Despite the winter days, the Icewind Lookout Fortress was still heavily guarded.

Even if Evelyn like Xu Nan had greeted him in advance, he was only released into the city after being tested by the city guards and the True Knowledge Crystal.

In this regard, Xu Nan expressed his understanding, and even appreciated the meticulous attitude of the guards - after all, there were many outstanding shapeshifters among the demon armies that the Ice Wind Leader had fought against for hundreds of years, and if these necessary procedures were abandoned in the years of neglect, then what awaited the Ice Wind Leader would definitely be an unprecedented slaughter.

Demons are the most cruel and chaotic creatures.

After passing the city gate, soon the butler of the lord's mansion came to receive him, it was a carriage that was not luxurious, after Xu Nan got on the car, he found that although the carriage looked slightly shabby, it was not bad inside, and several intimate constant spells made the inside of the carriage quite comfortable and warm, and maintained a relatively delicate balance with the temperature of the outside world.

"It's the work of a master alchemist."

As a natural alchemist, although Xu Nan's alchemy level is average, his eyesight is still there.

Many novice alchemists tend to think very simple when designing this kind of constant spell, such as maintaining a very comfortable temperature - but this situation often brings great distress to the user.

For example, the current Ice Wind Collar, the outside temperature is about minus 30 degrees - the aborigines of this world are obviously much stronger than the earthlings, but it is also within the scope of living beings, if you set the indoor temperature at 20 degrees, then it is comfortable in the carriage, but the huge temperature difference caused by entering and exiting the carriage will definitely cause a cold and may even cause more exaggerated consequences.

The constant temperature of this carriage is fine-tuned according to the constant outside temperature, and the inside of the carriage is about five degrees above zero, which is certainly much warmer than the outside, but not too much of a drop.

This kind of detail looks quite ordinary, but in this era when information and knowledge sharing are not so explosive, many alchemists often don't take this into account (after all, most alchemists will wear themselves a robe with a constant temperature); And those who can take this into account must be experienced and skilled, coupled with the super stability and secrecy of the carriage, Xu Nan is more and more convinced that there is at least one alchemy master in the princess's mansion.

It is said that Ron Warlock is a natural and excellent alchemist, but in fact, parallel alchemists like Xu Nan also abound, but for blood reasons, Ron Warlock is indeed more likely to produce powerful alchemists than other professions.

If you let Xu Nan say, the biggest advantage of Ron Warlock as an alchemist is that he is humble and studious - normal alchemists are the kind of arrogant people, and most of the opponents who are equal are not convinced by anyone, and they are dedicated to studying their own topics, but we Ron Warlocks are different......

It was precisely for this reason that Xu Nan suddenly became a little interested in the alchemy master in the princess's mansion.

……

The carriage moved smoothly through the thick snow.

The Ice Wind Realm is very vast, and it is almost the northernmost part of the Northern Continent, at least until the gods captured Afaria, which was the northernmost point of human civilization in the Eastern Kingdoms.

Here, the laws of the plane are extremely unstable, the earth has fissioned, and a long gap lies across the northern part of the Ice Wind Realm, according to the research of the mages, this gap leads to a certain plane in the abyss, and a certain demon lord has been eyeing it for a long time, seeing it as a springboard to enter the main material realm.

So near the cracks, there will be a lot of wandering demons.

The eastern part of the Ice Wind Territory is the supreme mountain range that stretches for thousands of miles, the lair of the Kunyu-level frost dragon that has been sleeping for many years, and it is one of the real forbidden places in the Northern Continent. In fact, the existence of the Supreme Mountain Range has caused the Ice Wind Territory to become an enclave of the kingdom, otherwise from a straight-line distance, Xu Nan's base camp and the fortress of the four princesses are actually quite close.

"To the north is the Abyss Demon, to the east is the Human Forbidden Zone, and to the west is the Sea of Chaos......"

"It's a miracle that this Ice Wind Collar has been able to stand to this day."

Sitting in the carriage, Xu Nan looked at the map of the Ice Wind Collar boredly, and couldn't help but feel a little emotional.

The entire territory of the Icewind Realm is deserted, and most of the people live in the three major fortresses. The natives of this area not only have to resist the invasion of demons, but also face the suspicion of the fish people coming ashore to fight the autumn wind in the sea of chaos.

But fortunately, the climate of the Ice Wind Collar is cold, and with the unstable sleep of the Frost Dragon, the temperature is getting more and more, even the Frost Rain Fishmen don't like this climate, and there are fewer and fewer Fishmen in recent years.

As for the southern part of the territory, it is the only road to civilization, but due to the influence of the supreme mountain range, the terrain is too rugged, almost a lonely path, passing by the winter fortress, you can only make a detour to the civilized country.

It is a miracle that such a lonely and deserted territory, with less than 50,000 aborigines, can hold on.

"The natives of the Icewind Lords are the Kutlins, and in a sense, the Kutlin and the Icefields are distant relatives."

"I heard that the Kutlin have the blood of giants, and they worship Atsam, the son of the earth, in the form of a strong man holding a huge tower shield......"

There was nothing to do, Xu Nan simply began to look through the relevant information prepared for himself by Gray Tower Executive Follett-

Atsam was not a god, not even a godhead, but was remembered by the Kutlins for thousands of years; The reason is simple, this man, revered by the natives of this place as the son of the earth, once saved the land from the hands of demons, when the Ice Wind Lords were still under the rule of Caesar's Empire.

It was the most active period for the Abyssal Demons, and at its most exaggerated, an army of more than 200,000 demons raided the Horn Fortress, and the fortress was almost on the verge of being lost. At the critical moment, Atsam, who was in charge of guarding the city gate, stood up, and with the blood of a giant, he blocked the gate of the fortress alone, and used his body and will to block the attack of the demon army like a tide.

The bloody battle lasted for ten days and ten nights, and Artem resisted for ten days and ten nights with a tower shield similar to his own size, and he didn't let any demonic creatures rush past him, he just stayed there, and with his tenacious vitality, he dragged the protracted battle of the demon army.

His body and shield were inseparable, his body could not be moved, and he was eventually frozen into a statue by a friend who used a spell to form a statue that still stands guard in front of the door of the Trumpeter Fortress.

The Trumpeter Fortress was not lost in the end, they waited for reinforcements from Caesar's Empire, and the demons retreated like birds and beasts; At that time, another surprise team deep into the abyss also came with good news - it was a brave team composed of wanderers and mages, who went deep into the rift of the abyss, closed the portal of the demon lord, killed the demon overseers, and fundamentally upset the demon's military heart.

That protracted campaign ended so hastily.

Afterwards, the surprise team returned to the royal capital, received commendations, was awarded the Medal for Heroism for Protecting the Empire, and received the Emperor's award ceremony.

And Atsam, who died at the gates of the Trumpeter Fortress, was strangely not mentioned by anyone, and this hero of the Kutlin people was so proud, as if forgotten by the Caesar Empire.

In the face of this injustice, the Kutlin did not make a fuss, they did not say anything, but silently erected a statue of Artesam, and told their children not to forget the hero who guarded the Horn Fortress with his life.

Over time, this instruction became a faith.

Even with the collapse of Caesar's Empire, the turbulence of the Eastern Kingdom, and the change of royal power, the people of the Kutlin of the Icewind Territory seem to be isolated from the world, silently believing in their former heroes.

Somewhat ironically, after the disintegration of Caesar's Empire, the rest of the territory was gradually replaced by new kingdoms, religions, and customs, with the exception of the Icewind Lord, who retained the customs and style of Caesar's Empire.

For this reason, when the Ice Wind Territory was incorporated into the territory of the Eastern Kingdom, it also attracted a lot of criticism.

Gradually, the Ice Wind Leader began to spread the rumor that with the awakening of the Emperor's true blood, the hero Artesam would return from beneath the earth, and he would lead the Kutlin to sew the cracks in the earth and restore peace to the land.

This is somewhat superstitious, and most outsiders dismiss it as nonsense, but the people of Kutlin are said to be very convinced. All in all, if you think about it with this long-suffering land, the aborigines here are also an unusually resilient and stubborn attitude, and they are trying to live.

In fact, the current Ice Wind Collar has decayed a lot.

The garrison of the three major fortresses is said to be overstretched, which is an occasional source of distress when Evelyn chats with Xu Nan, who is forced to half-abandon the farthest Marksman Fortress in favor of reinforcing the Lookout Fortress and the Hornman Fortress in the rear.

The only thing to be thankful for is that the things left over from Caesar's time still play a role and support the aborigines of this place to continue to protect their homeland, and these things are probably an important reason why Evelyn insisted on choosing the Ice Wind Lords in the first place.

The Caesar bloodline in her body has always been an unstable factor, and in the entire Northern Continent, although the shadow of the Caesar Empire can be seen everywhere, the only thing that can retain the style of the year is always this extremely cold land where the Kutlin people are stationed.

There may really be some kind of unspeakable bond between the two.

It is said that when Evelyn chose the Ice Wind Lord, the old king himself did not agree; But for some reason, he changed his mind after a night.

"The bearer of Caesar's bloodline, the inheritor of the customs of Caesar's time......"

"Is the emperor really bloody?"

After a general understanding of the news of the Kutlin people, Xu Nan sighed softly.

He opens the newly installed plugin for the internal library and starts searching for keywords.

No way, this thing is too unintelligent, Xu Nan wants to know the information inside Paradise Lost, and he can't directly consult relevant books, so he can only search according to keywords and give some information feedback.

If he really wants to know this knowledge, I'm afraid he can only apply to the big library to read the full text, but in this case, the fee will be even more terrifying.

Inside Paradise Lost, the Great Library has always been nicknamed the Coin Crusher.

Xu Nan thought about it, and the first keyword was "Kutlin people".

[Kutlins: Suspected descendants of frost giants, with high intelligence, stamina, and physique, who lived in the extremely cold land of the main material realm. Belief in the mortal hero Artsam. Hostile Forces: Demon Lord Threhill/Church of the Ice Goddess]

"Celesil should be the demon lord of the Abyss Plane, right?"

"What's the matter with the Ice Goddess?"

Xu Nan was a little curious, but he couldn't guess the relevant information out of thin air, after all, the information given by the plugin was too brief, and he was really sorry for the expensive charge!

He pondered for a moment, and on the basis of the Kutlin, he chose the keywords "Artesum" and "Frost Giant" again.

The resulting information was somewhat surprising -

[Artesum, a well-known demigod in the Northlands, a member of the Traveler Church, one of the Secret Seven, once fought in the abyss......]

The information about Artem is almost the same as what Gray Tower Administrator Follett prepared for Xu Nan, the only thing that caught Xu Nan's attention was his demigod status, usually speaking, demigods mean god-level inheritance or bloodline. By this reasoning, there are more powerful Guardians above the Kutlins?

Sure enough, in the introduction of the frost giant, Xu Nan's doubts were answered.

The so-called frost giants do not simply refer to a certain race of giants, but to the ancestor, guardian saint and source of belief of the Kutlin people - the frost giant Proossi!

This ancient god was once the ruler of the Ice Realm, but when Lannice fell in the battle with Purgatory, his body fell to the mortal world, giving birth to the Kutlins; And Artem is one of the bloodline inheritors of the Frost Giant.

The fall of the Frost Giant as an ancient god was exchanged for the rise of the Ice and Snow Goddess as the God of Law, but according to the internal information of Paradise Lost, the Ice and Snow Goddess actually did not fully control all the priesthood of the Frost Giant, and some of the most critical things were lost with the fall of the Frost Giant.

In the early years, when the Ice Goddess Church was at its most active, many priests went to the Ice Wind Territory to preach, but they were all closed, and no Kutlin people were willing to convert to the teachings of the Ice Goddess.

At that time, some bloodshed broke out, and the unhappiness between the two sides was concluded at that time.

"The Church of the Ice and Snow Goddess in the era of Caesar's Empire is one of the most prosperous churches in the empire, and its influence on the royal family is also very strong, I am afraid that Artesam's heroic deeds cannot be promoted and the interference of the church is not unrelated."

Xu Nan speculated.

As for the goddess herself, no signs of meddling in this matter have been found yet. Although the database of Paradise Lost is a trick, the wording is generally very precise, and the hostile power of the Kutlin is the Church of the Ice Goddess rather than the goddess herself, which basically excludes the possibility that the goddess herself suppressed it - in fact, another strong proof that this possibility does not exist is that the Kutlin are still active in the Ice Lord.

It is very easy for a righteous god who is in his prime to suppress and destroy a race. Especially the Cutlins, a race that has essentially lost their hole cards.

However, despite this, the lost authority of the Ice and Snow Goddess still caught Xu Nan's attention. Wildfire City is also home to the Church of the Ice Goddess, and Priest Geralt and the black cat of unknown origin are memorable.

"Is there any more gossip about the Ice Goddess?"

In the spirit of entertainment, Xu Nan was ready to continue searching for keywords, but who knew that he was told that the internal database plug-in could only query three keywords per week. Even if Xu Nan wants to pay, he can't achieve the purpose of getting a glimpse.

And if you want to know about this, you either have to go to MI7 to buy intelligence, or go to the big library to consult the materials - in a word: krypton.

If there is any other word, it is: step up!

"I'm also a member of the parliament now, don't I have the relevant authority and convenience?"

Xu Nan complained angrily, and habitually wanted to write a report letter, but found that he had no way to start, after all, he could not report the monopoly fee business of Lost Paradise to the council, and even if he did, he didn't have to expect Aofei to change his ways.

But at this time, a prompt quickly swiped -

[It has been detected that you are frequently using the internal database-Odd News system, do you accept the prospector task?] 】

The anecdote system is actually a compilation of various myths, histories, and gossip.

Xu Nan took a look and found that the so-called prospector's task was roughly to exchange exploration points for the internal database by exploring and collecting some anecdotes.

Geo Points do not have any additional purpose, and can only be exchanged for anecdotes of value such as the Internal Database.

In a sense, it is probably the internal communication, at least there is one more way to reduce the strength of krypton.

Xu Nan thought about it and decided to take the task.

[You have obtained the Junior Explorer privilege and can write Junior Keyword ......]

With a simple explanation, Xu Nan roughly understood the gameplay of the explorer system.

Each Prospector can record what he or she has seen and heard, and use the editor of the Paradise Lost system to edit it into various keywords, and according to the review of Paradise Lost, they can obtain the corresponding exploration points.

Most of the observations are useless materials and cannot be earned; A small number of people who can really be called anecdotes can get high exploration points.

"Do I have any anecdotes to share?"

Xu Nan thought about it, suddenly patted his head, and began to edit the first entry-

[Arcane Empire's new son-in-law - Lu Junyi]

He briefly made up the bizarre encounters between Lu Junyi and the three princesses of the Arcane Empire, as well as the duties and fates that Brother Junyi might encounter in the future, and then pulled the flag of the Wizard King to create a lot of things.

Soon, an entry was edited, and Xu Nan chose to submit it for review.

The carriage moved slowly.

Xu Nan suddenly opened his eyes and found that the Gray Tower administrator beside him was actually asleep.

"Do the half-undead want to sleep too?"

He thought it was funny, and suddenly, he felt that something was wrong.

The carriage had been running for too long.

Although the speed is not fast, it is impossible for the princess's mansion to be built in some deep mountains and old forests, right?

In the next second, Xu Nan's nose twitched slightly, and his expression became serious.

"Hypnosis?"

He pushed open the window of the carriage, and large snowflakes poured in through the window and hit him in the face, but he did not feel any cold.

In the snow not far away, a sneaky shadow appeared in Xu Nan's eyes.

……