Chapter 199: Chapter 189: Taichu City

It had been nearly two years since he had successfully solidified his Pill, yet Anton hadn’t even managed to refine ten percent of the Pill Poison.

The reason was that the difficulty of refining the Pill Poison of a First-Grade Golden Core far surpassed that of ordinary ones.

Pill Poison was the "shell" that naturally formed when a Golden Core was created. In essence, it was a "sediment" of highly compressed energy, incredibly dense and inert, making it difficult for the Golden Core to absorb and convert directly.

Most Golden Core Cultivators had to spend an immense amount of time to refine the Pill Poison bit by bit, break through this Shell Barrier, and advance to the Golden Core Second Stage.

And this was to say nothing of the fact that Anton had formed a top-tier First-Grade Golden Core.

While its potential was extremely high, the difficulty of refining it also increased exponentially.

In the Cultivation Realm, there were typically only a few ways to speed up the refinement of Pill Poison.

The first was to refine the Evil-Transforming Pill.

This was a supplementary Pill designed specifically to refine Pill Poison. Its medicinal power could permeate the shell layer, softening the Pill Poison and making it easier for the Golden Core to absorb.

Anton had already researched substitutes for the materials required for the Evil-Transforming Pill and was preparing to begin refining it.

Once he succeeded, his refinement speed should increase significantly.

The second was to set up a Nine Transitions Pill Poison Refining Array.

The essence of this Array was to draw the spiritual energy of heaven and earth into a Cultivator’s body. Like a stream eroding a stubborn rock, it would wear down the Pill Poison day by day, thus reducing the difficulty of refinement.

Therefore, the Array had to be set up over a Spirit Vein.

Coincidentally, Anton was planning to establish his cave-abode on an Earth Vein Node in Dragon City, so he decided to incorporate the Nine Transitions Pill Poison Refining Array into the cave-abode’s Array cluster.

Then, the resonance effect of the Array cluster would in turn amplify the effects of the Nine Transitions Pill Poison Refining Array, killing two birds with one stone.

Once the cave-abode was complete, the efficiency of refining Pill Poison would rise to another level.

There was one more method, more direct and violent than the previous two: using the Power of Thunder Tribulation.

The principle was similar to that of the Nine Transitions Pill Poison Refining Array, only far more ferocious.

It involved directly channeling the Power of Thunder Tribulation into the body, using an external force to shatter the Pill Poison and break it down into more easily absorbable fragments.

The problem was that the Power of Thunder Tribulation was no ordinary lightning.

The power of an ordinary thunderstorm’s lightning, or even the bolts channeled by a common Array, was far from sufficient.

An Array alone could not replicate the effects of the Power of Thunder Tribulation.

One had to find a naturally formed region of extreme lightning and then use an Array to channel it; only then would it be possible to simulate an effect approaching that of a Thunder Tribulation.

’There’s no such place on the Eldron Plain. I’ll have to look elsewhere.’

Anton searched his memory for a moment but couldn’t recall any locations that met the criteria.

Speaking of places with frequent thunderstorms, the Thundering River Basin was a possibility, but it didn’t seem to have any regions of extreme lightning.

Anton shook his head, setting the matter aside for the time being.

The most pressing matter was to finalize the plans for his cave-abode.

The Array cluster, composed of the Mountain Protection Array, a network of Spirit Gathering Arrays, and numerous auxiliary Arrays, had taken Anton nearly two years just to plan and design.

During that time, he had spent countless hours hunched over his desk, mapping out the flow of Runes, repeatedly revising the details of the Array diagrams, and performing on-site surveys of the chosen location for Taichu City more times than he could count.

Sometimes, for a single, seemingly insignificant minor Array, he would mentally simulate dozens of plans, eliminating them one by one until he found the one that best fit the overall layout.

It was arduous work, but the rewards were equally substantial.

This painstaking ordeal had led to a qualitative leap in his mastery of Arrays.

Previously, when looking at High Tier Array diagrams, he always had a vague feeling of knowing what they did but not understanding the principles behind them.

He could copy the patterns, but he didn’t fully comprehend the purpose behind every single Rune.

Now, looking at them again, many key principles suddenly became crystal clear.

’I suppose I can at least call myself an Array Master now.’

Anton quipped to himself.

As for the planning of the functional areas, he adopted the core design philosophy of "a round heaven and a square earth, with the Five Elements in a ring and the Four Symbols standing guard."

The outer layer would be a defensive perimeter, centered on the original walls of Dragon City and its outskirts, and would be fortified with defensive structures and warning Arrays.

The middle layer would be the functional district, concentrating the Alchemy Room, Artifact Refining workshop, Spirit Plant Garden, Beast Garden, library, and storage areas in one zone for convenient management and access.

The core layer would be the Cultivation and Living Area, containing high-level residences, a core meditation chamber, and, most importantly, the Array Hub control center.

Looking at the densely packed blueprints before him, a hint of a satisfied smile appeared in Anton’s eyes.

’The name of the cave-abode... I’ll call it Taichu City.’

Taichu: the father of the Five Elements, the beginning of all things.

This was his first cave-abode; no name could be more fitting.

This name not only embodied the foundation of his Dao of cultivation but also held his hope for this cave-abode: for it to be the starting point from which the Silver Moon Race would step into a wider world.

Building Taichu City required a vast amount of materials. Fortunately, the Clan’s warehouses were currently overflowing with resources seized from Kresol Dragon City, so materials were not an issue.

He didn’t need to worry about the infrastructure, either. That could all be left to his clansmen; he only needed to oversee the general direction.

The only thing that required his personal involvement was setting up the Arrays.

However, once the framework of the Array cluster was established, the task of drawing the Runes for the outer, non-core auxiliary Arrays could be handed over to Eleanor and the Enchanters who were studying Runes.

Once Taichu City was built, all Elves who walked the path of the Dao would move here to live and cultivate.

Of course, other Elves could also enter Taichu City if they wished.

This place would serve as the Cultivation Holy Land and resource hub for the Silver Moon Race, forming the foundation of the Clan’s future development.

As for the Earth Vein Node in the Dark Nether Realm, work on it would have to wait until after Taichu City was built.

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