Elven cultivators

After much effort, Anton finally finished disassembling and collecting the valuable materials from the Scaled Rock Lizard, and put them all into his storage talisman.

He then immediately began the next round of hunting.

As he expected, the Frost Abyss Sword was indeed the nemesis of the Scaled Rock Lizard.

The extreme cold contained in the sword technique caused the Scaled Rock Lizard's blood to stagnate and its organs to fail, making its movements noticeably slow and stiff. It could not hold on for long before being cut down by Anton's sword.

Hunting efficiency increased dramatically.

Although he had to stop several times to circulate his cultivation technique to replenish his spiritual energy, by the time the horizon turned golden-red, the lizard meat, scales, and blood that Anton had collected had filled an entire storage talisman.

Seeing that it was getting late, Anton stopped hunting and found a sheltered spot with huge rocks on three sides, where he planned to spend the night.

He sat down cross-legged, took out the prepared firewood from the storage talisman and piled it into a campfire. With a flick of his finger, a wisp of fire-attribute spiritual energy shot out from his fingertip. With a soft hiss, the dry wood instantly ignited into orange-red flames.

The firelight flickered, casting long shadows on the rock face.

Anton took out a piece of scaly rock lizard hind leg meat, skewered it with a sharpened twig, and roasted it over a flame.

The meat sizzled under the heat, dripping oil and sparks flying. He sprinkled salt and spices on it from time to time.

I have prepared quite a few of these seasonings in my storage talisman, since blood-eating body refinement requires a lot of food, and it would be hard to swallow without some flavor.

After waiting for the meat to be roasted until it was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, he immediately took a big bite, and soon the whole piece of hind leg meat was gone.

Feeling the fullness in his stomach, Anton didn't delay and immediately began to circulate the "Return to the Void Devouring the Sea Technique".

This is the most advanced blood-refining body-refining method recorded in the Great Dao Jade Slip.

Taking the meaning of "swallowing all things and returning to the void sea", an invisible vortex is opened in the dantian to crush, melt and purify the flesh and blood of the swallowed spirit beasts, skin and bones, and turn them into the purest essence of qi and blood to nourish the body.

As the technique was activated, a deep rumbling sound came from Anton's abdomen, like the breathing of an ancient beast sleeping at the bottom of the sea.

He could clearly feel the beast meat in his stomach being rapidly broken down into the finest particles, turning into streams of warm blood essence that flowed like trickles of water into his limbs and bones.

While circulating his internal energy to digest the food, Anton continued grilling meat.

The meat was eaten immediately after being roasted, becoming nourishment for the continuous operation of the cultivation technique.

More than an hour later, after the entire flesh of the Scaled Rock Lizard had been digested, Anton finally felt a faint sense of fullness in his body, like a pottery jar filled with water that would overflow if poured out again.

"It's reached its limit."

Anton stopped eating and closed his eyes to sense the changes within his body.

With abundant Qi and blood, and swollen meridians, the primordial spiritual energy in the dantian seemed to be three times more active than usual.

He tried circulating the "Primordial Return to the Source Technique" and found that the efficiency of breathing and refining had indeed improved.

Although it is not very obvious, it really exists.

"If I used the Returning to the Void Devouring the Sea Technique to refine one Scaled Rock Lizard every day..."

Anton silently calculated in his mind, then revealed a joyful smile.

At this rate, he should be able to refine a wisp of primordial spiritual energy in about two and a half years.

His cultivation speed has increased by more than half again compared to before.

The method of blood-feeding body refinement indeed resulted in rapid progress.

The path to immortality is the most time-consuming and painstaking, and any means that can shorten the time are invaluable.

After all that commotion, it was almost completely dark.

The distant peaks turned into dark silhouettes, with only a last trace of dark red remaining on the horizon.

Anton added a few more pieces of firewood to the campfire, intending to enter a meditative state, when he suddenly heard footsteps coming from afar.

"That place up ahead looks nice; let's spend the night there."

"Hey, there's a light! There's someone over there."

As the voices began to speak, five figures came into Anton's view.

Among them were three men and one woman dressed in typical adventurer attire, their leather armor covered with scratches and repair marks, and various weapons hanging from their waists, ranging from short swords to battle axes to hand crossbows, their metal clashing and making a soft, tinkling sound as they walked.

Their relaxed yet vigilant demeanor is a unique quality of those who spend their lives making a living in the wilderness.

The last person was a human male of about forty years old, thin in build, wearing a faded gray robe, carrying no weapons, only a leather satchel slung over his shoulder, looking more like a scholar than an adventurer, and quite out of place with the other four.

The five-person team was clearly taken aback when they saw that there was only one Anton.

On the Thousand Rock Hills, teeming with Scaled Lizards, a lone traveler appeared. This person was either a naive newcomer who knew nothing and had been lucky enough to avoid becoming food for the Scaled Lizards, or a powerful individual with absolute confidence in his own strength.

Neither of them is suitable to be associated with.

The middle-aged man at the head of the group, who seemed to be the captain, smiled apologetically at Anton and prepared to leave with his teammates, but suddenly heard Anton speak.

"If you don't mind, please sit down and rest with me."

Anton pointed to the campfire in front of him and said calmly.

Just as the middle-aged captain was about to politely decline, the scholar-like man stepped forward and plopped down in front of the campfire.

"I'm tired after traveling for so long, I'll rest here tonight."

The middle-aged captain frowned. Seeing that the scholar had already taken out his own dry rations and roasted them by the campfire, he could only sigh inwardly, swallow back the words he was about to say, and turn to give Anton a forced smile.

"Thank you, sorry to bother you."

He then invited his teammates to sit around the campfire.

"Are you from Azurewater Harbor?" Anton asked, his tone casual, as if he were chatting.

There are only two inhabited cities around the Thousand Rock Hills.

One is Cresol Dragon City, and the other is Azurewater Harbor.

Humans in Kreisor Dragon City have a very low social status; most are artisans and farmers who serve the dragonborn, and adventurers rarely seek a living there.

In contrast, Bishui Port is a human-dominated port city with a dense flow of people and a thriving commerce, making it a paradise for adventurers.

The adventure team in front of us is most likely from Azurewater Harbor.

As expected, the middle-aged captain nodded: "That's right."

Perhaps seeing Anton's peaceful nature, the middle-aged captain gradually lowered his guard and started chatting with Anton.

This was precisely Anton's objective.

When he got into "Dawn Chronicles", it was already version 3.0. His knowledge of the previous two versions was limited to secondhand information he found while browsing forums.

The knowledge he gained from the game gave him a macro perspective, but when it came to the specifics of reality, his knowledge of many details was limited.

In the Silvermoon Forest, the elven elders rarely talked to their underage members about the outside world, fearing that they might become yearning for it and venture out on their own, only to encounter danger.

To this day, Anton only knows what places and cities are around Silvermoon Forest, and has no further information.

That's why he took the initiative to stay with the adventure team, hoping to gather more information.

During the conversation, Anton learned that the middle-aged captain was named Harvey, a veteran adventurer with twenty years of experience.

The other scholar was named Cassius, a mineral expert living in Bluewater Harbor.

This time, he hired Harvey's team to escort him into the Thousand Rocks Hills in search of a rare mineral.

Anton then introduced himself, and when they heard him say his name, "Canglan," all five people present were taken aback.

Virgil, the only girl in the group, said in surprise, "Your name... is quite unique."

"It's alright."

Anton smiled slightly, thinking to himself that if he wasn't afraid of being too unconventional, he would have liked to call himself Li Xiaoyao.