Elven cultivators

"Dark elves?"

Inside the Tianyuan Palace, after listening to Eleanor's report, Anton raised an eyebrow slightly, but quickly regained his composure.

The Silvermoon Clan has been operating in the Underdark for decades, constantly expanding its sphere of influence and increasingly frequent contact with the subterranean races.

Encountering dark elves is only a matter of time.

"Did you find out anything?" Anton asked.

Dark elves are known for their ability to endure torture and pain.

After all, that's how they often treat their own people.

Torture had very limited effect on them.

But besides torture, the Primordial City has plenty of ways to extract the information you want.

For example, the Soul Searching Technique.

This spell is so cruel that it can cause irreversible damage to the soul of the victim, so cultivators rarely use it.

However, it comes in handy when facing a troublesome target like the Dark Elves.

Sure enough, Eleanor nodded and said, "That dark elf belongs to a dark elf city-state called Vion. According to her, there are more than 30 dark elf families living in Vion. The council composed of the matriarchs of the seven most powerful families is the highest ruling body of the entire city-state."

Anton listened quietly, his eyes flickering slightly.

Dark Elf society has always been based on the family as the basic unit.

Multiple families form the backbone of the society, vying for power and resources overtly or covertly.

Each family is an independent power entity, absolutely ruled by a matriarch.

The relationships among family members are less about kinship and more about political alliances that could be betrayed at any time.

The more powerful a family is, the more intense the internal strife becomes. It is common for sisters to betray and sabotage each other in the struggle for the right to inherit the matriarchal position.

The matriarchs of the city's most powerful families would form a governing council to jointly manage city affairs, adjudicate conflicts between families, and allocate resources around the city.

The matriarch of the most powerful family is the highest authority in the council, possessing the final decision-making power.

This power structure appears to be collective governance, but in reality, it is a rigid hierarchy.

Families ranked lower must maintain a formal respect for families ranked higher.

In terms of resource allocation, a family's ranking determines the share it receives.

Therefore, families ranked lower will secretly accumulate strength, waiting for an opportunity to betray families ranked higher, so as to improve their own family's ranking.

In addition, dark elf society is still absolutely female-dominated.

In the Dark Elf value system, women are natural rulers, while men are merely tools for reproduction and warriors, of low status, forbidden from holding any important positions, and prohibited from learning high-level spells and combat skills.

This extreme gender discrimination is the cornerstone of the entire Dark Elf society.

Therefore, in every dark elf family, the matriarch must be a woman.

All important positions in the family are held by women.

No matter how strong a man is, he can only serve as a high-level enforcer and can never enter the decision-making level.

To many races, the social structure and survival model of the Dark Elves seem far too extreme and biased.

Even to the orcs, who revere competition and force, it was far too radical.

Yet, it was precisely through this social structure and way of life that the Dark Elves developed into one of the three major races of the Underdark.

Even on the surface world, dark elves are notorious.

"Speaking of which, at this time, there should already be dark elven city-states in the Underdark worshipping the Dark Spider Mother."

Anton suddenly remembered this.

The Dark Spider Queen is an enormous spider monster, a rare saint-level creature.

This creature originally roamed the Underdark, hunting subterranean creatures.

Until one day, he accidentally stumbled into a battlefield between a dark elf city-state and other forces, devouring many underground creatures from the dark elves' hostile forces, thus indirectly helping the dark elves win the war.

After that, the dark elf city-state attempted to contact the Dark Spider Queen, offering her slaves as food.

The Dark Spider Queen was happy to relax and readily accepted the tribute from the Dark Elves, occasionally stepping in to help them deal with their enemies.

Over time, the relationship between the two became one of support and being supported.

In the original history, the Dark Spider Mother would grow rapidly in the following period.

When the Age of Gods arrives, they will be promoted to true gods and become the protectors of the dark elves.

However, at this stage, it is just a monster with some intelligence.

Anton guessed that Vion was probably not the dark elf city-state that worshipped the Dark Spider Mother.

Otherwise, when those dark elves went out on missions, they should have been accompanied by spider monsters.

This is undoubtedly good news for him.

If the city of Vion has the Dark Spider Queen as its backer, then the clan will probably have to consider shrinking its sphere of influence.

Even he wouldn't easily provoke a monster at the Saint level.

Anton pulled his wandering thoughts back and continued listening to Eleanor's story.

"In the area where Vion City is located, besides their city-state, there are more than a dozen other city-states."

"The Grey Dwarves, the Dilo Dwarves, the Koto Fishmen, the Mushroom People... their forces vary in size, but none are as powerful as Vion City."

Anton understood: "It seems we've discovered a fertile land."

"Fertile land?" Eleanor asked, puzzled.

Anton explained, "A very small number of areas in the Underdark have relatively gentle terrain and are richer in resources, which has attracted many subterranean races to settle there and establish city-states. Over time, this has led to the formation of areas with a high concentration of city-state power."

"This region is called 'Fertile Land' in the language of the subterranean races, also known as the City-State Zone."

Eleanor suddenly realized what was happening and asked, "Chief, what should we do next?"

Anton pondered for a moment and said, "Don't act rashly yet. Continue to send people to investigate the distribution of power and the terrain in this area. Once we have gathered enough intelligence, we will decide what to do next."

The fertile region has more abundant resources than other places, and its development is relatively easier.

Moreover, the terrain is gentle, making it a suitable transit area for future exploration.

If handled properly, a stronghold similar to Nine Nether City could be established there, bringing this fertile land completely under the clan's control, which would be beneficial for future exploration of more distant places.

However, the fertile region is also home to many powerful forces, and to take control of this area, one must plan carefully before acting.

"I understand." Eleanor then smiled and said, "This time it was Nighteye's doing again. That little girl is capable, but her luck is just too good."

Anton smiled and said, "That's just luck."

Although it might seem strange from his perspective, the fact that Night Eyes was the first vassal race to cultivate Daoist arts and the first to be promoted to a disciple of the Primordial City was itself a matter of good fortune.

Such figures have a common name in the cultivation world—the chosen ones.

After exchanging a few jokes, Eleanor turned and left to arrange the personnel for the investigation.

Anton stopped paying attention to the matter and handed it over to his subordinates.

Besides cultivating and refining guardian deities, he paid more attention to the situation in the Holy Dragon Mountains.

Not long ago, the allied forces, having made ample preparations, finally launched an attack on Holy Dragon City.

This majestic dragon holy city, which has stood for nearly ten thousand years, was struck by the most violent storm in its history in the spring of Dawn Calendar 9403.

……

From the air, the Holy Dragon Mountain Range resembles an ancient behemoth lying on the earth, with its peaks piercing the sky like sharp swords.

Holy Dragon City is located at the heart of this behemoth, backed by Dragon Ridge Peak and surrounded by mountains on three sides, its terrain so treacherous it's almost an insurmountable barrier.

Over nearly ten thousand years of management by the dragon race, Holy Dragon City has long been transformed into an impregnable fortress.

The city wall is hundreds of meters thick, and its surface is covered with dense defensive runes. The runes are layered and interconnected, forming a giant magic array that covers the entire city wall.

Every hundred meters above the city wall stands a giant magic tower, with magic crystal cannons atop the towers aimed at the distant plains.

Outside the city walls, countless traps, magic circles, and magical constructs densely covered the entire mountain path, blocking any intruders who dared to come.

This is the last bulwark of the dragon race.

It is also a tough nut to crack for the Allied forces.

Rumble rumble rumble!

The sound of war drums rolled in.

Thousands upon thousands of golems formed neat square formations and advanced toward Holy Dragon City.

Behind the golem array were hundreds of siege towers.

These behemoths are even taller and sturdier than those that attacked the Annihilation Fortress, their towers covered with thick steel plates welded with countless runic loops.

Each siege tower required hundreds of soldiers to operate the magic array inside in order to barely move it.

Further away, catapults and magical crossbows were lined up in a row, their dark muzzles pointed towards the direction of Holy Dragon City.

The direction of Holy Dragon City was also shrouded in a halo of light.

Runes on the city wall lit up one after another, their blinding red light like flowing lava, meandering and crawling across the wall.

The magic crystal cannon at the top of the magic tower began to charge, and the light gathered at the muzzle changed from dark red to blazing white, scorching and distorting the surrounding air.

Hundreds of giant dragons circled and flew in the sky above the city walls.

Their wingspan blots out the sky, and each flap of their wings stirs up a gale, sending dust flying everywhere.

The dragon's might poured down as if it were a tangible force, causing the trees on both sides of the mountain road to tremble.

However, the allied forces' offensive did not stop in the slightest.

When the siege golem entered the range of Holy Dragon City's ranged weapons, countless magic crystal cannons fired simultaneously, unleashing a deluge of rays.

At the same time, the giant dragon above swooped down.

The scorching dragon breath poured down from the sky like a burst dam, engulfing the dozens of golems at the forefront.

The body, forged from refined gold, rapidly turned red, melted, and deformed in the dragon's breath, eventually transforming into pools of molten iron that flowed down the mountain path.

More golems trampled over the remains of their companions and continued their advance.

Their eyes glowed with a ghostly blue light, and they raised their arms to aim at the giant dragon in the air.

The magical energy rays surged upwards like a torrential rain, drawing countless light trails across the sky.

……

The battles continued day after day.

The allied forces used golems to deplete the dragons' breath, siege towers to wear down the runes on the city walls, and catapults and magic crossbows to suppress the firepower of the magic towers.

No matter the cost, the allied offensive did not weaken.

Everyone knows that Holy Dragon City is the last stronghold of the dragon race.

If we conquer it, the dragon race will be completely finished.

So even if the casualties are heavy, they must continue.

This final battle between the dragons and the allied forces attracted the attention of countless people.

All eyes on the Dawn Continent were now focused on the Holy Dragon Mountains.

Everyone is waiting.

The moment that fortress, which had stood for nearly ten thousand years, collapsed with a deafening roar.