The Elven Cultivator

Time flew by in a flurry of activity.

After more than half a year of experiments, Anton had finally finished verifying the substitute ingredients for the Dragon Yuan Pill formula one by one.

However, the real obstacle to his progress was the main ingredient he had initially thought would be the least problematic: the blood of the Dragon Race.

At first, Anton had used the blood of the Scale Rock Lizard as the main ingredient, but he always failed at the final step.

He thought it was because the Scale Rock Lizard's bloodline was too diluted, so he extracted and purified the blood to increase its concentration. But no matter how many times he tried, the result was still failure.

Unwilling to give up, Anton bought the blood of several other Dragon Beasts when he went to Bishui Port for materials, using them to replace the Scale Rock Lizard blood in his attempts to concoct the Dragon Yuan Pill. But without exception, they all failed.

It was only then that he finally realized the crux of the problem—the blood of Dragon Beasts itself was unsuitable as the main ingredient for the Dragon Yuan Pill.

'Is the bloodline of Dragon Beasts too thin? Or is the bloodline of the Dragon Race on the Dawn Continent different from the Dragon Race in the Cultivation World system?'

Anton wanted to use Dragon Race blood with a higher concentration to test his theory, but after thinking it over and over, he couldn't find a viable way to do so.

Pure-blooded Giant Dragons were out of the question; even a sub-dragon was not something a cultivator at the Qi Refining Stage like him could handle.

Adult sub-dragons had generally reached the Golden Tier, and their combat prowess was far more formidable than that of an average Golden Tier being.

For example, the Rock-Horned Dragon of the Thousand Rock Hills was a Golden Peak sub-dragon.

Even the three elders of the clan working together might not be its match.

The blood of a sub-dragon was a priceless and unobtainable treasure on the market, something one could only hope to encounter by chance.

For a while, Anton had no idea where he could get his hands on a sub-dragon's blood.

'Wait a minute...'

'If Dragon Beasts won't work, what about the blood of the Dragon Race?'

A sudden flash of inspiration struck Anton amidst his troubled thoughts. But he quickly fell back into vexation.

The blood of the Dragon Race was equally difficult to obtain.

It wouldn't be hard to secretly kill a few members of the Dragon Race, but to secure a long-term, stable supply of their blood would be tantamount to challenging the entire Kresol Dragon City. It would inevitably provoke a frenzied retaliation from the Dragon City.

He didn't yet have the strength to face Kresol Dragon City head-on.

'If the Dragon Race is out...'

Anton's fingers tapped unconsciously on the stone table, then suddenly stopped.

The Lizard-men!

Those cold-blooded reptiles entrenched in the northern part of the Silver Moon Forest also had the blood of the Dragon Race flowing through their veins. They were equivalent to members of the Dragon Race with a diluted bloodline. Perhaps... their blood could meet the requirements?

Putting thought into action, Anton immediately moved to test his idea.

There were some Lizard-men held captive in the Silver Moon Forest, used as combat opponents for practical training sessions.

Anton went straight to Darian and, under the pretext of studying potion-making, asked him to get some blood from those Lizard-men.

Then, without stopping to rest, he began to verify his theory.

...

「Three days later, in the backyard of the treehouse」

Anton sat cross-legged on a green stone, with wisps of Spiritual Qi winding around the bronze Alchemy Cauldron.

The cauldron's body trembled slightly, emitting a low hum, as if some living creature was awakening within it.

About ten minutes later, the Alchemy Cauldron shook violently. A wisp of pale golden mist, carrying a warm, medicinal fragrance, seeped out from the seam of the lid. It was neither too strong nor too faint, reminiscent of the clean scent of soil and grassroots after a fresh rain.

Anton's expression grew tense, but he didn't dare let his focus waver for a second. He continued to concentrate on maintaining the stability of the Spiritual Fire until the trembling in the cauldron completely subsided, then he slowly approached and lifted the lid.

Three pills lay quietly at the bottom of the cauldron.

They were dark red in color, their surfaces covered in fine, winding patterns, like slumbering, swimming dragons.

A rich medicinal aroma wafted into his face. Anton took just one breath and felt his blood and qi surge, and the Taichu Spiritual Qi in his Dantian began to circulate on its own.

"It's a success."

Anton was overjoyed, the tension in his shoulders finally easing.

Just as he had guessed, the extracted and purified Lizard-man blood could indeed substitute for the original Dragon Race blood.

He had finally succeeded in concocting the Dragon Yuan Pill.

After savoring his joy for a while, Anton gradually collected himself, a thoughtful expression appearing on his face.

'Lizard-man blood works, but Dragon Beast blood doesn't. What's the fundamental difference between the two?'

Anton opened the Taoist Jade Scroll and consulted numerous documents, and a theory gradually formed in his mind.

The process of alchemy, in essence, was to awaken the spirituality of the ingredients, causing them to merge and undergo a qualitative change.

Therefore, when selecting ingredients for alchemy, the most important factor was the ingredient's spirituality.

And spirituality is determined by three dimensions: Essence, Qi, and Spirit.

Although the Scale Rock Lizard was a Dragon Beast, its bloodline had been muddled through many generations of disorderly crossbreeding. Its 'Spirit' had completely dissipated, leaving only 'Essence' and a small amount of 'Qi' in its blood.

It was like a dead piece of jade; the material was still there, but its spiritual nature was lost.

The Lizard-men were different. Their blood contained all three treasures—Essence, Qi, and Spirit—and their spirituality was intact.

To put it in simpler terms, Lizard-men were a sapient race with complete consciousness and emotions, whereas the Scale Rock Lizard was just a beast that lived by instinct.

In the Cultivation World, a demon beast that had gained sentience was far more valuable than a mindless fierce beast. The key difference was the presence or absence of spirituality.

'In that case, the blood of the Dragon Race should also work as the main ingredient for the Dragon Yuan Pill, and it probably wouldn't need many rounds of extraction and purification to meet the standard.'

'The blood of some sub-dragons that have gained sentience should also meet the requirements.'

This discovery was particularly invigorating for Anton.

By confirming this point, he could avoid many detours in his future research on other substitute ingredients.

After composing himself, Anton's thoughts returned to the Dragon Yuan Pills.

He picked up a Dragon Yuan Pill and put it in his mouth.

The pill dissolved the moment it entered his mouth, its warm medicinal power flowing down his throat like a stream and seeping into his limbs and bones.

Anton immediately sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and began to circulate the Taichu Hiding Skill.

Inside his Dantian, the circulation speed of his Taichu Spiritual Qi increased significantly, as if a dry riverbed was receiving its first welcome rain.

Wherever the medicinal power reached, his meridians relaxed and his Qi Sea churned. Even his perception of the world's energy sharpened considerably.

A full hour passed before Anton opened his eyes, a satisfied smile on his face.

All his time and effort had not been in vain. The Dragon Yuan Pill's effect did not disappoint him; his cultivation efficiency had nearly doubled.

Anton estimated that it would now only take him about three months to refine a single wisp of Taichu Spiritual Qi.

In less than ten years, he would be able to break through to the Late Stage of Qi Refining.

Compared to the five years it took him to refine a wisp of Taichu Spiritual Qi before, this new efficiency was simply astounding.

However, this efficiency was the result of multiple overlapping factors.

The Spirit Gathering Talisman, the Abyssal Sea-Swallowing Art, the Life Source Crystal, the Dragon Yuan Pill... Lacking any one of these, or even replacing the Dragon Yuan Pill with an ordinary Nourishing Yuan Pill, would not produce such a good effect.

'The medicinal power of one Dragon Yuan Pill can be fully absorbed in about ten days.'

'That's three pills a month, or thirty-six a year.'

Anton quickly did the math. The blood from the captured Lizard-men would definitely not be enough.

'Should I go hunt Lizard-men?'

The thought had barely surfaced before he dismissed it.

Unlike the solitary Scale Rock Lizards, Lizard-men lived in tribes and moved in hunting parties of dozens, or even hundreds.

He might be able to ambush them once or twice, but if the Lizard-man tribe became alert and sent out Golden Tier experts to hunt him down, just escaping would be a challenge with his current strength.

It was clear that he alone could not obtain enough Lizard-man blood.

'If I can't do it alone...'

Anton gazed out the window, his sight passing over the layers of treetops to land on the colossal Eternal Tree in the center of the forest, which seemed to connect heaven and earth.

'...then I'll have to rely on the power of the clan.'

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