Chapter 293: Haste Makes Waste

"This feeling..." The next moment, a large amount of mysterious insights appeared abruptly in Gao De's heart.

The connection between him and Yujia Te Xila allowed him to have the same sensory experience as Yujia Te Xila at this moment.

Gao De seemed to have turned into an ancient tree, experiencing the passage of time, constantly growing... Vaguely, Gao De was lost in this feeling of growth, standing still in place in meditation.

Absorbing sunlight, nutrients, and then growing, growing, and growing again... When Gao De came back to his senses from this state, half an hour had already passed.

Su Nai saw him open his eyes and let out a sigh of relief that was almost imperceptible.

Gao De's eyes were glowing, looking at his hands, his face full of joy and satisfaction.

With a sacred object, his cultivation of the *Green Wood Longevity Scripture* could be considered to have truly entered the right track.

And after the *Green Wood Longevity Scripture* entered the right track, with the improvement of his mage rank, the *Green Wood Longevity Scripture* would gradually grant the practitioner abilities such as "Immortal Body," "Earth Walker," "Natural Recovery," "Language of Nature," and "Protection of Nature."

As a First Circle mage, the *Green Wood Longevity Scripture* had just granted him a powerful ability:

Art of Nature.

This name naturally appeared in his mind, and this ability was also mastered by Gao De without any warning, the whole process somewhat similar to the spells obtained by the Ice-Born bloodline awakening.

The so-called "Art of Nature," to explain it in the most common and easy-to-understand words, is haste makes waste.

Gao De can accelerate the growth speed of plants by consuming mana.

The higher the rank of the plant, the more mana is consumed to catalyze growth.

With his current mage rank, this "Art of Nature" is only applicable to ordinary plants that are not magical plants; otherwise, even if he were squeezed dry, he would not be able to bring much growth gain to magical plants.

It looks like the limitations are great, but for now, it is enough, just enough to support an idea in Gao De's heart.

Moreover, the "Art of Nature" has growth potential. As his mage rank continues to improve, later on, even for high-rank magical plants, he will have the ability to catalyze them.

"After the land transformed by Yujia Te Xila expands, we can plant other tree seeds to accelerate the growth speed of Yujia Te Xila." Gao De looked at Yujia Te Xila, which was still a small seedling, and Fu Luo La.

Yujia Te Xila has another special ability, which is that the more trees there are around it, the faster it grows.

After forming a contract with Yujia Te Xila, Gao De had a deeper understanding of this special ability.

Not only must there be many trees, but there must also be many types.

It is a bit troublesome to explain, roughly like drug resistance. Using the most rudimentary data as an example: a new tree seed can bring a total of 10 growth gains to Yujia Te Xila, so when the first tree is planted, there is a direct 5 growth gain.

And the remaining 5 points of growth gain may require planting hundreds more of the same tree species to obtain.

Another point is that the higher the rank of the tree seed, the higher the growth gain it can bring to Yujia Te Xila.

For example, a First-rank magical plant tree seed brings 10 points of growth gain, and a Second-rank magical plant tree seed may bring 50 points of growth gain.

Therefore, waiting slowly for Yujia Te Xila to grow naturally is definitely the worst choice.

It is still necessary to give full play to subjective initiative, constantly look for new tree seeds, and constantly plant trees and afforest.

And before entering the northern realm, Gao De had already been entrusted by Fu Luo La to search for a round of tree seeds in Ailahaimu.

It is a pity that Ailahaimu is already at the foot of the Erwenlaya Mountains, in the snow region, and trees are rare.

Even though Gao De offered a reward to ask local hunters for help, he only collected about ten kinds of tree seeds in the end.

And they were all pine seeds, cedar seeds, and birch seeds.

We must build the port, build the ships, collect tree seeds through trade, and build Walaer Bay into a forest of ten thousand trees. What snowfield guardian, I am directly turning into a world guardian. Thinking of this, Gao De couldn't help but put a gold sticker on himself in his heart.

"Plant other tree seeds~~" Fu Luo La looked at Gao De with bright eyes.

"Yes!" Gao De tried hard to make the pie look more fragrant.

Fu Luo La also ate the pie very seriously, and her eyes brightened a little more.

"Yujia Te Xila still needs some time to grow before it has preliminary self-protection ability. During this time, you still need to help take care of it." Gao De said to Su Nai.

This was the problem he was most worried about in the process of planting trees, because he was alone, and if he really encountered some unexpected situations, such as encountering a herd of beasts, it would be really difficult to ensure that he could protect the newly born Yujia Te Xila.

But now, this problem is no longer a problem.

Behind him now stands the most powerful tribe in the northern realm.

Su Nai nodded slightly, then turned and ordered: "Elder Gaien, you take them to station here during this time, responsible for guarding the sacred tree, and absolutely must not let the sacred tree have any accidents. I will have people send the supplies you need for life later."

Elder Gaien heard this, immediately put his legs together and stood straight, and patted his chest with his hand, as if showing his determination and loyalty to Gao De and Su Nai.

He guaranteed with a vigorous voice: "My King, War Mother, please rest assured! We will definitely not disgrace our mission and guard the sacred tree well! Unless we are all dead, we will never let the sacred tree have any accidents."

As Elder Gaien's words fell, the Ice-Born behind him, who numbered over a hundred, all made the same action, their right hands tightly pressed against their chests, their faces full of firm expressions, expressing their stance to Gao De.

Phoenix.

After returning from Walaer Bay, Gao De thought carefully at home for a whole night, thinking about the next arrangements.

On Yujia Te Xila's side, it still needs to wait for some time, waiting for Yujia Te Xila's root system to continue to extend and expand its domain.

Otherwise, with the soil quality of the permafrost tundra in the northern realm, no tree seeds planted will be able to sprout.

And during this waiting time, he naturally didn't want to be idle.

In addition to cultivating through this Fourth-rank spiritual land and mastering the nine First Circle spells brought back from the Snowfield Guardian as soon as possible, the food problem must also be solved.

These are the three things with the highest priority at the moment, and the three do not conflict with each other.

After making a decision, Gao De still had one thing to do before this.

Gao De gently pushed open the half-covered door and walked steadily into the room where Catherine was temporarily under house arrest.

A gentle smile hung on his face, as if he were visiting a long-lost friend: "Your Holiness, it's been a long time since I came to see you."

Catherine was currently sitting quietly on the stone chair by the table, her face hidden under a mask, revealing only a pair of eyes.

When these eyes glanced at Gao De, they revealed an indescribable complex emotion: "I really didn't expect that the Snowfield Guardian, which has been passed down for so long, would perish in your hands."

Her voice was calm and low.

After returning from the Ice Plain Sanctuary, Gao De did not put those surrendered Ice Plain Sanctuary mages into prison, but restricted their activities, leaving them in a state of house arrest.

As for Luo Yiqi, he was sent back the same way and continued to be "locked" with Catherine.

So from Luo Yiqi's mouth, she already knew that the Snowfield Guardian no longer existed and had been incorporated by the Enduring Zhenbing Tribe.

It's just that although her emotions toward Gao De were complex at this moment, there was no resentment, especially when she said this, it was more of a sigh.

Gao De also saw Catherine's emotions, so he was slightly surprised, "Don't you hate me?" "As the sect's sanctioner, Ryan brought his subordinates to practice forbidden necromancy, and went against the doctrine, slaughtering tribes in the northern realm. The Snowfield Guardian was already dead in name at that time."

"What you did was just to accelerate the arrival of this process..."

She paused, and then said sincerely: "It can even be said that you saved the Snowfield Guardian. If you hadn't taken action, the Snowfield Guardian, which once had the doctrine of guarding the snowfield, would probably have become a great disaster for the snowfield under Ryan's leadership."

"Rather than watching the sect degenerate into an evil organization, it is better to turn into dust like this." Catherine said leisurely.

"Your Holiness is indeed knowledgeable about right and wrong." Gao De couldn't help but look at Catherine with new eyes. This seems to be a very simple truth, but it is not an easy thing to think through and accept.

"I dare not accept it," Catherine gave a wry smile and said dryly: "If I really knew right from wrong, I shouldn't have returned evil for good and restricted you to Phoenix. So the bitter fruit of my house arrest today is also the evil cause I planted that day, which can be considered self-inflicted."

"As for Your Holiness... the Snowfield Guardian is gone, what kind of saint am I?"

After saying this, Catherine hesitated for a moment, and finally reached out and gently took off the copper mask on her face.

This was the first time Gao De saw Catherine's face.

What came into view was an extremely heroic face.

The lines were clear, the features were three-dimensional, and a sense of tenacity was revealed between the eyebrows.

The skin was far less fair and delicate than Su Nai's, but it radiated a healthy luster.

There is no doubt that Catherine's face behind the mask is not ugly, but not to mention far less than Su Nai, after all, a woman as good-looking as Su Nai is really rare, and it is still a long way from the good-looking Gao De imagined... According to the plot in the TV series and novels of the previous life, don't these women who wear masks usually hide a peerless face under the mask?

Is the gap between reality and novels so big... As various thoughts flashed through Gao De's mind, he couldn't help but ask: "Why do you need to wear a mask as a saint? I see that no one else in the Snowfield Guardian has this habit except you."

Catherine thought for a while, and finally said: "Because I look too much like my mother, and can even be said to be carved from the same mold. To avoid others' discussion, so..."

"Who is your mother?"

"The former Archbishop of the Snowfield Guardian, Lucy Hernandez." Catherine said calmly.

Gao De was shocked when he heard this, and immediately understood everything.

As the former Archbishop of the Snowfield Guardian, Lucy Hernandez was the only leader of the entire Snowfield Guardian during her tenure, not the tripartite confrontation later.

With such a mother, and Catherine looking like her mother, plus the status of a saint, it is inevitable that there will be some gossip, attracting countless eyes and discussions.

Under such circumstances, wearing a mask all day to hide her appearance is actually a helpless but wise choice.

"My lord, you came to see me today, there should be other things, right?" Catherine said again.

Gao De smiled, no longer chatting, and went straight to the point: "Although your Ice Plain Sanctuary mages took action to take down those subordinates who followed Ryan to practice forbidden necromancy at the first time, some people reacted extremely quickly and fled first."

"They practice forbidden necromancy. If they are not tracked down and taken down as soon as possible, I am afraid they will cause a lot of killing and bring harm to the people of the northern realm."

Catherine heard this, her expression also became solemn, and she nodded in agreement.

"In terms of tracking, you are the experts," Gao De had already experienced this personally. He was tracked down by Catherine and Luo Yiqi on the vast snowfield, "And you are a hunter by origin, with rich experience, so I want to entrust this murder-tracking mission to you."

"It can also be considered as giving you a chance to make up for your crimes. After all, this is a legacy problem of your Snowfield Guardian, and it is appropriate for you to solve it."

"You can take half of the Ice Plain Sanctuary mages with you to carry out this mission." Gao De paused, then continued.

As for the remaining half of the Ice Plain Sanctuary mages, they were left in Phoenix as "hostages." He did not say this clearly, but Catherine was a smart person and must understand his meaning.

Gao De is a good person, but he has never been a soft-hearted person, and he has his own considerations.

"After you complete the murder-tracking mission, I will return freedom to all of you." He finally gave his conditions.

"Think about it."

"No need to think, I accept." However, as soon as Gao De's voice fell, Catherine's voice had already sounded.

He looked at Catherine.

The other party's eyes were full of firmness and hatred.

Although the direct cause of the destruction of the Snowfield Guardian was Gao De, the root cause was still these believers who practiced forbidden necromancy.

For them, Catherine had already accumulated a lot of negative emotions in her heart.

At this moment, being able to "enforce the law" personally, and at the same time being able to save the companions under house arrest, how could she not be willing?

"Then you are free now." Gao De clapped his hands, and the half-covered door had been opened.

"Thank you," Catherine saluted Gao De extremely sincerely: "My lord."

Catherine took Luo Yiqi and carefully selected a group of good hands, and set off in a hurry.

Gao De watched them leave, no longer thinking about it, and headed to his next destination.

The plain under Mount Weisikaer.

Elder Grant had already received the news and was waiting here in advance.

"My King." Seeing Gao De's arrival, he hurriedly stepped forward to salute.

Gao De waved his hand, indicating that there was no need to be polite, and then looked at the plain in front of him.

The biggest feature of the northern realm is its vast territory and sparse population.

Of course, for the people of the northern realm, no matter how vast the land is, it is useless, because it is all useless land and cannot grow any plants.

But for Gao De, it is not so.

He looked at the vast and flat snowfield in front of him, and the black soil hidden under the snow layer, and a certain bloodline in his body seemed to be awakened at once, "It's really a waste!"

Such a good terrain is really too suitable for farming.

And in the northern realm, such plains are actually everywhere.

Before he came, the people of the northern realm were so wasteful, he couldn't control it.

But since he came, everything will change from today.

Gao De came to this plain, found the position that looked most pleasing to the eye, and called out to Fu Luo La on his shoulder.

"Lady Fu Luo La."

"Okay~"

The next moment, in Fu Luo La's small hand, a pitch-black barley seed appeared.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 294 =====