Elven cultivators

Silvermoon Forest, before the Tree of Eternity.

Anton looked down and examined the piece of wood in his palm.

The appearance of Wanmu Yuanxin is unremarkable. At first glance, it looks like a piece of wood heartwood cut from an ancient tree, with a fine wood texture on the surface, converging inward like annual rings.

But if you look closely, you can see that beneath the seemingly still wood grain, there is a very faint emerald green halo that slowly flows, sometimes condensing into points of light, and sometimes dispersing into a misty fog, as if there is life breathing and pulsating within it.

Holding Wanmu Yuanxin in his palm, Anton could clearly feel the vibrant life force contained within it.

"This material is indeed a top-quality wood."

Anton felt a little regretful.

If it weren't for the desire to strengthen the Eternal Tree, this Origin of Ten Thousand Woods could serve as a core material for crafting mystical artifacts.

"Never mind, I'll try to get another one if I have the chance in the future."

Anton collected his thoughts and looked up at the Eternal Tree before him.

This giant tree, which has stood for countless years, is now even taller and more lush than before, thanks to the nourishment of the Great Evolution Azure Profound Array.

The tree canopy, like a dome, blocks out half the sky, and aerial roots hang down from the branches, sinking deep into the ground to form new trunks.

Just standing under the tree, you can feel the calm and profound life force emanating from its trunk.

Anton's divine sense spread out, penetrating the ground and extending in all directions along the root network of the Eternal Tree.

In an instant, the condition of the entire Tree of Eternity came into his perception.

Following closely behind, Anton stepped forward and gently pressed the Heart of Ten Thousand Trees onto the trunk of the Eternal Tree.

Like snow melting into water, the essence of all trees disappears into the trunk the moment it touches the bark.

The next instant, a warm and vibrant life force suddenly surged from the depths of the tree heart, spreading in all directions along the veins of the trunk, like a spring that had been dormant for many years suddenly gushing forth.

Wherever that vitality passed, the wood fibers trembled slightly, making a soft rustling sound, as if the ancient tree was stretching its limbs.

Initially, the changes were not drastic.

At the edge of the tree canopy, new buds emerge from the branches, then swell and unfold at a visible speed, growing into complete leaves in no time.

The color of the leaves changes from light green to emerald green, and then from emerald green to dark green, progressing layer by layer, as if the cycle of spring and autumn has been accelerated a thousand times.

At the same time, the roots buried deep underground, like pythons that have come to life, began to slowly and steadily extend deeper and farther.

New roots extend from the main root, meandering through the crevices of the soil and rocks.

With each inch it extends forward, fine root hairs sprout from the tips of the tendrils, greedily absorbing the moisture and nutrients from the soil.

The air began to feel moist and sweet.

That's a sign that the concentration of wood-elemental spiritual energy is rising rapidly.

The forest elves quickly noticed the change, stopped what they were doing, and looked around in confusion.

However, the changes to the Tree of Eternity occurred underground and high in the canopy, making it difficult to see the whole picture from the outside. They were unable to find the source of the changes for the time being.

Only a few sharp-minded elves, combining the changes in the energy concentration in the air, immediately realized that the changes before their eyes were related to the Great Evolution Azure Mystic Array.

On the first day, the Tree of Eternity grew by nearly 10%.

The tree canopy expanded in all directions, further obscuring the previously exposed sky.

At the edge of the forest, the saplings that were only half a person tall grew to more than two meters overnight.

The changes became even more apparent the next day.

The trunk of the Tree of Eternity had become much thicker, and the patterns on its bark had become deeper, with a faint emerald green light flowing between the patterns.

The shade of the tree canopy extends outwards for dozens of meters, bringing more open spaces that were previously exposed to the sun under its protection.

On the outskirts of the forest, newly grown trees sprouted branches and leaves at an astonishing speed, growing hundreds of meters overnight.

On the third day, as the first rays of dawn pierced through the gaps in the tree canopy and fell into the forest, the entire Silver Moon Forest was enveloped in a dreamlike halo.

The Tree of Eternity has grown nearly 30% taller than it did three days ago.

The tree canopy, like a giant umbrella, completely obscured the sky for several kilometers around.

Looking down from the air, one can see that the forest extends for five or six kilometers towards both the Primordial City and the Thousand Rock Hills, incorporating more wasteland and wilderness into its territory.

Beneath the Tree of Eternity, Anton, who was sensing the changes in the forest in real time through the array, suddenly had a change in expression.

Just as the Tree of Eternity completely absorbed the Source of All Trees, he suddenly sensed a vague, bewildered 'emotion' emanating from the Tree of Eternity, like that of a newborn infant.

The 'emotions' he sensed were very similar to those he felt when the sword pill broke through and advanced to a Xuan weapon.

"The first stirrings of spirituality."

A hint of surprise flashed in Anton's eyes.

Unexpectedly, the Source of All Trees not only enhanced the growth of the Eternal Tree, but also awakened the spirituality of this ancient tree.

In Anton's original plan, even with the nourishment of the Great Evolution Azure Profound Array, it would take at least several hundred years for the Eternal Tree to develop a spirituality similar to that of a Mystic Artifact or Mystic Light.

But now this process has been completely omitted.

What a pleasant surprise!

It may take hundreds or thousands of years for that nascent spirituality to truly solidify and take shape, transforming into a complete consciousness.

But without a doubt, the Tree of Eternity has now transformed from a "tree" into a "living being".

Having acquired a faint sense of self-awareness, the Eternal Tree will no longer passively accept the nourishment of the Great Evolution Azure Profound Array, but will actively and consciously guide the operation of the array and cooperate with the array to do things that best serve the interests of the forest.

Outwardly, this means the effects of the Great Evolution Azure Profound Array will be greatly enhanced.

The functions of gathering spirits, nurturing spirits, and defense will all be upgraded to a higher level.

From now on, the expansion speed of Silvermoon Forest will be significantly accelerated.

What used to take hundreds of years to complete may now only take a few decades.

At this rate, within a century at most, the Silvermoon Forest will completely envelop the Thousand Rock Hills and the Primordial City.

In addition, the evolution of the Tree of Eternity will also drive the expansion of the Fountain of Life.

The two are complementary and inseparable.

However, this process will not be quick; it will take enough time to see results.

Anton smiled with satisfaction.

His preparations for this "upgrade" were worthwhile. He not only guided the process, directing every wisp of life from the Myriad Tree Source Heart to where it was most needed, but also used up all the energy accumulated by the Great Evolution Azure Profound Array over the past ten years to expand the forest area in conjunction with the Myriad Tree Source Heart.

This effort yielded tremendous results.

Not only has the Silvermoon Forest been completely transformed from a refined hermitage into a profound cave dwelling, but the Eternal Tree has also completed a crucial step in its evolution.

What a bountiful harvest!

"The Tree of Eternity is now considered a rare and precious natural treasure."

A thought suddenly flashed through Anton's mind.

He had been pondering how to eliminate the death energy within the earth elemental core, and now he had a ready-made solution.

The surging vitality that the Tree of Eternity now possesses is the best way to eliminate death.

As Anton was pondering, a familiar voice came from behind him.

"Chieftain."

He turned his head slightly and saw Eleanor walking from the end of the tree-covered corridor.

The elven girl's gaze passed over Anton and landed on the Eternal Tree behind her, a hint of undisguised amazement flashing in her eyes.

"This is such a big change..."

The moment Eleanor stepped into the Silvermoon Forest, she sensed the changes in the forest.

She was still greatly surprised when she saw the Tree of Eternity with her own eyes.

This giant tree, which she should have been extremely familiar with, now presented a completely new look.

"When I was a child, my grandfather told me that the Eternal Tree of Silvermoon Forest was only considered to be of lower-middle rank among the many clans of the Elven race, and was far inferior to the World Tree of the Emerald Court."

"But now when I look at it, I feel like it's catching up little by little."

Eleanor sighed, her tone tinged with reminiscence.

Anton smiled slightly: "It's still early, but at least we have the qualifications to catch up."

Eleanor looked at Anton, a slight smile on her face.

She believed that the clan's Tree of Eternity would eventually surpass the World Tree of the Emerald Court.

It's not because the Tree of Eternity itself is anything special, but because Anton is there.

He always manages to do things that others think are impossible.

"Let's go back to the Hall of Eternity and talk about it there."

Anton turned and walked toward the tree-lined walkway.

Eleanor walked beside him, the two of them side by side, their pace neither hurried nor slow.

"You've been gone for the past three days, have you been to the Underdark?" Anton asked casually.

"Hmm, three more underground tribes in Nine Nether City are willing to accept our recruitment. I'll go and handle it."

When the conversation turned to serious matters, Eleanor became much more earnest and began to recount the recent events in detail.

The exploration of the Underdark has been underway for three years.

The exploration team was divided into four squads, like four probes, extending from the Nine Nether City into the depths of the Dark Region.

The exploration process was not without its challenges.

Attacks from underground monsters are commonplace.

The exploration team faced these native predators that inhabit the underground almost every day: the nests of petrified lizards, the tunnels of burrowing worms, and the territories of cave bears.

Fortunately, the exploration team consisted of elite personnel, and they were able to gain the upper hand in most encounters.

In addition, the exploration team encountered many indigenous tribes from the Darklands.

Grey dwarves, subterranean gnomes, mushroom people, Thor stone monsters...

For these subterranean races, exploration teams usually try to make contact.

If the other party is willing to engage in friendly communication, they will try to recruit them.

Of course, their treatment is definitely not as good as that of the cat people, the ghost scale people, and the wildlings.

They must undergo a period of observation to ensure their loyalty before the merit system is opened to them.

If the other party is unwilling to accept the offer, try to establish trade cooperation by dumping medicines, salt, daily necessities, and other goods on them in exchange for ores and other resources.

Once the other party gradually adapts to this trade cooperation and becomes dependent on the clan's goods, it is essentially no different from becoming a vassal race.

If they are unwilling to accept recruitment or reach trade cooperation agreements, and even turn around and show hostility towards the exploration team, then there's nothing more to say.

Just do it!

These underground tribes, let alone legendary-level combat power, most of them don't even have peak gold-level combat power.

There's no need for support from Primordial City or Silvermoon Forest; the exploration team can handle it all on their own.

After defeating the enemy, the exploration team will take the prisoners back to Jiuyou City, enslave them, and send them to work in the mining area.

Over the course of three years, the slave population of Jiuyou City had more than doubled.

It also recruited more than ten vassal ethnic groups.

These vassal tribes were not strong in combat, but each had its own talents and abilities.

Subterranean dwarves excel at engineering and machinery, mushroom people can cultivate various rare fungi, and Thor stone monsters can move freely through underground rocks, making them natural mineral vein prospectors.

They played a significant role in the development and expansion of Jiuyou City.

Loyalty aside, these subterranean tribes are indeed a very good source of labor.

In addition to its vassal clans, Nine Nether City has incorporated more than thirty other clans into its clan's trade network, greatly enriching the variety of goods traded by the clans.

As time goes by, the Silvermoon Clan's foothold in the Underdark is gradually taking hold.

They are no longer just outsiders, but an increasingly undeniable force in this underground world.