The Eternal Saint of Alchemy

Cheng Xiushi and the others inspected the edge of the ice crevice and confirmed that the entrance to the ice crevice was cut in batches and multiple times.

The team consisted of about twenty people, divided into several groups, each with its own team, and each team was moving forward continuously.

The Earth Core Golden Mane Beast sniffed the air, then turned the tip of its mane northwest, where the enemy camp was located.

Master Cheng, accompanied by two guards, observed the camp from the side and confirmed that there were more than twenty people in the camp. There was no campfire or lights in the camp, and the tents were the same color as the ice, making them difficult to spot even during the day.

Xiao Fan put away his short staff and focused his gaze on the iceberg in the northwest.

The fact that the other party chose to act on a winter night clearly shows that they are very familiar with the climate and terrain here, and do not want to be discovered too early.

They brought with them tools specifically designed to deal with the piping system of the Dual Realm Platform, indicating that their knowledge far surpassed that of ordinary rogue cultivators and hunting groups.

He looked at the iceberg and made up his mind that he could no longer give it a full start-up time.

"We'll make our move tonight. Master Cheng, you take your guards and block your retreat from the southeast. Bai Ye, you come with me to the front."

He crouched down and used his short cane to draw a path on the ice.

The Golden-Maned Beastman stood up, shook its scales, and golden light illuminated its path.

Fifteen minutes before nightfall, Xiao Fan and Bai Ye appeared directly in front of the iceberg.

In the twilight, both of them could see clearly that Bai Ye's white robe was similar in color to the ice surface, but the patterns on the Silver Frost Sword stood out conspicuously against the darkening sky.

The Earth Core Golden Mane Beast walked at the front, its pale golden mane shimmering in the sunlight like a beacon in the night.

Sure enough, the camp behind the iceberg had already noticed their arrival.

The tent flap was lifted a crack, and two figures walked out, standing about ten steps apart, coldly looking at Bai Ye and Xiao Fan.

One of them was wearing clothes that were different from those worn by Shuangjietai; the fabric was much thinner and the collar was much higher, which meant that they did not often operate on the Arctic ice sheet.

"Halt! This is our territory."

Xiao Fan stopped in his tracks, but he did not back down.

Bai Ye stood beside her, his Silver Frost Sword slowly lowering, the blade shimmering with light. An almost invisible synchronous line connected the edges of the tent right beside her.

Xiao Fan's voice was calm and clear: "The passage you dug is the underground network leading to the Twin Realms Platform. If you force your way through, it could damage the pipeline structure, and what will be damaged will not only be the geothermal energy, but also the spiritual energy supply of the entire northern extension area."

The two exchanged a glance.

One of them turned around and whispered something to the tent. The tent flap was lifted, and a middle-aged man of medium build and resolute face walked out.

The person was dressed in clean and tidy clothes. Although he did not deliberately release his spiritual power, his every move exuded confidence, and he was clearly a mid-stage ninth-rank cultivator.

He glanced at Xiao Fan, then at Bai Ye, and then at the Silver Frost Sword in her hand, saying in a scrutinizing tone, "From the Twin Realms Platform? Your power is truly formidable."

"The geothermal pipe you dug is part of the underground pipeline of Shuangjietai," Xiao Fan interrupted him. "Let's stop here for tonight. You can apply for use through official channels later."

"There are only two of you, plus the men lying in ambush southeast of the ice hill, making a total of fifteen. We have over twenty of us; do you think you can make me stop?"

Xiao Fan remained silent.

He grabbed the short staff and poured the spiritual power of his Sun-Rank Spirit Core into it, causing the crimson crystal to emit a dazzling golden light.

The spiritual energy traveled through the underground pipes to the entrance of the geothermal tunnel. The resonance frequency of the short staff and the spiritual energy structure on the cave wall were perfectly combined, and the resonance smoothed out every scratch on the inner wall of the tunnel.

The burly man glanced back at the crack and saw a flash of dark red light appear briefly before returning to normal. The rock miners behind him also stopped, as they had lost their original spiritual energy support during the resonance.

The man in the tight-fitting clothes withdrew his gaze from Xiao Fan. This time, he remained silent for a long time before taking a step back and saying, "The Twin Realms Platform's control over spiritual power is indeed far more sophisticated than we imagined. Let's call it a night."

He raised his hand, signaling the team to stop what they were doing and put away their tools.

The people in the camp acted quickly; in less than half an hour, they had packed their things and retreated northwest around the iceberg.

Xiao Fan did not give the order to pursue them. He stood in front of the iceberg and watched the group disappear into the night.

Bai Ye sheathed his longsword and said, "They will come again, but we must prepare for battle before they do."

The dark red light on the ice gradually faded, and the entrance to the geothermal tunnel stabilized again under the spiritual power of the short staff.

Master Cheng and his guards met up in the southeast of the ice hill. After confirming that the others had left, they returned to the meeting point and, after confirming that everyone was sealed off, headed south along the path they had come from.

As they passed the tower, the guards came to meet them, confirming that the strange phenomena had disappeared and that the north of Aurora Plains had returned to calm.

After returning to the Twin Realms Platform, Xiao Fan took a short staff and conducted a deep spiritual energy scan of the entrance to the underground passage.

Although the inner walls of the passage were not severely damaged, the transmission speed of spiritual energy slowed down in some areas.

According to the records on Bai Ye's Silver Frost Sword, at least three gentle guidance sessions are needed for the spiritual energy transmission efficiency within the channel to be fully restored.

Cheng Xiushi selected five of the stronger members from the guard team to form a temporary repair team, which was led by Bai Ye to the entrance of the geothermal tunnel to carry out the first repair work.

Xiao Fan stayed in the array room, providing remote support with his crimson short staff, while Bai Ye released the same spiritual energy fluctuations with his Silver Frost Sword.

The two worked together seamlessly, completing a guidance session in just two hours, restoring the conduction efficiency of the passage's inner walls to 70% of its original level.

That evening, Bai Ye returned to the Twin Realms Platform, carrying a bowl of steaming soup. The Silver Frost Sword lay across the table; although the sword's halos had dimmed somewhat, they were still relatively stable.

She took a sip of soup, put down her bowl, and said, "Although that group of people stopped, their chisels were specifically designed for the nodes of the Shuangjie Platform, which means they have information about the underground pipe network of the Shuangjie Platform. This intelligence cannot be a coincidence."