The Elven Cultivator

Chapter 316: Chapter 289: Flying Radiance Tower

In the Taichu Spirit Realm, beneath the Eternal Tree.

This ancient tree, which had once stood in the center of the Silver Moon Forest, had quickly adapted to its new environment after being transplanted to Taichu City.

Nourished by the Mountain Protection Array, its branches and leaves grew ever more lush.

Aerial roots descended from its branches, plunging deep into the soil to form new trunks. From a distance, it looked like a miniature forest clustered around a colossal, sky-piercing tree.

Anton stood beneath the tree, sensing the rich elemental energy in the air, and nodded in satisfaction.

This place was indeed a perfect environment for opening a rift to the Wind Elemental Origin Plane.

The Eternal Tree itself contained an extremely dense Wood Attribute Spiritual Qi. In the Five Elements, Wood corresponds to wind and lightning, sharing the same origin and root, making it easiest to induce a resonance between them.

Coupled with the Great Derivation Five Elements Cyan Profound Array gathering Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi day and night, the concentration of Spiritual Qi in this area already far surpassed that of most Earth Vein Nodes. The conditions were exceptionally favorable.

’First, I’ll open the Wind Elemental Origin Plane and fuse the Law of Wood.’

’After that, I’ll head to the Netherworld Sea Trench to open the Water Elemental Origin Plane.’

’In the meantime, I’ll start looking for a suitable location to open the Fire Elemental Origin Plane.’

Anton mused to himself, and his thoughts soon turned to another matter.

Not long ago, the ancient experimental base beneath the Blood Soul Crystal caverns in the Dark Nether Realm had been completely dismantled by the Clan.

All the metal materials had been transported to Taichu City, filling more than ten warehouses.

According to his original plan, Anton intended to use these metals to refine a tower-type flying Magical Treasure and enhance its anti-detection capabilities.

Now that the materials were in hand, it was time to put the project on the agenda.

In the Cultivation Realm, tower-type flying Magical Treasures were typically used by sects as ”large aerial vehicles.”

Their design philosophy leaned more toward functionality and practicality, similar to an ”airborne fortress” or a ”troop transport.”

They were both a symbol of status and an important mobile strategic resource.

It was a combination of a sect’s mobile base and a weapon of war. It was usually used as a flagship during large-scale campaigns, for ceremonial processions, or as a vehicle for transporting large numbers of disciples and supplies over long distances.

Due to their enormous size and capacity to carry many people, their design usually emphasized defense.

The interior was equipped with powerful restrictive arrays to defend against external attacks, and the tower’s body itself was made of extremely sturdy materials to prevent it from being easily destroyed.

Furthermore, because they needed to accommodate a large number of personnel, the interior was often a world unto itself, with the space inside being far larger than it appeared from the outside.

In addition to living quarters, they might also contain an Alchemy Room, an artifact refining chamber, a Storage Warehouse, and even a Spirit Beast Garden, allowing them to support a sect’s continued operations during a long expedition.

Considering his current needs, Anton ultimately chose a Profound Artifact-grade flying Magical Treasure called the ’Flying Radiance Tower’.

This tower was nine stories tall. It was named ’Flying Radiance’ because when it took to the sky, its body was wreathed in golden flames of light, resembling a sun crossing the heavens.

The exterior of the tower was inscribed with a Radiance Protection Array. If attacked, the Array would automatically activate, condensing a golden curtain of light on the tower’s surface.

Even several Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators attacking in unison would not be able to break through this defense in a short time.

While flying, it could also activate the ”Flying Radiance Escape Light,” which would cause its speed to surge to more than three times that of an ordinary Flying Ship.

As for its offensive capabilities, they were somewhat weaker relative to its defense.

However, they were more than enough to deal with ordinary armies.

It had two main forms of attack.

The first was the Radiance Shockwave. The tower’s controller could activate its internal arrays, causing the tower to erupt with a dazzling golden light that would blast outwards in all directions.

Wherever the golden light reached, those with low Cultivation Levels would be blinded, their energy flow would stagnate, their minds would become dazed, and their formations would fall into chaos.

This was a large-area crowd-control ability, not intended for lethality but to create chaos and open up opportunities for a follow-up assault.

The second was the Golden Crow True Fire.

A lifelike bronze statue of a three-legged Golden Crow with its wings half-spread was cast atop the tower.

When activated with a Technique, the bronze Golden Crow statue would spew forth scorching Golden Crow True Fire, which was especially effective against baleful demonic creatures and could also be used to incinerate enemy Magical Treasures and Flying Ships.

Against enemies who lacked a High Tier expert to hold the line, a single blast of Golden Crow True Fire was enough to cause their forces to collapse and rout.

When encountering an enemy, the standard tactic was to first use the Radiance Shockwave to disrupt the enemy formation. Then, while the enemy was in disarray, the Golden Crow True Fire would be used to incinerate their core targets, while the disciples inside the tower would fly out to launch a flanking attack.

This three-pronged approach was sufficient to handle the vast majority of battlefield situations.

Besides these, there was an even simpler and more brutish method of attack—ramming with the tower’s body itself.

The Flying Radiance Tower was massive. A full-power ram was like a meteor crashing to earth, powerful enough to snap an enemy Flying Ship in half.

However, this attack method would cause considerable damage to the tower’s body, so it would not be used lightly under normal circumstances.

All in all, the Flying Radiance Tower was a multifunctional flying Magical Treasure that integrated defense, transport, and offense.

It was not exquisite and nimble like the Cloud-Surging Flying Ship; it was a genuine mobile fortress in the sky.

Its core value lay not in single combat, but in its strategic deployment capability and battlefield dominance.

A single Flying Radiance Tower could accommodate over ten thousand people, plus their corresponding supplies and equipment.

With ample materials on hand, Anton planned to refine ten Flying Radiance Towers, enough to transport over a hundred thousand troops long-distance simultaneously.

Given the rate of the Silver Moon Race’s military expansion, this should be sufficient for the next hundred years.

As a Profound Artifact-grade Magical Treasure, and a large-scale one at that, the Flying Radiance Tower’s complexity far surpassed that of the Cloud-Surging Flying Ship, involving millions of arrays and restrictions.

Although much of the basic work could be delegated to his disciples, there was still a significant portion that he had to handle personally.

Anton estimated that, without neglecting his own cultivation and while also finding time to refine other Magical Treasures, it would be good if he could craft one Flying Radiance Tower every two to three years.

Fortunately, there was no rush. He could take his time.

Having made his decision, Anton’s figure flickered, and he was already back inside the Ninefold Celestial Tower.

In the Celestial Essence Hall, Eleanor was already waiting for him.

Today was the day for the Elf Maiden to report on the Clan’s development.

Although Anton spent most of his time as a hands-off leader, he still made time periodically to listen to Eleanor’s reports and keep a handle on the Clan’s development status.

Eleanor knew Anton’s time was precious, so she wasted no words and got straight to the point.

”According to recent statistics, the Clan’s birth rate has roughly doubled compared to a century ago.”

”Combined with the continuous absorption of various Elf populations over the years, our population growth has been very strong. As of now, the Clan’s total population has surpassed 150,000.”

Anton nodded slightly.

The shortcomings of a long-lived species were clear; for the birth rate to double was already very good.

And this would not be the end. As the Mountain Protection Array grew stronger and the clan members’ constitutions improved, the Clan’s birth rate would continue to rise.

”Once the towers are refined, we can expand the scope of our recruitment. Not just in the eastern part of the continent; we can try to absorb Elf populations from even farther away.”

At this point, Anton changed the subject and asked about something else.

”What about the expansion of the Silver Moon Legion?”

”It’s going very smoothly.” A hint of a smile appeared on Eleanor’s face. ”The Silver Moon Legion has now grown to 25,000 members. The overall strength of the soldiers has also seen a marked improvement compared to before. The vast majority of our basic soldiers have reached the mid-Black Iron tier.”

”The proportion of Golden Tier and Silver Tier members has increased significantly. Officers generally start at the mid-Silver Tier.”

’In Eleanor’s view, across the entire Dawn Continent, the cultivation benefits provided to the Silver Moon Legion could be considered absolutely top-tier.’

For Cultivation Techniques, they had the legacy of the Way of Strength.

For their cultivation environment, they had the high concentration of elemental energy in the Taichu Spirit Realm, supplemented by Spirit Gathering Arrays.

For Cultivation Resources, they had Blood Soul Crystals, Dragon Essence Potions, and Origin Returning Potions, all in abundant supply.

With this three-pronged approach, the soldiers’ strength naturally improved at a rapid pace.

With the Dragon Race now destroyed, it was likely that the cultivation benefits of even the five great powers’ armies could not compare to the Silver Moon Legion’s.

Anton nodded to himself in agreement.

’Given enough time, the Silver Moon Legion might even become the continent’s first all-Silver Legion.’

That would be a force that would make any power take notice.

Eleanor continued, ”The flying unit, the ’Radiant Feather Cavalry,’ has also been formed and is currently at its full complement of two thousand members.”

”The garrison currently numbers eight thousand, and their overall strength is also steadily improving, showing great progress compared to before.”

Anton nodded to himself.

’The army-to-population ratio is nearly one to four.’

’Only a long-lived species like the Elf Race could achieve such a ratio.’

’For the Human Race, this ratio would be simply unimaginable.’

”The Yellow Turban Legion has expanded to six thousand. However, materials are plentiful now, so the pace of expansion can be further accelerated.”

”I plan to expand the Yellow Turban Legion to over ten thousand within five years.”

”The Five Camp Legion is still in the process of being formed, and progress is relatively slow.”

”This is mainly because the Five Camp Divine Soldiers are too difficult to refine, and not many disciples know how. However, once Nordwin develops a Magic Core that uses Spirit Stones as the main material, the difficulty of refining the Five Camp Divine Soldiers will decrease significantly. At that point, we should be able to form the Five Camp Legion smoothly.”

Eleanor recounted the details with intimate familiarity, her words flowing smoothly.

Anton nodded, then asked, ”And what of the Alien Race armies?”

Eleanor picked up a document and handed it to Anton, saying, ”They have taken initial shape. After a period of outfitting and training, they will meet the standards for deployment.”

Anton opened the document and began to browse through it carefully.

It contained a detailed list of the Vassal Races that comprised the Alien Race armies, along with their numbers.

Halflings, Sandfolk, Wind-kin, Riverfolk, Wood Sprites, Waste-born, the Hawkeye Race, Gazellefolk... all told, there were over a hundred Vassal Races listed.

Before he knew it, the Silver Moon Race had already recruited so many Vassal Races.

Anton marveled to himself.

The specific composition of the Alien Race armies had clearly been given detailed consideration.

Based on the unique talents and characteristics of each race, they were organized into different unit types that would complement each other, allowing for smoother coordination.

The number of troops in the legion was also quite impressive, totaling a full 128,000.

This number already far surpassed that of the Silver Moon Legion, the garrison, and the Daoist Soldier Corps.

Of course, their overall strength was certainly far inferior to the others.

But that didn’t matter. What Anton wanted was quantity.

The advantages of the Alien Race armies lay in their vast numbers and diverse unit types, making them capable of handling a wide variety of battlefield environments and operational needs.