Above the mage!

Chapter 604 Third-Tier Ring-Up Potions
With the Water-bound Body buff and the added benefit of [Ocean Touch+], Gao De's speed underwater is two to three times faster than that of an ordinary second-ring mage.

He swam like a fish towards the area of ​​pale algae, leaving a thin trail in the seawater as he moved at incredible speed.

In just a few breaths, he plunged into that eerie gray-white area.

A bone-chilling cold instantly enveloped my entire body; the temperature was at least twenty or thirty degrees lower than the surrounding seawater.

If the seawater was icy cold before, the pale algal bloom area now is like frozen bones.

Moreover, the seawater here is no longer a flowing liquid, but rather like a thick mud mixed with ice crystals, and every stroke requires immense resistance.

If an ordinary monk were to rashly enter, he would probably not even be able to lift his arm.

Suddenly everything went black. The grayish-white energy substance, like an opaque curtain, completely swallowed up all light, even the light of illumination spells.

But none of this matters to Gaode.

With the blessing of the intermediate-level Ice Protection Body, this extreme cold not only did not cause him discomfort, but also made his mind even clearer.

The power of the Water Entangled Body was displayed to its fullest extent at this moment.

Even in the viscous, pale algae, he could sense the subtle flow of the water and find the gaps where the energy was most scarce.

Sometimes it glides along a faint undercurrent, and sometimes it uses the edge of an energy vortex for leverage. Its movements are fluid and unaffected by the viscous environment.

More importantly, the Water-Body completely ignored the darkness of this area.

As far as the eye can see, even the smallest grains of sand dozens of meters away can be clearly seen.

Moreover, in Gaode's perception at this moment, the changes in water pressure and flow velocity around him were like clear blood vessels, outlining a dynamic water flow map in his mind.

Furthermore, with the Mandora's Eye already activated by Gao De, the elemental energy fluctuations contained in the surrounding water were also exposed.

Pale golden fragments of light, inky black energy, and the grayish-white distorted energy unique to Pale Water Bloom, like specks of starlight, are scattered throughout the seawater.

It's even simpler than I expected," Gao De thought to himself, adjusting his posture and continuing to swim deeper into the water.

As they went deeper, the water temperature continued to decrease at a rate visible to the naked eye.

Gradually, even Gaode began to feel a slight coolness on his skin.

He estimated that the water temperature had dropped to at least minus ninety degrees Celsius. Even if an ordinary third-ring mage released [Endurance], they wouldn't be able to withstand it for long.

However, this has little impact on Gaode Maps.

At the same time, his other physical ability, the Void Body, also began to exert its power.

The oxygen levels in the surrounding area had already dropped to a level that was unbearable for most people, requiring them to frequently surface for air.

However, the Pale Bloom region is inherently difficult to move in, which further increases the difficulty of searching for Cold-Cooled Fragrance.

But Gao De is different; his lungs function very efficiently, and his blood's oxygen-carrying capacity far exceeds that of ordinary people.

Even in such a low-oxygen environment, it can still maintain normal physiological activities and does not feel the slightest bit suffocated.

His chest rose and fell slightly, and his oxygen-rich organs continued to provide his body with ample oxygen, so even though he had been underwater for nearly ten minutes, he did not feel tired. His endurance was like a perpetual motion machine.

Suddenly, Gao De leaned slightly forward:
His water-bound body granted him sensory abilities, allowing him to perceive an unusual fluctuation in the water ahead.

The water pressure there was significantly higher than in the surrounding area, and the water flow trajectory showed an irregular vortex shape, as if something was pulling the water flow.

More importantly, the water in that area also carried a faint but unique cool fragrance.

Just like the freshness of a pine forest after a snowfall, it also carries a touch of gentle sweetness.

"Is it Leng Ningxiang?" Gao De's heart skipped a beat. He slowed down his swimming speed and cautiously approached the abnormal area.

The closer you get, the clearer the cool fragrance becomes.

The smell was exactly as Elphs had described.

Soon, a fist-sized, waxy solid with silvery-white spiral patterns came into Gaode's view.

It is the fragrance of cold water.

But Gaode didn't immediately go forward to take it; instead, he cautiously observed his surroundings.

He immediately discovered that the energy around the condensed incense was extremely unstable.

Grayish-white energy and dark energy intertwined, forming an energy shell about half an inch thick on its surface.

The energy shell was covered with fine cracks.

Each energy collision caused tiny sparks to erupt from the cracks, and the surrounding water flow to fluctuate violently.
As Elphs said, the condensed fragrance encased in the pale water has become a dangerous energy node, which could easily explode if disturbed by external forces.

Gao De took a deep breath, mobilized the pure ice magic power within his body, and condensed a wisp of pure ice energy.

The Zhenbing bloodline grants him control over Zhenbing magic power that even surpasses the power of his main cultivation method, the "Qingmu Longevity Scripture".

Subsequently, Gao De used his Water Stream Body to control the water flow, allowing this wisp of ice energy to slowly approach Leng Ningxiang along the trajectory of the water flow.

There was no violent collision at the moment the ice energy and the dark energy came into contact.

Instead, it's like warm water melting into ice and snow, slowly enveloping the dark energy, freezing and weakening it little by little.

The grayish-white energy, having lost the support of the dark energy, became even more unstable, but under the suppression of the ice energy, it could not spread for the time being.

Taking advantage of this brief moment, Gao De quickly cast Mage's Hand and carefully removed Leng Ningxiang from the energy shell.

Then, immediately, he used his True Ice magic to condense a thin layer of ice, isolating it from the pale water foliage outside.

"A great start." Gao De breathed a sigh of relief, put it away, and surfaced to catch his breath.

After a brief adjustment, he dived back into the water and swam toward deeper areas.

The water temperature is still dropping.

Despite the extremely low temperature, the seawater did not freeze at all; instead, the viscous texture of the pale bloom became even more intense, as if one were walking through jelly.

This is enough to show how strange this pale water bloom is.

Besides Gao De, there were more than a dozen other mages responsible for cleaning up Leng Ningxiang. Most of them were Lightforged Army mages or official mages. There were very few free mages like him who came to volunteer.

Firstly, ordinary mages are afraid of the dangers of the Pale Water Flower, and secondly, there are very few free mages whose strength has reached the threshold.

Because of the small number of people and the vast sea area with limited visibility, Gaode Maps didn't see a single person in the first half hour of the search and could only search for Leng Ningxiang's whereabouts in silence.

Soon, Gaode discovered a pattern: the lower the water temperature, the more condensed fragrance there was.

So he immediately adjusted his approach, no longer searching aimlessly like a carpet, but instead delving deeper and deeper along the direction of decreasing temperature.

This change had an immediate effect; he encountered Leng Ningxiang much more frequently, and his search and cleanup efficiency improved dramatically.

However, the forms of these deep-seated, condensed incense sticks became increasingly bizarre. Some were larger than a fist, their surfaces covered with a honeycomb-like energy shell filled with holes, constantly spewing out energy mist.

Some are still moving slowly, wandering aimlessly in the seawater, and could collide with other condensed incense at any time, triggering a chain explosion.

Every time Gaode encounters a piece of condensed incense, it requires considerable effort to clean it.

The only thing that disappointed him was that even though the water temperature had dropped to a point where his skin felt a slight stinging sensation, it still failed to trigger the [Adaptive] function.

It can only be said that his 295% increase in cold resistance makes his threshold for cold extremely high.

Only more extreme environments can stimulate the adaptive evolutionary mechanism.

After swimming about two hundred meters deeper, Gao De suddenly sensed an unusual fluctuation in the water:

Unlike the chaos of energy vortexes, this fluctuation has a regular rhythm, more like the changes in water flow caused by a living organism moving in the water.

He immediately stopped, activating the sensory abilities of his water-bound body to carefully trace the outline of the ripples:
A slender figure, a stable posture while levitating, subtle hand gestures while casting spells...

Soon, a clear human figure appeared in his mind.

Gao De thought to himself, "Finally, I've met my first 'colleague'."

In the extremely dangerous Pale Water Blossom Sea, who else could the people you encounter besides the other mages responsible for cleaning up Leng Ningxiang?
Moreover, Gaode Maps can confirm that this person must have also discovered their existence.

Based on the changes in the water flow trajectory, Gaode can determine that the other party is slowly approaching its direction.

The speed was steady, and there was no hostility whatsoever.

Sure enough, a moment later, a slender figure appeared in front of them.

She was a female mage, dressed in the same Lightforged uniform as Elphs, and holding a pure white staff in her hand.

A pale golden crystal is embedded at the tip of the staff, radiating a gentle magical energy that softly pushes away the viscous energy around it.

"I've been searching this area since last night, and it's basically been cleared." A slightly soft young female voice sounded in Gao De's mind.

It's not easy to speak while underwater, so the other party used the [Communication] spell to communicate with Gaode. Their voice was as clear as a stream, with just the right amount of politeness.

“You can go in this direction. The density of the condensed incense is higher here, and I’ve marked several areas with relatively stable energy, which will reduce the danger.” The female mage pointed in a direction for Gao De with her staff.

Gao De was slightly surprised, not expecting this female mage to be so proactive in sharing information.

He responded with a teleportation spell: "Thank you for letting me know. My name is Gao De, and I am a freelance mage who has applied for the position."

"My name is Ella, and I am a Lightforged Military Mage." The woman nodded slightly, a gentle smile in her pale golden eyes.

"You seem to be skilled in ice magic and sealing?" She suddenly noticed the frozen Leng Ningxiang that Gao De had hidden at his waist.

"Yes." Gao De didn't hide anything.

Upon hearing this answer, a glint of light flashed in Ella's eyes. After a moment's thought, she suggested, "How about we join forces?"

"Huh?!" Gao De was slightly taken aback.

Ella explained, "My cultivation method is light-based, and I am extremely sensitive to the light element, so I can easily detect the condensed fragrance that is wrapped in mixed energy."

"It's not easy for me to handle them because the energy film covering the surface of these condensed incense sticks is extremely sensitive to light."

"And you happen to be good at handling these condensed fragrances, which makes up for my weakness."

"If we work together, I'll be in charge of the search, and you'll be in charge of the processing. We'll split the spoils 50/50. This way, we can complete the mission faster and reduce the danger. What do you think?"

After a moment's thought, God realized that Ella's suggestion was feasible and immediately nodded in agreement.

Once the cooperation was agreed upon, Ella took the lead without hesitation, guiding Gao De as he swam northeast.

Her perception of light elements was indeed as good as her reputation suggested.

She had only swum for five or six minutes when she suddenly stopped, pointing her staff to an inconspicuous reef on her right: "There's a piece of condensed incense there, and it seems to be quite large."

After swimming closer, the two turned over the reef and finally saw the appearance of the condensed fragrance.
This is a piece of condensed incense of far greater size than usual, with an energy shell on its surface that is an inch thick and covered with cracks.

Dark energy was constantly emanating from the cracks, making it extremely unstable and clearly a very difficult task to clean up.

Ella's brows furrowed instantly, her pale golden eyes filled with seriousness.

Because of its enormous size, the energy shell covering this piece of condensed incense was too thick for her to peel off completely.

Therefore, she turned her attention to Gaode Maps.

Originally, their division of labor was that one was responsible for finding the problem and the other for handling it.

However, this piece of condensed incense is unusual; it's normal that Gaode (a Chinese image search engine) can't clean it.

“This piece of condensed incense is difficult to handle. Should we mark its location first and deal with the others? When we run into Master Gao Huan later, we can ask him to handle it?” she suggested, offering a way out in case Gao De was pressured to show off.

"I'll give it a try," Gao De said, without backing down.

He swam forward, his fingertips gathering pure, pure ice magic power. Unlike the wisp of ice magic power he gathered before, this time it was a cluster.

Gaode plans to directly condense a layer of ice on the surface of the energy shell to lock it in place.

Ella was a little worried: "Won't this stimulate the energy shell?"

"Don't worry, I can control it," Gao De said confidently.

He slowly brought the True Ice Magic close to the energy shell. The ice patterns on his fingertips spread like vines along the cracks, precisely covering every crevice without missing a single spot.

The intensity of the magic was also controlled perfectly, neither compressing the energy shell nor allowing the dark energy to find a gap to escape.

The dark energy gradually calmed down under the protection of the ice patterns, and the cracks on the energy shell were fixed by the ice patterns, no longer expanding.

Even the subtle vibrations from before disappeared, and the entire energy shell became incredibly stable, like frozen amber.

An incredulous light flashed in Ella's eyes.

There's no other reason than that Gao De's control over Zhenbing's magic was so impressive, it was as if he were an old mage who had been immersed in this art for decades or even centuries. It was truly incredible.

And
Because she was constantly focused on observing energy fluctuations so she could react promptly to any unexpected events, she was able to accurately perceive the intensity of Gao De's True Ice magic.
Its purity was extremely high, even higher than that of the high-level ice mages she had ever seen, but its magical power was not high, far below the standard of a third-ring mage, and more like the level of a second-ring mage.

Second Ring Master?

How can this be?

How could a second-ring mage move automatically in such an extreme environment as her in the Pale Water Blossom Sea, and also achieve such exaggerated precision in controlling his magical power?
Gao De was unaware of the many thoughts swirling in Ella's mind at that moment.

He was already a master sorcerer, and decisively took out this large piece of condensed incense!
Then immediately use the power of the True Ice to condense an ice layer to seal it off and prevent it from being enveloped by the Pale Water Bloom again.

"Done!" Gao De breathed a sigh of relief.

(End of this chapter)