Chapter 254: Chapter 233: Cloud-Surging Flying Ship

Just as Anton had expected, the allied forces acted quickly.

After their setback in attacking the Subspace, the allied forces quickly began recruiting elites from the major races and factions across the continent.

Eldron Plain, Silver Moon Forest.

In the morning light, a silver-gray airship slowly descended from the clouds, landing at a temporary mooring point on the edge of the Silver Moon Forest.

The airship’s hull bore no flags, but its sleek, sharp lines and the faint patterns of Magic Power flowing across its surface all pointed to its extraordinary origins.

On deck, Grant leaned against the railing with both hands, a strange glint in his eyes as he gazed down at the sea of green below.

The Silver Moon Forest had expanded considerably since the last time he had seen it.

The Thousand-Rock Hills, which once bordered the forest, were now almost completely gone, replaced by a vast expanse of verdant green.

Although the new trees could not yet be called towering, they were already dense enough to completely cover the once-bare rock.

Even more striking was the Eternal Tree standing tall in the center of the forest.

Its height had increased significantly, and its canopy, like a colossal open umbrella, completely blotted out the sky for several kilometers in every direction.

Aerial roots hung down from its branches, burrowing deep into the ground to form new trunks. From a distance, it looked like a miniature forest in itself.

Even someone as worldly and experienced as Grant had to admit that the scale of this Eternal Tree far surpassed that of the vast majority of Elf Races he had ever seen.

’I heard Anton traded for a Myriad Wood Source Heart from the Jade Royal Court. It seems he used it on the Eternal Tree.’

’But a single Myriad Wood Source Heart shouldn’t be enough to expand the forest to this extent... The Silver Moon Race must have some other method for continuous expansion.’

Grant was lost in thought.

’As expected, this is likely Anton’s handiwork again.’

’This Clan Leader of the Silver Moon Race is as inscrutable as ever.’

The airship landed steadily. Grant didn’t wait for the gangway to be lowered, instead leaping directly from the deck without any attendants.

Seeing Anton waiting at the edge of the forest, Grant broke into a hearty smile and strode forward to meet him.

"Long time no see, Anton. I trust you’ve been well."

"It has been a long time, Your Excellency Grant."

"Just call me Grant."

Anton didn’t stand on ceremony and readily agreed, leading Grant into the Silver Moon Forest.

The two chatted idly as they passed through layers of arboreal corridors, soon arriving at the Eternal Hall.

A tea set was already arranged on the long table in the hall, the steaming floral tea giving off a light, fresh fragrance.

After they were seated, Grant lifted his teacup for a small sip, a look of enjoyment on his face.

"I’ve been on the front lines for nine years. It’s been nothing but fighting, day in and day out. Thinking back, I haven’t had any Elf Race floral tea in a very long time."

Grant set down his cup, his tone tinged with a hint of nostalgia.

Anton smiled. "The floral tea of the Jade Royal Court is famous throughout the continent. With your friendship with Lady Alicia, you could probably have as much as you want."

"That may be true, but unfortunately, I don’t have the leisure for it now." Grant sighed, his smile gradually fading as his expression turned serious. "I imagine you’ve heard about what’s happening on the front lines, so you’ve probably guessed the purpose of my visit."

Anton gave a slight nod in tacit agreement.

Grant didn’t beat around the bush and got straight to the point. "The Dragon Race’s Subspace is proving to be a tough nut to crack. The allied forces now need more elite combatants to deal with that damn place. I’m here today on behalf of the allied forces to formally invite you, hoping the Silver Moon Race can dispatch its elites to join the fight in the Subspace."

Anton lifted his cup and took a sip, his expression noncommittal.

Grant hadn’t expected to persuade Anton with just a few words. He paused for a moment before continuing:

"The allied forces have established a bounty system. The Subspace has a total of eighteen nodes. Any race or faction that destroys a node will receive a massive reward."

"The rewards are calculated in Contribution Points, which can be exchanged for all sorts of rare items within the allied forces at any time."

"Cultivation Techniques, Magic Equipment, potions, materials, Alchemy Puppets... you name it, we have it."

"I’m sure there’s something in there that will interest you."

Anton raised an eyebrow, a half-smile on his face. "Including Myriad Wood Source Hearts, Elemental Cores, and Deep Sea Moon Dew?"

The Myriad Wood Source Heart and Elemental Cores were self-explanatory.

The former could strengthen the Eternal Tree and the Great Derivation Cyan Profound Array, accelerating the forest’s expansion and further advancing the ’Trinity’ project.

The latter could be used for refining Profound Artifacts.

As for Deep Sea Moon Dew, it was a secret treasure of the Tide Hall—one of the five great powers—and an exceptional material for crafting magical items and potions.

It was roughly equivalent to the Jade Royal Court’s Myriad Wood Source Heart.

Each of these three items was a treasure capable of tempting even a Legendary Powerhouse. For an ordinary person, obtaining one was next to impossible.

If Anton hadn’t held the card of the Muscle-Regrowing Potion and accurately targeted the Jade Royal Court’s lifeline, he would never have been able to obtain a Myriad Wood Source Heart from them.

Yet, upon hearing Anton’s words, Grant nodded without a second thought.

"Of course."

His voice was resolute, without a hint of hesitation.

Anton gave Grant a deep look.

’It seems the allied forces are truly determined to destroy the Subspace as quickly as possible.’

He had already intended to join the war. Now, with Grant’s confirmation, he no longer hesitated and agreed at once.

"Alright. The Silver Moon Race will send an elite squad to join the battle."

A genuine smile spread across Grant’s face. He extended his hand. "A pleasure doing business with you."

"A pleasure." Anton reached out and shook his hand.

Grant withdrew his hand, thought for a moment, and asked, "Do you need the allied forces to send an airship for transport? It’s a long way from the Eldron Plain to the Holy Dragon Mountain Range. We can arrange it."

"No need." Anton shook his head. "We can get there on our own."

Grant didn’t think much of it and, seeing Anton’s refusal, said no more.

The two discussed a few more specific details before Grant rose to take his leave.

"See you at Darkness Fortress."

"See you."

After seeing Grant off, Anton turned back into the forest and returned to Taichu City via a Teleportation Array.

Now that the matter was officially settled, the preparations had to be accelerated.

The Magical Artifacts for the members of the elite squad were already refined. The only thing missing now was a large Flying Magical Artifact.

Having no experience in refining such an object, Anton chose to play it safe. He selected a large Flying Magical Artifact called the Cloud-Surging Flying Ship directly from the Taoist Jade Scroll and began refining it according to the blueprints.

The name "Cloud-Surging Flying Ship" was taken from the idea of soaring above the clouds.

This ship floated on neither water nor land; it ascended straight to the ninth heaven, surging through the clouds.

The entire Flying Ship was over 120 meters long, more than 30 meters wide, and over 15 meters high.

The prow was carved with auspicious cloud patterns, neither beast nor bird, drawing from the saying, "Clouds follow the dragon, and wind follows the tiger."

The stern curved slightly upward like the tail feathers of a flying bird and was inscribed with complex wind-element array patterns.

During flight, it could ignore wind resistance and block gales, preventing them from affecting those on deck.

The hull was equipped with Cloud-Pattern Arrays, Floating Arrays, and Wind-Breaking Arrays, among others, making it a veritable mobile cluster of small arrays.

The entire Flying Ship was divided into five levels.

The deck was considered one level and served as the Flying Ship’s base platform.

There were three levels above the deck and one power bay below.

The first level above the deck contained a main hall and storage rooms.

The former was spacious enough to accommodate dozens of people for meetings or banquets.

The latter had been expanded with a Sumeru Array and could store half a year’s worth of supplies for forty to fifty people.

The second level was the living quarters, containing thirty guest rooms.

Each room was not large, but though small, it had everything one could need. They were inscribed with Sound Insulation Arrays, Dust-Cleansing Arrays, and Constant Temperature Arrays to ensure a quiet and comfortable resting environment for the occupants.

The entire second level could accommodate fifty to sixty people, more than enough for the elite squad.

The third level was the Flying Ship’s core area, including an observation deck, the Control Chamber, and the Tianshu Room.

The observation deck was semi-open, surrounded by a carved railing, and could accommodate dozens of people leaning against it to gaze into the distance.

On the deck was a pavilion with a stone table and stools, perfect for resting and enjoying the scenery.

The Control Chamber was the core of the Flying Ship’s operations. It contained a Control Console, a Star Disc, array diagrams, communication Magical Artifacts, and more, and could be operated by five people simultaneously.

As for the Tianshu Room... "Tianshu" is the first star of the Big Dipper. It governs direction, symbolizing its role as the master control core of the Flying Ship. Guided by the stars, the ship would never lose its way.

This room was naturally the private space of the Flying Ship’s master, fully equipped with a quiet room, a bedroom, an artifact refining room, and an Alchemy Room.

Below the deck, there was only one level, the entire floor being the power bay.

Housed within the bay were nine Spirit Stone furnaces, arranged side by side. Each furnace had a specially designed energy output interface and could be activated individually or used in rotation as needed.

With all nine furnaces filled with Spirit Stones, the Flying Ship could fly at maximum speed for up to seven days, or maintain its cruising speed for a month.

At full speed, the Flying Ship could travel up to 300,000 li per day.

Even the journey from the Eldron Plain to the Holy Dragon Mountain Range would take two days at most.

In addition to its flight capabilities, the Cloud-Surging Flying Ship was also inscribed with a Cloud-Pattern Protective Array.

As long as the Spirit Stone supply was sufficient, it was virtually impossible for any attack below the Golden Core level to breach the Flying Ship’s defenses.

Even an attack from a Golden Core Cultivator could be blocked for a short while.

For an Artifact Level flying Magical Treasure, this was already quite impressive.

Anton was very satisfied with the functions of this Flying Magical Artifact.

The only problem was that refining a large flying Magical Treasure was far more complicated than refining an ordinary Magical Artifact.

The design blueprints for the entire Flying Ship were several meters long when unrolled, and the dense, packed lines and annotations were dizzying to look at.

Furthermore, due to its larger size, it consumed far more materials than an ordinary Magical Artifact and required much more time to create.

Since the refining furnace couldn’t accommodate the entire Flying Ship, each part of the hull had to be refined separately and then assembled into a whole using restrictive formations.

The entire process required the arrays to be perfectly connected to one another and the energy circuits to be completely unobstructed.

In total, it took Anton nearly two months to finally complete the refining of the Cloud-Surging Flying Ship.

The moment the Flying Ship’s array cluster successfully activated, Anton let out a long sigh of relief, a satisfied smile appearing on his face.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.