The Elven Cultivator

Ever since the battle where Anton killed Moloch and routed the Lizard-men, the Molten Spike Tribe had fallen into an eerie silence, showing no signs of activity.

The Lizard-man army stationed on the main route to the northern wastelands had also quietly withdrawn to its settlement.

On the surface, it seemed they had accepted their defeat and given up their fight against the Silver Moon Clan.

However, the Elves, who knew the Lizard-men’s cruel and violent nature well, understood this was merely the calm before the storm.

The Molten Spike Tribe would never let this go.

They were merely gathering their strength in secret, brewing a more ferocious counterattack.

Therefore, the entire Silver Moon Clan dared not relax for a moment, intensely making preparations for war.

A few days after the agreement was reached, reinforcements from Gray Rock Castle arrived in the Silver Moon Forest—a total of three hundred Dwarf Warriors.

Though the number wasn’t large, more than two-thirds of them were Black Iron Tier Warriors.

Not to mention, the Dwarves were already famous for being fierce and skilled in battle.

This force of three hundred was already formidable enough to influence the course of the war.

The leaders, the two Dwarf elders Hagrid and Knut, were both Golden Tier experts.

As for the five hundred Dwarves originally led by Thorvin, they remained stationed at the mining camp to ensure the safety of the ore veins.

To be able to dispatch two external armies while still retaining enough troops to guard their home base spoke volumes of Gray Rock Castle’s profound strength.

After this, the two hundred pieces of Rune Equipment promised by the Silver Moon Clan were delivered into the hands of Gray Rock Castle’s reinforcements.

The vast majority were spare items from the warehouse’s reserves. Anton only needed to rush-produce a small batch of equipment to fill the gap, so it didn’t take too much of his energy.

The arrival of the Dwarves made the Silver Moon Forest much livelier.

After hearing of Anton’s deeds, they were all amazed and filled with curiosity about this legendary Elven genius, wanting to see him in person.

But after loitering outside the area of the Eternal Tree for many days, none of them managed to meet him.

In fact, Anton was currently swamped with work.

Just setting up the Spirit Gathering Array and researching the Daoist Soldiers took up most of his energy.

...

「The treehouse’s quiet room.」

The once smooth, flat floor was now covered in countless array patterns that twisted and stretched like living things. They spread across the floor to the four walls, climbed up to the ceiling, and intertwined into a complex design on the dome, exuding a primitive and mysterious aura.

In the center of the wall directly opposite the door was an inlaid metal Array Disc, about half a meter in diameter. Its surface was densely engraved with overlapping, interconnected runes.

Under the illumination of the Light Source Stone, the Array Disc glowed with a faint, cold, silvery-blue light. Tiny specks of light flowed ceaselessly within its patterns, as if the entire night sky had been compressed into a tiny space.

Anton took out a Spirit Stone and embedded it into the groove in the center of the Array Disc.

CLICK.

With a soft, crisp sound, the Spirit Stone suddenly lit up. A milky-white light spread rapidly along the patterns on the Array Disc and poured into the array patterns on the floor.

The array patterns lit up one by one, from the inside out, from near to far. The light flowed like liquid mercury as the Array, like a great beast awakening from a long slumber, slowly opened its eyes and began to operate.

The world’s energy began to gather in the quiet room, like a hundred rivers returning to the sea.

At first, it was just a gentle flow like a breeze brushing against the face, but in the blink of an eye, it transformed into a vortex visible to the naked eye.

Guided by the array patterns, the formless energy surged in madly. The air grew thick and full, as if one’s entire body were submerged in a warm spring.

The energy concentration only stabilized after about a quarter of an hour.

At this point, the world’s energy in the quiet room was so dense that even the air carried a faint glow.

With every breath, the formless energy poured into his body through his nose and mouth, nourishing his limbs and bones, and even invigorating his Spirit.

Anton felt the changes around him and a satisfied smile appeared on his face.

”A Spirit Gathering Array is truly on another level. A Spirit Gathering Talisman can’t even compare.”

The area where the Eternal Tree was located already had an energy concentration far exceeding normal levels. Now, gathered and compressed by the Spirit Gathering Array, it had soared to an astonishing degree.

Even without starting to cultivate, he could tell just by looking how exaggeratedly high the energy concentration in the quiet room was.

Composing himself, Anton sat down cross-legged, closed his eyes, and focused his mind, beginning to condense his True Essence.

As soon as he began to cultivate, he immediately felt the difference.

It was completely different from the sluggish feeling he used to get when absorbing the world’s energy. Now, it was as if he were immersed in an ocean of energy. Without any effort to draw it in, the world’s energy scrambled to pour into his body, flowing into the Qi Sea in his Dantian and merging with the ball of primordial True Essence.

His True Essence was growing more than four or five times faster than before.

Anton’s mind was serene, and he unknowingly became immersed in his cultivation.

After an unknown amount of time, he emerged from his cultivation state, opened his eyes, and let out a long breath.

Sensing that the True Essence in his Qi Sea had clearly grown stronger, Anton was in high spirits.

”At this rate, I’ll be able to break through to the Second-Layer Foundation Establishment in twenty years, at most.”

”And if I add Origin Pills to the mix, I can shorten that time even further.”

Snapping out of his joy, Anton got up, left the quiet room, and went to his laboratory.

He raised his hand and lightly tapped the Light Source Stone on the wall. A bright light instantly dispelled the gloom in the room, and at the same time, illuminated a behemoth standing in the corner.

It was a humanoid creature, a full three meters tall, completely covered in dark golden armor.

The armor plates were layered like Dragon Scales, and between the gaps, Runes could be faintly seen flowing.

Its body was as stout as a mountain rock, with thick shoulders and back. Its arms hung down to its knees, and its palms were as large as cattail fans. In its right hand, it held a Golden Melon Hammer, its round head shaped like a melon and covered in complex Runes that glinted with a cold, hard metallic luster under the light.

Its massive head was wrapped in a thick layer of yellow cloth, so tightly that no facial features were visible.

The surface of the yellow cloth was also etched with dense and abstruse Runes, which seemed to subtly resonate with the patterns on the armor.

This bizarre-looking humanoid creature was precisely the fruit of Anton’s recent hard work and refinement—the Yellow Turban Warrior!

Unlike in the Cultivation Realm, where Military Tokens were typically refined from wood, jade, or metal, Anton directly drew Runes on a Magic Core, refining it into a Military Token.

On the Dawn Continent, Magic Core technology was mature. With their stable energy density, they served as the main power source for Golems and could provide powerful, explosive combat output.

In comparison, Military Tokens were inferior in terms of explosive output.

However, their advantage was their ability to slowly absorb the surrounding world’s energy, reducing the consumption of Spirit Stones. They possessed a certain self-charging characteristic, which greatly extended their operational endurance.

Furthermore, the Rune instruction system of a Military Token was far more complex and sophisticated than the preset programs of an Alchemy Puppet.

So, Anton simply combined the two. He retained the explosive energy characteristic of the Magic Core but incorporated the Rune framework of a Military Token. This added a self-charging feature and a more comprehensive instruction system, creating a brand-new Military Token that was more powerful and had greater endurance.