The Elven Cultivator

Dusk fell. The Silver Moon Forest was shrouded beneath a sky woven from indigo and crimson gold.

When Anton returned to his treehouse, the fluorescent lights of the Eternal Tree had already begun to flicker on, one after another, swaying gently in the night wind like an inverted river of stars.

He didn't linger, heading straight for the backyard of the treehouse.

The yard wasn't small, but when Anton took the Rock-Horned Dragon's corpse from his Dimensional Bag, its massive body still occupied nearly the entire open space.

Under the fluorescent light, its grayish-brown, rock-like armor glinted with a cold luster. Even in death, the colossal, spiraling horn on its forehead retained a faint, earthy yellow glow, like an ember that had not yet fully died out.

Anton took a deep breath to calm himself and sat cross-legged before the Rock-Horned Dragon's body.

The refinement of a Devouring Spirit Dao Sword Pill was completely different from that of an ordinary Magical Artifact.

It required no external tools. Instead, the body was the furnace, the intent was the fire, and the spirit was the hammer, forging the Sword Cultivator's will with the Spirit Beast's Essence Soul, flesh, and blood.

Anton closed his eyes and focused his mind, his breathing gradually becoming long and fine as silk.

Deep within his chest, a long-nurtured wisp of Sword Qi floated quietly. It was pure white and nearly formless, yet it radiated a heart-palpitating sharpness.

This was the seed of his Sword Pill, nurtured day and night with his True Essence and continuously infused with his Sword Intent for several years.

Today was the day it would break free from its cocoon.

Anton took a deep breath, opened his mouth, and spat out the Sword Qi. It shot straight into the Rock-Horned Dragon's body, and he immediately began to operate the Secret Technique.

The Rock-Horned Dragon's corpse suddenly began to tremble violently.

It was as if something was rampaging through its flesh, bones, and Scale Armor.

Fine cracks began to spread from between its brows, branching out along the patterns of its armor like a dry riverbed snaking across the earth.

The cracks grew more numerous and dense, covering the Rock-Horned Dragon's entire body in the blink of an eye.

The next moment, the Rock-Horned Dragon's enormous body violently shattered. A majestic essence of qi and blood erupted forth, soaring into the sky like a volcanic eruption and transforming into a thick, crimson mist.

The blood mist churned and roiled, as if a living thing was struggling and roaring within it.

That was the Rock-Horned Dragon's residual soul and will, forcibly stripped away by the Devouring Spirit Dao's Secret Technique and fused into the blood mist.

And in the very center of the blood mist, a beam of pure white sword light stood firm and unmoving, like an unshakable pillar.

The surrounding crimson mist converged on the sword light, surging into the pure white beam like a hundred rivers rushing to the sea.

A trace of crimson gradually seeped into the sword light's originally pure white color.

At the same time, it began to contract and change shape.

When the last wisp of blood mist had been completely devoured, the sword light had contracted into a fist-sized pill, floating quietly in mid-air.

The pill was dark red, its surface covered with fine, intersecting lines that resembled blood vessels.

A pure white sword light could be faintly seen moving within, like a flood dragon churning in a sea of blood, emitting a low rumble.

Anton opened his mouth again and inhaled sharply. The Sword Pill transformed into a streak of dark red light, shot into his mouth, and slid down his throat into his Dantian.

The moment the Sword Pill fell into the Qi Sea of his Dantian, his True Essence, as if drawn by an invisible force, rushed toward the Sword Pill and enveloped it in layers.

Anton closed his eyes and looked inward, able to see the Sword Pill greedily devouring his True Essence.

With every bit of True Essence it devoured, the Sword Pill grew a bit stronger, the patterns flowing across its surface grew a bit brighter, and its connection to his Divine Soul tightened.

This was the refinement process.

This process could not be accomplished overnight.

It could take anywhere from over ten months to several years, requiring constant nourishment with True Essence.

However, once the refinement was successful, the Sword Pill would be connected to his very heart and soul. Even if it were miles away, he could summon it back with a simple beckoning gesture.

He could even use the Sword Pill to fly, which was much faster than even a Flying Ship.

'Once this has been refining for a while, the Sword Pill will be truly complete.'

Anton opened his eyes, a faint smile on his face.

'All that's left is the Flying Sword Skill.'

Anton had already decided which Flying Sword Skill he was going to cultivate.

There were tens of thousands of Flying Sword Skills in the Taoist Jade Scroll, covering every possibility imaginable.

However, considering his Primal True Essence contained the Five Elements, the Flying Sword Skill he cultivated naturally had to have similar characteristics and not be limited to a single attribute.

This point alone eliminated over ninety percent of the Flying Sword Skills.

Second, it had to be an absolutely top-tier Cultivation Technique.

After the final selection, the number of Flying Sword Skills that stood out was very limited.

Anton didn't hesitate for long, quickly choosing the one that best suited him.

The *Star-Lattice Sword Scripture*!

This Sword Scripture was rumored to have been comprehended by an Ancient Sword Immortal while observing the movements of the starry river. It compared sword light to stars, using Divine Sense as a guide and Sword Intent as a core. One sword could birth ten thousand swords, and ten thousand swords could return to one. The sword lights were scattered like stars, weaving together like a tapestry.

Its core technique, 'Light Splitting and Reunification,' was a supreme killing art.

When facing an enemy, it could split the sword light to injure them, making it extremely formidable.

The deeper one's mastery of the Sword Scripture and the higher one's Cultivation Level, the more sword lights one could split off.

When cultivated to the stage of Great Success, one could even split off hundreds of millions of sword lights, blotting out the sky and covering the earth like a field of stars, leaving the enemy with no way to escape.

'The Sword Pill refinement will take time anyway. I'll use this period to comprehend the *Star-Lattice Sword Scripture*.'

Anton smiled faintly and closed his eyes to begin comprehending the Sword Scripture.

At the same time, in the Qi Sea of his Dantian, the Sword Pill continued to devour his True Essence without pause.

...

Time always flew by when one was immersed in cultivation.

Now that Anton no longer had to busy himself with heavy logistical duties, he had more time to spend on cultivation.

Refining the Sword Pill and comprehending the Sword Scripture progressed in parallel, both advancing in an orderly fashion.

Soon, however, an unexpected event interrupted his seclusion.

The Second Elder, who had been away for a long time, had finally returned.

Nearly two years had passed since the Second Elder had volunteered to leave the Eldron Plain to gather information from other Dragon Cities.

The moment he heard the news, Anton immediately rushed to the Eternal Hall.

When he arrived, he saw that, as expected, all the high-ranking members of the Clan were already present.

Even Romance and Eleanor were there.

As Anton stepped into the hall, his gaze fell first upon the Second Elder.

He hadn't seen him in a long time. The Second Elder's features were familiar, but his expression held a hard-to-conceal exhaustion, making him look somewhat worn by time.

Seeing Anton arrive, a slight smile appeared on the Second Elder's face, and he gave Anton a small nod.

He had already learned from the Third Elder about the hunting of the Rock-Horned Dragon and was filled with admiration for Anton's performance in the matter.

'Anton is still Anton, always full of surprises.'

After Anton took his seat, everyone turned their eyes to the Second Elder.

The fact that he had been away on an investigation was no secret among the Clan's upper echelon.

The matter concerned the future of the Clan, and they were all eager to know the results of the Second Elder's investigation.

Facing everyone's stares, the Second Elder wasted no words and got straight to the point.

"Over the past two years, I have visited a total of twenty-five Dragon Cities."

"In eighteen of those Dragon Cities, locals personally witnessed the guardian Giant Dragons leaving the cities, and all were heading toward the center of the continent, where the Dragon Court is located."

"As for the remaining seven Dragon Cities, although no one witnessed the guardian Giant Dragons' departure, I investigated privately for a long time and found some clues."

He paused, his tone growing more solemn.

"Based on these clues, it is highly likely that the guardian Giant Dragons of those seven cities have also quietly left."

As his words fell, a long silence descended upon the hall.

The Great Elder closed his eyes, seemingly digesting this astonishing news.

The Third Elder's brows furrowed deeply.

The others all looked at each other, their expressions grave.

Twenty-five Dragon Cities, and all their guardian Giant Dragons had left.

This was undoubtedly a very abnormal phenomenon.

One or two Giant Dragons leaving could be called a coincidence, but all twenty-five... this definitely couldn't be explained away by coincidence.

Something extremely serious must have happened at the Dragon Court, so much so that all the Giant Dragons simultaneously left their posts to rush back.

After a long while, the Great Elder finally opened his eyes, swept his gaze around the room, and said in a heavy voice, "It seems now that some calamity has certainly befallen the Dragon Court. We must prepare for the worst."

Everyone present nodded.

They were all well aware that given the Dragon Race's current status, any trouble at the Dragon Court could very well plunge the entire continent into turmoil.

This wasn't baseless alarmism.

In the nearly ten thousand years of the Dragon Race's rule, similar incidents were not unheard of.

If they didn't prepare in advance, the consequences awaiting the Clan when the turmoil truly arrived would likely be tragic.

"The Great Elder is right. We must prepare early."

The Third Elder immediately agreed, his gaze sweeping over the worried faces of the crowd.

"But there's no need for everyone to be overly concerned. The Clan's external enemies have been eliminated, and Kresol Dragon City is likely overwhelmed with its own problems right now. They won't be focusing on us. This is a great opportunity for us to develop and grow stronger."

"As long as the Clan is strong, we will have enough power to handle whatever happens in the future."

The Third Elder's words caused many to relax slightly.

More people, however, subconsciously looked toward Anton.

Everyone knew the benefits of the Clan growing strong.

But achieving that goal was not easy.

Fortunately, compared to other factions, the Silver Moon Race had one major advantage—Anton!

In just a few short decades, under Anton's influence, the Silver Moon Race's strength had more than doubled.

It was precisely because of Anton's existence that they held such bright hopes for the Clan's future.

This also led them to agree more deeply with the Third Elder's words.

"Since everyone is here, let's brainstorm and think of ways to increase the Clan's strength," the Third Elder proposed.

Hearing this, everyone's face took on a thoughtful expression.

After a moment, Cedric was the first to speak. "I believe the most important thing right now is to expand our population."

He chose his words carefully before continuing.

"The Clan's total population has just barely reached two thousand. That number is far too small."

"If we want to protect ourselves in the coming turmoil, or even seize the opportunity to grow, we must have a sufficient population base."

Everyone subconsciously nodded, but someone quickly raised a problem.

"That's true, but given our Clan's birth rate, it's impossible to rapidly increase our numbers in a short period."

The Elf Race's low birth rate was famous throughout the entire Dawn Continent.

It was only slightly better than that of the Dragon Race.

It couldn't compare to races like the Human Race, the Sea Race, and the Beastmen.

Cedric had clearly anticipated this problem. Upon hearing the question, he replied without hesitation, "We can absorb other Elf groups."

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