The Elven Cultivator

The western front of the Eldron Plain.

Blackrock Outpost.

Shattered stones and broken weapons lay scattered everywhere. Blood snaked across the ground like a stream, slowly pooling into a growing slick.

Anton stood in the central clearing of the outpost, his gaze sweeping dispassionately over the field of corpses.

Behind him, a high-blooded Dragonkin officer lay on his back amidst a pile of rubble. A beam of sword light had pierced through the Scale Armor on his chest, revealing what was left of his heart—less than half of it.

On a human, such a fatal wound would have meant an instant, irreversible death.

But the tenacious Life Force of the Dragonkin left him with one final breath. His clouded, slitted pupils were fixed on Anton's back, burning with bone-deep hatred and resentment.

Ten years of silence had made these Dragonkin stationed at the military outposts almost forget the fear the name 'Canglan' once inspired.

They had assumed that the fiend who had single-handedly annihilated twenty-one of their military outposts had been frightened into the depths of the wilderness by the Dragon Court's might, never to show his face again.

They never expected him to strike again, and with such lightning speed. In less than five minutes, the Blackrock Outpost—one of the strongest along the Dragon's Fang defensive line—was reduced to ruins, its entire garrison wiped out.

"The Consul... will not let you get away with this..."

"When they find you... they'll tear you... limb from limb..."

Anton glanced down at him, a careless, mocking smile on his face.

"Then let them come and find me."

The moment he finished speaking, the silvery-white sword light hovering before him shot forward. It flashed past like a fleeting shadow and pierced the Dragonkin officer's brow.

The tall body went rigid. The light in his slitted pupils extinguished completely. His head thudded heavily against the stone slabs, and he went silent.

The sword light retracted, circled once around Anton like a fish returning to its nest, and vanished into his chest.

He bent down, placed the Dragonkin officer's corpse into his Dimensional Bag, and then collected the other Dragonkin bodies. After ensuring none were left behind, he walked out of the outpost, preparing to leave.

But just then, Anton froze.

He turned his head, his gaze traveling past the crumbling walls toward the wilderness to the southeast.

At the edge of his vision, a figure was rushing toward him at high speed.

Anton narrowed his eyes, initially thinking it was a pursuer from Dragon City, but he quickly realized he was mistaken.

The newcomer was not an enemy, but an 'ally'.

A moment later, Scott stopped at the edge of the ruined outpost. His eyes swept over the devastation, a look of surprise on his face.

But when he saw Anton, his eyes immediately lit up.

"Mr. Canglan, we meet again."

Scott greeted him with a broad smile, his voice filled with undisguised warmth.

Anton wasn't sure if it was his imagination, but he sensed a great deal of pleasant surprise in Scott's tone.

"What are you doing here?" Anton asked, observing him with a calm gaze.

Scott didn't hide anything. "I came to gather intelligence," he said honestly. "I didn't expect to be so lucky as to run into you."

As he said this, Scott felt a surge of emotion.

Canglan's feat of destroying twenty-one military outposts back then had sent massive waves across the entire Eldron Plain.

Under those circumstances, after some discussion, the organization's leadership decided to invite Canglan to join the Fallen Dragon Association.

But unexpectedly, Canglan had completely vanished after that, as if he had disappeared off the face of the earth. They couldn't find a single trace of him.

Scott had found it to be a great pity.

The reason he had come here today was to secretly gather intelligence on the Blackrock Outpost in preparation for the organization's next plan to destroy military outposts. He never imagined he would run into Canglan by chance.

This was truly a pleasant surprise.

Anton gave a noncommittal nod and turned to leave.

Scott quickly stopped him. "Please wait, Mr. Canglan."

Anton turned back and looked at him, puzzled.

Scott's expression turned serious as he looked at Anton with gravity. "Mr. Canglan, on behalf of the Fallen Dragon Association, I would like to formally invite you to join us."

Anton raised an eyebrow, slightly surprised, but on second thought, it wasn't unexpected.

'All my actions so far have aligned with the Fallen Dragon Association's principles. It's only natural they'd see me as a like-minded individual.'

'Besides, the Fallen Dragon Association has only recently expanded its influence to the Eldron Plain, so they're in dire need of manpower.'

'If I were in their leadership, I wouldn't let a talent like myself get away either.'

"What's in it for me if I join the Fallen Dragon Association?" Anton asked.

Scott was clearly prepared for this. He answered without hesitation, "The very purpose of our organization is to overthrow the rule of the Dragon Race and hunt down those arrogant dragons and their Dragonkin. From that perspective, our goals are identical to yours."

Scott carefully observed Anton's expression. Seeing no sign of disagreement, he felt more confident.

"We've all witnessed your strength, sir. Destroying multiple military outposts single-handedly is truly astonishing. But an individual's power is ultimately limited. With the support of an organization, you could certainly accomplish more, and more efficiently."

"Intelligence, resources, manpower, cover... these are all things that are difficult to obtain when fighting alone, but the Fallen Dragon Association can provide them."

A flicker of interest showed in Anton's eyes.

'I have to admit, Scott has a point.'

'I've been acting alone all these years. While I've managed well enough by relying on various Talismans and Techniques, my disadvantage in intelligence has always been a weakness I couldn't ignore.'

'I can occasionally buy intelligence from the Misty Tavern, but at the end of the day, it's just a small-time intelligence network. They're fine for common information, but they can't provide more secretive intelligence.'

'For instance, things like the precise distribution of military outposts on the Dragon's Fang defensive line, their patrol rotations, and their troop deployments.'

'The Misty Tavern most likely doesn't have intelligence of that caliber.'

'And even if they did, they wouldn't have the guts to sell it.'

'The map the Second Elder had was most likely information accumulated by the Silver Moon Clan over many years of espionage.'

'If I hadn't found that map by a stroke of luck, my previous hunting operations wouldn't have gone so smoothly.'

'The importance of intelligence is undeniable.'

'If an organization could provide detailed intelligence support, many things would become much more convenient in the future.'

'And then there are the resources.'

'The five leaders of the Fallen Dragon Association are all core figures in top-tier factions within their respective races.'

'Backed by the Five-Star Pillar and with many years of operation, the Fallen Dragon Association possesses extremely deep resources and influence.'

'And what I lack most right now are all sorts of rare materials.'

'If I can tap into the Fallen Dragon Association's network, obtaining rare materials will undoubtedly become much easier.'

Although he was quite tempted, Anton showed none of it on his face. He pretended to ponder for a moment, then took out a list and handed it to Scott.

"I'm in urgent need of some materials. If you can provide the items on this list, or clues to their whereabouts, I'll agree to join the Fallen Dragon Association."

Scott's spirits lifted. He immediately took the list and began to browse it carefully.

'When it comes to other things, our organization can't make any guarantees,' Scott thought. 'But in the area of resources, the Fallen Dragon Association has an advantage over many other factions.'

'After all, our members come from multiple races, and our influence spans almost the entire Dawn Continent. Our network of resource channels is unbelievably vast.'

However, as he read, Scott couldn't help but stare, dumbfounded.

The list was densely packed with the names of over a hundred materials. He didn't recognize a considerable portion of them, and the few he had heard of were, without exception, all exceedingly rare and precious items.

The crucial part was that the uses for these items spanned multiple fields, including pharmacology, Alchemy, and Enchantment.

Scott couldn't resist looking up at Anton.

'Canglan is clearly a lone wolf. He shouldn't have any faction supporting him. What would one person need with so many materials from different fields?'

'It's not possible that he's a Pharmacist, an Alchemist, and an Enchanter all at the same time, is it?'

"Is there a problem?" Anton raised an eyebrow.

"No," Scott said, shaking his head hastily and suppressing his stray thoughts.

'It doesn't matter whether Anton has another faction backing him or not.'

'The Fallen Dragon Association doesn't prohibit members from joining multiple factions anyway. After all, the five leaders 'lead by example' in that regard.'

As for the purpose of the materials, Scott tactfully refrained from asking any further questions and carefully put the list away.

'Canglan's willingness to show me the list is a sign of trust in itself. If I were to press for details, it would just make me look ungrateful and tactless.'

"I'll forward this list to the organization and use all our channels to search for these items. There's quite a lot here, though, so I'll need some time. As soon as I have any news, I'll inform you immediately."

Anton nodded and motioned for Scott to wait. He walked back into the outpost and returned a moment later with a piece of sheepskin paper in his hand.

"This is a Sound Transmission Scroll. It can only transmit one-way voice messages. When you have news, just activate this Scroll to notify me."

Anton handed the Scroll to Scott.

In reality, however, this was a Sound Transmission Talisman.

But the appearance of a Talisman was too unique, and Anton worried about exposing his identity. So, he had drawn it on sheepskin paper to disguise it as a Magic Scroll.

Even an Enchanter would only find the Runes on it a bit peculiar; they wouldn't suspect the item's true origin.

Scott was no Caster, nor had he ever studied Enchantment. He couldn't make heads or tails of the Runes on the sheepskin paper and, completely unsuspecting, took it and put it away carefully.

Seeing this, Anton gave a slight nod. The silvery-white sword light leaped from his chest, enveloping his entire body.

In the next instant, the beam of light shot into the sky and vanished into the deepening twilight.

Scott stood rooted to the spot, watching the streak of light disappear into the distance. It was a long while before he looked away.

He turned his head, his gaze sweeping over the corpses littering the ground, and couldn't help but sigh in admiration.

"To dare to go against Dragon City all by himself, and then act as if nothing happened... Truly, a master's skill breeds fearless courage."

Worried that people from Dragon City would arrive soon, Scott didn't linger and quickly turned to leave.

He had to hurry back and report today's events to his superiors.

Recruiting a top-tier combatant like Canglan would be a huge shot in the arm for the newly established Eldron branch.

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