Chapter 301: Chapter 274: Initial Embryo of the True Seal

Two years passed in the blink of an eye.

Summer, Year 9398 of the Chenxi Calendar.

「Subspace.」

Hundreds of streaks of Profound Gold Sword Light crisscrossed the sky above the plains, slaughtering all in their path. They descended like an inverted river of stars, a dense, inescapable curtain blanketing the land.

The screeches of the Dragon Souls were cut short wherever the sword light passed.

These Half-Spirit Body monsters, which had once been a persistent nightmare for the allied elites, were as fragile as paper before the torrent of Profound Gold Sword Light.

Their massive soul bodies were sliced into innumerable motes of light that floated in the void like a swarm of summer fireflies, casting the entire wasteland in an ever-shifting dance of light and shadow.

From a distance, it looked like a golden torrent was surging and churning on the wasteland, leaving nothing but barren earth in its wake.

The battle was over in a matter of minutes.

Anton beckoned with his hand. The Soul-Collecting Cauldron flew from his sleeve, its lid tilting open slightly. A cyan-gray halo surged out like a tide, sweeping the sky clean of the floating motes of light.

Not far away, Cedric watched this scene and couldn’t help but murmur in awe, "The Clan Leader’s strength is truly becoming more and more unfathomable."

A look of awe also flashed in the Second Elder’s eyes.

Aside from the Third Elder, who had remained behind to watch over the Clan, both the Second Elder and Cedric had joined the squad after stabilizing their cultivation.

Although they had always known their Clan Leader was strong, they were still struck with a profound sense of shock from the depths of their hearts every time they witnessed Anton in action.

By contrast, the Great Elder and Romance, having witnessed it many times before, remained relatively calm.

The Silver Moon Squad now boasted five combatants of the Legendary Tier.

This included Anton, a peak Legend.

Such a lineup was second to none among all the elite squads in the entirety of Darkness Fortress.

Anton gestured with his hand, and the Soul-Collecting Cauldron drifted down from mid-air to hover above his palm.

The cauldron was nearly half-full of Spiritual Liquid. Its pale golden surface shimmered with a soft luster, reflecting off the cauldron’s inner walls.

Anton nodded in satisfaction.

The growth of his Magical Power was proceeding more smoothly than he had anticipated.

Thanks to years of accumulation, aided by the high-energy environment of the Taichu Spirit Realm, his Magical Power had long reached its absolute limit.

His Pill Qi was abundant and circulated freely, leaving no room for any further growth.

The process of refining his Golden Core was also progressing faster than expected.

Over the years, he had hunted Dragon Souls in Subspace, using the Soul-Collecting Cauldron to refine their essence for absorption. On top of that, he had also consumed many Pills he’d refined himself—a two-pronged approach.

The hazy halo around his Golden Core had now solidified to its utmost limit, becoming as dense as refined steel forged millions of times over, with almost no give left.

’After I absorb the essence of these Dragon Souls, my Golden Core should finally reach its limit.’

Anton mused to himself before putting away the Soul-Collecting Cauldron and signaling for the group to press on.

However, after walking for only fifteen minutes, they sensed a spatial fluctuation.

Without a moment’s hesitation, the group hurried over. Just as they expected, they found a spatial node on the plains ahead.

Four or five other squads had already gathered before the spatial node.

As soon as the Silver Moon Squad arrived, the allied elites instantly recognized Anton at their lead, and looks of pleasant surprise appeared on their faces.

"Lord Anton, we meet again."

"What a coincidence."

"This is great! With Lord Anton here, our chances of taking down this spatial node are much higher."

A crowd of people immediately surged forward, their faces wreathed in enthusiastic smiles as they greeted him.

Anton cut straight to the point. "Everyone, there’s no need to wait. Let’s go in now."

No one raised any objections.

Ordinarily, they would have to gather at least a dozen squads before they would dare to enter a spatial node.

But with Anton here, it was different.

This was the powerhouse who had once dared to enter a spatial node with only two of his clansmen and had ultimately succeeded in destroying it.

With far more combat power present now than there had been back then, they naturally had nothing to worry about.

And so, the group entered the spatial node without delay.

The outcome was never in doubt.

With his current level of strength, Anton didn’t even need to deploy the Jia Shen Divine General; he easily dispatched the royal Giant Dragon guarding the spatial node.

Afterward, the remaining Giant Dragons and members of the Pure-blooded Dragon Race were annihilated by the Silver Moon Squad and the other allied elites.

"Haha, exhilarating!"

After they emerged from the spatial node, a dwarf leaning on his warhammer laughed heartily, his face a picture of pure, unadulterated satisfaction.

"Fighting alongside Lord Anton is so easy. We barely even got scratched."

The others all nodded in agreement, their faces filled with the same mix of awe and good fortune.

The awe in their eyes as they looked at Anton had deepened.

The strength of the legendary Fallen Dragon Sword Saint was truly as absurdly powerful as the rumors claimed.

With him present, attacking a spatial node was as effortless as a routine chore.

Anton’s expression was calm. He gave a slight nod to the crowd as a farewell, then turned and left with the members of the Silver Moon Squad.

By the time they returned to Darkness Fortress, the sky had completely darkened.

Instead of heading to Ranfeng Hall, Anton returned directly to his quarters.

In the basement of his stone house, the light of the Teleportation Array swirled slowly in the dim space, emitting a soft, silvery-white glow.

Anton stepped into the Teleportation Array. With a flash of light, he was back in Taichu City.

Returning to the meditation chamber in the Ninefold Celestial Tower, he sat cross-legged, took out the Soul-Collecting Cauldron from his sleeve, and circulated his Cultivation Technique to begin absorbing the Dragon Soul essence.

A hazy mist drifted out from the cauldron like a pale golden ribbon, drawing a graceful arc in the air before entering his slightly open mouth.

As the mist entered his throat, a warm current flowed down his meridians, finally entering his Dantian to be slowly absorbed by his Golden Core.

The misty halo on the surface of the Golden Core trembled slightly, its five-colored radiance brighter than before.

Anton closed his eyes and focused his mind, immersing himself in his cultivation.

As the Golden Core absorbed the Dragon Soul essence wisp by wisp, the incredibly dense, hazy halo finally began to change.

It no longer passively absorbed energy, but instead began to collapse inward like a forming vortex, furiously devouring all surrounding energy.

The Golden Core’s size remained unchanged, but its very substance grew even more compact.

The five-colored radiance on its surface was no longer soft, but bright and substantial, like colored glaze tempered again and again in a blazing fire. It was translucent, yet possessed an ineffable solidity.

An unknown amount of time passed.

When the last wisp of essence from the Soul-Collecting Cauldron was absorbed, the Golden Core shuddered violently.

In that instant, the hazy halo flared to an extreme brightness. Its five-colored radiance erupted like a burning flame, engulfing the entire Golden Core.

Then, the light abruptly receded.

The Golden Core returned to a state of calm, floating silently within his Dantian. It was like a star that had slumbered for millions of years, self-contained and profound.

Anton opened his eyes, a flicker of joy passing over his face, gone in an instant.

’I’ve finally refined my Golden Core to its absolute limit.’

’Next, I can begin to condense the Magical Power True Seal.’

The condensation of a Magical Power True Seal can be broadly divided into three progressive stages.

The first stage is the formation of the proto-True Seal.

A Cultivator must carve out a "Seal Pool" within their Golden Core.

In layman’s terms, it’s a miniature space.

Then, within the Seal Pool, using Divine Sense as the brush and Magical Power as the ink, one outlines the rudimentary framework of the Magical Power True Seal.

This process is incredibly meticulous.

It’s like building a miniature palace in the void; every single detail must be perfectly precise.

The stability of this framework directly determines the success or failure of the subsequent integration of the Laws.

The second stage is the integration of the Laws.

Once the proto-True Seal has stabilized, the Cultivator must engrave their understanding of the Laws into it, one by one.

This is no simple copy-paste job; it involves transforming one’s formless, esoteric understanding of the Law into tangible imprints that can be solidified within the Seal Pool.

With each Law that is integrated, the Magical Power True Seal grows stronger.

The Cultivator’s communion with the Heaven and Earth Law will also become smoother.

Anton’s goal was to condense the Five Elements True Seal.

This meant that he had to integrate the five Laws of Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth, one after another.

This would be a tremendous test of his comprehension, his foundation, and his state of mind.

Once the first two stages were complete, the third would be a natural progression.

One simply needs to ’activate’ the proto-True Seal, and it will automatically absorb energy from the heavens and the earth, fuse deeply with the Golden Core, and become a complete Magical Power True Seal.

At that point, the Cultivator would advance to the Golden Core Third Stage. The might of their Divine Techniques would increase dramatically, and their control over the Laws would become far more masterful.

They could also begin to gestate a Nascent Soul.

Anton dispelled all stray thoughts, took a deep breath, and sank his Divine Sense deep into his Golden Core.

The light of the outside world rapidly faded from his consciousness, replaced by a void of absolute darkness.

That was the world inside the Golden Core.

There was no up or down, left or right, only a boundless void.

Anton’s Divine Sense slowly spread out in this void, cutting and carving through the emptiness like a sculpting knife.

Within the dark void, a faint outline began to take shape.

At first, it was an incredibly faint trace, as if someone had idly traced a line across a dusty mirror.

But as his Divine Sense continued its work, the outline gradually became more defined and orderly.

Its edges grew sharp, its base flat, its four corners distinct.

From indistinct to clear, from coarse to refined.

Like a master sculptor finely polishing a piece of raw jade, every cut was precise and restrained, neither hurried nor slow.

The size of this Seal Pool determined the scale of the Magical Power True Seal.

The larger the Seal Pool, the more Laws it could accommodate, and the more powerful the final condensed Magical Power True Seal would be.

Correspondingly, however, the difficulty of carving out the Seal Pool was also greater.

Anton’s goal was to condense the Five Elements True Seal, so the scale of the Seal Pool had to be large enough to accommodate the imprints of five Laws at the same time.

This was a painstaking process that could not be rushed.

Day after day, his Divine Sense continued its carving work inside the Golden Core.

Anton was completely immersed, oblivious to the outside world.

In the meditation chamber, there was no day or night, only the soft, silent glow of the Light Source Stone.

Time flowed by quietly.

Three months passed in the blink of an eye.

With the ’final stroke’ of his Divine Sense, the Golden Core gave a sudden, gentle shudder; the miniature space within had completely stabilized.

Anton didn’t let up, immediately beginning to sketch out the rudimentary framework of the True Seal.

Compared to carving out the Seal Pool, this process was relatively simpler.

His Divine Sense moved like the finest of engraving needles, darting swiftly within the Seal Pool.

Lines were traced one after another, crisscrossing and interlocking.

Some ten days later, a complex, symmetrical, and arcane pattern had formed within the Seal Pool.

The lines were layered and overlapping, yet remained perfectly orderly, the distance between them precise to a hair’s breadth.

Looking down from above, it resembled a miniature star chart, or a perfectly symmetrical flower blooming to its fullest.

As the final stroke was laid, the entire pattern flared to life.

A golden light erupted from the bottom of the Seal Pool, brilliantly illuminating the entire space.

The lines were no longer independent paths, but were now interconnected, resonating with one another to form a single, flawless whole.

The light swirled within the Seal Pool like a living creature, surging and spiraling along every path before finally converging at the pool’s center, where it coalesced into a solid core of light.

The proto-True Seal was complete.

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