The Elven Cultivator

By now, Anton had long since become the standard-bearer for the Silver Moon Clan.

A standard-bearer, leading the Clan forward.

In the hearts of the young Elves, he was the embodiment of hope.

It was because of him that the Clan had risen from its former decline to its current strength.

In the hearts of the elder Elves, he carried even more weight.

They had lived through the Clan’s darkest years and watched with their own eyes as Anton single-handedly turned the Clan’s fate around, pulling it from the mire and helping it grow strong.

In the eyes of the clansmen, Anton’s status was no less than that of the Elder Council.

”I just came to take a look. You can carry on with your work.”

Anton gave the guards a slight nod and left without breaking his stride.

Only after Anton’s figure disappeared around the corner of the corridor did the group of Elf Guards finally relax, their faces showing uncontrollable excitement.

”I never expected Lord Anton to be so approachable.”

”You just joined the Clan recently, so it’s normal that you don’t know. Lord Anton is famous for his kindness. I’ve never heard of him looking down on any ordinary clansman.”

”A few days ago, I went back to the forest. The concentration of elemental energy there has surged, making cultivation much faster than before. I heard it’s because Lord Anton set up an Array. He’s truly amazing.”

”I wonder what Lord Anton is doing here in the Dark Nether Realm?”

”Alright.” The captain coughed lightly, interrupting his subordinates’ conversation. He said sternly, ”Stop prying into Lord Anton’s affairs. And don’t forget we’re still on duty. If you want to chat, do it when you get back.”

The guards fell silent, reformed their ranks, and continued along their designated patrol route.

Anton paid no mind to the guards’ discussion behind him and headed straight for the city-state.

Unlike the other areas, no additional glowing plants were planted near the city-state. Clearly, the Clan didn’t want to attract the attention of the Sigh Crystal Clusters inside.

If the Sigh Crystal Clusters were ever drawn out of the city-state by the light sources on a whim, it would be a huge problem for both the mining area and the patrolling guards.

Before long, the city-state appeared in his field of vision.

It was still the same familiar cluster of twisted buildings, but the outermost purple barrier of light had disappeared.

Anton wasn’t surprised.

Without the Mind Flayer to maintain it, the isolation Array, relying solely on its original Magic Stones, couldn’t last long before shutting down on its own.

With the isolation Array’s shield gone, Anton’s Divine Sense could finally spread into the city-state’s interior without obstruction.

He located the group of Sigh Crystal Clusters almost instantly.

They were all gathered in the central cavern.

Over seventy Sigh Crystal Clusters floated in mid-air. The clusters slowly opened and closed, emitting waves of sighs that rose and fell like a low, eerie symphony.

They greedily absorbed elemental energy from the air. Their gray-white crystalline surfaces shimmered with a cold, faint light under the fluorescent glow, completely engrossed in absorbing the dense energy released from the Earth Vein Node, utterly unconcerned with the outside world.

’They’re certainly taking it easy.’

Anton cast the Shadow Travel Skill, his form melting into the shadows. He silently slipped past the city-state’s outer buildings and crept toward the central cavern.

While still some distance from the cavern, Anton stopped. He released three Five Camp Divine Soldiers and directed them to step inside.

However, the Sigh Crystal Clusters merely glanced at the Five Camp Divine Soldiers before looking away to continue absorbing energy, showing no intention of even moving.

’Is it because the Five Camp Divine Soldiers are puppets and have no life force?’

Anton fell into thought. After a moment, he simply ordered the Five Camp Divine Soldiers to attack the nearest Sigh Crystal Cluster.

This was like poking a hornet’s nest. The once-quiet cavern instantly erupted into chaos.

The sighs suddenly rose in pitch, transforming from low laments into sharp shrieks.

Dozens of Sigh Crystal Clusters turned toward the entrance at once. Gray petrification rays shot from their crevices, raining down on the Five Camp Divine Soldiers.

CRACK!

The three Five Camp Divine Soldiers were instantly turned to stone, frozen in place.

After destroying the Five Camp Divine Soldiers, the Sigh Crystal Clusters stirred for a moment before gradually settling down again.

A glint flashed in Anton’s eyes. This time, he released a hundred Five Camp Divine Soldiers in one go. They charged into the cavern, launched a volley of attacks at the Sigh Crystal Clusters without a second thought, and then turned to flee.

The Sigh Crystal Clusters immediately let out furious, sharp shrieks. A synchronized volley of rays instantly destroyed more than twenty of the Five Camp Divine Soldiers lagging behind, and then they pursued the rest out of the cavern.

However, once outside the cavern, the Five Camp Divine Soldiers scattered, fleeing quickly in three different directions.

Watching this, some of the Sigh Crystal Clusters stopped. After a moment’s hesitation, they turned and returned to the cavern.

The remaining Sigh Crystal Clusters split into three groups and gave chase to the Five Camp Divine Soldiers.

Anton’s gaze fell on the smallest group of Sigh Crystal Clusters. He hesitated for a moment but decided to follow them.

Although it was the smallest group, it still consisted of twelve Sigh Crystal Clusters, exceeding his original expectation of ten.

But he had gone to all this trouble to lure them out. It would be a waste to give up without even trying.

The power gap between the Five Camp Divine Soldiers and the Sigh Crystal Clusters was simply too large. It wasn’t long before the latter caught up and turned them all to stone.

Anton estimated that he was now far enough from the central cavern, so he decisively revealed himself and made his move.

Giving the Sigh Crystal Clusters no time to react, he suddenly raised his hand and unleashed all his Dark Heavy Water at once.

In the next instant, a hundred streams of inky light shot from his palm, crashing down on the Sigh Crystal Clusters like a torrential downpour.

The twelve Sigh Crystal Clusters reacted almost simultaneously. Their crevices opened, and gray rays shot out like raindrops.

However, faced with the more powerful and numerous streams of Dark Heavy Water, their counterattack was meaningless.

The inky water droplets came down like crushing mountains, slamming into the rays with unstoppable force and instantly obliterating them.

The only price paid was the dissipation of a dozen or so drops of Dark Heavy Water at the forefront.

The rest continued unabated, crashing into the Sigh Crystal Clusters.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

A series of dull impacts exploded through the air.

To maximize the destructive effect, Anton focused his attack on seven of the Sigh Crystal Clusters.

The moment they were struck by the Dark Heavy Water, the crystalline shells of the seven Sigh Crystal Clusters shattered. Shards flew everywhere, and a gray-white crystal powder spread like smoke.

Before they could even react, the seven Sigh Crystal Clusters were killed on the spot. Their massive, spherical bodies crashed to the ground, their shells covered in a spiderweb of cracks.

The remaining five Sigh Crystal Clusters were sent tumbling by the shockwave. Their own clusters trembled, and their sighs became sharp and panicked.

Anton didn’t stop.

He waved his command flag again. A five-colored radiance erupted, and over eighteen hundred Five Camp Divine Soldiers leaped out, forming three Five Elements Grand Arrays that trapped three of the Sigh Crystal Clusters.

At the same time, his Sword Pill shot out from his chest, split into eight in mid-air, and flew swiftly toward the remaining two Sigh Crystal Clusters.

From the very start, Anton was using his full power.

The sword-light collided with the crystalline shells, creating a harsh, grating sound.

Crystal fragments flew as the Sigh Crystal Clusters’ shells were peeled away layer by layer under the cutting power of the sword-light.

The two Sigh Crystal Clusters shot petrification rays from their crevices, attempting to shatter the sword-light.

But the sword-light was as nimble as a swallow. It managed to narrowly dodge the rays every time, attacking from cunning angles.

In just a moment, the sword-light pierced through one of the Sigh Crystal Cluster’s crystal cores, and its body crashed to the ground.

Just as Anton was about to press his advantage and finish off the second Sigh Crystal Cluster, his gaze suddenly sharpened.

Dozens of extremely cold auras were rapidly approaching from a distance.

Apparently, the other Sigh Crystal Clusters had noticed the situation here.

Anton sighed softly. He made a split-second decision. The sword-light wrapped around the eight Sigh Crystal Cluster corpses on the ground, pulling them into his Qiankun Bag. Then, he recalled the Five Camp Divine Soldiers, enveloped himself in sword-light, and turned to leave without hesitation.

Dozens of gray rays shot toward him from behind, sweeping toward Anton like a gray torrent.

Without slowing down, he threw up the Separation Fire Shield, which released a Crimson Gold Light Curtain to envelop him.

BOOM!

The Crimson Gold Light Curtain trembled violently. The flame patterns on its surface flared brightly as it just barely withstood the volley.

But soon, the light curtain dimmed rapidly.

The Separation Fire Shield suspended above his head let out a low hum, like the groan of a wounded beast. Its light suddenly receded, and it fell from the air.

Anton reached out and caught the Separation Fire Shield, stuffing it into his Qiankun Bag without a second glance.

Using the brief respite the Separation Fire Shield had bought him, he had already created a considerable distance.

The sword-light traced a silvery-white arc through the darkness, like a meteor streaking across the night sky, and vanished in an instant into the depths of the Dark Nether Realm.

The dozens of Sigh Crystal Clusters couldn’t catch up. They could only shriek a few times in vain before giving up resentfully and returning to their cavern.

...

After leaving the city-state, Anton confirmed there were no more pursuers behind him before slowing down and letting out a long breath.

He took out the Separation Fire Shield to examine it closely. Several fine cracks now marred its bell-shaped outer wall, stretching from the top to the rim like those on shattered porcelain.

The widest crack ran almost completely through the bell’s wall. The light of the restrictions within could be faintly seen through the fissure, flickering as if it might go out at any moment.

Even for the Separation Fire Shield, taking a combined attack from dozens of Golden Peak-level beings head-on had brought it to the brink of destruction.

If not for the successive breakthroughs in Anton’s Cultivation Level over the years, which made his control and the defensive power of the Separation Fire Shield much stronger, he probably wouldn’t have been able to block that last attack.

’Good thing it held.’

Anton felt a sense of relief and stored the Separation Fire Shield in his Dantian to be nurtured.

A damaged Magical Artifact needs to be nurtured for a period of time to fully recover.

Given the extent of the damage to the Separation Fire Shield, it would probably be four or five years before it could be used again.

Fortunately, the goal of this trip had been perfectly achieved.

With the corpses of the eight Sigh Crystal Clusters in his Qiankun Bag, it was enough for his Sword Pill to break through.

Suppressing his excitement, Anton left the Dark Nether Realm and returned to the Silver Moon Forest.

Upon entering his treehouse, Anton went straight to his meditation chamber. He took the eight Sigh Crystal Cluster corpses from his Qiankun Bag and commanded his Sword Pill to begin devouring and absorbing them.

In just a short while, the Sword Pill had completely devoured the eight corpses, leaving nothing but a pile of gray-white powder on the floor.

It floated in mid-air, its surface now covered in fine dragon patterns.

These dragon patterns were no longer silver-white but a deep, dark gold, flowing slowly over the Sword Pill’s surface as if they were alive.

An indescribably sharp aura emanated from the Sword Pill, cutting through the air like an invisible blade. Even the Light Source Stone in the meditation chamber trembled slightly, its light flickering.

’Just one last step.’

Anton retracted the Sword Pill back into his Qi Sea.

Primordial True Essence surged forward, enveloping the Sword Pill in layer after layer, and began to refine it.

A Sword Pill refined with the Devouring Spirit Dao required re-refining with every breakthrough to achieve a deeper fusion with the Cultivator’s Divine Soul and True Essence.

This process could take anywhere from a few days to several months, depending on the quality of the Sword Pill and the Cultivator’s Cultivation Level.

In the blink of an eye, silence returned to the meditation chamber.

Only the soft light of the Light Source Stone flowed through the room, illuminating Anton’s seated figure and casting a still silhouette on the wall.