Above the mage!

Chapter 225 Evolution Reaches the Top
Just as Gao De had thought before, the later the climbing process was, the more time he had to exert his strength.

As the altitude continued to increase, the temperature of the Dandong Snow Mountain gradually dropped slower than his body's adaptation speed.

Therefore, the journey to the summit, which should have been increasingly difficult, turned out to be "all difficult at the beginning" for Gaode, but it becomes easier as time goes on.

Until this day, Gao De caught up with Du Wei who had just set up the tent. After discovering that this guy got up even earlier the next day, Gao De consciously slowed down a little.

Otherwise, if this continues, this stubborn and proud guy might have to leave before dawn.

[Adaptation] The improvement of the body's cold resistance is ongoing.

This continuous positive feedback from the body has made Gaode's enthusiasm for mountaineering unprecedentedly high.

I even felt that in order to "compete" with Du Wei, it seemed to be the right choice to walk a little further to reach the summit.

After all, the higher the altitude, the lower the temperature, and the more obvious the promotion to [adaptation] will be.

[Adaptive]: Cold resistance increased by 94%, oxygen uptake increased by 61%, and resistance to strong light increased by 23%.

As his cold resistance value got closer to 100%, Gao De began to feel that an inexplicable energy was growing in his body, making him feel light and comfortable.

Although no one told him, Gao De could vaguely feel that this inexplicable energy would begin to erupt when the cold resistance reached 100%.

Then, it brings some wonderful changes to his body.

This made Gaode even more excited.

However, the speed of adaptation depends on the environment, not Gaode’s mood.

Therefore, no matter how eager he is, the improvement of cold resistance will not be faster.

In fact, it started to slow down.

Because the cold resistance has been improved to this extent, the Dandong Snow Peak is gradually no longer considered a harsh environment for Gaode.

In other words, he has almost adapted to the environment here.

This won't work. Seeing that the "treasure mountain" is right in front of him but he can't dig it, Gao De decided to exercise his subjective initiative and actively stimulate the improvement of his body's cold resistance.

Flora, as usual, flapped her little wings and floated low in the sky, flying in front to scout the way for Goder.

She seemed to never get tired. After flying for a while in front, she would flap her wings and run back to report the situation to Gao De.

"There's a small slope ahead."

"There's a stone."

"There is a worthless grass."

"There's a pit."

"Have"

Flora's reports were always very detailed, no matter how useful or not, she would pour everything out to Gaode.

Gaode also patiently responded one by one.

"If it's just a small slope, there's no need to take a detour."

"Stones. What kind of stones?"

"Just ignore the worthless grass."

"If there's a pit, be careful not to fall into it."

"Lady Flora can fly, so she won't fall in."

"Master, you should be careful not to fall in."

"Mage, how did you fall in?"

"Mage, are you planting yourself?"

While listening to Flora's soft and gentle voice, Godard manipulated the wizard's hand to brush away the snowflakes and cover himself with his coat.

Even though his cold resistance had been improved to this extent, Gao De couldn't help shivering after taking off his warm clothes and his skin came into direct contact with ice and snow.

But correspondingly, the adaptation and improvement, which had been slowing down, suddenly accelerated at this time.

Cold resistance increased by 94.1%...94.2%...94.5%.

As the cold resistance is getting closer to 100%, Gaode becomes more excited as the cold resistance improves.

On the second day, cold resistance increased to 97.3%.

On the third day, the improvement rate slowed down slightly compared with yesterday, but also reached 98.6%.

On the fourth day, the improvement of [Adaptability] was close to stagnation again after the cold resistance reached 99%.

On the fifth day, the improvement in cold resistance still stopped at 99%.

Gaode understood that it must have reached the so-called "bottleneck period" and that it would need to "take drastic measures" if it wanted to make another breakthrough.

It requires more extreme weather such as the previous strong winds or heavy snow.

And Gaode's luck is also very good.

On the third day when he was stuck at a bottleneck and had the idea of ​​"taking drastic measures", the "weather forecast" of [Druid Tricks] no longer showed a golden ball that indicated a clear sky, but a tornado.

This means that tomorrow's weather will be windy, which is the last thing climbers want to see.

The higher the altitude, the greater the impact of strong winds.

Because the higher the altitude, the faster the wind tends to be, and the more noticeable the feeling of coldness will be.

Faced with strong winds, Du Wei wisely chose to take a break and wait for the bad weather to pass.

Then, amid Du Wei's astonishment and gaze that gradually turned into "looking at a madman", Gao De took the initiative to leave the temporary camp in the leeward area and rushed into the snow dust raised by the fierce cold wind.

His back soon disappeared in the wind and snow.

"Mad." Du Wei was stunned and finally uttered these two words to evaluate him.

The biting cold brought by the strong winds caused Gaode's cold resistance, which had stagnated for three days, to begin to change and improve again.

99.1% 99.2%
Gaode is certain that with the help of strong winds, he will be able to break through the 100% limit today.

Gaode is also looking forward to what will happen after this.

From the time he entered the snowstorm until now, he began to feel the energy that had been accumulating in his body. Just like the spring water in a spring, it continuously flowed out from inside his body and then flowed to every inch of his body, bringing a warm feeling.

There is a constant biting cold outside the body and an endless warmth inside.

The feeling of alternating between hot and cold can be described as sour and refreshing.

In this strange state, the value of cold resistance increased silently to 99.9%, and after a period of lag, it quietly jumped over this number again:
Your cold resistance is increased by 100.1%.

An experience so wonderful that it is difficult to describe appeared in Gaode's perception.

In an instant, Gao De felt that the world seemed to have become much brighter.

The warm current in his body was like a volcanic eruption, gushing out wave after wave, violently washing his flesh and blood.

This feeling lasted for more than ten seconds before some inexplicable information emerged in Gaode's consciousness:

[Your body's resistance to cold has reached the upper limit under normal conditions, and has evolved into a primary ice-protected body].

[After evolving into a primary Ice Body, your ability to withstand ice elemental damage increases by 11%].

[No longer affected by the negative effects of ice spells of third ring and below].

Natural selection, survival of the fittest.

What is the next stage of adaptation?
It's evolution.

And now, with the rapid adaptation of [self-adaptation], Gaode has completed the first physical evolution.

The primary ice-protected body obtained in this evolution has a total of two abilities, both of which are evolutionary abilities related to cold resistance.

The former is equivalent to an increase in resistance to ice elements, while the latter can greatly enhance his combat capability.

At least at the third ring and below, the power of ice elemental spells is actually not comparable to the power of other types of spells, mainly because of the many negative effects that come with it.

For example, the freezing damage caused by [Freeze Ray] can further cause the recipient to move slowly.

After evolving into a primary ice-protected body, the already low power of [Freeze Ray] will be reduced, and the "slow movement" effect will also become ineffective.

What’s more important is the word “primary” before Bingyou’s body.

Obviously, after the elementary level there must be intermediate and advanced levels.

This means that this is not the limit of the evolution of cold tolerance.

When Gaode thought about the intermediate and advanced ice-protected bodies in the future, he became even more motivated.

Perhaps if he really possesses a high-level ice-protected body, low-level ice element spells falling on him will be no different from mosquito bites?
In the fierce snowstorm, Gao De let out a long and happy howl. When Gao De walked out of the snowstorm and returned to his place of residence with snow all over his body, it was already noon.

Outside the place where he stayed, he took off his coat casually and naturally, just like he was in his own living room, shook off the snow on it, and then sat down by the campfire with a normal expression.

The current low temperature, for Gaode, is not much different from normal temperature.

If it wasn't for the fact that he wanted to avoid being too different and causing too much stimulation to someone, Gao De would have even wanted to throw away the coat that was in the way.

Du Wei watched Gao De complete the entire set of movements, not knowing how to describe the feeling in his heart.

In fact, at the beginning, he didn't think that he would have so many ties with Gaode.

Even because of the sensitivity of his own status and position, when Gao De knocked on his door, Du Wei's first reaction was to wonder if Gao De had evil intentions and was coming for him.

Even when he later confirmed that Gaode was really just a passerby - after all, no one would send such a weak wizard to approach him, he never thought that he would have any other intersection with Gaode.

After all, Gaode's level is really too low compared to him.

If it weren't for the family tradition, a small figure like Gao De would never have the chance to meet him in his entire life, let alone talk to him. Even watching him from afar would be unlikely.

I don’t know if it’s because the environment in Xuefeng is too harsh and monotonous, or because I haven’t put down my burdens and interacted with my peers for a long time, or because
In short, without Du Wei being able to figure out what was going on, he inexplicably came into contact with Gao De in various ways.

At first it was just his own competitive spirit, but later it got out of control.

Even though the other party "saved" his life, given his status, to be honest, there were many ways to express his gratitude, but what he did in the end was to take the initiative to compete with the other party to reach the summit.

This guy is obviously a rookie, but he still can't get rid of him. There's nothing wrong with a competition. This is how Du Wei convinced himself.

Afterwards, it just became a matter of chance, so it was no big deal to give him a place to stay and food. After all, he had saved me.

We eat and sleep together, so it seems there is nothing wrong with this guy saying we are friends.
Just like this, two people who would have no intersection became each other's only "friends" at the moment without knowing it and with self-deceiving acquiescence.

And now, Du Wei once again discovered that his new friend was not as simple as he seemed.

Although when he saw Flora, he realized that Gode was not that simple.

"You are such a lunatic." Du Wei looked at Gao De and said.

Gao De smiled shyly, "It's actually very enjoyable, if you don't believe me, try it."

"My brain is still intact." Du Wei glanced at Gao De and said lightly.

"In about three more days, we will reach the summit." He said after a while.

Reaching the summit means the end of the journey.

At that time, one of them would continue to head north to the northern border, while the other would return south along the original route.

"It's a good thing I met you." Gao De thanked.

In the days that followed, there was almost no food or fuel to be found. If it weren't for Du Wei who could "borrow" some, the climbing journey would have been much more difficult.

More importantly, Du Wei set out early every time, which helped him check the road ahead and eliminate many possible dangers.

Otherwise, in such an inconvenient terrain for movement, encountering underground creatures would be a very dangerous thing.

Du Wei didn't say anything.

This time the strong wind lasted for two days before gradually stopping.

As soon as the weather returned to normal, Gao De and Du Wei set out again.

There were no other accidents or twists and turns on the rest of the journey.

The 21st day of the winter solstice.

The sky was just beginning to turn pale.

The frigid air at high altitudes is almost impossible to breathe.

On the rugged and nearly vertical ice wall, two figures, one in front and one behind, crawled up the ice wall like spiders. Although the speed was not fast, it was very steady.

"Master, come on!" Flora carefully poked her little head out from Gode's chest pocket.

Although she could fly, the wind was cold and strong near the top of the mountain. A gust of wind could easily blow her away, so Flora stayed obediently in Gode's pocket.

Gao De pulled the finger transformed by the [Cat Claw Technique] out of the ice wall, took a slight breath, and then inserted it steadily into another gap again.

Du Wei was two body lengths above him, keeping a safe distance.

At this altitude, every breath the two took was accompanied by a thick white mist that was almost frozen into ice, surrounding them.

Looking down, I saw vast clouds covering everything below, as if it were an endless ocean.

Looking up, there is endless fog.

The top of the mountain is right in front of us.

The two of them worked together, climbed over the last section of the ice wall, and finally reached the top of the mountain.

The long journey finally comes to an end here.

At this moment, the sun is rising from the horizon.

The golden light spread across the entire snow-capped mountain, dyeing the mountaintop and the surrounding scenery brilliantly.

Looking into the distance, the mountains of the Ewen Raya Mountains are looming in the morning light, and the sea of ​​clouds is surging right under your feet, making you feel as if you are above the clouds in the sky.

"Mage~~"

"Ok?"

“So beautiful~~~”

"You will be at the top of the mountain, and you will have a panoramic view of all the small mountains."

"Can't understand."

"Then you're not smart."

"?"

Three people, two adults and one child, stood on the top of the mountain, gazing into the distance for a long time until they had seen enough of the scenery.

As far as the eye could see, there was no mountain higher than where they were now.

It's like being on the roof of the world.

As your horizons broaden, your mind will naturally broaden as well.

The hardships of wind, frost, rain, snow and snow along the way just became the accompaniment to the view.

"It's time to go down the mountain." Du Wei suddenly said after a long time.

"Yes," Gao De nodded and said casually, "If you meet me in the future, don't ignore me."

"Of course, we are friends." Du Wei looked at Gao De quietly and promised solemnly.

What he said was sincere, but what he was thinking was that after leaving this mountain, they would probably never meet again in this life.

"Then let's say goodbye here first." Gao De clasped his fists and said.

"Goodbye here." Flora imitated Godard and clasped her fists.

"These are for you." Du Wei thought for a moment and stuffed all the remaining food on him to Gao De.

"What about you?"

Du Wei said lightly: "I have my own way."

"See you soon."

After saying the last sentence, Du Wei gently stroked the ring on his right index finger.

It was a ring with circles of interwoven silver lines, and it looked unusual at first glance.

At this moment, the ring suddenly shone brightly.

A powerful force condensed in the air.

Those silver lines broke away from the ring in an instant and turned into silver streams of light, quickly outlining combinations in the air.

In an instant, these silver lines turned into a complex magic circle, wrapping Du Wei's body.

The next moment, the space around Du Wei began to distort, forming a rotating vortex.

A moment later, Du Wei's figure became blurred, until after the last twist, it completely disappeared.

As Du Wei's figure disappeared, the light of the magic circle quickly dissipated.

The top of the snow-capped mountain returned to peace again.

(End of this chapter)