The Elven Cultivator

’So this is the true killing move of a Profound Artifact Sword Pill.’

Anton marveled inwardly.

Unfortunately, this move consumed an immense amount of Divine Sense and True Essence. It could only be used as a trump card in battle, reserved for critical moments.

For everyday combat, he would still have to rely mainly on splitting his sword light.

Regardless, now that he possessed this Profound Artifact, his combat prowess had soared to a whole new level.

If before he was considered top-tier among those at the Golden Peak, now he could look down on everyone in that tier.

Even without using Dark Heavy Water, he was now confident he could take on seven or eight Golden Peak experts at once and emerge victorious.

With enough Dark Heavy Water, he even had the confidence to fight someone of the Legendary Tier.

”Not bad.”

Anton nodded in satisfaction. With a wave of his hand, the long sword condensed from Profound Light suddenly retracted, reverting into a profound-gold pill that silently sank into his chest and returned to the depths of his Qi Sea.

Reaching the Profound Artifact stage was only the beginning.

Setting aside the distant goal of a Spiritual Artifact, even Profound Artifacts themselves had different grades of quality.

The lowest was the Low-grade Profound Artifact.

Its Profound Light was as thin as a cicada’s wing, like the first light of dawn—barely perceptible.

Its spirituality was nascent, its consciousness extremely weak.

His newly ascended Sword Pill was currently at this stage.

Above that was the Mid-grade Profound Artifact.

Its Profound Light would be overflowing, transitioning from thin to thick. The artifact’s spirituality would deepen, and its power would grow even stronger.

And the highest grade, naturally, was the Top-grade Profound Artifact.

Its Profound Light would be like a flame—blazing and solid—and its spirituality would be highly mature.

For a Profound Artifact of this grade, the Profound Light was refined to its absolute limit, giving birth to the first stirrings of a ”self.” It was just one final opportunity away from transforming into an Artifact Spirit.

Once successful, the Profound Artifact would break through to become a Spiritual Artifact, transcending the category of mere objects and crossing the threshold into the realm of living beings.

’Next, I’ll have to keep devouring members of the Dragon Race and other dragonkin to continuously raise the Sword Pill’s quality.’

Anton gazed out the window in the direction of the Thousand-Rock Hills.

’The Profound Artifact is complete, and I’ve mastered the technique of splitting it into sixteen. Now, as long as I can re-condense enough Dark Heavy Water, I can start clearing out the Sighing Crystal Clusters.’

The thought of soon obtaining a Spirit Vein made Anton’s heart burn with excitement.

Without delay, he immediately sat down cross-legged, closed his eyes, and focused his mind, beginning to condense Dark Heavy Water.

With his Cultivation Level breaking through to Eighth-Layer Foundation Establishment and the significant increase in Spiritual Qi concentration after activating the Great Derivation Cyan Profound Array, the time he needed to condense a single drop of Dark Heavy Water had been greatly reduced.

By his careful estimation, he could now condense one drop in about twenty days.

However, his Separation Fire Shield had not yet finished recuperating.

The last time in the Dark Nether Realm, it had taken a joint attack from dozens of Sighing Crystal Clusters head-on. The protective Magical Artifact had suffered considerable damage, and at its current recovery rate, it would take at least two more years to be fully restored.

He had nearly suffered a great loss during his risky hunt for the Sighing Crystal Clusters before; if not for the protection of the Separation Fire Shield, it would have been a disaster. Anton didn’t plan on taking any more chances this time. Instead, he intended to make full preparations before heading to the city-state.

There was no harm in being cautious.

He could afford to wait a mere two years.

He could use this time to properly familiarize himself with his newly ascended Profound Artifact Sword Pill.

...

Anton had spent over a year in seclusion refining his Sword Pill.

So, as soon as word spread that he had come out, many people immediately came to his door.

The fastest to arrive was, naturally, Romance.

The young woman showed up early in the morning and dragged him out of his meditation chamber.

”Anton, you were in seclusion for way too long this time! I haven’t seen a trace of you in over a year. What were you so busy with?”

Anton poured Romance a glass of Honeybell Fruit brew, had her sit at the table, and then slowly explained, ”I was refining a Magical Treasure.”

Over the past two years, Romance had often chatted with Eleanor about the cultivation system. She knew that so-called Magical Treasures were essentially objects with Extraordinary Power, very similar to magic items.

Hearing Anton’s words, she couldn’t help but ask curiously, ”What level of Magical Treasure? Is it as powerful as an Ancient Level item?”

Ancient Level was a tier of magic items higher than Extraordinary Level.

This class of magic items was extremely rare, and their power could, to a certain extent, alter the balance of strength between opponents.

A Silver Tier Warrior possessing Ancient Level Magic Equipment might even be able to kill a Golden Tier opponent.

Of course, that was assuming the user could truly master the item’s power.

Romance knew Anton had refined Extraordinary Level magic items before, and it had never taken him this long.

Now, after a seclusion of over a year, the Magical Treasure he refined was certain to be far more precious and powerful than an Extraordinary Level one.

”Something like that,” Anton said with a smiling nod.

The power of a Profound Artifact was in no way weaker than an Ancient Level magic item; if anything, it was stronger.

Romance clicked her tongue in amazement upon hearing this.

Although she had a carefree personality, it wasn’t as if she knew nothing.

She already thought Extraordinary Level magic items were incredible. She never expected that the thing Anton had concocted this time was a whole tier higher.

’Ancient Level!’

Even Kresol Dragon City might not possess a magic item of this level.

At least, she had never heard any related rumors.

And Anton had actually refined one with his own hands!

”Can I see it?” The anticipation in Romance’s eyes was practically overflowing.

Anton paused for a moment before deciding to grant her wish.

A profound-gold light leaped from his chest and hovered above the table between them, rotating slowly.

Gazing at the fist-sized, profound-gold Sword Pill before her, Romance felt an inexplicable, formless pressure.

”This is the Magical Treasure you were talking about?”

She had originally thought a Magical Treasure would be something like a sword, a blade, or armor, not a small, round bead.

”It’s a Sword Pill,” Anton mentioned simply, without further explanation.

After all, unless one was a Cultivator, it would be difficult to comprehend the mysteries of a Sword Pill.

Romance’s gaze fell upon the Sword Pill, and she curiously reached out a finger, wanting to touch it.

The instant her fingertip was about to touch the pill, the Sword Pill’s surface suddenly lit up. A layer of profound-gold light, as thin as a cicada’s wing, surged out from it and gently repelled her finger.

Romance paused, stunned, and looked up at Anton.

Anton smiled. ”The Sword Pill already has a sliver of self-awareness. It’s wary of being touched by strangers.”

”Self-awareness?”

Romance grew even more astonished.

She had never heard of a magic item possessing self-awareness. This completely overturned her understanding of them.

Romance pulled her finger back and didn’t try to touch it again. She just stared at the Sword Pill with wide eyes, clicking her tongue in wonder.

”So, what does this Magical Treasure do?”

Anton didn’t speak, merely fixing his gaze on the Sword Pill.

In the next instant, a profound-gold sword light flared to life. It danced and raced around the treehouse, leaving dozens of crisscrossing trails of light in the air.

Romance subconsciously held her breath.

When the profound-gold sword light shot past her, she felt a formless sharpness graze the surface of her skin, as if an invisible blade had been dragged across it, making the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.

It was a sense of danger that came from pure instinct.

The sword light hadn’t even touched her, yet her body was already sounding frantic alarms.

It was as if a single, light pass from that sword light could shred her defenses to pieces.

Her formidable physique, tempered by years of cultivating the Eight Desolates Prison-Suppression Scripture, seemed as fragile as paper before that profound-gold sword light.

The sword light flew about the room for a moment before suddenly retracting, reverting into a pill, and disappearing into Anton’s chest.

Everything returned to normal, as if the strange phenomenon just now had been a mere illusion.

Romance sat there in a daze for a few moments before she came back to her senses. She took a deep breath and raised a hand to touch the back of her neck, only to find it covered in a fine layer of cold sweat.

A faint, stinging sensation from the sharp aura lingered on her skin where the sword light had passed.

”S-So powerful...”

she murmured, the shock still lingering in her eyes.

She suddenly understood why Anton had spent over a year refining this Magical Treasure.

Such power was indeed worth the effort.

After marveling for a moment, Romance quickly composed herself.

She suddenly remembered something, and a smug look appeared on her face. ”I almost forgot to tell you—I’ve broken through to the Middle Gold Tier.”

Anton’s expression turned odd.

After deciding to display the sword light, he had been mentally prepared for Romance to guess his identity as Canglan.

After all, as Canglan’s signature combat style, the sword light was just too conspicuous.

Who would have thought that Romance wouldn’t even consider that possibility? It seemed he had been overthinking things.

Anton cleared his throat. He swept his Divine Sense over Romance’s body and, just as he expected, perceived that her qi and blood were even more condensed and robust than the last time they had met.

She was like a dormant volcano—seemingly calm, but actually containing terrifying power ready to erupt at any moment.

”Congratulations,” Anton praised sincerely.

It had only been a short twelve years since Romance had broken through to the Lower Gold Tier.

To advance again in just twelve years was an outstanding speed, even among physical strength cultivators.

Of course, a plentiful supply of resources was also a factor.

The Silver Moon Race had developed rapidly in recent years, opening up many sources of wealth and acquiring large quantities of rare resources. Only then could they afford to support several Golden Tier and a large number of Silver and Black Iron Warriors in their cultivation of the Eight Desolates Prison-Suppression Scripture.

At this rate, perhaps in a few more decades, Romance would be able to advance to the Golden Peak.

A thought suddenly flashed through Anton’s mind.

’Should I refine a Magical Artifact for Romance?’

’And not just for Romance. I could also help the other Golden Tier cultivators in the clan who practice the Eight Desolates Prison-Suppression Scripture by refining Magical Artifacts for them to boost their combat power.’

’After all, once we take the city-state, we can continue exploring other areas of the Dark Nether Realm.’

’That vast subterranean world has resources far beyond imagination. We definitely can’t give up on it.’

’But exploring it alone would be far too inefficient. The clan will definitely have to get involved.’

’It would be easier later on if I strengthen Romance and the others now.’

He hadn’t had such a thought before because the materials for refining Magical Artifacts were scarce.

Now, however, the clan’s treasury held a large stock of rare materials, and he also had quite a few materials salvaged from the Extraordinary Level Magic Equipment he’d gotten from the Dragon Race’s consul. It was more than enough to refine a few Magical Artifacts.

Having thought of this, Anton made up his mind. He looked up and said, ”I happen to have some free time recently. Why don’t I refine a Magical Artifact for you? Hmm, it would be roughly equivalent to an Extraordinary Level piece of Magic Equipment. What kind do you want? A weapon or armor?”

Romance’s eyes instantly lit up, and she threw herself at Anton, hugging him tightly.

”Haha, Anton, you’re the best!”

The young woman’s voice was filled with irrepressible joy.

Although she was already a Middle Gold Tier Warrior and considered one of the top experts in the clan, Extraordinary Level Magic Equipment was not something just anyone could possess.

In the entire Silver Moon Race, besides the few pieces Anton had refined himself, there were no other pieces of Extraordinary Level Magic Equipment.

Anton subconsciously wrapped his arms around Romance. Feeling the warmth from her body, he shook his head and chuckled.

He waited until Romance had calmed down from her excitement before repeating his earlier question.

Romance answered without a second thought, ”A War Axe, of course!”

Anton wasn’t surprised by this answer. He asked her for specific requirements and finally said with a smile, ”I’ll let you know as soon as the Magical Artifact is finished.”

The two chatted for a while longer before Romance left, completely satisfied.

But no sooner had she left than Eleanor arrived at the door.