Chapter 116 Ice Crystal Snow Lotus
"Let's have lunch here."

After letting the snow horse walk slowly for a while and seeing that Lunsa's breathing had calmed down, Rhodes stopped the horse.

He dismounted and looked towards Lunsa.

"I'm sorry, sir. I'm a burden to you."

Lunsa pursed her lips, feeling very disappointed.

Although they are of the same age, the man in front of him is the White Horse Knight who single-handedly killed Archbishop White Frost and whose fame spread far and wide.

But she was not even a knight, and even found it difficult to sit behind him.

The huge gap made her feel uncomfortable, but at the same time, a warm feeling rose in Lunsa's heart.

She could feel Rhodes's thoughtfulness.

She deliberately walked for a while before stopping, so that she could avoid the embarrassment of having weak legs and being unable to dismount on her own.

He didn't offer help in a condescending manner, but instead took care of her self-esteem.

"In the territory, everyone has their own responsibilities. There is no such thing as a burden. Without your guidance, I'm afraid I would still be worried about the traces of the bees."

Rhodes comforted her, and after seeing her recover, he observed the surrounding environment.

With the help of the snow horses, they have crossed hundreds of kilometers and reached the plateau where the Angry Snow Mountains are located.

Looking ahead, there are towering snow-capped mountains rising one after another.

Below the snow line is a rocky gravel beach, where grow various shrubs and flowers unique to the North.

Rhodes came to a bush of flowers.

In the midday sun, the ice crystals on the snow sparkled.

Among them, there are upright flowers that look like chrysanthemums and have golden leaves.

【Name: Alpine Snow Chrysanthemum】

【Effects: Cold resistance (weak), heat-clearing and detoxification (weak), refreshing (unformed)】

Rhodes carefully observed the chrysanthemums in front of him.

The golden flowers in front of you are the only wild chrysanthemums that grow on the snow line, and are called alpine snow chrysanthemums.

After successfully surviving the cold wave, their quality was improved and they were only one step away from becoming magic plants.

Rhodes quickly took out the flowerpot and transplanted a dozen snow chrysanthemums into it.

If you are lucky, it will evolve on its own and become a high-level snow chrysanthemum within a few weeks after being planted in the magic field.

It has a similar effect to higher lavender, but lavender is more often used for external disinfection.

Snow chrysanthemum is suitable for internal consumption in water to regulate the body's balance, detoxify and beautify the skin, and keep people mentally active.

After finishing the harvest of snow chrysanthemums, Rhodes switched to the bird's-eye view of the raven above his head.

From top to bottom, the entire snow-capped mountain scene appeared clearly before his eyes.

On the rocky beach below, groups of reindeer were grazing on the bushes.

From time to time, male deer with their huge antlers would collide with each other to compete for food.

Rhodes also saw reddish-brown snow pheasants.

This snow chicken, with black and brown spots all over its body and white spots on its wings, is plump and very attractive.

Due to the degeneration of its wings, it is unable to fly high.

This group of snow pheasants were fluttering above the rocks, pecking at the plant roots and tiny insects inside.

As Rhodes watched, he saw a snow pheasant pull out a unique plant from the ground, which looked like a yellow-brown worm.

"That's Cordyceps? Wow, it eats better than me." Rhodes couldn't help but sigh.

Those Cordyceps were affected by the cold wave and had obviously evolved into magical plants.

Eating this highly nutritious feed all day long, it’s no wonder that these snow pheasants are so fat and plump, making people drool just by looking at them.

While collecting these Cordyceps and preparing to eat, Rhodes's attention was suddenly attracted to the other side.

Different from the weak vitality of high-altitude snow chrysanthemum and cordyceps.

He felt an extremely powerful vitality there, which was in the process of being gestated.

From the raven's perspective, Rhodes looked surprised.

He discovered something unusual at the foot of a cliff.

Unlike other places covered with bushes, it was barren there with no plants growing at all.

In addition to the land being unsuitable for plant survival, another possibility is that some powerful plant has taken away all the nutrients in the vicinity.

He was not disappointed. After careful observation, he found the target in the gap of the cliff.

It was a transparent snow lotus that looked like it was carved from ice crystals.

It is as big as a washbasin and has already bloomed more than half, with a total of twelve petals and six snow lotus seeds.

The majestic spirituality condensed in mid-air, with faint signs of forming a spiritual incarnation.

If it really comes to that, this snow lotus will gather magic power and enter the second stage.

It developed its own intelligence and became the dominant force in this area.

The cold wave brought disaster, but it also allowed this land to give birth to miracles.

Rhodes took Lunsa with him and rushed to where Xuelian was.

After seeing the dazzling ice crystal snow lotus, Lunsa couldn't take her eyes away for a moment and couldn't help but open her pink little mouth.

"It's so beautiful." Her eyes sparkled as she exclaimed at the beauty of nature.

Even the most precious gem is doomed to pale in comparison to this magical snow lotus.

At this time, Rhodes looked at one of the huge rocks with a look of understanding.

After noticing the arrival of outsiders, two snow leopards covered with white stripes jumped out.

It growls threateningly at anyone who approaches.

The white-striped snow leopard is a first-level magical beast in the North that evolved from the snow leopard.

The snow leopard couple in front of us are obviously the guardians of the snow lotus.

It is because of them that they drive away foreign enemies that the snow lotus has been able to grow to this day without being eaten.

"My lord, please be careful."

Although she knew that Rhodes was much stronger than herself, Lunsa still abided by her duty and drew her sword to block him.

"One person is responsible for one?"

Rhodes spoke, and when he saw Lunsa nod without hesitation, he stepped forward to stop the powerful male snow leopard.

This snow leopard is quite powerful, having reached the advanced first level, comparable to an elite knight without armor.

But it was clearly not good enough in front of Rhodes.

He dodged the snow leopard's attacks casually, causing the snow leopard to roar angrily after repeatedly missing his attacks.

Rhode's attention was not on his opponent, but on the girl on the other side.

The female snow leopard's strength is at the intermediate level of the first order, equivalent to an ordinary knight without armor.

Relying on the protection of the thick leather armor of the icebreaker beast, Lunsa chose to take the initiative and struggled to deal with the attack of the snow leopard.

She used her sword to protect her neck to prevent it from being cut by the snow leopard.

After feeling the burning pain from her arm being cut, Lunsa smiled.

Taking advantage of the opportunity when the female snow leopard launched an attack, she swung her sword and slashed at the snow leopard's back with a neat movement.

Feeling the chill of the sword blade, the snow leopard jumped in mid-air and was startled.

Its flexible tail bounced on the ground, causing it to somersault backwards.

Although she dodged the fatal blow, the female snow leopard still suffered a cut on its back and blood oozed out.

The threat of death made it unable to help but retreat and distance itself from Lunsa.

The female snow leopard opened her mouth and roared to her husband for help.

"Roar!"

After hearing the cry for help and discovering that his wife was injured, the male snow leopard's eyes turned red and he no longer retained his strength.

It opened its bloody mouth and pounced at Rhodes with all its might.

The vicious leopard pounces on its prey!

Feeling the strong fishy wind blowing towards him, Rhodes turned his attention back to what was in front of him and stopped trying to avoid it.

Under the extremely frightened look of the male snow leopard, he easily grasped its neck.

Ignoring its desperate struggle, he held the male snow leopard firmly in his hand.

The powerful strength of the Extreme Knight allows him to suppress the monster in front of him with ease.

"Are you willing to surrender?"

Rod initiated a ranch contract to it.

After the male snow leopard felt the difference in power between the two sides, he whimpered and turned his head to the side.

He refused the contract with an expression that said, "Go ahead and kill me."

"You're quite courageous." Rhodes didn't care and threw it aside.

Snow leopards were rare in the North, and Rhodes had no interest in their meat, so it would be more appropriate to keep them for reproduction.

Since you don't want to follow, forget it. Just go to nature and suffer.

The male snow leopard that was thrown away escaped.

He immediately ran to his wife and licked the wound which was gradually healing.

Then the two snow leopards ran away without looking back and disappeared in the vast snow-covered mountains.

Ignoring them as they left, Rhodes turned around and took out the healing ointment from the medical bag.

He came to Lunsa and took off the arm armor on her arm.

Rhodes gently wiped off the blood with a towel, disinfected it, and applied ointment on the wound.

During this process, he could feel the delicate touch from his palm.

After long-term training, the girl's slender arms have streamlined muscle lines.

The skin feels elastic and extremely comfortable to the touch, making you reluctant to let go.

In front of him, in close contact, Lunsa could also feel the warm touch on his arm.

Her nose was filled with the natural fragrance of herbs that belonged to Rhode. On the vast snowy mountain, there were only two people alone in silence.

Against the backdrop of the natural atmosphere, looking at the man who was taking good care of her, Lunsa's cheeks couldn't help but turn red for the first time, and a faint white mist came out.

"No bones are injured, so it's not a big problem. It will heal in a while."

After finishing the bandage, Rhodes coughed twice.

Seeing that he had nothing to do here, he turned and walked towards Xuelian to avoid the embarrassment here.

Rensa stayed where she was, patting her burning cheeks and trying to clear away the messy thoughts that popped up in her mind.

After calming down, the corners of her mouth rose slightly and she quickened her pace to catch up with the people in front.

At this moment, in front of the Ice Crystal Snow Lotus, Rhodes was observing this beautiful creation of nature through the narrow slit.

【Name: Ice Crystal Snow Lotus】

[Quality: First-order peak ~ Second-order primary]

[Effects: Nourishing (medium), Bone Strengthening (medium), Healing (medium), Aphrodisiac (weak), Detoxification (weak)]

Using the Eye of True Vision to observe, Rhodes was shocked by the powerful effects he saw.

It is worthy of being a demonic plant that is about to become a second-level demonic plant.

When it is truly formed, even if one only uses the snow lotus seeds inside it, one might be able to cultivate a second-level knight!
Of course, the premise is that it can mature.

Rhodes noticed that one of the twelve petals of the Ice Crystal Snow Lotus was withering.

It blooms because of the cold wave, but withers when the cold wave recedes.

The surrounding nutrients and magic concentrations are too low to meet its needs.

As time passed, the snow lotus not only failed to continue to grow, but instead began to degenerate and gradually died.

"Come back with me, I will raise you and provide you with fertile soil for growth."

Rhodes stretched out his fingers and used magic power to nourish the snow lotus.

Let its tilted and weak petals stand up again.

The snow lotus, which had just begun to gain spirituality, greedily licked the magic power at its fingertips.

After noticing that he was about to pull his hand away, the petals quickly closed and wrapped around his fingers.

Rubbing back and forth, hoping to get more nourishment.

"How about that? Just come home with me and I'll make sure to feed you well every day."

Rhodes smiled triumphantly and continued to pull his hand out.

To be honest, my fingertips felt a little itchy when they were licked, and it always felt weird with the shape of the snow lotus.

Just as he expected, the Ice Crystal Snow Lotus automatically broke off its roots without any effort.

Led by his fingers, she came out from the gap.

But this doesn’t come without a price.

After the snow lotus was rooted out, one of its petals could no longer hold on and fell to the ground.

Rhodes quickly planted the snow lotus in a temporary pot and poured barley nutrient solution on it to maintain its condition.

According to his observation, each petal of the ice crystal snow lotus represents ten years of growth.

When the twelve petals are fully bloomed, it means it is mature and its medicinal effect is fully stimulated.

When a petal falls off, it takes another ten years to grow back.

However, as long as the nutrition is sufficient, this process can be accelerated by the magic field, so Rhodes is not too worried.

After solving the placement of the Ice Crystal Snow Lotus, Rhodes picked up the petal.

He could feel the abundant energy contained in it.

Although it is not yet mature, the medicinal effect of the petals still surpasses that of high-quality black wolfberry due to its extremely high quality.

Enough to significantly improve the knight's physical fitness.

"How about chicken stew for lunch? I saw a lot of snow pheasants around here."

Rod proposed to Lunsa, and the girl agreed.

"The last time my father and I came here, we wanted to try the snow pheasant here. It is said that the meat is tender and sweet, and it is known as the best delicacy in the snowy mountains, but we missed it because we were in a hurry."

Lunsa felt a little regretful, but she quickly cheered up and picked up the bow and arrow on her back.

"Please wait a moment, my lord. I will go catch some snow pheasants for lunch."

Seeing that the girl's injury had just healed, she left actively, but Rhodes did not sit back and enjoy the success.

Instead, they chiseled pure ice from nearby, set up a hanging stove, lit a fire and melted the ice.

Then he took out some of the high-altitude snow chrysanthemums, snow mountain cordyceps, and the snow lotus petals that he had collected.

Use magic power to blend and process the medicinal properties.

This ensures that they can be integrated into the subsequent stew and become a delicious medicinal meal.

After a while, Lunsa came back with two fat snow pheasants.

After plucking the hair, cleaning the internal organs and chicken blood, Rod took over the next task.

"Sir, can you cook?" Lunsa squatted beside him, holding her face with both hands, and watched Rhodes' cooking movements curiously.

"I know a little bit. At least making chicken soup shouldn't be a problem." Rhodes said confidently.

He put the snow pheasant into the hanging stove and let the snow mountain water cover the chicken's body.

After simmering on low heat for an hour, add the processed Cordyceps sinensis and snow lotus petals and continue simmering.

Another hour passed, and Rod opened the lid and sprinkled a handful of fine salt.

At this time, the chicken soup in the hanging stove has been cooked. Under the crystal clear oil light, a rich aroma and white steam are gurgling out.

No need for excessive spice seasoning.

Using the most natural ingredients from the snow mountains, this dish of snow lotus, cordyceps and snow pheasant stewed in clear sauce is a success.

As the aroma spread, Rhodes heard his stomach growling.

"Try it." He couldn't help laughing.

He scooped up a bowl of chicken soup and handed it to Lunsa.

The long period of time on horseback and the fight with the snow leopard consumed a lot of the girl's physical strength.

She had already been captivated by the alluring aroma, but she had been holding it back and was too embarrassed to say it out loud.

After hearing her stomach growling, Lunsa took the chicken soup somewhat embarrassedly.

Seeing that Rhodes was looking at her, she resumed her polite manner at the table and drank the wine in small sips.

"We are in the wild, take it easy."

Rhodes demonstrated by pulling off a chicken leg.

Under Lunsa's wide-eyed gaze, he swallowed it directly into his mouth, chewing it into pieces and swallowing it.

The taste seemed a bit woody? Rhode smacked his lips and thought it was not very tasty.

This is probably the drawback of chicken soup, the essence is all in the soup, and the chicken becomes just a foil.

Or maybe there is something wrong with this snow pheasant. It eats and drinks all day long without exercising, and its flesh has been wasted!
In short, there is no way that there is something wrong with my cooking skills.

Rhodes was more certain of this when he saw that Lunsa was eating more and more heartily.

"Eat slowly and drink some snow chrysanthemum tea to regulate your breath."

Rhodes made a cup of tea with alpine snow chrysanthemum and handed it to her.

The nourishing effect of chicken soup is too strong, and snow chrysanthemum tea can balance the body's circulation and make the process of nourishment absorption smoother.

Lunsa stopped, holding the snow chrysanthemum tea in both hands, blushing for her rude dining behavior.

But deep down she knew it very well.

She somewhat liked the experience of being free from the constraints of family etiquette and being at ease in the wild.

No, maybe it’s not just because of this experience.

Lunsa looked at the man beside her, quickly lowered her head, and drank the tea in small sips.

"The chicken soup is stewed with cordyceps and snow lotus. If nothing goes wrong, it should allow you to be promoted to a knight. Do you feel the heat flowing through your body?"

After Rhodes noticed that Lunsa's body had turned red and hot, he asked with concern.

"Well, just like what you said, sir. I can feel my body getting hot, and it seems like I'm having trouble breathing?"

After raising her head again, Lunsa's eyes were a little dazed, her face was red and hot, and she was breathing rapidly.

Seeing her abnormal condition, Rhodes frowned.

This is obviously not the normal reaction to a promotion, it's really too much.

This shouldn't be the case. Rhodes looked at the chicken soup in confusion.

In order to reduce the medicinal effects, he had previously extracted most of the medicinal effects of the snow lotus petals.

In addition, the effect of medicinal food is far inferior to that of magic potion. In theory, Lunsa's body should be able to withstand this nourishment.

"In this case, some physical factors lead to poor blood flow? Um, do you need my help?"

After a brief observation, Rhodes' eyes rested on her chest and he quickly understood the situation.

Seeing that her condition was getting worse, he did not hesitate any longer and untied the leather armor that was difficult to remove from her body.

As expected, he saw a tightly wrapped bandage on the snow-white abdominal skin, tightly binding the chest.

This leads to overheating and fever due to blood obstruction during the promotion process.

After finding out it was not a big deal, Rhodes breathed a sigh of relief.

His face flushed slightly, and he turned around, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, and let Lunsa untie the bandage herself.

Behind him, Lunsa's blood flowed freely after being untied.

I finally recovered from the heat all over my body and exhaled a breath of hot air comfortably.

She could feel the power surge through her body. Her previous wish came true and she was successfully promoted to a knight.

Lunsa covered her chest with her arms and looked at Rhodes' back with her eyes flickering.

While feeling happy, I also feel lost for the new desires that are born in my heart.

Unlike the knight's visible goal, it may never be achieved in a lifetime.

(End of this chapter)