Elven cultivators

It has been almost two years since the condensation of the pill was successful, but Anton has not even been able to refine one-tenth of the pill's essence.

The reason for this is that the difficulty of refining the pill essence of a first-grade golden elixir is far greater than that of ordinary pills.

Dan Sha is the "outer shell" that forms naturally when the Golden Elixir condenses. Its essence is a "sediment" after energy is highly compressed. It has a dense texture and is extremely inert, making it difficult for the Golden Elixir to absorb and transform directly.

Most Golden Core cultivators often need to spend a long time refining the inner energy one by one, breaking through this barrier, and entering the second level of the Golden Core realm.

Not to mention that Anton's condensed golden elixir is the most top-grade first-class elixir.

While the upper limit is extremely high, the difficulty of refining also increases exponentially.

In the world of cultivation, there are usually only a few ways to accelerate the refining of elixir.

The first step is to refine the Elixir of Dispelling Evil.

This is a special auxiliary elixir for refining Dan Sha. Its medicinal power can penetrate the outer shell, soften Dan Sha, and make it easier for the Golden Core to absorb.

Anton has already researched alternatives to the materials needed for the Evil-Dispelling Pill and is preparing to begin refining it.

If successful, the refining speed should be significantly increased.

Second, set up the Nine Revolutions Refining Evil Array.

The essence of this formation is to use the formation to draw in the spiritual energy of heaven and earth and infuse it into the cultivator's body, like a stream washing away stubborn rocks, eroding the inner energy day after day and reducing the difficulty of refining.

Therefore, the formation can only be set up on a spiritual vein.

Just then, Anton planned to build a cave dwelling at the ley line node of Dragon City, so he simply incorporated the Nine Revolutions Refining Evil Array into the array cluster of the cave dwelling.

At that time, the resonance effect of the array cluster can also amplify the effect of the Nine Revolutions Refining Evil Array, achieving two goals at once.

Once the cave dwelling is completed, the efficiency of refining the pill essence will be able to reach a new level.

There is another method, which is more direct and more intense than the previous two—by using the power of lightning tribulation.

The principle is similar to the Nine Revolutions Refining Evil Array, but the intensity is much more violent.

It directly draws the power of the lightning tribulation into the body, using external force to shatter the Dan Sha, causing it to disintegrate into more easily absorbed fragments.

The problem is that the power of the tribulation lightning is not ordinary lightning.

Ordinary thunderstorms and lightning, or even the lightning power summoned by ordinary formations, are far from sufficient.

Formations alone cannot achieve the effect of lightning tribulation power.

It is necessary to find those naturally formed lightning-attribute forbidden areas and then combine them with array formations to simulate an effect similar to a lightning tribulation.

"There's no such place in the Eldron Plains; we'll have to look elsewhere."

Anton searched his memory for a moment, but still couldn't recall any location that met the criteria.

If we're talking about places with a lot of thunderstorms, the Leiming River Basin is a place that fits the bill, but it doesn't seem to have any thunderous geysers there.

Anton shook his head and decided to put the matter aside for the time being.

The most urgent task is to implement the plan for the cave dwelling.

The array complex, consisting of the mountain-protecting array, the spirit-gathering array network, and numerous auxiliary arrays, took Andong nearly two years to plan and design.

During this period, he spent countless hours studying the formation patterns and repeatedly revising the details of the formation diagram. He also conducted numerous on-site surveys of the proposed location for Taichu City.

Sometimes, for a seemingly insignificant small formation, he would mentally consider dozens of options, then eliminate them one by one until he found the one that best fit the overall layout.

Despite the hard work, the rewards were equally plentiful.

This painstaking training led to a qualitative leap in his mastery of formations.

When he used to look at those high-level array diagrams, he always had a vague feeling of knowing what they were but not why they were.

They can draw the pattern, but they don't fully understand the meaning behind each stroke of the symbol.

Looking back now, many of the key points have become clear.

"Now I can at least call myself a master of formations."

Anton made a self-deprecating remark.

As for the planning of functional areas, he adopted the core layout concept of "heaven is round and earth is square, the five elements are arranged in a circle, and the four symbols are guarded".

The outer layer is the defense and warning zone, which is mainly composed of the original Dragon City wall and its perimeter, and is equipped with defensive fortifications and warning arrays.

The middle floor is the functional building area, where alchemy rooms, weapon refining rooms, spiritual plant gardens, animal gardens, libraries, and storage areas are all concentrated, making them convenient for management and use.

The core layer is the cultivation and living area, including high-rise residences, core meditation rooms, and the most important array control center.

Looking at the densely packed planning drawings in front of him, a satisfied smile flashed in Anton's eyes.

"Let's call the cave dwelling... Primordial City."

Tai Chu is the father of the Five Elements and the origin of all things.

This was his first cave dwelling, so naming it after it was most fitting.

This name embodies the essence of his cultivation path and also reflects his hopes for this cave dwelling—to make it the starting point for the Silver Moon Clan to move towards a wider world.

Building the Primordial City requires a large amount of materials, but fortunately, the clan's warehouses are now full of resources seized from Krethorung City, so there is no problem with materials at all.

He doesn't need to worry about infrastructure; those can be left to the clansmen. He only needs to keep an eye on the overall direction.

The only thing he needed to do personally was setting up the formation.

However, once the framework of the array cluster is built, the work of drawing the array patterns for the peripheral, non-core auxiliary arrays can be handed over to Eleanor and the enchanters who are learning runes.

Once the City of Primordial Chaos is completed, all elves who choose the path of cultivation will move here to live and practice.

Of course, other elves can also enter the Primordial City if they wish.

This place will serve as the Silver Moon Clan's sacred training ground and resource distribution center, forming the foundation for the clan's future development.

As for the ley line node in the Darklands, construction can only begin after the Primordial City is completed.

The clan is still short-handed, and it's difficult to manage both tasks simultaneously.

Besides, he was too busy to manage both caves at the same time.

After carefully putting away the cave dwelling plan, Anton's gaze fell on another document on the table.

That was an exploration report about two magic stone veins.

After detailed exploration, the reserves, quality and distribution of the two mineral veins have been determined.

One site has a large reserve of medium quality, suitable for large-scale mining, and can serve as the main source of magic stones for the clan's daily consumption.

The other reserve is smaller in quantity but higher in quality, with relatively better purity and energy density of the magic stones.

Anton selected the latter as the artificial cultivation site for the spirit stone vein.

He planned to set up the Qiankun Transformation Array at that mine, following the method of "artificially cultivating spirit stone veins" in the Great Dao Jade Slip. Using the array as a medium, he would draw the energy of heaven and earth into the mine and gradually transform it into a spirit stone vein.

Alternative materials are not hard to find, but it takes a long time to successfully cultivate the mineral vein.

According to Anton's estimate, it will take at least three hundred years for this vein to transform into a spirit stone vein.

Although it sounds like a long time, it's much better than the thousands or tens of thousands of years required to cultivate a spirit stone vein from scratch.

Of course, there are ways to shorten the time.

If a spirit seed is added to the formation as the core, the cultivation speed can be shortened to at least a hundred years.

The so-called "spirit seed" refers to an extremely high concentration of energy crystals that release energy outwards, gradually transforming surrounding objects into lower-level energy crystals of the same kind.

It's somewhat similar to the Life Source Crystal, but its quality far surpasses it.

In the world of cultivation, there are many rare and precious materials that can serve as spiritual seeds.

Millennium Spirit Milk Crystal, Chaos Stone, Primordial Magnetic Stone... each one is a rare and precious treasure.

On the Dawn Continent, Anton doesn't have many alternative materials he can think of at this stage.

One is a crystallization of divinity.

It is a crystal formed from the fragments of divine essence and remnants of divinity after the fall of a god, containing almost infinite energy.

Needless to say, this thing is not easy to obtain.

Moreover, there's nowhere to obtain it at this stage, unless he can find the place where the Dragon God Aio fell.

The other is the crystallization of the element's origin.

It is a treasure that can only be born in the deepest part of the four elemental planes, a pure crystal formed by the condensation of elemental energy after extreme compression.

Each one contains a massive, almost infinite amount of elemental energy.

The problem is that the Elemental Primal Plane is filled with violent energy storms and is teeming with elemental spirits.

Ordinary elemental spirits are manageable, but those elemental giants that have survived for thousands of years are all legendary-level beings.

Elder Giant Spirit is even a demigod-level being.

For any intelligent life form below the demigod level to go there is practically suicide.

"etc.……"

Anton suddenly remembered that during the era when the dragons ruled, a giant earth elemental spirit seemed to have appeared in the material world.

Under normal circumstances, legendary creatures like the Earth Elemental Giant can only stay in the material world for a maximum of ten or twenty minutes before being forcibly expelled back to the elemental origin plane by the laws of the world.

But this earth elemental giant is rather special.

It somehow devoured a crystal of earth elemental essence, and with the power of that crystal, it withstood the rejection of the world's laws and remained in the material world for a considerable period of time.

Later, for some unknown reason, it suddenly disappeared again.

"If only we could find that earth elemental giant..."

Anton's eyes lit up slightly, but he immediately frowned again.

He only remembered that the earth elemental giant appeared in the southern part of the continent, but he couldn't recall the exact location or time.

The only certainty is that the giant spirit had already disappeared before the war to slay the dragon broke out.

However, this time spans hundreds of years, making it impossible to pinpoint the exact timeframe.

"Since the clan is sending people out to recruit elves, let them investigate while they're at it."

Anton secretly made his plans.

Due to its inherent characteristics, when an earth elemental giant remains on the material plane for an extended period, it is like a boulder thrown into a calm lake, stirring up the surrounding ley lines and triggering a series of unusual phenomena.

For example, the phenomenon of living rocks.

Some rocks grow slowly as if they were alive; a boulder may double in size within a few months, or crystallized rock nodules may form on its surface.

For example, plant alienation.

Plants near the location of the giant will petrify from the roots upwards, their woody fibers will be replaced by rock, and their leaves will harden like stone flakes, yet they will still remain green, making them look extremely eerie.

Even more terrifying is the petrification disease.

Animals that live within the influence of the giant spirit for a long time will have their skin gradually harden and crack, eventually turning into living stone statues.

It can still breathe and move, but most of its flesh and blood have turned into stone.

And this state is irreversible.

If these unusual phenomena do occur, they will certainly cause quite a stir, and the investigation should not be too difficult.

Having made up his mind, Anton collected his thoughts, put away the planning map, turned and left the treehouse, heading towards the Primordial City.

Next, we need to start setting up the formation.

……

The construction of Primordial City has only just begun, but Silvermoon Forest has already become bustling with activity.

Since Anton launched dozens of high-quality products at the patriarch's inauguration ceremony, the news has spread like wildfire throughout the Eldron Plains and then to even more distant places.

At first, some people were hesitant, wondering if these products were really as good as rumored.

But all doubts vanished when the merchants participating in the ceremony began selling goods purchased from the Silvermoon Clan.

The quality of those products was far superior to what was rumored.

As a result, more and more forces began to flock to Silvermoon Forest, attempting to establish trade cooperation.

Before long, caravans from Green Highlands, Thunder River Basin, and even further afield began to appear on the outskirts of Silvermoon Forest.

As more people arrived, a temporary camp was even formed several kilometers away from Silvermoon Forest.

New caravans arrived every day, and wagons laden with goods departed every day.

From dawn to dusk, various convoys entered and exited the camp almost without interruption.

The group of chieftain's assistants, led by Eleanor, were responsible for receiving these merchants.

Anton only made decisions on the general direction; he left the specific trade terms, price negotiations, and cargo allocation to these young elves.

After a period of busy work, Eleanor and others quickly established a complete and efficient trading process.

Trade is gradually getting back on track.

While selling goods, the Silvermoon Clan also purchases large amounts of external resources from these forces and merchant guilds.

From magical plants to magical beast materials, from rare ores to exotic specialties, it covers almost all the raw materials needed in alchemy, forging, medicine making and other fields.

The influx of these resources, in turn, boosted the Silvermoon Clan's production capacity, further improving the quantity and quality of their goods.

A virtuous cycle is forming.

As the core of this cycle, Silvermoon Forest is like a stone thrown into a calm lake, and the ripples it creates are spreading outwards in circles, farther and farther away.