Elven cultivators

In the quiet room, the light from the light source stone remained constant.

Anton sat cross-legged on the ground, calming his mind and concentrating.

After the Nine Dragons Divine Fire Cover was upgraded to a spiritual weapon, he spent another year honing his swordsmanship, completely mastering the techniques of separating and combining the five hundred and twelve sword lights.

He had done everything he could to prepare before choosing today as the day to challenge the gate.

Brushing away the last trace of distracting thoughts from his mind, Anton's mind stirred slightly, and the wisp of spiritual energy that had been suppressed was completely released.

The next instant, the world turned upside down.

The surrounding scenery was like paper soaked in water, the edges quickly blurring and fading.

The quiet room, the light source, the futon—everything was stripped away in a very short time, replaced by an endless gray-white void.

The gray void had no up, down, left, or right, like the edge of a forgotten world.

Anton floated within it, unaware of the passage of time or his own body; only his consciousness remained, like a solitary lamp suspended in the boundless silence.

The next instant, the gray void began to shatter, like ice being broken.

The fragments scattered in all directions, revealing the light beneath.

As light and shadow shift, all things take shape.

When Anton came to his senses, he found himself standing on the edge of a cliff.

Below us was a bottomless ravine, and the wind surged up from the bottom, carrying a cool, damp air.

In the distance, the outline of a town can be seen, its rooftops jagged like dog teeth, and wisps of smoke rising obliquely from a few chimneys, slowly dissipating in the twilight.

He looked down at his hands.

A pair of rough hands, with bits of dirt and withered grass embedded in the crevices of the fingernails.

He was wearing a patched cloth garment and his straw sandals were worn through.

Everything felt so real, more real than any of the cycles in the Great Dream Thousand Autumns Array.

It was as if he had always been a part of this world, never having left.

But his consciousness was clearer than ever before.

The countless lifetimes of reincarnation in the Great Dream Array had long since polished his mind to a state of profound understanding and harmony.

The joys and sorrows, births, aging, sickness and death in those illusions can no longer cloud his true nature.

The challenge begins here.

In the years that followed, Anton experienced countless cycles of reincarnation.

Sometimes they were refugees from the end of an empire, who would squeeze through the city gates, clutching half a sack of grain in their arms, amidst the trampling of fleeing soldiers.

Sometimes it was the sailors on the sea, who, in the midst of a storm, would tie the mooring ropes tightly, be swept into the sea by the waves and pulled back up, their mouths filled with the taste of salt and rust.

Sometimes he was a traveling merchant who traversed mountains and valleys, walking along countless trade routes. He had seen the poplar forests on the edge of oases, and also the ancient cities buried by wind and sand deep in the Gobi Desert.

……

Countless lives, countless identities, countless ways of living and dying.

Joy and sorrow, separation and reunion, love and hate, all felt so real as if they had actually happened.

But in every lifetime, there is always a corner of Anton's mind that is as clear as a mirror.

He rises and falls in the cycle of reincarnation, but he is no longer addicted.

He experienced the full spectrum of human emotions, yet he was never bound by any worldly desires or passions.

Until the end of one lifetime, a clear and empty space suddenly arose deep within his mind.

It's like a mirror that has been wiped clean, finally reflecting one's own face.

What he saw was not the farmer, sailor, or blacksmith from any previous life, but the original self, who had walked step by step from the Silvermoon Forest of the Dawn Continent.

A time traveler, a cultivator, an elf who led his clan through countless storms...

These identities, experiences, emotions... all of them intertwine to ultimately constitute the real him.

The barrier of the illusion shattered at that moment.

The gray void receded like the tide, and the outline of the quiet room reappeared.

The light from the light source stone was still soft, and the touch of the futon came from beneath him; everything was exactly the same as before he entered the pass.

The only difference is that Anton's will and soul have been elevated to an unprecedented level.

However, he had no time to savor the change. Suddenly, he felt something and looked up.

A thick, leaden-gray cloud had gathered in the sky sometime earlier.

Deep within the clouds, purple-white lightning moved slowly like a living thing, each flash causing the entire sky to tremble slightly.

That was a heavenly tribulation.

Having overcome the initial hurdle, the tribulation of thunder and fire soon followed.

Anton vanished from the quiet room in a flash.

When he reappeared, he was already standing in the sky, his moon-white robes fluttering in the gale.

He looked up at the churning, leaden clouds, his gaze as calm as a deep pool.

Deep within the clouds, purple and white lightning collided and intertwined, bursting forth with dazzling light, illuminating the entire sky with intermittent brightness, as if it were gathering strength.

The sound of the wind around us had stopped at some point.

The hustle and bustle of the entire Primordial City froze at that moment.

Birds suddenly stopped flying, leaves drooped, and even the dust particles that floated aimlessly in the air seemed to be held still by something.

The world was filled with a heavy, oppressive silence, as if an invisible hand was slowly pressing down on us from above.

Whoosh!

The sound of something cutting through the air rang out one after another.

Above the Nine Heavens Tower, more than a dozen figures arrived in quick succession.

The First Elder, the Third Elder, Eleanor, Roman... even the Second Elder, Elena, and Darion, who guard the Nine Nether City Domain, have come.

All the clan's high-ranking members were gathered together.

Several days ago, the Second Elder, Elena, and Darion had already learned that Anton was about to break through, and rushed over from the Underdark and have been staying in Primordial City ever since.

After all, Anton was the pillar of the clan, and his breakthrough was of paramount importance to the future of the clan.

No one can sit still.

"This is... the Heavenly Tribulation?" The Third Elder looked up at the unfathomable, leaden-gray clouds, his voice unconsciously lowering.

The other elves also wore extremely solemn expressions.

They had already learned of the terror of the Thunderfire Calamity from Eleanor.

But it still can't compare to the shock of seeing it with your own eyes.

The view of the sky before them was far beyond their comprehension.

The oppressive aura contained within the clouds even sent chills down the spines of these legendary figures.

Just by looking at them, they had the illusion that they were about to be crushed.

This is before the Thunder and Fire Tribulation even begins.

One can only imagine how terrifying the scene must have been when the thunderbolt struck.

The thought of their clan leader facing such a terrifying divine punishment weighed heavily on their hearts.

"Chieftain...will you be alright?" Elena asked worriedly.

No sooner had he finished speaking than Roman's voice rang out.

"Anton will definitely be fine."

There was no hesitation in the elven girl's tone.

Since she met Anton, the number of miracles he has created is countless.

No matter how perilous the situation, Anton was always able to turn it into a safe one.

The elven girl had unwavering faith in Anton.

Upon hearing this, the elves' eyes flickered slightly, and they remained silent, all gazing intently at the scene above.