[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-above-the-mage":3,"chapter-above-the-mage-above-the-mage-chapter-99":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},2257103,4404,"Chapter 99: Blade Barrier","above-the-mage-chapter-99",99,"\u003Cp>Gao De was even more satisfied.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Finally, he received seven gold coins as an additional reward from the staff.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>——This was indeed Gao De’s achievement, with no falsification.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Added to the initial five gold coins as payment, the total came to twelve gold.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To him, this was merely a bonus; the most important gain lay elsewhere.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Origin:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>0th Ring — 【Fierce Bat】 (7\u002F7)\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After many days, he finally gained another bit of new origin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This made Gao De secretly look forward to another ground vein creature assault on the city—after all, such “free” origin acquisition felt truly satisfying.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With the battle over, the alarm in Bremen City was finally lifted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because the threat was detected in time, Bremen City’s defensive forces far surpassed the Fierce Bats’ strength.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thus, this Fierce Bat assault caused no damage or casualties within the city.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A perfect defensive operation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Returning home to Kamengdejie 437, Gao De, whose mana was completely drained, did not immediately restore his mana.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had something more important to do right now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Wind Spirit, Moon Shadow.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Skillfully opening the crude information interface, he focused his attention on the dozen or so spells flashing yellow plus signs, and with a thought, made his decision.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Allocate points!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The “Big Dipper” representing the Fierce Bat origin flew out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Its target: the spell model of 【Blade Barrier】.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a familiar “cutscene,” the yellow plus sign beside 【Blade Barrier】 vanished.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Its name changed to 【Blade Barrier+】.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Blade Barrier+】 (Protection, 0th Ring): Trace a protective sigil in the air to gain resistance against blunt, piercing, and slashing damage from weapons.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bonus: Eliminates the need to trace the protective sigil to cast the spell.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the evening, after safely enduring the morning’s ground vein creature assault, Bremen City quickly returned to its usual bustle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The morning’s anxiety and tension became dinner-table conversation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet the four characters “Ground Vein Rebirth” still left those with even a little knowledge uneasy, prompting them to inquire about details.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Most understood that the morning’s ground vein creature assault was merely a trivial side effect of “Ground Vein Rebirth.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The impact of Ground Vein Rebirth would be profoundly far-reaching.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At least for now, no one dared to leave the city for hunting or engage in intercity trade.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“According to past patterns and experience, even the lowest-grade third-tier ground vein can trigger major shifts in an entire region,” Pierre said to Gao De.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Third-tier ground vein?” Gao De, who had come to Pierre after fully restoring his mana, gained yet another new insight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“A ground vein is essentially a dimensional passage formed by the convergence and fusion of our mage plane and the ground vein plane.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“A passage, by nature, has varying sizes.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Entities larger than the passage’s capacity cannot squeeze through without getting stuck or collapsing the passage entirely.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“For a dimensional passage, its size refers to the maximum energy level it can sustain; for travelers between the two planes, their rank is their volume.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“A third-tier ground vein means the highest entity that can pass through is a 0th Ring creature.” “So far, every ground vein discovered is at least third-tier, so everyone treats third-tier as the baseline,” Pierre explained in detail to Gao De.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The original ground vein in the Bremen region was a fourth-tier ground vein.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A fourth-tier ground vein permits creatures up to 4th Ring to pass through.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Mage plane. Ground vein plane.” Gao De repeated the two terms aloud, deeply puzzled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Don’t ask me—I only know the term, not the reason. If you want me to explain it thoroughly, I couldn’t give you a single clear point,” Pierre shrugged, being utterly honest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, he was merely an older, self-taught mage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His knowledge was broader than Gao De’s, but still limited.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Every newly born ground vein draws countless ground vein creatures to the area, and mostly ones never before seen in this region,” Pierre sighed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Because ground vein creatures are simply too numerous.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“To local residents, this is a natural disaster; but for mages, it might be an opportunity.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Bremen region will be bustling soon—perhaps even mages from other regions will come to prospect.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Why?” Gao De asked curiously.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Each ground vein rebirth is accompanied by violent earthquakes, generating a powerful mana-enrichment effect that forms an ultra-high mana zone around the ground vein.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The emergence of an ultra-high mana zone brings abundant rare magical plants and magical ores.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“In other words, the area around the newly born ground vein is an untouched gold mine.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Even setting those aside, the sheer volume of ground vein creatures—provided they can be successfully suppressed—is a massive fortune for mages.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“These ground vein creatures themselves are highly valuable.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Many magical materials previously obtainable only from afar can now be acquired locally.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“New industries may even emerge as a result.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gao De nodded in agreement.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In game terms, it was like a new “grinding spot” appearing in a region—something every “player” in that region would eagerly welcome.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“But all of this depends on suppressing the first few waves of ground vein creature outbreaks.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That depends on the authorities’ strength.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pierre sighed, speaking with grim gravity: “I’ve inquired with my mage friend in the Emerald Alliance—Hogen City fell during the first wave of ground vein creature outbreaks.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gao De fell silent for a moment, muttering: “After all, in the Bremen region, Hogen City was the weakest, and the ground vein emerged right beside it.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thus, Hogen City faced the greatest threat among all cities in the Bremen region.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“There must have been at least ten third-tier ground vein creatures launching a simultaneous assault on Hogen City—otherwise, with its alchemical weaponry, it shouldn’t have fallen so quickly.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“If it were only third-tier creatures, it would be manageable; the real fear is that this newly born ground vein isn’t just third-tier.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Let’s wait for official news.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“They must determine the rank of this new ground vein and stabilize the creature outbreaks.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hasn’t the official force acted yet?” Gao De asked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pierre shook his head. “A newly born ground vein overwhelms the local authorities’ capacity.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Wait,” Pierre raised his index finger, pointing upward, “only when higher-ups arrive can we be sure.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gao De nodded slightly, understanding that Pierre meant Shengxi City.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1035,"2026-06-19T14:28:48.629Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","a7278db44f0abcc1026311934988fb8a5f63ee513c99fb8af1439924b8136c95","above-the-mage-chapter-100","above-the-mage-chapter-98",529,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fabove-the-mage-cover.jpg"]