Chapter 375: Chapter 337: Deep Sea Creatures

Light slanted through the high windows of the Celestial Essence Hall, dyeing the floating dust motes into specks of pale gold and casting a soft halo over the stone floor.

Anton leaned back in his chair, his gaze resting on the Broadsword. The blade was wide and heavy, coated in a deep, dark patina as if repeatedly steeped in smoke and ash. Its edges bore the chips and scars of countless clashes.

He sent his Divine Sense probing inside. Like a trickling stream following the grain of the sword’s spine, it seeped into the depths, quickly sensing the distinct Spiritual fluctuation within. It wasn’t overwhelmingly intense, but it was remarkably stable. Like a cluster of embers buried deep in a bed of ash, it appeared dim on the surface, but brushing aside the top layer revealed a lingering, potent heat.

Withdrawing his Divine Sense, Anton nodded in satisfaction. The quality of the Spirit Soul housed in this blade was quite impressive, scarcely inferior to the Ancestor Totem of the Golden-backed Ape-man tribe.

The only flaw was the faint layer of Death Qi entwining the Spirit Soul. This wasn’t surprising; a Spirit Soul born on an ancient battlefield was practically guaranteed to be tainted by Death Qi. Fortunately, with Anton’s current means, purifying it wasn’t particularly difficult. As long as he used the Eternal Tree’s vitality to construct an Array and repeatedly flushed it out—just as he had done to cleanse the Death Qi from that Earth Element Origin Crystal—he could purify it completely.

It would simply require a bit more Time. Regardless, the Spirit Seed for the Nine Dragon Divine Fire Shield was finally secured.

Setting the Broadsword aside, Anton turned his attention to the hundred-odd weapons piled in the center of the hall. They varied wildly in size and shape; some were merely half-broken blades, while others were covered in mottled rust. Yet, without exception, every single one harbored a Spiritual fluctuation.

These Spirit Souls were still young and weak, far inferior in quality to the one in the Broadsword, but their sheer quantity made up for it. If he gathered them together, set up an Array, and constantly nourished them with the Spiritual Qi of the Taichu Spirit Realm day and night for a century, these nascent Spirit Souls would gradually grow strong. When that time came, the Silver Moon Race wouldn’t have to worry about a shortage of Spirit Seeds for a long time.

Anton retracted his gaze and looked across at Eleanor. "Ivy and the others made a massive contribution this time," he said, making no effort to hide his approval.

Eleanor smiled and nodded. "The Contribution Points have already been distributed. Several members of the Vassal Races even used this opportunity to save up enough Contribution Points to submit their applications for promotion to Taichu City disciples."

Anton nodded, moving on to another matter. "How is the investigation into the Blood Claw Race progressing?"

Eleanor’s expression turned serious as she sat up straighter. "We tracked the traces left behind by those three members of the Wolf Race before they died, and successfully captured a batch of hidden Blood Claw Race operatives across several towns in the eastern part of the continent. After interrogation, we can basically confirm their purpose for this trip was collecting Spiritual Weapons... or as they call them, Soul Weapons. As for the specifics, they didn’t know much. They only knew this was part of an internal deployment they referred to as the ’Blood Claw Project’."

The Blood Claw Project...

Anton grew thoughtful. He didn’t actually know much about the Blood Claw Race. This Wolf Race faction had quite a reputation on the Dawn Continent, being a first-rate power, after all. Yet in the original timeline, whether during the era of the Undead Calamity or the rise of the Gods, the Blood Claw Race seemingly had no presence whatsoever. He suspected they had most likely been wiped out when the Undead Calamity swept across the continent. Countless factions were destroyed in that era, including many first-rate powers, so their demise wouldn’t have been unusual.

But precisely because of this, Anton’s intelligence regarding them was rather limited, and he had absolutely no clue about this so-called "Blood Claw Project."

A project requiring Essence Souls...

Essence Souls and Spirit Souls were fundamentally the same thing, merely different names used by different Cultivation Systems. To Anton’s knowledge, Essence Souls only had a few specific uses on the Dawn Continent: forging Magic Equipment, creating alchemical puppets, or breeding Magical Creatures.

The first two could be ruled out. The Blood Claw Race wasn’t known for any expertise in alchemy. Moreover, the field of alchemy involving Essence Souls was incredibly profound; even among the Dwarves at the Heart of the Mountains, few possessed the corresponding skills. To say nothing of a pack of the Wolf Race.

That left only one remaining path: breeding Magical Creatures.

Anton remembered the Egg of the Old World he had found in Ska’s Space Ring, a contemplative gleam flashing in his eyes. A moment later, he reeled in his wandering thoughts and addressed Eleanor. "Keep investigating. Find a way to figure out the exact details of the Blood Claw Project."

"Understood. I’ll dispatch more personnel," Eleanor solemnly agreed.

Leaving the Celestial Essence Hall, Anton didn’t immediately return to the Quiet Chamber. Instead, he took a detour to the Eternal Tree. Its canopy blotted out the sun like a massive dome, while aerial roots cascaded from its branches, plunging deep into the soil.

Stopping near the main trunk, Anton raised a hand and pressed it toward the ground. Wisps of emerald Spiritual Light drifted from his fingertips, seeping into the dirt and spreading outward along the ancient tree’s root network. The Spiritual Light seemed guided by the roots, slowly outlining the contours of a roughly ten-foot-square Array Map.

He thrust the Broadsword directly into the Array Hub.

The surrounding roots instantly began to wriggle like living creatures. An emerald halo climbed up the sword along the roots, tightly wrapping around the blade and spine. Before long, tendrils of grayish-black Death Qi began seeping out from the depths of the weapon.

The moment the Death Qi made contact with the dense vitality filling the Array, it dissolved silently, vanishing without a trace like light snow melting beneath the sun.

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