The Eternal Saint of Alchemy

The purple light slowly dissipated, and the old man's figure vanished along with it. At the same time, the originally transparent square tablet returned to normal, turning pitch black.

The white pillar of light still stands atop the stone tablet, radiating eternal glory.

Xiao Fan stood in front of the monument, looking at the ancient characters on it, and carefully put the short sword back into his waistband.

Below lay a quiet, black earth, with white beams of light casting blue specks across the sky, and stars twinkling at the edges of the beams.

He turned and walked back.

The return trip was much faster than the way there.

With the help of the short sword, Xiao Fan continuously absorbed the spiritual energy that roamed the world every day.

Even in deserts and Gobi where spiritual energy is scarce, this short sword can still automatically absorb the fire element between heaven and earth and replenish its spiritual core.

As time passed, the spiritual core in his dantian became more and more solid, growing from a thin layer to the size of an egg, and its color changed from grayish-white to dark gold. The flow of spiritual energy within his body also became smoother.

Back at Xihuomen, Madam He was standing at the village entrance, enthusiastically drying the firestones.

She saw Xiao Fan return from afar, put down what she was doing, looked him up and down, and raised an eyebrow slightly. "The spirit core is complete. You've already entered the basics of the Extreme Fire Abyss Technique."

Xiao Fan pulled out a short sword and handed it over. Old Mrs. He took the sword, examining it closely, her old face filled with regret. "This is what my master told me about. With it, your cultivation speed will be several times faster than others. Take it."

He stayed at the West Volcano Gate for three days to rest and resupply.

Old Mrs. He stuffed a bag of fire essence and dried meat into his bag, and A-Ping gave him a fire-attribute ore he had obtained from the desert, saying, "There's nothing to do on the road, so practice your training methods to relieve boredom."

It took him nearly a month to leave the Western Fire Sect.

During this time, the short sword kept spinning. When he stood once again on the southern border of the Daqing Empire, the spiritual core in his dantian had more than doubled in size, and the density and capacity of spiritual energy in his meridians had also greatly increased.

He did not return to Danta, but instead went to Chixia, a small city in the southernmost part of the Daqing Empire.

This city is located on a major transportation route from the south to the Central Plains, attracting many cultivators and making the trade of various spiritual materials very prosperous.

He found a secluded inn, booked a room in the backyard, and began to cultivate in peace, attempting to break through to the second and third levels of the Extreme Fire Abyss Technique.

The back courtyard of Chixia City was very quiet. Outside the courtyard wall stood an old banyan tree with a canopy that covered the entire courtyard.

Every morning, Xiao Fan would sit under this big tree and cultivate for an hour, using his short sword to help his spirit core absorb the dew remaining in the cool morning breeze.

In the afternoon, he sat by the window, organizing his notes while breaking down and memorizing the array diagrams on the stone tablet. At night, before the sun had fully risen, he would circulate his spiritual energy through a full cycle, so that he could absorb and transform all the spiritual energy during the transition from day to night.

The innkeeper was a thin, middle-aged man. At first, he was a little curious, but later he got used to it. Every time Xiao Fan cultivated, the leaves of the old banyan tree would dance without wind, which he always thought was just ordinary wind, not wind.

After cultivating for twenty-seven days, Xiao Fan felt the spiritual core in his dantian suddenly contract, and a powerful and pure life force surged out of his dantian, circulating through his meridians for one cycle before stopping.

He slowly opened his eyes, looked inward at his dantian spiritual core and the total amount of spiritual power in his meridians, and was surprised to find that it had increased significantly again. He had finally broken through to the third level of the Extreme Fire Abyss Technique.

The calamity of a fourth-rank official.

He didn't rush to get up. Instead, he sat down cross-legged and circulated his true energy once more, making sure that the spiritual energy was flowing smoothly without any stagnation. Only then did he stand up and stretch his muscles and bones.

The short dagger at his waist also felt a slight warmth at the moment of the breakthrough in his spiritual core, as if it was because his dantian had become stronger, which led to a slight improvement.

He stood under the banyan tree and stretched. Fourth Rank. With the added bonuses of the Extreme Fire Abyss Technique and the dagger, the gap was quickly closed.

He returned to his room, spread out paper and pen, and under the stone tablet array diagram, recorded his feelings and changes in spiritual power when he advanced to the fourth rank. He closed the notebook, and outside the window, the sounds of the morning market opening could be heard.

He planned to stay in Chixia City for a while longer to consolidate his cultivation and figure out the last few remaining difficulties.

Next, Xiao Fan stayed in Crimson Gorge City for nearly two months. Recently, his cultivation level has risen to the peak of the fourth rank of the Tribulation Realm.

After numerous attempts, he had solved the most difficult nodes on the square stele array one by one, and he was certain that he had fully grasped the operating principle of this guiding structure.

When we left Chixia City, it was early summer, and the Central Plains were lush and green, a scene of prosperity.

He did not return to the Dan Tower in the north, but instead headed west. This time, he did not need to return to the West Volcano Gate to rest; he only needed to meet Old Woman He at the village entrance and briefly explain his progress in cultivation.

After a moment of contemplation, the old woman took out an old scroll from the room and showed it to him.

"This was passed down from the Western Fire Sect. I originally planned to give it to you when you reached the sixth rank. However, since you retrieved the dagger from under the stone tablet, I'll give it to you ahead of time."

Xiao Fan unrolled the scroll, which contained a deeper map of the far west.

At the end of this scroll is a map depicting the specific structure of the Earth's crust barrier. Its surface is composed of basalt hundreds of meters thick, and its interior has a natural spiritual energy permeation layer. The cavity at the bottom is the location of the Moon's source.

To pass this test, besides having sufficiently strong cultivation, the most important thing is to break through every so often.

He carefully put away the scroll, thanked the old woman He sincerely, and then rode his horse westward.

This time, their speed was significantly faster. Having reached the peak of the fourth rank of the Tribulation Realm, their stamina was far greater than before. With the Extreme Fire Abyss Technique spirit core and the aid of their short swords, they could practically go on without stopping.

This time, he was at least a third faster than before, but his speed was by no means slower.

The white light stood straight up like a sharp sword.

As he stepped onto the black soil and walked toward the monument, the black token in his arms warmed again, but this time it was much gentler than before, as if it had resonated with his dantian spiritual core.

When he reached the square monument, his sharp eyes immediately noticed a dark gold mark on the bottom edge, unlike the one he had seen before.

As they drew closer, the lines lit up one by one, extending from the base to the center of the stone tablet, outlining the shape of a gate.