Chapter 304: New Ability: Astral Teleportation

Ten minutes later.

A bottle of first-rank Ice Sha had been exhausted, no more blue light silk surged out, and the air current surging up from the bottle completely dissipated.

Under Gao De's mental control, the ice needle flew into his hand.

【Ice Blade】, as a first-circle spell, has damage divided into two parts: one is the initial piercing damage, and the second is the cold damage caused by the subsequent explosion. The attack power of the former is 10 degrees, and the latter is 12 degrees.

Together, it is 22 degrees.

As an ordinary first-circle spell, the total power is already more than twice that of the so-called king of cantrip damage, 【Eldritch Blast】.

This is the crushing momentum of high-circle spells over low-circle spells.

And 【Blade of Ice】, as an advanced spell of 【Ice Blade】, actually has the same initial power, mainly winning in longer casting distance and growth potential.

After absorbing a bottle of first-rank Ice Sha, the cold damage power of Gao De's ice crystal fragment increased by one-third, reaching 16 degrees.

The efficacy of Ice Sha is indeed powerful.

Gao De's heart moved, and he took out another bottle of first-rank Ice Sha, starting to strengthen his ice crystal fragment again.

After the power of three bottles of first-rank Ice Sha was fully absorbed by his ice needle-shaped ice crystal fragment, his ice crystal fragment logically advanced to "first-rank Blade of Ice."

Looking at the Blade of Ice, whose size and shape hadn't changed in his palm, but whose color was a few shades deeper, terrifying coldness accumulated within it.

After advancing to first-rank Blade of Ice, both the piercing damage and cold damage power it could cause were improved.

The piercing damage power increased from 10 degrees to 15 degrees, and the cold damage went directly from the initial 12 degrees to 24 degrees.

Although in actual combat, a 39-degree power spell is much greater than a 15+24 degree spell, for a first-circle spell, this is already a very terrifying "numerical monster."

If it were fed with second-rank Ice Sha again and upgraded to a second-rank Blade of Ice, the power would be unimaginable.

Perhaps by then, relying solely on a Blade of Ice, he would be enough to be called the "King of Output" among first-circle mages.

And when he raided the Ice Temple back then, Gao De had already obtained two bottles of second-rank Ice Sha.

—It looks like it's only one bottle short of enough Ice Sha for advancement, which shouldn't be hard to solve.

But in reality, it's not, because a second-rank ice cave takes five years to generate one bottle of second-rank Ice Sha.

And it had only been two years since the last harvest of the Snowfield Guardians' second-rank ice cave, so Gao De still had to wait three years before he could take his Blade of Ice a step further.

Three years is not short, but it's not long either.

Gao De wasn't in a hurry, just carrying the anticipation for the second-rank Blade of Ice, and took out the two bottles of second-rank Ice Sha.

He couldn't reach the goal in one step, but absorbing a bottle of second-rank Ice Sha would make the Blade of Ice a little stronger.

Gao De didn't have obsessive-compulsive disorder and didn't have to wait to gather all the second-rank Ice Sha before upgrading at once.

He had always been a "pragmatist"; ten birds in the forest are not as good as one in the hand.

He opened one of the ice bottles.

This time, no air current surged out.

Gao De looked into the bottle, and saw strands of blue air current spinning rapidly inside, like a small tornado; although it was still bone-chilling, sharp, and irritable, it didn't surge up.

This was because the concentration of evil spirit contained in the second-rank Ice Sha was higher, and it was heavier than magic power, so the phenomenon of deposition occurred.

Gao De tilted the bottle slightly, aiming the bottle mouth at his first-rank Blade of Ice.

Soon, strands of blue evil spirit current were poured out, but they didn't overflow, instead gathering around the ice needle as if attracted by a magnet.

The moment the second-rank Ice Sha was poured in, the already extremely cold ice needle's temperature dropped a few more degrees, and the blue color of its whole body became deeper and brighter.

At this time, Gao De had already put down the bottle and devoted himself to strengthening the Blade of Ice.

His eyes were half-closed, and his mental power, following the method explained in the 【Blade of Ice】 spell formula, began to peel off the power of the second-rank Ice Sha like peeling a cocoon, merging it into his ice crystal fragment.

In fact, although there is no so-called rank limit for the strengthening of 【Blade of Ice】, in theory, even a first-circle mage could strengthen a ninth-rank Blade of Ice if they had enough resources.

But theory is theory, because this strengthening process requires mental power to participate in control.

If it weren't for Gao De's mental power reaching 150 after drinking Ice Jade Wutong water and accepting feedback, he wouldn't even be able to peel off the power of the second-rank Ice Sha.

And the strengthening process of the Blade of Ice cannot be done by others.

Because if this process is helped by others, the ice crystal fragment will be mixed with other people's mental power, which will lead to the mage being unable to control their own ice crystal fragment as if it were their own arm.

So, the second-rank Blade of Ice was actually Gao De's current strengthening limit.

Gao De's mental power was enough, but it was just barely reaching that limit, so peeling off the second-rank evil spirit was still very strenuous.

A bottle of evil spirit, according to the standard of the Snowfield Guardians, is ten strands, and one strand equals ten threads.

And he was going to peel all ten strands of Ice Sha into threads, and then slowly merge them into the ice crystal fragment.

It took a full two hours for Gao De to complete this work.

Two bottles of second-rank Ice Sha dissipated completely, turning into nourishment for the Blade of Ice.

Although it was still one step away from advancement, after merging two bottles of second-rank Ice Sha, Gao De's ice needle had a touch of crystal blue in the very center compared to before.

And the cold damage power it could cause also reached a terrifying 32 degrees.

Looking at this value alone, it might not be easy to understand how exaggerated it is.

Let's make a simple comparison: 【Magic Missile】, as a first-circle output spell with high cost-performance and extreme stability in public cognition, has a power of 10 degrees per missile, and the total power of three missiles only barely reaches 30 degrees.

Of course, 【Magic Missile】 is noble force damage, which is something 【Blade of Ice】 cannot compare to.

Mastering such a terrifying spell, Gao De believed that at this time, although his mage rank was still first-circle early stage, if he were ranked among all first-circle mages, he would definitely be able to rank in the top 10%.

It was even possible that if he faced a first-circle late-stage mage, with intent against the unintentional, he might not have no chance of winning.

"Find an opportunity to test the damage of the Blade of Ice." Gao De secretly said.

Ever since he was supported to become the King of the Enduring Zhenbing Tribe, he had basically not fought.

After all, in front of so many third-circle and second-circle Iceborn mages, where would it be his turn, a first-circle mage, to take action personally?

Thinking of this, Gao De couldn't help but reflect: "Recently, I have indeed been slacking off quite a bit. Before, because I needed to obtain origin points to add points, I would actively look for ley-line creatures to fight. Now, obtaining origin points is directly in a pure AFK form. It's easy, but if I continue like this for a long time, it's easy to neglect fighting."

Under the world system of supernatural power, a powerful force can indeed bring him a lot of help, but the most fundamental thing is actually his own strength. This point is certain.

The next day.

The newly appointed Deputy Director of the Security Bureau, Catherine, brought a piece of news.

After conveying Gao De's meaning to other hunters, plus Catherine's own prestige among the hunters, in the end, two-thirds of the hunters were willing to be loyal to Gao De and stay in Phoenix.

The remaining one-third of the hunters might have had other places to go, or they might still have held a grudge against the Enduring Zhenbing Tribe for wiping out the Snowfield Guardians and were unwilling to "recognize a thief as a father." In short, even if Catherine came forward, they were unwilling to stay. For these hunters, Gao De didn't make things difficult for them and, as promised earlier, set them free.

Of course, if they had any ulterior motives after leaving Phoenix, don't blame them for being cold and ruthless.

With these remaining Snowfield Guardian hunters, plus the ten Iceborn mages selected by the other Deputy Director, Elder Lu En, as a foundation, the team of the Security Bureau was initially established.

And the first thing Catherine did after taking office was, according to Gao De's order, to go to the major branches established by the Snowfield Guardians in the northern realm to pick up those orphans and instructors to Phoenix.

Gao De wasn't idle either. He opened the city map of Phoenix and circled a piece of land closest to the center as the site for Phoenix's first school.

He had put his heart and soul into the future development plan of the Enduring Zhenbing Tribe.

The Enduring Zhenbing tribesmen were sufficiently in awe and convinced of him, and he had also "eaten" so many benefits from them, so whether in reason or emotion, he should do his best for the Enduring Zhenbing Tribe.

On the other hand, not to mention anything else, just in terms of interests, as the King of the Enduring Zhenbing Tribe, the strength of the Enduring Zhenbing Tribe was his strength, and it would also become the foundation for him to go further in the future.

Currently, the Enduring Zhenbing Tribe supporting him, a first-circle mage, was naturally more than enough.

But when he becomes strong in the future and becomes a third-circle or even fourth-circle mage, if the Enduring Zhenbing Tribe still maintains its original state, it will not be able to provide him with too many benefits.

【In the error-free version!】

Therefore, he must help the Enduring Zhenbing Tribe develop and become strong.

Compared to joining other forces and "working" for others, no matter how you look at it, "starting a business" yourself is better.

Moreover, no matter how you look at it, the Enduring Zhenbing Tribe is definitely a potential stock! Just after the order to build the "school" was issued, Gao De received another piece of good news.

From Flora.

"Mage, Yujia Te Xila is about to grow to the next stage!"

The distance between Phoenix and Yujia Te Xila was too far, and both Gao De and Yujia Te Xila were still too weak, so the connection between the contracts was completely disconnected at this distance.

But Flora was different. The connection established by Gao De's contract couldn't compare to the close connection between Flora and Yujia Te Xila.

Even separated by such a distance, she could still perceive the state of Yujia Te Xila.

"Let's go, to Jianwan!" Gao De didn't hesitate at all after hearing the news.

In his heart, Yujia Te Xila's status had always been higher than Phoenix's.

Three days later.

Jianwan.

Traveling fast with horses and whips, not even taking time to rest, Gao De brought Flora and finally arrived before Yujia Te Xila grew to the next stage.

With the help of those dozen magic trees, Yujia Te Xila's growth speed could be described as having taken Golden Fertilizer, fierce and raw.

Compared to two months ago, Yujia Te Xila was now over fifteen feet tall, and side branches had grown on the trunk.

Although these side branches were still relatively thin and soft, it was foreseeable that they would become thick and powerful branches in the near future.

The leaves were even more lush, forming a canopy.

Each leaf was blooming with five-colored brilliance, and from a distance, the connected five-colored light looked like a nebula, exceptionally gorgeous.

But the price of beauty was being too conspicuous, especially in the dark of night, where it was as dazzling as a sun.

According to Elder Gaien's report, as the five-colored brilliance became more and more obvious, more and more ley-line creatures and beasts were attracted.

Phototaxis is the instinct of most creatures.

If they wanted to hide Yujia Te Xila's light a little, they could only wait for the trees planted around it to grow.

And with Yujia Te Xila's rapid growth, the land area it transformed also changed from the half-mu of two months ago to nearly ten mu now.

The magic concentration in these plots was also much higher, infinitely close to 10, and it was just a matter of time before it became basic spiritual land.

And in these nearly ten mu of land, there were thirty-odd small saplings scattered, none of which were over three feet tall, making the fifteen-foot-tall Yujia Te Xila stand out from the crowd, like a towering tree.

"In another half day, Yujia Te Xila will be able to grow to the next stage and step into the ranks of first-rank magic plants."

Arriving under the Holy Tree, Gao De felt the close connection with Yujia Te Xila again, and also perceived its accurate advancement time.

This process not only marked the significant growth of its power but also represented that it would unlock more mysterious abilities.

With a trace of inexplicable mood, Gao De sat cross-legged under the tree, running the 'Qingmu Changsheng Jing', practicing while waiting.

As the cultivation method ran, strands of green herbal essence surged out from the surrounding saplings, as if pulled by an invisible force, swimming toward him, entering his body, turning into mana, and accelerating his practice rate.

Of course, these trees were still too young, and the number was too small, so the herbal essence they could provide was imperceptible, and the practice benefits brought were still far from comparable to the fourth-rank spiritual land.

Time passed slowly.

Half a day later.

Yujia Te Xila finally ushered in its advancement moment.

All its leaves seemed to be touched by an invisible force, shaking violently, making a rustling sound.

Following closely, a touch of silver light suddenly lit up; those were ancient seal marks.

They moved and intertwined on the surface of the trunk at an incredible speed, and in the blink of an eye, these seal marks gathered into a complex and strange silver rune.

It shone brilliantly on the trunk for a moment, then slowly hid into the wood, leaving only a seemingly ordinary gray mark, like a naturally formed pattern.

Boom!

The next instant, powerful vitality erupted in Gao De's body, making him lose his senses for a moment, subconsciously closing his eyes to absorb this vitality.

In a trance, Gao De seemed to have turned into a tree seed, experiencing a process of taking root, sprouting, and growing.

"Another thirty years of lifespan... mental power increased to 186."

A long time later, Gao De opened his eyes.

A flash of ink-green light flashed across his eyes.

A touch of undisguised joy surged onto his face.

He accurately perceived the changes that had occurred in his body after this feedback.

186 mental power... under normal circumstances, the mental power limit of a first-circle late-stage mage is 199.

With such high mental power, not to mention anything else, just the daily practice time could almost be doubled, which is equivalent to a doubled increase in practice progress.

But what truly made Gao De happy was something else.

He looked with bright eyes at the hidden gray mark on Yujia Te Xila's trunk.

That represented the special ability awakened by Yujia Te Xila after stepping into the ranks of first-rank magic plants: Astral Teleportation! (End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 305 =====