The Eternal Saint of Alchemy

The autumn night records from the North Tower continue. After confirming the autumnal equinox, no new long-range reconnaissance signals appeared at the Guzong stronghold, and there were no further changes in the personnel at the stronghold.

Since the cultivator surnamed Tong last appeared, he has not shown up again, and there has been no definite news about him.

After reviewing the patrol logs sent by Cheng Xiusheng and the supplies provided by Ning Yao, Xiao Fan included the autumn defense plan in the next phase of the work plan and made detailed adjustments.

The number of bounty requests and the influence of the bounty list have entered a period of steady growth since autumn.

In the third week after the start of autumn, the number of applications from several settlements around the Silver Plain increased significantly, with three of them contacting Shuangjietai for the first time.

This autumn, the old hunter Pei modified the bounty list to include missions from more distant locations without increasing their risk.

Ning Yao wrote very clearly in her report that by the beginning of autumn, the Twin Realms Platform had enough stored spiritual materials and ores to cover the costs of bounties and patrols throughout the autumn.

The ore production at the rust rift valley mines is nearly 20 percent higher in autumn than in summer, which makes up for the shortage of the anvil vein.

Xiao Fan used his short staff and Silver Frost Sword to check the spiritual energy connection in early autumn, confirming that the entire northern pipeline network was operating normally in late autumn.

After confirming that everything was correct, Bai Ye sheathed his Silver Frost Sword and told him that the next batch of data had been sent to White Camel Ridge in the third week of autumn and was expected to arrive on time.

The Earth Core Golden Mane Beast stirred at the entrance of the magic laboratory, perched on the doorframe, its golden mane gleaming in the late autumn sunlight.

The new batch of tasks in the main hall had been completed on the evening of the third week of autumn. Brother Cheng put the new task records into a cardboard box, which listed the completion time and who was in charge.

The flags at the four corners of the wall lit up precisely on time as the days grew shorter, their thickness and edges like those of summer, leaving a uniform outline for the early autumn nights.

In the third week of late autumn, the messenger from White Camel Ridge arrived at Shuangjietai on time, which was the appointed day.

The messenger brought a brief report, consisting of only a short document stating that the last observation record of the Southern Continent Ancient Sect had ended two weeks ago.

When the caravan from White Camel Ridge crossed the Silver Plain, they found it deserted. The markers around the camp had disappeared, and the ground was covered with traces of human activity, indicating that the area had not been completely cleaned up during the evacuation.

After reading the battle report, Cheng Xiushi relayed it word for word to Xiao Fan and Elder Hunter Pei.

After listening, Old Master Pei made a mark on his bounty list and said, "The retreat from the stronghold was too fast. It doesn't look like a long period of rest, but rather that the focus of the entire operation has shifted."

Holding the intelligence report, Xiao Fan compared it with a series of records in the array room, confirming that the actual closing time of the ancient sect's stronghold was consistent with what was stated in the intelligence report.

Instead of immediately adjusting the autumn defense plan, he instructed Brother Cheng to add a new item to the patrol log north of the tower: to record whether there were any traces of human activity near the Silver Plains.

That afternoon, some new tasks appeared on the bounty board.

Grandpa Pei read through all the investigation reports and then followed all the procedures. That evening, all the tasks were posted online.

It's the last two weeks of autumn, and three extremely difficult bounties have emerged from different directions.

One report mentioned a valley in the central part of Aurora Plains, near Ironfortress, where there was a large amount of spiritual energy fluctuation. Another report mentioned a settlement on the edge of the Silver Plains where a clue to a suspected mineral vein was found in a rock layer. The third report mentioned an unusual sound coming from an abandoned monitoring station more than 100 kilometers east of the North Tower.

This is the first time that three bounties have arrived almost simultaneously.

Cheng Xiushi met with Pei Liehu and Xiao Fan to determine the levels of the three missions.

The cultivator surnamed Song led a team to explore the valley. The clues about the mineral vein were divided into two stages. The old hunter Pei was responsible for making a preliminary assessment of the abnormal situation in the abandoned observation station.

After the meeting, Xiao Fan returned to the array room and marked the locations of the three bounty offers with a short, crimson staff.

This valley is located on the edge of Iron Peak Fortress, closer to the center of the Silver Plains than most known mines, and the observatory is several days away from the old site of the ancient clan. Therefore, it cannot be directly linked to the short message received in late autumn and can be treated as an independent geographical event for the time being.

That evening, Old Master Pei left, heading towards the abandoned observation post.

Brando didn't bring any more people with him. He simply slung his longsword over his back, then scaled the wall. The Golden Mane Beast from the Earth's Core glanced at him before closing its eyes.

Three days later, at dusk, Old Man Pei returned to Shuangjietai.

He brought back a detailed observation report, which revealed the source of the unusual sound from both the inside and outside. It was the sound produced by a stone step constantly expanding and contracting due to the temperature difference between day and night.

This abandoned observation post is over a hundred years old, coinciding with the time when the Taixu Dan Holy Tower was built, but it is relatively independent.

There were no signs of human activity inside the observation post, nor were any traces of spiritual energy left by the ancient sect of the Southern Continent found.

Master Cheng recorded Elder Pei's assessment report and marked it as "harmless, recommended to keep, but not as an active task".

The cultivator surnamed Song has confirmed that this is simply a redistribution of shallow spiritual energy caused by changes in water level, not a problem with the pipe network.

Of the three challenging tasks, two have been confirmed safe and completed, while the mineral vein clue at the edge of the Silver Plains displays the message "Additional information needed to determine whether to continue," which has been marked by Elder Pei.

That evening, Bai Ye arrived at the array room, and his Silver Frost Sword had become somewhat cold due to the approaching winter chill.

She stood at the entrance of the formation room, looking at the update records on the leaderboard, before sitting down.

In the last week before winter, the messenger from White Camel Ridge delivered intelligence to Roland as always.

This document also includes a recent discovery about the central mountain range of the Silver Plains, as well as an investigation request for a small settlement.

The investigation requirements are not high. The messenger mentioned when submitting the materials that this area is very small and currently does not have the capacity to issue bounties. Therefore, he hopes to obtain the support of the Twin Platforms for investigation through data exchange.

After reading the application, Xiao Fan handed it to Elder Pei, the hunter, for evaluation.