The Elven Cultivator

In the span of a dozen or so breaths, both Silver Tier Earth Trolls had fallen.

Furlo, watching from nearby, took in the whole scene with a private sigh of admiration.

’Lucius goes without saying. His Swordsmanship is as incisive as ever.’

He had already cultivated the Divine Sun Sword Skill to the state of Six Suns Manifesting, and it seemed he was on the verge of another breakthrough.

It likely wouldn’t be long before he reached the state of Seven Suns Manifesting.

In all of Taichu City, no other disciple possessed a greater talent for Swordsmanship.

Laine’s Great Sun True Understanding was just as tyrannical.

Every gesture he made carried the might of the blazing sun. His True Essence was deep and vast, so he had no need for strange or cunning tactics. He simply crushed his opponents head-on with overwhelming, magnificent force.

Among all the disciples of Taichu City, Laine and Lucius were in a league of their own when it came to combat strength.

Once the two Silver Tier Earth Trolls fell, the remaining Black Iron and White Rank grunts posed no threat at all.

Furlo and Mia killed most of them, while the rest fell to the combined assault of the Elf soldiers, the Ghost Scale Race members, and the Catmen.

After the battle, the Elf soldiers began to clear the battlefield.

The pelts and bones of these subterranean creatures weren’t particularly valuable, but there was a large quantity of them. Bringing them back would at least earn a few contribution points.

”It’s a shame they were Earth Trolls,” Furlo said, walking up to Laine with a frown. ”We can’t communicate with them. Otherwise, we might have figured out why all these subterranean races are gathering here.”

”Lately, more and more subterranean races have been gathering in this area. The various factions are all fighting each other, creating an incredibly chaotic situation.”

”It’s had a huge impact on our exploration, and now we desperately need to figure out what’s causing all this.”

Just as Laine was about to speak, he heard the sound of rushed footsteps coming from the mouth of the tunnel.

Everyone turned toward the sound and saw a Catman girl bursting out of the tunnel, clutching a desperately struggling Deep Rock Ratman.

The Deep Rock Ratman was smaller than others of its kind, with grayish-white fur. It looked malnourished and was letting out terrified squeaks.

”Captain Laine!” the Catman girl called out, running up to him. She held up the Deep Rock Ratman as if presenting a prize. ”I found this one hiding furtively in a crevice, so I grabbed it!”

Laine’s eyes lit up.

Though not highly intelligent, Deep Rock Ratmen were much easier to communicate with than Earth Trolls.

At the very least, they retained basic linguistic capabilities and understood fear and how to beg for their lives.

This particular Ratman was likely the only survivor from its faction in the recent skirmish.

Judging by its scrawny appearance, it was clearly very weak. It had probably hidden in the crevice out of fear before the battle even began, only to be keenly spotted by the Catman girl.

”Well done.”

Laine praised her, studying the young Catman girl for a moment. ”I remember your name is... Ye Tong?”

”Yes.” Ye Tong nodded emphatically, unable to conceal her delight.

Catmen like her usually only dealt with soldiers from the Silver Moon Legion. It was a rare honor to even exchange a few words with an esteemed disciple from Taichu City like Laine.

She’d never imagined that Laine would actually remember her name.

”You’ve rendered a great service. When we return, I’ll be sure to request a commendation for you from Lord Roman.”

Laine said with a smile, then took the Deep Rock Ratman from Ye Tong, whose face was flushed with excitement.

The Deep Rock Ratman, which had been struggling wildly, suddenly went rigid in Laine’s grasp, no longer daring to move.

Laine carried it off to one side and began his interrogation.

Without exception, every Taichu City disciple participating in the exploration of the Dark Nether Realm had cultivated the Listening Skill.

This Technique was created by Anton, who based it on the ’comprehend languages’ Magic from the Dawn Continent.

It worked by infusing one’s ears with Spiritual Qi to sense the vibrations of sound waves and spiritual fluctuations. This allowed the user to decipher the phonetic rules and semantic logic of any language, achieving a state of ”understanding upon hearing.”

After hearing just a few sentences, the user could automatically analyze the language’s patterns and rapidly master it.

Of course, it required a ”listening sample” of a certain duration to take effect.

Moreover, it was less effective on a few particularly ancient, complex, or non-biological languages.

Fortunately, most languages in the Dark Nether Realm were simple and crude, with limited vocabularies and rough grammatical structures—nothing like the refined and complex languages of the surface races. They had almost never encountered a situation where the Listening Skill failed to work.

In his years in the Dark Nether Realm, Laine had already used the Listening Skill to master the common subterranean tongue and the languages of most native races.

After a round of threats, both harsh and gentle, Laine quickly obtained the information he wanted.

He casually handed the Deep Rock Ratman to a nearby Elf soldier and returned to Furlo and the other two.

”Well?” Mia asked impatiently.

”Our master was right,” Laine said in a low voice. ”These subterranean races are gathering here because they’ve discovered a valuable resource node.”

”What kind of resource?” Furlo asked.

”A Blood Soul Crystal cluster,” Laine said.

Blood Soul Crystal cluster.

The Elves exchanged confused glances.

They had never heard of such a thing.

”According to the Deep Rock Ratman, a Blood Soul Crystal is a type of blood-red crystal that grows in caves. When ground into a powder and consumed, it can increase one’s physical strength and Magic Power.”

”That’s it?” Mia frowned.

’And here I thought it was some incredible treasure,’ she mused. ’It doesn’t sound all that special.’

’The Clan has plenty of things that can increase a person’s strength. Aren’t all of them better than these so-called Blood Soul Crystals?’

Laine saw through her thoughts and chuckled. ”The Dark Nether Realm is rich in resources, but most of the subterranean races lack the knowledge of potion-making. They can’t easily refine resources into elixirs. That’s why something like the Blood Soul Crystal, which only needs simple processing before it can be consumed to boost one’s power, is an undeniable treasure to many of them.”

Mia realized he had a point.

Just then, an Elf soldier hurried over, cupping several fist-sized, blood-red crystals in his hands.

”Lord Laine, we found these on the Earth Trolls.”

Laine took the blood-red crystals and examined them carefully.

The crystals were irregularly shaped, their surfaces covered in fine facets, like shards of a shattered Gemstone.

They were a deep, blood-red color, like coagulated blood, and gave off a dark luster.

When held, a gentle warmth seeped out from the crystal, spreading up the lines of his palm as if he were holding a stone just pulled from a fire.

”Looks like our luck is good. These must be the Blood Soul Crystals,” Laine said, turning to the others. ”Let’s head back and report to Lord Roman.”

The Elves nodded one after another, their faces breaking into joyful expressions.

Not only had they obtained crucial intelligence on this trip, but they had also acquired valuable spoils. Turning them in would surely earn them a significant number of contribution points.

The few members of the Ghost Scale Race and the Catmen were also overjoyed.

As members of the retinue, they too would get a piece of the pie.

...

「Northern side of the Nine Nether City Domain, North Armor Third Outpost.」

At the entrance to the laboratory, Romance leaned against a pillar, idly toying with the War Axe in her hands.

Hearing the door open, she immediately looked up.

Seeing Darian emerge from the laboratory, Romance flicked her wrist, storing the Magical Artifact in her Space Ring before straightening up and walking over to meet him.

”Teacher Darian, any discoveries?”

Although she was now an Upper Gold Warrior, stronger even than Darian, Romance’s form of address for him hadn’t changed over the years.

After all, Darian was also the one who had first taught Anton about Magic.

Darian nodded. ”After analyzing it, this so-called Blood Soul Crystal contains an extremely dense life energy. Absorbing it can indeed strengthen the body to a certain degree and promote Magic Power growth.”

”However, its life energy is different from the gentle kind found in Life Spring Water. It’s much more volatile. While living beings can still absorb it, it takes a great deal of time to digest.”

Romance stroked her chin. ”So it sounds like it’s not very useful to our Clan?”

”Not at all,” Darian said with a smile. ”For Warriors who use Power Cultivation Techniques, this kind of energy is actually perfect.”

Romance paused. ”How so?”

Darian explained, ”From what I understand, the core of a Power Cultivation Technique is to absorb external energy and integrate it into one’s flesh and bone to temper the body. This is inherently a process of constantly breaking down and rebuilding, which requires exactly this kind of intense, impactful energy. Am I right?”

”That’s right.”

Romance immediately understood Darian’s point, and her eyes lit up.

”So, you’re saying that Blood Soul Crystals are perfectly suited as a dedicated Cultivation Resource for our power-focused Cultivators?”

”You could say that,” Darian replied with a smile. ”When cultivating with Blood Soul Crystals, you bypass the digestion process required for something like Firemane Beast meat. The energy can be directly channeled by the Cultivation Technique, making it far more efficient.”

Romance was overjoyed.

Ever since the Clan took over the herds of Firemane Beasts from Kresol Dragon City, the strain on Cultivation Resources for their Warriors had been significantly eased.

But as the Clan’s population continued to grow and the number of Warriors increased daily, the problem had gradually begun to resurface.

Even though the Beast Garden was constantly working to expand the Firemane Beast herds, and the Clan was aggressively purchasing the meat of Magical Creatures through its trade networks, the resource shortage had never been completely resolved.

It was a constant source of worry for Eleanor.

If what the Deep Rock Ratman said was true—that there was an entire, massive cave full of Blood Soul Crystals, and that they could regrow after being harvested—then it would undoubtedly provide the Clan with a completely new and stable source of resources.

If they could secure the Blood Soul Crystal cluster, the resource problem for the Clan’s Warriors practicing Power Cultivation Techniques would be, if not completely solved, at least significantly alleviated.

At this thought, Romance hesitated no longer.

”I’m leading a team out immediately. We have to secure that Blood Soul Crystal cluster!”

Darian hesitated. ”Shouldn’t you request reinforcements from the surface first?”

”I’ll report the news to Taichu City and request reinforcements, but the expeditionary team must move out now,” Romance said without a trace of hesitation. ”More and more subterranean races are being drawn to the Blood Soul Crystals. If we delay, I’m afraid there will be complications. It’s better to make our move as soon as possible.”

Hearing this, Darian stopped trying to persuade her. With a solemn expression, he said, ”I’ll go with you.”

An extra Golden Tier combatant would greatly increase their chances of success. Naturally, Romance wasn’t going to refuse, and she nodded in agreement.

As the orders were given, Nine Nether City and its various outposts quickly burst into activity.

Leaving behind only a skeleton crew, the remaining forces began to assemble at North Armor Third Outpost.