreads his hands and says helplessly, "Only in this way will it not cause major turmoil within the tribe."

"But in fact, losing the combat power of a fourth-circle Ice-born magic user is also very serious for the Enduring Zhenbing Tribe."

Although he is very dissatisfied with Tang Nade, Grant still gives a certain affirmation of Tang Nade's importance:

"Moreover, Elder Tang Nade has extensive experience and is the oldest and most experienced person in the tribe, having accumulated rich knowledge and wisdom, and has provided guidance and imparted knowledge to many young Ice-born magic users in the tribe, helping them grow."

"This is also the reason why he has so many supporters."

This is equivalent to "an old person in the family is like a treasure." Besides his status as Great Elder, Tang Nade is roughly equivalent to a "wise man" in the Enduring Zhenbing Tribe.

Gao De nods. In such a harsh environment, any decision indeed needs to be carefully considered.

And with so many added benefits for Tang Nade, wanting to take action against him naturally requires considering many things. No wonder Su Su Su Nai Fa is so cautious.

He can understand Su Su Su Nai Fa's concerns, but that does not mean he supports Su Su Su Nai Fa's decision.

In fact, if it were him, he would have killed Tang Nade immediately; if anyone was dissatisfied, he would kill them too! Even if it left the Enduring Zhenbing Tribe severely damaged, it would be better to just endure it and start over than to be plotted against like this, like having a big bomb buried by his side.

But this is Su Su Su Nai Fa's business, and he has no qualification and should not express too many opinions, so after asking, he nods and says no more.

Just as Su Su Su Nai Fa is about to say something else, a hunter guard walks in quickly, whispers something in Su Su Su Nai Fa's ear, and then immediately retreats quickly.

After hearing the report from the hunter guard, Su Su Su Nai Fa's face turns cold, and she stands up abruptly.

This is the first time Su Su Su Nai Fa has shown such an "obvious" change in emotion.

"What happened?" Grant asks hurriedly.

"Tang Nade is now at the Enduring Zhenbing Bingyu Wutong, trying to forcibly seize Fu Luo La," Su Su Su Nai Fa says coldly, already enraged.

As soon as Su Su Su Nai Fa's words fall, Gao De stands up with a brush, his face sinking instantly.

He wasn't too angry when he was attacked earlier, but hearing this news, the anger in his heart could no longer be suppressed.

"Don't worry, I won't let anything happen to Fu Luo La," Su Su Su Nai Fa comforts Gao De. "I will set off first to stop Tang Nade."

The next moment, Su Su Su Nai Fa's figure flashes and disappears.

"Let's go too," Grant stands up and says.

Catherine casts 【Great Striding】 on Gao De, and the three of them quickly pass through the streets.

After a while, they rush back to the core spiritual land of Phoenix.

From afar, they can see the miraculous Enduring Zhenbing Bingyu Wutong now inexplicably blooming with brilliant spiritual light, as if it had come alive.

In front of the Enduring Zhenbing Bingyu Wutong tree, a crowd surrounds it, making it impossible to see the specific situation inside.

"I am the magical pet of Magic User Gao De, invited by your War Mother to supervise the work. I am a guest. You want to catch me now; this is a rude act, and your War Mother will certainly not forgive you!"

Only hearing from the crowd, on the Enduring Zhenbing Bingyu Wutong tree, comes Fu Luo La's clear, thin, but angry voice, which is clear in thought and logical.

She even knows how to report her backer.

Truly, she is the wise Lady Fu Luo La.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 274 =====