The Elven Cultivator

Becoming the Clan Leader wasn’t something that could be settled with just a single sentence.

There would be an inauguration ceremony later, and friendly factions would be invited to attend.

It would also serve as a declaration to the outside world of the Clan’s new leader.

However, the Clan still had many loose ends to tie up, so the ceremony would likely have to wait for some time.

Anton naturally had no objection to this.

The Silver Moon Race had now replaced Kresol Dragon City as the hegemon of the Eldron Plain. They needed a formal occasion to announce this fact and establish their status.

It would also give other factions an opportunity to express their own attitudes.

After the meeting was dismissed, Anton left the Eternal Hall.

Romance and Eleanor followed behind him.

”Anton, how does it feel to be the Clan Leader?” Romance asked with a chuckle.

Anton just smiled without saying a word.

Even though he wasn’t the Clan Leader before, he had been the Clan’s de facto decision-maker most of the time.

Now, he had simply made the title official.

”Romance,” Eleanor reminded him, ”you should call him Clan Leader from now on.”

Romance scratched his cheek and said, ”But ’Anton’ still feels more natural to me.”

Eleanor’s expression was one of resignation.

”Oh, right, have you heard?” Romance suddenly remembered something, his eyes sparkling as he looked at Anton. ”People outside have given you a title: ’Fallen Dragon Sword Saint’!”

”Fallen Dragon Sword Saint...” Anton’s expression was a bit strange.

”What’s wrong? Don’t you like it?” Romance asked.

”Not really.” Anton shook his head but didn’t explain further.

’If I had to choose, I’d prefer the title ’Sword Immortal’.’

Unfortunately, the people of the Dawn Continent didn’t understand the meaning of ”Immortal,” so of course they wouldn’t have thought of it when coming up with a nickname.

...

Dusk had already fallen by the time he returned to the treehouse.

Outside the window, the glow of the Eternal Tree lit up in succession, like a series of hanging, silvery-white lanterns swaying gently in the night breeze, casting a soft halo of light into the room.

Anton went to his quiet chamber, sat down, and summoned his Sword Pill.

The profound-gold Pill hovered above his palm, rotating slowly.

After devouring Isaac’s blood and essence, the Sword Pill had also absorbed the essence of the Dragon Race that Eleanor had refined with the Yuan-Devouring Gourd during the war. The Profound Light on its surface was now significantly denser than when he had first broken through.

The Sword Pill’s nascent consciousness had also become a bit clearer than before.

That hazy, newborn-like perception was slowly maturing.

When he focused his senses on it, he could even detect a trace of an emotion akin to ”desire” in the Sword Pill’s feedback.

It was craving further advancement.

Anton smiled faintly, returned the Sword Pill to his Qi Sea, and began to contemplate his next steps.

His Golden Core was formed, but the path of the Dao was still long, and he could not afford to slack off.

He had to continue cultivating with perseverance.

First was the Sword Dao.

Although he planned to cultivate the three paths of Slaughter, Extremity, and Transformation simultaneously, he needed a primary and secondary focus.

He would use the Sword of Transformation as the foundation, with the paths of Slaughter and Extremity as its applications.

The marvel of the Sword of Transformation lay in its ability to split into thousands and encompass all things.

It was itself an extremely broad platform, capable of accommodating different Sword Dao concepts within its framework without conflict.

Anton didn’t need to start from scratch and recultivate two separate paths. Instead, he would integrate the essences of the Sword of Slaughter—”Annihilation”—and the Sword of Extremity—”Rapidity”—as new dimensions into his existing Light Splitting and Reunification system.

This would allow his sword light to be both overwhelmingly numerous and, for each individual beam, possess the sharpness to extinguish life and the speed to arrive in an instant.

This was simple to say but extremely difficult to do.

Light Splitting and Reunification was already a technique that consumed immense mental effort and Magical Power. To simultaneously infuse two different Sword Dao essences into every split beam of sword light was a tremendous test of a Sword Cultivator’s comprehension, Divine Sense, and control over Magical Power.

But if he succeeded, the power of his Flying Sword Skill would increase dramatically.

By then, every beam of sword light would possess the offensive power of a Legendary Sword Saint.

Sixty-four beams of sword light would be like sixty-four Legendary Sword Saints.

One hundred and twenty-eight beams of sword light would be like one hundred and twenty-eight Legendary Sword Saints.

Among Legends, who could possibly stop him?

Anton opened the Taoist Jade Scroll and began to browse through the notes and fragmented treatises on swordsmanship left behind by past Sword Cultivators.

Although the Taoist Jade Scroll didn’t contain a complete Cultivation Technique for ”cultivating three paths simultaneously,” it did record a large number of notes, fragmented treatises, and integration methods left by past Sword Cultivators, which could be of great help to him.

For example, the *Sword Dao Samadhi*.

This was a collection of notes left by an anonymous Sword Cultivator, which detailed his insights on forging three different Sword Dao paths into one.

The so-called ”Samadhi” referred to both three realms of the Sword Dao and three aspects of mental cultivation.

The three Sword Dao paths seemed to diverge, but in reality, they all led to the same destination.

When cultivated to a profound level, there was Transformation within Slaughter, Extremity within Transformation, and Slaughter within Extremity—they were fundamentally one and the same.

However, this anonymous Sword Cultivator’s aptitude was limited. He was unable to truly merge the three paths in his lifetime, leaving behind only these notes for later generations to study.

Another example was the *Ten Thousand Swords Return to the Root Discussion*.

It was said to have been written by a certain Swordsmanship Grandmaster in his later years.

The opening line stated: ”Though there are ten thousand paths in Sword Dao, they all ultimately return to one.”

This Grandmaster’s realm was more than a step above the author of the *Sword Dao Samadhi*.

In his view, the three paths of Transformation, Slaughter, and Extremity were merely three branches growing from the great tree of the Sword Dao.

When the roots are deep, the branches flourish; when the trunk is firm, the leaves prosper.

A sword cultivator should not be obsessed with the differences between the branches, but should trace them back to the source and comprehend the foundation of the Sword Dao.

Only by thoroughly integrating the essences of the three could one reach an even higher realm beyond ”One Sword Breaks Ten Thousand Techniques”—the Heart Sword.

Anton found a large number of notes and treatises, planning to study them thoroughly later.

’I also need to continue cultivating my Divine Techniques.’

There are three thousand Great Daos and countless Divine Techniques.

A person’s energy is limited; it’s impossible to cultivate every Divine Technique to a profound level.

Biting off more than one can chew would only lead to mastering none of them.

Therefore, when choosing Divine Techniques, Cultivators often select them based on their Spirit Root attributes, Cultivation Technique characteristics, and combat style, specializing in a few to ensure mastery.

However, Anton’s situation was rather special.

The Taichu Hiding Skill he cultivated encompassed the Five Elements, allowing him to practice almost any Divine Technique.

Moreover, his lifespan was longer than that of an ordinary Golden Core Stage Cultivator, giving him more than enough time.

Therefore, after careful consideration, he decided to cultivate five Divine Techniques, one for each of the Five Elements.

First, having all Five Elements would complement his Taichu Hiding Skill, allowing him to unleash its maximum power.

Second, it would help him comprehend the Law of the Five Elements, allowing him to go further on his path of cultivation.

Third, mastering more Divine Techniques would also be of great benefit to his future Sword Dao cultivation.

To walk the path of the Sword of Transformation to its apex and master the ultimate method of ’One Sword, Ten Thousand Techniques’, one must first comprehend a sufficient number of Laws.

Anton planned to start by mastering five Divine Techniques of the Five Elements.

For his Water Attribute Divine Technique, he already had the Beiming True Water, which was ready to go.

He just needed to go to the Dark Nether Realm to continue cultivating it.

The environment there was cold, damp, and rich in Water Attribute Spiritual Qi, making it the perfect place to practice the Beiming True Water.

As for the remaining four, Anton made his decision after searching through the Taoist Jade Scroll.

First was the Metal Element Divine Technique.

He chose a protective Divine Technique called Primordial True Gang.

The Metal Element is the hardest and sharpest, indestructible by any technique.

The Primordial True Gang is based on the Metal Element. A Cultivator condenses an invisible barrier of incomparably hard and sharp Gang Qi on their body’s surface to defend against external attacks.

When cultivated to a profound level, even a Profound Artifact would have difficulty breaking through its defense.

The defensive capability of this Divine Technique was far stronger than his Separation Fire Shield.

Next was the Wood Attribute Divine Technique.

Anton chose a recovery-type Divine Technique called Void One Yuan Life Qi.

This Divine Technique could rapidly restore one’s vital energy by consuming Magical Power.

Furthermore, as long as a single breath of vital energy remained, even if one’s limbs were torn apart, the Divine Technique could be used to pull them back together. As long as they were reattached within a short time, the user would be uninjured and avoid death, as if they were never harmed in the first place.

It could be called a life-saving divine skill.

As for the Fire Attribute Divine Technique, Anton chose the Six Ding Divine Fire.

This Divine Technique could draw upon the power of the six types of Ding Fire between heaven and earth, using Divine Sense as a guide and Magical Power as fuel to turn the formless into form.

Its advantage lay in its tyrannical power and its extremely strong restraining effect on yin, evil, and ghostly creatures.

Considering his upcoming exploration of the Dark Nether Realm, the Six Ding Divine Fire might prove to be quite useful.

Additionally, when the Undead Calamity broke out in the future, this Divine Technique would also be able to counter the Undead, showing immense potential.

Finally, for the Earth Attribute Divine Technique, Anton chose the Profound Yellow Dragon-Grasping Hand.

Profound and yellow are the true colors of heaven and earth, the manifestation of the earth’s virtue.

Heaven is profound black and earth is yellow; this Divine Technique corresponds to the celestial phenomena above and connects to the earth veins below, thus possessing the dual characteristics of ”massiveness” and ”all-encompassing acceptance.”

It can crush like a mountain, using force to break skill, or it can be as encompassing as the earth, trapping and sealing all things.

When this Divine Technique is cultivated to a profound level, a single grasp can shatter mountains and sunder peaks, and a single clench can capture dragons and bind phoenixes.

Its power was absolute!

More importantly, after mastering the Profound Yellow Dragon-Grasping Hand, he could fuse the Power of the Five Elements in the future to cultivate a High Tier Divine Technique, the ’Supreme Profound Qi Five Elements Hand Seal’.

The path for advancement was clear.

All in all, these five Divine Techniques each had their own strengths, covering offense, defense, recovery, and control, making for a complete set.

Once he fully mastered these five Divine Techniques, his combat power and flexibility would experience a qualitative leap.

In addition to the Five Elements Divine Techniques, Anton also selected a space-type Divine Technique—the Daluo Celestial Sleeve.

*Daluo* means to encompass everything, to contain all.

*Celestial Sleeve* refers to hiding the heavens in one’s sleeve, a universe within a sleeve.

A practitioner of this Divine Technique can contain all techniques in a sleeve, collect all things in a sleeve, trap all enemies in a sleeve, and hide heaven and earth in a sleeve.

It is said that when cultivated to its peak, one could draw in rivers and seas, mountains and peaks.

”As long as I master the Daluo Celestial Sleeve, I shouldn’t run into situations where my storage-type Magical Artifacts don’t have enough space anymore.”

A satisfied smile appeared on Anton’s face.

After organizing the Divine Techniques he needed to cultivate, Anton then turned his attention to another matter.

He had been thinking for some time about how to give the Clan’s Casters a cultivation method that would allow for rapid advancement, just like the Warriors had.

He had actually already had some ideas before the war with Kresol Dragon City broke out.

And the experience of condensing his Golden Core had helped him further refine the idea in his mind.

The essence of a Golden Core, in the end, was an ”energy core” formed by compressing, condensing, and solidifying one’s True Essence, essence, qi, and spirit.

This core was not only a reservoir of energy but also a bridge for a Cultivator to communicate with the Heaven and Earth Law.

So, following this theory, could Casters also compress their Magic Power along with their essence, qi, and spirit to form an energy core, and thereby comprehend the Law?

Of course, without an accumulation of insights into the Law, Black Iron and Silver Tier Casters would probably find this very difficult to achieve.

So, he could try to lower the difficulty.

For example, when compressing Magic Power and one’s essence, qi, and spirit, they could use the magic circuit as the core.

With the magic circuit as a focal point, the difficulty would be much lower.

Furthermore, the function of a magic circuit was to convert the energy of heaven and earth into Magic Power. Compressing it into an energy core would essentially be constructing an enhanced version of a magic circuit.

Moreover, an energy core would have higher efficiency in converting Magic Power and could also increase Magic Power density.

In the later stages, practitioners could also use the energy core to comprehend the Law more easily.

The benefits were simply too numerous.

This method had a similar ingenuity to the ”Seed Pill Technique” from the immortal cultivation system.

Unlike the strength-based inheritance, it didn’t require completely abandoning the original cultivation system and starting over with a brand-new Cultivation Technique.

The Seed Pill Technique still retained elements of the Dawn Continent’s cultivation system. Casters wouldn’t need to give up their existing Magic Power accumulation and magical knowledge, but would instead deepen and sublimate them.

This way, the barrier to switching cultivation methods would be greatly reduced, making it more easily acceptable to Casters.

The more Anton thought about it, the more feasible it seemed.

Once the research on the Seed Pill Technique was successful, the Casters in the Clan would have a way to rapidly increase their strength.

This was especially true for the Third Elder, who was only a step away from awakening the Power of Law.

If he could successfully condense an energy core, Anton estimated that he would be able to take that step very soon.

”I’ll find some time to research this next.”

After organizing everything, Anton realized he had even more on his plate than he had anticipated.

Refining the Pill Poison, cultivating his Sword Dao and Divine Techniques, researching the Seed Pill Technique, modifying the Magic Stones, surveying the Earth Vein Nodes...

Every single task required a huge investment of time and energy.

It was a good thing that as Clan Leader, he didn’t need to handle miscellaneous affairs; everything was delegated to an assistant team led by Eleanor. Otherwise, he would have been run off his feet.