The Elven Cultivator

Chapter 343: Chapter 315: Simply His Lucky Star

After all, this was the Clan’s first real, head-on clash with a major power from the Dark Nether Realm.

Although Anton hadn’t personally visited the Nine Nether City Domain, he had been keeping a close eye on the battle.

So, the moment he saw the death energy, he used the Teleportation Array to reach Nine Nether City and then rushed over using Sword Escape, tearing through the sky.

’This level of death energy... it’s not something the Dark Elves and a group of underground creatures could create.’

Anton stared at the gray fog in the distance as a thought suddenly struck him.

An all-too-familiar name almost instantly surfaced in his mind.

The Ring of Annihilation!

’This torrent of death energy... it looks like the handiwork of those madmen.’

’Could the city-state powers of the Red Blood Fertile Soil have gotten mixed up with the Ring of Annihilation?’

Anton’s thoughts raced, but he wasn’t particularly surprised.

The Ring of Annihilation had always been pervasive; it was no surprise that they had extended their reach into the Dark Nether Realm.

As for why they went to such lengths to gather this much death energy, Anton had a pretty good idea.

It was nothing more than preparation for the opening of the Nether Abyss.

However, this massive cloud of death energy was a godsend for him.

Death energy was, by its nature, a concentration of Residual Souls and resentment. As long as the resentment was purged, it was prime material for refining Shadow Soldiers.

The recent expansion of the Clan’s Shadow Soldier Legion had been hampered by a lack of materials.

This death energy would perfectly fill that gap.

At the same time, the people in the command center also noticed Anton’s arrival.

The two crimson lights in the black shadow’s eye sockets suddenly flared, not with alarm, but with delight.

”Anton Silver Moon!”

Of course he recognized Anton.

The Fallen Dragon Sword Saint had ruined their organization’s plans time and time again.

They had long wanted to get rid of this troublesome pest.

But Anton spent most of his time in the heavily guarded Taichu Spirit Realm, and his movements were erratic on the rare occasions he went out. They never had a chance to strike.

Now, Anton had appeared on the Red Blood Fertile Soil of his own accord. This was undoubtedly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

’Any other time, I wouldn’t be confident I could kill Anton.’

After all, the man was a peak Legendary Powerhouse.

His ferocious combat prowess was renowned throughout the continent.

But now, with a torrent of death energy accumulated from tens of thousands of lives at his command, he was confident he could put up a fight even against a Saint.

As for the Silver Moon Race’s army?

In the face of this death energy, more living people just meant more fuel.

’If I kill Anton, my standing in the organization will rise to a whole new level.’

A fire ignited in the black shadow’s heart, and he hesitated no longer.

In an instant, the roiling sea of gray-white clouds above the battlefield churned once more, surging toward Anton’s position like a bursting dam.

The gray-white torrent, carrying countless twisted, spectral faces, descended from the heavens with a shriek like ten thousand wailing ghosts, dimming the light across the entire battlefield.

Facing the crushing gray-white torrent, Anton didn’t even bat an eye.

”All disciples of Taichu City, hear my command! Use the Soul-Gathering Banners to draw in the death energy.”

His calm voice instantly spread across the entire battlefield.

More than three hundred Taichu City disciples, already eager for action, shot forward. Their bodies left clean afterimages in mid-air. After landing, they simultaneously pulled out the Soul-Gathering Banners from their robes. Gripping the poles with both hands, they swung them forcefully toward the overwhelming torrent of death energy.

In a flash, the surging gray fog came to a sudden halt.

Then, as if torn apart by countless invisible hands, it split into several hundred smaller streams that drifted toward the banners, were swept up by the fabric, and vanished.

The three hundred-plus Soul-Gathering Banners were like as many greedy maws, frantically devouring the death energy.

With each wisp they absorbed, the banners’ surfaces grew brighter, and the patterns on the poles grew deeper.

In just over a dozen breaths, the once-overwhelming torrent of death energy had shrunk by nearly two-thirds.

The black shadow watched, dumbfounded.

’What the hell is that?’

’Magic Equipment?’

But he had never heard of any Magic Equipment that could absorb death energy.

And in that moment, he finally understood why they hadn’t been able to collect even a single trace of death energy from the underground creatures killed by the Elves earlier.

It turned out these Elves were doing the same thing they were.

”Damn it, can these guys even be called Elves?”

The black shadow ground his teeth.

Elves were famous for their love of nature, yet here they were, collecting death energy.

It would be more believable if they were Dark Elves.

What gave him a slight sense of relief was that the banners were not bottomless pits. After devouring the energy for a while, they finally stopped, as if they had reached some kind of saturation point.

The black shadow immediately wanted to retract the death energy.

He had completely abandoned the idea of dealing with Anton or Nine Nether City; he just wanted to take the death energy and leave as quickly as possible.

It was crucial for the next phase of their plan and could not be lost.

But before he could act, he saw Anton, high above the battlefield, suddenly raise a hand and flick his sleeve outward.

The sleeve was like a drop of thick ink falling into water. Its edges bled outward slightly, then unfurled in continuous tendrils, billowing and expanding. In the blink of an eye, it spread far and wide like an unfolding black cloud, becoming a dark curtain that blotted out the sky and enveloped all the remaining gray fog on the battlefield.

By the time the vast, dark expanse receded back into the sleeve, the sky above the battlefield was completely clear, without a single wisp of gray-white fog remaining.

Before the Water Curtain, the Dark Elf Queens and the various lords were completely stupefied.

When had they ever witnessed such a technique?

Even just watching through the Water Curtain, at the very moment the sleeve unfolded, they felt an unavoidable and unstoppable pressure.

It was as if the sky itself was collapsing upon them.

When they came back to their senses, they realized their backs were drenched in cold sweat.

Elsewhere, the black shadow froze in place, as if a basin of ice-cold water had been thrown in his face.

In his perception, the cloud of death energy had been wiped from existence, leaving not a single trace behind.

”Is this... the Space Law?” The black shadow sucked in a sharp breath.

For the first time, his voice was tinged with palpable panic.

And just then, Anton, within the Water Curtain, suddenly turned his head.

His gaze pierced through the lingering smoke and dust on the battlefield, landing precisely on the location of the command center.

The moment their eyes met his, which were like deep, dark pools, everyone before the Water Curtain felt a chill run down their spines.

In the next instant, Anton’s figure vanished from the screen.

Alarm bells screamed in the black shadow’s mind.

His form abruptly transformed into a wisp of gray-black mist and shot frantically toward the outside of the command center.

At this point, he couldn’t care less about the death energy.

The methods Anton had displayed were completely beyond his comprehension.

This Fallen Dragon Sword Saint was far more powerful than the organization’s intelligence reports described.

To remain here was to court death.

The Dark Elf Queens and the lords only saw a flash before the black shadow vanished.

But before they could look shocked or angry, the black shadow came flying back even faster than he had left, a wisp of six-colored flame now on his chest.

The flame roiled in layers: black on the outside, then gold, cyan, and purple, with a searing, blinding white at its core.

Though no heat could be felt from it, it gave off a terrifying sensation that chilled one to the bone.

It was clearly no ordinary flame.

And the black shadow’s reaction proved it.

He let out a bloodcurdling scream as he crashed heavily to the ground, rolling about ceaselessly.

The six-colored flame spread rapidly from his chest, tangling with the gray-black mist that surged from his body as they annihilated each other.

Under the flame’s searing heat, the layer of shadow that had always concealed him faded at a visible rate, revealing his true face.

It was a human male.

His skin had a sickly, grayish-white pallor, like an old wax figure. Purple-black liver spots spread from his neck to his cheeks in patches of varying sizes, resembling the cracked mud of a dried-up swamp.

His eyes were sunken, his pupils cloudy, and his lips were chapped and purple. He looked like a corpse that had been walking for years, yet he still retained the aura of a living person. The sight was indescribably bizarre.

”As expected, someone from the Ring of Annihilation.”

A calm voice suddenly rang out, startling the shocked Dark Elf Queens and lords back to their senses.

They looked toward the sound in horror, only to find that Anton was standing at the entrance, though none knew when he had arrived.

His hands were clasped behind his back, his robes immaculate, without a speck of dust on him. He looked like an idle passerby who had just casually wandered in.

The faces of the Dark Elf Queens and lords all changed drastically, but none of them dared to move.

Even the most unruly of them, the Di Luo Dwarven lord, was now silent as a stone, his head covered in cold sweat.

In their eyes, the black shadow was an extremely formidable powerhouse.

Yet this same powerhouse had been beaten like a stray dog in a single encounter by the Elf before them.

The power the latter had displayed extinguished any thought of resistance.

”You people are truly like lingering ghosts. I see you everywhere.”

Anton looked at the figure on the ground, a faint, unreadable smile on his face.

’Come to think of it, every encounter with the Ring of Annihilation seems to bring me some significant benefits.’

’That time with the Flame Trade Association, I obtained a massive amount of resources.’

’That time in Wulei Valley, I used the Thunder Cage to refine the Pill Poison and even picked up an Earth Element Origin Crystal.’

’And this time, they’ve delivered materials for refining Shadow Soldiers right to my doorstep.’

’Thinking about it that way, the Ring of Annihilation is practically my lucky star.’

”Don’t get cocky... Sooner or later... the organization will come to settle the score with you...”

The black shadow on the ground finally extinguished the Six Ding Divine Fire and staggered to his feet, glaring at Anton with venomous hatred.

If looks could kill, Anton would have been flayed and dismembered by now.

”Is that so? I’ll be looking forward to it.”

Anton gave a disdainful laugh, then turned to the Dark Elf Queens and lords.

”Kill him, and I’ll give you a chance to surrender.”

The command center fell silent for a moment.

The next moment, the Di Luo Dwarven lord closest to the black shadow was the first to move.

Although he only had one usable arm, he still yanked the short axe from his waist, lowered his stance, and lunged at the black shadow.

Right behind him were the Gleystone-man lord and the Kou-tao Fishman lord.

The other lords also sprang into action.

Even the Dark Elf Queens didn’t hesitate.

Seven figures shot out almost simultaneously, daggers and the light of Magic flashing abruptly in the dim hall.

In an instant, the black shadow was besieged.