Elven cultivators

The dwarves are incredibly efficient when it comes to matters concerning mineral veins.

In just half a month, they not only completed the preliminary survey of the Thousand Rock Hills, but also located the Frost-patterned Silver Vein.

The good news is that the mineral vein is located some distance from the core of the Thousand Rock Hills, just outside the edge of the Rockhorn Dragon territory.

This means the combined team doesn't have to directly confront that golden-level, sub-dragon overlord.

The bad news is that hundreds of Riftdragons roam near the mine, as well as an even greater number of Scaled Rock Lizards.

Those dragon beasts treated the mine as their own territory, building nests and breeding in the surrounding valleys and rock crevices. Any alien race that approached the mine would be subjected to their frenzied attacks.

If the Silvermoon Clan were to act alone, simply figuring out how to eliminate these dragon beasts without incurring significant casualties would be a major headache.

Fortunately, the Silvermoon Clan has reached an agreement with Grayrock Fortress. With the two forces joining forces, it is only a matter of time before they wipe out the dragon beasts around the mine.

It's worth mentioning that during the exploration, the dwarves liked to hang around Anton whenever they had a chance.

Grim would frequently visit Anton with Firebrew, his words implying that he wanted Anton to forge a batch of Frostweave weapons.

Following the plan, Anton neither refused nor agreed, but just smiled and dodged the question, making the dwarves anxious and frustrated. Every time they saw him, their eyes were filled with resentment.

In contrast, the cooperation between the Silvermoon Clan and Grayrock Fortress is progressing very smoothly.

After the site visit, both parties quickly finalized the details of the cooperation.

The dwarven delegation then left Silvermoon Forest and returned to Grayrock Keep.

Three days later, a dwarf caravan of five hundred people arrived in Silvermoon Forest.

It is important to know that the dwarves are a complex society of "warriors and artisans". Almost all adult dwarves have qualified combat abilities. They perform their respective duties in peacetime and quickly assemble in wartime, which is very close to a society where everyone is a soldier.

The arrival of five hundred dwarves immediately boosted the fighting strength of Silvermoon Forest by a significant margin.

Without delay, the two sides quickly formed a joint team and set off into the Thousand Rock Hills the next day to clear out the dragon beasts near the mine.

Roman and Eleanor naturally joined the alliance, changing their hunting methods from lizardmen to dragon-hunting.

The latter is more challenging for them.

As always, Anton did not participate in the battle and was only responsible for the logistics and medicine production.

But he is busier than before.

The demand for various potions has increased dramatically due to the arrival of the dwarves.

The combined team consumes an astonishing number of potions in daily combat.

Anton had to put in all his effort to refine pills in order to barely supply the combined forces' needs.

It's fortunate that I recently upgraded the alchemy cauldron to a talisman, which greatly improved the efficiency of alchemy; otherwise, I would probably be completely lost right now.

Having personally experienced the effects of the potion, the dwarves looked at Anton with a different kind of expression when they saw him again.

It was as if I were looking at some rare creature that only existed in legends.

A minor elf who is proficient in alchemy and potion-making, and is also skilled in both magic and martial arts.

Before meeting Anton, they simply couldn't believe that such a genius existed in the world.

......

The northern wilderness, a scorched wasteland.

The cold wind whipped up gray-black sand and gravel, which lashed the parched earth.

Thousands of makeshift shacks are densely packed on the gray-black wasteland, with dead wood as frames and covered with animal hides and dry grass, low and cramped.

A rough wooden fence surrounded the settlement, with dried animal hides and skulls nailed to the stakes.

Molok strode through the settlement, and wherever he went, the other lizardmen lowered their heads and gave way, not daring to look directly at the noble dragon lizardman.

In the Molten Thorn tribe, bloodline concentration represents a strict class distinction.

In the center of the settlement, on a slight ridge, stands the only stone building.

That was the residence of the tribal chief, Zhuogu.

Morlock pushed open the door and entered, the heavy stone door emitting a dull scraping sound.

Inside the house, more than a dozen dragon lizard people had gathered, sitting around a rough, long stone table on either side.

The tribal chief, Zhuogu, sat at the head of the table.

Seeing Molok enter, a smile appeared on Zhuogu's cold face, and he gestured to an empty seat on his left.

"sit."

Many of the dragon lizardmen watched as Morok sat down to Zogu's left, their eyes flashing with jealousy, but no one uttered a sound.

Everyone knows that the leader values ​​Morlock, the youngest gold-ranked warrior in the history of the Molten Thorn tribe, and has the intention of grooming him as his successor.

"Everyone's here, let's get down to business," Zhuogu said, his voice low and hoarse. "The main reason I've gathered you all here today is to discuss matters concerning the Silvermoon Clan."

"You're all well aware of the situation in recent years, aren't you?"

All the dragon lizard people present nodded, their expressions somber.

For a long time, the Silvermoon Clan had been hiding in the forest, waiting to be invaded and plundered every year, which served as their granary.

In recent years, however, those pointy-eared tribesmen have turned on their hunting teams and captured many of their own people, behaving unusually aggressively.

As a result, the tribe faced a significant food shortage.

If it weren't for the food aid from the Liuhuo Merchant Guild, countless tribesmen would have starved to death last winter.

Zhuogu glanced around and dropped a bombshell: "Just yesterday, the Flowing Fire Merchant Guild's grain transport team was also attacked by the Silver Moon Clan. The caravan's guards and the tribesmen sent to meet them were all wiped out, and all the grain fell into the hands of the Silver Moon Clan."

These words immediately caused an uproar among the dragon lizard people.

"Damn pointy ears!"

"How did the Silvermoon Clan know about the Blazing Fire Merchant Guild's aid to us?"

"What will we do this winter if we run out of food?"

"Quiet."

Zhuogu raised his hand, and the stone house fell silent again.

He turned to Moloch, who had appeared the calmest, and asked, "Moloc, what do you think?"

Moloch coldly said, "Notify the Blazing Fire Merchant Guild to change the transportation route, and at the same time send more people to provide support, ensuring that the grain is not intercepted by the Silvermoon Clan."

Everyone nodded in agreement instinctively.

A hint of admiration flashed in Zhuo Gu's eyes.

He valued Moloch not only because of his outstanding talent, but also because of his calm and composed personality.

This is extremely rare among the Molten Thorn tribe, which reveres violence.

"Zag, Mogo, I'm leaving the task of receiving the caravan to you two."

Zhuogu instructed the two dragon lizardmen below him.

"Yes, Chief."

Zag and Mogo responded in unison.

Zhuogu nodded slightly, glanced around, and said, "Although the tribe will not lack food for the time being with the support of the Liuhuo Merchant Guild, the aid cannot continue indefinitely. We must change our current situation as soon as possible."

"Since the Silvermoon Clan wants war, then we'll fight them until they dare not leave the forest again!"

"The leader is right!"

"They'll really think they're something special if they don't teach those pointy-eared guys a lesson!"

"They dare to rebel with just a mere granary? If they weren't hiding in the forest, we would have uprooted them long ago!"

The people echoed the dragon lizard's sentiments, and a murderous aura filled the stone house.

Seeing the high morale of the crowd, Zhuogu nodded in satisfaction and ordered in a deep voice: "Starting today, send troops to block all the main roads leading from Silvermoon Forest to the wasteland. Attack the forest every now and then. I want those pointy-eared creatures to be too busy to even set foot in the wasteland."

He then looked at Moloch, "Moroch, you will also lead a team into battle."

"Yes, Chief." Moloch nodded emphatically.

He knew very well that the leader was giving him an opportunity to make contributions and pave the way for him to take over the leadership in the future.

Good. He hasn't made a move since breaking through to the Gold rank. This time, he can use those pointy-eared animals to test his strength.