Elven cultivators

when!when!when!

The short blade and the finger blade clashed three times in quick succession in the narrow gap. The sound of metal colliding was short and crisp, and sparks flickered in the dim light, illuminating two faces that were so close together.

Night Eyes' figure swayed slightly like a branch in the wind, each sidestep perfectly deflecting the force of the opponent's attack.

Her "Mysterious Yin Night Tour" has a natural advantage in dark regions. Every strand of true essence flowing in her meridians resonates with the dense yin energy around her, making her movements more fluid and her reactions faster than usual.

In this environment, her five senses were more acute than the other person's, and her ability to detect changes in breath and vibrations almost reached the level of prediction.

The dark elves grew increasingly terrified as the battle progressed.

Who exactly is this person in front of me?

It looks like a human, but it has a pair of cat ears, so I don't know what kind of race it is.

Moreover, their strength is terrifying, and their fighting methods are extremely unpredictable.

As an elite warrior of the lower gold rank, I was suppressed from beginning to end.

The dark elf thrust out his short blade again, but Nighteye's finger blade precisely blocked it from the middle.

The moment the blades touched, a wisp of icy light spread up the surface of the Nighthunter's Finger Blade, like a silent snake's tongue, leaving a thin, hair-like frozen line on the dark elf's tiger's mouth.

The latter recoiled as if electrocuted, backed away, stared intently at Ye Tong, and gritted his teeth as he squeezed out a few words.

"People from the fertile land of blood and sap?"

Ye Tong did not answer, but simply turned her body slightly to the side and reached out with her other hand to her waist, where a palm-sized, dark blue bell appeared in her palm.

The surface of the bell was engraved with fine runes, and as she shook it gently, a buzzing sound spread out from it.

The Soul-Sealing Bell.

Night Eye's second mysterious artifact.

The bell rang very softly, almost inaudibly.

But the moment the sound wave swept past the dark elf, the latter's tense back stiffened abruptly, his pupils dilated slightly, and his fingers gripping the blade loosened by half an inch involuntarily, as if his consciousness had been cut off in the middle for a moment, and he briefly lost control of his body.

Seizing the opportunity, Ye Tong pointed her right hand forward with her fingers together. A cluster of Xuan Yin Netherfire condensed from her fingertip and silently drifted toward the dark elf.

The moment it touched her body, the Xuan Yin Netherfire suddenly spread out, engulfing her entire right arm like a tidal wave, and then swept towards her torso and head.

The grayish-white flames felt not hot at all, but rather brought a bone-chilling cold the moment they touched the skin, as if hundreds of ice needles were piercing the body at the same time.

The dark elf let out a shrill scream, curled up on the ground, and frantically tried to suppress the flames by channeling the magic within his body.

But the grayish-white flames licked and rolled across her body, and every inch of skin touched quickly lost its color, turning an unnatural grayish hue.

She rolled on the ground several times before she managed to extinguish the flames, but she collapsed to the ground, her breath as weak as a candle flickering in the wind. Her right arm was covered with charred lines left by frostbite, like a withered tree that had been repeatedly gnawed by frost and snow.

Ye Tong walked up to her, looked down at her still slightly trembling dark red pupils, and only after confirming that she had completely lost the power to resist did he withdraw the remaining Xuan Yin Netherfire from his fingertips and turn his head to glance at the surrounding battle situation.

The remaining dark elves were also subdued one by one by the team members, pinned to the ground, and their weapons were taken away.

The battle is completely over.

"Tie him up and take him back to Nine Nether City," Ye Tong ordered in a deep voice, retracting his finger blade.

The team members immediately stepped forward and swiftly bound, searched, and disarmed the prisoners one by one, then led them in a line into the queue, ready to turn back.

The dark elf, severely injured by the Dark Yin Fire, had her last thought before her consciousness completely succumbed to darkness: a place name she had never heard of before.

Nine Nether City... what kind of place is that?

……

Council chamber.

The light from the magic crystal lamps cast the patterns on the dome onto the stone wall, creating several long shadows with distinct light and shadow.

When Roman stepped inside, he saw the Second Elder sitting on one side of the long table, with a new map drawn in charcoal in front of him.

Elena sat opposite him, holding a freshly opened dossier in her hand, her brows furrowed into a shallow furrow, clearly pondering some thorny matter.

"I heard they've discovered a dark elf with a spider monster?"

Roman asked as soon as he entered the room, and without stopping, he went straight to the other side of the long table and sat down.

Elena put down the file and briefly recounted the whole story.

"...After Nightshade brought the prisoners back, I immediately had them interrogated. The dark elves were quite quick to confess."

Elena frowned slightly. "They come from Shadow City, a city-state ruled by dark elves. It is much larger than Vion City. It is said that hundreds of thousands of dark elves live in the city-state and surrounding area, plus a hundred vassal races. They have already formed a stable ruling system."

Roman asked in surprise, "Isn't that even stronger than Crimson Blood Fertile Soil?"

"Not only that." Elena's expression became more serious. "Those rabble in the Crimson Fertile Land, though numerous, are all harboring their own ulterior motives and wary of each other. In a fight, they can't even unleash half their full power."

"But Shadow City has already unified the surrounding area and integrated all forces. Its military strength is simply incomparable to that of Crimson Fertile Land."

Roman pondered for a moment, then suddenly looked up and asked, "How far is Shadow City from here?"

"The straight-line distance is about fifty kilometers," Elena replied. "But as you know, the road conditions in the Underdark are terrible; in reality, it's several times longer."

Roman asked in confusion, "The distance isn't too far. Those dark elves sent people to investigate years ago, so they should know about the existence of the Crimson Blood Fertile Land. How come they haven't made any moves in this area all these years?"

"It's not that we don't want to, it's that we don't have the time," the Second Elder calmly continued. "According to those dark elves, Shadow City wasn't always this powerful."

"More than a hundred years ago, their power in the surrounding areas was similar to that of other city-states. It was through gradual annexation and expansion over the years that they eventually wiped out the surrounding areas and achieved unification."

"That's why they only recently turned their attention to this area and sent people to investigate."

Roman suddenly realized, and then asked the question that truly concerned him: "What about the Dark Spider Queen? Is she related to them?"

The Second Elder and Elena exchanged a glance, and the latter continued, "Shadow City does indeed support a spider monster of an exaggerated size."

"According to the prisoners, that thing originally roamed near Shadow City. Then one time, when Shadow City was at war with other city-states and the battle was at a stalemate, that spider monster suddenly appeared and devoured most of the enemy army in one go, and Shadow City won the battle as a result."

"Afterwards, Shadow City took the initiative to approach that monster, regularly feeding it live food and meat. After several attempts, they found that the monster did not reject it, and gradually it became a relationship of regular sustenance."

"In return, the monster would occasionally lay some spider eggs, which Shadow City would take and hatch, taming them into riding beasts. With these spider monsters, Shadow City's strength increased greatly, and it was through this that it gradually swallowed up the surrounding forces."

Roman, having fully grasped the situation, exclaimed joyfully, "To be able to rout a large army in one fell swoop, that spider demon must be incredibly powerful. It's most likely the Dark Spider Queen that Anton is looking for... What do we do next?"

The Second Elder said in a deep voice, "The Clan Chief said that the Dark Spider Mother is at least a Saint-level creature, and may even be more powerful. We don't have enough information yet, so we can't act rashly. It's best to send people to continue to find out the situation in Shadow City, especially information about the Dark Spider Mother, before making a decision."

Roman and Irene exchanged a glance and both nodded.

"I have no objection."

"Then it's decided."

……

Nine-tiered Heavenly Tower, Study.

Anton spread out a map of the mainland across the entire table.

The edges of the map are rolled up and frayed, and the ink lines meander across the parchment, outlining the long contours of the continental shelf.

Looking at the map, a thoughtful expression appeared in Anton's eyes.

During this time, he consulted many ancient books and combined them with his memories to search for a suitable spiritual place for cultivation.

Now we finally have a clue.

Anton's gaze fell on the area in the corner of the map that represented the sea, marked with the words "Great Whirlpool Islands" in small print.

The Whirlpool Islands are home to marine life, located in the heart of the ocean outside the continental shelf.

It is also the only large-scale intelligent creature settlement on the Dawn Continent that is not located on the main landmass.

What keeps the island stable is a huge vortex that is constantly maintained by supernatural forces.

The Temple of Tides is built on the eye of the whirlpool—a calm seabed surrounded by surging waves.

But that's not the point.

The key point is that the Great Whirlpool Islands are the center of the convergence and collision of countless ocean currents, a natural gathering point of water energy, and naturally an excellent location to open up the primordial plane of water elements.

There are a considerable number of submarine volcanic zones deep within the whirlpool.

Boiling lava gushed from fissures in the seabed, heating the surrounding seawater into violent hot water vents, creating a spectacular scene of water and fire coexisting.

This is undoubtedly a suitable location to open a rift in the source plane of the fire element.

More importantly, submarine volcanic activity is a direct manifestation of tectonic plate movement and the eruption of earth vein energy, which means it is also suitable for opening up fissures in the original plane of earth elements.

In addition, the massive vortexes, stirring up air currents, create a perpetually powerful storm above the sea, which is also suitable for opening rifts in the primordial plane of wind elements.

Earth, water, fire, and wind—all four are present.

If a suitable location is found, it is possible to simultaneously open the dimensional rifts of the four elemental origins.

All that's missing is the energy from the gold mine.

Regarding how to increase the concentration of metal element energy, An Dong found many methods for reference in the Great Dao Jade Slip, and he also had a vague idea in his mind.

However, we need to conduct an on-site investigation before deciding on the specifics of how to proceed.