Elven cultivators

Sunlight streamed obliquely through the high windows of Tianyuan Hall, turning the floating dust particles in the air into pale golden specks, creating a soft halo on the stone brick floor.

Anton leaned back in his chair, his gaze fixed on the broadsword.

The sword is broad and heavy, with a deep, dark patina on its surface, as if it had been repeatedly soaked in smoke and dust, and there are marks of impact on the edges of the blade.

He probed it with his divine sense, which flowed like a stream along the texture of the sword's spine, and soon sensed the clear spiritual fluctuations within.

It is not intense, but quite stable, like a cluster of embers buried deep in the ashes. It may seem dim, but you can feel the residual heat once you peel back the surface.

Anton withdrew his divine sense and nodded in satisfaction.

The spiritual essence contained within this sword is of quite high quality, not much inferior to the ancestral totem of the Golden-backed Ape-man tribe.

The only drawback is that the soul is shrouded in a faint layer of deathly aura.

This is not surprising.

It is almost inevitable that spirits born from ancient battlefields will be tainted by death energy.

Fortunately, with Anton's current methods, the purification process is not too difficult.

Just like how the death energy was removed from that earth element crystal, by using the life-constructing array of the Eternal Tree to repeatedly flush it away, the death energy inside can be purified.

It just takes a little more time.

In any case, the spiritual seed for the Nine Dragons Divine Fire Cover has finally been found.

Anton casually set the broadsword aside and then looked at the more than one hundred weapons placed in the center of the hall.

These weapons vary in size and shape; some are only half-broken, and others are covered with mottled rust, but without exception, they all contain spiritual energy.

Those spirits were still very young and weak, and their quality was far inferior to that of the one in the broadsword, but their quantity was considerable.

If we gather them together, set up an array, and nourish them day and night with the spiritual energy of the Primordial Spirit Realm, and slowly nurture them over a hundred years, these young and weak spirits will gradually grow stronger.

By then, the Silvermoon Clan will not lack spirit seeds for a long time.

Anton withdrew his gaze and looked at Eleanor across from him.

"Ivy and the others have done a great job this time." His tone was filled with undisguised praise.

Eleanor smiled and nodded: "The contribution points have already been distributed. Several members of vassal races have even taken this opportunity to accumulate enough contribution points and submitted applications to become disciples of the Primordial City."

Anton nodded and asked about something else.

"How's the investigation on the Bloodclaw Clan's side going?"

Eleanor's expression softened slightly, and she sat up straight.

"Following the trail of the three werewolves before their deaths, we successively captured a group of Bloodclaw Clan members who had been lurking in several towns in the eastern part of the continent. After interrogation, we can basically confirm that their purpose for this trip was to collect spirit weapons... which they call soul weapons."

"As for the more specifics, they don't know much either, only that this matter involves a deployment they internally call 'Project Blood Claw'."

"Project Bloodclaw..."

Anton seemed to be deep in thought.

His understanding of the Bloodclaw clan was actually not very deep.

This wolf clan has a considerable reputation on the Dawn Continent, after all, it is a first-rate power.

In the original history, whether it was the Age of the Undead Scourge or the Age of the Rise of the Gods, the Bloodclaw Clan seemed to have little presence.

Anton speculated that the Bloodclaw clan was most likely wiped out when the Scourge swept across the continent.

Countless forces were destroyed in that era, including many top-tier ones, so the demise of the Bloodclaw Clan was nothing out of the ordinary.

But precisely because of this, Anton had very limited information about them and had no clue whatsoever about the so-called "Blood Claw Project".

"Does this plan require the use of spirit essence...?"

The essence and the spirit are essentially the same thing; they are just different names for different cultivation systems.

As far as Anton knew, there were only a few uses for spirits on the Dawn Continent.

Crafting magical equipment, creating alchemical golems, and raising magical creatures.

The first two can be ruled out.

The Bloodclaw clan is not known for its alchemy skills.

Moreover, the field of alchemy involving spirits is extremely profound, and even in the Heart of the Mountains, few dwarves possess the corresponding skills.

Not to mention those wolf descendants.

That leaves only one path: cultivating magical creatures.

Anton recalled the Old World Egg he had found in Scar's spatial ring, a thoughtful look flashing in his eyes.

After a moment, Anton pulled himself out of his reverie and said to Eleanor, "Keep investigating and find out the details of the Bloodclaw Project."

"Yes, I will send more people," Eleanor replied solemnly.

After leaving the Tianyuan Hall, Anton did not immediately return to the Jingshi, but instead went around to the Eternal Tree.

The tree canopy is like a dome, blocking out the sun, and aerial roots hang down from the branches and trunk, sinking deep into the soil.

Anton stood near the main trunk and raised his hand to press lightly on the ground.

Strands of emerald green light emanated from his fingertips, seeped into the soil, and spread outwards along the root system of the ancient tree.

The spiritual light seemed to be drawn by the roots, slowly outlining the shape of a roughly square array.

He inserted the broadsword into the center of the formation.

The surrounding roots began to wriggle slightly as if they were alive, and a green halo climbed up the sword along the roots, wrapping around the blade and the spine.

Before long, wisps of gray-black death energy began to emanate from deep within the sword.

The moment those deathly energies came into contact with the abundant life force within the formation, they melted away silently, like thin snow meeting the sun, leaving not a trace.

The entire purification process is slow and steady, like warm water repeatedly rinsing away years of accumulated grime, peeling away impurities layer by layer.

After finishing these tasks, Anton did not linger. He moved to another location and began setting up an array to nurture the spirit.

The Eternal Tree is the secondary array eye of the Primordial Five Elements Grand Array, and also the area with the most abundant vitality in the entire Primordial Spirit Realm, making it naturally suitable for setting up arrays for cultivation and purification.

Prior to this, he had already placed the Myriad Trees Spirit Transformation Array, which revived the eggs of the old world, and the Nourishing Array, which nurtured the Heaven-Turning Seal, near the tree roots.

Now there is an additional purification array and a spirit nurturing array.

Fortunately, the Tree of Eternity occupies a vast area, which is more than enough to set up four formations at the same time.

It took Anton several days to completely set up the spirit cultivation array.

He inserted the more than one hundred weapons one by one into the array, each one precisely corresponding to a node on the array diagram.

As the formation was activated, a warm and gentle spiritual energy emanated from the center of the formation, spreading along the patterns on the ground to every weapon.

The previously dormant spiritual fluctuations gradually became clear and even under the influence of this spiritual energy, like a riverbed in the dry season finally welcoming its first long rain.

Anton stood outside the formation for a moment, using his divine sense to check the formation's operation. After confirming that every node was unobstructed, he withdrew his gaze with satisfaction and turned to leave.

All that's left is to let the formation operate on its own.

Time will do the rest for him.

After returning to the Nine Heavens Tower, Anton went straight into the meditation room, sat cross-legged on the futon, and closed his eyes to concentrate.

Within the dantian, the golden elixir hung still like a pearl submerged in deep water. The misty patterns on its surface were more rounded than a few years ago, like a pebble repeatedly polished by the tide, smooth and warm.

On the surface of the golden elixir, four clearly visible cracks extend along the curve of the elixir body, with even spacing between them, like engravings on tree rings.

This is proof that he completed four fetal breathing exercises.

"In another seven or eight years at most, I will be able to complete nine cycles of embryonic breathing." Anton silently estimated in his mind, "At that time, I can start to hone my mental state."

Over the years, Anton has already prepared all the materials needed to set up the Great Dream Thousand Autumns Formation.

Once the embryonic breathing is fully completed, the formation can be set up immediately to make the final preparations for breaking through the perception barrier.

Taking a deep breath, Anton calmed his mind and focused his energy into his dantian.

In the quiet room, the light from the light source stone was soft and constant, casting his silhouette on the wall, motionless, like a silent stone statue.

Outside the window, dusk was slowly rising along the outline of the city wall, turning the eaves of the tower into a line of dark gold.

……

On the southeast side of the Sacred Dragon Mountains, a fortress built by the lake sits at the junction of a gentle slope and water.

The fortress was surrounded by three walls, protecting the center, with only the side adjacent to the lake open. The gray-blue lake water rippled deeply in the evening light, like a boundless mirror.

On the section of the city wall directly facing the direction of the Holy Dragon Mountains, Ezra was sitting against the battlements.

As a Celtic, without using shapeshifting, he looks like a bipedal seal with humanoid limbs.

The gray-blue short robe hung loosely over his body, the hem casually tucked into his belt, revealing his forearms covered in fine down and his slightly curved toes.

He sat barefoot on the edge of the wall, his back against the rough bricks, his eyes half-closed, gazing at the distant ruins of the dim fortress.

That once majestic fortress that stood across the Storm Rift is now nothing but broken sections of walls and collapsed towers, resembling ruins.

Since the fall of the Dragon Court, the five major powers have launched a new round of war over the ownership of the Holy Dragon Mountain Range.

The Annihilation Fortress was immediately turned into a battlefield and was completely reduced to ruins in repeated battles.

Without the cover of this defensive line, the entrance to the Holy Dragon Mountains is now completely exposed, without any concealment.

However, despite the fierce fighting among the five major forces, none of them attempted to seize the Holy Dragon Mountain Range.

Ezra was able to figure out the tricks of the trade to some extent.

With the Annihilation Fortress gone, the Holy Dragon Mountains have become an open cage.

Getting in is easy, getting out is hard.

Whoever steps in first at this time will expose their back to the other four families, and will inevitably be targeted by the other four major forces, trapped in the Holy Dragon Mountains, and become a sitting duck.

No one would be foolish enough to be the first to stick their neck out.

Therefore, the five major forces tacitly agreed to station troops and encamp on the outskirts of the Holy Dragon Mountains, continuing to use the ruins of the Annihilation Fortress as a battlefield for their protracted battles.

The Holy Dragon Mountain Range itself became a vacuum zone that no one dared to set foot in.

Ezra lowered his eyes and sighed inwardly.

Who knows when this war will end?

Among the five major powers, the sea race can be said to be at the greatest disadvantage.

After all, the mainland is not the home ground of the sea creatures.

Once away from water, many races are unable to unleash their full fighting potential.

Not to mention they cannot stay away from the water for long periods of time on land.

They need to return to the water to rest every now and then.

After more than a decade of war, Ezra was physically and mentally exhausted.

However, he was also well aware that the ownership of the Holy Dragon Mountain Range was related to the future power structure of the continent, and the sea race would never give it up under any circumstances.

Unless they are defeated.

Just as his thoughts were drifting, he heard heavy, slow footsteps behind him.

Ezra turned his head and saw Daniel walking up the stone steps inside the city wall.

Daniel was a sea giant, taller than the average member of his race, with broad shoulders and back like a reef, and the bulging muscles on his arms gleaming a deep blue in the twilight.

Unlike ordinary sea giants, he has a row of gray-blue tentacles extending from his back.

The whiskers begin below the shoulder blades and are neatly arranged along both sides of the spine, varying in length, like unfolded fan ribs.

Its surface is covered with fine suction cups, and its edges are dark purple. They open and close slightly with the rhythm of his walking.

With each contraction, tiny water droplets rolled down from the tips of the tentacles, leaving a trail of dark, damp marks on the dry city bricks.

Ezra's gaze lingered on the tentacles for a moment, a strange glint flashing in his eyes.

Daniel is a deep-sea creature.

The so-called Deepsea Familiars are a new bloodline created by the high priests of the Temple of Tides, modeled after the Forge Dwarves of Heart of the Mountains and the Dragon Orcs of Bloodhowl Keep.

The high priests hunted down the sea monsters that had awakened the power of laws, extracted their bloodlines, refined and purified them, and fused them to create an activated liquid called "Primordial Water".

They would select individuals with outstanding potential from the sea creatures, soak them in the primordial water, and then implant the active organs stripped from the sea monsters into their bodies, forcibly fusing and coexisting with them.

Successful individuals undergo irreversible physical changes, gaining strength far exceeding that of their peers and significantly increasing their chances of advancing to legendary status.

Those who fail either suffer a mental breakdown and transform into bloodthirsty sea monsters, or slowly die during a prolonged rejection reaction.

Even if they successfully merge, the Deep Sea Family will never be able to leave the Deep Sea for too long in their lifetime.

Otherwise, the symbiotic organ will begin to turn against the host.

Even so, countless sea creatures still desperately want to become members of the Deep Sea Kin.

Besides its power, this bloodline can be passed down to future generations.

Over hundreds of years, these deep-sea creatures have become a completely new race among the sea creatures.

Ezra could understand this choice.

In the Dawn Continent, power is everything. As long as one can obtain great power and a superior bloodline to pass on to future generations, there are plenty of people willing to take the gamble, even if it involves some risks.

"...What are you standing there for?" Daniel walked up to him and said in a gruff voice.

"It's nothing." Ezra shook his head without saying more, then asked, "Did you need something?"

Daniel said in a deep voice, "The clan leaders feel that the recent movements of the other four families are a bit strange, and they want you to take a team to investigate."

Ezra nodded and jumped down from the wall.

"Okay, I'll go arrange the manpower right away..."

Before he could finish speaking, he was interrupted by a low and long horn call.

Ezra and Daniel looked in astonishment toward the ruins, only to find a dense mass of human figures suddenly appearing at the edge of their vision, surging toward them like a tide.

"It's an enemy attack!" Ezra reacted immediately, his expression changing drastically. "That direction leads to Bloodhowl Fortress! Those damned orcs!"

He turned and yelled at the soldiers not far away, "Ring the bell to warn them!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than a bell, signaling an enemy attack, rang out from the direction of the city wall on the other side.

Almost simultaneously, the same sound came from the opposite side of the city wall.

Ezra was stunned.

Are there enemies in the other two directions as well?

What exactly happened?