Elven cultivators

On the day of the operation.

Outside Changhu Town, on the south bank of a long, narrow lake.

Anton stood on a flat rock by the lake, his gaze sweeping across the water toward the distant town of Changhu.

As dawn broke through the eastern ridge, the light painted the sky a pale gold, and the lake reflected the faint morning light, its surface shimmering.

He arrived a little earlier than the agreed time.

During the wait, Anton didn't waste any time. In his dantian, nine drops of dark yin water slowly rotated, silently absorbing and releasing true essence, carrying out daily nourishment.

About half an hour later, a faint sound of something breaking through the air came from the horizon.

Following the sound, Anton saw two black dots rapidly approaching from the south, passing through the morning mist in the blink of an eye and landing not far from the lakeside.

Walking in front was a middle-aged human man, tall and broad-shouldered.

His face was square, with slightly high cheekbones and a sharp, chiseled jawline. He had almost no wrinkles, except for a few fine lines at the corners of his eyes, which added to his composure and maturity.

Following behind him was a dwarf.

He was shorter than the average dwarf, but much more robust. His dark brown hair and beard were braided into dozens of fine, short braids, the ends of which were adorned with copper rings and small agate beads that made a soft clattering sound as he walked.

Beneath the thick beard was a weathered face, and gray eyes revealed the stubbornness and toughness unique to dwarves.

Two figures approached.

The middle-aged man, with a warm and welcoming smile, extended his hand to Anton.

"Nice to meet you, Canglan."

"My name is Sieg, the leader of the Elderon branch of the Meteor Dragon Society."

Anton had already seen the portrait of the First Torch from Summers, and it was the person in front of him. Seeing this, he smiled and extended his hand to shake hands with the other person.

It was different from what he had expected. He had thought that the head of a branch of the Meteor Dragon Society would be a strong-willed person.

Unexpectedly, after getting to know him, I found him to be quite gentle and composed in his words and actions.

The dwarf beside him, however, looked at Anton with undisguised scrutiny.

Seeing Anton looking at him, he spoke in a muffled voice: "My name is Brock, and like you, I'm a torchbearer in the branch."

Before Anton could reply, he continued, "I heard from Zieg that you claim to have the ability to defeat three Gold Saints at the peak of their power. I'm a very curious person and would love to see it for myself."

Brock stared at Anton with wide eyes, his expression clearly saying, "I'd like to see what you've got up to."

Zieg cleared his throat, gave Brock a wink, and then smiled apologetically at Anton: "Sorry, Brock is a bit too straightforward."

Anton expressed his understanding.

Most dwarfs have tempers as hard and unpleasant as stones.

Among the dwarves he had met, Thorvin and Grimm were considered to be of relatively good temperament.

The Brok before us truly represents the character of most dwarves.

"You'll know whether I'm lying or not once the operation begins," Anton said calmly. "Right now, it's too much of a commotion; it might alert the Dragonborn."

Brock frowned, but said nothing more.

"It's getting late, let's get down to business," Zig said, trying to smooth things over. "Canglan, this operation was your idea, and we'll all follow your orders."

Anton nodded and, without standing on ceremony, pointed in the direction of the Gray Rock Pass and said, "Let's go to the Gray Rock Pass first."

Neither Ziegler nor Brock had any objections, and the three of them immediately set off for the Gray Rock Pass.

As soon as they arrived near their destination, Zig and Brock's expressions changed.

The two noticed the unusual situation in the pass almost instantly.

Anton spoke up in time: "I set up a magic array inside."

Brock curled his lip in disapproval upon hearing this.

He had seen plenty of magic arrays. The attack arrays set up on the city walls could only simulate spells up to the fifth ring. They were okay against silver-ranked enemies, but against gold-ranked enemies, they were a joke.

Unless it's a large-scale magic array controlled by dozens of Gold-rank spellcasters working together, it's virtually impossible to threaten a Gold-rank peak spellcaster.

This guy went to all that trouble to set up the magic array in advance, only to waste his time.

Zieg remained outwardly calm, but inwardly he was not optimistic about the effectiveness of the magic array.

Anton didn't explain much and went straight to the point after entering the Gray Rock Pass: "I'll intercept Dragon City's transport convoy later and lure the governor here. I'll leave the two of you to wait here."

"Once the battle begins, you two just need to hold off one governor each, and I'll take care of the rest."

The plan is very simple.

"no problem."

Zieg readily agreed, then took out something and handed it to Anton.

Anton looked closely and saw that it was a scroll.

The scroll was made of dark purple animal hide, with silver runes embossed on its surface, and a faint aura of spatial fluctuations emanated from it.

"This is an instant teleportation scroll," Zieg explained. "Once activated, it can teleport the user to any location within a hundred miles. No spellcasting is required; it's instantaneous and cannot be intercepted by ordinary anti-magic fields."

Upon hearing this, Anton raised an eyebrow, a look of surprise flashing in his eyes.

The anti-magic field is known as the nemesis of spells and magic scrolls.

Ordinary teleportation scrolls cannot ignore the 'shield' of the magic-suppressing field.

A teleportation scroll that can be used in a magic-free zone is definitely a top-grade item.

No wonder Zieg agreed to his request so readily; it turns out he had such a trump card to save his life.

With this method in place, even if the operation fails, the three of them will most likely be able to escape unscathed.

This indeed greatly reduced the risk of the operation.

Of course, even with an instant teleportation scroll, it's not 100% safe, and risks still exist.

Whether Zieg genuinely hoped for this operation and wanted to take a gamble, or whether he wanted to use it to make Zieg owe him a favor and further win him over, his audacity was truly remarkable.

Anton couldn't help but think more highly of him.

"Thanks." Anton took the scroll.

The three then discussed the details of the operation again, and after confirming that nothing had been overlooked, Anton left the Grey Rock Pass.

As he watched Anton's figure disappear into the horizon, Brock couldn't help but ask, "Do you really believe what Canglan said, that he can handle three governors on his own?"

Zieg glanced at him, then countered with a question: "Do you really think someone who can kill a peak Gold Saint before even awakening their Laws would lie about something like this?"

Brock froze, opened his mouth, but couldn't utter a rebuttal.

Zig smiled slightly and said, "Although I also find it hard to believe, since Canglan said that, he must have his reasons. He has created many miracles since he appeared. What's wrong with believing him one more time?"

"As for the risks... Hehe, joining the Fallen Dragon Society to fight against the Dragon Court is already the most risky thing in the world, so one more won't make a difference."

Brock's expression shifted slightly, but he remained silent.

……

At noon, the sun was blazing overhead.

Anton did not go too far from the limestone pass, stopping about five or six kilometers away.

He then extended his divine sense, maintaining maximum coverage, and waited patiently.

About an hour later.

His divine sense detected the convoy that appeared in the distance.

The team is not large.

There were only about ten carriages in total, each pulled by four fiery-maned beasts.

Hundreds of dragon-blooded cavalrymen surrounded and guarded the carriage, marching in unison and vigilantly surveying their surroundings.

Following behind were about three hundred Greyscale infantry.

Looking at the team, Anton raised an eyebrow slightly.

He sensed no threat from the convoy.

Even the strongest can only reach the Gold rank.

It was obvious that either the other party had used some kind of extraordinary magical item that could conceal their presence, or those governors were still hiding in the shadows.

Without the slightest hesitation, Anton's mind stirred, and a silver-white sword light instantly leaped from his chest, splitting in two in the void before shooting towards the convoy.

The sword light was faster than lightning, drawing a piercing shriek through the void before arriving in an instant.

The dragonborn cavalry of the caravan never expected that someone could attack them from four or five kilometers away. The dozen or so dragonborn cavalrymen at the front were instantly pierced through the heart, fell to the ground from their firemane beasts, and died without uttering a sound.

It was only then that the people inside the carriage realized what was happening.

In an instant, five extremely powerful auras suddenly erupted from the convoy.

boom!

The five carriages instantly shattered into pieces, and five figures rushed out from them. After a slight pause in the void, they sped towards Anton like lightning.

Anton's divine sense immediately captured the faces of the five figures.

Those were five dragonborn dressed in dark armor.

Their bodies were covered in dark red scales, with a pair of short, sharp dragon horns on their foreheads, and vertical pupils that were golden-red like lava. Sparks seemed to fly as they breathed.

"Five governors have come? That's quite a grand affair."

Anton chuckled, his body enveloped in sword light, and he darted towards the Gray Rock Pass.

"Trying to run away?"

The leading official sneered and waved his hand.

A pale blue halo shot out from his palm, instantly traversing a distance of over a thousand meters, and landed precisely on Anton.

In that instant, Anton felt his body suddenly sink, and the surrounding air seemed to turn into a viscous swamp, causing his sword escape speed to drop by more than half.

His gaze sharpened, and his divine sense swept across the area, quickly spotting the ring on the governor's right index finger.

Extraordinary magical item.

Anton clicked his tongue, but his expression remained calm.

He chose to appear at a location that wasn't far away, so even if his speed was slowed down, he didn't have to worry about being caught up before entering the limestone pass.

Not to mention that he only used a single sword beam.

If it weren't for the fact that he unleashed eight sword beams simultaneously to lure the enemy, the group of governors behind him would have been left far behind.

The five governors, unaware of this, saw Anton slow down and sneered, then immediately sped up to catch up.

A moment later, Anton shot into the gray rock pass like an arrow.

At the same time, the five consuls who were closely following behind all changed color slightly.

They keenly sensed the danger.

"There's an ambush ahead!"

"A consul said in a deep voice."

The leading governor hesitated only slightly before his expression hardened, and he said coldly, "So what? Even if the entire Fallen Dragon Society branch comes out, they only have three peak Gold Saints. We have the upper hand in both numbers and strength. What are we afraid of an ambush for?"

The other four consuls agreed with this statement.

"Chase after them and kill Canglan!"

The leading official was the first to rush into the pass.

The other four exchanged glances and followed closely behind.