The Elven Cultivator

In the days that followed.

In addition to cultivating and comprehending his Cultivation Technique, Anton added another routine: honing his Dao heart with the Heart Demon Guide.

Every so often, he would take the Heart Demon Guide and enter the Heart Demon’s Illusion Realm to temper himself.

And each time he successfully overcame a Heart Demon tribulation, the Illusion Realm for the next one would change.

In one, he might successfully ascend and look down upon the Dawn Continent, only to become complacent with false achievements, stop advancing, and indulge in pleasure.

In another, he might transmigrate to a life of infinite wealth, power, and beauties, only to drown in them and abandon the path of cultivation.

In yet another, he might be trapped in a hopeless situation, facing endless terror and despair.

Fortunately, Anton managed to break through every time, seeing through the illusions and examining his true self.

And with each successful tribulation, the quality of his True Essence would become purer, and his efficiency in comprehending his Cultivation Technique would also increase.

The only shame was that as he used the Heart Demon Guide more, the improvements brought by the tribulations gradually diminished.

By the time he passed his twenty-third Heart Demon tribulation, he could barely feel any improvement.

Clearly, the tribulations had reached their limit in terms of enhancing him.

’Looks like this is as far as it goes.’

Anton let out a long, turbid breath. He wasn’t too disappointed.

After all, he had already gained more than enough from the Heart Demon Guide.

The speed at which he condensed True Essence was now a full two times faster than before.

This meant he could increase his True Essence by ten percent in only about five years.

At this rate, he could reach the peak of Foundation Establishment in twenty-odd years at most.

This efficiency was far beyond what it had been before!

Moreover, the increase in the purity of his True Essence also indirectly and significantly reduced the consumption when he used the Star Luo Sword Scripture.

The most obvious manifestation was that he could now use the “One into Two” technique from Light Splitting and Reunification as a regular move.

He could even sustain “One into Four” for a period of time.

As for the even stronger “One into Eight,” he could currently only use it for three to four minutes at most.

But that was already enough.

Anton’s current strength had increased by more than just a little.

If he were to face Marcus now, he wouldn’t even need to use the Five Camp Divine Soldiers or the Separation Fire Shield to take him down with ease.

After reveling in his joy for a moment, Anton flipped his wrist, and a small, exquisite crystal bottle appeared in his palm.

As he shook his hand, the liquid inside the bottle sloshed gently.

The liquid was perfectly clear, but not transparent and colorless. Instead, it was a deep, silvery blue, possessing a hazy, beautiful quality like the night sky.

It was Moon Essence Spiritual Liquid.

After reaching an agreement with the Jade Royal Court, the Silver Moon Race had opened another trade route.

Although the Jade Royal Court was far away in the center of the continent, a great distance from the Silver Moon Forest, this trade route could be traveled at most twice a year.

But the Jade Royal Court was rich in resources, allowing the Silver Moon Race to trade for a large quantity of rare materials from them.

The most important of these was the Moon Essence Spiritual Liquid.

Over the past ten years, Anton had accumulated a good amount of Moon Essence Spiritual Liquid.

He estimated that if he saved for another ten or twenty years, he should have enough to refine the Condensing Glory Pill.

He could gather enough just before he reached the peak of Foundation Establishment.

’Now all I’m missing is Yang-attribute qi and the main Earth Attribute material.’

Anton mused to himself.

Not long ago, he had been contacted by Scott, who said he had a lead on one of the materials on the list.

And that material happened to be one of the main Earth Attribute materials.

If things went smoothly, he would soon have the main Earth Attribute material taken care of as well.

At that point, only the Yang-attribute qi would be left.

Regarding this, Anton had currently only identified two usable materials.

One was Yang Crystal.

The other was Dragon Breath.

The former was simple to obtain but took a long time.

For years, Anton had been collecting Sun Essence and Moon Essence every day, but so far, he had only accumulated a small amount.

It was far from enough to refine Yang Crystal.

The latter didn’t take much time, but the problem was that it was extremely difficult to obtain.

Setting aside whether he was confident he could collect Dragon Breath from a Giant Dragon, even if he were, there were no Giant Dragons around for him to collect it from.

After all, the Radiant Ash Dragons of Kresol Dragon City had all left the Eldron Plain.

The same went for the guardian Giant Dragons of the other Dragon Cities.

If he wanted to find a Giant Dragon now, he would probably have to go to the Dragon Court in the center of the continent.

’Looks like I’ll have to think of another way.’

Anton shook his head, setting the matter aside for now.

Besides the Moon Essence Spiritual Liquid, the resource the Silver Moon Race traded for the most from the Jade Royal Court was Magic Cores.

Including those purchased from Gray Rock Castle and exchanged from the Fallen Dragon Association, he had acquired more than four hundred Magic Cores over the years.

He had used all of them to refine Five Camp Divine Soldiers.

The number of Five Camp Divine Soldiers he possessed now exceeded eight hundred, enough to form a Five Elements Array of 625 units.

The next level up was a Five Elements Grand Array of 3,125 units.

But gathering that many Five Camp Divine Soldiers was clearly not something that could be done in a short time.

’A Five Elements Array of 625 units is more than enough to suppress a Golden Peak expert.’

’A slightly weaker Golden Peak expert could probably be worn down and killed by the Five Camp Divine Soldiers alone, without me even having to act.’

Anton was confident that with his current strength and trump cards, he had a high chance of winning even if he faced two Golden Peak experts at the same time.

And once he mastered Dark Heavy Water, he would have another powerful trump card.

…

A year passed in the blink of an eye.

「Spring, Year 9342 of the Chenxi Calendar.」

「Treehouse. Quiet Room.」

Anton sat cross-legged with his eyes gently closed, his breathing long and fine as silk.

In the Qi Sea of his Dantian, his Primal True Essence was like a hundred rivers flowing into the sea, rushing to converge in the very center.

The speed was so fast it gave the illusion of a collapse.

Upon closer inspection, one could see a drop of water like black jade suspended in the very center of the True Essence.

The droplet was only the size of a fingernail. It was a profound, dark color, like a solidified night sky, with no trace of luster on its surface, as if it had devoured light itself.

But if one looked closely, they would discover that the inside of the droplet was faintly and slowly flowing, like a deep-sea undercurrent—silent, yet containing a terrifying power capable of crushing anything.

After an unknown amount of time, just as his True Essence was about to be depleted, the black jade droplet finally stopped absorbing it. A profound light flashed across its surface and was gone, and it faintly gained a certain yin-gentle yet heavy quality.

Two completely different Spiritual qualities had blended together perfectly.

“Success!”

Anton opened his eyes, a joyful smile spreading across his face.

After years of painstaking effort, he had finally mastered the near-divine technique and condensed his first drop of Dark Heavy Water.

This single drop of water was only the size of a thumb, but according to the scriptures, it alone possessed immense force.

He just hadn’t tested it yet, so he didn’t know how powerful it truly was.

Coming back to his senses, Anton reached out and made a guiding gesture with his hand.

The drop of Dark Heavy Water instantly leaped out of his Dantian and hovered three inches above his palm, rotating slowly.

“Go.”

Anton flicked his finger.

The Dark Heavy Water shot out, tracing an arc through the air before turning and streaking back toward him.

At the same time, a bright light flared up around Anton’s body; he had already activated the Separation Fire Shield.

The next instant, the black jade droplet silently collided with the crimson-gold barrier of light.

Rings of ripples suddenly spread out from the point of impact, pulsing outward like waves on water.

The Separation Fire Shield buzzed loudly and trembled violently a few times before gradually calming down.

When the light subsided, Anton could clearly see that the Separation Fire Shield’s light barrier had dimmed considerably.

One must remember that during his battle with Marcus, the Separation Fire Shield had only trembled slightly when taking a full-powered blow from a Golden Peak expert.

But now, facing just a single drop of Dark Heavy Water, it seemed to have struggled with all its might to withstand the blow.

“Such incredible power.”

Anton’s smile deepened. With a wave of his hand, the Dark Heavy Water floated back to his palm as if it were alive. It continued to hover and rotate slowly, its color only a shade duller than before.

But this wasn’t a major issue; it could be restored later by replenishing it with more True Essence.

“Not bad.”

Sincere satisfaction appeared in Anton’s eyes.

The power of this near-divine technique far exceeded his expectations.

’If a single drop is this powerful, what kind of might would ten or a hundred drops possess?’

Just thinking about it made his heart surge with excitement.

’Dark Heavy Water possesses both Yin and Water Attributes. By the standards of the Dawn Continent, it’s at least a high-level Law, and it should be even more powerful than pure Water Elemental Power.’

With this, Anton could be considered to have truly ’awakened’ his own Power of Law.

He could now call himself a Golden Peak expert.

’But as powerful as Dark Heavy Water is, the condensation speed is just too slow.’

Anton sighed softly.

He had spent a full two months to successfully condense a single drop of Dark Heavy Water.

And this was with his True Essence purity having been significantly improved.

Before he started taking the Heart Demon Guide, it probably would have taken him three or four months to condense one drop.

Fortunately, as his True Essence grew stronger, the time needed to condense Dark Heavy Water would become shorter and shorter. He wouldn’t face a situation where it took ten or twenty years just to condense a hundred drops.

’If I could cultivate in a place abundant with dark yin cold qi, the condensation speed could be even faster.’

Thinking of a place abundant with dark yin cold qi, a location subconsciously popped into Anton’s mind.

The Dark Nether Realm.

That endless world deep underground, which never saw the sun.

There were too many places there suitable for cultivating Yin and Water Attribute Cultivation Techniques.

Subterranean rivers, cold pools, ice caves… and those pitch-dark areas where even fluorescent moss couldn’t grow, they should contain dense Yin-attribute energy.

It would be perfect for condensing Dark Heavy Water.

The only problem was that Anton hadn’t found any suitable locations in the area where the Mind Flayer city-states were.

He would probably have to go to other regions to find one.

But this brought the problem back to square one.

He had to deal with the Mind Flayer city-states first!

If he didn’t deal with the Mind Flayer city-states, he couldn’t explore other regions with peace of mind.

’The Clan’s development has been very smooth these past few years. Our strength has increased several times over. In terms of military force alone, we are not at all inferior to the Mind Flayer city-states.’

’But when it comes to top-tier combat power…’

Anton shook his head.

The Silver Moon Race currently only had two Golden Peak experts: him and the Great Elder.

Relying on his two great trump cards, the Five Camp Divine Soldiers and the Dark Heavy Water, he was confident he could hold off three Golden Peak experts.

Maybe even four, if he pushed it.

Even if they cooperated with Gray Rock Castle, they could at most send one Golden Peak expert—they’d have to leave one behind to guard their home base.

That was a total of five at best, far fewer than the Mind Flayer city-states had.

Once war broke out, the number of top-tier combatants would be their greatest weakness.

If this problem wasn’t solved, there could be no talk of annihilating the Mind Flayer city-states.

Anton had also thought about using an Array to ambush the High Tier Mind Flayers.

But Golden Peak experts already had sharp intuitions, and High Tier Mind Flayers, who were born with Spiritual Energy, were even more exceptional in this regard.

He feared they would be detected before the Mind Flayers even stepped into the Array’s range.

After thinking it over and over, it seemed a direct confrontation was the only way.

Of course, it wasn’t that there were no other options.

If he could gather 3,125 Five Camp Divine Soldiers and condense a hundred drops of Dark Heavy Water, he would be unstoppable below the Legendary Tier, killing gods and buddhas who stood in his way.

Forget three Golden Peak experts; even if that number were doubled, dealing with them would be a piece of cake.

’I’ll just have to slowly accumulate my trump cards.’

Anton let out a breath and continued to condense Dark Heavy Water.