The Eternal Saint of Alchemy

That evening, while Cheng, the cultivator, was taking inventory of materials in the main house, he suddenly sensed that the spiritual energy fluctuations in the array room were much more stable than before. He couldn't help but look up and ask, "Has that companion crystal been fully fused?"

Xiao Fan responded and sat down at the table, adjusting the connection point between the short staff and the accompanying crystal.

Bai Ye leaned against the door frame of the hall, flipping through records about the Silver Frost Sword.

The walls and magic arrays throughout the camp began to tremble slightly.

The news of the emergence of companion crystals is of unknown origin.

Ten days later, in the afternoon, a group of uninvited guests arrived outside the stronghold's walls.

The group consisted of eight or nine people. The leader was a middle-aged cultivator wearing a dark brown thick leather robe and a seven-colored disc hanging from his waist. He was at the peak of the ninth rank and was followed by two early-stage ninth-rank martial artists and several eighth-rank experts.

A group of people stopped three meters away from the city wall.

The leader didn't say much, but with a wave of his hand, a thick spiritual energy shield rose from beneath everyone's feet, surrounding them.

The Silver Hammer Society members guarding the door immediately sounded the alarm, and Master Cheng quickly came out of the courtyard and stood guard at the door.

"This is the territory of the plateau base. What brings you here?" Master Cheng asked politely, but he refused to back down an inch.

The man in the lead took a red disc from his waist and placed it in his palm.

Within that disc was a small red rhomboid crystal, only one-third the size of the accompanying crystal, but identical in color and texture.

"My surname is Lu, and I am the leader of an independent force in the northern part of Aurora Plains. The red crystal that you obtained at your stronghold is of the same origin as the one I have."

The leader, surnamed Lu, said in a consultative tone, "I have a complete record of the origin of this small crystal. It was found in an abandoned mine in the northern part of the Aurora Plains. Your crystal is on that spiritual vein, so let's share it."

As Xiao Fan walked to the door, he overheard their conversation.

He walked a few steps to the side of the cultivator Cheng and carefully examined the small crystal in the hand of the cultivator surnamed Lu. Sure enough, there was a faint sense of resonance.

Xiao Fan did not deny it. He took out the companion crystal, placed it in his palm, and felt the connection between the two.

"I acknowledge that Mr. Lu's crystal is of the same origin as mine. However, I found it in the far north using a short staff. If Mr. Lu wishes to share resources, we can sit down and have a proper discussion. But appearing openly outside the city walls like this today is somewhat inappropriate."

The middle-aged man surnamed Lu glanced at the short staff in Xiao Fan's hand, then at the accompanying crystal beside him, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes.

Behind him, two martial artists moved slightly and assumed fighting stances.

The leader surnamed Lu did not answer immediately. Instead, he put the small crystal into his waist and pondered for a moment before saying, "Let's sit down and talk in detail. But before that, I need to go to the array room of your stronghold to test whether the spiritual energy fluctuations of these two crystals are the same."

Bai Ye had already reached the wall at some point.

She held the Silver Frost Sword, standing in the shadows at the entrance, the patterns on the sword flowing slowly, like a silent shadow.

Bai Ye said calmly, "The resonance test in the array room requires an appointment; outsiders are not allowed to enter."

The leader surnamed Lu glanced at the Silver Frost Sword in Bai Ye's hand, looking at the flowing patterns on it, his expression unchanged, but his followers behind him looked tense.

Inside the array chamber, the spiritual energy fluctuations of the short staff and its accompanying crystal continued to emanate outwards as always.

The leader surnamed Lu did not react immediately, but stood still.

He faced off with Xiao Fan for a moment, then finally removed his spiritual energy shield, saying, "I will be waiting for you at the boundary marker where Aurora Plains and Starfall Plains meet in three days. You take this short staff and the accompanying crystal, and I will take the recording crystal. If we can't reach an agreement, we can discuss how to handle this further."

After leaving those words, he led everyone away from the stronghold and disappeared into the far north.

After watching them leave, Master Cheng turned to Xiao Fan and asked, "Do you want to go?"

"Go." Xiao Fan put away the companion crystal. "He just wanted to confirm whether the crystal in my hand came from the same source. If he really wanted to steal something, he would have started from outside long ago."

Bai Ye walked to the fence, turned to Xiao Fan and said, "The boundary marker is located on the outer perimeter of Qinglu Manor. In the event of a conflict, at least this location will not be isolated and helpless."

Three days later, at the border between Starfall Plain and Aurora Plain, only Xiao Fan appeared.

The man surnamed Lu, who was leading the group, had already arrived. He had spread out a map of animal hide in front of him, which showed a map of the spiritual energy veins in the far north.

Without further ado, he pointed to one of the veins and said, "This path leads from the far north to my crystal mine. The crystal you obtained should have been obtained by following this vein."

Xiao Fan squatted on the ground, carefully examining the vein.

This is a map more detailed than a bone fragment, marked with the far north, a place he had never set foot in.

He took out his short staff and the accompanying crystal, placed them next to the map, and the two resonated once again.

The leader surnamed Lu narrowed his eyes but did not reach out to touch it.

"The crystal in your hand belongs to the same vein as the one in mine. This is a by-product ore; mine is from the middle section of the vein, while yours is from the end." Boss Lu's tone was much gentler than three days ago. "If this vein were fully mined, the spiritual materials produced would be at least equivalent to the annual output of your stronghold. You can't mine it all by yourself."

As Xiao Fan spoke, he drew several lines on the map, estimated the distances, and then looked up, saying, "The excavation of the network can be carried out in phases. You will be responsible for the middle section, and I will be responsible for the final section. The output will be used independently, but if any facilities related to the pipeline are discovered during the mining process, they must be exchanged."

The leader surnamed Lu thought for a moment, then took out the small crystal from his waist and played with it for a while. "Alright, but the mining rights for the middle section must be written into the agreement to avoid disputes later."

He took out a piece of white paper from his pocket, unfolded it, and signed his name on it.

As he spoke, his gaze fell on the waist tag on Xiao Fan's waist: "This is a marker on a stone gate on the north side of Aurora Plains. I tried to open that stone gate twice, but I couldn't. If you have time, you can go and take a look."

Xiao Fan put away the parchment scroll and the accompanying crystal, then stood up.

After signing the contract with Boss Lu, everything at the stronghold returned to normal.