The Elven Cultivator

Year 9290 of the Chenxi Calendar.

The frosty wind grew sharp, and lead-gray clouds hung low like a leaden curtain, pressing heavily over the Eldron Plain and brewing the first snow of winter.

Before the snow could fall, the Molten Spike Tribe's invasion arrived right on schedule.

Unsurprisingly, this year's offensive was also extremely fierce.

In fact, ever since the Silver Moon Race began its operations to hunt the Lizard-men, the scale of the Molten Spike Tribe's invasions had increased year after year.

On one hand, the Silver Moon Race's attacks had greatly affected the Molten Spike Tribe's own hunting operations. Their food reserves for the winter were far from sufficient, forcing them to increase their invasion force in the hopes of securing more food before winter set in.

On the other hand, it was also a form of frenzied retaliation against the Silver Moon Race.

Those cold-blooded reptiles seemed to want to unleash a full year's worth of accumulated venomous hatred, slaughtering their way into the forest with murderous intent, at one point even coming close to breaking through the warning perimeter.

However, on the Silver Moon Race's home turf, facing Elves whose overall strength had clearly improved, the Molten Spike Tribe still failed to gain any advantage.

Relying on layers of interception from living thorns and sentry trees, the Forest Guard lay in wait, splitting the invaders, surrounding them, and wiping them out one by one.

The battle lasted the entire day, finally ending with the Molten Spike Tribe leaving behind more than three hundred corpses in a humiliating retreat.

This was the first time since the two peoples began clashing that the Silver Moon Race had achieved such a resounding victory.

When the news spread, the entire Clan erupted in celebration.

Amid the festivities, many of the Elves were also well aware of who the chief contributor to this victory was.

Although that person had not participated in the battle, he was the key figure who had single-handedly forged this victory.

His Dragon Essence Potions had dramatically increased the rate at which Warriors accumulated Magic Power. In just five short years, the Clan had gained nearly twenty new Black Iron Tier Warriors and three more at the Silver Tier.

His Muscle Regrowth Potions had reduced battle casualties to an unprecedented low, and the Warriors no longer feared injury or disability, daring to fight without reservation.

His Qi Recovery Potions had greatly increased the combat endurance of Casters, allowing for a density of Magic coverage far beyond anything seen before.

Then there were the special magical combat techniques he had created, usable even by ordinary Warriors, which had also shone brilliantly on the battlefield, allowing many Elf Warriors to elevate their combat prowess by a whole new level.

It was no exaggeration to say that the overall strength of the Silver Moon Race today was at least thirty to forty percent higher than it was five years ago.

All of this was inseparable from Anton's contributions.

...

The Treehouse, Artifact Refining Room.

Unlike the jubilant celebration outside, this room, specially set aside for Artifact Refining, remained as quiet as ever.

The room was spacious and bright. All four walls were inlaid with smoothly polished Light Source Stones that cast a soft yet brilliant glow, illuminating every corner in minute detail.

In the very center stood an artifact refining furnace about a meter tall. It had two handles and three legs, and its body was as black as ink, covered in dark red formation patterns. The lines slithered like snakes, intertwining to faintly form some kind of profound and mysterious design.

Anton sat cross-legged before the furnace, one hand pressed against its body, continuously channeling Spiritual Qi into it to keep the Five Elements True Flame burning within.

The furnace lid was hollowed out, and five-colored flames shone through the patterns, flowing endlessly and blazing brightly.

Anton took a fist-sized, silvery-white piece of metal from a wicker basket beside him and tossed it into the furnace.

It was Frost Steel, a material smelted from a mixture of refined steel and Frost Pattern Silver as the primary component.

The moment the metal fell into the furnace chamber, the Five Elements True Flame clung to it like a living creature and devoured it.

Licked by the fierce flames, the surface of the Frost Steel rapidly turned dark red, then shifted to bright orange, and finally melted into a pool of shimmering silver liquid. It floated in the core of the fire, slowly rotating within the five-colored flames like a miniature star.

Anton's expression remained unchanged as he picked up supplementary materials one by one from the wicker table beside him and added them to the furnace.

The timing, quantity, and sequence for adding each material were all strictly prescribed.

One wrong step, and all his previous efforts would be wasted.

Under the refining heat of the Five Elements True Flame, the impurities in the supplementary materials were quietly stripped away, transforming into a fine smoke that rose from the hollowed-out lid, emitting a faint, bitter, burnt smell.

Before long, all that remained above the flames was a glob of silvery liquid the size of an egg.

Anton beckoned with his left hand, and the glob of silver liquid slowly floated toward a War Axe to the side.

His fingers flicked in rapid succession. Using the fire as a brush and the liquid as ink, he guided the shimmering silver line to trace patterns across the body of the axe.

Wherever the liquid line passed, the surface of the axe glowed with a cold, faint, blue-white light, as if an invisible network of veins was being branded onto it.

The Five Elements True Flame flickered in his hand, precisely maintaining the temperature and form of the liquid line. The patterns went from shallow to deep, from sparse to dense, spreading out layer by layer.

When the final stroke was laid, the liquid line solidified and embedded itself into the axe, merging completely with the metal.

The War Axe suddenly flared with a brilliant light.

A clear, sonorous hum emanated from the axe, like the cracking of ice or the sound of a distant wind whistling through a canyon.

A moment later, the light receded. The surface of the axe now had a deep, treasured sheen, and the Runes, hidden within its grain, pulsed faintly with light as if breathing.

Anton extinguished the flame, rose to his feet with the axe in hand, and gave it a light swing.

The instant the axe whistled through the air, the surrounding temperature dropped sharply.

Accompanied by a faint crackling sound, countless fine ice particles appeared out of thin air, drifting about like a white mist.

"Not bad."

A satisfied smile appeared on Anton's face.

After more than a year, he had finally succeeded in refining a satisfactory weapon.

In truth, if it were just a matter of creating a Talisman, it wouldn't have taken nearly this long.

More than half a year ago, Anton had already mastered the technique of refining Talismans, successively turning both his Alchemy Cauldron and his artifact refining furnace into Talismans, which greatly improved the efficiency of his Alchemy and Artifact Refining.

The real difficulty lay in the localization process—modifying the Talisman into a 'Magic item' that could be powered by Magic Power.

After nearly a year of research, it was only today that Anton had finally forged his first finished product.

"Since it's made primarily from Frost Pattern Silver, I'll call it the Frost Pattern Axe."

Anton casually set the War Axe aside, planning to give it to Romance to use later.

Romance had now joined the hunting party and had followed the Forest Guard out to hunt Lizard-men on multiple occasions. She was extremely active on the battlefield and had already made a small name for herself.

Her using this Frost Pattern Axe in battle would be the most fitting debut for a Talisman.

It would not only test the Talisman's effectiveness in actual combat but also show the Elder Council the value of this new type of magic item, paving the way for the future development of the Frost Pattern Silver mine.

Composing himself, Anton picked up the black Long Sword that had been placed to the side, intending to refine his own weapon.

In essence, a Talisman is a weapon imbued with the properties of a Talisman.

Take the Frost Pattern Axe, for example. The engraved Runes originate from the Cold Soldier Talisman, a type of Talisman that can imbue a weapon with Ice Attribute damage.

However, Anton didn't plan on using Frost Steel to refine this Talisman. Instead, he prepared to switch to a Fire Attribute material and forge a Fire Attribute Talisman.

The Runes to be engraved would be based on the Fire Soldier Talisman, the counterpart to the Cold Soldier Talisman.

After all, the weapon-based martial art he used most often was the Divine Sun Sword Skill, and a Fire Attribute Talisman would be a better match for this supremely hard and yang Cultivation Technique.

Of course, considering the need for flexibility and versatility in actual combat, Anton felt he could refine several Talismans of different attributes to carry with him, just in case.

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