Chapter 360: Changes

Like the last astral portal, Gao De's first feeling after ending the portal was still dizziness.

The burden on physical functions brought by long-distance portal still existed.

However, compared to the first astral portal, Gao De was very comfortable this time.

Because this time it was a return trip, and there was no need to worry about safety issues.

The return point of the astral portal was fixed, set at Yujia Te Xila.

Gao De's chaotic eyes gradually focused.

A crisp sound of leaves shaking came from overhead, somewhat like the sound of wind chimes.

This was Yujia Te Xila welcoming Gao De's return, just like a mother waiting for a long-lost child to return.

Gao De looked up, and Yujia Te Xila was growing as lush as ever.

Five-colored radiance flowed on the leaves, sometimes blending into brilliant light spots, and sometimes dispersing into gorgeous ribbons, dreamlike.

His heart moved, and he unfolded the Mandola Magic Eye to observe Yujia Te Xila, while taking a step forward, his palm pressed tightly against Yujia Te Xila's trunk.

The detailed situation of Yujia Te Xila was instantly transmitted to Gao De's mind through the link.

Soon, the changes that had occurred in Yujia Te Xila during the two and a half months he had left the Northern Realm were clear at a glance:

【Yujia Te Xila】

Rank: First-rank Magic Plant (619.5/1200 months)

Growth Gain Coefficient: 1.4 --> 1.42

Astral Portal: 1 (17/60 days)

Lifespan: 1/3600 years

Opened Domain (Land Transformation): 14 mu --> 29 mu

Height: 15 feet --> 16 feet

Land Magic Concentration: 10-15 (Basic Spirit Land) --> 24-35 (Basic Spirit Land)

The most obvious change was the progress of Yujia Te Xila's rank improvement.

When Gao De left the Northern Realm, it was 196/1200 months. Only two and a half months had passed, and now its rank improvement progress had actually leaped to 619.5/1200 months.

Although Yujia Te Xila could rely on the planting of new tree species to improve growth progress, in the situation where Phoenix's first wave of potential had clearly been exhausted, having such a large improvement was truly an incredible thing.

Clearly, in these two and a half months, Phoenix had had some unusual gains or changes.

Compared to the rank improvement progress, the growth gain coefficient did not change significantly.

This was because the improvement of this value mainly depended on the number of trees in the natural domain opened by Yujia Te Xila.

In the situation where it was impossible to achieve interconnection with the outside world, in the Northern Realm, in most cases, the number of ordinary trees was even less than that of magic trees.

Because ordinary trees had no way to grow in this extreme cold environment, but magic trees, because they possessed supernatural characteristics, could survive in various extreme environments.

The number of astral portals had accumulated once more.

This was within expectations; Yujia Te Xila currently completed one astral portal charge every sixty days.

And the area of the natural domain opened by Yujia Te Xila had doubled.

The magic concentration in the land had also increased to 24-35, and in the core area closest to Yujia Te Xila, the magic concentration was not far from the 46 of the first-rank spirit land.

After understanding Yujia Te Xila's situation, Gao De's gaze left it and scanned the surroundings.

Visibly, more than a dozen brand-new magic tree seedlings had popped up nearby.

They should be the contributors to the great improvement in Yujia Te Xila's growth progress.

And further away, the camp and sentry post that were in full swing when Gao De left had now taken initial shape.

The outer wall of the camp was built with ice blocks, more than two people high. Inside the ice wall was a circle of tents covered with thick animal skins.

Not far from the camp, there was also a sentry post that had just been built.

The sentry post was composed of huge ice blocks and hard rocks. The top was a circular observation deck with guardrails around it. In the center of the observation deck was a small shed built with animal skins, providing a wind-sheltered place for the sentry.

From the sentry post, one could overlook a large area around the camp and notice the movements of wild beasts and even earth-vein creatures in the distance.

In the camp, many people were coming and going. Besides those on guard, everyone was busy; some were processing food, and more were engaged in construction.

Because this place was the location of the Holy Tree, the future planning had long been set: it would be the largest and most important port in Phoenix and even the Northern Realm, as well as the location of the second Northern Realm city after Phoenix.

It was foreseeable that when true construction was carried out in the future, a large number of people would inevitably pour in, so pre-building the camp now could be considered planning ahead.

Visibly, the number of people in the camp now exceeded one hundred.

Gao De's gaze swept across the entire camp.

Under normal circumstances, human number-sensing ability was limited, below 5.

What is number-sensing ability? It is the ability to instantly and accurately judge the number of objects without counting.

That is to say, if there are only five people in front of you, you can immediately get the answer "5."

But once the number of people in front of you exceeds five, for example, seven people, you have to go through the process of "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7" to get the final answer.

But under the blessing of the Mandola Magic Eye, Gao De's number-sensing ability had been amazingly improved in another way. Just one glance, and he got precise data.

"167" people.

The original hundred-person tree-guarding team had actually grown to 167 people.

"My King!" Elder Gaien had already discovered Gao De's return the moment Gao De appeared and quickly hurried over to pay his respects.

"Elder Gaien, no need for formalities," Gao De waved his hand and asked: "Are there any spare snow wolves in the camp now? I want to return to Phoenix."

"Of course there are, My King. Elder Grant's beast pet has been in the camp during this time, waiting for your return," Elder Gaien said respectfully.

"Good." Gao De nodded.

"My King, do you want to return to Phoenix now?"

"Yes," seeing Elder Gaien's hesitation, Gao De asked: "What's wrong?"

"The situation has been a bit tense recently. The War Mother specifically instructed me that if My King wants to return to Phoenix, I must personally accompany and escort you."

"I see..." Gao De thought thoughtfully and nodded slightly: "Then let's go together, and by the way, tell me what happened during this time."

The biting cold wind scraped across his cheeks like a knife, rolling up the snow on the ground, a vast expanse of white.

Gao De rode on the back of the snow wolf and found that in the two and a half months he had been away, there was another new change.

Between Valaer Bay and Phoenix, there was an extra slightly rough road, which was an ice road formed by the ice-born magic users of the Enduring Zhenbing tribe solidifying the snow.

The whole road was not too wide, just enough for two snow wolves to walk side by side. Looking from a distance, it was like an ice snake coiling in this world of ice and snow.

Such a road was naturally slippery, and it was extremely easy to fall on it; it was not a qualified road.

However, just by adding a 【Skating Technique】 or a similar spell to eliminate the adverse effects of difficult terrain, it could be used as a normal road for the time being.

At least after this ice road was built, the time Gao De needed to ride a snow wolf back and forth between Valaer Bay and Phoenix would be reduced from the original six days to less than three days.

And if he wanted to further shorten this time, he would need to build a formal transportation network, and it would be best to dig through Valaer Mountain to build a tunnel or buy an airship.

After all, from Valaer Bay to Phoenix, the straight-line distance was actually only two hundred kilometers. The reason why it took so much time to go back and forth was because Valaer Mountain stood between the two.

The time spent climbing and descending the mountain was the bulk of it.

For Phoenix, the former was more likely.

While on the road, Elder Gaien detailed the things that had happened in Phoenix during the time Gao De was away, according to Gao De's requirements.

Actually, most of them were within Gao De's expectations, because these were things he had designed and led himself.

Just as expected, the appearance of Northwest Barley No. 1, and under the deliberate spread of the Enduring Zhenbing tribe people, soon caused a big wave in the Northern Realm.

Food is the most precious material in the Northern Realm, even more so than the oil resources in Gao De's previous life.

In this world of ice and snow, being able to have a stable food source is simply a guarantee of life.

This is something the people of the Northern Realm have been pursuing for ten thousand years and could not get.

Small and medium-sized tribes, forced by the powerful strength of the Enduring Zhenbing tribe, even if they had many thoughts in their hearts, dared not do anything and could only choose to wait and see.

But the Frost Wolf Clan and the Winter Hammer, two large tribes with the same name as the Enduring Zhenbing tribe, still had some confidence to challenge the Enduring Zhenbing tribe.

Not to mention, after catching the "mouse" from the Frost Wolf Clan, the Enduring Zhenbing tribe opened its mouth like a lion, offering a sky-high price, asking the Frost Wolf Clan to use twenty drops of fourth-rank ice marrow to redeem the person.

Finally, I don't know what kind of communication the Frost Wolf Clan and the Winter Hammer reached, and what kind of agreement they reached. Finally, the war mothers of these two clans actually came to Phoenix together in the name of visiting and redeeming people.

Named as a visit, actually for pressure.

"They used the name that the people of the Northern Realm are of the same root and origin and are one family, demanding that the War Mother provide the wheat seeds of Northwest Barley No. 1 to them, and share the corresponding planting technology," Elder Gaien's voice was a bit weak in the cold wind, but it clearly entered Gao De's ears.

"I underestimated them. I thought they would join forces, but I didn't think their skin would be so thick," hearing this, Gao De couldn't help but sigh.

"The War Mother naturally decisively rejected their request, and then they began to accuse the War Mother of being cold-blooded and ruthless, saying that the people of the Northern Realm have always been connected, struggling to survive in the ice and snow, and should have supported each other. Now the Enduring Zhenbing tribe has discovered Northwest Barley No. 1, but is hiding it and unwilling to share it with them."

"Saying we violated the friendship of the people of the Northern Realm being of the same root and origin, and are selfish," Elder Gaien's tone was full of disdain, very contemptuous of the high-sounding words of the two war mothers.

"Then how did Su Su Su Nai Fa respond?" Gao De was curious.

"The War Mother said, if they are selfless, then first share the techniques of taming Frost Wolves and the forging craftsmanship of the Winter Hammer with the Enduring Zhenbing tribe and many tribes in the Northern Realm," Elder Gaien's corners of his mouth rose slightly.

"Then, they were speechless. Verbal accusations were useless, so they changed to threats."

"However..." Elder Gaien spread his hands, revealing a proud smile, "The War Mother is not afraid of verbal accusations, and even less afraid of threats!"

"Faced with the threats of the two, the War Mother didn't indulge them at all, directly turned her face and did it. Right outside Phoenix, in front of many clansmen, she fought two with one, and suppressed them both without any effort. In that scene, let alone struggling, they didn't even have a chance to escape, and could only be subdued obediently."

Gao De couldn't help but laugh when he heard this.

Threatening Su Su Su Nai Fa, isn't this purely an old man hanging himself?

Su Su Su Nai Fa, as the last pure-blooded ice-born of the contemporary era, awakened Enduring Zhenbing magic, plus the exclusive magic weapon 【Blizzard】, was originally an invincible existence among the fourth-rank.

After having 【Breath of the Wilderness】, she even completed the heaven-defying act of fourth-rank counter-killing fifth-rank.

The war mothers of the Frost Wolf Clan and the Winter Hammer were just two fourth-rank magic users. Su Su Su Nai Fa suppressing them was naturally as simple as chopping melons and vegetables.

"However, the War Mother has long-term considerations, believing that blind killing cannot solve the problem, but may trigger more hatred and disputes, so after suppressing them, she offered a reasonable price, requiring the two tribes to take out corresponding supplies to redeem them back."

"When the 'ransom' arrived on time, the War Mother kept her promise and let them both go back," Elder Gaien continued: "Many people even praised the War Mother for being kind-hearted."

This was actually a decision made by Gao De and Su Su Su Nai Fa after discussion.

In the eyes of others, they might value material resources like food and ice marrow more, but in Gao De's eyes, population is the most precious resource.

Population represents productivity and means development potential.

Therefore, the unification method must not be military unification, which would cause casualties, lose too much population, and try to avoid conflicts.

If these two war mothers were really killed, it would inevitably trigger the strong anger of the two tribes, which might bring a cruel war.

With Su Su Su Nai Fa, the absolute force of the Northern Realm, and the upgraded Ice Jade Wutong, Phoenix is indeed not afraid of war, but casualties are inevitable.

Now the Enduring Zhenbing tribe's top priority is development. War will not only lead to development stagnation, the original orderly agricultural construction will be interrupted, but also consume a lot of human, material, and financial resources, affecting production, which is unnecessary.

"After they were released, fearing the War Mother's terrifying strength, they certainly didn't dare to retaliate, but their covetousness for Northwest Barley No. 1 could not disappear, so they sent a large number of mice to stare at Phoenix."

"Although Deputy Director Catherine and Deputy Director Lanwen have already pulled out quite a few mice, there are always fish that slip through the net, so the War Mother told me that if you want to return to Phoenix, you must accompany and escort you to ensure your safety..."

"After all, everyone knows your importance to the Enduring Zhenbing tribe. They don't have the ability to do anything to the War Mother, so they are very likely to turn their target to you..." Elder Gaien said earnestly.

Su Su Su Nai Fa's concerns were very reasonable.

"In addition, half a month ago, the War Mother took the initiative to send a signal, declaring that the Enduring Zhenbing tribe had solved the food problem and had the ability and willingness to accept the joining of other tribes."

"Subsequently, six small tribes around our Enduring Zhenbing tribe have successively sent envoys to contact us, expressing their strong willingness to merge into our Enduring Zhenbing tribe."

"These small tribes have long been struggling to survive in the harsh environment of the Northern Realm. They only seek a powerful reliance that can protect them and a stable food supply, so the whole process was very smooth and hit it off. These six small tribes soon became part of the Enduring Zhenbing tribe."

"However, I don't know the specific details, but their joining has brought more than ten new magic trees to Valaer Bay."

No wonder Yujia Te Xila's growth progress has ushered in another wave of great improvement. It turns out it has reached the stage of annexing small tribes and integrating resources.

Gao De nodded secretly.

Although he temporarily left the Northern Realm through the astral portal, the fifty-odd thousand people in Phoenix were not NPCs who would only wait for his command. Su Su Su Nai Fa was an excellent ruler with outstanding talent and decisive decision-making power.

So even if Gao De was not there, Phoenix was actually still developing at high speed.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 361 =====