The Eternal Saint of Alchemy

After absorbing all the light, the seven-colored halo on the surface of the crystal became more rounded, and the touch in the palm changed from slightly cool to warm. An unprecedented deep resonance was established between the spiritual core and the crystal.

The star map of Xingluoyuan was already in his hands and could be opened at any time.

Xiao Fan left the Heavenly Fire Palace and returned to the streets of the main city. The three-dimensional star map in the sky was still bright, guiding him back.

He followed the ancient stone path back to the central circle. Mu Lao and Xie Changfeng were standing at the edge of the Watcher's camp, looking up at the huge star map in the sky. Their expressions were as if they had waited for hundreds of years and finally got what they wanted.

"Did you get it?" Old Mu asked, looking at him.

Xiao Fan opened the silver box, revealing a crystal that was crystal clear and emitted a soft seven-colored halo, just like stars.

Elder Mu stared at the crystal for a long time before letting out a long sigh and saying, "This is the 'Starfall Core' that the Grandmaster of the Void once spoke of. If I am not mistaken, we Watchers have been waiting for over a hundred years."

Back at the Watchers' camp, Xiao Fan met up with Ning Yao and Cheng Xiushi. He then took the crystal and talisman and conducted a test.

There was no repulsion between the crystal and the rune; instead, they formed an extremely stable complementary structure, as if they were originally one.

When he tried to set the crystal into the second groove on the back of the token, the tokens fit perfectly, and a new pattern automatically appeared on the front of the token, pointing to an unnamed building in the northernmost part of Starfall Plain, deeper than the Heavenly Fire Palace.

Xie Changfeng watched from the side, a rare smile appearing on his face: "With the Starfall Core, plus your original runes, the entire spiritual energy network of Starfall Plains is now yours."

This building is even older than the Heavenly Fire Palace. Generations of guards have known its location, but no one has ever gone inside. If you wish to go, you can enter through the North Gate.

Xiao Fan put away the inlaid token, thanked Xie Changfeng, and then turned to Elder Mu, asking, "Are there any records of the guardians of the far north?"

Old Mu took out a tattered booklet from the bookshelf, flipped through it, and then pointed to a page and said, "The first diary of the Watchers' Camp mentions that it was a square platform where the Grandmaster of the Void once stayed for seven days before leaving Starfall Plain."

Seven days later, he emerged with some belongings, and no one has entered this place since. Even my master's generation didn't know the purpose of this platform.

Xiao Fan silently kept it in mind. After bidding farewell to Elder Mu, Xie Changfeng led him to the entrance of the North Gate.

The two remained silent throughout the journey until they reached the entrance, at which point Xie Changfeng stopped and said, "If the Grandmaster of the Void really left something behind, then our Guardians' more than a hundred years of guarding this place can be considered an answer."

Xiao Fan cupped his hands in greeting to Xie Changfeng, then turned and left through the North Gate.

Outside the North Gate lies a quiet wilderness, the ground covered with deep purple moss, and the air so fresh it's almost transparent.

In the far north, a low and spacious square stone platform stands, about a person's height above the ground, with smooth walls that gleam with a faint silver light.

The entire square platform was devoid of any decorations or talismans; it possessed only an inherent tranquility and antiquity.

He walked to the table and reached out to touch it.

The instant the Transcendent Spirit Core made contact with the tabletop, the Starfall Core felt a slight warmth, and the silver halo on the surface of the stone platform spread out in all directions like a stone thrown into a calm lake.

The halo spread out and gradually stabilized. The high platform in the very center of the square platform sank down by about a palm's width, creating a shallow groove.

The shape of the groove fits perfectly with the transparent crystal.

Xiao Fan placed the crystal into the groove, and the entire stone platform emitted a soft white light. The platform began to rise slowly, and a narrow space appeared below it.

It was a purple bronze cauldron, more than half the height of a person, covered with a semi-transparent spiritual energy membrane. Inside the membrane was a black metal book page, bound with silver wire.

He reached out, passed through the spiritual energy barrier, and took out the golden page.

He untied the silver thread, opened the book, revealing the next chapter of the cultivation system—Starfall Plain, Gray Domain, and Aurora Plain, the spiritual energy network of the three places, and the path to advancement after reaching the Transcendent Realm.

At the end of this book, there is a small line of text: "Beyond the Transcendent Realm, there are three more realms, namely the stages of Sun, Moon, and Star. Breaking through to the Star Rank requires one hundred days of seclusion. After one hundred days, the universe will be turned upside down."

He stood on the high platform for a long time, the pages of the book in his hands gleaming faintly with golden light under the starlight.

The moonlight shone silently down from above, casting a long, long shadow on the square platform.

In the distance, towards the Watchers' camp, a small, warm light shines, like a tiny star, burning on this ancient land.

He closed the book, tied it with silver thread, stood up, and looked at the square platform that had stood quietly for who knows how many years.

One hundred days of seclusion.

It will become the starting point for the next journey.

The lights of the Watchers' camp illuminated the night sky.

After returning from the high platform, Xiao Fan did not immediately go into seclusion. Instead, he carried out a series of cultivation exercises according to the requirements on the metal pages.

It requires a continuous flow of spiritual energy of seven attributes, and the entire process cannot be interrupted in the slightest. It is even more demanding than breaking through to the Transcendent Realm.

Elder Mu gave Xiao Fan the quietest stone house on the east side of the camp. The walls of the stone house were covered with soundproof talismans, which could block out all sounds.

The store is scheduled to close in three days.

During these three days, Xiao Fan regulated his mental energy while taking a break to visit the contact point on the edge of the Aurora Plains and send a letter to the Pill Tower to let them know he was safe.

He then went to the Watchers camp and found some handcrafted rune tools in front of a stone house on the south side of the camp.

These runes were unlike anything he had ever seen before, and they still retained a strange chill.

As he passed by the stone house, he ran into Xie Changfeng, who nodded to him and then closed the stone door.

Xiao Fan didn't ask any further questions, assuming these were the guards' daily necessities, and continued walking back.

That evening, as he flipped through the golden pages again, his spiritual core suddenly sensed a faint fluctuation of spiritual energy from the south of the camp.

The nature of the fluctuations is extremely subtle; unless the sensing range of a Transcendent Spirit Core is wide enough, it is impossible to detect them.

The ripple circled the camp once before disappearing into the night sky, like the sound of the wind.