The Eternal Saint of Alchemy

Xiao Fan returned to the stone table and continued flipping through his notes. "She's very talented and hardworking. In just three days, she was able to condense the Yin Fire to this extent, which means she really did devour that rubbing page by page."

Master Gu Yuan smiled without saying a word, then retreated to the corridor to continue polishing the talismans.

As expected, Ye Ruolin visited again the next day at noon. This time she brought a small bronze stove, the bottom of which was still warm, indicating that it had just been used.

"I adjusted the route to that corner you told me about yesterday, and it's definitely much smoother now. Could you check if there's anything wrong with the fire shape?"

He placed the bronze furnace on the stone table and demonstrated it to him on the spot.

Xiao Fan squatted down and carefully examined the bronze furnace, discovering two things she hadn't noticed: first, the Yin Fire contracted too quickly, causing the residual heat to backfire; second, her mental energy had slightly deviated during the eighth cycle.

After listening, Ye Ruolin made some adjustments on the spot and tried again. By the third time, she was noticeably more fluent.

As she finished putting away the bronze furnace, the setting sun had already bathed the courtyard in a golden hue. She put the furnace into her pouch, stood up, dusted off the corner of her clothes, took a small bag from her sleeve, and handed it to Xiao Fan.

"This Fire Marrow Crystal was passed down from my ancestors. I have no use for it, so I'll take it."

Xiao Fan took the brocade pouch, opened it, and saw a red crystal inside. It was only the size of a fingernail, crystal clear, and looked like a solidified flame.

The spiritual energy was rich and pure, much richer than when he nurtured the array foundation in Fire Spring Valley. Just this small piece was enough for him to cultivate in the underground copper furnace for several days.

"It's so precious."

Ye Ruolin did not accept it.

"These two difficult problems you presented to me today would take me at least six months to figure out on my own. Six months is more valuable than Fire Marrow Crystals. Take them."

After saying that, she turned and walked towards the courtyard gate.

The setting sun elongated her shadow, and her dark purple outfit was bathed in a soft halo of light.

Xiao Fan weighed the bag in his hand and then put it away.

The warmth of the Fire Marrow Crystal seeped through her clothes to her chest. This was Ye Ruolin's style: decisive, straightforward, and never going back on her word.

That evening, he sat in front of the oil lamp organizing his notes, and then took out the Fire Marrow Crystal to take a look.

Inside the crimson crystal, there are layers upon layers of fine lines, as if the earth's core has been tempered by subterranean fire thousands of times, leaving behind ring after ring of marks.

With this crystal, he can greatly shorten the time he spends in seclusion in the basin.

He closed the brocade pouch and blew out the lamp. The courtyard was quiet, with only the rustling of ginkgo leaves in the wind.

Ye Ruolin has been in Danta for seven days. Some things have happened in the town, and on this day, something happened.

That afternoon, Xiao Fan was grinding a pile of fire-elemental spiritual materials in the courtyard when he saw Han Fei running in from outside, panting heavily, saying, "Brother Xiao, something big has happened in town!"

The Ye family's guest courtyard was blocked by a group of people. I don't know who their leader was, but he immediately claimed that the Ye family had seized their fire vein and demanded that Miss Ye hand over the mining rights immediately.

Xiao Fan put down his cane, stood up, and asked him, "Is he still there?"

He looked around and asked.

"They're here! The young lady won't let them in, but those people are blocking the entrance to the guest courtyard, saying that if they don't get a reasonable explanation, they'll complain to the Danta Alliance."

After leaving the courtyard, Xiao Fan quickly descended the mountain. Upon arriving in the town, he saw that a dozen or so people had already gathered at the entrance of the Ye family's guest house. Each of them was burly and wore a uniform black robe with a badge pinned to their waist.

Leading the way was a middle-aged man with a fierce face, hands on his hips, shouting loudly at the gate, which attracted many townspeople to peek out.

Ye Ruolin crossed her arms and leaned against the door frame of the guest courtyard, watching his performance with a half-smile.

The door to the reception room behind her was wide open, but none of the Ye family members came out, clearly leaving Ye Ruolin to handle the matter alone.

"...You Ye family, you have some nerve! I spent three years finding that fire-elemental ore vein, and you actually want to monopolize it? There's no such thing as a free lunch!"

The middle-aged man became more and more agitated as he spoke.

Ye Ruolin waited until he finished shouting before slowly saying, "Three years have passed, and you still haven't found the location of the main rock. This morning I went to the town's mining bureau, and your exploration records only show three layers."

"You've been digging for three years and haven't even found the main vein. What makes you think it's yours?"

The middle-aged man was so angry that his face turned red. He pointed at Ye Ruolin's nose and was about to get angry when a lazy voice came from outside the crowd.

"Who gave you permission to block this place?"

Xiao Fan squeezed through the crowd and stood side by side with Ye Ruolin.

He glanced at the burly man at the head of the group, then at the other men behind him who were also dressed in short shirts. He recognized the badges on their waists. This was a small trading company that specialized in selling fire-attribute spiritual materials and had nothing to do with mining.

"You're in the spiritual materials business, so why are you mining now?"

Xiao Fan asked in a very calm tone, as if he were asking what he wanted to eat tonight.

The burly man's expression changed. "What's it to you? Can't I stand up for my friend?"

"It's only right to stand up for a friend. You say the Ye family has seized your family's karst vein. Did you obtain an exploration permit from the Mining Authority? Do you have a land deed for mining?"

The burly man's imposing manner immediately weakened. The other burly men behind him exchanged glances and took a step back.

Xiao Fan clapped his hands and said loudly, "Everyone in town, did you hear that? If there is a real dispute over the ownership of the mine, it should be the Mining Bureau that mediates and complains to the Danta Alliance. Why are you blocking someone else's yard?"

If people found out, they'd probably say our town has no rules.

Someone in the crowd chimed in, "That's right," and then more people joined in, gradually turning the voices into a one-sided trend.

Seeing that the situation was not good, the big man glared at Xiao Fan, waved his hand, and led his men away in a sorry state.

After the crowd dispersed, Ye Ruolin stood up and looked at Xiao Fan. "You also know that someone is pulling the strings behind the scenes."