Chapter 315: Chapter 288: How Does This Guy Know Again?

At the close of year 9404 of the Chenxi Calendar, the entire continent was still reeling from the fall of the Dragon Court.

Countless races cheered and celebrated.

They celebrated the final, spectacular collapse of the behemoth that had oppressed the Ten Thousand Races for nearly ten thousand years.

Taverns, marketplaces, ports... everywhere, people discussed the war that had lasted nearly thirty years before finally drawing to a close.

The races that once trembled under the might of the dragons unleashed the humiliation and resentment that had built up for nearly ten thousand years.

For a time, the continent was a scene of wild celebration.

Yet at the same time, even more powers were turning their attention to the power vacuum left by the Dragon Race’s destruction.

Beneath the surface of universal rejoicing, a greater undercurrent was slowly building.

Meanwhile, after conquering Holy Dragon City, the armies of the five great powers did not withdraw.

They remained stationed in the Holy Dragon Mountain Range and began to negotiate the division of their spoils.

As for the specifics, the outside world had no way of knowing.

...

「In the northern part of the continent, the Kazadum Mountains.」

Vegetation was sparse across this vast mountain range.

A single glance revealed not the vibrant green of lush forests, but a rugged landscape forged from rock, steel, and fire.

In the heart of the mountains, an awe-inspiring fortress city was embedded deep into the side of a mountain.

Battlements jutted out from the mountainside, huge steel cables anchoring the entire city to the cliff face. Below lay a bottomless sea of clouds.

Streets spiraled upward in cascading tiers within the fortress, like a great steel dragon coiled around the mountainside.

Workshop chimneys poked out from all directions, spewing columns of gray-white smoke day and night and staining the sky a chaotic, leaden gray.

The air was thick with the acrid scents of coal smoke, rust, and lava.

And this was the most distinct hallmark of Dwarven civilization.

On a peak at the outer edge of the range, Anton stood with his hands clasped behind his back, gazing at the colossal fortress in the distance.

Before long, a powerful presence rapidly approached from the distance.

A faint smile touched Anton’s lips. He turned to see Ignatius descending from the sky and striding toward him.

The Dwarf wore no armor today, dressed instead in dark brown leather. A hearty smile spread across his rugged face.

"Why not come into the fortress? I was hoping to grab a drink with you."

Anton shook his head. "Best not. It would be inconvenient for me to enter."

Ignatius let out a hearty laugh but didn’t press the issue.

Anton was both a faction leader and a peak Legendary Powerhouse. If he entered the fortress, the Heart of the Mountains would undoubtedly keep a constant watch on him, which would certainly be a hassle.

"Things are so lively over at the Holy Dragon Mountain Range. Why have you returned?" Anton asked with a smile.

Ignatius’s gaze shifted, and he answered evasively, "I’m not cut out for negotiating. There was no point in me staying, so I came back."

Anton noted the change in his expression and understood immediately.

’The five great powers have probably run into conflict by now.’

’Ignatius likely returned to the Kazadum Mountains to avoid an awkward meeting with the other four members of the Five-Star Pillar.’

Anton didn’t linger on the subject and got straight to the point. "I’ve come to discuss a deal with you."

Ignatius raised an eyebrow, his expression growing more serious. "What kind of deal?"

Anton stated calmly, "I want the Heart of the Mountains’ method for opening an Elemental Origin Plane Rift."

Ignatius was taken aback and asked reflexively, "How do you know about that?"

The existence of the Furnace Dwarves was no longer a secret on the continent. Many powers knew of them.

They even knew that the Furnace Dwarves used crystals and cores of the Fire Element to strengthen their bloodlines.

But opening an Elemental Origin Plane Rift was a matter known only to the high-level members of the Heart of the Mountains. ’How did Anton find out?’

Anton smiled faintly. "Besides this method, do you have any other way to obtain enough Fire Element crystals and Fire Element cores?"

Ignatius was speechless, but his brow remained tightly furrowed.

’That reason isn’t nearly enough to explain how Anton knows about this.’

But Anton clearly had no intention of revealing the real reason.

After a moment of silence, Ignatius stopped pressing the issue. "What are you offering in exchange?"

Anton said, "The complete techniques for the Silver Moon Clan’s civilian Demon Crystal Technology."

"Not enough," Ignatius said, shaking his head without a second thought. "The method to open an Elemental Origin Plane Rift is a core secret of the Heart of the Mountains. Civilian Demon Crystal Technology alone is nowhere near enough."

He looked Anton in the eye and said, enunciating each word, "If you want the method for opening an Elemental Origin Plane Rift, then trade the manufacturing processes for the Spirit Fire Talisman and the Sensing Spirit Stone... or the manufacturing process for that airship from before will also do."

Anton chuckled. "How is the method for opening an Elemental Origin Plane Rift a core secret? Now, if you were offering the rune-based channeling system, that might be a fair trade."

At these words, Ignatius’s eyes flew wide open. He stared at Anton, his face a mask of utter shock and disbelief.

’How does he know about that, too?’

The rune-based channeling system, which integrated elemental crystals and cores into the body, was the true ace up the sleeve for the Heart of the Mountains.

Even among their own people, few knew of it. Only a handful of the Heart of the Mountains’ upper echelon and the Furnace Dwarves were privy to this secret.

’Where could Anton have possibly learned this?’

For a moment, Ignatius’s gaze was filled with suspicion and uncertainty.

The more he interacted with Anton, the more unfathomable the man seemed.

His strength, his intelligence network... everything about him was impossible to read.

Seeing Anton just smiling without a word, Ignatius gritted his teeth in frustration.

But after weighing his options, a look of resignation crossed his face.

"Fine. We can forgo the manufacturing processes for the Spirit Fire Talisman and Sensing Spirit Stone. However, the Heart of the Mountains’ procurement quota for Spirit Fire Talismans and Sensing Spirit Stones must be doubled for the next thirty years."

Anton gave him a long look. He understood that the Heart of the Mountains was most likely preparing for war and stocking up on strategic resources.

He didn’t say anything, though. Feigning a moment of deliberation, he nodded in agreement.

"Agreed."

’In any case, I just got a huge number of Magic Stones from the Dragon Race, so I have plenty of materials to craft Spirit Fire Talismans and Sensing Spirit Stones.’

’If the Heart of the Mountains wants more, I’ll give it to them. The Clan will profit regardless.’

Ignatius’s expression softened slightly. "I’ll report this to my superiors right away," he said with a nod. "I’ll let you know as soon as we have a decision."

Anton gave a slight nod. "I’ll await your news on the Eldron Plain."

After watching Ignatius depart, Anton transformed into a streak of sword-light and shot into the sky, leaving the Kazadum Mountains behind.

Anton didn’t actually place much value on the techniques for civilian Demon Crystal Technology.

He’d heard from Eleanor that a disciple from one of the Vassal Races, a man named Nordwin, had already begun researching a Magic Core that used Spirit Stones as its primary material, and he was already seeing some success.

Once Nordwin succeeded, the entire system of Demon Crystal Technology would undergo a complete upgrade thanks to the change in its power source.

At that point, the current techniques would become obsolete, and their value would plummet.

’It’s better to trade them for something useful now while I still can.’

Besides, in Anton’s view, Demon Crystal Technology was merely a transitional phase.

Technology powered by Spirit Stones was the way of the future.

In the future, once the transformation of the Spirit Stone Veins was complete and production increased, it was only a matter of time before Demon Crystal Technology evolved into Spirit Stone Technology.

That would be the true foundation for the Silver Moon Clan’s future.

...

The Heart of the Mountains was highly efficient.

Three days later, a Dwarven delegation arrived at the Taichu Spirit Realm.

The two parties exchanged the techniques on the spot and negotiated the specific details of the increased trade quota.

After receiving what he wanted, Anton left the specific details to his subordinates and returned to his meditation chamber to study the method for opening an Elemental Origin Plane Rift.

The principle behind the method the Dwarves had developed was, when broken down, actually quite simple.

Natural, unstable, and invisible spatial folds exist between the Elemental Origin Plane and the material plane.

Under certain conditions—such as an energy eruption at an Earth Vein Node, violent fluctuations in spatial magic, or a high concentration of elemental energy of the same attribute—these folds could be torn, forming a temporary planar rift.

The core of the Heart of the Mountains’ technology lay in artificially simulating and amplifying these conditions to proactively tear the spatial folds, creating a controllable and stable temporary rift.

Its underlying logic could be summarized by three keywords:

Resonance, Guidance, and Anchoring.

The first step was to build an elemental resonance tower. This tower would generate energy waves at the same frequency as the target Elemental Origin Plane, triggering a resonance that would tear the spatial folds.

The second step was to establish an elemental guidance array to expand and stabilize the minuscule rift created by the resonance, turning it into a passable channel.

Finally, another array would be used to anchor the spatial rift, turning it into a stable passage.

Of course, while it sounded simple in theory, the actual details were incredibly complex, and implementation was extremely difficult.

Building the elemental resonance tower and deploying the guidance and anchoring arrays both required a vast quantity of rare materials. Furthermore, they demanded an extremely high level of expertise from the implementer in multiple fields, including alchemy, enchanting, and array formation.

Fortunately, neither of these posed a significant problem for Anton.

The location for opening the rift, however, was a bit more troublesome.

The target location had to possess a relatively abundant supply of elemental energy.

For example, the Heart of the Mountains’ Primordial Fire Furnace was one of the places on the continent with the highest concentration of Fire Element energy.

’The Dwarves must have opened their rift to the Fire Element’s Origin Plane there.’

’For the Water Element, I can choose the Netherworld Sea Trench. That place should be suitable enough.’

’As for the Wind Element, it corresponds to the Wood Attribute of the Five Elements, so anywhere near the Eternal Tree should work.’

’But as for the Fire Element...’

Anton shook his head. ’The Heart of the Mountains won’t be happy to let me borrow their Primordial Fire Furnace, so I’ll have to find another place.’

’Then there’s the Law of the Metal Element. It has no corresponding Elemental Origin Plane, so I’ll just have to comprehend it the conventional way.’

Regardless, Anton was already quite satisfied with being able to resolve the issue of comprehending the three Laws of Water, Wood, and Fire.

It would, at the very least, cut the time needed to integrate these Laws by more than half.

In the future, the Clan’s Golden Core Cultivators could also use the same method to accelerate their growth in strength.

It was worth noting that the documents from the Dwarves didn’t specify how they lured elemental spirits and titans out of the Elemental Origin Plane.

Fortunately, Anton had no need for that information.

He only needed to make contact with the Laws that emanated from the Elemental Origin Plane.

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