The Elven Cultivator

Autumn, Year 9357 of the Chenxi Calendar.

Treehouse, meditation chamber.

Anton sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion with his eyes gently closed, his breathing long and subtle, his entire body as motionless as a statue.

Within his Dantian’s Qi Sea, Primordial True Essence slowly swirled like a five-colored cloud of light, enveloping the Sword Pill layer by layer.

The dark gold dragon patterns that had once covered the Sword Pill’s surface were now slowly squirming and contracting as if they were alive.

They transformed into slithering spirit snakes, winding across the Sword Pill’s surface, sometimes gathering together, other times scattering apart.

And with each cycle of gathering and scattering, one of the dragon patterns would sink into the Sword Pill and disappear.

With each one that vanished, the Sword Pill grew a fraction brighter, and the intensity of its vibrations increased.

After more than a year of refinement, the Sword Pill’s transformation had reached its final, critical stage.

Completing this final step would bring about a qualitative sublimation.

The moment the last dragon pattern sank into the Sword Pill, the pill jolted violently and let out a sword hum that seemed to resonate from the very soul.

At the same time, the Primordial True Essence enveloping the Sword Pill contracted sharply, diminishing at a rate visible to the naked eye.

Like a bottomless pit, the Sword Pill greedily devoured every wisp of True Essence as its surface began to radiate a golden light.

At first, it was just a faint gold, like the light of early dawn.

Then, the color gradually deepened, shifting from brilliant gold to crimson gold, from crimson gold to dark gold, and finally settling into a profound, mystical gold that seemed to hold an endless river of stars.

An unknown amount of time passed before the Sword Pill finally stopped devouring energy. After a gentle tremor, it leaped from Anton’s chest and hovered in the air before him, slowly rotating on its own.

The light from the Light Source Stone shone upon the Sword Pill’s surface, refracting into fine specks of starlight, creating a truly beautiful sight.

Anton stared at it, examining it closely.

The Sword Pill was the same size, but its entire body now bore a deep, mystical gold hue.

The color was neither the dazzling brilliance of gold nor the dull tarnish of bronze, but rather a reserved luster that seemed to have been tempered by ages of time and sharpness.

Its surface was as smooth as a mirror, without a single pattern, yet a faint, star-like glimmer seemed to flow within it—silent and subtle, but containing an indescribable power.

Upon closer inspection, one would discover that the starlight was not floating randomly but moving along some profound trajectory, as if a miniature star were breathing and pulsing inside the Sword Pill.

This was the Sword Pill’s true form.

Now, it no longer needed external dragon patterns to display its extraordinariness.

The dragon had returned to the abyss, its edge concealed within.

Only when it was unleashed would its true face be revealed.

”It’s done.”

A smile blossomed on Anton’s face, gradually widening until it erupted into heartfelt, booming laughter.

After investing so much time and energy, and expending countless efforts and materials, he had finally strengthened the Sword Pill to the level of a Profound Artifact.

This was his first Profound Artifact!

’To possess a Profound Artifact during the Foundation Establishment Stage... Even in the Cultivation Realm, that’s a privilege reserved for the direct disciples of top-tier sects.’

Anton’s heart was filled with irrepressible joy.

’Under normal circumstances, it’s virtually impossible for someone at the Foundation Establishment cultivation level to forge a Profound Artifact.’

’Setting aside the issue of materials, the True Essence of a Foundation Establishment Stage cultivator alone is insufficient to support the entire forging process for a Profound Artifact.’

’But I took a different path. I used the Devouring Spirit Dao to refine the Sword Pill and took advantage of the numerous Dragon Race and draconic subspecies on the Dawn Continent. Using their blood essence and souls as nourishment, I gave the Sword Pill ample nutrients to grow, and that’s how I successfully strengthened it to the Profound Artifact level.’

’Even so, it took over fifty years from start to finish.’

’I devoured no fewer than three thousand members of the Dragon Race and its subspecies.’

’Among them, the number of Golden Peak beings reached double digits.’

’How incredibly difficult it was.’

’Thankfully, the effort finally paid off.’

Anton gazed at the Sword Pill, feeling a connection that was completely different from before, and he couldn’t help but feel overjoyed.

A Sword Pill at the Magical Artifact level, while already controllable as an extension of one’s own arm, was essentially still a one-way output of commands.

The Sword Pill had no ”self” and wouldn’t actively cooperate; it only passively accepted commands from his Divine Sense.

It was like an exquisitely sharpened blade. No matter how skillfully the wielder brandished it, the blade itself was just a tool. It wouldn’t proactively seek an enemy’s weakness or adjust its angle to complement its master’s strike.

But now, he could clearly feel an additional, mystical layer of connection between himself and the Sword Pill.

It wasn’t just a link of Divine Sense and True Essence, but a resonance that was almost instinctual.

He could ”feel” the Sword Pill’s ”emotions”—a vague, nascent perception, like that of a newborn infant.

There was no joy, anger, sorrow, or happiness, only the most basic feelings of ”intimacy” and ”wariness.”

Intimacy toward him, and wariness toward all unfamiliar auras.

This was a Profound Artifact.

The fundamental difference between a Profound Artifact and a Magical Artifact was that the object itself had given birth to Profound Light.

Profound Light was not a simple emission of radiance, but the external manifestation of the artifact’s burgeoning spirituality.

It was a state of being somewhere between ”pure energy” and ”vague consciousness.”

A transition from ’inanimate’ to ’animate’.

A Profound Artifact already possessed a faint trace of self-awareness, allowing it to sense its master’s emotions and intentions, and even react on its own without explicit commands.

If a Magical Artifact was like a blunt weapon, requiring its wielder to swing with full force to harm an enemy...

...then a Profound Artifact was like a loyal, obedient combat partner, able to sense its wielder’s will, actively cooperate, and achieve twice the result with half the effort.

This was the fundamental reason why Profound Artifacts were superior to Magical Artifacts.

Above Profound Artifacts, there were Spiritual Artifacts, True Artifacts, and Dao Artifacts.

Each step up in rank represented a leap in the very essence of its life.

From an ”inanimate object” to a ”living being.”

From an ”artifact” to a ”spirit.”

This was fundamentally different from the magical items of the Dawn Continent.

Within the Dawn Continent’s system of magical items, there was no concept corresponding to ”spiritual awakening.”

Even the highest-tier, Extraordinary Level magical items were merely the pinnacle of material craftsmanship, showing no budding signs of life.

They might be powerful, or exquisitely crafted, but they would never ’come alive.’

Beyond all this, the Sword Pill’s Profound Light possessed qualities that the Profound Light of an ordinary Profound Artifact lacked.

The Profound Light of a typical Profound Artifact was often the external manifestation of a certain Law.

The Profound Light of an ice-attribute Profound Artifact carried a chill.

The Profound Light of a Fire Attribute Profound Artifact carried heat.

But the Sword Pill’s Profound Light did not adhere to the Five Elements, nor did it belong to yin or yang. It was simply pure ’sharpness’ and ’speed.’

It was a cutting edge that bordered on the Dao itself.

This perfectly matched the Dao of the Sword Cultivator: to shatter all techniques with a single sword, relying on nothing external, only on pure sharpness.

After examining it for a moment, Anton’s interest was piqued. With a flicker of his will, the Sword Pill abruptly lit up.

A streak of mystical golden sword light erupted from the Sword Pill, like a flood dragon emerging from the abyss, and began to crisscross the meditation chamber.

At times it was like a meteor chasing the moon, faster than a flash of lightning.

At other times, it was like a fish frolicking in water, graceful and free.

It moved so fast that it left countless afterimages in the air, making it seem as if dozens of streaks of sword light were dancing in the chamber at once.

Unlike before, every turn, acceleration, and change in direction was smoother, more precise, and swifter than it had been prior to the breakthrough.

It was as if the sword light could sense his intentions in advance, reacting the very instant a thought formed in his mind.

The sword light arrived before the thought was even fully formed.

This was the state of ”Heart-Sword Union.”

The corners of Anton’s mouth turned up slightly. He continued to channel his will into the sword light, executing the Light Splitting and Reunification technique.

The sword light instantly split into eight, transforming into eight mystical golden flood dragons that coiled and soared around the meditation chamber.

The eight streaks of sword light weaved and danced, echoing one another like a perfectly coordinated Sword Array, blanketing every inch of the chamber under a canopy of light.

Anton focused his senses for a moment and discovered that his True Essence consumption was now almost the same as when he had split the light into four at the Magical Artifact level.

’Has the True Essence consumption also been reduced?’

Anton contemplated this for a while and quickly understood the reason.

After ascending to a Profound Artifact, the self-awareness born within the Sword Pill allowed it to actively absorb the free-roaming energy in the world to replenish its own consumption.

While he was controlling it, the Sword Pill would draw energy from its surroundings on its own, as naturally as a human breathes.

He didn’t need to deliberately guide it.

Although the rate of replenishment was far slower than the rate of consumption, it still significantly lessened the burden on Anton’s True Essence.

This meant he could now use the one-into-eight split as a standard combat technique.

Anton was overjoyed and continued to channel his will into the sword light.

The eight streaks of sword light trembled and then split once more.

Sixteen streaks of mystical golden sword light dodged and weaved, flickering unpredictably. They manifested countless, densely packed rays of light in the air, nearly filling every inch of the meditation chamber.

Watching this scene, Anton felt a growing sense of exhilaration.

Although he had previously touched the threshold of splitting the light into sixteen, he had never been able to truly master it.

But now, with the Sword Pill’s active cooperation, he had executed it effortlessly, and the True Essence consumption was much lower than he had anticipated.

Although he couldn’t yet use it as freely as the one-into-eight split, it was more than enough to serve as a trump card for a critical moment.

Anton then tried to split the sword light again, attempting to break through to the realm of splitting one into thirty-two.

But this time, he failed.

On the verge of splitting, the sword light vibrated violently a few times but ultimately failed to stabilize, merging back into sixteen streaks.

Seeing this, Anton wasn’t discouraged.

’With the Sword Pill’s cooperation, I believe I’ll soon master the technique of splitting the sword light into thirty-two.’

Composing himself, Anton gestured with his hand once more.

The sixteen streaks of sword light dancing and flickering through the air abruptly froze. They then converged in an instant, silently merging into one. They formed a single beam of sword light, about three feet and three inches long, hovering before him.

The entire beam of light was condensed from pure, transparent Profound Light, with starlight faintly visible flowing along its edges, like a Long Sword forged from the stars themselves.

It was as ethereal as a dream, yet as solid as a mountain.

Merely hovering there, it exuded an intangible sense of pressure, as if an ancient, ferocious beast lay dormant within, ready to pounce and devour someone at any moment.

After breaking through to the Profound Artifact level, the Sword Pill would manifest an ability that ordinary Profound Artifacts did not possess.

The manifestation of its true form.

In other words, the Sword Pill’s current state.

This was no ordinary transformation of shape. It was the condensation of the Sword Pill’s full might into a single blade, intended to destroy an enemy in one strike with the purest, most extreme sharpness.

At this moment, as Anton gazed at the Long Sword condensed from Profound Light before him, he could clearly feel the terrifying power contained within.

’I fear even a Golden Peak expert would be instantly turned to ash by this single strike.’