Elven cultivators

Nine-tiered Heavenly Tower, Heavenly Origin Hall.

Compared to the somber atmosphere of a few days ago, the hall is now filled with a relaxed and joyful ambiance.

Even the usually serious Second Elder had a slight smile on his face at this moment.

All the elves looked at the figure above with undisguised reverence and admiration.

Although they knew that their clan leader must have been confident to go to Bloodhowl Fortress alone, they never expected that their clan leader's achievements would be so brilliant.

Not only did they wipe out the twelve saints of Bloodhowl Fortress, they also frightened the enemy into retreating and even offering compensation.

It's important to understand that this wasn't some small or medium-sized force, but one of the five strongest forces on the continent.

Even a formidable fortress like Bloodhowl still has to bow down to them.

The thought of this fills them with an overwhelming sense of pride.

As a result, they also developed a greater respect for their clan leader.

"How are the war reparations negotiations for Bloodhowl Fortress going?"

Anton's words drew the elves' attention back to the present.

"It's been agreed upon."

Eleanor was prepared. She opened the scroll in her hand and said with a smile, "In addition to the material compensation, Bloodhowl Fortress also ceded three towns and twelve resource points in the northern part of the continent to us, all of which are located near the Ash Wasteland."

Anton nodded in satisfaction.

He did not intend to completely wipe out Bloodhowl Fortress.

If he were to go all out, he could wear down Bloodhowl Fortress through guerrilla warfare, but that would take an extremely long time.

Moreover, if it really came down to a fight to the death, Bloodhowl Fortress might not be able to do anything to him, but taking the Silvermoon Clan down with him would be no problem at all.

He didn't want the Silvermoon Clan to be buried with Bloodhowl Fortress.

Furthermore, with the Scourge about to erupt, it would be unwise to start a war with Bloodhowl Keep at this time.

The Silvermoon Clan needs to conserve its strength to deal with the undead army of the Abyss, and also needs Bloodhowl Fortress to share the burden of the undead army.

Anton had a vague intuition that the Abyss might have opened on the territory of Bloodhowl Fortress.

If that's the case, Bloodhowl Fortress would be an excellent buffer zone, greatly reducing the pressure on the Silvermoon Clan and giving them more time to develop.

In view of this, Anton stopped at the right time and instead used this as a condition to take the opportunity to extract more benefits from Bloodhowl Fortress.

The Third Elder chuckled and said, "With these towns and resource points, we now have territory in the northern part of the continent, allowing us to extend the clan's influence there. This will make it much easier to expand our trade network and monitor the movements of Bloodhowl Fortress in the future."

Elena laughed, "Unless Gormash ascends to demigod status, Bloodhowl Fortress probably won't dare to cause us any more trouble."

"Even if Gormash becomes a demigod, it won't matter." Roman put his hands behind his head and continued without thinking, "If they lose to Anton once, they'll never be able to win in their lifetime."

The elves present were slightly taken aback upon hearing this, but then they understood Roman's meaning and nodded in agreement.

Come to think of it, given the extraordinary speed at which their clan leader improves his strength, once he surpasses them, it basically means there's no chance of ever catching up again.

By the time Gormash ascends to demigod status, the clan patriarch may have already surpassed the demigod level and reached an even higher realm.

Bloodhowl Fortress will probably never have the chance to avenge its defeat.

Anton, sitting at the head of the table, remained calm and did not become complacent.

Having lived through the rise of the gods and the Scourge, he knew very well that the likes of Gormash were far from being troublesome enemies.

He never took Gormash seriously from beginning to end.

Defeating your opponent doesn't necessarily bring a sense of accomplishment.

""

The real enemies that need to be taken seriously will emerge one after another in the future.

"Has the Emerald Court sent a delegation?" Anton asked Eleanor.

Eleanor's smile faded slightly, and she nodded, saying, "Yes, Alicia is leading the team herself. On the surface, she wants to deepen trade cooperation with us, but her words actually convey the Royal Court's apology for its previous actions."

"From what she said, Alvin's faction, which had previously opposed sending troops to support us, was reprimanded after retreating from Bloodhowl Fortress, and its prestige was greatly diminished. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Alicia's faction regained the upper hand, and this delegation's visit was also secretly pushed by their faction."

As she finished speaking, a smile returned to Eleanor's face.

Although she was somewhat dissatisfied with the Jade Court's initial arrogance followed by obsequiousness, she also knew that this was the norm in clashes between powerful forces and that she couldn't let personal emotions get in the way.

In any case, deepening trade cooperation with the Jade Court is far more beneficial than harmful to the Silvermoon Clan.

Anton knew that Eleanor would handle these matters, so he didn't ask any further questions.

After the meeting, Anton left Tianyuan Hall and transformed into a sword light, rushing towards the valley where the Ziwei Heavenly Palace was being forged.

Now that the war issue has been resolved, we can focus our energy back on more important matters.

Besides the Ziwei Heavenly Palace, the forging of heavenly soldiers, the comprehension of supernatural powers, and cultivation must also not be neglected.

Especially cultivation.

Now that the Dharma body has been formed, the next step is to prepare for the transformation into a divine being.

The breakthrough from the Nascent Soul stage to the Deity Transformation stage is not simply about accumulating magical power, but rather a fundamental transformation of the essence of life and spiritual realm.

The key to transforming into a spirit lies in the primordial spirit.

The primordial spirit is essentially a fusion of the fully sublimated divine consciousness and the nascent soul. It is no longer a form where the real and the illusory coexist, but a higher and purer spiritual form.

It can be understood as the embodiment of "meaning" or "spirit".

Once the primordial spirit is formed, the cultivator can break free from the constraints of the physical body and travel freely in the void.

Condensing the Dharma Body is merely the foundation for entering the realm of Deity Transformation.

The next step is to refine the Dharma body to its ultimate form, making it as solid as the original body, and uniting it with the mind and spirit of the deity.

Simply put, it means continuously nurturing the Dharma body with magical power and divine consciousness, transforming it from a "phantom" into a "substance".

Once the Dharma Body is fully solidified, the cultivator will face the most crucial and important tribulation of the Nascent Soul stage—the Great Tribulation of Wind and Fire!

Unlike the Thunder and Fire Tribulation, which primarily tempers the physical body and golden core, the Wind and Fire Tribulation mainly targets the soul and dharma body.

The entire Great Calamity of Wind and Fire is divided into the Wind Calamity and the Fire Calamity.

The former blows on the primordial spirit, eroding the divine consciousness. If the soul is not firm, it will be blown away and the soul will be scattered.

The latter burns the Dharma body and refines the nascent soul; if the Dharma body is impure, it will be burned to ashes.

Only by surviving this tribulation can the physical body, the Dharma body, and the divine consciousness be completely refined and united in the tribulation fire and wind. Only when the three powers converge can one achieve the transformation into a deity.

"The essence of the fire tribulation is actually quite similar to that of the thunder and fire tribulation, except that its power is a level higher. When undergoing the tribulation, one can use the Great Evolution Five Elements Azure Profound Array and magic treasures to disperse the pressure."

"But the Wind Tribulation is a tribulation targeting the divine sense. It is formless and intangible, so formations cannot block it, and neither can the Sword Pellet, the Heaven-Turning Seal, or the Nine Dragons Divine Fire Cover."

Anton pondered to himself.

Of course, not all magical artifacts are incapable of dealing with wind tribulations.

If it is a magical artifact with the function of protecting the soul, it is perfect for dealing with the wind tribulation.

In fact, in the cultivation world, before facing the tribulation of wind and fire, Nascent Soul cultivators would try every means to find or refine a spiritual artifact that could protect their soul in order to increase their success rate in overcoming the tribulation.

However, these kinds of magical treasures are extremely difficult to forge, requiring not only exceptionally high standards for materials but also extremely high levels of crafting skill from the cultivator.

It is impossible for anyone who is not skilled in weapon crafting to create such items.

Therefore, such magical treasures are extremely rare.

"I can forget about making it myself."

"With my skill in crafting, I can manage to craft ordinary spiritual weapons, but spiritual weapons that protect the soul are too difficult to craft unless I can calm down and spend hundreds or thousands of years researching crafting."

As for finding alternatives...

Anton recalled for a moment.

To be comparable to a magical artifact, one must at least be a fantasy-level magical equipment.

The Dawn Continent does possess magical equipment of this caliber; the five major powers seem to have stockpiles of it, but to my recollection, none of them seem capable of protecting the soul.

However, there are a few fantasy-level magical equipment items related to souls in the Abyss, which might serve a similar purpose.

"It would be even better if I could get my hands on a magical artifact."

Anton had a plan in mind.

The most urgent task is to continue refining the Dharma body.

As for the great calamity of wind and fire, that's a matter for later.