Chapter 234: Chapter 217: Demon Crystal Technology

After all, Magic Crystal Technology in the Heart of the Mountains was still in its infancy, yet he knew the course of its development for the next several thousand years.

Magic Crystal Technology was the native technological system of the Dawn Continent. It was based on energy crystals such as Magic Stones, Magic Crystals, and Magic Cores, and was developed through a combination of Alchemy, Enchantment, and potioncraft.

At its heart was an Energy Crystal known as a ’Magic Crystal’.

It was a concentrated form of Energy Crystal, created by refining and purifying multiple natural Magic Stones using special alchemical techniques. Its energy density far surpassed that of ordinary Magic Stones.

Powered by Magic Crystals, Magic Crystal Technology flourished across numerous fields. Its applications included magical items, Alchemy Puppets, Arrays, Magic Scrolls, and potions, serving a wide range of needs in warfare, defense, production, and daily life.

In the future, products utilizing Magic Crystal Technology would be found nearly everywhere on the Dawn Continent, a common sight.

"Anton Clan Leader, where did you hear about Magic Crystal Technology?" Ignatius couldn’t help but ask.

Anton smiled faintly. "I have my sources."

Seeing that Anton was clearly unwilling to elaborate, Ignatius felt a bit helpless but knew better than to press the issue. After a moment’s thought, he said, "I can accept your terms on behalf of the Heart of the Mountains."

Anton had already expected this and was not surprised by his words.

In the original timeline, the Heart of the Mountains would begin to promote Magic Crystal Technology after the end of the Dragon Slaying War.

In every field, be it warfare, production, or daily life, Magic Crystal Technology offered performance and cost-effectiveness that far exceeded conventional levels.

Most products using Magic Crystal Technology became immensely popular as soon as they were released, swiftly replacing their conventional counterparts.

But Magic Crystal Technology also had a natural bottleneck—it required the consumption of large amounts of Magic Stones and Magic Cores.

And these two resources were precisely what the Dwarves had in abundance.

The Heart of the Mountains controlled dozens of Magic Stone Veins deep within the Kazadum Mountains, with an output that was consistently in the top three on the Dawn Continent.

The same was true for Magic Cores.

In other words, the more widespread products of Magic Crystal Technology became, the greater the market demand for Magic Stones and Magic Cores. This would allow the Heart of the Mountains to reap enormous profits from supplying these two resources.

What was even better was that the core technology had an extremely high barrier to entry. Even if the basic principles were made public, other factions couldn’t catch up overnight.

And the Dwarves had delved deeply into the fields of forging and Alchemy for thousands of years; the experience and skills they had accumulated could not be replicated with just a few technical documents.

The quality of their Magic Crystal Technology products alone would be enough to secure them the largest share of the market.

As long as the Heart of the Mountains could maintain its technological lead, the more widespread Magic Crystal Technology became, the greater the benefits they would gain.

In fact, in the future, the Heart of the Mountains did indeed use the popularization of Magic Crystal Technology to become the wealthiest faction on the Dawn Continent, bar none.

The Magic Crystal products they produced were sold far and wide across the continent. From Magic Crystal Lamps and Magic Crystal Furnaces to Magic Crystal Cannons and Golem cores, their products covered almost every civilian and military field, and they always occupied the largest market share.

Trading a technology they already planned to popularize in the future for the crafting process of Rune Equipment was simply too good a deal for the Heart of the Mountains to pass up.

Ignatius didn’t even need to go back and relay the request; he could agree to it on the spot on behalf of the Heart of the Mountains.

Sure enough, Ignatius hesitated for only a moment before nodding. "Alright. It’s a deal."

Perhaps feeling he had agreed too quickly, he scratched his beard a bit sheepishly.

It was clear that this Dwarven hero was not skilled in business negotiations.

But at least he was much better than most Dwarves who only knew how to slam the table and shout.

"Ignatius, there’s something I must tell you in advance," Anton suddenly said. "Rune Equipment is not as easy to craft as you imagine. You should be mentally prepared."

Ignatius’s brow furrowed slightly.

’What does he mean by that?’

’Is he saying the crafting process is extremely complex?’

’Or are there technical barriers in some of the core stages?’

"Anton Clan Leader, you mean..." Ignatius asked in confusion.

But Anton shook his head, showing no intention of explaining further.

It was too early to discuss such things. Ignatius only had a superficial understanding of Rune Equipment, and there were many concepts he simply couldn’t grasp yet.

Even if Anton explained the key points of crafting Rune Equipment to him in detail, he would have a hard time understanding.

Once the Dwarves tried it for themselves, they would naturally understand the crux of the matter.

Seeing Anton had no intention of continuing, Ignatius had no choice but to suppress his doubts and rise to take his leave.

"Then I won’t disturb you any longer. We will contact your clan as soon as our materials are ready."

"Alright." Anton stood to see him off. "I will arrange for a dedicated person to be your point of contact."

Only after watching Ignatius’s figure disappear at the entrance of the hall did the Third Elder finally speak, unable to hold back. "Clan Leader, are you really going to hand over the crafting process for Rune Equipment to the Heart of the Mountains?"

Anton smiled faintly. "What does it matter? They’re only getting the crafting process, not the principles behind it. It poses no threat to the clan."

The crafting process for Rune Equipment that he was providing would only cover how to inscribe fixed Runes onto a piece of gear.

As for the principles behind the Runes—the profound knowledge concerning the circulation of Spiritual Qi, the interplay of the Five Elements, and the balance of yin and yang—he wouldn’t reveal a single bit.

In fact, even if he were willing to teach them everything he knew, the Dwarves of the Heart of the Mountains wouldn’t be able to learn it.

The underlying logic of the Rune system was completely different from the mainstream rune system of the Dawn Continent. It was built upon the concept of "Spiritual Qi" and was deeply tied to the cultivation system.

Without Spiritual Qi, a Rune is just a soulless pattern.

And as for Spiritual Qi, currently, on the entire Dawn Continent, only the disciples of Taichu City and a few Cultivators who had switched paths could master it.

Therefore, Anton wasn’t worried at all that the Heart of the Mountains could replicate Rune Equipment.

Without Spiritual Qi and without Sensing Spirit Stones, even if the Dwarves obtained the complete crafting process, they could only stare helplessly.

Unless the Heart of the Mountains could find another way, discovering a new type of energy that could replace Spiritual Qi to power the Runes.

But Spiritual Qi was the foundation of the entire cultivation system. It was the crystallization of millions of years of gradual perfection by countless great powers in the Cultivation Realm, involving the understanding and application of the fundamental nature of the universe’s energy.

If the Heart of the Mountains could innovate on their own and find a new energy capable of replacing Spiritual Qi, Anton would have to admit he was thoroughly impressed.

In fact, within the entire Silver Moon Clan, besides Anton and Eleanor, only the disciples of Taichu City could craft a piece of Rune Equipment from start to finish.

The other Alchemists and Enchanters in the Clan, when they "crafted Rune Equipment," were merely rigidly inscribing fixed Runes onto the gear.

The Dwarves, at best, could only reach this stage.

If they wanted to craft more types of Rune Equipment, it would depend on the Silver Moon Clan’s mood—on whether they were willing to sell more types of Runes.

Even if the Silver Moon Clan were willing to sell the Runes, the Rune Equipment crafted using Sensing Spirit Stones could never compare to authentic Talismans forged with Spiritual Fire.

It was basically impossible for outsiders to surpass the Silver Moon Clan in this craft.

From this perspective, Anton and the Heart of the Mountains were actually playing the same game.

The Heart of the Mountains believed they controlled the supply of Magic Stones, the core of Magic Crystal Technology, and also held a technological lead, so they wanted to popularize Magic Crystal Technology to reap the profits.

The Silver Moon Clan’s forging process for Rune Equipment was similar, except it was even more exclusive than what the Heart of the Mountains had.

Other places on the Dawn Continent at least had Magic Stone Veins; other factions could eventually find Magic Stones and could choose not to buy from the Heart of the Mountains.

But Sensing Spirit Stones could only be produced by the Silver Moon Clan.

They were the sole supplier, with no alternatives.

Even if other factions obtained the forging process for Rune Equipment, whether they could actually craft it or not was still up to the Silver Moon Clan.

If they didn’t sell you Sensing Spirit Stones, you could only hold the crafting process and stare helplessly.

Eleanor had always been in charge of coordinating these matters, so she quickly understood Anton’s plan.

After her quiet explanation, the two elders also quickly understood, and the way they looked at Anton instantly changed.

’Our Clan Leader is so cunn... I mean, he has a real head for business.’

Anton ignored the thoughts of the two elders and turned to the Elf Maiden. "Eleanor, once the information from the Heart of the Mountains arrives, I’ll leave the matter of integrating the Magic Crystal Technology to you."

"Yes," Eleanor replied solemnly.

Anton nodded without another word and turned to leave.

He wanted to acquire Magic Crystal Technology for two other reasons besides increasing revenue.

One was to master the crafting process for Magic Cores.

Daoist Soldiers were bound to become one of the clan’s core combat methods in the future. Naturally, the core materials for creating Daoist Soldiers had to be in their own hands, not controlled by outsiders.

The other was his feeling that Magic Crystal Technology and Artifact Refining could learn from each other. Perhaps he could draw some inspiration from Magic Crystal Technology to improve the art of crafting Daoist Soldiers.

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