Elven cultivators

In the spacious stone chamber, the lamplight cast trembling shadows on the stone walls.

In the very center of the stone chamber, there still stands that large round table, with a circle of closed numbers engraved on it, from one to thirteen, one after the other.

However, this time only twelve figures were seated around the round table.

Only the third seat was empty; the shadow of the chair back cast a trapezoidal gap on the wall, reminding everyone present that the person in that seat was no longer there.

The silence had lasted for a long time, making the atmosphere exceptionally heavy.

After a long silence, the hood of the seventh seat moved slightly, and a dry, deep voice came from under the shadow of the brim:

Why did Anton suddenly go to Starlight Plains?

A moment of silence.

After a long while, the fourth seatman said in a deep voice, "It must be because of Grant."

"Grant has been investigating our organization recently, and he even made a trip to the Primordial Spirit Realm not long ago. He probably spoke to Anton about something, which is why the two of them appeared together on the Starlight Plains."

"Grant is investigating us?" The seventh seat's voice suddenly rose several decibels. "Why wasn't this mentioned in the meeting?"

The fourth seat did not falter despite the dissatisfaction in the other party's tone, and his tone remained calm and unhurried: "Grant's investigation has remained superficial and has not revealed much core intelligence about our organization. He has only arrested ordinary members. I do not think that an investigation of this level is worth discussing in a meeting, so I have not brought it up."

The seventh seat scoffed, "Then how was the third seat's identity exposed?"

The fourth seat remained silent for a couple of breaths before replying, "The message from the informant within the Freedom Alliance... is that Anton recognized the third seat. And it was Anton who killed him."

The stone chamber fell silent for a moment.

It's Anton again!

How many more times will this persistent ghost sabotage their organization's plans before it finally stops?

"So, Anton knows a lot about our organization?" the Fifth Seat suddenly said.

This statement made the atmosphere in the room even more somber.

The greatest advantage of the Ring of Annihilation lies in its secrecy.

Outsiders not only don't know about the existence of the Ring of Annihilation, but they also don't know the organizational structure and distribution of their organization.

That's why they were able to operate in the shadows.

However, if they lose the protection of secrecy and are besieged by the five major forces, the organization will face annihilation.

"Don't worry." The First Seat suddenly spoke up, "Anton couldn't possibly know our detailed information, otherwise he could have directly informed the five major powers and attacked us together, but he didn't do that, which means that he doesn't know the full picture."

"That's right." The Ninth Seat said with certainty, "Anton was able to see through the Third Seat's identity, which was mostly due to coincidence. Nine times out of ten, the Third Seat was not discreet and left a loophole, which Anton followed and caught."

These words elicited subconscious nods of agreement from many people.

Their identities are flawless on the surface, and they have never made a mistake in over a hundred years. They have also rarely acted as members of the Eternal Ring.

Not to mention outsiders, even many people within the organization are unaware of their public identities.

No matter how you look at it, there's no way Anton could have known this information.

Surely it can't be that they were born with that knowledge?

Even astrology can't do something this outrageous.

"Alright, let's leave it at that."

The first seat ended the conversation.

"Anton killed the Third Seat, and we must avenge this, but not now."

"We can deal with the Silvermoon Clan properly after the Abyss opens."

"The most important thing right now is the ritual."

He paused for a moment, his gaze sweeping over the crowd.

"The Freedom Alliance is now on high alert. Our manpower and strongholds on Starlight Plains have been besieged by their army, suffering heavy losses. The plan to conduct the ceremony on Starlight Plains is no longer feasible. We must change the location of the ceremony."

Silence once again enveloped the stone chamber.

Everyone knows that of the three alternative locations initially selected, the Whirlpool Sea had already been ruled out due to the presence of Anton and the Tide Temple, and the Starlight Plains were now under heavy guard and impossible to operate.

The only remaining option is the Wind-Weeping Canyon in the northern part of the continent.

"We have no choice," the fourth seated man said slowly. "Windhowling Canyon is our only available alternative."

The eighth seat hesitated before saying, "Bloodhowl Fortress and the Emerald Court are currently locked in fierce fighting, and the Silvermoon Clan has also joined the battle, conducting a ceremony in Windwail Canyon. Could we run into Anton again? What if he's there too…?"

Everyone's eyes twitched.

Why is there Anton everywhere?

Even though everyone present was a bunch of fanatical lunatics, they had already developed some psychological trauma from suffering losses at Anton's hands so many times.

After all, that guy was really too strange.

Anyone who gets involved with him will end up in a bad way.

The third seat didn't believe in bad luck back then, and as a result, he soon followed in his brother's footsteps and died at the hands of Anton.

At this critical juncture, they really don't want any more accidents to happen.

"Don't worry," the First Seat said. "Windhowling Canyon is quite a distance from the front lines, so there's no need to worry about it being affected by the fighting."

"Besides, the Silvermoon Clan only sent a fleet and puppet troops to participate in the war. Anton did not personally go to the battlefield, so there is no need to worry about running into him."

These words eased the atmosphere slightly.

The Ninth Seat slowly exhaled: "In that case, let's change the ceremony location to Wind Cry Canyon."

"The ceremony requires a lot of time and resources, and we can't afford to waste any more time. We must speed things up."

The others did not speak again, but nodded one after another.

……

Deep in the whirlpool-filled ocean, deep within the volcanic zone.

Undercurrents surged from the rifts in the mid-ocean ridge, carrying tiny bubbles and hydrothermal particles, swirling and circling around the edge of the array.

The five-colored halo in the center of the harmonizing pool flowed steadily as always, like a transparent silk soaked in seawater, with a very slight pulse, breathing in and out, forming a subtle resonance rhythm with the surrounding ocean currents.

Anton sat cross-legged in the center of the pool, his eyes slightly closed.

The divine sense spread out silently, converging with the magical power and intention in front of the brow, like a tightly twisted rope, intertwining, squeezing, and converging into a tiny point.

It has no physical form, no medium to assist it, and its existence is maintained purely by will.

In this process, Anton gradually incorporated his own understanding of the laws of life and death into it.

Soon, an invisible and intangible sword aura gradually took shape.

It has no physical form and does not emit light; its existence can only be perceived through subtle changes in the surrounding space.

The five-colored radiance of the Harmony Pool receded slightly outward the instant the sword energy took shape, and fine cracks appeared on the surface of the pool water, slowly spreading along the direction of the water flow, like an invisible thin layer of ice being cracked from the inside.

Anton stared at the sword energy, sensing the profound meaning contained within it.

It was an extremely quiet sense of desolation, neither violent nor ostentatious, just quietly suspended there, yet causing everything around it to spontaneously give way.

It's as if its very existence is a form of denial.

A rejection of all matter, energy, and life.

Just by looking at it, one can feel the ultimate sense of annihilation contained in the sword energy, giving one the illusion that one's soul would be annihilated if one looked at it for too long.

However, it only lasted for a moment before the edge of the sword energy began to shatter, and cracks spread from the surface inward.

In just three or four breaths, the entire sword energy disintegrated and dissipated, merging into the five-colored light stream of the harmonizing pool without leaving a trace.

"...It's still a little short."

Anton sighed softly.

The difficulty of cultivating the One Thought Absolute Sword far exceeds that of the Purple Heaven Divine Thunder and the Great Profound Qi Five Elements Great Hand.

After cultivating for so long, he still only managed to grasp a little bit of the key points.

However, this was to be expected.

Sword techniques are inherently difficult to master, and this particular technique of the Killing Sword directly addresses the very essence of life and death.

It requires cultivators to condense a single thought capable of severing any existence, without relying on any laws or principles, solely through their understanding of "life" and "death."

The difficulty of cultivation is evident.

However, in contrast, the power of the One Thought Sword is also terrifyingly strong.

Even though it was just a rudimentary form of the supernatural power that hadn't yet taken shape, it already felt to Anton better than the true form of the sword pellet without the support of the protective cloud.

It makes one wonder just how powerful the supernatural ability will be once it is fully formed.

"The third cloud has also taken initial shape. The next step is to solidify it completely from its ethereal form."

Just as Anton was about to continue his cultivation, his expression suddenly shifted slightly. He rose from the seawater, broke through the surface, and returned to the air.

A bright sun rises from the horizon, turning the water's surface into a spreading gold.

Anton took out a communication talisman from his sleeve, probed it with his divine sense, and Eleanor's voice flowed out:

"Chief, Grant came to the Primordial Spirit Realm. Hearing that you were not here, he left a message."

"The Free Alliance has taken full control of the defenses around Starlight Plains, imposed martial law and conducted a search and arrest operation. They have also cleared out a large number of spies and strongholds of the Ring of Annihilation. They have also informed the other four major powers of the Ring of Annihilation's conspiracy. However, apart from the Temple of Tide's clear response that it will continue to monitor the situation, the Emerald Court, Bloodhowl Fortress, and Heart of the Mountains have not yet made any clear statements."

Anton listened without much change in expression.

Clearly, none of the four major powers intend to cease hostilities because of this matter.

This result was not unexpected.

The war has been going on for so many years, it can't just be stopped so easily.

The war will not end unless the army of the dead invades the continent now, or the four major powers determine a victor.

In fact, in the original history, the war officially ended only after Hamilton, the war governor of the Free Alliance, broke through to become a demigod and led the Free Alliance to defeat the other three major forces and take control of the Holy Dragon Mountains.

Even if they learned of the Ring of Annihilation's conspiracy, the four major powers would probably intensify their offensive, strive to end the war as soon as possible, and then deal with the Ring of Annihilation.

I just don't know if they'll be able to make it?

Anton telepathically told Eleanor to continue monitoring the movements of the four major powers, then put away the telepathic talisman and submerged back underwater.