The Eternal Saint of Alchemy

The Earth Core Golden Mane Beast stopped, sniffed the air, and let out a short cry, seemingly as a warning.

When it looked at Xiao Fan, its eyes held an unprecedented level of vigilance, as if to say, "Someone's here, and not just passing by."

Xiao Fan moved all the crystal pillars aside, revealing an archway that had already been opened.

Some fresh spiritual energy still lingered in the passage. Some of this energy resonated with the cold nature of the schism, while the rest possessed a feminine quality, like highly refined female spiritual power.

He stepped into the passage, with the Earth Core Golden Mane Beast following lightly behind him.

The passage wasn't long; after walking a little over a hundred steps, we arrived at a circular underground hall.

The bronze discs on the walls of the hall had been removed, with only a few still emitting a faint glow.

In the center of the hall, where the equipment should have been turned on, there was now only an empty hole. At the edge of that hole was a ball of golden powder, mixed with some purplish-black threads.

The Earth Core Golden Mane Beast walked to the empty groove, sniffed the powder on the ground, and then retreated to Xiao Fan's side, seemingly to confirm something.

Xiao Fan squatted down and touched the powder on the edge of the groove with his finger. The residual spiritual energy fluctuations in the golden powder matched the lunar-level energy fluctuations in his spiritual core, which meant that this was a core component related to the backup interface.

Those deep purple, thread-like substances were a kind of spiritual energy imprint he had never seen before, belonging neither to any faction nor to the Taixu Dansheng faction.

He walked around the walls of the rotunda and found a tattered piece of cloth in an inconspicuous crack in a brick on the north wall.

The fabric is very light and thin, with a dark color and finely trimmed edges; every thread is cut neatly.

He held the fragment in his hand and examined it carefully with the Flame of Creation. Within the structure of this piece of fabric, there were fine silver threads, and at the end of the threads was a deep purple spiritual energy mark.

Materials of this caliber are not something that independent cultivators or local forces can obtain.

He took out a clean bag from his spatial artifact, put the cloth inside, and collected some golden powder and some dark purple silk threads.

There was nothing else in the round hall.

He checked the mechanism in the groove, then led the Earth Core Golden Mane Beast back to the surface.

The Earth Core Golden Mane Beast stood beside the crystal pillar, looking at the cave entrance, its mane slightly raised, as if it were on guard against something.

Soon, the analysis of the spiritual energy of the fabric yielded results.

An appraiser from Ningyao Silver Hammer Society, who had a deep understanding of various spiritual materials, looked at the fabrics and his expression became serious: "This is a branch of Starfall Plains. They call themselves the 'Frost Shadow Cult.' They split more than a hundred years ago. The Frost Shadow Cult is more radical than the orthodox split cults. They believe in using the power of extreme cold to reverse-erode and merge the multiple spiritual power networks left by the Grandmaster of the Void."

Xiao Fan compared the patterns on the fabric with the records of the Frost Shadow Sect and confirmed that his judgment was correct.

The backup passage in the center of the Silver Plains has been taken by the Frost Shadow Cult.

They arrived at the scene first, took away the core component, and left a trace of spiritual energy at the scene, a method different from the orthodox methods of the separatist faction.

The Frostshadow Cult is far inferior to the Splits.

Although there are significant conflicts between the two factions, they are still willing to communicate openly on the surface. Even Elder Zhou is willing to bring out his ancient books and survey records.

The Frost Shadow Cult never showed themselves. They only did one thing: they took away the core component without anyone noticing, leaving no trace except for a tattered piece of cloth left in the crack between the bricks.

The Earth Core Golden Mane Beast is much more vigilant than before.

It would occasionally raise its head and look towards the southern part of Xingluo Plain, the patterns on its mane flickering, as if there was always something indescribable about it.

That evening, Xiao Fan opened the skeletal map again and made a final comparison with the entire projection of the White Tower.

The backup connection point in the center of the Silver Plains is the only place connecting the Gray Area, Aurora Plains, and Star Plains. Once the core component is removed, the connection between the three main lines will become slow.

The Frostshadow Cult took it not just to interfere with the network, but the core component itself is an independent magical artifact that can guide and change the flow of energy of different attributes.

If the Frostshadow Cult masters how to use it, they could completely create a psionic branch network under their control within the main network of Starfall Plains.

The Earth Core Golden Mane Beast followed behind him.

The night breeze blowing from the direction of Aurora Plain carried a slight chill.

He stood at the tower gate for a while, listening intently to the sound of the wind and the occasional faint explosions coming from the distant ice plains, already plotting how to find the core component as soon as possible.

Early the next morning, he left the southern part of Starfall Plain with the Earth Core Golden Mane Beast and put the piece of cloth into his storage magic artifact.

The Earth Core Golden Mane Beast's spiritual power sensed the deep purple mark on the fabric. The mark wasn't strong, but it was always there, like a thin line connecting the two marks.

As they passed the Watchers' camp, Elder Mu was there. When he heard about the Frostshadow Cult, he frowned slightly and said, "I've dealt with the Frostshadow Cult once. These two women are stranger than anyone you've ever met. Don't mistake them for separatists."

Xiao Fan rested outside the camp for a while, replenished some dry food and water, before riding the Earth Core Golden Mane Beast southward.

The silver lines of the Frost Shadow Cult are almost invisible in sunlight, but under the starlight of Starfall Plains, these patterns emit a faint glow.

The Earth Core Golden Mane Beast led the way, walking steadily and seemingly confident in its destination.

In the southern part of Starfall Plains, on the edge of a deep purple tundra, there are few buildings left, only large expanses of black rocks and low, scattered stones.

The Earth Core Golden Mane Beast stopped in front of a small hill covered with purple moss. It used one of its front paws to push aside the thick moss, revealing a small stone door.

The runes on the stone gate are somewhat similar to those of the Split faction, but more refined, with each rune ending in an inward-curving line.

Xiao Fan pushed open the stone door, which led to a short corridor. At the end of the corridor was a stone chamber that was cleaner and tidier than the other rooms.

In each of the four corners of the stone chamber stood a deep purple crystal pillar, the base of which extended to the ground, clearly intended for lighting.

On the wall opposite him was a complete map of Starfall Plain. Its shape was similar to that of a bone map, but it was much finer and had a feminine touch.

The stone chamber was empty.