Elven cultivators

With the strong support of the elders, Anton was finally able to unleash his full potential and devote all his energy to this massive project.

The most tedious and time-consuming task in the mountain-protecting formation is undoubtedly drawing the formation patterns.

The Great Evolution Azure Profound Array, with the Eternal Tree as its main array eye, requires array patterns to be engraved on the surface of most of the roots of the Eternal Tree.

However, the root system of the Tree of Eternity is unimaginably vast.

Like countless gnarled pythons, they burrowed deep into the ground of the Silvermoon Forest, spreading in all directions and almost covering the entire forest.

The sheer number of roots contained within is enough to send chills down your spine just thinking about it.

If Anton were to complete this task alone, it might take him decades.

In light of this, Anton decided to outsource the majority of the project's workload.

Apart from the core roots near the Tree of Eternity, where he personally drew the most important runes, the rest of the root runes were all handled by the enchanters of his clan.

The only problem is that other enchanters have almost no understanding of runes and are simply not capable of taking on this task.

Therefore, after discussing with the elders, Anton decided to open a special course to systematically teach enchanters about runes.

In essence, array patterns are also a type of rune.

More accurately, it is the extension and combination of runes in the spatial dimension.

Once you've mastered the basic techniques of rune drawing, even if you haven't mastered array formation skills, you can still copy array patterns from templates.

Anton did not require them to truly understand the principles of the array or the meaning of the array patterns. They only needed to be able to master the drawing techniques and be able to copy the array patterns onto the root surface stroke by stroke according to the established template.

This is somewhat similar to copying magic scrolls, except that the medium has been changed from parchment to roots, the ink to specially made spirit ink, and the magic power to the spiritual energy from the sensing spirit stone.

The runes of the Dawn Continent and the runes of the cultivation system appear to be very different in style, but in fact they are rooted in the same source, differing only in their energy driving methods and combination logic.

The biggest obstacle preventing elves from learning rune drawing was the lack of "spiritual energy".

While magic can also power many magical runes, its nature is completely different from the energy required by the cultivation system.

The emergence of the sensing spirit stone completely solved this problem.

This is much easier than learning the cultivation system from scratch.

After news of Anton's course spread, not only did enchanters eagerly sign up, but even many spellcasters who were not enchanters came to audit the class.

Eleanor was one of them.

Eleanor has always specialized in alchemy and has hardly ever been involved in enchanting.

To Anton's surprise, Eleanor displayed a talent far exceeding that of others in learning runes.

What many others need to practice dozens of times to master, she can do in just a few tries.

Occasionally, he can even draw inferences from one instance to another and ask questions that surprise even Anton.

In just a few months, Eleanor's academic progress far surpassed that of the other students.

Anton had to give her extra tutoring, explaining more advanced content to her separately after each class.

A year has passed in the blink of an eye.

When Anton saw Eleanor successfully draw a complete array pattern on the parchment, a thought couldn't help but pop into his mind.

"Could it be that Eleanor is a genius in formations?"

Anton was amazed.

The biggest obstacle the elves face in learning about the cultivation system is that they find it difficult to understand some of the most fundamental concepts of the cultivation system.

Dao, Yin and Yang, Five Elements, Qi Sea, Divine Consciousness... These are basic concepts in the cultivation world, but they are like heavenly books to the spellcasters of the Dawn Continent.

Their cognition and way of thinking have been shaped over decades, centuries, or even hundreds of years of cultivation, making it difficult for them to accept a completely different underlying logic.

Unless a child has never been exposed to any cultivation system and has a completely blank knowledge, receiving education on the cultivation system during the enlightenment stage might allow them to absorb these concepts smoothly.

Eleanor's situation is somewhat special.

She could not learn those concepts that stumped other elves, but at least she could follow a set pattern and, though she stumbled along the way, she was able to grasp them with difficulty.

Anton tried to explain some basic theories of the Five Elements and Yin-Yang to her, and found that although she did not understand them very well, she was already much better than others.

Overjoyed, Anton began to consider the feasibility of teaching Eleanor cultivation techniques.

In fact, as Anton has revealed more and more methods over the years, the clan's higher-ups have long realized that the power system Anton cultivates is completely different from that of a warrior or spellcaster in the usual sense.

Everyone just kept it to themselves and tacitly refrained from making it clear.

Previously, it wasn't that no one had considered seeking guidance from Anton, but Anton had long ago hinted that unless one was willing to abandon all the magical power they had painstakingly accumulated over the years and start cultivating a completely new system from scratch, it would be impossible to master his power.

Moreover, even so, they may not be able to achieve the same level of success as him, and may even fall short of his original strength.

Upon learning this, everyone backed down.

Not everyone has the courage to give up everything to gamble on an unknown future.

After hearing Anton's suggestion, Eleanor locked herself in the treehouse for two days to think it over, and finally agreed.

The girl did not make this decision on a whim.

In recent years, as almost all the warriors of the clan have switched to cultivating the Eight Desolations Suppressing Prison Scripture, a huge gap has emerged in the speed at which warriors and spellcasters improve their strength.

With the same aptitude, the warrior's strength grows at a much faster rate than the spellcaster's.

Take her and Roman, for example.

She started cultivating earlier than Roman, but now Roman is already a Gold-rank warrior, whose strength ranks among the top in the entire clan, while she is still stuck at the peak of Silver, unable to break through that threshold.

What made her feel even more complicated was that the warriors in her clan, who were younger than her and had not cultivated for as long as she had, were catching up at an astonishing speed.

Although she didn't show it, she was actually filled with a sense of urgency.

If she continues to cultivate in this methodical way, it's only a matter of time before she's overtaken by more and more people.

The gap between them and Roman will only widen.

For an elf who has been called a "genius" since childhood, this is undoubtedly a very difficult thing to accept.

Eleanor had wanted to make a change for a long time.

Anton's suggestion, however, provided her with a completely new way out.

Giving up your strength and starting from scratch is certainly risky.

But at the same time, it is also an opportunity to transcend oneself and break through constraints.

Eleanor decided to take a gamble.

After that, Anton conducted a spiritual root test on Eleanor.

The results showed that she possessed both wood and water spiritual roots.

Although it cannot compare to Anton's top-tier aptitude of possessing all five elements, in the cultivation world, having dual spiritual roots is already quite outstanding, far surpassing most cultivators.

Anton then carefully selected from the Great Dao Jade Slips a cultivation technique called "Azure Emperor's Profound Heaven Record" as the foundation for Eleanor's cultivation.

The Azure Emperor's Mysterious Heaven Record is based on the ancient wood way, taking the principle that "wood governs life force, and when life force reaches its extreme, it becomes killing intent."

When one cultivates to the highest level, a single thought can cause all trees to bow down.

Once the curse is uttered, life is reversed into death, and flowers, grass, and trees can all be transformed into deadly blades.

After condensing the Golden Core, it can further merge water and wood to form an incarnation of the Azure Emperor, who will control life and death and possess unfathomable power.

Strictly speaking, this technique shares many similarities in concept with the Great Evolution Azure Profound Array.

This is also an important reason why Anton chose this technique for Eleanor.

Although the mountain-protecting formation can operate automatically to defend against external enemies, its upper limit will be much higher if someone presides over the formation and guides the killing power at a critical moment than if no one controls it.

In the future, when Anton is not in Silvermoon Forest, if an enemy invades, Eleanor can take on the responsibility of managing the mountain-protecting array.

Cultivating the Azure Emperor's Profound Heaven Record will help her understand the operational logic of the Great Evolution Azure Profound Array more deeply, thus allowing her to control the array more freely.

In general, although the Azure Emperor's Mysterious Heaven Record is not as all-encompassing and comprehensive as the Primordial Returning to the Source Technique cultivated by An Dong, it can still be considered a first-class cultivation method.

Moreover, Eleanor was much luckier than Anton in one respect.

When the latter began cultivating, he didn't even have the most basic spirit-gathering talisman, let alone the Qi-cultivating pills. He relied entirely on painstaking effort to accumulate spiritual energy little by little.

Eleanor now has not only an ample supply of Qi-Nourishing Pills, but also the support of the Spirit Gathering Array, so her cultivation speed will definitely not be slow.

Eleanor's affair was just a minor incident.

Anton still focused most of his energy on teaching and preparing for the mountain protection formation.

After more than two years of instruction, the enchanters have been able to draw acceptable runes with difficulty.

So Anton began assigning tasks, sending them to various parts of the Silvermoon Forest to use Earthwalker runes to infiltrate underground and draw runes on the roots of the Eternal Tree.

At the beginning, all sorts of problems arose one after another.

Fortunately, after getting through the initial chaotic adjustment period, the enchanters' drawing efficiency gradually improved.

Anton was finally able to free himself up and focus his main energy on two more important things.

The first step is to draw the array patterns in the core area.

The second is to refine array flags and array plates.

In addition to using the Eternal Tree and the Fountain of Life as the main and secondary array eyes, the Great Evolution Azure Profound Array also requires a large number of array flags and array plates to be placed throughout the forest as auxiliary nodes of the array, in order to guide the flow of energy, balance the five elements, and coordinate the connection between the various arrays.

This is also a considerable amount of work.

Anton threw himself into these two jobs, rarely leaving the house.

Two years have passed quietly.

Summer of the year 9355 in the Dawn Calendar.

Anton broke through to the eighth level of the Foundation Establishment stage.

In the same year, all the array patterns of the Great Evolution Azure Profound Array were also completed.

Millions of array patterns, like countless fine silver blood vessels, spread throughout the root network of the Tree of Eternity, transforming it into the core of a giant magic array.

Next, we will set up the array plates and array flags.

Anton spent more than a month burying array flags in the ground in various locations throughout the forest according to the predetermined directions, and also placing array plates at various key nodes.

From a bird's-eye view, these nodes are interconnected, like an invisible giant net that envelops the entire Silvermoon Forest.

Even after the enchanters were freed from drawing runes, Anton didn't let them rest.

They were quickly assigned a new task—to craft rune-inscribed equipment.

After nearly five years of study and practice, these enchanters have mastered the basic techniques of rune drawing and are now able to collaborate with alchemists to create rune-enchanted equipment.

This was one of the reasons why Anton originally offered the course.

I plan to take this opportunity to resolve the issue of rune equipment as well.

As his cultivation level improves, he will have more and more things to do in the future, and he will inevitably have to gradually hand over these basic tasks.

Although the efficiency, yield rate, and final quality of the rune-crafted equipment made by his clansmen were certainly far inferior to those he made by hand.

Fortunately, the Forest Guard has basically achieved its goal of equipping all its members with rune-enchanted equipment, which has significantly reduced the demand for rune-enchanted equipment.

After the clansmen took over, the production of rune equipment decreased significantly, but it was enough to cover daily wear and tear and replenishment for the time being.

As for efficiency and quality, those can be improved gradually in the future.

Once the array plates and array flags are set up, the main structure of the Great Evolution Azure Profound Array is basically complete.

What remains is to conduct a final comprehensive check and minor adjustments to the formation, as well as to forge a crucial item—the golden seal.

The so-called golden seal is the control hub of the formation.

Using the terminology of the Dawn Continent as an analogy, it can be understood as the "master control key" or "core authorization certificate" of the magic circle.

The one who holds the golden seal can freely open, close, and control the entire array.

Of course, currently only Anton on the Dawn Continent can control the Great Evolution Azure Profound Array.

Even if others obtain the golden seal, without refining it with spiritual energy, they cannot establish a connection with it, let alone use it.