The Eternal Saint of Alchemy

He reined in his horse, his gaze sweeping over the crowd, lingering on Xiao Fan for a moment before turning to Leng Tiefeng and saying, "Lord Leng, you don't need to sit with the people from Shuangjietai to discuss matters in the north."

On behalf of the Southern Ancient Sect branch, I'm here to tell you something: to the north of the geothermal passage, there is an unmarked main vein. If Iron Peak Fortress is willing to develop it independently, then the Southern Ancient Sect branch will provide accurate coordinates and technical support; there's no need to share it with the Twin Realms Platform.

There was silence in the conference room.

The young master of Qinglu Manor paused, holding his teacup. The one-eyed man from the Crimson Iron Gang narrowed his eyes, and several of the followers of Iron Peak Fortress unconsciously placed their hands on their weapons, looking as if they were facing a formidable enemy.

Leng Tiefeng sat there motionless. He looked at the man surnamed Tong, then at Xiao Fan, before slowly standing up and walking to the edge of the high ground. He said, "Iron Peak Fortress has indeed conducted independent exploration in the north, but their exploration plan is still ongoing. Your technical support has arrived a bit late. The framework for the next season's node allocation has already been finalized at the Dual Realm Platform."

Upon hearing this, the cultivator surnamed Tong's expression shifted.

He clearly hadn't expected this reaction, and instinctively tightened his grip on the reins, then loosened them again.

He glanced at Xiao Fan, who was sitting behind Leng Tiefeng. The latter had already picked up his teacup. Bai Ye sat motionless in his chair, the Silver Frost Sword in his hand almost touching him. Several of the followers of the cultivator surnamed Tong also looked away.

He pulled on the reins and led his entourage southward at breakneck speed.

Leng Tiefeng stood at the edge of the high ground, waiting until the group had gone far away before turning around, returning to the table, and taking a sip of the now-cold tea. "Overestimating themselves."

The meeting concluded in the afternoon.

After the performance, Bai Ye and Xiao Fan rode side by side toward the Twin Realms Platform. She glanced back at him, paused for a moment in the winter sunlight, and then continued to look ahead.

The Golden-Maned Lion from the Earth's Core walked at the very front, its mane radiating a faint golden light that warmed the snow-covered ground.

Five days later, Xiao Fan inspected the border of the Twin Realms Platform.

This route starts from Twin Peaks, heads south to the collection point in Rust Rift, then north, passing through the Iron Vein, Anvil Town, North Tower, and along a short distance along the edge of the ice field north of the tower, before turning back.

Bai Ye followed behind, while Di Xin Jin Zong led the way, his pale golden mane shimmering in the sunlight.

As Ning Yao passed by the Rust Rift, she was counting the first batch of spirit powder produced in the spring. When she saw Xiao Fan and Bai Ye approaching, she put down her ledger and said, "This winter's inventory is 20 percent less than expected. The maintenance records at the anvil are also very timely, and the production line in the north is operating much faster than last winter."

As he passed through the tower, the guard captain reported to him on the results of a spring patrol: the connection between the Ice Wolf Tribe and White Camel Ridge had been severed, and the roads were now clear after the snow melted.

Xiao Fan glanced through the new quarterly patrol log and marked the Ice Wolf Division's outposts on the map.

During the last leg of the patrol, they happened to pass by Tiezhanji. The woman surnamed Shi stood at the entrance of the newly built market and waved to the crowd.

Behind her, in the wooden houses of the market town, the first batch of edible moss harvested in spring was drying in the sun. The gray-green moss shimmered in the sunlight. People in the anvil yard had already set up new clotheslines on the edge of the open space, and another batch of ore was being transported to the market town warehouse along the newly built path.

Xiao Fan reined in his horse and paused outside the market. He glanced at the completed wooden houses and the places where moss was drying in the sun, then turned and headed south toward the Twin Realms Platform.

When they returned to the stronghold, the setting sun had already fallen outside the city walls, turning the entire highland into a sea of ​​orange-red.

The Earth Core Golden Mane Beast returned to the wall, swept its tail around, and then lay down on the ground without moving.

Xiao Fan sat at the table in the main hall, looking through the newly added accounts for the day. Bai Ye walked in, leaning the Silver Frost Sword against the door, with only two feet between them.

Since the first major inspection in the spring, the daily operations of Shuangjietai have been on track.

After completing their inspection, the Iron Anvil Collection sent people back from the far north ice plains to bring back a batch of solidified ice crystal samples. These were crystals formed from high concentrations of spiritual energy, as recorded in the Iron Anvil Collection's records, and could be used as a medium to stabilize the spiritual energy of low-level spiritual artifacts.

Xiao Fan took the red crystal from the short staff and conducted a test in the array room, confirming that the stability of the frozen ice crystal's spiritual energy could indeed support the precise control of spiritual energy within the array room.

That evening, after receiving the samples, Xiao Fan set off for Tiezhenji.

The villagers of Tiezhenji built a simple drying yard on a sheltered high ground north of the mine. At the edge of the drying yard were dense ore that had just been mined from deep inside the mine.

Bai Ye followed him to Iron Anvil Town. Led by the woman surnamed Shi, they saw a rock formation exposed to the elements. From the cross-section, the vein was much larger than he had expected.

The woman surnamed Shi picked up a piece of freshly mined ore, weighed it in her hand, and said, "To the north, there is an even deeper vein, about twenty meters deeper than the current one, and it is the same as the northernmost branch of the Shuangjietai underground backup network."

At the end of this branch, there should be more exploitable layers. When the summer ice completely melts, Anvil City will undergo a formal, in-depth exploration.

Xiao Fan took the ore handed to him by the woman surnamed Shi and examined it. On the map provided by Baituo Ridge, there was an extended zone in the mineral exploration records of Tiezhenji, marked as a fault line from north of the geothermal tunnel all the way to the northernmost boundary of the Aurora Plain.

After Xiao Fan and the woman surnamed Shi confirmed the start time of summer mining and the allocation of personnel, they walked a short distance north along the vein and located the second layer.

As soon as summer arrives, Tiezhenji begins its planned exploration of deep mineral veins.

Sure enough, at the predetermined depth, the newly mined iron ore layer was more abundant than expected, and it was also accompanied by a layer of fire-attribute ore.

The appearance of the iron ore vein has made the iron ore resources of Shuangjietai more abundant, and the small amount of fire attribute spiritual materials has further enriched the spiritual material reserves of the stronghold.

With the arrival of summer, the affairs of Shuangjietai's territory have entered a high-speed operation phase.

A stable material flow line is formed between Tiezhenji, the mining site, and Beita, and fixed rotation and material handover procedures have been established at the nodes along the line.

In a briefing in mid-month, Brother Cheng confirmed that the volume of materials circulating this quarter increased by nearly 40% compared to the same period last year, while total defense spending decreased by about 15%.

Xiao Fan and Bai Ye practiced using a short staff and a Silver Frost Sword together, creating a dual-spirit weapon.

The exercise simulated a large-scale attack on the northern geothermal channel, and lasted for an afternoon.