Above the mage!

Chapter 606 Third-Tier Ring-Up Potion (Part 2)

This time, Gaode did not act rashly.

He stopped in front of the thousand-year-old condensed incense, carefully observed it, and memorized all the traces of the energy shell covering its surface.

Then, he closed his eyes slightly and mentally rehearsed the process.

Half a minute later, Gao De opened his eyes again, a look of determination flashing in his eyes, and began to mobilize the Zhenbing magic power in his body.

Instead of condensing into a single strand, it is controlled to transform into countless tiny ice threads.

Under his precise control, these ice threads, like a fine spider web, slowly spread towards the energy shell that envelops the thousand-year-old condensed fragrance.

The ice silk is extremely fine, yet it contains pure ice elements, which seep into the energy shell little by little along the cracks.

It did not cause the slightest energy fluctuation, as if it were just a few harmless streams of water merging into the sea.

Gao De was highly focused, his fingertips trembling slightly as he controlled the trajectory of each ice thread inside the energy shell.

Some of the ice fibers extend horizontally along the cracks, weaving a fine warp and weft inside the shell.

Some descend vertically, entangling the restless, dark energy.

Some intertwine with each other, forming nodes in the areas with the highest energy density.

Before long, a giant ice net covering the entire interior of the energy shell quietly took shape, and the dark and grayish-white energy was tightly wrapped in the ice net.

As the ice net tightened, the fluctuations on the outer energy shell of the millennium-old condensed incense gradually subsided.

He seized the opportunity and suddenly condensed several strands of pure ice magic power, forming a thick ice shell on the outside of the energy shell, completely enveloping the entire thousand-year-old cold fragrance.

The ice shell acts as a solid barrier, not only isolating it from external energy interference but also further suppressing internal energy disturbances.

When the last trace of dark energy was sealed by the ice shell, the Thousand-Year Cold Fragrance completely stabilized and no longer emitted any heart-pounding energy fluctuations.

Gao De breathed a long sigh of relief.

Although the process seemed to go smoothly, it was actually not simple at all.

Fortunately, it was on the airship to Etherland County that the Secret of the Ice Technique advanced to the second ring.

The knowledge inherited from the Zhenbing bloodline flooded into his mind like a sudden enlightenment, not only allowing him to master more exquisite ice magic, but also pushing his control over magic power to a new peak.

In the past, he would never have been able to break down his magic into such fine ice threads, let alone weave such a precise ice net inside the energy shell.

After carefully storing the giant piece of thousand-year-old condensed incense, Gao De was about to turn around and swim towards the shallow water when a sudden thought struck him, and he stopped instantly.

Your cold resistance has increased by 295.1%...

A hint of surprise flashed in his eyes.

Yes, the adaptive feature has finally been triggered again.

If his cold resistance value is 215%, 235%, or 255% at this moment, he will choose to leave.

After all, no one can guarantee that there might be a second, undiscovered piece of millennia-old condensed incense in the Pale Water Blossom Sea, which could be detonated by the returning energy.

But it happens to be 295%.

It is only 5% away from the next evolution.

Moreover, Gaode Maps knows all too well how difficult it is to improve that 5%.

Because at this point, even just triggering the cold resistance adaptive progress is an extremely difficult thing.

Now that he has finally seen a glimmer of hope for evolution, how could he possibly give up so easily?

Therefore, after only a moment's hesitation, Gaode made its decision:

Let's catch up on the progress!
He turned and changed direction, no longer swimming towards the shallow waters, but diving deeper into the pale algal bloom.

The energy return flow continues, and its impact on this sea area is becoming increasingly apparent.

The viscosity of the seawater increased further, and the surrounding energy surged wildly as if it were alive; one could even hear the hissing sound of energy colliding.

Suddenly, a series of crackling sounds rang out.

Gao De looked down and saw that the seawater below was beginning to freeze.

Although it was only a small area at the very bottom, and the ice layer was as thin as a cicada's wing, it was enough to show how terrifyingly low the temperature had become.

It's important to know that the properties of the seawater in the Pale Blossom Sea have been altered, and the chaotic energy will inhibit seawater from freezing.

Even this inhibitory force is now being overcome by extreme low temperatures.

Your cold resistance has increased by 295.7%...

Not enough. Gao De, who had noticed that his progress in adapting to cold resistance was slowing down after the initial surge, had a resolute look in his eyes. He gritted his teeth, turned around, and dived deeper into the freezing seawater.

The temperature there is lower, the energy is more chaotic, and the level of danger increases exponentially, but it also means faster progress.

As soon as he entered the frozen area, a chill several times stronger than before instantly enveloped his body.

Moreover, it's not just the cold in terms of temperature, but also the chill brought by the deathly stillness of life by the dark energy.

This stark contrast in "coldness" is a groundbreaking catalyst for improvements in [adaptive] capabilities.

296.1% 296.4% 297.1%
Along with the adaptive mode, Gaode Maps' "Zhenbing Secrets" also keeps jumping around.

After Zhenbing's bloodline was fully awakened, a layer of mysterious bloodline runes appeared all over his body.

This bloodline rune can automatically absorb ice elements in the environment and convert them into its own mana, thereby enabling rapid leveling up of the mage. It is the secret to the Iceborn mage's "fully automatic" cultivation.

Although the extreme cold in this sea area is caused by dark energy.

However, according to the laws of elements, as long as the temperature drops to the extreme, pure ice elements will inevitably condense.

At this moment, countless tiny ice element particles appeared in the surrounding seawater, like glowing dust.

The circulation of the bloodline secret pattern was thus stimulated to its limit, causing Gao De's skin to begin to shimmer with a faint silver light that could be seen with the naked eye.

The secret runes are frantically absorbing the newly formed ice elements.

Within his body's mana pool, a new magic rune has begun to form on the Pure Ice Magic Crystal.

Gao De was overjoyed.

Immersed in the dual enhancements, Gaode completely forgot about time and entered a state of self-forgetfulness.

After an unknown amount of time, the constantly fluctuating progress of cold resistance adaptation finally came to a complete standstill and stopped changing.

Gao De then came to his senses.

Your cold resistance has increased by 299.9%...

Feeling the progress of his adaptation, he could only shake his head helplessly.

As expected, I still couldn't pass the level directly; I was stuck at the final bottleneck.

However, this was expected, so Gaode was not particularly disappointed.

The number of magic runes on the True Ice Magic Crystal within his body directly reached seventy-nine, an incredibly significant improvement.

However, since adaptive mapping has stalled, Gaode Maps is not planning to linger here.

The risk is too great; it's not worth it just for the sake of advancing his cultivation of the "Secret Transmission of True Ice"! Thinking this, Gao De immediately pushed off with both feet, started swimming at full speed, and swam towards the coastline.

Driven by the ocean currents propelled by the chaotic energy flow, he was now moving at a speed much faster than when riding a horse on land.

Ice crystals flew behind them, like a long tail of ice and snow.

After swimming for only a minute or two, Gao De noticed several strong fluctuations of magical power coming from ahead, one of which, a pale golden one, seemed particularly familiar.

It was the fluctuation of Ayra's light elemental magic.

Gaode immediately slowed down.

Soon, three figures came into view.

The leader was a middle-aged monk with a resolute face.

Ella was also in the group, her face full of anxiety.

Upon seeing Gaode Maps, an uncontrollable surge of joy flashed in my eyes.

The three men quickly came forward.

"Master Gaode, I'm so glad you're alright!" Ella's joyful voice echoed in Gaode's mind.

The leading monk, however, had no time to attend to Gao De's situation and instead asked anxiously, "How is that thousand-year-old condensed incense? Is it still in the same place?"

"It's been resolved." Gao De replied to his urgent inquiry using the [Communication] spell.

"Solved?" The middle-aged high-level mage was taken aback, thinking he had misheard, and subconsciously asked, "When you say 'solved,' do you mean the location was marked, or...?"

“I’ve sealed it.” Gao De said, taking out a cloth bag hanging from his waist, untying the rope to reveal a gap, allowing him to see the thousand-year-old condensed fragrance encased in an ice shell.

The three people present were speechless for a moment.

We looked at each other, our eyes filled with disbelief and shock.

It actually worked! Ella's pale golden eyes were filled with shock and admiration.

"Now that the problem has been resolved, you should leave here as soon as possible. The dark energy around you is still flowing backward, and it is not safe to stay any longer."

The leading mage was the first to recover. He suppressed his shock and spoke to God and Ella.

Both of them nodded.

As for the two high-level mages, after confirming that the Thousand-Year Cold Fragrance had been safely sealed, they did not delay any longer. They nodded solemnly to Gao De and then turned to swim into the depths of the sea.

They also need to rush to help guide the energy outflow to ensure the crisis is completely resolved.

When Gao De and Ella met, they were already on the edge of the Pale Water Blossom Sea, so in just ten minutes, they were completely out of this suffocating sea.

If it weren't for needing to match Ella's speed, Gao De could be much faster.

The biting cold in the seawater gradually dissipated like the receding tide, slowly returning to normal seawater temperature.

Due to the influence of the environment, both of them increased their speed considerably.

As the two stepped onto the soft sand and onto the shore, they both turned to look at the sea.

The pale algal bloom that had originally covered a vast area of ​​the sea was now visibly shrinking inward.

The grayish-white energy at the edges, like snow melting in the sun, gradually became transparent and thinner, revealing the azure sea below.

"Although there were some unexpected events, the guidance of the energy outflow was still working, and overall it went smoothly."

Looking at the scene before her, Ella breathed a sigh of relief, a long-lost smile appearing on her face: "Once the high-level mages are free to deal with it, and the reversed dark energy has been redirected back to the trench, the pale radiance should be able to completely dissipate."

The Lightforged Military Mage has extremely strong emergency response capabilities.

Although the accident happened very suddenly, they reacted quickly and took timely measures to deal with it.

Seeing that the pale bloom was about to be resolved, Ella's shoulders, which had been tense with worry, finally relaxed.

“Let’s go back to camp first.” She turned to look at Gao De, her tone light.

The two walked along the coast toward the lighthouse, seeing many mages in Lightforged uniforms hurrying by along the way.

Most of them were newly transferred to help out. Although they were in a hurry, they couldn't hide the relief that their task was about to be completed. They would occasionally nod to each other.

When they arrived at the lighthouse, there were many more people than when Gaode first arrived, mostly healing mages and support staff.

“Master Gaode, you’ve been in the Pale Water Bloom area for so long. Even if you have a strong resistance to cold, you may still have some hidden ailments. Why don’t we have our healing mage examine and treat you?”

Ella suggested, "Our healing mages in Etherland County are renowned throughout the entire dynasty."

Gao De shook his head and replied with a smile, "Thank you for your concern, but I'm fine. There's no need to trouble the healing mage."

Seeing his insistence, Ella didn't press him any further and instead led him to the registration desk on the first floor of the lighthouse: "Then let me take you to register. Register the number and weight of the condensed incense pieces you cleared. This is an important basis for future rewards and recognition."

There was a wooden table in the registration office, and a clerk was sitting behind the table.

Gao De followed Ella forward and handed over all the Cold Fragrances he had sealed during this trip.

Cold-cold incense is extremely valuable, but because of the chaotic energy of the Pale Water Bloom, these cold-cold incense have all been contaminated and are no longer usable, so no one would hoard them.

The clerk, wearing a pair of silver protective gloves, began to carefully count the number of items and weigh them one by one.

As he counted the items, he made notes on the parchment.

When he picked up the cloth bag containing the thousand-year-old condensed incense and untied the drawstring, his pupils constricted sharply upon seeing the sealed object inside, and his hand holding the bag paused for a moment. "It's so big!"

He looked up at Gaode, his eyes filled with disbelief.

This is the largest piece of cold-pressed incense he has ever handled, and it is exceptionally large with a distinct layer.

Only after Ella nodded in confirmation did he solemnly weigh the item and record the details.

Finally, he handed a registration form to Gao De: "Master, please keep this registration form safe. It will be essential for future rewards and recognition of merits. Please don't lose it."

"Thank you." Gao De took the voucher.

"The follow-up treatment of the energy leakage will take some time. Once the problem of the pale water bloom is completely resolved, we will reward those who have made contributions."

"You solved the problem of the thousand-year-old condensed incense, which is a super achievement that could directly prevent a sea disaster. The reward will definitely be substantial!" Ella added, standing to the side and watching the registration process complete.

“Oh, right,” she suddenly clapped her hands, as if she had remembered something important, “I almost forgot to ask you, do you have any specific requirements or preferences for the rewards, such as extraordinary equipment or monetary rewards?”

We can prepare the food according to your needs, trying our best to satisfy you.

Gao De's heart stirred slightly, but he didn't stand on ceremony anymore, because he did have a need.

"If possible, I currently need upgrade potions, both Tier 3 and Tier 1."

"Also, I need the rare spell recipes for the second ring."

He was well aware of his own contributions, so he made exorbitant demands.

Ella nodded, indicating to the staff member next to her that they had made the corresponding notes next to the registration form, and even specially marked "priority given".

"Don't worry, Venerable Master Gaode, we've registered you and will try our best to meet your needs."

She looked at Gao De and said in a light tone, "You can go back and rest now. We'll come find you after things are settled here."

(End of this chapter)