The Elven Cultivator

”I do.”

Anton didn’t explain much, only briefly mentioning the Nine Heavens Thunder Suppression Array.

Although the Fallen Dragon Association had secretly spread news about the battle at Gray Rock Pass, they hadn’t leaked any details about the Nine Heavens Thunder Suppression Array or the Five Camp Divine Soldiers.

Aside from those directly involved, outsiders didn’t know the specifics of what had happened.

After hearing Anton’s words, the eyes of the three elders all lit up.

An Array capable of suppressing and injuring five regents could surely be of great use against High Tier Mind Flayers.

But then, the Great Elder frowned. ”But an Array... would those Mind Flayers fall for it?”

The Second Elder and Third Elder also realized the problem, the same doubt appearing on their faces.

Indeed, it was already difficult to ambush a Golden Peak expert with an Array.

Moreover, Mind Flayers were born with psionic Spiritual Energy, and their intuition for danger was far sharper than that of ordinary creatures.

Trying to lure them into a trap would likely be much more difficult than dealing with the Dragon Race regents.

Anton shook his head. ”I don’t plan to use it to ambush the Mind Flayers. I intend to use it as our retreat path when we attack their mining areas.”

The Great Elder was taken aback. ”What’s the specific plan?”

Anton flicked a finger, and a wisp of True Essence flowed from its tip, transforming into countless slender lines of light that wove together in the air, outlining a three-dimensional model.

It was a map of the area surrounding the Mind Flayer city-state.

The locations of all the mineral veins garrisoned by the Mind Flayers were marked on it with red dots.

He pointed to one of the mineral veins farthest from the Mind Flayer city-state and said, ”We can attack here first to lure the High Tier Mind Flayers out of the city-state, reducing the pressure we’ll have to face.”

The three elders immediately understood Anton’s meaning.

The Mind Flayer elder brain would definitely leave at least two or three High Tier Mind Flayers to guard the city-state, and perhaps also the forces garrisoning the Mithril mines.

This way, they wouldn’t have to face all the High Tier Mind Flayers at once, and the pressure would be much less than a direct assault on the city-state.

The Great Elder quickly began to calculate in his mind.

If they were lucky, they would only have to face five or six High Tier Mind Flayers simultaneously. In the worst-case scenario, they would be up against eight at once.

That number should be more or less accurate.

After a moment’s hesitation, the Great Elder couldn’t help but ask Anton, ”At most, how many High Tier Mind Flayers can you handle? Assuming you’re confident of victory.”

The Second Elder and Third Elder also looked over with probing gazes.

They, too, were eager to know just what level Anton’s true strength had reached.

However, Anton’s answer was not what they expected.

”Hard to say.”

’Hard to say?’

The three elders exchanged glances. What did he mean by that?

Anton gave a light cough and explained, ”Without using the Power of Law, my limit is fighting three High Tier Mind Flayers at once.”

’Assuming it’s a battle of attrition,’

’I can use the Soul-Suppressing Bell to absorb enough Soul Power, then release a Spirit-Cleansing sound wave. While hard-controlling three enemies, I can unleash a full-power attack and take the opportunity to kill at least one High Tier Mind Flayer. I can take care of the remaining two with my flying sword.’

Hearing this, the three elders all fell silent.

’Without using the Power of Law, he can still fight three Golden Peak experts at the same time...’

They never dreamed they would one day hear such a thing.

’Has Anton’s strength really grown to such an unbelievable degree?’

Anton didn’t know what the three elders were thinking and continued, ”If I do use the Power of Law, then it depends on the specific situation.”

”My Power of Law is rather special. It needs time to accumulate. The more I accumulate, the stronger it becomes.”

’A Power of Law like that exists?’

The three elders looked stunned.

’Could it be the supreme Time Law?’

’No, that should be impossible.’

No one on the Dawn Continent had ever been heard of awakening a supreme existential power.

Perhaps only the legendary Dragon God could master a Law of that caliber.

After being dazed for a good while, the Great Elder finally asked, ”How long do you need to accumulate it?”

Anton said calmly, ”In ten years, I’m confident I could take down seven or eight High Tier Mind Flayers all by myself.”

’Two months to condense one drop of Dark Heavy Water means sixty drops in ten years.’

’Add the five drops I already have, and that’s sixty-five in total.’

’Unleash them all in a single exchange, and it’ll be more than enough to instantly kill five or six Golden Peak experts.’

’This is the advantage of having sufficient firepower.’

The three elders fell silent once again.

If anyone else had said such a thing, they would have dismissed it as a ridiculous fantasy.

But coming from Anton...

Before they could recover from their shock, Anton dropped another bombshell.

”On top of that, I have also refined a type of puppet called the Five Camp Divine Soldiers. As long as I assemble 625 of them into an array, they can reliably trap a High Tier Mind Flayer.”

The Five Camp Divine Soldiers might be even more effective against High Tier Mind Flayers than against the Dragon Race.

After all, the Five Camp Divine Soldiers have no consciousness of their own and are unaffected by psionic Spiritual Energy.

Many of the Mind Flayers’ abilities—including their signature Mind Blast—are completely ineffective against the Five Camp Divine Soldiers.

A Five Elements array of 625 soldiers could not only trap a High Tier Mind Flayer, it could even wear it down and kill it outright.

But this was a point Anton did not state explicitly.

Even so, the three elders were already deeply shocked.

Alchemy Puppets capable of dealing with Golden Peak experts were things they had only ever heard of in legends, never seen with their own eyes.

Although the Alchemy Puppets Anton spoke of required not one, but over six hundred, it was still astonishing enough.

The trump cards Anton revealed one after another had already left them somewhat numb with shock.

Fortunately, Anton didn’t reveal any more trump cards, leaving them unsure for a moment whether to be relieved or disappointed.

”In short, just give me ten years, and I can solve the problem of the gap in top-tier combat power.”

Anton gave his ’closing statement’.

In ten years, he should be able to gather 1,250 Five Camp Divine Soldiers.

That would be enough to form two Five Elements arrays of 625 soldiers each.

By that time, he should have also broken through to the Seventh-Layer Foundation Establishment.

Add to that sixty-five drops of Dark Heavy Water.

As long as the Mind Flayer city-state didn’t have a Legendary Tier Mind Flayer elder, or a double-digit number of Golden Peak Mind Flayers, he could crush them all by himself.

He wouldn’t even need the Great Elder and Second Elder to make a move.

In the end, the three elders were convinced by Anton.

The existence of the Mind Flayer city-state was a sharp sword hanging over the Clan’s head.

As long as it remained, they could not eat or sleep in peace.

Rather than defending passively, it was better to take the initiative and attack.

Besides, conquering the Mind Flayer city-state would also yield a great deal of spoils.

Of course, the most important thing was that Anton had already made all the arrangements.

He had even thought of using an Array as a path for retreat, minimizing the risk.

Since that was the case, what was there for them to hesitate about?

”The Clan will support you with all its might. Just tell us what you need.”

the Great Elder said with a solemn expression.

”I need more Magic Cores,” Anton requested immediately. ”Also, help me procure more rare metals from Gray Rock Castle.”

”No problem.”

The Great Elder agreed without hesitation.

After a pause, he added, ”Also, we will keep your identity a secret for the time being.”

Anton nodded in understanding.

He understood what the Great Elder meant.

It wasn’t that he didn’t trust his clansmen, but the matter of his identity as Canglan was too important. The fewer people who knew, the better.

If dealing with the Mind Flayer city-state hadn’t required the full support of the Elder Council, he wouldn’t have revealed his Canglan identity now, but would have waited for a more suitable time in the future to do so.

...

With a clear goal and plan in place, Anton dedicated himself to the preparations.

After inventing the combination of the Sensing Spirit Stone and the Spirit Fire Talisman, the work of making potions was mostly handed over to the clan’s Pharmacists.

One of the preliminary steps for crafting Rune Equipment, the work of metal smelting, was also handed over to the clan’s Artifact Refiners.

This freed up a great deal of Anton’s time and energy.

Now, aside from occasionally crafting Rune Equipment, refining Origin Pills, and setting up Spirit Gathering Arrays, he invested most of his energy into his cultivation and condensing Dark Heavy Water.

In between, he would also find time to refine the Five Camp Divine Soldiers.

During this time, Anton also considered whether he should cultivate another near-divine art or refine one or two more Magical Artifacts.

But after careful consideration, he gave up on the idea.

With very few exceptions, most near-divine arts were huge consumers of True Essence.

His True Essence was barely enough to support his flying sword as it was; adding another near-divine art would only exacerbate the shortage.

Besides, one or two methods for combat were already enough.

Quality over quantity.

As for other near-divine arts like the one for Dark Heavy Water, the Taoist Jade Scroll did contain more.

However, Anton was currently using all his True Essence to condense Dark Heavy Water. Mastering another one would not only be time-consuming and laborious, but he also wouldn’t have any spare True Essence for daily condensation.

The same reasoning applied to Magical Artifacts.

He currently possessed three major Magical Artifacts: the Sword Pill, the Separation Fire Shield, and the Soul-Suppressing Bell.

He had offense, speed, and defense covered.

There was no need to refine any additional Magical Artifacts.

There was a limit to how many Magical Artifacts one could control simultaneously in battle; having more would be useless.

Unless he had ample time in the future, then he could consider mastering a few more near-divine arts and refining several more types of Magical Artifacts to increase his combat flexibility.

And so, Anton slowly accumulated his trump cards.

Time slipped away quietly, like sand through one’s fingers.

「Summer, Year 9345 of the Chenxi Calendar.」

Anton successfully broke through to the Sixth-Layer Foundation Establishment, bringing him one step closer to the Solidifying Pill stage.

The abundance of his True Essence allowed him to handle his flying sword with even greater ease.

He also gained a deeper understanding of the Light Splitting and Reunification technique.

He was just a little shy of the stage where one could split into sixteen.

The breakthrough in his Cultivation Level also allowed him to condense Dark Heavy Water a bit faster.

In the same year, the Silver Moon Race received another piece of good news.

Romance had successfully broken through.

On the very night of her breakthrough, Romance ran to share her joy with Anton.

Anton was happy for her, and he pulled Eleanor along. The three of them had a barbecue in the backyard as a small celebration.

Romance’s breakthrough meant that the Silver Moon Race had gained another Golden Tier combatant.

Although the promotion path of a strength Cultivator was completely different from that of an ordinary Warrior, in terms of combat power, they were only stronger than others of the same tier.

It was worth mentioning that Eleanor had also broken through to Silver Peak long ago and was currently charging toward the Golden Tier.

Elena, the vice-captain of the Forest Guard, had also broken through to Middle Gold not long after switching to cultivating the Eight Desolates Prison-Suppression Scripture.

The Clan was prospering, with new talents emerging one after another. The three elders saw this and were delighted.

Anton, however, did not have much time to bask in this joy. As always, he continued his preparations for the assault on the Mind Flayer city-state.

Another two years passed.

「Summer, Year 9347 of the Chenxi Calendar.」

Just as Anton was condensing Dark Heavy Water as usual, his heart suddenly stirred.

The warning Array, set up on the other side of the rift, sent an alert that it had been triggered.