Elven cultivators

Autumn of the year 9357 in the Dawn Calendar.

Treehouse, quiet room.

Anton sat cross-legged on the futon, his eyes gently closed, his breathing long and fine, and he was as still as a statue.

Within the dantian, the Primordial True Essence slowly rotated like a five-colored cloud, enveloping the sword pellet layer by layer.

The dark gold dragon patterns that once covered the surface of the sword pellet now slowly wriggled and contracted, just like living creatures.

They transformed into serpentine snakes, meandering across the surface of the sword pellet, sometimes gathering together, sometimes dispersing.

Each time the sword pellet gathers and disperses, a dragon pattern disappears into the inside of the pellet.

With each disappearance of a line, the sword pellet became brighter and its tremors more intense.

After more than a year of refinement, the transformation of the sword pellet has now reached its final stage.

Once the final step is completed, a qualitative leap will occur.

The moment the last dragon pattern disappeared into the sword pellet, the pellet trembled violently and emitted a sword cry that seemed to resonate from the very soul.

At the same time, the primordial true essence surrounding the sword pellet suddenly contracted inward, decreasing rapidly at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The sword pellet greedily devoured every wisp of true essence, as if it were a bottomless pit, and its surface gradually radiated a golden light.

At first, it was just a pale gold, like the first rays of dawn.

It then gradually became richer, from golden yellow to reddish gold, from reddish gold to dark gold, and finally transformed into a deep, mysterious gold that seemed to contain an endless galaxy.

After an unknown amount of time, the sword pellet finally stopped absorbing everything. After a slight tremor, it suddenly leaped out of Anton's chest, hovering in the void in front of him, and slowly rotating.

The light from the light source stone shone on the surface of the sword pellet, refracting it into tiny starlight, creating a truly beautiful scene.

Anton stared intently at him.

The sword pellet remained the same size, but its entire body exhibited a deep, dark gold color.

Its color was neither the brilliance of gold nor the dullness of bronze, but rather a restrained quality that seemed to have been tempered by time and sharpness.

Its surface is as smooth as a mirror, without a single line, yet a faint starlight-like glow flows within, silent and imperceptible, yet containing an indescribable power.

Upon closer inspection, one will find that the starlight does not float randomly, but moves according to some mysterious trajectory, as if a miniature star is breathing and pulsating inside the sword pellet.

This is the true form of the sword pellet.

At this point, it no longer needs external dragon patterns to demonstrate its extraordinary nature.

The dragon has entered the abyss, its sharpness concealed.

Only when they make their move will their true nature be revealed.

"It's done."

A smile spread across Anton's face, which gradually expanded and eventually turned into a hearty laugh.

After investing so much time and effort, and spending countless resources and materials, I finally managed to upgrade the sword pellet to the Xuan-level.

This is his first mystical artifact!

"To possess a profound artifact during the Foundation Establishment stage is a privilege usually reserved for top-tier sect disciples in the cultivation world."

Anton was filled with uncontrollable joy.

Under normal circumstances, it is almost impossible for someone with Foundation Establishment cultivation to forge a profound weapon.

Leaving aside the issue of materials, the true essence of the Foundation Establishment stage alone is insufficient to support the complete process of crafting a profound artifact.

However, he took a different approach, refining the sword pellet using the Devouring Spirit Path, and then using the numerous dragon descendants and sub-dragon species on the Dawn Continent as nourishment, providing the sword pellet with ample nutrients for growth. This allowed him to successfully enhance the sword pellet to the Xuan-level.

Even so, it took more than fifty years in total.

It devoured no fewer than three thousand dragonborn and subspecies.

The number of those at the pinnacle of their careers is in the double digits.

How difficult it was.

Fortunately, the effort finally paid off.

Anton gazed at the sword pellet, feeling the connection that was completely different from before, and couldn't help but feel overjoyed.

Although sword pellets at the level of magical artifacts can be used as easily as one's own arm, they are still essentially one-way command outputs.

Sword Pill has no "self" and will not actively cooperate; it only passively accepts the drive of divine consciousness.

It's like a knife that's been sharpened to an extremely sharp edge. No matter how well the wielder wields it, the knife itself is just a tool. It won't actively seek out the enemy's weaknesses, nor will it adjust its angle to match the master's force.

But at this moment, he could clearly feel that there was a mysterious connection between him and the sword pellet.

It was not merely a connection between divine consciousness and true essence, but a near-instinctive resonance.

He could "sense" Kenmaru's "emotions"—a vague, bewildered perception, like that of a newborn infant.

There is no joy, anger, sorrow, or happiness, only the most basic "closeness" and "vigilance".

Get close to him, but be wary of any unfamiliar presence.

This is the Mystic Artifact.

The fundamental difference between mystical artifacts and magical artifacts lies in the fact that the artifact itself emits a mystical light.

Mysterious light is not simply the outward emission of light, but rather the external manifestation of the budding spirituality of an object.

It is a form of existence that lies between "pure energy" and "vague consciousness".

A transition from 'death' to 'life'.

The artifact has developed a faint sense of self-awareness, capable of sensing its master's emotions and intentions, and even reacting on its own when the master has not given a clear command.

If a weapon is like a blunt weapon, it requires the wielder to swing it with all their might to injure the enemy.

Then the magical artifact is like a loyal and obedient battle partner, able to sense the holder's will and actively cooperate, achieving twice the result with half the effort.

This is the fundamental reason why mystical artifacts are superior to magical artifacts.

Above the Xuanqi (mysterious artifacts) are the Lingqi (spiritual artifacts), Zhenqi (true artifacts), and Dao

Each step up represents a leap in the essence of life.

From "inanimate objects" to "living objects".

From "vessel" to "spirit".

This is fundamentally different from the magical items of the Dawn Continent.

In the magical item system of the Dawn Continent, there is no concept corresponding to "spiritual awakening".

Even the most advanced supernatural magical items are merely the pinnacle of the material realm, lacking any nascent life force.

They may be powerful, they may be exquisite, but they will never come to life.

In addition to the above, the sword pellet's mystic light possesses some qualities that ordinary mystic weapons do not have.

The mysterious light emanating from ordinary magical artifacts is often an external manifestation of a certain law.

The mysterious light emanating from ice-related artifacts carries a chill.

The mysterious light emanating from fire-attribute magical artifacts carries heat.

However, the sword pellet's mysterious light does not rely on the Five Elements, nor does it belong to Yin and Yang; it is simply pure "sharpness" and "speed".

It was a sharpness that bordered on the Tao.

This perfectly aligns with the way of sword cultivators: one sword can break through all laws, relying not on external objects, but solely on sharpness.

After examining it for a moment, Anton became interested and a thought began to stir in his mind.

The sword pellet suddenly lit up.

A beam of dark golden sword light burst forth from the pill, like a dragon emerging from the abyss, traversing the quiet room.

Sometimes it is as fast as a shooting star chasing the moon, faster than lightning.

Sometimes it moves like a fish playing in the water, graceful and free.

The speed was so fast that it left countless afterimages in the air, as if dozens of sword lights were flying in the quiet room at the same time.

Unlike before, every turn, acceleration, and change of direction of the sword light was smoother, more precise, and faster than before the breakthrough.

It was as if the sword light could sense his intentions in advance and react the instant his thoughts arose.

Before the thought even formed, the sword light had already arrived.

This is the meaning of "the unity of mind and sword".

Anton's lips curled slightly as he continued to urge the sword light on, unleashing the Split Light Separation Technique.

The sword light instantly split into eight, transforming into eight dark golden dragons that tumbled and coiled in the quiet room.

Eight sword lights intertwined and danced, echoing each other, like a perfectly coordinated sword formation, enveloping every inch of the quiet room in their sword light.

After a moment of focused perception, Anton discovered that the consumption of his true essence was almost the same as when he used the "One Transforms into Four" technique at the level of a magical artifact.

"Has the consumption of true essence also decreased?"

Anton pondered for a while and quickly understood the reason.

After being upgraded to a profound artifact, the sword pellet developed its own consciousness, enabling it to actively absorb free energy from the world to replenish its consumption.

While being controlled by him, the sword pellet will draw energy from the environment on its own, just as naturally as breathing is for humans.

He doesn't need to deliberately guide him.

Although the replenishment rate is far slower than the consumption rate, it has already significantly reduced Anton's burden of true energy.

This means that he can now use splitting one into eight as a regular combat tactic.

Anton was overjoyed and continued to urge the sword light on.

The eight sword lights suddenly trembled and split apart once more.

Sixteen streaks of dark golden sword light danced and leaped about, transforming into countless dense sword lights in the void, almost filling every inch of the quiet room.

Seeing this, Anton felt increasingly pleased.

Although he had previously touched the threshold of one becoming sixteen, he had never been able to truly master it.

But now, with the active cooperation of the sword pellet, it was executed smoothly without any effort, and the consumption of true essence was much lower than expected.

Although it can't be used as freely as splitting into eight, it's enough as a trump card in crucial moments.

Anton then attempted to further divide the sword light, trying to break through to the realm of one sword splitting into thirty-two.

But this time it failed.

The sword light trembled violently a few times at the edge of differentiation, but ultimately failed to stabilize and reassembled into sixteen beams.

Anton was not discouraged by this.

With the help of the sword pellet, I believe I will soon be able to master the technique of splitting the sword light into thirty-two.

After regaining his composure, Anton raised his hand again.

The sixteen sword lights that were flying and leaping in the void suddenly stopped, and then suddenly converged together, silently merging into one, transforming into a sword light about three feet and three inches long, which hung in front of him.

The sword light was formed entirely of pure, transparent mystic light, with faint starlight visible at its edges, like a long sword forged from starlight.

Light as a dream, yet as solid as a mountain.

Just by hanging there, it gives people an invisible sense of oppression, as if an ancient ferocious beast is lurking there, ready to devour people at any time.

Once it breaks through to the Xuanqi level, the sword pellet will develop an ability that ordinary Xuanqi do not possess.

That is to reveal one's true form.

That is, the form of the sword pellet at this moment.

This is not an ordinary transformation, but rather the condensation of the entire power of the sword pellet into a single sword strike, using its purest and most extreme sharpness to defeat the enemy in one fell swoop.

At this moment, Anton stared at the longsword in front of him, which was formed from mysterious light, and could clearly feel the terrifying power contained within it.

Even at the peak of his power, he would likely be instantly reduced to ashes by this sword.