Above the mage!

Chapter 464 The Third Tier is Imminent
Gao De has already collected most of the supplies to bring back to the North. Everything is ready except for the final push.

Once the Astral Teleportation was fully charged, he didn't waste a moment. He quietly and without warning left the manor with the collected supplies and boarded the airship back to Dorne.

The reason he had to return to Dorne first was that the books he had copied from the Sea Sentinel Library using the [Hyper-Memory Elixir] were still stored in the Sea Sentinel's dormitory.

Because of the preciousness and immense value of knowledge, copying books is actually not allowed in this world; it is considered an extremely serious act of theft.

Having committed this theoretically "illegal" act, Gao De, to be on the safe side, naturally couldn't send these books to Auckland through others. He could only personally return to Dorne and bring these books back to the North.

These books filled an entire large sack; if it weren't for the [Heavy Burden Spell], he might not have been able to carry them on his back.

Immediately, Gao De activated the Astral Teleportation, and his figure quickly disappeared from the Sea Sentinel's dormitory.

……

The first thing Gaode did upon returning to the North was to observe the state of the Sacred Tree.

This has become an essential action for Gaode Maps, equivalent to "closing the door when you get home".

【Yogathhira】

Rank: Tier 2 Magical Plant (3260/5568 months)
Growth gain coefficient: 8.30
Astral Teleportation: 0 (0/45 days)
Enlightenment: 0/0
Lifespan: (2/16704 years)
Land development (land reclamation): 100 mu

Height: 22 feet

Land magic concentration: 77-140 (basic spiritual land)

All beginnings are hard.

Since the construction of Flora Forest gradually got on track, Yugathira's lifespan officially entered its second year. Compared with the speed at which it transformed the spiritual land, its growth rate has made a qualitative leap.

On the one hand, the more spiritual lands that Yugathira transforms, the more trees can be planted, thereby increasing its advancement speed.

The faster it advances, the faster it expands into new fields, creating a virtuous cycle.

Thanks to Adrian's skillful manipulation of his tastes, God brought back many magical tree species this time:
One Tier 3 Starmoss Oak Seed, seven Tier 2 Magic Tree Seeds, twenty-eight Tier 1 Magic Tree Seeds, and twenty-nine Tier 0 Magic Tree Seeds.

It's not easy to grow all of these magical tree species successfully, as they all require different growing conditions.

Fortunately, each magic tree seed comes with a small handful of native soil.

This is actually the standard package sold with the Magic Tree Seeds, so that buyers can easily prepare a suitable nutrient solution based on the native soil after returning home, and then cultivate the Magic Tree Seeds artificially.

Because in the field of magical plant science, this is the standard way to cultivate magical plants.

Analyzing the characteristics of native soil and formulating appropriate nutrient solutions based on those characteristics requires extremely advanced skills and knowledge in the field of plant science.

Of course, she skipped this step entirely in front of Flora, the world's most skilled plant magic master.

Analyzing the characteristics of the native soil and preparing nutrient solutions are completely foreign concepts to Flora.

She plays with metaphysics, directly creating all things. With the help of that small handful of native soil and her own "Mother Qi of All Soils" ability, she can create the native habitat of the demon tree.

There are too many types of magic trees, resulting in a low repetition rate.

This is especially true when the magic trees in Flora Forest are not yet fully developed.

Therefore, the magical tree species that Gaode brought back this time are all new tree species for Flora Forest.

In other words, all these tree species can receive the first wave of rewards for unlocking the "new illustration".

A new Tier 3 Magic Tree Seed can increase the growth rate of Yugathira by approximately 600 months.

The second-tier magic tree seed takes 130 months.

The first-tier magic tree seed takes 28 months to mature.

Gao De made a rough calculation and concluded that if all of these magical tree seeds were planted and sprouted, they would bring Yugathira nearly 2500 months of growth progress.

Currently, Yugathira is only 2308 months away from advancing to the third tier.

In other words, this time it can directly help Yugathira advance to the third-tier magical plant.

As a sacred relic of Gaode, the advancement of Yugathaira will undoubtedly bring Gaode tremendous benefits.

In addition, after advancing to the third tier, Yugathira will most likely gain some new abilities.

Even disregarding all that, the advancement of Yugathira can further increase the charging speed of Astral Teleport.

For Gaode, this is even more important than awakening new abilities.

Because the current astral teleportation, which occurs once every 45 days, is far from sufficient for him.

The restriction of only being able to travel between the Plantagenet Kingdom and the North every three months is too great and urgently needs to be shortened.

After assessing Yugathira's condition, God also checked the raccoon eggs that had been fostered for it.

Almost two more months have passed, and a large portion of the blue color representing the water element on the surface of the Astral Fox eggshell has transformed into the multicolored colors representing astral energy.

Once Yugathira completes its advancement, the speed of this transformation will inevitably accelerate further as Yugathira grows stronger and its rate of absorbing astral energy increases.

Gaode did not stay in Flora Forest for too long.

About fifteen minutes later, escorted by Elder Guyon, he hurriedly headed towards Phoenix.

He returned with a purpose: to attend the Nightfall auction in Black Sails City. Time was already tight, and there was no room for waste.

So even while traveling, they dared not rest for a moment, and returned to Phoenix just one day later.

Upon returning, Gao De immediately approached Sunaifa to express his needs.

The main purpose was to let Sunefa see which fourth-ring mage in Phoenix had the most free time, or rather, the "most useless," to accompany him on a trip to Black Sails City.

After all, there are only four fourth-ring mages even in Phoenix, and they can't be drawn from the ranks just like that.

"There should be five now," Sunafa immediately corrected Gaode's incorrect statement.

"Has someone broken through to the fourth ring road again?"

“It’s Quentin,” Sunefa explained.

Gao De raised an eyebrow slightly.

The specific details are not complicated. Basically, after Quentin completed his proposed small-scale tribal introductory plan, he offered to stay in Phoenix and contribute his efforts.

The Snowfield Guardians' doctrine is to protect the snowfield. Quentin has always adhered to this classical doctrine, and even though the Snowfield Guardians have now perished, he remains true to his original aspiration.

Over the course of nearly a year, he witnessed firsthand the changes that Phoenix's development brought to the snowfields, and he saw firsthand the good life that those small tribes who lacked food and clothing enjoyed after being incorporated into Phoenix.

Quentin gradually realized that compared to the Aes people he could protect while wandering the snowfields, joining Phoenix and building Phoenix could protect more and more directly the people of the North.

Faced with Quentin's request, Sunefa disregarded his past background and decisively took him under her wing. Firstly, she was powerful enough not to fear Quentin's ulterior motives.

Secondly, Quentin's performance that year also earned him some of Sunefa's trust.

In addition, Phoenix has always followed a path of integration. For example, Catherine, who was once the saintess of the snowfield, is now doing well in the police department.

After officially joining Phoenix, Sunefa assigned him two main tasks:

One was to lead the tribe's hunters on hunting trips, essentially acting as a hunter leader.

Another task is to explore the northern region and improve the resource map of the north.

From the perspective of free time, Quentin actually has the most free time, because although what he does is significant, it is not urgent and he can get away from it.

But this was ultimately about protecting Gaode's safety and being alone with him, and Sunafa simply couldn't trust Quentin, an "outsider," with such a task.

So after careful consideration, Sunefa finally chose Lanvin, a fourth-circle mage who was also the deputy director of the Security Bureau, just like Catherine.

Before Gaudy killed Donald, Lanwen had always been a supporter of Sunefa and a conservative, so his loyalty was beyond question.

The selection of the people for Black Sails City has been temporarily finalized. Gao De and Sunai have also agreed on another important matter: the distribution of the batch of magic tree seeds he brought back this time.

In Phoenix today, the status of the "Azure Wood Longevity Scripture" is basically equivalent to that of the "True Ice Secret Transmission," the cultivation method for awakening the bloodline of Iceborn mages.

The ultimate achievement of "The Secret of True Ice" depends on the strength of one's own Iceborn bloodline.

The achievements of the "Azure Wood Longevity Scripture" depend to a certain extent on the sacred objects used in the contract.
Bloodlines are very difficult to change; they are ordained by Heaven.

The existence of the sacred artifact of the bond gives those Iceborn mages with limited innate bloodline strength a chance to "change their fate".

Because of the popularity of the "Azure Wood Longevity Scripture", the fervor surrounding the seeds of the Demon Tree in the Northern Territory can be described as unprecedented.

The problem is that the North has always been a place where plants are scarce, and the existence of magic trees is already less than in other regions, let alone magic tree seeds suitable for forming a bond.

Therefore, if Phoenix wants to obtain high-level magic tree seeds, it mainly relies on Gaode and the initially established cross-sea shipping route, or more than 80% of the time it still has to rely on the former.

Most of the funds obtained from the cross-sea route were invested in shipyard expansion and the purchase of materials needed for construction in the North.

In addition, since the route involved the northern border, the entire transaction process was carried out with great care in order to avoid exposure. People dared not spend extravagantly for fear of attracting the attention of those with ulterior motives, so the results in acquiring the magic tree seeds were not satisfactory.

However, once the shipyard is moved to Auckland, given Gaode's status as an honorary mage in Auckland, he can operate more freely.

Given the importance and rarity of Magic Tree Seeds, how to allocate high-level Magic Tree Seeds is undoubtedly a profound subject.

The last time he brought back the Spirit Spring Dew Tree seed, Gaode bestowed it upon Elder Gain, who had been diligently guarding the Flora Forest.

Logically, it should be the turn of the fourth-ring elder of the Zhenbing tribe next, but the Starmoss Oak tree he brought back this time is only of the third rank.

For a fourth-circle mage, this level of magic tree seed is clearly not enough.

So after much deliberation, Gaode decided to hold an auction-like event.

Inside the city hall, Starmoss Oak trees are displayed, and mages who wish to choose it as their sacred object for bondage can register to participate in the "bidding" for half a day.

After the registration period ends, all city hall officials will vote on the contributions of the "bidders" to Phoenix.

The person with the most votes, who has contributed the most to Phoenix, will have the right to form a bond with this Starmoss Oak tree species.

The reason Gaode made such a big fuss was to let all the city hall officials know that as long as they do their jobs well, they will definitely be rewarded.

After all, Phoenix is ​​still a very backward "public ownership" system.

Even if these city hall officials work their hearts out, they rarely receive any material rewards.

When people are struggling to get enough to eat, they certainly wouldn't care about these things.

But once the food problem was solved, it became difficult to ensure that they would continue to work diligently without material compensation.

Of course, Phoenix is ​​developing rapidly and there is still a lot of room for growth. Most people are still very ambitious and will not stoop to cheating or shirking their duties.

But that alone is certainly not enough.

This bidding for the Magic Tree seed is an attempt by Gaode to mobilize the enthusiasm of all mid-level personnel in Phoenix's current political system.

As a mage wielding extraordinary power, Gao De was acutely aware that for most people, advancement in rank was far more enticing than promotion in position.

The latter can provide more driving force.

In the North, the only things that can tempt a mage, besides Ice Marrow which can enhance their bloodline level, are now the Demon Tree Seed.

Basically, every Iceborn mage with ambition wants to form a bond with a high-level magic tree seed.

After all, this concerns what he can achieve with the "Green Wood Longevity Scripture".

If this attempt works well, this format will continue indefinitely.

Of course, the method should be changed; the voting system is too subjective.

As soon as the news was announced, the number of people signing up to "bid" practically wore down the threshold of the office.

Gaode glanced at the list and saw that although there were many people, they were mostly mid-level officials. Several department heads and the lowest-level department officials had not signed up.

This was expected.

The third-tier magic tree seed is something that the higher-ups don't even look at and the lower-level people can't even reach.

After the list was made public and another round of voting took place, the "winner" was ultimately a deputy inspector from the Department of Agriculture who oversees Flora's Fertile Farm.

When the result came out, although most of the bidders were greatly disappointed, none of them objected.

In terms of contributions, which department in Phoenix can compare to the Department of Agriculture right now?

In fact, many people had already guessed that the final winner would be the Ministry of Agriculture.

Even after the final decision was made, a small group of people still harbored resentment:

The platform determines everything.

Officials from the Ministry of Agriculture have a natural advantage in the competition for contribution, so how can officials from other departments compete with them in this bidding process?

Gao De also noticed the disappointment of these people.

There is indeed no good way to achieve absolute fairness at the moment.

As for the remaining low-level magic tree seeds, aside from the second-level magic tree seeds which interested Iceborn mages can choose themselves, the first-level and zero-level magic tree seeds can be planted directly, and there is no need for the clansmen to form a pact with them.

After Flora developed the Eternal Frozen Oak, magic tree seeds below the second tier were no longer rare. As long as you waited, you would eventually be allocated an Eternal Frozen Oak seed.

(End of this chapter)