Magic Chef of Ice and Fire

"Nevermind." Cha Ji waved his hands repeatedly, "Your magic is too extreme, I can't handle it." He still clearly remembered the situation where he was almost frozen into a popsicle by Nian Bing last time when he tried to cool the room down. In fact, even Nian Bing didn't know that he had now entered the realm of an Intermediate Mage. He could use both Fire Attribute and Ice Attribute, and he could use magic up to the third order. With two top-quality gemstones for practice, the effect was indeed much stronger than ordinary people.

"Master, I'm a bit hungry." Nian Bing patted his round belly.

Cha Ji glanced at him and said, "Hold on a little longer, we'll have something to eat when we reach Bing Xue City."

"Bing Xue City?" Curiosity sparked in Nian Bing's eyes.

"Yes, Bing Xue City. In the Bing Yue Empire, all cities are named after ice, like the capital of the Bing Yue Empire, which is called Bing Yue City. Bing Xue City is the second-largest city in the Bing Yue Empire. Do you see that main road ahead? If you follow the road southwest, it'll be about a few dozen miles."

Just as Cha Ji finished speaking, crisp horseshoe sounds could be heard, the volume low, growing louder as it drew closer and clearer. Looking in the direction of the sound, a cavalry corps was moving southwest across the continent. At the forefront of the cavalry corps were four knights, they were all riding majestic stallions and were dressed in the same silver light armor, they looked quite mighty. Every one of them had a broadsword about three feet long hanging from their waist. Although they were moving forward, they always kept their gaze on both sides of the road, seemingly on high alert. Following the four knights, there was a carriage. The carriage looked wide and luxurious, drawn by four pure white stallions. Judging by its size, it could probably accommodate seven or eight people without feeling cramped. Some patterns were embroidered on the curtain with silver threads, they didn't form a design, but it faintly exuded a sense of authority. The coachman, who seemed about the same age as Cha Ji, held the reins leisurely, ensuring the carriage moved steadily. On both sides of the carriage, two knights in silver armor were guarding. Behind them, followed a squad of ten knights. The total of eighteen knights were uniformed and very conspicuous. Although they were still some distance away from where Cha Ji and Nian Bing were, they were already identifiable.

"Master, who are those people? They look very powerful." asked Nian Bing.

A flash of light shot through Cha Ji's eyes, "They appear to be the family of some high-ranking official. However, they don't seem to be from the Bing Yue Empire."

Nian Bing wondered, "How can you tell?"

Cha Ji scoffed, "Experience makes masters. The pattern embroidered on their carriage is actually a form of calligraphy. Oulan language. From this detail, it can be inferred that this cavalry corps comes from the Oulan Empire. And these knights are clearly not comparable to ordinary mercenaries, they've been tested on the battlefield, they're proper soldiers. Otherwise, how could they have such a strong aura of strict discipline? Being able to command so many real soldiers, they must be nobles or high-ranking officials. So, I assume they are the family of some Oulan Empire dignitary, maybe even the dignitary himself is among them."

Listening to this, a trace of admiration showed in Nian Bing's eyes. His master was able to infer so much just from their external appearances, truly living up to the reputation of a worldly-wise master.

Just then, the rapid sound of horseshoes suddenly sounded from the opposite direction, catching Nian Bing's attention. Nian Bing looked towards the sound, only to see a single rider rushing towards the direction of the cavalry corps like a bolt of lightning. The entire cavalry corps almost stopped simultaneously, but they didn't seem alerted. Instead, the four knights at the front jumped off their horses.

With a crisp neigh, the fast-approaching rider suddenly reared upright as if about to collide with the knights at the front of the corps, stopping suddenly and landing to one side, its swift stop was a superb display of riding technique. The rider was also a knight, similarly dressed in silver armor like the eighteen knights, but the helmet the rider was wearing had a long white feather on it.

Cha Ji gave a light sigh, "I know who they are. They seem to be members of the Silver Wing Knight Team, the trump card cavalry corps of the Oulan Empire. To warrant their personal escort, the people in that carriage must be extraordinary."

"Silver Wing Knight Team? What's that?" Nian Bing, like a curious student, kept asking about the questions in his heart. Showing no sign of impatience, Cha Ji clearly wanted Nian Bing to know more about the anecdotes of countries on the continent, and said in a low voice: "The Silver Wing Knight Team is very famous throughout the whole Yangguang Continent. They're the ace of aces in the Oulan Empire, renowned for their colorful silver armors, and they wear different colored feathers on their helmets according to their ranks. In terms of martial arts, the ranks of samurai from low to high are: warrior, advanced level warrior, swordsman, great swordmaster, martial artist, martial saint, and divine master. In terms of rank, warrior corresponds roughly to you mages. However, as you probably already know, in close quarters combat, it's difficult for a mage to defeat a warrior. Of course, this isn't an absolute, from what I know, once a mage reaches the level of magic instructor, a warrior of the same level will find it very hard to harm them. Among warriors, the divine master is on par with the divine convergence instructor among mages. How powerful they are is hard to say because divine masters are only legends nowadays, while at least there's a divine convergence instructor alive in the Ice God Tower. I have never heard of a divine master-level martial artist, maybe they only existed a few decades ago during the era of warfare. They're all dead now. As for the warriors of the Silver Wing Knight Team in front of us, each one of them has at least the strength of a swordsman, especially that one with a white feather on his helmet. He appears to be a squad leader and must possess strength close to that of a great swordmaster. Although they are light cavalry, their offensive capabilities are not inferior to heavy cavalry. Moreover, they have the advantages of speed and agility and their coordinated formations in warfare are formidable. On the continent, there are very few knight teams capable of contending with them."

Nian Bing stuck out his tongue and said, "Wow, they are really powerful! So, ten thousand soldiers at the level of swordsman can be compared to ten thousand advanced level mages?"

Cha Ji glared at him and said, "Ignorant fool, don't tell people you're my disciple."

Nian Bing snorted and said, "Is it prestigious to be your disciple? I don't think so. Of course, I know that in a real war, the power of ten thousand mages means a lot. When they combine their powers to cast magic together, even the most powerful knight team can't break through. Mages won't be stupid enough to face knights head-on. I'm just comparing their strengths."

Cha Ji snorted irritably, "Cheeky boy, are you playing dumb with me? Seems like you understand more than you would have me believe."

Nian Bing smirked and said, "Of course, all the wars between the major empires are just those old formats, soldiers are fighting in the front, and mages are bombarding in the back. It's all about depleting strength, it's meaningless."

Cha Ji shook his head and seriously stated, "No, you're wrong. War is also an art, the art of iron and blood. If it were as easy as you think, those so-called famous generals wouldn't need to struggle so much. But all of this doesn't concern us. In the future, it will be enough for you to just master your cooking skills."

The Silver Wing Knight who rode up dismounted and walked a few paces to the carriage. He respectfully said, "My lady, miss, Bing Xue City is a few dozen miles ahead. I already have an inn booked there. Do we rest a while now, or continue our journey and eat lunch in Bing Xue City?"

A somewhat lazy voice, melodious as if from heaven, came from the carriage, "Captain Feng, the environment here is nice. Let's rest first. We've traveled so far, and everyone must be tired."

Captain Feng responded respectfully: "Yes, my lady." After that, he signaled to the other knights. They promptly dismounted and walked to the side of the road. They were heading in the direction of Cha Ji and Nian Bing. Coincidentally, the place where Cha Ji and his group were resting was an open area. Several large trees blocked the sun, casting a few cool shadows.

The knights had obviously spotted Cha Ji and Nian Bing a while ago. One of them strode forward, his voice hard and cold, "Please leave immediately." As he spoke, he nonchalantly tossed a few silver coins toward Cha Ji.

In the Yangguang Continent, currencies from all countries are accepted. The most valuable is the purple gold coin, followed by the gold coin, silver coin, and copper coin in descending order of value, with one purple gold coin equivalent to ten gold coins, one hundred silver coins, or one thousand copper coins. The few silver coins from the knights were actually quite generous, enough for an ordinary family to live on for half a month.