The Eternal Saint of Alchemy

Xiao Fan walked in. His clothes were still the same as before, with mud on his trousers and his hair was messy, showing none of the demeanor of a core disciple of the Pill Tower.

Ye Ruolin raised her head, glanced at him, then at his dusty robe, and a faint smile appeared on her lips.

"The inheritor of the Taixu lineage?" Ye Ruolin closed the ancient book and said with some curiosity, "Along the way, I heard that a young man had obtained the inheritance of the Taixu Pill Saint. I thought he was a refined and elegant master. So that's how it is."

Xiao Fan didn't mind, and sat down next to Jiang Yuanji. He picked up a cup of hot tea from the table, took a sip, and said, "May I take a look at the pill formula that Miss Ye mentioned?"

Ye Ruolin raised an eyebrow and asked, "Can you understand it?"

Xiao Fan did not answer, but instead reached out to the ancient book, palm up, his expression calm.

Ye Ruolin hesitated for a moment before handing over the old booklet.

Xiao Fan opened the booklet and quickly browsed through it. The first part contained annotations from the Ye family ancestors on the Yin Fire tempering technique; the handwriting was old and neat, indicating that it had been there for a very long time.

Turning to the last few pages, I found the handwriting of the Grandmaster of Alchemy, but only two sentences: "Having borrowed this incomplete copy, I have benefited greatly." I will present the alchemical formula to you when I finish refining the furnace in September.

Then there was just blank space, nothing at all.

Xiao Fan closed the booklet and pushed it in front of Ye Ruolin. He leaned back in his chair and pondered, "This is the handwriting of the Grandmaster of the Void. I did not keep my promise to you."

However, I have a question for Miss Ye. You just mentioned that your Ye family has waited for three generations. How long exactly has this manuscript been preserved?

Ye Ruolin raised an eyebrow: "More than a hundred years."

"In the past hundred years or so, have you sent anyone to Danta?"

The hall was silent. Ye Ruolin's eyes narrowed, and she opened her mouth, but couldn't utter a word. The gray-robed old man beside her half-closed his eyes, looking at Xiao Fan, before slowly closing them again.

"Your ancestor was an old friend of the Grandmaster of Alchemy. Knowing that he disliked being urged, the Ye family has never taken the initiative to ask him for help for three generations, until today."

Xiao Fan continued, "Such magnanimity is admirable. However, I still want to ask you, do you want me to immediately hand over the pill formula of the Grandmaster of the Void, or do you want me to fulfill this unfulfilled promise?"

A look of seriousness finally appeared in Ye Ruolin's eyes. She put down the ancient book in her hand and looked at Xiao Fan.

"Can you make up for it?"

Xiao Fan took out the three parchment scrolls and spread them out on the table. On the parchment was a diagram of flame purification and fusion, the handwriting of which was exactly the same as the text on the scrolls.

"I traveled westward and discovered the place where a Grandmaster of Alchemy had secluded himself in his early years. Inside were most of his studies on the Dao of Fire. There are four methods of tempering with Yin Fire, each of which is much more advanced than it was a hundred years ago."

He pointed to one of the paintings, "You said your ancestor lent me a fragmented manual on the Yin Fire Tempering Technique. If Miss Ye doesn't mind, I can make a copy for you."

Ye Ruolin stood up, walked forward, bent down, and looked at the parchment spread out on the table.

Her gaze swept across the blueprints stroke by stroke, and gradually her expression became focused. When she saw the annotations on the last page, her pupils suddenly contracted.

"This is... the method of Yin and Yang being united?"

Xiao Fan nodded, without saying anything more.

Ye Ruolin straightened up, and when she looked at Xiao Fan again, she no longer had the same calm and collected demeanor as before.

She straightened up, nodded to Xiao Fan, and said in a much calmer voice, "I was abrupt just now. If Young Master Xiao can teach us the method of refining Yin Fire, our Ye family is willing to offer spiritual materials of equal value."

Xiao Fan took the parchment and put it in his pocket. "I will give you the copy in three days. No need, this is a debt owed by the Grandmaster of the Void Pill, I am just helping him pay it off."

Ye Ruolin stared at him for a while, then suddenly laughed. The laugh was faint, but compared to her previous coldness, it was like a crack appearing on ice.

"In that case, I'll wait and see if Young Master Xiao can make a copy."

She turned around, returned to her seat, and tucked the stray hairs from her forehead behind her ear, her movements becoming more natural.

The atmosphere in the hall relaxed.

Jiang Yuanji stood up and called the Ye family members who were accompanying him to the backyard for tea. The gray-robed elder also stood up, walked to Xiao Fan's side, and whispered, "Not bad."

Xiao Fan was stunned for a moment, then watched Ye Ruolin leave the front hall with her elders.

She walked straight, her white robe fluttering in the wind.

Three days later, she still owed him the method of tempering with Yin Fire.

Over the next three days, Xiao Fan extracted the section on Yin Fire tempering from the parchment and, together with the supplementary information from the other two parchments, created a complete booklet.

Every page was written clearly, every sheet of paper had a clear illustration, and even the annotations were written in the same way.

As she had said, Ye Ruolin came to visit at dusk on the third day.

Xiao Fan handed her a booklet. She took it, looked at a dozen pages under the light from the door, then closed the book without saying a word.

After a while, she looked up at him, her eyes much more serious than when they first met.

"You copied it so well. You can even see the drafts on the manuscript clearly."

"Those annotations are very important; if they are not complete, it is easy to make mistakes during the tempering process."

Xiao Fan leaned against the doorframe and said casually, "After you get back, do as it says. It's best if someone watches the fire for the first nine times. The Yin Fire is too active; it could easily catch fire if you're not careful."

Ye Ruolin put away the book, glanced at him, and suddenly said, "I originally thought you were just a lucky inheritor, but I didn't expect you to have such abilities."

Xiao Fan smiled but remained silent.

"Okay, I take back what I just said."

After saying that, she turned and left the courtyard. After taking a few steps, she turned back and said, "If Young Master Xiao has nothing else to do, you can come to the guest room where we are temporarily staying at the Ye family's residence for a chat. I brought two kinds of Yin Fire with me. Please help me identify them and see if they are sufficient."

Xiao Fan pondered for a moment, then nodded.

She does indeed have some foundation in Yin Fire tempering; judging from the notes left by the Ye family ancestors, their expertise in Yin Fire was definitely not low. It's always good to have a friendly exchange.

After packing his things, Lu Li went to the Ye family's inn.

The Ye family has a separate courtyard at the foot of Danta Mountain. Rows of fire-type spiritual materials are placed in the courtyard, and the air is filled with a burnt smell.

Ye Ruolin sat in the hall, two jade boxes on the table, waiting for Chu Li. She opened the first box, revealing a dark brown mineral stone, only the size of a fist, with golden patterns covering its surface.