The Elven Cultivator

”Lady Eleanor.”

A young Elf strode in from the entrance of the hall, a stack of documents in his hands. He stopped before her desk and bowed slightly.

”This month’s trade reports have arrived.”

Eleanor nodded, reached out for the documents, and flipped open the one on top.

As her eyes scanned the numbers on the page, her eyebrows raised slightly before smoothing out again.

The report showed that trade income from the Eldron Plain was basically flat compared to last month.

This was not surprising.

The market in the Eldron Plain was only so big, and after several years of development, it had essentially reached a saturation point.

The factions that needed to procure goods had all established stable supply channels, and those who wanted to buy had pretty much bought what they needed. A slowdown in growth was to be expected.

The markets beyond the plain, however, were far from fully developed.

The data in the report proved this point.

This month, trade income from outside the Eldron Plain continued to maintain a high growth rate of fifty percent.

The Green Highlands, the Thundering River Basin, the Frost Ridge Plateau... the total population and scale of the factions in those places far exceeded the Eldron Plain, holding enormous market potential.

As long as they could break into those markets, there was still significant room for trade income to grow.

Closing the document, Eleanor instructed, ”For our upcoming trade efforts, we need to shift our focus outward and work on tapping into the markets beyond the Eldron Plain.”

”Yes.”

The young Elf took out a notebook he carried with him and quickly jotted it down. Then, he pulled another report from the bottom of the stack and handed it over.

”Lady Eleanor, this is this month’s statistical report on population growth.”

”This month, we absorbed a total of three outside groups, amounting to 2,353 individuals. The Clan’s total population has now surpassed 25,000.”

As Eleanor listened to her subordinate’s report while browsing the document, a faint smile gradually appeared on her face.

Previously, the Clan’s population had briefly declined due to the war.

Fortunately, the Clan had spent the last few years recuperating, vigorously encouraging families to have more children, and continuously absorbing new Elf groups. As a result, the population was once again experiencing sustained, rapid growth.

If this trend continued, the Clan’s total population might break the 50,000 mark in another seven or eight years.

Across the entire Dawn Continent, an Elf clan with a population of over 50,000 could already be considered a large clan.

As Eleanor was pondering this, her subordinate’s next words made her frown slightly.

”Due to the rapid population growth, the residential area in the forest is almost at its limit. If it continues to grow...”

Eleanor fell silent for a moment.

She had, in fact, anticipated this problem.

Although the Silver Moon Forest was constantly, albeit slowly, expanding under the nourishment of the Great Derivation Cyan Profound Array, the rate of expansion was far outpaced by the rate of population growth.

This was especially true in recent years. With flourishing trade and the Clan’s rising prestige, more and more Elf groups were drawn by its reputation, causing the population to grow far faster than expected.

If the forest hadn’t been continuously expanding, they probably would have faced this problem much sooner.

”I understand,” Eleanor said, putting down the report, her tone calm. ”For now, build a temporary camp outside the forest to house the newcomers. Once Taichu City is complete, we can relocate part of the population there to alleviate the housing pressure here.”

The young Elf nodded quickly. ”Understood. I’ll make the arrangements right away.”

”Is there anything else to report?” Eleanor asked.

”Yes.”

The young Elf pulled a thick document from the pile and presented it with both hands.

”These are the documents for the restructuring of the Forest Guard. Please review them.”

Eleanor took it, unfolded the document, and her eyes scanned the text on the page.

With the Clan’s population boom in recent years, the numbers of the Forest Guard had also risen accordingly.

From an initial force of over two thousand, it had now reached a strength of six thousand.

The name ”Forest Guard” was clearly no longer suitable.

Its structure also needed to be reorganized.

Therefore, after discussing it with Anton, Eleanor decided to push forward with the restructuring, abandoning the name Forest Guard and replacing it with the Silver Moon Legion.

The original system of squads, companies, and battalions would remain, with the addition of a ”banner” formation on top of it.

Each banner would consist of five battalions, with a full complement of 1,500 members.

According to this plan, the Silver Moon Legion would be composed of four banners, totaling six thousand members.

Its main responsibilities would include external combat operations, guarding mining veins, and transporting supplies.

Cedric would remain as the Legion Commander.

The Deputy Commanders would be Elena and Romance.

A flicker of amusement appeared in Eleanor’s eyes when she saw Romance’s name.

That girl, who had been so unruly as a child, always carrying a War Axe around wanting to chop down trees, had now become a Deputy Commander of the legion.

’Who would have thought this was possible decades ago?’

It was worth mentioning that Romance had broken through to Upper Gold last year.

The number of Elves in the entire Clan stronger than her could be counted on one hand, making her more than qualified for the position of Deputy Commander.

Eleanor continued reading.

The recruitment standards for the Silver Moon Legion had also been raised.

Black Iron Tier was merely the minimum requirement.

Warriors had to have begun training in the Eight Desolates Prison-Suppression Scripture and be proficient in at least two combat techniques... no, they should be called martial techniques now.

Casters, on the other hand, had to have successfully condensed a Magic Crystal Core.

The so-called Magic Crystal Core referred to the energy core condensed using the Seed Pill Technique.

Two years ago, ever since the Third Elder successfully condensed an energy core using the Seed Pill Technique, the Clan had begun to vigorously promote it.

With the precedent set by the Eight Desolates Prison-Suppression Scripture, coupled with Anton’s prestige, the clan members showed no resistance whatsoever to the Seed Pill Technique.

All Casters switched to practicing the Seed Pill Technique.

And the facts proved that Anton had not disappointed them; the Seed Pill Technique had indeed greatly increased the speed at which Casters could condense Magic Power.

Over the past two years, the overall strength of the Casters in the Clan had seen a significant improvement.

It mirrored the grand occasion when the Clan’s Warriors had switched to practicing the Eight Desolates Prison-Suppression Scripture en masse.

Due to the higher recruitment standards for the Silver Moon Legion, a considerable number of adult Elves who lacked sufficient strength could not join.

These Elves primarily came from the newly joined Elf groups and were generally not very old.

Unlike the young Elves from the main Clan, who had Dragon Essence Potions and a high-energy environment to boost their training efficiency from a young age, most of them could reach the middle or upper stages of the Black Iron Tier by adulthood.

A good number of them even reached the Silver Tier.

These young Elves from the other groups had suffered from a severe lack of Cultivation Resources since childhood.

Many of them failed to break through to the Black Iron Tier even by adulthood; those who could reach the upper levels of the White Rank were considered quite decent.

Most were only at the middle or lower levels of the White Rank.

Thus, after some consideration, Eleanor decided to establish a new garrison, specifically responsible for maintaining daily order and patrol duties within the Silver Moon Forest.

All Elves who did not meet the recruitment standards for the Silver Moon Legion were assigned to this garrison.

Once they met the standards, they could apply to join the Silver Moon Legion.

In a way, the garrison could be considered the reserve force for the Silver Moon Legion.

Currently, the garrison’s numbers had already reached over two thousand.

Eleanor gave it a quick read-through, changed a few details, and handed the document back to her subordinate. ”Give this to Legion Commander Cedric.”

”Yes.”

The young Elf handed over a few more documents concerning routine affairs. Only after Eleanor had approved them one by one did he leave, holding the stack of documents.

The hall grew quiet once more.

Eleanor stretched, let out a long breath, and leaned back in her chair. Her gaze drifted through the window toward the distant treetops, her thoughts wandering.

In recent years, the Clan’s Golden Tier combat strength had also been steadily increasing.

The former Forest Guard had gained seven new Golden Tier Warriors and Casters.

Five of them were promoted to banner captains in the Silver Moon Legion, while the other two became the captain and deputy captain of the garrison.

As for the Casters, their strength was growing rapidly thanks to the dividends from the Seed Pill Technique.

She heard that Darian was already close to breaking through to Middle Gold.

The Silver Moon Clan’s Golden Tier combatants now numbered in the double digits.

In the past, this was something they wouldn’t have even dared to imagine.

And then there were the students who had embarked on the path of the Dao. All of them had already refined their first wisp of Spiritual Qi, becoming Qi Refining Stage Cultivators.

With the support of ample Pills and the Spirit Gathering Array, these little ones were refining Spiritual Qi very quickly.

The one making the fastest progress, Laine, was already preparing to refine his seventeenth wisp of Spiritual Qi.

At this rate, it wouldn’t be long before he broke through to the Middle Stage of Qi Refining.

Eleanor had recently begun arranging for them to study the Dao of Talismans.

After they studied for a while longer, they could be put to work drawing Talismans and creating Sensing Spirit Stones.

Although they had been studying talisman drawing for far less time than the clan’s Enchanters, they were, after all, receiving an orthodox inheritance. Drawing Talismans would only be easier for them than for the latter.

Many Talismans that the clan’s Enchanters couldn’t draw could be handed over to them.

Their speed and efficiency in refining Sensing Spirit Stones and modifying Spirit Stones would also be greater than the clan’s Enchanters.

All in all, the Clan’s development was flourishing.

And all of this, naturally, was thanks to Anton.

The image of his tall, slender figure surfaced in Eleanor’s mind, and the corners of her mouth turned up slightly without her realizing.

Just then, the sound of hurried footsteps came from the entrance of the hall.

A young Elf ran in, undisguised joy on his face.

”Lady Eleanor! Good news!”

Eleanor looked up. ”What is it?”

”The Third Elder has broken through to Golden Peak!” the young Elf’s voice was filled with excitement.

Joy sparked in Eleanor’s heart.

’The Third Elder has finally taken that step.’

Even for the Silver Moon Clan of today, gaining another Golden Peak combatant was a significant boost.

By her count, the Clan now had four Golden Peak experts.

Across the entire Eldron Plain, besides the former Kresol Dragon City, no other faction possessed so many Golden Peak experts.

Not to mention they also had Anton, a Legendary Sword Saint, watching over them.

Eleanor stood up, preparing to head to the central hall to see what Law the Third Elder had awakened.

But just as she began to move, another set of footsteps sounded from the hall’s entrance.

Another young Elf strode in, bowed to Eleanor, and said, ”Lady Eleanor, the delegation from the Jade Royal Court has arrived. The Great Elder requests your presence.”

A trace of surprise flashed in Eleanor’s eyes.

’A delegation from the Jade Royal Court?’

’Why would they come at a time like this?’