The Eternal Saint of Alchemy

Back on the ground, Xiao Fan relayed the information he had gleaned from the stone tablet to everyone. Ye Ruolin raised an eyebrow and said, "Three thousand miles south of Burning Bone Abyss lies the desolate wilderness. There isn't even a place name on the map; resupply and evacuation will be a real problem then."

Xiao Fan nodded: "That's why we're not in a hurry. Let's finish up the Qingyun Mountain matter first, and then make specific preparations when winter comes. The environment in the crater is too harsh; we need special insulation devices and enough manpower to rotate shifts."

Everyone departed. The battle of Qingyun Mountain had come to an end, and the aftershocks of the three interconnected battles had subsided. The next six months would be dedicated to preparations for war.

Returning to the Pill Tower from Qingyun Mountain, Xiao Fan looked at the crystal core that was already half-refined. Although he had absorbed most of its spiritual energy, the remaining part was still clear and intact, which would be of great help in studying the fusion of earth and fire spiritual energies.

Four days later, he brought the remaining crystal cores to the Fire Dao Research Institute at the foot of the mountain. This was a library and research institution that Chen Yuan had recently opened, and it had become quite famous recently. It had gathered many young scholars who specialized in the study of fire and spiritual materials.

Chen Yuan took the crystal core, looked at it from left to right, and said excitedly, "Good stuff."

He immediately took out a blank notebook and wrote down the size, color, structural features, and residual spiritual energy characteristics of the crystal core. Then he carefully placed it in a cabinet specifically used to store precious information.

"Young Master Xiao, you always leave with a full load of goods every time you come."

Chen Yuan closed the cabinet, poured Xiao Fan a cup of tea, and said, "By the way, someone from a guild sent you a letter yesterday, so I brought it over." As he spoke, he took a letter from the bookshelf and handed it to Nie Yan.

The envelope had a strange wax seal with three overlapping flame patterns, its design both ancient and complex. Xiao Fan opened the envelope, took out the letter, and saw the words "Southern Frontier Thousand Fire Sect" written in a flamboyant style.

The content is as follows: "The sect leader of the Thousand Fire Sect in the Southern Frontier recently discovered half of the Taixu Pill Saint's notes in an ancient cave. The notes involve the inheritance of the Fire Dao. Because I am not sure if this note is related to the Burning Bone Abyss, I wrote a letter."

Upon seeing the letter, Xiao Fan raised an eyebrow. The Thousand Fire Sect was an established power in the Southern Frontier, known for its calm and low-key approach, rarely engaging with others. Since they possessed the fragments of the Grand Void Pill Saint's work and had taken the initiative to inquire about it, it meant that these fragments were related to his inheritance.

He immediately replied, saying that he happened to be free these few days and that if it was convenient for the Thousand Fire Sect, he could personally go to the Southern Frontier to personally appraise the missing half.

After delivering the letter, he sat by the window, drinking tea and comparing the location of the Southern Frontier with the location of the Burning Bone Abyss, which was described on the stone tablet as being three thousand miles south.

Southern Xinjiang is located in the far south of the Daqing Empire, only a thousand miles away from the volcanic belt south of Burning Bone Abyss. If one goes to Southern Xinjiang first to see the incomplete Thousand Fire Sect technique, and then continues south to the volcano, the journey will be relatively smooth.

"Let's go look at the half of the Thousand Fire Sect's report first." He put down his teacup, went to his study, and began to peruse the intelligence reports from the Southern Frontier.

The news from the Thousand Fire Sect arrived much faster than expected; five days later, he reached the Pill Tower. The letter was sincere, warmly welcoming Xiao Fan's willingness to personally visit the Thousand Fire Sect, and included a detailed route map indicating the locations of various strongholds.

On the eighth day after the start of winter, Xiao Fan left with Yun Ruoyan. The carriage traveled south, and six days later, the vegetation on both sides of the road had gradually changed from deciduous forests to a large broad-leaved forest.

At noon on the sixth day, the carriage turned into a valley surrounded by mountains. In the center of the valley stood a large sign with the three characters "Qianhuomen" (Thousand Fire Gate), made entirely of red sand.

There was already someone waiting at the door. The first person was a kind-looking old man, wearing a dark red robe, with white hair but vigorous spirit. Upon seeing Xiao Fan, he hurriedly stepped forward, clasped his hands, and said, "Young Master Xiao has come from afar. I am Xu Changlin, the sect leader of the Thousand Fire Sect. Please forgive me for not welcoming you properly."

Xiao Fan returned the greeting and followed Sect Leader Xu inside. The Thousand Fire Sect was not large, but its buildings were arranged in a well-organized and orderly manner, and the courtyard was filled with fire-attribute spiritual plants unique to the Southern Frontier.

Sect Leader Xu led him to sit down in the hall, and without saying much, had someone bring over a slender sandalwood box.

The wooden box was opened, revealing a tattered parchment inside, yellowed and frayed at the edges, but the contents were still relatively intact. Xiao Fan took the scroll, unrolled it, and read it word by word.

This half-scroll records a special method for refining fire-attribute spiritual materials from the ley lines of the Southern Frontier. This method does not belong to the Burning Bone Abyss system. However, at the end of the scroll, he noticed the words "Southern Fire Mouth". In his annotation, the Grandmaster of the Void wrote: "Below the Southern Fire Mouth, there is a natural fire pool. Cultivating this technique will be twice as effective with half the effort."

South Gate. This was a map he had never seen before, but if this sentence was related to the volcano south of Burning Bone Abyss, then this half of the map from the Thousand Fire Sect provided very important information: how to refine and replenish spiritual energy in that volcanic area. This was crucial for his upcoming journey to the southern volcano.

Xiao Fan closed the incomplete scroll and looked at Sect Leader Xu with a serious expression. "Sect Leader Xu, I am willing to exchange this incomplete scroll for a complete copy of the Bone-Burning Abyss Tempering Method. I wonder if your sect would be interested?"

Xu Changlin's eyes lit up, but his face remained calm and composed. "Since Young Master Xiao is so generous, I won't stand on ceremony."

The two completed the transaction on the spot. Xiao Fan copied down the core parts of the Bone-Burning Abyss tempering method overnight and handed it to Sect Leader Xu the next day. Sect Leader Xu personally placed the tattered parchment into a wooden box and handed it to Xiao Fan.

After leaving the Thousand Fire Sect, Xu Changlin personally escorted him to the mountain gate and repeatedly reminded Xiao Fan to be careful in the South Volcano Crater, as the underground temperature in this volcanic area is extremely high, and ordinary heat-insulating magic treasures are simply no match for it.

Xiao Fan thanked him and boarded the carriage with the ancient scroll. Leaning against the carriage wall, he read the last annotation again, comparing "South Crater" with the volcanic belt three thousand miles south of Burning Bone Abyss. He could basically confirm that this natural fire pool was a special geothermal gathering place in the volcanic belt.

With this method of using the earth veins of southern Xinjiang to refine spiritual materials, his preparations for entering the volcano were much more thorough.

After returning to Danta, Xiao Fan spent the entire winter preparing to go to the volcano.

He took a small bottle of dark golden flame remnant from the Burning Bone Abyss Furnace and carried it with him in case of emergency, to maintain the flow of spiritual energy in the extreme geothermal environment.