Elven cultivators

After the magic had completely stabilized, Darian began to formally teach Anton magic.

Darian devoted himself wholeheartedly to teaching Anton, a student with super magical physique and great potential, sharing all his knowledge with him.

Unfortunately, Anton's mind wasn't on magic at all.

He wouldn't even bother wasting a single moment on magic unless he had a good reason to refuse.

In essence, magic is merely a technique for applying energy, a rudimentary imitation of the power of laws.

A spellcaster may spend their entire life studying magic, but their ultimate goal is nothing more than to touch the threshold of the laws.

The path of cultivation itself points directly to the laws of heaven and earth. If it is to understand the laws, why would Anton go to such lengths?

Even if learning energy application techniques is necessary as a transition, spellcasting is undoubtedly more worthwhile than magic in terms of investment of energy.

The difference in energy density between magic and spiritual energy is enough to prove the vast difference in their power.

Moreover, beyond magic, there are supernatural powers.

Moving mountains and filling seas, plucking stars and seizing the moon—that is true freedom and unrestrained joy.

From any perspective, the techniques and supernatural abilities of the cultivation system are superior.

There's no future in learning magic.

Although his cultivation level at the early stage of Qi Refining is not yet sufficient to learn magic, his martial arts skills are no less impressive than magic and are even more worthy of his dedication.

Fortunately, learning magic itself requires spending a lot of time studying rune models and practicing spellcasting; you only need to ask your teacher for help when you encounter difficulties.

Most of the time, Anton was quite free.

He studies diligently during class and devotes his other time to refining spiritual energy, researching talismans, and practicing martial arts.

He had privately found out that the Silvermoon Forest was surrounded by a three-tiered security system: songbirds, sentinel trees, and living thorns.

Songbirds are fist-sized, kingfisher birds that emit calls at specific frequencies when they detect unfamiliar intruders. Forest guards have special tools to receive the sounds emitted by songbirds, thus detecting intrusions.

Living thorns are magical plants buried deep underground, usually hidden under fallen leaves and decaying soil. Once they sense abnormal vibrations or auras, they will burst forth like venomous snakes, coiling and connecting to form a vine wall several meters high.

Those barbed vines are as tough as iron and contain paralyzing toxins, enough to render any intruder powerless in their struggle.

If the enemy manages to break through the Living Thorns, they will then face the Sentinel Tree.

These living trees are not as strong as the oak guards, but they have the advantage of numbers. Each one has the combat power of a lower white-ranking soldier, comparable to the elite soldiers of most town garrisons. They can often successfully stop the enemy and buy time for the guards to arrive.

It was thanks to this defensive network that the Forest Guard successfully intercepted and repelled the lizardmen's invasions on numerous occasions.

If Anton wants to leave Silvermoon Forest, he will also have to face this inescapable trap.

Fortunately, he already had a general plan.

"Concealment Talisman hides one's aura, Escape Talisman hides one's form, movement-type martial arts reduce the noise of traveling... Hmm, adding a Lightness Talisman would be even safer."

Anton secretly made his plans.

With these methods, we should be able to slip through the security perimeter and leave Silvermoon Forest unnoticed.

However, it will take some time to develop before that.

After all, the Scaled Rock Lizard is a dragon beast, and it's not easy to deal with. It would be better to wait until you've refined more spiritual energy, mastered a few martial arts techniques, and accumulated more talismans before hunting it.

This is a player's instinct ingrained in their bones; they feel insecure if they don't max out their skills and stock up on supplies before going into a dungeon.

......

In the center of Silvermoon Forest.

A colossal oak tree, reaching to the heavens and the earth, stands silently rooted in the ground.

The towering, dense canopy of trees resembles a green dome, obscuring half the sky.

The trunk is so thick that it would take a hundred people to encircle it. The bark is covered with countless ancient, glowing patterns, like silver blood flowing in veins. Countless aerial roots hang down from the branches, some taking root in the soil to become new trunks, while others hang in mid-air, swaying gently in the wind.

The area around the tree roots was covered with glowing moss and unidentified white flowers. The whole tree was as quiet as if it had been sleeping for a thousand years, or as if it had been breathing slowly all along.

A male elf stood before the Tree of Eternity, gazing silently at the source of life for the elven race.

He looked young, only in his twenties, but his amber eyes seemed to hold the weight of time and experience, and his whole being exuded the sense of having weathered many storms.

"Elder."

Darian appeared behind the Grand Elder at some point and bowed respectfully.

"It's Darian." The elder didn't turn around; his slightly hoarse voice inexplicably brought a sense of peace. "You've been teaching Anton magic for a while now. What do you think of his performance?"

Darian hesitated for a moment, but still answered truthfully: "Anton's magic power is growing rapidly. I estimate that he has already reached the level of a lower-ranking Black Iron spellcaster, but his talent in magic... is quite average."

Darian initially had high hopes for Anton's magical talent.

However, Anton's performance after the actual lesson greatly disappointed him.

After more than two months of classes, Anton still hadn't mastered even the simplest level one spell, Fireball.

It's not that Anton has poor magical talent; in fact, it's quite normal for beginners to spend several months or even half a year mastering their first spell.

However, with the exceptional talent of the Super Magic Physique preceding him, Anton's magical talent appears rather mediocre in comparison.

Seemingly sensing Darian's thoughts, the Grand Elder turned around and said calmly, "With the Super Magic Physique, it doesn't matter if your magical talent is mediocre. As long as you grow up smoothly, our clan may very well produce a sage in the future."

Darian's heart stirred slightly.

He was well aware of the man's obsession with the word "sage".

Since the death of the previous sage and clan chief in the war against Dragon City, the Silvermoon Clan has not produced a sage for a long time.

The position of clan chief has remained vacant to this day.

The Grand Elder longed more than anyone for a new sage to emerge, succeed him as clan leader, and lead the clan back to its former glory.

"Elder, Eleanor's aptitude is actually quite good. I think she has a good chance of becoming a sage in the future," Darian suddenly said.

The elder glanced at Darian with a half-smile, but instead of nodding in agreement just because the other was praising his granddaughter, he shook his head: "Although Eleanor's talent is not bad, it is still far inferior to the super magic physique."

"Whether you're a warrior or a spellcaster, before you even touch the elements, the competition is all about skill and magic power accumulation. With his super magic physique, Anton will almost never encounter any bottlenecks in magic power accumulation in the future. This alone makes him better than the hard work that others have put in for many years."

Darian pursed his lips and remained silent.

As a spellcaster, he was well aware of what a super-magical physique meant.

"You are Anton's teacher, so the task of teaching him magic is entrusted to you. If he needs any resources, just take them from the storeroom." The elder's expression turned serious, and his tone became solemn. "Anton is an orphan with no other relatives. You are his only elder, so please take good care of him."

"Yes, Elder." Darian nodded solemnly.