The Elven Cultivator

It was a feeling that grew from the depths of their chests—heavy and searing. It filled them with confidence amid the grim war preparations, dispelling any fear of the hardships to come.

...

「Eternal Hall.」

People filled the seats around the long table.

The Clan leadership was gathered once again.

The Great Elder, seated at the head of the table, slowly swept his gaze over everyone present.

”This time, our success in repelling Kresol Dragon City’s offensive on the main front and forcing them to pay a heavy price was entirely due to the full cooperation of everyone here, and the valiant fight of all our clan members.”

”This battle has proven that our years of effort have not been in vain.”

”Even when facing an enemy like Kresol Dragon City, the Silver Moon Race has shown we can hold our own.”

The hall was silent, with only the Great Elder’s voice echoing within.

The Elves’ faces showed unconcealable joy, but they restrained themselves from interrupting.

Though it was a victory speech, the Great Elder remained as concise as ever, concluding his remarks after a few short sentences before continuing:

”But the war is not over. The real test is yet to come.”

The Great Elder looked at Eleanor. ”Eleanor, report on the battlefield situation.”

Eleanor nodded slightly and spoke calmly:

”After the fighting ended yesterday, Kresol Dragon City’s army retreated nearly ten kilometers. They are currently making camp near some low hills.”

”According to the Mirror Shadow Sparrows’ observations, they are regrouping their routed forces, reorganizing their ranks, and transporting supplies from the rear. Judging by their current level of disorganization and resource consumption, they will need at least four to five days to recover. It’s unlikely they will launch another attack in the short term.”

”I have already expanded the coverage of the Great Derivation Cyan Profound Array outward, bringing the battlefield area back under the Array’s protection. With the Array’s protection, the cleanup crews can work safely without fear of a sneak attack from the Dragon City.”

The Great Elder nodded slightly and turned to Ilanna at his side. ”How is the battlefield cleanup progressing?”

Ilanna had a smile on her face, clearly in a good mood.

She took a sheet of sheepskin paper from the folder in front of her, unfolded it, and reported, ”We have already thoroughly surveyed the battlefield. The amount of spoils we’ve collected is considerable.”

”Among the Golem wreckage, there were many intact Magic Cores. By a rough estimate, we recovered at least three thousand of them. The metal from the wreckage itself is also of good quality. It can be melted down into ingots and used as raw material for crafting Rune Equipment or creating Alchemy Puppets.”

”As for equipment, we mainly recovered Magic Equipment from the Dragon Race soldiers. We salvaged over three thousand seven hundred pieces. However, only about a third of them are intact or lightly damaged and can be used again after minor repairs. The rest are severely damaged, but they can be broken down into magical materials for reuse.”

”These two types of materials alone are enough to cover our losses of Rune Equipment in this battle, with a considerable surplus besides.”

”Additionally, there’s the equipment from the Vassal Army, the corpses of the Poisonmane and Firemane Beasts, and other materials, which also amount to a significant haul.”

The atmosphere in the hall lightened a little more.

Not only had they defended their home, but they had also turned a profit from the war. This was undoubtedly good news.

Eleanor then interjected, ”Don’t dispose of the Dragon Race corpses yet. Find an open space and pile them up.”

Meeting the slightly puzzled gazes of the others, she explained, ”Before he went into seclusion, Anton instructed me to save all the Dragon Race corpses recovered from the battlefield. He wants to refine them with the Essence-Devouring Gourd. He has a use for them later.”

As she spoke, she flipped her wrist, and a palm-sized gourd appeared out of thin air in her hand.

The gourd was grayish-white, its surface covered in tiny pores.

This was a Magical Artifact refined by Anton, specifically for absorbing the essence of dragon-kind.

One only had to aim the gourd’s mouth at a corpse. The gourd would then spray a thin, gray mist from its pores to envelop the body. The essence within the flesh, blood, and marrow would be drawn into the mist and sucked back into the gourd, condensing into a liquid.

Elena nodded without hesitation. ”Since Anton specifically requested it, I’ll arrange for people to move the corpses right away.”

The other Elves had no objections either.

Although the scales, horns, and blood of the Dragon Race were excellent materials for alchemy and potions—with materials from high-blooded members of the Dragon Race being particularly valuable—no one would object now that Anton had made a request.

Once the accounting of the spoils was complete, the topic quickly shifted to a battle debrief.

Cedric was the first to speak. ”In this battle, the Forest Guard had a total of one hundred twenty-three killed in action and one hundred eighty-five seriously wounded. Minor injuries were not counted. The seriously wounded have all received timely treatment, and thanks to the Regeneration Potions and Life Spring Water, their recovery is going well.”

”The losses among the animated plants and Alchemy Puppets were more severe. The Living Thorns and Sentinel Trees were almost completely wiped out. More than half of the Oak Wardens fell in battle. Over three hundred of the Five Camp Divine Soldiers were completely destroyed, and the rest have sustained varying degrees of damage. I have already sent people to begin repairs immediately.”

Hearing these casualty numbers, the high-ranking Elves present looked somber, but they also breathed a slight sigh of relief.

It’s impossible to have a war without death.

Repelling an army of tens of thousands from Kresol Dragon City at the cost of just over a hundred lives was an exchange that could only be described as glorious.

One had to remember that Kresol Dragon City’s death toll was several hundred times their own.

The Vassal Army had over ten thousand deaths, with countless more wounded.

The Golem Legion was completely annihilated.

Even among the Dragon Race soldiers, the estimated number of deaths was no less than three thousand, which was nearly a third of the entire Radiant Flame Legion.

Kresol Dragon City was definitely feeling the sting of their losses far more than they were.

The reason they were able to achieve such a lopsided casualty ratio was mainly because they had the Great Derivation Cyan Profound Array at their backs, support from various potions like the Regeneration Potion, and because the animated plants and Alchemy Puppets had absorbed the brunt of the losses.

Putting everything else aside, the three hundred-plus Five Camp Divine Soldiers were equivalent to over three hundred Silver Peak combatants. ’Losses’ on that scale would be a devastating blow to any faction.

Of course, there was another equally important factor: the information gap.

Kresol Dragon City had no idea of their true strength and was naturally caught off guard, suffering a huge defeat.

Next time, they would be prepared, and it would be difficult to catch them by surprise like this again.

As Cedric finished speaking, a quiet solemnity filled the hall, a shared grief suppressed deep in their hearts.

Darian took the opportunity to continue. ”During the war, the Great Derivation Cyan Profound Array withstood extremely powerful attacks. To maintain the Array’s operation, the Eternal Tree and the Life Spring Water consumed a massive amount of energy. If we face another war of the same intensity, I’m afraid we will have to rely on Spirit Stones to power it.”

He paused, then added, ”Also, we’ve used up more than half of our Sensing Spirit Stones and Talismans. We’ll need to arrange for more to be produced with haste.”

Other high-ranking Elves also gave their reports one by one: on the casualties among the Scale Rock Lizard cavalry mounts, the consumption rate of their potion reserves, and the progress of rebuilding the Wall of Thorns and the Sentinel Tree defensive line.

After listening to all the reports, the Great Elder nodded slightly and said in a deep voice:

”The war is not over. In the coming period, we must continue our war preparations and replenish what we’ve consumed as quickly as possible.”

”Also, the Fallen Dragon Association contacted me not long ago. They said they want to cooperate with us to resist Kresol Dragon City.”

The Great Elder flipped his wrist, and a Sound Transmission Talisman appeared out of thin air in his palm, which he handed to the Second Elder.

”Their people will arrive in a few days. Axel, you will receive them personally.”

The Second Elder nodded solemnly.

Elena asked curiously, ”Great Elder, how does the Fallen Dragon Association plan to cooperate? Where would they get an army?”

The Fallen Dragon Association was masterful at assassination and intelligence gathering, but their organizational structure and methods meant they could never field a conventional army. They would be of almost no help on a conventional battlefield.

The Great Elder smiled faintly. ”Leader Sieg of the Fallen Dragon Association’s branch is coming personally. He’s leading a group of over ten people, all of them Golden Tier combatants.”

Upon hearing this, the Elves’ expressions turned to ones of sudden understanding and delight.

High Tier combat power was precisely the Silver Moon Race’s greatest weakness at present.

With Anton in seclusion, the Silver Moon Race had only two at the Golden Peak, and fewer than ten Golden Tier members in total—far too few compared to Kresol Dragon City.

Now, with the addition of this group of High Tier combatants from the Fallen Dragon Association, they could at least partially close the gap between the two sides.

As for the other factions that were watching from the sidelines, there was no point in hoping for their help.

It was a classic case of ’kick a man while he’s down’; only when the Dragon Race’s loss of their God’s protection was completely exposed would these other factions dare to move against Kresol Dragon City.

Otherwise, even if the Silver Moon Forest won the war and killed the Radiant Ash Dragon, Isaac, they still wouldn’t get involved.

After all, they still had to worry about retaliation from the Dragon Court.

After the meeting was dismissed, the Elves hurriedly left the hall and got busy, each preparing for the next battle.

The war with Kresol Dragon City would not be decided in a day or two.

Everyone was mentally prepared for a long, drawn-out conflict.