The Elven Cultivator

A dead silence fell over the entire Ashen Valley.

Scott and the other three stared blankly at Marcus's corpse on the ground, their faces filled with disbelief.

From the moment the battle began, their emotions had been like a ship in a storm—tossed to the crest of a wave one moment, then slammed into a trough the next, a constant, violent upheaval.

Only when Marcus collapsed, dead, did that heart-stopping, rollercoaster feeling finally subside.

But what replaced it was an utterly overwhelming sense of shock.

They never imagined they would one day witness with their own eyes someone who had yet to awaken the Power of Law single-handedly kill a Golden Peak in a head-on battle.

The sheer absurdity of it all felt like something out of a dream.

Vorn was the first to snap out of it. All three of his heads started speaking at once, their chattering voices shattering the valley's silence.

"We won! We won!"

"I told you Canglan had a plan!"

"When did you say that? A moment ago, you were too scared to get a word out!"

"Nonsense! You were the one who was so scared you squeezed your eyes shut!"

The three heads began to argue, oblivious to everyone else.

The bickering snapped Scott and Summers back to their senses as well.

The two exchanged a look, their expressions a complex mixture of emotions.

It was a mix of relief at having survived the ordeal and sheer astonishment at Canglan's power.

Anton paid no mind to the reactions of the group behind him. He walked over to the fallen Long Sword and picked it up.

The blade was long and slender, its edge gleaming with a cold light. Embedded in the hilt was a perfectly round crystal, about the size of a dragon's eye.

The crystal was a dark gold color, its surface covered with a fine Dragon Scale pattern. A golden flame seemed to flicker within, faintly outlining the shape of a dragon, as if a sleeping whelp were trapped inside.

A Dragonflame Pearl.

Anton gripped the hilt, feeling the immense energy contained within the Crystal Stone, and a hint of satisfaction flashed in his eyes.

'The main Fire Attribute ingredient for the Essence Condensation Pill is in my hands.'

With a turn of his wrist, he stored the Long Sword in his Dimensional Bag, then collected Marcus's corpse as well.

'This is the corpse of a Pure-blooded Dragon Race member,' he thought. 'It's highly nourishing for the Sword Pill. I can't let it go to waste.'

He then collected the bodies of the twenty-some Dragon Race cavalrymen as well.

Only after finishing all this did Anton turn to look at Scott and the other three.

Scott was leaning on Bazzer for support. His face was still pale, but he appeared to be out of immediate danger.

Summers's injuries were a bit less severe; he was already able to stand on his own.

When they saw Anton looking at them, Scott and Summers felt a pang of guilt.

After all, their intelligence had been disastrously wrong this time, nearly getting everyone killed.

Anyone would be upset to encounter such a disaster right after joining an organization.

Anton said calmly, "I need a batch of Magic Cores."

Summers paused for a moment, but once the request registered, he agreed without the slightest hesitation. "No problem."

'Clearly, Canglan is asking for compensation.'

Summers wasn't afraid of Canglan demanding compensation; he was afraid that Canglan would quit the Fallen Dragon Association in a fit of anger.

'If this were the old Canglan, the Fallen Dragon Association would still have valued him, but there would have been a limit to it.'

'After all, back then they only saw him as a fairly strong Golden Tier.'

'But things are different now.'

'Whether Canglan has awakened the Power of Law or not, the fact that he can kill a Golden Peak head-on means he possesses equivalent strength.'

'With the Fallen Dragon Association's Eldron branch currently lacking any Legendary Tier fighters, Canglan could already be considered one of the chapter's absolute top combatants.'

'The Fallen Dragon Association can't possibly overstate the importance of someone like him.'

'Even putting that aside,' Summers thought, 'just for saving my life, I'd have to do everything in my power to fulfill his request.'

If Canglan hadn't turned the tide against all odds, the four of them would have met their end here today.

Anton nodded. "Let's go."

In reality, more than half an hour had passed since they launched their sneak attack.

But Marcus had been so confident in his ability to kill Anton and the others that he hadn't called for reinforcements from Kresol Dragon City at the start. By the time he realized things were going south and tried to call for help, it was already too late.

Reinforcements from Dragon City were already on their way, but their journey was destined to be in vain.

...

After putting a good distance between themselves and Ashen Valley, Anton parted ways with Scott and the others, leaving via Sword Escape.

He didn't return to the Silver Moon Forest immediately, instead finding a secluded spot to stop.

He then took out the Dragon Race corpses and had his Sword Pill devour and absorb them one by one.

The bodies of the twenty-some Dragon Race cavalrymen provided a negligible boost to the Sword Pill.

Only Marcus's body was a true feast, causing the draconic markings on the Sword Pill's surface to visibly increase by several lines.

'Worthy of a Golden Peak of the Pure-blooded Dragon Race,' Anton mused with a click of his tongue.

The thought that Kresol Dragon City still had twelve ruling consuls made his ambition stir.

The draconic markings on the Sword Pill now covered a quarter of its surface.

'If I could kill all twelve of those Golden Peak consuls,' he thought, 'even if it wouldn't be enough for the Sword Pill to break through to the Profound Artifact level, it would probably get very close.'

But that was just a passing thought.

Killing Marcus, who had only just awakened the Power of Law, had already forced him to use every trick up his sleeve. He couldn't even imagine taking on those Dragon City consuls, who had been at the Golden Peak for who knows how many years.

Shaking his head, Anton reined in his ambitious thoughts. He put away the Sword Pill and took out Marcus's Magic Long Sword.

The Dragonflame Pearl wasn't like a Gemstone set in an ordinary weapon; you couldn't just pry it out.

The entire piece of Magic Equipment was a single, integrated whole.

It took Anton considerable effort to finally detach the Dragonflame Pearl.

Without the Dragonflame Pearl, the Long Sword's quality immediately plummeted to the Micro-Light Level, making it barely better than nothing.

Anton tossed the Long Sword aside, planning to reforge it into Rune Equipment later.

Most of the Magic Equipment he had obtained from the Flame Trade Association had later been modified, broken down, and reforged into Rune Equipment. Once transformed, he had given the whole lot to the Forest Guard.

The Magic Equipment seized over the years from destroying the military outposts of the Dragon's Tooth defense line had all been handled the same way.

This had greatly accelerated the rate at which the Forest Guard was being equipped.

It got to the point where every time the three elders saw the equipment Anton delivered, they would look as if they were bursting with questions but held their tongues, clearly wanting to ask where he found so many materials to craft Rune Equipment.

Anton never explained.

'The Elder Council will find out Canglan's true identity sooner or later, and I don't plan on hiding it forever,' he thought. 'But for now, it's better to remain unexposed.'

'Otherwise, the Elder Council would probably forbid me from going out on these adventures.'

'To refine the Essence Condensation Pill, I'm now just missing the main Earth Attribute ingredient and the Yin and Yang auras.'

Gazing at the Dragonflame Pearl in his hand, the corners of Anton's mouth curled into a slight smile, but it quickly vanished as he let out a sigh.

The Earth Attribute ingredient was manageable; he had leads for it with both the Fallen Dragon Association and in the Dark Nether Realm.

But the Yin and Yang auras were a real headache.

He still had no clue about any potential substitutes for them.

After all, the Dawn Continent lacked the concept of Yin and Yang from cultivation systems, making it incredibly difficult to find materials similar to Yang and Yin auras.

'Maybe I should ask the three elders?'

The sudden thought occurred to Anton.

'Their combined age is over a thousand years. Maybe they can offer some clues?'

'It couldn't hurt to try. Nothing to lose.'

His mind made up, Anton put away the Dragonflame Pearl and took out a Dimension Ring.

This was part of the loot taken from Marcus.

A Dimension Ring was an Extraordinary Level magic item, a tier higher than a Dimensional Bag.

Although this item didn't provide an immediate boost to his combat power, it was far rarer than typical Extraordinary Level Magic Equipment.

Only a power as wealthy and deeply established as Kresol Dragon City could produce Storage Items of this caliber.

Anton activated the Dimension Ring and began sorting through its contents.

First up were the rare materials, which made up the bulk of the contents.

These included, but were not limited to, various metal ores, magical plants, and the pelts and organs of exotic beasts.

It was a massive addition to Anton's stockpile of materials.

'Once the Magic Cores from the Fallen Dragon Association arrive, I can use these materials to forge the Five Camp Divine Soldiers.'

The next largest category was Gemstones of all kinds.

The sheer quantity was even more staggering than what he had seen in the Flame Trade Association's warehouse.

There were three or four hundred mid- to high-grade Gemstones alone, and another two to three thousand low-grade ones.

These Gemstones alone were worth a king's ransom.

"As expected of the Pure-blooded Dragon Race," Anton chuckled to himself. "They truly inherited the Dragon Race's love for all things shiny."

It was a shame that everything Marcus had painstakingly collected now belonged to him.

In addition to the sparkling Gemstones, there were also nearly ten thousand Gold Coins.

The Gold Coins he'd taken from the Flame Trade Association warehouse had already been mostly spent on purchasing materials in various towns.

With these nearly ten thousand Gold Coins in hand, his coffers were suddenly full again.

Beyond that, the Dimension Ring also contained a good number of Magic Stones.

A rough count revealed at least four or five hundred, most of them mid- to high-grade Magic Stones.

However, Magic Stones weren't of much use to Anton personally.

Since Kresol Dragon City controlled most of the Magic Stones on the Eldron Plain, any large-scale circulation of Magic Stones on the market—especially mid- to high-grade ones—would easily attract their attention.

Therefore, even a major trading house like the Tulip Commerce Association didn't dare to openly acquire large batches of Magic Stones, at most trading them privately in very small quantities.

Trying to offload this batch of Magic Stones would not only be time-consuming and strenuous, but could also attract unwanted trouble.

That was why Anton had always given the Magic Stones to the Casters in his Clan to use as materials for research and smithing.

As for what his clansmen might think about it, he didn't care.

It wasn't as if they would go around advertising it anyway.

After briefly sorting through the remaining odds and ends, Anton set them aside.

All in all, while the ambush had run into some problems, it had been a close call with no real harm done, and the rewards had been exceptionally bountiful.

Leaving aside the enhancement of the Dragonflame Pearl and the Sword Pill, the contents of the Dimension Ring alone constituted an immense fortune.

And that wasn't even counting the Magic Cores he was about to receive.

However, this battle had also served as a wake-up call for Anton.

'The Star-Net Sword Scripture is formidable,' he mused, 'but at its current level, it's still lacking against the Power of Law.'

'If I hadn't prepared the Five Camp Divine Soldiers, I probably would have had no choice but to use Sword Escape to flee in defeat.'

'Unless I can cultivate Light Splitting and Reunification to the point of splitting into eight, I still can't take on a Golden Peak head-on.'

'Just in case, I'd better prepare a few more trump cards for dealing with Golden Peaks.'

'Like forging more Five Camp Divine Soldiers.'

'And the Near-God Arts.'

The Near-God Arts consumed so much energy that typically only Cultivators at the peak of Foundation Establishment could even begin to master them.

Even if an ordinary Foundation Establishment Cultivator did master one, using it would be a huge strain, and their True Essence would be drained in an instant.

But regardless, it was a trump card.

It's better to have one and not need it, than to need one and not have it.

Anton felt it was time for him to start practicing a Near-God Art, just in case.

'I killed a high-ranking officer of the Pure-blooded Dragon Race this time. Kresol Dragon City definitely won't let this go. Who knows what crazy stunts they'll pull next.'

'I'd better lie low for a while, focus on my cultivation, and take the opportunity to forge the Soul-Suppressing Bell and more Five Camp Divine Soldiers.'

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