The Eternal Saint of Alchemy

After diving several hundred feet further down, the bottom of the valley could finally be vaguely seen.

On one side of the valley, there is a raised stone platform covered with a layer of black ash.

In the black ash, there was a deep indentation, almost identical to the array base.

Xiao Fan landed on the platform, squatted down, and carefully examined the pit.

The edges of the groove are very smooth, and it doesn't look like it was formed naturally, but rather like it was firmly fixed together by something.

"Someone set up another array base here." He reached out and touched the edge of the groove, which felt cold to the touch. "It's already been removed, but a mark was still left."

He looked at the deep pit, then at the area below.

The trail pierced through the black dust, leaving a very fine groove between the rocks at the bottom of the canyon, extending all the way to the deepest part of the rift valley before disappearing into the rising heat.

After walking along the ravine for more than twenty steps, the fog suddenly thinned out, and the scenery ahead became clearer.

In the center of the valley, there is a black stone platform, buried under rubble.

The platform was engraved with countless runes, and in the center was a fist-sized hole. The inside of the hole was purplish-black, as if something had been dug away.

Xiao Fan squatted down and looked at the runes on the stone platform.

The patterns on the surface of the array base are of the same lineage as those on the surface of the array base, both created by the Taixu Dansheng. However, the completeness of the patterns is vastly different. The runes on the base are much more complete and systematic than those in his sea of ​​consciousness, like a completed sketch.

The array base is placed in this groove to activate it.

Someone came here and took the array base, which triggered the platform and caused a surge of spiritual energy in the valley.

The sound Wei Huoshou heard was most likely caused at that time.

Xiao Fan reached his hand inside.

The moment his fingertip touched the bottom, his consciousness suddenly jolted. At the very bottom of the hole, there was a thin layer of residue, and a faint spiritual energy fluctuation remained on the residue, echoing the aura of the array base in his sea of ​​consciousness.

Those who took the array base had no time to clean up the debris.

These remnants were enough for him to find the direction the array base had left in.

He closed his eyes and concentrated, using the array base in his sea of ​​consciousness as a guide to penetrate his divine sense into the residue at the bottom of the hole.

The fragments were like a broken mirror. Although most of them were broken, traces of spiritual power could still be faintly seen. The array base that had been taken away had left the platform and was heading southwest of the rift valley.

This time, the route for refining the array bases was exactly in one direction. Someone had already completed the collection of the second arc, created the second array base, and placed it somewhere.

In other words, this guy obtained at least two complete array bases.

Xiao Fan pulled his hand out of the hole, stood up, and looked across the open field to the south of the rift valley. On the southwestern horizon, a faint black line swirled beneath the clouds, as if poised to strike.

He turned around and walked back the way he came.

"Head southwest."

The carriage traveled for two whole days along the ridgeline on the southern edge of the rift valley.

The road became increasingly difficult to travel, with gravel and ruts everywhere, forcing Han Fei to get out of the carriage and clear the road.

Throughout the journey, Xiao Fan observed carefully.

The array base within the sea of ​​consciousness is like a living lamp; the further southwest one goes, the clearer the sensation becomes.

He could clearly sense that a yin energy was quietly lurking ahead. It was not large in scale, but it was extremely pure, as if someone had hidden it somewhere.

Later that day, they stopped in a low-lying hilly area.

Suddenly, the ground ahead sank down, forming an irregular circular pit. The bottom of the pit was as flat as a mirror, filled with fine gray-white sand, and barren of any vegetation.

Xiao Fan jumped out of the car, and the moment he stepped onto the sand, he sensed something was wrong. The sand layer was very thin, and underneath was a black stone slab.

A huge array of runes was carved on the stone slab. The patterns were very complex, with each line three inches deep, as if it had been carved with a hot carving knife.

In the very center of the array is a circular groove.

However, the slot was completely empty.

Xiao Fan squatted down and carefully ran his fingers along the edge of the groove. There was a thin layer of black powder on the inner wall of the groove, with a faint and odorless smell, and it felt slightly cool and astringent to the touch.

He placed the Creation Fire into the groove, and the crimson gold fire illuminated the groove. In the groove, three small characters were engraved, the handwriting of which was exactly the same as that of the Grandmaster of the Void.

"Waiting for the next one."

Looking at these words, Xiao Fan remained silent for a long time.

The Grandmaster of Pill Refining not only left behind a piece of parchment, but also arranged the grooves for these array bases in advance.

He anticipated that someone would come, someone would set up an array here, and someone would take it away.

This person arranged everything very clearly, as if leaving behind a game of chess that was already half-finished for future generations.

"Someone took the array base," Xiao Fan stood up and continued, "but that person only took the array base and didn't clean out all the spiritual energy inside. I've arrived just in time."

He squatted down again, using the array base in his sea of ​​consciousness as a medium, and slowly injected his spiritual power into the remaining traces at the bottom of the groove.

The thin layer of black powder glowed slightly under the influence of the Creation Fire, then projected the last piece of information. A complete image of the array base appeared above the groove, then quickly disappeared, leaving only one direction.

Southwest, still the same direction.

This is already the border of the Daqing Empire, and it's not clearly marked on the map.

However, when Xiao Fan extended his divine sense in that direction, he felt a very faint resonance, as if someone had lit the same lamp in a very, very far place.

Master Gu Yuan stood at the edge of the depression. Seeing Xiao Fan stand up, a solemn expression appeared on his face, but a glint of light flashed in his eyes. He asked, "What? Did you discover something?"

"The arcs set up by the Grandmaster of the Void are not just one." Xiao Fan withdrew his spiritual power, patted the dust off his body, and said, "There is already someone who entered here before me."

However, each time he takes a base, he leaves a mark in its place. If my base can precisely match these marks, I can trace back to the source.

He glanced up at the fading twilight in the southwest and continued, "Moreover, every time he moves the array base, it causes fluctuations in spiritual energy, just like back in the Rift Valley. If we can arrive in time and force him to activate it again..."

Yun Ruoxi continued, "In other words, we can see him directly."

Xiao Fan nodded, without saying anything more.

Looking back at the carriage parked not far away, Han Fei fed the horse, while Gu Yuan was tidying up a simple tent in the depression.