The Elven Cultivator

After the war ended, the Clan’s demand for Rune Equipment and various potions dropped sharply.

Anton was finally freed from his heavy logistical duties, allowing him to devote his energy to his own cultivation and research.

「Spring, Chenxi Calendar year 9304.」

「Silver Moon Forest. A treehouse.」

In the artifact refining room, the Five Elements True Flame burned fiercely in the furnace.

The five-colored glow of the flames passed through the hollow patterns on the furnace lid, casting ever-changing shadows on the walls and dividing the room into a strange tableau of intersecting light and darkness.

Anton sat cross-legged before the artifact refining furnace, his expression focused. His Divine Sense, like invisible tentacles, reached deep into the furnace, connecting intimately with the Red Gold Liquid Mass suspended in the core of the flame.

This Red Gold Liquid Mass had been created from a Sunflare Emblem as its primary component. It was supplemented by over twenty other materials—including Fire Crystal Sand, Red Copper Essence, and Melt Heart Grass juice—all repeatedly tempered, purified, and fused by the Five Elements True Flame.

The Sunflare Emblem was originally an Extraordinary Level magical item, containing an extremely rich Fire Attribute energy.

After being calcined by the Five Elements True Flame, the original rune structures belonging to the magic system were completely broken down and melted, leaving only the purest Fire Attribute essence, like an uncut jade waiting to be granted a new form and a Spiritual nature.

And what would grant it this Spiritual nature were the eighty-one restrictions Anton was inscribing within it, using his Divine Sense as a brush and his True Essence as ink.

Each restriction was a miniature Array, layered one upon another and interlinked like chains. It was like constructing an intricate pavilion; one restriction too few and the foundation would be unstable, one too many and it would lose balance and collapse.

After more than ten days of hard work, all eighty-one restrictions had now been completely inscribed.

Next was the final step: ’Restriction Fusing’.

The so-called Restriction Fusing was the process of integrating these eighty-one independent restrictions into one, causing them to connect and resonate with each other to form a complete, unified whole.

This step seemed simple, but was in fact the most difficult.

The eighty-one restrictions were like eighty-one untamable flood dragons, each with its own temperament. The slightest mistake would cause them to clash. In a mild case, the restrictions would collapse and all previous work would be for naught; in a severe case, the Spiritual Fire would backlash and injure him.

Anton took a deep breath. His Divine Sense condensed into a single thread, like an invisible string, passing through the layers of restrictions and linking them together one by one.

The first restriction lit up.

The second followed close behind.

The third, the fourth, the fifth…

The restrictions lit up one after another, and a red-gold light flowed within the liquid mass, like a river of stars.

The moment the eighty-first restriction lit up, all the light abruptly retracted, as if compressed, condensed, and sedimented by an invisible force.

The liquid mass began to tremble violently. Bubble-like protrusions swelled on its surface before quickly smoothing out, as if something were struggling within.

Anton’s expression remained unchanged. He continued to stabilize the restrictions with his Divine Sense and nurture the liquid mass with his True Essence.

After an unknown amount of time, the trembling of the liquid mass finally subsided.

Inside the furnace, the Five Elements True Flame still burned fiercely, its five-colored glow cycling without end.

And that red-gold liquid mass had already transformed into an inverted, bell-shaped object, floating quietly in the core of the flame.

The body of the bell was entirely red-gold, its surface smooth as a mirror. Faint ripples flowed across it, like solidified magma.

The rim of the bell was smooth and flared slightly outward. A ring of fine, fiery patterns was condensed at the edge. Each line seemed to conform to the profound principles of heaven and earth, as if not carved by human hands, but naturally formed by the Great Dao itself.

The top of the bell was a curved arch, and in its very center was a fingernail-sized Red Gold Crystal Stone.

That was the artifact’s core, the very heart of the entire Magical Artifact. Anton had forged it by fusing his own True Essence with the Fire Attribute Magic Power polymer left after decomposing the Sunflare Emblem.

Peering inside through the Crystal Stone, one could faintly see the light of the eighty-one restrictions flowing within, like a field of stars, like dragons and snakes in motion.

The Separation Fire Shield was complete!

Anton slowly opened his eyes, a five-colored light flashing in them for a moment before vanishing.

He did not rush to take out the Magical Artifact. Instead, he raised a hand and beckoned.

The furnace lid flew off on its own. The Five Elements True Flame receded like a tide, withdrawing into his body.

The Red Gold Bell Cover slowly rose from the furnace and hovered in mid-air, its entire body radiating a warm, gentle light.

Anton reached out his hand. The bell cover slowly drifted down, hovering and rotating an inch above his palm.

Examining it up close, the patterns on the bell’s body were even clearer, deeply embedded within the metal. They looked like veins that had grown naturally as the metal solidified—perfectly formed, without the slightest trace of tool marks.

Anton could feel a mysterious connection between himself and this Separation Fire Shield, as if their very lifeblood was linked.

”Go.”

With a mere thought, the Separation Fire Shield shot up, expanded rapidly in mid-air, and transformed into a giant, ten-foot-tall red-gold bell that enveloped him completely.

On the bell’s inner wall, all eighty-one restrictions lit up simultaneously. A red-gold light flowed like mercury, illuminating the space within.

Looking at the translucent, almost illusory walls of the bell, a genuinely joyous smile finally appeared on Anton’s face.

Refining the Magical Artifact had been more complex and difficult than he had anticipated.

From researching substitute materials to finally succeeding in refining the Separation Fire Shield, the entire process had taken him more than a year.

Fortunately, the result was gratifying.

With this protective Magical Artifact, his combat survivability would undoubtedly be greatly enhanced.

If he had the Separation Fire Shield to protect him back when he fought Zhuo Gu, the battle would have been much easier.

’Its more specific functions will have to be tested in actual combat.’

Anton mused to himself.

The process of refining the Separation Fire Shield was also a process of deeply studying and mastering Arrays.