The Elven Cultivator

Anton then went on to find several other concepts for refining a Sword Pill.

Without exception, they were all more or less similar to the Bloodline Symbiosis method and the Sword Intent Condensation Skill.

There was no helping it. The Dawn Continent wasn’t a Cultivation World, so many of the materials needed to refine a Sword Pill simply couldn’t be found. Researching and finding substitutes would be both time-consuming and exhausting.

If possible, Anton wanted to find a Sword Pill refinement concept that wasn’t too demanding in terms of materials.

The Bloodline Symbiosis method fit this criterion, but the risk of mutual destruction—where harm to the Sword Pill also harmed the Sword Cultivator—was something he found truly unacceptable.

As for the Sword Intent Condensation Skill, Anton gave it a brief try before giving up decisively.

This concept was clearly meant for natural-born Sword Cultivator prodigies, and he was obviously not one of them.

After a great deal of effort, Anton finally found a refinement concept that was a decent fit.

The Devouring Spirit Dao!

To put it simply, its core concept was to find a powerful Spirit Beast, kill it, and then use its flesh, blood essence, and soul as materials, supplemented by a strand of Sword Qi, to refine it into a Sword Pill.

The more powerful the Spirit Beast used as the material, the higher the quality of the resulting Sword Pill.

And after the Sword Pill was formed, its quality could be rapidly improved by hunting and killing Spirit Beasts of the same origin with similar bloodlines, devouring their blood essence and Primordial Spirits.

Whether it was the Bloodline Symbiosis method, the Sword Intent Condensation Skill, or the Devouring Spirit Dao, all were considered top-tier Sword Pill refinement concepts.

Their common feature was that the refined Sword Pills, aside from being constantly nurtured with True Essence, also had additional, faster methods of enhancement.

Compared to the first two, the Devouring Spirit Dao was undoubtedly a better match for Anton’s needs.

A Sword Pill refined with this concept had no obvious flaws.

If one had to point out a flaw, the only one would be the need for extreme caution when selecting the Spirit Beast.

If he chose a Spirit Beast with a very small population as the refining material, it would be difficult to quickly strengthen the Sword Pill later by hunting Spirit Beasts of the same bloodline.

That would make it no different from an ordinary Sword Pill refinement concept.

As for which creature to choose for the refining material, Anton already had a plan.

The Dragon Race!

If you had to say which creature’s bloodline was most widespread on the Dawn Continent today, it was undoubtedly that of the Dragon Race.

Of course, Anton couldn’t deal with a true member of the Dragon Race just yet.

However, the initial refinement of the Sword Pill didn’t require such high-quality materials. A sub-dragon would be more than enough.

For example, the Rock-Horned Dragon in the Thousand-Rock Hills was an excellent choice.

Moreover, a Sword Pill refined from a Dragon Race bloodline could grow in the future by continuously hunting creatures that possessed Dragon Race blood.

There were just so many of those creatures on the Dawn Continent.

The Dragon Race, sub-dragons, Dragon Beasts, the Dragon Race... even Lizard-men could serve as nourishment for the Sword Pill’s growth.

Anton even felt that the Devouring Spirit Dao was a Sword Pill refinement concept practically tailor-made for him, the only Cultivator on the Dawn Continent.

Once his Cultivation Level increased in the future, killing a few hundred members of the Dragon Race could, at the very least, upgrade his Sword Pill to the Profound Artifact level. It might even be possible to reach the Spiritual Artifact level.

’If I could take down the Dragon God Ayo...’

A wave of excitement washed over Anton, but he quickly shook his head, dispelling the unrealistic thought.

Although he hadn’t actually compared the power levels of the cultivation realms with those of the Dawn Continent, the Dragon God Ayo was the only god on the continent and its current strongest being. At the very least, Ayo was equivalent to a Tribulation Crossing Stage expert.

He might even be at the Mahayana Stage.

Even if he were given several hundred more years to grow, he would be absolutely no match for the Dragon God Ayo.

By the time he broke through to the Tribulation Crossing Stage, the Dragon God Ayo would have long since perished.

’Come to think of it, Version 4.0, ”Rise of the Gods,” seemed to be related to the Dragon God Ayo’s divine corpse. Maybe by then, I’ll be strong enough to covet the Dragon God’s corpse.’

Fantasizing was one thing, but that was still too far in the future for Anton. He quickly reined in his stray thoughts and focused on the task at hand.

’I’ll use the Devouring Spirit Dao to refine the Sword Pill!’

’Once I’ve stabilized my realm, I’ll figure out a way to deal with that Rock-Horned Dragon.’

’First, I need to refine my Sword Qi.’

To refine a Sword Pill with the Devouring Spirit Dao, one first needed to refine a strand of Sword Qi. This strand would be nurtured in the Qi Sea and continuously fed with True Essence to strengthen it, acting as the seed for the Sword Pill.

At the same time, this strand of Sword Qi could also be used as a formidable offensive tool.

’And Techniques. I need to keep training those too.’

Although he had decided to become a Sword Cultivator, he didn’t know when he would be able to refine the Sword Pill. For the foreseeable future, he would still have to rely on Techniques as his primary combat method, so he couldn’t neglect that aspect of his training.

Fortunately, Anton had practiced plenty of Techniques during his Qi Refining Stage. He just hadn’t used them much, so he didn’t need to cram at the last minute now.

Having laid out his plans for the near future, Anton stood up, stretched his body, and pushed open the door of his treehouse to go outside.

He had been in seclusion for a full ten days to make a final push to refine the last bit of Spiritual Qi.

Luckily, he had prepared a large batch of potions beforehand, enough for the Clan to get through this period without any mishaps.

After becoming a Wind-whisperer, Romance had also moved to live at the base of the Eternal Tree, not far from his own treehouse.

Anton walked two or three hundred meters and arrived in front of Romance’s treehouse, raising his hand to knock.

”Who is it?”

A muffled voice came from inside, sounding as if the speaker had something in their mouth.

”It’s me,” Anton said.

As soon as he spoke, the sound of hurried footsteps came from inside, followed by the door creaking open to reveal Romance.

The young woman was holding a piece of roasted meat in her hand and chewing on another, her mouth glistening with grease.

Seeing Anton, her face broke into a wide smile. She chewed forcefully a few times, swallowed the meat in her mouth, and then spoke, ”Anton, you’re out of seclusion?”

Anton nodded and, without standing on ceremony, walked straight into the house.

”You’re roasting meat? Perfect, I’m starving...”

Anton followed the aroma of roasted meat to the yard behind the treehouse, only to see Eleanor sitting cross-legged on a stone stool. She held a skewer of sizzling, greasy meat, her cheeks slightly puffed out, clearly chewing on something.

She was wearing a simple, light gray robe, her emerald-green hair casually tied up with a wooden hairpin. A few loose strands fell beside her ears. Much of her usual dignified and composed demeanor was gone, replaced by a more down-to-earth air.

Hearing the footsteps, Eleanor looked up instinctively, still chewing on the meat. A slight sheen of grease glistened on her lips.

The moment their eyes met, the air seemed to freeze.

Eleanor froze on the spot, a blush spreading across her face at a visible rate.

She quickly covered her mouth with her hand and, in her panic, almost choked on the meat. Too embarrassed to spit it out in front of Anton, she had no choice but to chew a few more times and hastily swallow, which made her choke and cough twice from the rush.

”Y-You, what are you doing here?”

Eleanor clumsily tried to hide the meat skewer behind her back, but then felt the action only made her look more guilty, and her face turned an even deeper shade of red.

She normally paid the utmost attention to her etiquette, always maintaining the grace and composure expected of an Elf.

But today, she was just mooching some roasted meat off Romance. Thinking no outsiders were present, she had let her guard down a little. Who would have thought she’d be caught by Anton of all people?

’This crude appearance of me wolfing down food is just... it’s just too embarrassing!’