Chapter 306: Chapter 279: Fertile Soil, Dark Spider Mother

"Dark Elves?"

In Celestial Essence Hall, Anton’s brow twitched slightly after hearing Eleanor’s report, but his expression quickly returned to normal.

The Silver Moon Race had been operating in the Dark Nether Realm for decades. As their sphere of influence continued to expand, contact with the subterranean races became increasingly frequent.

Encountering the Dark Elves was only a matter of time.

"Did you get anything out of them?" Anton asked.

Dark Elves were notoriously resistant to torture and pain.

After all, they frequently treated their own kind the same way.

Brutal interrogation had a very limited effect on them.

But besides torture, Taichu City had plenty of other methods to extract the information they wanted.

For example, the Soul-Searching Grand Technique.

This magic was so cruel, causing irreversible damage to the subject’s Divine Soul, that Cultivators rarely used it.

But against a difficult target like a Dark Elf, it was the perfect tool for the job.

As expected, Eleanor nodded and said, "The Dark Elf belongs to a city-state called Vion City. According to her, Vion City is home to over thirty Dark Elf families. A council formed by the matrons of the seven strongest families serves as the city-state’s highest governing body."

Anton listened quietly, his gaze flickering slightly.

Dark Elf society had always been structured around the family as its basic unit.

Multiple families formed the skeleton of their entire society, vying for power and resources both openly and in the shadows.

Each family was an independent power entity, ruled absolutely by a single matron.

The relationships between family members were less about kinship and more about political alliances that could be betrayed at any moment.

The more powerful the family, the more intense the internal strife. It was all too common for sisters to backstab and trip each other up in the fight for the right of succession as matron.

The matrons of the most powerful families in the city would form a ruling council to jointly manage civic affairs, adjudicate conflicts between families, and distribute the resources around the city.

The matron of the most powerful family, the first family, was the highest authority on the council and held the final say in all decisions.

On the surface, this power structure appeared to be a collective government, but in reality, it was strictly hierarchical.

Lower-ranked families had to maintain a veneer of reverence toward higher-ranked ones.

When it came to resource allocation, rank also determined the share a family would receive.

Because of this, lower-ranked families would secretly amass power, constantly waiting for a chance to backstab a higher-ranked family and elevate their own family’s position.

Beyond that, Dark Elf society was one of absolute female rule.

In the Dark Elf value system, females were the natural rulers. Males were merely tools for procreation and warriors, holding a low status. They were forbidden from holding any important positions or learning High Tier Magic and combat skills.

This extreme gender discrimination was the cornerstone of all Dark Elf society.

Therefore, the matron of every Dark Elf family was invariably a female.

All important positions within the family were also held by females.

No matter how powerful a male became, he could only ever be a high-level enforcer, never entering the decision-making echelons.

To many other races, the social structure and way of life of the Dark Elves were simply too extreme and radical.

Even in the eyes of the Beastmen, who revered competition and martial strength, it was far too aggressive.

And yet, it was precisely through this social structure and way of life that the Dark Elves developed into one of the three major races of the Dark Nether Realm.

Even in the surface world, the Dark Elves were infamous.

’Speaking of which, around this time, there should already be a Dark Elf city-state in the Dark Nether Realm that worships the Dark Spider Mother.’

Anton suddenly recalled this matter.

The Dark Spider Mother was a colossal spider-like demon beast, a rare Saint-Level creature.

This creature had originally roamed the Dark Nether Realm, hunting subterranean lifeforms.

Until one day, it unintentionally stumbled onto a battlefield between a Dark Elf city-state and other forces. It devoured a large number of the Dark Elves’ enemies, in turn helping the Dark Elves win the war.

After that, the Dark Elf city-state attempted to contact the Dark Spider Mother, proactively offering her slaves as food.

The Dark Spider Mother was happy for the easy meals and gladly accepted the Dark Elves’ offerings, occasionally venturing out to eliminate their enemies for them.

Over time, the two developed a relationship of patron and beneficiary.

In the original timeline, the Dark Spider Mother would grow rapidly in the time that followed.

After the dawn of the Age of Gods, she would ascend in one fell swoop to become a true Divine Spirit, the patron deity of the Dark Elves.

At this stage, however, she was still just a monster with some intelligence.

Anton guessed that Vion City probably wasn’t the Dark Elf city-state that worshiped the Dark Spider Mother.

Otherwise, those Dark Elves should have been accompanied by Spider Monsters when they were out on missions.

This was undoubtedly good news for him.

If Vion City had the Dark Spider Mother as its backer, the Clan would probably have to consider shrinking its sphere of influence.

Even he was unwilling to provoke a Saint-Level monster at his current stage.

Anton reined in his wandering thoughts and continued to listen to Eleanor’s report.

"In the region where Vion City is located, besides their city-state, there are more than ten other city-state powers."

"Gray Dwarves, Di Luo Dwarves, Kuo-toa, Mushroom-men... Their power varies in scale, but none are as prosperous as Vion City."

Anton understood. "It seems we’ve discovered a fertile land."

"Fertile land?" Eleanor looked puzzled.

Anton explained, "There are a very small number of areas in the Dark Nether Realm where the terrain is relatively gentle and resources are more abundant. As a result, they attract numerous subterranean races to gather and establish city-states. Over time, these become regions with a high concentration of city-state powers."

"In the languages of the subterranean races, these regions are called ’fertile lands,’ or ’city-state belts.’"

Realization dawned on Eleanor. She then asked, "Clan Leader, what should we do next?"

Anton pondered for a moment before saying, "Let’s not act rashly for now. Continue to send people to investigate the distribution of power and the terrain in this region. We’ll decide our next move once we’ve gathered enough intelligence."

The resources in a fertile land region were more plentiful than elsewhere, and the difficulty of developing them was also relatively low.

Moreover, the gentle terrain made it very suitable as a transit area for future exploration.

If they handled it correctly, they could absolutely establish a stronghold similar to Nine Nether City there, bringing this entire fertile land under the Clan’s control. This would be beneficial for future explorations into more distant regions.

However, a fertile land region also had numerous powers. To conquer such an area, they had to plan meticulously before making a move.

"I understand." Eleanor then added with a smile, "This is another one of Ye Tong’s achievements. That little girl has the strength, but her luck is also just absurdly good."

Anton smiled. "That’s what you call providence."

Although it was a bit strange for him to say it, the fact that Ye Tong, a member of a Vassal Race, was the first to cultivate a Taoist Skill and the first to be promoted to a disciple of Taichu City showed she possessed a certain amount of fortune.

In the Cultivation Realm, there was a common term for such individuals—Child of Providence.

After a few lighthearted words, Eleanor turned and left to arrange for the investigative personnel.

Anton paid the matter no more mind, leaving it entirely in the hands of his subordinates.

Aside from his own cultivation and refining Guardian Divine Generals, he was more focused on the situation over at the Holy Dragon Mountain Range.

Not long ago, the allied army, having made ample preparations, finally launched their attack on Holy Dragon City.

In the spring of year 9403 of the Chenxi Calendar, this sacred city of the Dragon Race, which had stood majestically for nearly ten thousand years, welcomed the most violent storm in its history.

...

Viewed from high above, the Holy Dragon Mountain Range resembled a colossal ancient beast crouching on the earth, the peaks along its spine like sharp swords stabbing into the heavens.

And Holy Dragon City was situated in the heart of this beast, with Dragon Ridge Peak at its back. Surrounded by mountains on three sides, its terrain was so perilous it was like a natural chasm.

Over the Dragon Race’s nearly ten thousand years of development, Holy Dragon City had long since been forged into an impregnable fortress.

The city walls were a hundred meters thick, their surfaces engraved with dense defensive runes. The runes were layered one upon another, interconnected, forming a gigantic array that covered the entire face of the walls.

Atop the walls, a giant magic tower stood every hundred meters, the Magic Crystal Cannons at their peaks aimed at the distant fields.

Beyond the walls, innumerable traps, arrays, and magical constructs blanketed the entire mountain path, obstructing any invader who dared to approach.

This was the last bulwark of the Dragon Race.

It was also the tough nut the allied army had to crack.

RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE!

The sound of war drums rolled in.

Tens of thousands of Golems, arranged in neat square formations, advanced toward Holy Dragon City.

Behind the Golem formations were hundreds of Siege Towers.

These behemoths were even taller and sturdier than the ones used to attack Darkness Fortress. Their bodies were covered in thick steel plates, onto which innumerable runic circuits had been welded.

Each Siege Tower required several hundred soldiers inside to power its magical Array Disc just to barely move it forward.

Further in the distance, catapults and magical heavy crossbows were lined up, their dark maws aimed in the direction of Holy Dragon City.

In the direction of Holy Dragon City, halos of light swirled in response.

One by one, the runes on the city walls lit up. A piercing red glow, like flowing lava, snaked and crawled across the wall’s surface.

The Magic Crystal Cannons atop the magic towers began to charge. The light gathering at their muzzles shifted from dark red to incandescent white, scorching the surrounding air until it warped and distorted.

In the sky above the walls, hundreds of Giant Dragons circled and danced.

Their wingspans blotted out the sky and sun. Each beat of their wings stirred up a gale, sweeping the dust from the ground up into the air.

A tangible draconic might rained down, so oppressive that the trees on both sides of the mountain path trembled uncontrollably.

However, the allied army’s advance did not pause in the slightest.

When the siege Golems entered the range of Holy Dragon City’s long-range weapons, countless Magic Crystal Cannons fired simultaneously, unleashing a sky-blotting barrage of rays.

At the same time, the Giant Dragons in the sky dove down.

Searing Dragon Breath, like a bursting dam, poured down from above, engulfing dozens of Golems at the very front of the charge.

Their adamantite-cast shells rapidly turned red, melted, and deformed in the Dragon Breath, finally collapsing into pools of molten metal that flowed across the mountain path.

More Golems trampled over the remains of their comrades and continued to advance.

An eerie blue light flared in their eye sockets as they raised their arms and aimed at the Giant Dragons in the sky.

A torrential downpour of magic energy rays shot upward, streaking the sky with dense trails of light.

...

The battle raged on like this, day after day.

The allied army used Golems to exhaust the Dragon Race’s Dragon Breath, Siege Towers to wear down the runes on the walls, and catapults and magical heavy crossbows to suppress the fire from the magic towers.

No matter the cost, the allied army’s offensive did not weaken.

Everyone knew that Holy Dragon City was the Dragon Race’s last fortress.

If it fell, the Dragon Race would be completely finished.

So, even if the casualties were immense, they had to continue.

This final battle between the Dragon Race and the allied army attracted the attention of countless people.

The eyes of the entire Dawn Continent were focused on the Holy Dragon Mountain Range.

Everyone was waiting.

Waiting for the moment that fortress, which had stood for nearly ten thousand years, would come crashing down.

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