The Eternal Saint of Alchemy

That was the depths of the Radiant Valley that the ancients spoke of, but judging from the frequency of spiritual energy transmitted through the talisman, this area was unlike any place he had explored before. The spiritual energy here was extremely thin, like a vacuum zone.

On the third day at noon, Ning Yao pushed open the door and said bluntly, "The Silver Hammer Society has three people, including Cultivator Cheng, making a total of five. If that spiritual energy vacuum zone is really as you say, having more people would only be a burden."

Xiao Fan looked up at her and placed the pen on the table: "Are you sure your Silver Hammer Society members are willing to enter the Vacuum Zone with me? Nobody's been there before, and if there are any unknown dangers—"

Ning Yao sat down opposite him and said, "It was precisely because of this 'what if' that I went to the west side of Fire Crystal City. Besides, when did you encounter any major problems after leaving Yaoguang Valley? I believe you."

That afternoon, two more people came to the door—one was the Ancient One's attendant, and the other was his apprentice. The two claimed to be people who had been active in the western edge of the Heavenly Fire Plains for many years and had some knowledge of places where spiritual energy was scarce.

Xiao Fan recruited them all into his team, making a total of seven people including himself.

In the evening, Xiao Fan gathered the seven people in the backyard of the inn.

Among these seven people were the experienced hunter Cheng Xiushi, Ning Yao who was skilled in equipment, two familiar Western guests who knew the terrain well, Xiao Fan himself, as well as the followers and disciples of the ancients.

The Fei family didn't send anyone else to deliver a message, and Xiao Fan didn't want to wait any longer.

As evening fell, the seven of them packed their things and decided to set off early the next morning.

Xiao Fan stood at the window on the second floor of the inn, watching the lights of Fire Crystal City gradually illuminate and the dim skyline in the distance. The talisman in his spatial artifact floated there quietly, and the spiritual energy circulated smoothly.

Around noon on the seventh day, the team finally reached the westernmost part of Tianhuo Plain.

Here, the dark red soil begins to thin out, replaced by a layer of grayish-white rock.

The concentration of spiritual energy in the air dropped sharply, and Xiao Fan's spiritual core was constantly adjusting its output frequency. Even so, he could still clearly feel that the spiritual energy around him was almost exhausted.

The talisman points to this very spot.

He walked at the front of the group, leaving a shallow footprint on the ground with each step.

The six people behind him stood close together, with Ning Yao on his side and Cheng Xiushi bringing up the rear.

The seven of them walked for half a day in this environment devoid of spiritual energy. The sky gradually turned dark gold, and the sunlight seemed to be filtered through an invisible membrane, giving people a soft feeling.

Only after the sun had completely sunk below the horizon did a faint glow appear ahead.

It was a circular area several meters in circumference, and in the center of this area, a deep purple, translucent crystal panel was embedded in the rock shell, reflecting a completely unfamiliar starry sky.

The arrangement of these stars was completely different from what Xiao Fan had seen in Tianhuoyuan and Daqing; it was as if the starry sky of another world existed.

He crouched down and touched it with the fire of creation.

After the crystal plate came into contact with spiritual energy, it emitted a faint light, which then dimmed. A complete map projection appeared on the crystal plate, which was densely covered with ancient characters that he had never seen before, but some runes and light patterns were perfectly matched.

"Teleportation array." Ning Yao walked over and pointed to a circular area in the middle of the stone slab, which had obvious artificial traces. "The core is here. You need to put the runes in to activate it. The key is on the seal."

Xiao Fan took out the dark gold talisman and inserted it steadily into the groove in the center of the disc.

Perfectly fitted.

The moment the talisman entered the groove, the entire stone slab emitted a soft light that spread outwards in all directions from the slab as the center.

At the same time, all seven people felt the rocky shell beneath their feet tremble slightly, and the surrounding air also distorted, as if an invisible force was pulling them out of this space.

Xiao Fan shouted, "Stand firm!" The seven steadied themselves, and although the tremors on the ground were getting stronger, they were still under control.

Just as the tremor reached its peak, the soft white light suddenly contracted, then expanded outward at an even faster speed, this time spreading to a much wider area than before, enveloping all seven people.

Xiao Fan felt his body being lifted up by a warm force and gently land on the ground.

After the white light dissipated, they felt their feet sink into the ground, and the surrounding scenery had undergone a complete transformation:

They were standing on a dark gray rocky plain, the sky a pale purple unlike any they had ever seen before, the horizon stretching to the very edge of the sky.

The talisman was still embedded in the crystal plate, but the crystal plate had become an ordinary stone slab.

The seven people spent some time getting used to their surroundings on this gray and hazy land.

Although the spiritual energy wasn't as concentrated as in the Heavenly Fire Plains, it was still much better than in the previous vacuum zone.

Xiao Fan took out a talisman from the crystal and stored it in his spatial artifact. He stood up and looked into the distance. On the gray plain, he could vaguely see some black outlines, which looked like buildings or natural stone pillars.

"This way." He laughed.

His spiritual core adjusted its direction, pointing towards a black dot deep in the plain.

The seven people lined up again and set off, their footsteps rustling on the gray earth before disappearing into the purple sky.

This gray plain was much larger than he had imagined.

It took the seven of them more than an hour to finally approach the dark area. Upon closer inspection, they discovered that it was a large area of ​​weathered ancient buildings.

This is a building similar to the ruins of Tianhuoyuan, but it is older and more magnificent. Some of the broken city walls are several meters high, and the walls are covered with ancient runes.

Xiao Fan walked to the front of the largest dilapidated palace and stopped.

At the entrance to the dilapidated hall, a talisman is carved, with the grooves shaped exactly like the talisman itself.

He inserted the talisman into the groove, and the relief on the archway lit up with a light. The floor of the hall slowly sank, revealing a staircase leading to the underground.

The group descended the stairs and arrived at a spacious underground hall. In the center of the hall was a huge bronze disc, on which was engraved an extremely detailed star map, exactly the same as the star map on the crystal plate.

Ning Yao bent down and examined the star map carefully. Pointing to a symbol on the bronze plate, she said, "This is an ancient book from the Silver Hammer Society. It means 'returning home.' There are likely more than one teleportation point here. If you want to go back, you must leave a mark on this."