Chapter 344 - 316: Great Dream Formation

Chapter 344: Chapter 316: Great Dream Formation

Even at his peak, the shadowy figure couldn’t have single-handedly fought off the combined siege of more than a dozen Legendary Powerhouses.

Let alone in his severely wounded state.

The moment the battle erupted, he was completely at a disadvantage.

However, members of the Ring of Annihilation all shared one trait: their Life Force was astonishingly resilient.

This was especially true for a completely Undead Legendary Powerhouse like him.

What would be a fatal wound for others was merely a common injury to them.

Only special methods designed to counter the Undead, or completely tearing their bodies apart, could truly kill them.

Knowing he had no chance of survival, the shadowy figure abandoned all defense and launched a frenzied counterattack.

He withstood the bombardment of countless streams of the Power of Law and, with his last breath, managed to kill four City-State Lords before Marais finally found an opening, plunging her short blade through the back of his head.

An enchanting purple flame then erupted, rapidly engulfing the shadowy figure’s entire body and burning him to ashes.

The venomous, hate-filled glare in the shadowy figure’s eyes before he died sent a chill down the spine of even the cold and ruthless Marais.

But she quickly suppressed the tremor deep inside her and, without a moment’s hesitation, came before Anton, knelt on one knee, and bowed her head respectfully.

"Vion City is willing to submit to you, Milord. I beg you to spare our lives."

The other six Dark Elf Queens also dropped to one knee in unison.

Seeing this, the eight surviving City-State Lords cursed inwardly, ’Cunning, dark-skinned bitch!’ but they too knelt cleanly, expressing their submission to Anton.

For a moment, the only sounds in the command center were silent breaths and the sight of bowed heads.

Anton gave Marais a deep look and said flatly, "I don’t go back on my promises. But that’s on the condition that none of you get any funny ideas."

"Now, talk. How did you get involved with the Ring of Annihilation?"

’The Ring of Annihilation?’

The lords were all stunned for a moment but quickly understood. They glanced at the ashes on the floor where the shadowy figure had been, then their eyes turned in unison toward Marais.

Under Anton’s meaningful gaze, Marais braced herself and said, "They were the ones who approached us."

"About three months ago, that guy... we only know him as ’Corpse Shadow’... suddenly appeared in Vion City. He said he was willing to help us take control of the Red Blood Fertile Soil, and... destroy Nine Nether City. The condition was that we help them collect death energy."

As soon as she said this, the lords present glared at Marais.

By this point, they would have to be fools not to understand the true purpose behind Marais’s insistence on launching a war against Nine Nether City.

From the very beginning of the alliance, she wasn’t planning on a fair division of spoils. She was using the war as a pretext for a sacrifice, using their people and soldiers as offerings.

But for all their anger, with Anton present, they didn’t dare make a move, terrified of angering him.

Anton ignored the undercurrents between the lords and the Dark Elves. His expression remained calm as he continued, "He wasn’t the only member of the Ring of Annihilation you were dealing with, was he?"

"That’s right," Marais replied.

"And where are they?"

"I don’t know." Fearing Anton wouldn’t believe her, Marais quickly added, "It was always Corpse Shadow who met with us. We only knew he had helpers, but we never saw them, so we don’t know their whereabouts."

A flicker of light in Anton’s eyes, but he didn’t press further.

He had already scanned the area with his Divine Sense and found no creatures that seemed to be personnel from the Ring of Annihilation.

’Those guys have a much keener sense of danger than ordinary people. They’ve probably sensed that something was wrong and have already retreated.’

’Oh well. Corpse Shadow was likely the mastermind in charge of this affair. The others are probably just small fry. Killing them or not doesn’t matter.’

Without another word, Anton flicked his sleeve.

A curtain of profound, dark water unfurled silently from the void. Like a night tide washing over a sandbank, it instantly wrapped around the wrists and ankles of every lord and Dark Elf Queen present.

The water was a deep, dark color, and felt slick and cold to the touch. It wasn’t tight, but it clung to their skin like a living thing, continuously drawing the power from their bodies.

A distinct feeling of weakness welled up from deep within them.

Yet, everyone present breathed a collective sigh of relief.

This at least meant that he had no intention of taking their lives for the time being.

After this, Anton raised his hand and waved. Four dark-gold Guardian Divine Generals materialized out of thin air, silently taking up positions in the four corners of the command center.

A cold, heavy aura spread out, blanketing the kneeling figures like an invisible barrier. It made the backs of the Dark Elf Queens and the lords grow even stiffer, and they couldn’t help but feel a growing terror in their hearts.

’What kind of Alchemy Puppets are these?’

’The oppressive feeling they give off is even more terrifying than that of the now-dead Corpse Shadow.’

Having done all this, Anton turned and left the command center.

Just as he stepped through the stone doorway, he saw Second Elder, Romance, and the others hurrying over.

"The lords of the Red Blood Fertile Soil are all inside," Anton said concisely. "Take them with you to absorb the remaining city-states. If any refuse to comply, deal with them directly. No need to ask for my permission again."

Anton then nodded to Romance, summoned a blade of light to envelop his body, and shot into the sky as a streak of light, quickly vanishing at the end of the tunnel.

Romance glanced at the Dark Elf Queens and lords, who didn’t dare make the slightest move under the watch of the Guardian Divine Generals, and smacked his lips with a hint of regret.

"What a shame. With Anton making a move, there are no fights left for me."

Elena couldn’t help but laugh. "In the Dark Nether Realm, you’re worried about not having enemies to fight? There will be plenty of opportunities in the future."

Romance thought about it and, realizing she was right, broke into a smile again.

Second Elder looked at the two of them, shook his head helplessly, and turned to step into the command center.

"Let’s go. There’s a lot of clean-up work to be done."

...

On his way back, Anton contemplated the matter of the Ring of Annihilation.

’The reason these guys are collecting death energy, if I’m not mistaken, should be related to opening a portal to the Nether Abyss plane.’

’And war has always been the best breeding ground for death energy.’

’The flames of war currently igniting across the continent are undoubtedly the most fertile soil for the Ring of Annihilation to harvest that energy.’

’From this perspective, it’s possible the Ring of Annihilation has been pulling strings behind the scenes, fanning the flames to turn the continent into its current state.’

’Although the Ring of Annihilation operates in secret, its foundations are deep. Otherwise, it couldn’t have hidden in the shadows, stirring up so much trouble.’

However, Anton wasn’t particularly wary of them.

’An organization like the Ring of Annihilation’s greatest advantages are secrecy and the unknown.’

’But unfortunately for them, I know them all too well.’

’The Ring of Annihilation would never dream that someone knows every detail of the grand plan they are secretly carrying out.’

’Besides, the weaknesses of these madmen are glaringly obvious, making them far too easy to target.’

Upon returning to Taichu City, Anton headed straight for his secluded chamber.

The war was over. The subsequent absorption and takeover would naturally be handled by his subordinates; he only needed to listen to the final summary report.

Now, he could once again focus his mind on his own affairs.

First, of course, was Fetal Breathing.

Over the past year, Anton was already close to completing his first Fetal Breathing.

He estimated that he could complete the Nine Times of Fetal Breathing in a little over ten years at most.

After that, he could begin preparing to gestate his Nascent Soul.

For instance, for the Cognition Breaking Barrier, he could use methods similar to the Heart Demon Guide to conduct ’simulated training’ in advance.

Over tens of millions of years of development, the Cultivation Realm had naturally developed various ’simulated training’ methods for the Cognition Breaking Barrier.

For example, Anton had found an Array in the Taoist Jade Scroll called the Great Dream Formation.

This High Tier Illusion Array was specifically designed for tempering one’s mind and character, experiencing tribulations, and attaining enlightenment of the Dao.

Its principle is derived from the saying: "The mayfly, born at dawn and dead by dusk, knows not the passing of day and night; the cicada, born in spring and gone by autumn, knows not the passing of winter and summer."

The Array forms a world of its own. Once activated, it taps into illusory heavenly workings, peeling back a person’s soul layer by layer and casting it into an endless cycle of Illusion Realms.

Those who enter the Array fall into a boundless sea of illusions.

What seems like a single moment can feel like a century of trials and tribulations.

One might be reborn as an emperor, ruling over the world.

One might be reincarnated as a woodcutter, living out one’s days in the mountains.

Or one could become a bandit, dying in the wilderness.

A single dream is a lifetime; a single thought, a full cycle.

Joys and sorrows, love and hate, gratitude and grievances—all feel intensely real, gnawing at one’s mind and tempering the soul.

But the most ingenious aspect of the Great Dream Formation is that those who enter need not worry about losing themselves and becoming walking corpses.

At the end of each life, as the Illusion Realm shatters, a clear Daoist tone rings out within the Array. Like the morning bell and evening drum, it penetrates the Divine Soul, awakens the true self, and illuminates the true spirit.

When the Array’s light dissipates and the mists recede, it may seem as if the person within had only closed their eyes for a moment, but in truth, they have already walked through thousands of reincarnations.

For this reason, the Great Dream Formation is often used by major sects as a rehearsal for Golden Core Stage Cultivators before they attempt to break through the Cognition Breaking Barrier, and it is also a mandatory lesson before facing the Nascent Soul Celestial Tribulation.

If he could use the Great Dream Formation to temper his true mind and self in advance, his chances of breaking through the Cognition Breaking Barrier in the future would increase significantly.

Anton was already preparing the materials needed to set up this Array.

By the time he completes the Nine Times of Fetal Breathing and passes the first barrier to the Nascent Soul realm, the preparations for the Great Dream Formation should also be more or less complete.

Secondly, he had to continue comprehending One Sword, Ten Thousand Techniques.

The second Divine Technique he had chosen was Beiming True Water.

The Daoist Essence contained within this Divine Technique, whether for its corrosive and devouring properties or its heavy, slowing force, could all provide an immediate boost to the power of his sword light.

Although his sword light could not fuse with two types of Divine Daoist Essence at the same time, and even successfully integrating the Beiming True Water Dao Essence into his Sword Dao wouldn’t result in a quantum leap in Anton’s power, it would at least make his combat methods more flexible.

The true value of "One Sword, Ten Thousand Techniques" lay not just in the word "Transform," but even more so in the words "Ten Thousand."

If he could simultaneously command two hundred and fifty-eight streams of sword light, each executing one of two hundred and fifty-eight different Divine Techniques in coordination, his practical combat ability would also undergo a qualitative improvement.

Of course, achieving this was no easy feat.

Simply mastering multiple Divine Techniques at the same time was already a difficult task.

Besides cultivation, Anton also had to make time to refine the Flying Radiance Towers.

The Clan already possessed two Flying Radiance Towers, and he was now beginning to refine the third.

With the experience from the first two, the refinement speed for the third Flying Radiance Tower had increased significantly, and he estimated it would be completed in another year.