[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-above-the-mage":3,"chapter-above-the-mage-above-the-mage-chapter-75":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Above the Mage!",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2257079,4404,"Chapter 75: Journey","above-the-mage-chapter-75",75,"\u003Cp>The caravan traveled east along the imperial road.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When they first left Hoggen City, the roadsides were lined with vast fields.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>During the bright daylight, many people labored in the fields.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These were the farmlands belonging to the small villages surrounding Hoggen City.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These agricultural and pastoral villages relied primarily on farming to supply grains and meat to Hoggen City’s residents, exchanging them for goods they could not produce themselves.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although no village had an especially large population—generally no more than a thousand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet in reality, these farmers and villagers constituted the majority of the world’s population.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But such a scene could only be seen near Hoggen City.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the caravan advanced, the weeds along the road and the surrounding trees grew increasingly dense, and the scent of humanity faded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Massive trees, requiring several people to encircle, became common.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thick layers of fallen leaves piled up on both sides of the road.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>More and more bird calls and insect chirps reached their ears.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Perhaps due to magic, or perhaps due to insufficient development, the wild plants in this world grew abnormally lush and towering.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Stay on the imperial road and don’t wander off,” the driver reminded Gao De.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Young men were impulsive and loved to stir up trouble—he had to add this warning.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The imperial road was maintained year-round by the authorities, who dispatched mages to inspect and clear nearby ley-line creatures; it wasn’t absolutely safe, but under most circumstances, it was relatively secure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But once you left the imperial road and entered the primeval forest, all bets were off.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gao De nodded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He wouldn’t go out of his way to court death.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The caravan typically rested for fifteen to thirty minutes every two hours, as both people and beasts needed rest and supplies.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the caravan had just departed from Hoggen City, and after days of rest and recovery, everyone was at peak energy and strength.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So they traveled nonstop until noon, when the lead man ordered a brief thirty-minute halt.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As soon as he heard the halt was permitted, Gao De leapt down from the cart.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With the novelty worn off, the discomforts of travel finally set in.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In his past life, many people felt fatigued after just half a day on a smooth high-speed train, let alone Gao De, who now rode a bumpy cart designed for hauling cargo.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After only half a day, his buttocks had already gone numb from the jolting.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fortunately, his diet and exercise had improved recently, and his body had grown much sturdier.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After stretching slightly, Gao De took down his water pouch from his waist and took a sip.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You brought too little water,” the driver said, jumping down from the cart and unfastening a leather water pouch clearly twice the size of Gao De’s, then taking a hearty gulp. “I’m Grul.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Water sources in the wild aren’t safe. You can only replenish at villages along the way, and the next village where you can get water is still two days away.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No problem, I’ll ration it,” Gao De said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He didn’t elaborate—his water supply was light not from ignorance, but because [Water Creation Spell] gave him the confidence to carry less.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For ordinary people on long journeys, clean drinking water typically made up the bulk of their burden.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Grul pulled a strip of salted beef from his waist pouch and broke it in half. “Try some?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gao De stared at the two pieces of salted beef in Grul’s hands, hesitated, then took one.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Grul grinned and shoved the remaining half into his mouth, chewing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing this, Gao De finally felt safe enough to taste his own.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The beef had been salted, tasting intensely salty, and after long curing and compression, it was extremely firm, even dry and hard. Gao De chewed twice, found it difficult, chewed a few more times, then just swallowed it whole.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Grul watched, chuckling warmly. “Unless you’re used to it, ordinary folks have to tear this into tiny bits to eat.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>You could’ve told me sooner—I already swallowed it, Gao De muttered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a brief rest, the caravan resumed travel.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only now, after actually traveling this way, did Gao De understand how grueling long-distance travel in the wild was for ordinary people.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And this was still the imperial road.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If someone like Pierre in his youth had plunged into the primeval forest to hunt ley-line creatures for resources, the challenge would have multiplied several times over.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There were no flat roads in the primeval forest—only rugged, steep terrain filled with dangers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Whether wild beasts or ley-line creatures more vicious than most, even mages would struggle to survive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For a typical mage apprentice, venturing alone into the primeval forest to hunt was gambling with their life.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Night fell.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Traveling at night not only restricted visibility, increasing the risk of getting lost or encountering danger, but also drained human and beast strength severely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So stopping to camp overnight was the best choice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The caravan had already found a safe spot at dusk, set up a temporary camp, and prepared to spend the night.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In fact, the caravan had traveled this route many times; they had long planned exactly when and where to stop each day.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gao De’s fifteen silver coins were certainly worth it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dozens of carts formed a crude camp, fires were lit, and hot soup made by boiling salted beef was served with black bread—this was the simple meal of the journey.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After assigning guards for night watch, everyone went to sleep.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These people spent their lives on the road and had long trained themselves to fall asleep quickly anywhere, replenishing their strength on the spot.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But for Gao De, falling asleep was extremely difficult.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not only did the occasional beast roars from deep in the forest disturb him, but even the insects drawn by the firelight were enough to drive him mad.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moreover, sleeping in the wild made Gao De feel profoundly unsafe.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“A High-Rank Mage should be able to solve the problem of overnight stays in the wild,” Gao De muttered to himself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the saying goes, demand determines the market—and similarly, demand should determine spells.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Under this overwhelming sense of insecurity, Gao De barely slept all night, only dozing off in scattered fragments.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When dawn broke the next morning, the caravan quickly packed up and set off again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gao De, having slept poorly the night before, dozed half the morning on the cart before finally becoming fully alert.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“How many days does it usually take to reach Bremen City?” Gao De asked Grul.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yes, the caravan’s destination—and Gao De’s destination as well—was Bremen City, the largest city in the entire Bremen region.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It takes about seven or eight days going there, but only five days returning,” Grul thought for a moment and gave a conservative estimate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“One day, we detour a short distance to a small town near Kamengde City to replenish water and food, and rest overnight—otherwise, both people and horses would be too exhausted.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“In this line of work, it’s all about long-term sustainability. Rushing a day or two gains you nothing—it’s pointless.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a day together, Grul had clearly grown more comfortable with Gao De and talked more freely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gao De naturally nodded in agreement.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fatigued travel was always a deadly mistake.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1215,"2026-06-19T14:28:48.629Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","e5805517046c1ff926a1eb0b2d524500566958844472e7ace657f85331c80e2b","above-the-mage-chapter-76","above-the-mage-chapter-74",529,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fabove-the-mage-cover.jpg"]