The Eternal Saint of Alchemy

A pair of rogue cultivators who came from the edge of the gray area moved here on their own initiative after learning that there was a new stronghold that could provide them with stable resources and cultivation conditions.

Not long after, a three-person team returning from hunting on the outskirts of Aurora Plains passed by this place. Seeing the complex spiritual energy emanating from this wall and the array room, they decided to rest here for the night and expressed their willingness to stay.

Xiao Fan took out a simple sign with everyone's name and cultivation level written on it, which Ning Yao was responsible for registering and managing.

By the eighth week, more than thirty people had moved in, and an additional row of side rooms had been added to one side of the main building.

As more and more people gathered, Xiao Fan assigned the daily tasks to Cheng Xiushi and Ning Yao respectively.

Cheng Xiushi was in charge of the internal operations of the base, including the allocation and coordination of materials; Ning Yao was in charge of field operations, patrolling and maintaining the mine.

Bai Ye would occasionally travel south from Xingluo Plains, but he would never stay for long, at most half a day, before taking out his Silver Frost Sword to record his spiritual energy data and then leaving.

Just as the stronghold was gradually getting on track, a young man riding a bluish-gray spirit deer appeared outside the city walls.

The man was about twenty-five or twenty-six years old, with a fair complexion and no beard. He wore a dark green brocade robe and had a waist tag hanging from his waist.

It was a rune somewhat similar to the White Pagoda magic array, except that it had a ring of thorn-like patterns around the edge.

He stopped the spirit deer outside the wall, surveyed its construction, glanced at the seedlings of spirit herbs covering the ground, raised an eyebrow, and looked down at them, saying, "Who is in charge here? My surname is Liu, and I am the young master of Qinglu Manor, located in the northeast of Xinglu Plain. The spiritual energy here has been fluctuating considerably these past few days. Qinglu Manor would like to ask why you chose this place as your base?"

Xiao Fan walked out of the array room, stood by the wall, and his gaze fell on the thorny medallion on the young man's waist.

He had never seen this pattern in any faction before, but the residual spiritual energy on it was different from the ice attribute of the Frost Shadow Sect, and it seemed to belong to a relatively uncommon type in the Taixu Dansheng system.

Xiao Fan replied calmly, "The plateau base is located at the intersection of the three major regions, and is mainly responsible for the maintenance of the surrounding pipeline network and the management of spiritual materials."

The young master of Qinglu Manor glanced thoughtfully at the waist token on Xiao Fan's waist, then looked at Xiao Fan again and said, "I've seen this pattern in the family genealogy before. You also possess the inheritance of the Grand Void Pill Saint?"

Xiao Fan nodded, indicating his agreement.

Upon receiving an affirmative answer, the young master's expression changed slightly.

He paused for a moment, then continued, "Back then, the ancestor of Qinglu Manor joined forces with the Grandmaster of Alchemy, but the alliance was cut short. As for the reason for the breakup, the manor did not record it, only saying, 'If the Grandmaster of Alchemy returns in the future, we will treat them with courtesy.'"

At this point, his voice noticeably softened.

Xiao Fan noticed this and specially invited him to the stronghold for tea, indicating that there was currently no conflict of interest between him and Qinglu Manor.

Half an hour later, the young master of Qinglu Manor took his leave.

Before leaving, he looked at the complex spiritual light in the array room and said, "Qinglu Manor will contact you next. Leave any messages you need to convey here, such as the boundary marker in the northeast of Xingluo Plain."

Less than half a month after the young master of Qinglu Manor left, Qinglu Manor sent a letter and several spiritual materials.

The letter, written in the voice of the current head of Qinglu Manor, expresses Qinglu Manor's willingness to establish long-term ties with various strongholds on the plateau and exchange border intelligence.

This includes the patrol areas between the two factions, and the agreement to immediately notify each other when a new spiritual material vein is discovered.

In addition, Qinglu Manor is willing to clear out a plot of land in the northeast of Xingluo Plain for them to conduct short-term cultivation experiments.

Cheng Xiushi took the letter and looked at the samples in his hand—three high-grade spirit stone mines in the northeast of Xingluo Plain, two vibrant seven-colored ice thorn grasses, and a small bottle of extremely pure Arctic crystal dew, all of which he examined one by one.

The density of spirit ore is much higher than that of ore in the gray area, and the seven-colored ice thorn grass can also survive here.

After examining the samples, Xiao Fan confirmed that the batch of goods provided by Qinglu Manor could indeed fill the current production gap at the stronghold.

He had already instructed Master Cheng to prepare return gifts, including carefully selected fire-attribute ores from the mine and fire-attribute seedlings cultivated in the spiritual material area.

As news of the alliance between the two sides spread, some independent cultivators and small forces in the vicinity also changed their attitudes.

Along the way, there were no more unknown spies. Even the rogue cultivators who occasionally wandered around the edge of the platform kept their distance.

Ning Yao once reported during a night patrol that spiritual energy was leaking out of the spiritual materials area that night. Some rogue cultivators noticed it but did not go forward to investigate.

Xiao Fan adjusted the short staff in the array room to maintain the balance of spiritual energy in the nurturing area.

He noticed that the flow of spiritual energy in the pipe below the nurturing area would have a brief peak at night, which could be completely avoided by guiding it with a short staff every night.

He asked Brother Cheng to include this discovery in the fortress's daily maintenance regulations.

With the addition of Qinglu Manor as an ally, the environment around the plateau stronghold has been greatly improved. Even the crevices on the edge of the Aurora Plains, which were prone to breeding low-level alien beasts, have begun to slowly heal.

By the tenth week, the base had begun to expand.

The city wall was extended outward by one-third, creating a small open space in front of the array room, where a simple general-purpose training platform and a spiritual material testing ground with an isolation barrier were built.

In Xiao Fan's view, the spiritual materials area is of paramount importance.

He took out some spiritual materials from his spatial artifact, categorized them, and then used his short staff to continuously input spiritual energy to adjust various environmental factors, such as spiritual energy concentration, light angle, soil composition, and so on.

This series of experimental data laid a solid foundation for the large-scale cultivation of rare and precious medicinal materials in the future.

"The Frostshadow Cult has an experimental site in the southern part of Starfall Plains, which is used to test whether spiritual materials can survive at high altitudes." The following week, Bai Ye came to the base and looked at the markings on the various samples. "If you wish, you can use some of the culture medium, which will allow you to complete the experiment more quickly."

Xiao Fan agreed.

Before leaving, Bai Ye gave Xiao Fan the methods and records of cultivating the Seven-Colored Ice Thorn Grass taught by Shuangying Sect.

The golden-maned beast from the Earth's core lay at the laboratory entrance, staring at Bai Ye for a long time. A bright light shone on its neck fur, giving off a very strange feeling.

As the base continues to expand, the first batch of fire-attribute spiritual materials in the spiritual material nurturing area has matured. This time, Xiao Fan brought the two of them directly to the spiritual material area.

With the spiritual energy overflowing from the pipe and the guidance of the short staff, the sapling grew very well, even better than Ning Yao had imagined.