Elven cultivators

Inner fortress.

This is the most central area of ​​the entire Dragon City, and also the residence of the City Lord.

Even the governor is not allowed to set foot inside without permission.

The only exception was Auréion, who was the Supreme Consul.

After passing through numerous corridors, Aurelion stopped in front of a colossal gate that was a hundred meters high.

The stone gate hangs high, its surface engraved with intricate dragon patterns, with a faint dark red light flowing between the patterns, like the blood of a living creature surging in its veins.

Aurelion took a deep breath and placed his hand on the stone door.

The heavy stone door slid open silently to both sides, revealing a deep space behind it.

He stepped inside.

Behind the door was an extremely spacious hall with a dome a hundred meters high, supported by dozens of thick black stone pillars.

The stone pillars are inlaid with huge gemstones in crimson, azure, emerald green, and golden yellow. These gemstones refract brilliant light under the illumination of the light source stone, making the entire hall shine with a golden splendor.

However, the most eye-catching thing is the enormous thing that sits in the very center of the hall.

It was a giant dragon that was over a hundred meters long.

It lay prone on the ground, its wings folded at its sides, its long neck slightly bent, its large head resting on its front paws, and its dark red vertical pupils half-open, as if it were dozing.

Dark red scales covered his entire body, with faint crimson-gold molten flow slowly between the scales, like subterranean fire surging beneath his skin.

With each breath, a scorching wave of air shot out from its nostrils, leaving a pale red trail in the air.

Even just lying there quietly, the oppressive feeling emanating from the top of the food chain still made Orion's chest feel tight, and his breathing became somewhat sluggish.

Lord City Lord!

A surge of barely suppressed excitement welled up inside Aurelion.

He strode forward, stopped about twenty meters from the dragon, knelt down, and bowed his head deeply.

"Lord of the City, welcome back to Dragon City."

Isaac, the Ember Dragon, opened his eyes, his icy gaze falling on Orion.

"Aurion, has anything happened in Eldron Plains while I was away?"

Aurelion felt a chill run down his spine, hesitated for a moment, but ultimately chose to confess.

A deep-seated fear made him dare not hide anything from the city lord.

Just like he really wanted to know why the city lord had been gone for so long, but he didn't dare to ask.

The dragonborn, who stand high above others and consider themselves of noble blood, are nothing more than the most lowly servants before a true dragon.

Aurelion recounted in detail what had happened over the past sixty years.

The emergence of the Meteor Dragon Society, the successive destruction of military outposts along the Dragon Tooth Line, the death of Marcus, the deaths of five governors at Gray Rock Pass, and the forced withdrawal of troops from Bluewater Harbor and the Dragon Tooth Line...

He recounted every single detail, leaving nothing out.

The hall fell silent.

Isaac remained silent for a long time.

His dark red vertical pupils narrowed slightly, and flames flickered deep within them.

Orion kept his head down, not daring to breathe.

Finally, Isaac slowly spoke.

"You mean, I was only gone for a short time, and you were forced by an insignificant race of inferior beings to abandon all your settlements and cower in Dragon City, afraid to venture out?"

The sound wasn't loud, but it carried a chilling coldness.

Aurion broke out in a cold sweat, opened his mouth as if to explain, but couldn't utter a single word.

"A bunch of useless trash!"

"To think that a mere Gold-rank ant could make me look like this."

Orion lowered his head, not daring to refute.

He knew very well that any explanation in front of the enraged city lord would only make things worse.

"Pass down the order," Isaac's voice was as cold as frost. "Use all the forces of Dragon City to search for Canglan's whereabouts. Report back to me immediately once you find him."

"I'd like to see just how capable an ant of a lower race can be."

Aurelion was startled, then overjoyed.

The city lord must take action personally!

In this way, all those Canglan and Yunlong Society are nothing but rubbish!

"Yes, Lord City Lord!"

He responded emphatically, his voice filled with excitement.

"As for now."

The dragon slowly stood up, its massive body resembling a moving mountain, exuding a cold and stagnant aura of terror.

"I haven't made a move in so long that those insects have forgotten that they should have reverence for the great dragon race."

"Let's start with those forces that dare to offend the majesty of Dragon City."

"Let all the inferior races on this plain remember once again who is the true master of this plain."

……

Silvermoon Forest, Treehouse.

In the weapon-refining room, Anton sat cross-legged with his eyes lightly closed.

His divine sense, like fine threads, coiled around the Fire Shield in front of him, using true essence as a guide and divine sense as a medium to repair the damaged restrictions one by one.

This is an extremely slow process of nurturing.

Unlike the forging process of weapons, which involves using intense fire and restrictive techniques, this process is done with gentle, gradual nurturing and repair.

After more than four years of nurturing, this protective artifact has been restored to about 70-80% of its original state.

The once alarming cracks on the surface of the clock have now mostly healed.

The last remaining crack gradually healed under the nourishment of true essence.

The moment the last crack disappeared completely, the Fire Shield shuddered violently and emitted a low hum.

A crimson-gold light surged from inside the clock like a tide, illuminating the entire quiet room.

A moment later, the light subsided, and the Fire Shield returned to its original state, hovering quietly in mid-air, its surface shimmering with light, without a single flaw.

Anton raised his hand and the Fire Cover floated down into his palm.

He focused his senses for a moment, confirming that the internal restrictions of the magical artifact were intact, before nodding in satisfaction and putting away the Fire Cover.

He then focused his inner vision on his dantian.

Above the five-colored true essence, sixty-two drops of black jade-like water floated quietly, each drop as deep and mysterious as the solidified night.

Sixty-two drops of dark, heavy water.

This is the result of his tireless efforts over the past four years.

Everything is ready.

"It's time to clean up the Sighing Crystal Cluster."

Anton stood up and stretched his limbs.

Under the light of the light source stone, the long robe she wore faintly shimmered with crisscrossing warp and weft threads.

This is the Seven Stars Binding Sun Robe that he made for himself.

Although the Fire Shield is powerful, if it is damaged to the point of collapse like last time, it will be unable to be used again for a short period of time.

With this in mind, he crafted an additional protective artifact for himself, providing an extra layer of protection.

After leaving the treehouse, Anton summoned sword light, wrapped it around his body, and shot off towards the Thousand Rock Hills.

……

Darklands, city-states.

As usual, Anton used the Mist Concealment Amulet and Shadow Movement Technique to hide his tracks and quietly arrived near the central cave.

As expected, the clusters of sighing crystals remained gathered in the cave, immersed in absorbing energy.

Despite his greatly increased strength, Anton did not act rashly. Instead, just like last time, he hid in the distance and released five battalions of divine soldiers into the cave to lure out the Sighing Crystal Cluster.

Over the past four years, he has successively refined many more Five Camps of Divine Weapons, increasing the total number to more than 2,700, enough to form four Five Elements Arrays of 625 each.

Perhaps because so much time had passed since the last attack, the Sighing Crystal Clusters had forgotten their previous lessons and were once again fooled, lured out of the cave by the Five Battalions of Divine Soldiers.

More than thirty Sighing Crystal Clusters split into three directions and chased after the five battalions of divine soldiers.

This time, Anton chose the largest group, a total of fourteen, and chased after them silently.

After creating enough distance, he appeared and made his move without hesitation.

Eight sword lights, like thunderbolts tearing through the sky, crashed down upon the Sighing Crystal Cluster.

Caught off guard, the Sighing Crystal Cluster was struck head-on by the sword light.

Crack!

The hard crystal shell shattered like an eggshell, and grayish-white fragments scattered everywhere.

The sword light pierced through the body and exited from the other end, leaving a bowl-sized through wound on the spherical body.

Dark green fluid gushed from the wound, and the Sighing Crystal Cluster let out a mournful screech. Its massive spherical body trembled violently, and the crystal clusters on its surface opened and closed wildly.

Before it could react further, a second sword beam followed closely behind, piercing through its crystal core from the side.

The neighing stopped abruptly.

The massive spherical body wobbled a few times before crashing to the ground.

In a single glance, the Sighing Crystal Cluster collapsed and died.

Anton remained expressionless, and the eight sword lights moved with incredible agility under his divine control.

After breaking through to the Xuanqi level, the power of the sword light increased significantly.

The Sighing Crystal Cluster's prized hard crystal shell was as fragile as paper in the face of the dark gold sword light.

The petrified mist that perpetually shrouded the Sighing Crystal Cluster had no effect on the sword light.

What pleased Anton even more was the mysterious connection between Kenmaru and him.

With each turn, acceleration, and change of direction, 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.

Anton thoroughly enjoyed this feeling.

In just a short while, thirteen of the fourteen Sighing Crystal Clusters had already fallen.

Only one was left, still struggling in its death throes.

Just then, Anton's divine sense suddenly detected several auras rapidly approaching from afar.

The main force has arrived.

He raised an eyebrow, quickly dealt with the last Sighing Crystal Cluster, and then turned to look at the gray torrent surging towards them.

Fifty-three sighing crystal clusters.

It far exceeded the number he had faced in the previous two encounters.

But this time, Anton had no intention of running away.

He raised his hand and waved it, and all sixty-two drops of Netherworld Heavy Water shot out, drawing dense arcs in mid-air, and crashing hard into the Sighing Crystal Cluster at the forefront.

In an instant, the five Sighing Crystal Clusters at the forefront were pierced through like a honeycomb and died on the spot.

At the same time, Anton took out a command flag and waved it, releasing 2,500 five-camp divine soldiers who formed four five-element formations, each trapping a batch of sighing crystal clusters.

He didn't expect the Five Elements Formation to kill these Sighing Crystal Clusters; he just wanted it to hold back a portion of the enemy.

There are still twenty-six Sighing Crystal Clusters remaining.

With a slight thought, Anton caused the Fire Shield to rise from above his head, enveloping him in a crimson-gold light.

Instead of standing still and passively taking hits, he used his sword light to actively rush into the cluster of sighing crystals, using the extreme speed of sword escape to pull and kill enemies at the same time.

Sixteen sword lights crisscrossed the gray torrent, and with each flash, the crystal shell of a Sighing Crystal Cluster shattered.

Wherever the sword light passed, crystal fragments flew and dark green fluid gushed out in all directions.

In just over ten breaths, six Sighing Crystal Clusters perished under the sword.

The Sighing Crystal Clusters launched a frenzied counterattack, unleashing a hazy barrage of petrifying rays from all directions, raining down on the Fire Shield.

The crimson-gold light curtain trembled violently, rippling outwards in concentric circles.

The light from the fire shield dimmed at a visible speed.

Anton's expression remained unchanged, and he did not even slow down the speed of the sword light.

He had anticipated this.

While the Fire Shield can still hold, he must eliminate as many Sighing Crystal Clusters as possible.

Chi Chi Chi!

The three-headed sighing crystal cluster was once again pierced through the crystal core by the sword light, and its huge spherical body crashed to the ground.

The light barrier of the Fire Shield had dimmed to its lowest point, like a candle flickering in the wind, ready to be extinguished at any moment.

Anton decisively put away the Fire Cover to prevent it from being damaged like last time.

The moment the crimson-gold light barrier dissipated, a layer of pale blue light suddenly shone on the Seven Stars Binding Sun Robe, flowing around him like ripples on water, blocking all the remaining petrifying rays.

At this point, only five of the Sighing Crystal Clusters remained in the sight of Anton.

He continued to wield the sword light and quickly wiped out the five Sighing Crystal Clusters.

Without even taking a breath, he turned and rushed toward the Sighing Crystal Clusters trapped in the Five Elements Formation.

About ten minutes later, accompanied by a sharp screech, the last Sighing Crystal Cluster collapsed and did not rise again.

The battle is over.

Anton's gaze swept over the corpses scattered on the ground, and he let out a long sigh.

It's finally done.

He focused his mind and sensed his own condition.

Sixty-two drops of dark, heavy water, not a single drop remained.

The true essence in his dantian was also nearly exhausted, with only a thin layer remaining.

The Fire Shield's light dimmed, and the Seven Stars Binding Yang Robe was also quite damaged, but fortunately it wasn't as bad as last time. It would recover completely after a few months of nurturing.

However, the five battalions of elite soldiers suffered a loss of more than five hundred men.

The price paid was considerable.

But considering the results, it was all worth it.

Which gold-tier being could wipe out 67 peak-level Sighing Crystal Clusters in one go?

Anton was in a good mood. He took out a pill to restore his true energy from his storage bag and swallowed it. Then he began to clean up the battlefield.