The Elven Cultivator

Aurion's dark gold vertical pupils were as placid as an ancient well, betraying no emotion.

His gaze swept over the consuls present, finally landing on Walt, who sat to his left.

"What have you found out about Canglan's origins?"

Walt inclined his body slightly, his tone as unhurried as ever.

"We've inquired with the Dragon Cities in other regions. Without exception, none have ever heard of this person in their local Fallen Dragon Association branches."

"Logically, given Canglan's strength, it would be impossible for us to have no intelligence on him if he'd joined the Fallen Dragon Association previously."

Walt slowly stated his conclusion, "Therefore, I suspect he is most likely a native of the Eldron Plain. He was probably recruited only after the Fallen Dragon Association established a branch here."

"A native?" a consul frowned. "If that's the case, why haven't we heard even a whisper about Canglan before?"

"That is precisely the most puzzling part." Walt shook his head. "The appearance of a Golden Peak combatant can't happen without any warning. Unless... he was deliberately hiding his strength or concealing his identity all along."

The consuls all wore pensive expressions.

The Eldron Plain was home to numerous factions. Even with Dragon City's power, it was difficult to gather complete intelligence on the top combatants of every faction.

This was especially true when these factions were extremely wary of Kresol Dragon City and deliberately concealed information.

As for concealing one's identity, that was also a possibility.

There were countless ways to hide one's true face; even a face-to-face encounter might not be enough to see through a disguise.

Not to mention Canglan appeared and disappeared like a ghost. His whereabouts were a mystery, and Dragon City had yet to even catch a trace of him.

Aurion didn't join their discussion. His gaze lowered, falling upon the stone table before him.

A miniature map of the Eldron Plain was carved into the tabletop, complete with mountains, rivers, towns, and passes.

His eyes moved slowly across the map, finally stopping at the location of Bishui Port.

Marcus was dead.

He died on his way back to Dragon City to report on his duties.

The garrison at Bishui Port had lost its supreme commander. The Fallen Dragon Association's activities within the port were bound to become even more rampant.

Meanwhile, due to Canglan's frequent attacks on the military outposts of the Dragon's Fang defensive line, multiple breaches had already appeared.

Smuggling, illegal crossings, intelligence gathering... all sorts of chaos were breeding and spreading across the plain.

The various major factions were already restless due to the City Lord's sudden departure.

And the Fallen Dragon Association's frequent activities were like a sharp knife, slowly slicing away at the prestige Dragon City had built among the Vassal Races over thousands of years.

Although the major factions still appeared subservient to Dragon City on the surface, their clandestine activities were growing more frequent.

To curb this situation, Dragon City had acted swiftly to eliminate the Fallen Dragon Association's personnel, which was initially quite effective. But Marcus's death instantly sent all their years of progress up in flames.

It was foreseeable that as the news of Marcus's assassination by the Fallen Dragon Association spread, those Vassal Races would inevitably start getting ideas again.

Of course, with Kresol Dragon City's current strength, suppressing the entire Eldron Plain was still more than manageable.

But this was not a good omen.

They had to launch a powerful counterattack as soon as possible to show everyone who the true master of this plain was.

Especially Canglan.

'This man must die!'

'As long as he lives, Dragon City's prestige will suffer.'

...

Despite Kresol Dragon City's best efforts to suppress it, the news of Marcus's death, fanned by the Fallen Dragon Association, quickly spread throughout the entire Eldron Plain.

It caused a particular uproar when people learned that Marcus had already reached Golden Peak and had died at the hands of Canglan, who had yet to even awaken the Power of Law.

After all, it had been many years since a Golden Peak expert had been killed in battle on the Eldron Plain.

The crucial point was that the person who killed Marcus had not yet awakened the Power of Law.

This was simply beyond many people's comprehension.

Many questioned the authenticity of the news, but even more people confirmed its truthfulness through various channels.

Thus, in the following days, the entire Eldron Plain was like a lake into which a giant boulder had been thrown, stirring up wave after wave.

In towns big and small, in taverns and Adventurer camps, everyone was discussing the same topic.

Speculation about Canglan grew like wildfire.

Some swore that he came from the Green Highlands, the leader of some famous Mercenary Corps there.

Some said he came from across a more distant sea, a survivor of a nation annihilated by the Dragon Race.

Others claimed he was a native of the Eldron Plain who had simply been living in obscurity for years, secretly accumulating power.

But no matter the theory, all of them lacked concrete evidence.

Canglan's identity and origins, much like his name, were shrouded behind a veil of mystery; no matter how people investigated, they couldn't see the truth clearly.

Only one thing was certain.

Canglan was very strong.

Strong enough to repeatedly frustrate Kresol Dragon City.

Strong enough that the hegemon that had ruled this plain for thousands of years was helpless against him.

For a time, the name Canglan echoed in every corner of the Eldron Plain.

...

「Silver Moon Forest, Eternal Tree area.」

In the backyard of a treehouse, Romance sat cross-legged on a stone stool. She held a piece of roasted Ridgetooth Dragon Beast meat, gnawing on it with great relish while telling Eleanor, who sat opposite her, the news she had heard that day.

"Everyone outside is talking about Canglan now."

"If you ask me, he's seriously amazing. He hasn't even awakened the Power of Law, but he actually managed to take down a Golden Peak. He's just too strong."

Eleanor took a small sip of her Honeybell Fruit juice and nodded slightly upon hearing this.

Killing a Golden Peak while only being at Upper Gold was indeed astonishing.

This was the first Golden Peak Pure-blooded Dragon Race member to be assassinated on the Eldron Plain in nearly a hundred years.

Even for Kresol Dragon City, a Golden Peak was an extremely valuable combatant.

If this hadn't happened, that Pure-blooded Dragon Race member named Marcus would probably have been promoted to consul before long.

'With such a valuable talent dying in an assassination by the Fallen Dragon Association, Kresol Dragon City must be furious and resentful.'

A hint of pleasure welled up deep within Eleanor's heart at the thought.

Her father had died at the hands of Dragon City, and as a result, she also hated them to the bone.

She wholeheartedly supported any person or event that caused Dragon City to suffer a setback.

"It's a shame that Canglan is so elusive; nobody knows where he is." Romance sighed with some regret. "Otherwise, I'd really like to meet him and see if he has three heads and six arms to be that amazing."

She had learned the phrase "three heads and six arms" from Anton.

According to him, it was a very powerful strength-based Divine Technique.

Meaning, a Power of Law.

"I wonder who's stronger, Canglan or Anton?" Romance mused aloud.

Eleanor pursed her lips into a smile at her words.

'Although Anton is also very powerful, and he once killed Golden Peak beings like Zhuogu and the Rock-Horned Dragon, he joined forces with the elders in both battles. Compared to Canglan, who killed a Golden Peak single-handedly, there's still a gap.'

Knowing full well of Romance's admiration and worship of Anton, Eleanor didn't argue the point with her. She seamlessly changed the subject to the Clan's recent changes.

After recuperating for ten years, the Silver Moon Clan had recently begun to absorb new Elf groups again.

After the previous population expansion, nearly a third of the Elf groups on the Eldron Plain had integrated into the Silver Moon Clan.

This time, the Clan's goal was to absorb all the remaining Elf groups as much as possible, aiming to double the population again.

Although Romance was usually carefree and didn't pay much attention to these Clan affairs, she still understood the importance of population to a Clan.

If a Clan wanted to be strong, population was the foundation.

The Silver Moon Clan's rapid development over the years was not only due to Anton's contributions but also, to a large extent, because of the absorption of a large number of outside Elf groups, which led to a population boom.

"I heard there are a lot of newborns in the Clan this year?" Romance asked.

Eleanor chuckled lightly. "It's all thanks to Anton. For the past ten years, the number of newborns in the Clan has increased year by year. Although the increase isn't dramatic, it is indeed growing slowly."

At the mention of Anton, both of their gazes involuntarily turned toward the treehouse to the west.

Anton had gone into seclusion again recently.

'I wonder what he's busy with now?'

...

In fact, Anton was not in the Silver Moon Forest.

He was currently in the Misty Tavern in Bishui Port.

After Marcus's death, the new supreme commander of the Dragon Race garrison had not yet been appointed. The operation to capture members of the Fallen Dragon Association in Bishui Port now existed in name only.

Scott and the others were swaggering in and out of Bishui Port and had even set their meeting place inside the city.

「In a room on the second floor of the tavern.」

Scott, Summers, and Anton sat around a table.

Compared to their last meeting, both of them looked much better.

Bazzer and Vorn, who usually followed Scott, were nowhere to be seen.

"Here are the Magic Cores you wanted."

Scott pushed a palm-sized Dimensional Bag in front of Anton. "Three hundred Magic Cores in total. You should count them."

Anton took the bag and extended a wisp of his Divine Sense into it, quickly taking stock of its contents.

Three hundred Magic Cores were stacked neatly inside the Dimensional Bag's space.

His expression remained impassive, but inwardly he was a little surprised.

Magic Cores were not easy to produce. Whether it was Dragon City or other major factions, they were kept in reserve as strategic resources and not easily brought out.

Even for an organization like the Fallen Dragon Association, producing three hundred at once was likely not easy.

'The Fallen Dragon Association is being quite generous this time.'

'It's probably not just compensation for me, but also an attempt to win me over.'

"Thanks." Anton nodded and put the Dimensional Bag away.

Seeing this, smiles appeared on both Scott's and Summers's faces.

Summers then took out a palm-sized metal badge and pushed it in front of Anton.

The badge was dark gold, its surface engraved with the pattern of a burning star. Intricate runes were carved along its edges, emitting a faint magical fluctuation.

"What's this?" Anton asked, raising an eyebrow.

"A Torchbearer Badge." Summers's expression grew a bit more solemn. "The branch has decided to promote you to a Torchbearer."

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