The Elven Cultivator

Retracting his projected Divine Sense, Anton turned his focus inward to inspect his own body.

The transformation brought by successfully reaching Foundation Establishment was far more than just a leap on the spiritual level; his physical body had also undergone a complete, rebirth-like sublimation.

Cultivators who practiced different Cultivation Techniques would gain physical enhancements with different focuses after their Foundation Establishment.

For example, a Cultivator who practiced a Fire Attribute Cultivation Technique would find their body's affinity for Fire Attribute Spiritual Qi significantly increased after Foundation Establishment.

Externally, this manifested as a great improvement in their control over Fire Attribute Spiritual Qi, far stronger than their control over Spiritual Qi of other attributes.

Furthermore, when attacked by Fire Attribute Spiritual Qi, the damage they sustained would be markedly reduced.

To put it in gaming terms, their fire resistance would be greatly increased.

But the Taichu Hiding Skill that Anton practiced encompassed all Five Elements, which meant his control and resistance for all five types of Spiritual Qi had taken a qualitative leap simultaneously.

The benefits were simply enormous.

This was one of the reasons he had chosen to practice the Taichu Hiding Skill in the first place.

Although top-tier Cultivation Techniques were difficult to practice and progress was extremely slow without the support of resources, their benefits became more apparent in the later stages, and their potential far exceeded that of ordinary techniques.

'Foundation Establishment is complete, and the path forward is clear.'

'Next, I need to stabilize my realm and build my foundation in preparation for the Golden Core Dao.'

Anton inspected the Taichu True Essence in his Dantian's Qi Sea.

Cultivation in the Foundation Establishment Stage involved constantly absorbing the world's energy to strengthen one's True Essence until it filled the entire Qi Sea.

The standard for dividing the sub-realms of the Foundation Establishment Stage was the fullness of the True Essence in one's Qi Sea.

For someone like Anton, who had just broken through, his True Essence occupied only ten percent of his Qi Sea, which meant he was at the First-Layer Foundation Establishment.

After that, for every ten percent increase in his True Essence, he would advance by one sub-realm.

When his True Essence completely filled his Qi Sea, he would have reached the peak of the Foundation Establishment Stage.

After reaching that step, he could further compress and purify his liquefied True Essence until it condensed into a "Golden Core" within his Dantian.

'The Dragon Yuan Pills are much less effective for refining True Essence. I'll have to switch to new Pills soon.'

'But I can replace my Spirit Gathering Talismans with a Spirit Gathering Array.'

Anton thought to himself.

After awakening their Divine Sense, a Cultivator could begin to study Arrays.

His first target was naturally the Spirit Gathering Array, which could speed up his cultivation.

Nothing was more important than accelerating his cultivation speed.

Only by sorting out the Pills and the Spirit Gathering Array could he strengthen his True Essence faster and increase his power.

'Then there's the matter of combat methods.'

The combat methods of a Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivator could be roughly divided into three types.

The first was Techniques.

A Foundation Establishment Cultivator's True Essence could already unleash the full power of most Techniques, and the cost was not as exorbitant as it was in the Qi Refining Stage, where a single use could consume dozens of mouthfuls of Spiritual Qi.

Because of this, Techniques were the standard combat method for most Foundation Establishment Cultivators.

The second was Magical Treasures.

A Foundation Establishment Cultivator who had awakened their Divine Sense could already control Magical Treasures, even using them to attack enemies from a distance.

And even the lowest-tier Magical Artifact provided an immediate and visible boost to a Cultivator's combat power.

"Under normal circumstances, Cultivators with powerful backgrounds and backers would choose to carry one or two Magical Artifacts for self-defense."

Anton muttered to himself and sighed softly.

"Unfortunately, I'm the only Cultivator on the Dawn Continent right now. A sect or backer is out of the question. I can only rely on myself."

Fortunately, with Divine Sense and True Essence, the difficulty of refining Magical Treasures was greatly reduced. He could try to refine some Magical Artifacts next.

The premise was that he had enough materials on hand.

The last type of combat method was rather special.

Strictly speaking, it was a combination of the first two.

That was the renowned Flying Sword of the Cultivation Realm!

Cultivators who used Flying Swords as their primary combat method were known as Sword Cultivators.

This path was widely acknowledged as having the strongest combat power among peers of the same realm.

Extremists even divided the Cultivation Realm into two categories: Sword Cultivators and other Cultivators.

However, becoming a Sword Cultivator was not easy; two conditions had to be met.

First, one had to possess a Sword Pill.

Many people unfamiliar with Sword Cultivators mistakenly believed that their weapon was the Flying Sword, but this was completely wrong.

Strictly speaking, a Flying Sword was just a type of ordinary Magical Treasure. Using a Flying Sword did not make one a Sword Cultivator.

The weapon of a true Sword Cultivator was the Sword Pill.

A Sword Pill was a Magical Treasure refined from precious metals.

By itself, a Sword Pill was nothing special. In the hands of a layman, its power was even less than that of an ordinary Magical Treasure.

But in the hands of a Sword Cultivator, it was a lethal weapon that could slay enemies from a great distance!

After obtaining a Sword Pill, a Sword Cultivator would refine it until it merged with their mind. Their Divine Sense and True Essence could then be infused into it, allowing them to remotely command it to fly out and kill.

When used, it moved as if it were an extension of their own arm—agile and unpredictable, making it far more difficult to defend against than a Cultivator attacking with a hand-held Flying Sword.

Even if an opponent could block one strike, they could not block the continuous slashes that followed.

Moreover, if the situation turned dire in battle, a Sword Cultivator could use the sword's light to escape. Once the enemy recalled their Magical Treasure, the Sword Cultivator could turn back and resume the attack, truly able to advance and retreat at will.

It was precisely because of this that Sword Cultivators were acknowledged as the most troublesome and powerful existence in combat!

The second condition was to master a Technique for controlling the Sword Pill—the Flying Sword Skill.

Weapon and technique were inseparable. The Sword Pill was the weapon, and once you had the weapon, you naturally needed a Technique to wield it.

A good Flying Sword Skill was also extremely important to a Sword Cultivator's combat power.

'A Sword Cultivator, huh...'

A contemplative look flashed in Anton's eyes.

If he had to choose, he would definitely walk the path of a Sword Cultivator.

For no other reason than their sheer combat strength.

At least in the Foundation Establishment Stage, before one mastered Divine Techniques, the power of a Sword Cultivator was in a league of its own.

A Foundation Establishment Stage Sword Cultivator could kill enemies two or three minor realms above them as if it were child's play.

More importantly, the Taoist Jade Scroll contained tens of thousands of Flying Sword Skills, with top-tier methods readily available. The second condition was already met.

All he needed to do was find a way to refine a Sword Pill.

Having made up his mind, Anton immediately opened the Taoist Jade Scroll to look through it.

A Sword Pill accompanies a Cultivator for life and should not be replaced lightly.

This was because a Sword Pill required years of refinement with one's Divine Soul to achieve a state of unity between person and weapon, allowing for control at will.

A proper Sword Cultivator often kept their Sword Pill in their Dantian, nurturing it with True Essence so it would grow along with their realm breakthroughs.

High-tier Sword Cultivators could even nurture their Sword Pill all the way to the level of a True Artifact.

This meant that if one were to replace their Sword Pill, they would have to start the refinement process all over again. The long adjustment period would severely hinder their progress, making the loss far outweigh the gain.

Therefore, once a Sword Cultivator chose a Sword Pill, they rarely ever replaced it.

Thus, the initial choice of a Sword Pill was extremely important.

Over countless years of development in the Cultivation Realm, innumerable philosophies on refining Sword Pills had emerged. They required different materials, and the final products varied drastically.

For example, there was the Bloodline Symbiosis Method.

This method used the Cultivator's own essence blood as the seed for the Sword Pill. Combined with various supplementary materials and repeatedly refined with True Essence, it would condense into a "blood pill," which would ultimately become a "Bloodline Sword Pill."

A Bloodline Sword Pill was symbiotic with the Sword Cultivator's bloodline and one with their Primordial Spirit. Even without constant nurturing, as long as the Sword Cultivator's realm advanced, the Sword Pill would grow stronger alongside them.

The advantage of this refining philosophy was its low barrier to entry, as it didn't require many additional resources.

But its disadvantage was that if the Sword Pill was destroyed, the Sword Cultivator would die along with it.

For Sword Cultivators who often walked the line between life and death, the risk of a Bloodline Sword Pill was anything but small.

Another method was the Sword Intent Condensation Skill.

Its core concept was to not rely on any physical materials, but to condense the Sword Pill purely from Sword Intent, which best fit the Sword Cultivator's essence of "controlling the sword with intent."

Like the Bloodline Symbiosis Method, a Sword Pill refined this way could also advance alongside its master's breakthroughs, even without years of nurturing.

Furthermore, in battle, the Sword Pill could transform into an 'invisible sword'—without shadow or trace, formless and substanceless. With a mere thought, the sword would fall, and the enemy would die without ever knowing what killed them.

Its only drawback was that it had extremely high requirements for the Sword Cultivator's own talent, demanding immense comprehension and focus.

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