The Eternal Saint of Alchemy

He closed the book, walked to the window, opened it, and looked outside.

A faint ray of light shone through the half-open window of the stone house to the south. It was almost invisible in the starlight, but it was somewhat similar to the tail of that spiritual energy fluctuation.

He stood by the window, motionless, then closed it, returned to his desk, and gently wrote a line in his notebook.

The next morning, as usual, Old Mu brought hot water to Xiao Fan.

As Xiao Fan took the water bottle, he casually asked, "Was there some kind of equipment operating on the south side of the camp last night? This kind of ice-attribute spiritual energy is really rare."

Old Master Mu was slightly taken aback, then smiled and said, "This is an old thing left over from a long time ago. Sometimes it will activate on its own, but it's not a big problem. Young Master Xiao can rest assured."

Xiao Fan accepted it without ceremony and thanked him.

After Elder Mu left, he sat there and took a sip of hot water, silently sorting out the connection between the pause he had just experienced, the dilapidated charger, and the cold-attribute rune equipment in the stone house.

He didn't ask any more questions, but kept this doubt to himself and waited for more clues.

In the afternoon, Xie Changfeng sent a message saying that a new spiritual energy rift had appeared in the far north. The star map at the edge of the rift was more complete than that on the main island, and it should be the base of another ancient teleportation array.

After listening, Xiao Fan took out his notebook and compared the location of the new crack. He found that there was a precise geographical alignment between the two cracks, like a pre-designed symmetrical layout.

From this, he could deduce that the overall layout of Xingluoyuan was likely even larger than the notebook left by the Void Pill Saint, but it had only gradually come to light today.

The crack Xie Changfeng mentioned was symmetrical to the square platform, which caught Xiao Fan's attention.

He abandoned his idea of ​​going into seclusion overnight and decided to first explore the vicinity of the rift before returning to seclusion for a hundred days.

When they arrived at the rift, it was already dusk, and the star map of Starfall Plain cast dappled light on the ground.

The crack was only a little over a person's width, and its depth was unknown. At the edge of the crack, a layer of silver light, similar to that of the square platform, could be seen.

Xiao Fan squatted beside the crack and probed it with his axe. When the axe touched the depths of the crack, a brief resonance came from the depths of the crack. There was something at the bottom of the crack that came from the same source as the soul core, but with a slightly different frequency, like a supplement.

Xie Changfeng stood a few steps away from the crack, his voice a little hoarse: "This crack suddenly appeared two days ago. Before that, this land was flat."

Since the crack appeared, the surrounding spiritual energy fluctuations have changed; several runes on the main star projection have lit up.

Xiao Fan stood up and carefully observed the crack. He found that there was no sound or magic array in the crack. It was formed naturally, or rather, the crack was pushed out from the depths of the earth by a powerful force.

The thing at the bottom of the crack that complements his crystal is very likely the one that the Grandmaster of the Void Pill buried deep in the Starfall Plains to maintain the balance of spiritual energy in this area.

He didn't rush to take the item out.

He first used the talisman and the Starfall Core to resonate several times, determining its location and its relationship with the platform.

Xiao Fan already had a general understanding of this. The crack was a natural phenomenon after the spiritual energy network of Xingluoyuan was activated. It could only be taken out after the platform's seclusion ended, otherwise it would disrupt the balance of the underground spiritual energy network.

That evening, he returned to the Watchers camp.

He told Elder Mu and Xie Changfeng that he would be going into seclusion starting tomorrow, and that he must not be disturbed by the outside world during this period.

After returning to his room, he placed the axe and the heart-protecting mirror at the entrance of the spatial artifact, then placed the starfall stone and the talisman on his lap and closed his eyes to meditate.

The next morning, the soundproofing paper in the room was activated.

The only connection between the room and the outside world is a narrow spiritual energy slit used to maintain air circulation.

Xiao Fan began a hundred-day Star Rank Breakthrough within the enclosed space. His spiritual core gradually entered a stable and profound state of self-reconstruction, composed of seven different types of spiritual power.

On the twenty-seventh day of his seclusion, a group of uninvited guests arrived at the north side of the Watchers' camp.

There were six people in total. The leader was a middle-aged cultivator wearing a dark purple robe. The runes on his body were different from any of the forces Xiao Fan had encountered in the Heavenly Fire Plain. They looked more like the ancient runes of the Starfall Plain.

The six men did not force their way in, but instead set up camp some distance away, patrolling the camp in twos and threes, their intentions unclear.

The first to discover them were Master Cheng and Ning Yao.

After observing for a while, Master Cheng returned and said, "Of these six people, the lowest cultivation level is mid-stage eighth rank, and the leader is at least ninth rank. I can't understand their runes, but some of the runes' patterns are very similar to those at the bottom of the White Pagoda."

Xie Changfeng was talking to Elder Mu in the camp. After listening to the report from Cultivator Cheng, he walked out with an unchanged expression and said, "It's probably a rogue cultivator passing by and taking a rest." Although his tone was normal, everyone noticed that he seemed to speak faster than usual.

Ning Yao didn't ask any more questions, and quietly instructed the two Silver Hammer Society members to strengthen their vigilance at night.

As night fell, a sliver of light shone through the half-open stone house on the south side of the camp.

This time, the light lasted much longer, a full incense stick's time, before it went out.

Ning Yao also saw the light while on patrol, but when she got to the door of the stone house, she found that the door was tightly closed and there was no sound or breathing inside, as if no one had ever been there before.

On the thirty-second day, one of the six members of the team took the initiative to come and negotiate.

The visitor was polite, but his tone carried a clear probing tone: "We're looking for the spiritual energy network in this area. I'd like to ask if any new cracks or anomalies in spiritual energy have been discovered nearby recently?"

Old Mu sat in the main house, receiving the visitors. He dismissed them with the excuse that "the Starfall Plains are a vast area, and we monitors are only responsible for providing guidance to the core area and do not participate in the underground spiritual energy detection."

Before leaving, the visitor glanced at the completely enclosed stone house on the east side of the camp, paused for two seconds, and then turned and left.

Ning Yao stood at the edge of the camp, watching him leave, before turning back and whispering to Cheng Xiushi, "They already know Xiao Fan is here. If you don't go, you'll be arrested. They've already checked."

Master Cheng's expression darkened, but he remained silent and did not react excessively. He simply increased the number of sentries on the east and west sides of the camp.