The Eternal Saint of Alchemy

Bai Ye stood by the window of the array room, looking at the Silver Frost Sword in his hand, and said, "Black Stone Pass has been operating in the north for so many years, and the intelligence gathered by its guards is generally reliable."

If the seal is unbreakable, then it truly is unbreakable. Since they've found the Dual Realm Platform, it means the spiritual energy characteristics of this sealing system are consistent with the frequency of the main platform.

For the past three days, he has been preparing equipment and has also transferred a batch of high-purity spiritual material powder from the Ironrust Rift Valley in case of emergency.

Before setting off, Bai Ye had already prepared the special detection module for the Silver Frost Sword.

On the morning of the fourth day, another group of people appeared at the entrance to the Twin Realms Platform.

The Earth Core Golden Mane Beast took the lead, its golden mane gleaming in the sunlight.

Xiao Fan rode his horse out of the courtyard wall. Bai Ye had already arrived. She was standing by the roadside, holding the Silver Frost Sword. The two walked side by side.

Cheng Xiushi and Ning Yao stayed at the Twin Realms Platform to handle affairs during this period.

It took seven days to travel north from Shuangjietai.

The terrain along the way gradually changed, from a pale golden aurora plain to a gray-black rocky area. The fissures on the ground were much denser than in the south, and occasionally some scorching steam could be seen gushing out from the fissures, forming brief columns of air.

Around noon on the eighth day, the walls of Black Stone Pass came into view. It was a dark gray rock formation three times higher than Twin Realms Platform, with an arrow tower on each wall, and a blazing brazier on top of the tower for warning and illumination.

Deacon Meng was already waiting before the door closed.

Led by Deacon Meng, the group entered the gate. The entire Black Stone Pass was much larger than it appeared from the outside, divided into residential areas, storage areas, and spiritual material areas, with wide and flat roads.

The gatekeeper was a middle-aged woman who looked very capable. When she saw Xiao Fan enter, she immediately stood up and said bluntly, "The sealed layer is three miles north of the gate. I'll take you there to see it."

After walking for about half an hour, the gatekeeper and Steward Meng led Xiao Fan and Bai Ye to a place covered with thick rocks.

The seal's surface is a black, circular rock wall about three meters in diameter, which doesn't look much different from other rocks.

But when Xiao Fan placed the short staff against the rock wall, the crimson crystal emitted a faint light, indicating that the structure of the seal was exactly the same as that on the bronze disc on the Twin Realms Platform.

"The last time I attacked the seal with my chisel, a glimmer of light appeared on its surface, but it only lasted for three breaths before disappearing," the gatekeeper said, standing a few meters away. "I've never seen this shape of light pattern in any of Black Stone Pass's records."

Xiao Fan used his short staff to inject the spiritual power of the Sun-Rank Spirit Core into the seal layer by layer.

The psionic structure of the sealed layer only touched the outermost layer of the white tower projection. When manipulated at close range, the feedback information was more complete, and the frequency bands of each layer showed a dense, progressive arrangement.

This time, he passed through the two seals smoothly without encountering much hindrance.

When the spiritual power on the short staff was injected into the third layer, a golden pattern immediately lit up on the surface of the seal. This pattern lasted for a full five breaths before stabilizing and slowly moving along the edge of the stone wall, eventually forming the phantom of a door.

Once the light and shadow stabilized, the center of the rock wall dipped down by about half a foot, creating a narrow opening that could only accommodate one person at a time.

The gatekeeper stood at a distance, watching this scene. After a moment of contemplation, he said, "It hasn't opened after three attempts."

Bai Ye, holding the Silver Frost Sword, stood at the edge of the light barrier, checked the spiritual energy in the passage, and then made way for him.

Xiao Fan stood at the edge of the cave entrance and looked down. An ancient spiritual aura emanated from inside the cave, just like the dotted line in the bronze disc projection, completely different from the Taixu Dansheng system.

He stepped into the narrow passage.

In the narrow passageway, a circular stone chamber appeared, larger than the bronze stone chamber on the double-boundary platform.

The four walls are made of dark gray rock, just like the walls of Blackstone Pass, only much denser, and the surface is inlaid with dozens of dark crystals.

In the very center of the stone chamber, there is a map even more detailed than the bronze disc. This map covers the entire area, from the southern end of Starfall Plain to the north of Black Stone Pass, and further north lies an unexplored region.

The map marked several branching pipes that were not recorded on the skeletal map. At the end of each pipe was a small spiritual energy node, making it look like a backup network that had been hidden for many years.

Xiao Fan squatted at the center edge of the map and gently tapped the unrecorded side quest mark with his crimson short staff. As soon as the crystal touched it, it burst into brilliant light and resonated briefly with the core frequency of the Twin Realms Platform.

This node is currently dormant, but structurally it can be activated if someone approaches it and infuses it with psionic energy.

Bai Ye scanned the map with his Silver Frost Sword, confirming that the spirit waves of each branch were connected to the main control system of the Dual Realm Platform. The entire map presented a deep backup system running in parallel with the ground network.

Xiao Fan memorized the entire map and made a copy before standing up: "The coverage of the underground backup network far exceeds that of the existing main network, extending from Black Stone Pass all the way to the heart of Starfall Plains."

The gatekeeper stood outside the stone chamber. Upon hearing Xiao Fan's words, his expression remained unchanged, but his eyes became serious.

As a fortress, Heishiguan has always been relatively conservative in its expansion and control of the frontier. However, the several lines extending northward marked on this map happen to encompass several areas around Heishiguan that have long been unable to obtain stable supplies.

After Xiao Fan and Bai Ye recorded the last set of data, they handed it to the gatekeeper and explained the effects of activating these backup lines and their impact on the area around Black Stone Pass.

After reviewing the map, the gatekeeper nodded and said, "My Black Stone Gate is willing to cooperate with the Twin Realms Platform to develop and activate all the regions in this map."

The two sides exchanged basic contact information and achieved phased coordination.

Back on the ground, Xiao Fan estimated the height of the city wall and the distance between the two towers before saying to the gatekeeper, "Blackstone Fortress has a wealth of experience in defense and construction; we can continue to discuss this aspect."

The gatekeeper nodded.

Three days later, Xiao Fan had Cheng Xiushi hang a notice at the entrance announcing the recruitment of guards for the Twin Realms Platform.

Their requirements were very simple: as long as one had solid cultivation, obeyed orders, and was willing to stay at the stronghold for a long time.

Three days later, more than a dozen rogue cultivators arrived. Cultivator Cheng tested their cultivation level and spiritual power one by one, and finally selected the first group of eight.