The Elven Cultivator

Having decided to deal with Marcus, Anton stopped going out to hunt. He stayed in the Silver Moon Forest, focusing all his energy on cultivation, studying the Five Camp Divine Soldiers, and Artifact Refining.

With no shortage of materials, he quickly refined the first batch of Five Camp Divine Soldiers.

Inside the treehouse's Artifact Refining room.

The soft glow of a Light Source Stone illuminated five figures standing in the corner.

They were completely different from the Yellow Turban Warriors. No longer were they uniform, humanoid armored soldiers, but five distinct styles of battle puppets.

The Cyan Dragon Soldier of the East Camp was a verdant cyan color, its armor engraved with winding, vine-like patterns. Two short deer antlers protruded from the sides of its helmet. It held a vine shield in one hand and a wooden sword in the other, its aura as serene as a forest.

The White Tiger Soldier of the West Camp was pure white. Its armor was thin and form-fitting, with sharp blades jutting from its joints. A crescent-shaped Arm Blade was attached to the outside of each forearm, glinting with a cold light. The entire figure was like a drawn sword, its sharp edge fully revealed.

The Vermilion Bird Soldier of the South Camp was crimson red. Its armor was thick and heavy, with flame patterns carved into its pauldrons. A sharp spike rose from the top of its helmet. It gripped a Battle Halberd as tall as itself, its blade burning red like a flame and freely radiating a scorching heat.

The Black Tortoise Soldier of the North Camp was an abyssal black. Its armor was equally thick, and it had a broad, powerful build. It held a tower shield in each hand, their surfaces covered in tortoise-shell patterns. When standing still, it looked just like an unshakeable fortress.

As for the Yellow Dragon Soldier in the very center, it was a brilliant gold. Its armor was magnificent but not bulky, and its helmet was adorned with a dragon head carving. It held a shield in its left hand and a sword in its right, with golden patterns flowing across the surfaces of both. Perfectly balanced for offense and defense, it possessed the most majestic aura of all.

These were the Five Camp Divine Soldiers.

Anton's gaze swept over the five Divine Soldiers, a satisfied smile on his face.

The individual combat strength of a Five Camp Divine Soldier was equivalent to the Late Stage of Qi Refining. However, because they didn't practice Techniques and martial skills like Cultivators, their combat power was slightly weaker than a Cultivator of the same realm.

Measured by the standards of the Dawn Continent, this was very close to Silver Peak.

However, to increase the combat power of the Five Camp Divine Soldiers, Anton had replaced all their weapons and armor with Talismans of corresponding attributes.

With this change, the power of a single Five Camp Divine Soldier was in no way inferior to a Silver Peak warrior.

In fact, thanks to their immunity to pain, limitless stamina, and fearlessness in the face of death, they actually held an advantage over an ordinary Silver Peak warrior in a life-or-death battle.

Furthermore, the five Divine Soldiers could join forces to form a small Five Elements Array.

This was the core advantage that distinguished the Five Camp Divine Soldiers from the Yellow Turban Warriors.

The Five Elements generate and overcome one another. Guided by the Array, the power of the five Divine Soldiers would form a self-sustaining, ever-generating cycle, mutually amplifying each other and greatly enhancing their combat power.

Even against a Lower Gold opponent, they would not be without the strength to fight.

Anton estimated that if he assembled twenty-five Divine Soldiers and had them form a Five Elements Array, killing a Lower Gold opponent should be no problem at all.

'It's a classic case of strength in numbers.'

However, the cost of the Five Camp Divine Soldiers was also extremely high, far exceeding that of the Yellow Turban Warriors.

Of course, when compared to a Golem of equivalent combat power, the cost of the Five Camp Divine Soldiers was much, much lower.

One could even say they were an unbeatable value for their cost!

Anton did a quick calculation. The materials he had on hand were barely enough to refine one hundred and twenty-five Five Camp Divine Soldiers. Any more than that would be beyond his means.

Like the Yellow Turban Warriors, the core of the Five Camp Divine Soldiers was the Military Token.

The raw materials for refining Military Tokens couldn't be found on the Dawn Continent at all, so he had to use modified Magic Cores as a substitute.

Although the Silver Moon Clan had allied with Gray Rock Castle and could purchase Magic Cores from them, these things were difficult to manufacture. Even Gray Rock Castle didn't have enough for themselves and could only spare a small portion for the Silver Moon Clan each year.

And of the Magic Cores purchased by the Silver Moon Clan, ninety percent ended up in Anton's hands.

Only ten percent was left for the other Casters in the Clan to use for research and study.

He couldn't ask for more.

If he hadn't looted a batch of Magic Cores from the Flame Trade Association's warehouse before, he would have struggled to refine even a hundred Five Camp Divine Soldiers.

'Fortunately, this problem isn't without a solution.'

The Fallen Dragon Association, for instance, was an excellent channel for acquiring Magic Cores.

'But all of that will have to wait until I've dealt with Marcus.'

Anton knew very well that the Fallen Dragon Association was no charitable organization.

The prerequisite for obtaining resources from the organization was to contribute to it.

In other words, completing various missions.

Only with contributions could one exchange for various resources.

'A fair exchange. It's only natural.'

As Anton was calculating, he suddenly heard a knock on the door.

"Anton, are you in there?"

It was Romance's voice.

"Come in." Anton put away the Five Camp Divine Soldiers and walked out of the Artifact Refining room.

The door was pushed open, and Romance strode in.

She wore a form-fitting black hunting outfit, her long, silver-white hair casually tied back, with a few stray strands falling beside her ears, further accentuating her fair, lustrous skin.

Having cultivated the Eight Desolates Prison-Suppression Scripture for over twenty years now, her figure was even taller and more slender than before, and her every move carried an indescribable sense of power.

It was as if every inch of her muscle held explosive energy, yet it was perfectly contained within her tall, slender frame.

"I'm here to pick up the potions," Romance said with a cheerful smile.

Anton was already prepared. He took a box out of his Dimensional Bag and tossed it to her, asking casually, "Weren't the elders planning to promote the Eight Desolates Prison-Suppression Scripture? How's that going?"

"It's going quite smoothly."

"The elders picked twenty people in total, all Warriors at Silver Tier or above with good aptitude. Everyone has now completely absorbed their Magic Power and reached the First Transition of Force."

"Everyone says the Eight Desolates Prison-Suppression Scripture is incredible, better than any of the breathing techniques in the Clan."

A hint of pride showed on Romance's face; after all, she was the first person to cultivate this Cultivation Technique.

"Oh, right," she suddenly remembered something and added, "Second Elder and Captain Elena have also switched to cultivating the Eight Desolates Prison-Suppression Scripture."

"And Captain Cedric, he just broke through to Upper Gold not long ago."

Anton nodded slightly, not surprised.

Cedric was originally a Middle Gold, so it was normal for him to quickly break through to Upper Gold after switching to the Eight Desolates Prison-Suppression Scripture.

Second Elder and Elena switching to the Eight Desolates Prison-Suppression Scripture was a bit unexpected, but upon reflection, it made perfect sense.

The success of Cedric and Romance was plain to see, proving the potential of this Cultivation Technique.

Both Second Elder and Elena were Golden Tier Warriors. For Warriors like them who had been stuck at the Golden Tier for a long time without a breakthrough, the appeal of a breathing technique that could rapidly increase their strength was immense.

This was especially true for the Second Elder, who was already at Upper Gold.

Once he successfully switched cultivation, integrating all the Magic Power in his body into his flesh, blood, and bones, the degree of his physical enhancement would far exceed ordinary imagination.

He might even be able to leap directly to the peak of the Second Transition of Force.

At that point, he could attempt to comprehend the Heaven and Earth Law.

In this regard, there was a stark difference between the Dawn Continent and the cultivation system.

On the Dawn Continent, once Warriors and Casters had accumulated Magic Power to their limits, they had to begin attempting to awaken the Power of Law.

As for the method, it varied greatly and had no fixed rules.

Some chose to push themselves into desperate situations, facing enemies far stronger than themselves. By walking the line between life and death, they forced their souls to commune with the world's origin in the shadow of mortality, thereby achieving a critical sublimation.

Others took the opposite approach, knocking on the door of Law with extreme focus.

For example, comprehending the Fire Element Law on the verge of an erupting, scorching volcano.

Or comprehending the Wind Element Law in the depths of a storm-ravaged ocean.

Or gazing at the starry sky from a high tower for decades on end, until one night they suddenly "heard" the whisper of the stars and achieved an epiphany.

Some relied on external forces, using rare Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures as a medium to try and extract the true meaning of a Law from within.

A smaller number followed the path of inheritance, accepting the guidance of one who had already awakened. They would repeatedly temper themselves within the Law domain released by their mentor, like a fledgling eagle learning to fly in a storm.

This was the safest method, but it required a Legendary Powerhouse willing to teach everything they knew.

There were also meditation, rituals, dreams… the methods were endlessly varied.

Of course, there were also a few lucky individuals favored by the world who, after accumulating Magic Power to their limit, would naturally awaken the Power of Law as easily as breathing or drinking water.

The most well-known example was the Dragon Race, known as the Golden Race.

Generally speaking, with the exception of a few rare cases like the Dragon Race, most methods for a Golden Peak to awaken the Power of Law lacked a complete, systematic process and relied, to some extent, on luck.

But the cultivation system was different; it had long since pushed the utilization of the Heaven and Earth Law to its absolute limits.

Countless mighty predecessors had exhausted their life's work to deconstruct, categorize, and condense those abstruse and profound universal principles, ultimately transforming them into inheritable methods.

Later generations did not need to risk their lives using all sorts of brutish methods to comprehend the Law. As long as they followed the paths forged by their predecessors and methodically studied these methods, they could gradually master the power of the Heaven and Earth Law.

In the cultivation system, these methods were known as Near-Divine Arts.

As the name implied, they were methods that were very close to Divine Techniques.

And Divine Techniques, in essence, were the command and control over the Heaven and Earth Law.

Near-Divine Arts were methods created by powerful Cultivators by weakening and simplifying Divine Techniques, resulting in arts that possessed a fraction of a Divine Technique's power.

Their purpose was to allow Cultivators at the peak of Foundation Establishment to more deeply comprehend the Heaven and Earth Law while practicing and using these arts, thereby increasing their success rate in Solidifying the Pill.

In a way, Near-Divine Arts were actually just like the Power of Law awakened by a Golden Peak practitioner—both were crude applications of the Law.

The only difference was that Near-Divine Arts were more complete, more systematic, and easier to master.

It was like an impossibly high mountain: a powerhouse from the Dawn Continent had to climb through thorns and struggle up sheer cliffs, while a Cultivator held a ladder left behind by the sages of old.

Although the climb still required effort and insight, every step they took was on solid footing.

This was the power of heritage, the profound foundation built over time.

The Force Dao system naturally had its own Near-Divine Arts as well.

As a top-tier Force Dao inheritance, the Eight Desolates Prison-Suppression Scripture came with over a hundred accompanying Near-Divine Arts, which Cultivators could choose from based on their own aptitude and combat style.

As long as one reached the peak of the Second Transition of Force, they could attempt to practice them.

From this perspective, the Second Elder's chances of awakening the Power of Law by following the path of the Force Dao were significantly higher than before.

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