The Eternal Saint of Alchemy

The Rockskin Clan bypassed the Iron Anvil Mine and the Twin Realms Platform, heading southwest towards the Silver Plains.

According to news from White Camel Ridge, they received definite information in the autumn: a shallow rut and animal tracks were extending southwest from the edge of the silvery-white plain, which coincided with the Rock Skin Clan's plan.

Xiao Fan flipped through the Rockskin Clan's activity log for the past year. From the first team setting up camp in the dry valley, to establishing the arc markers, and then retreating, the Rockskin Clan maintained a clear sense of boundaries and a stable rhythm of action, without any conflict with the Twin Realms Platform.

"The Rock-Skinned Clan from the far north has been confirmed to be harmless. If we continue along the original route, we can periodically observe and record their positions."

Brother Cheng modified the autumn patrol route to include the arid valleys.

After the Rock Skin Man left, mining operations in Iron Anvil Village resumed as normal, and the mining and processing of Dark Sand continued.

In the second week of autumn, a figure appeared at the edge of the forest east of Shuangjietai.

The figure was tall and slender, with light and graceful movements. He wore dark green clothes woven from plant fibers.

He walked to the edge of the forest, stopped, and no longer approached the wall of Shuangjietai. Instead, he stood there, seemingly waiting for someone to come and rescue him.

Pei the hunter, standing on the tower, spotted the dark figure and reported it to the main building.

Xiao Fan, Bai Ye, and the Earth Core Golden Mane Beast walked to the edge of the forest and stopped about twenty steps away from it.

The Earth Core Golden Mane Beast lay motionless beside Xiao Fan, its fur gleaming.

The person had a delicate face, grayish-white skin, ears that were longer and pointed than normal, and light brown pupils.

He glanced at the short staff at Xiao Fan's waist, then at the Silver Frost Sword in Bai Ye's hand, and said in a somewhat unfamiliar tone, "Forest Dwellers, Windwalker Elan. We left you a pass to your eastern border. The chieftain sent me here to confirm one thing—is the Twin Realms Platform fixed, or does it move with the seasons?"

Standing at the edge of the forest, Xiao Fan replied, "The boundaries of Shuangjietai have been determined and are clearly marked on the map. Our patrol routes change with the seasons, but the extent of the border remains constant."

Upon hearing this, Elan nodded slightly, then reached into his waist and pulled out a branch about two feet long, the tip of which had been cut into a three-pronged shape with the tip pointing downwards.

"The forest dwellers know where your territory is. I hope you understand that the boundaries of this forest have been defined."

With that, he turned and walked into the depths of the forest.

After Xiao Fan returned to the Twin Realms Platform, he had Cheng Xiushi place the map showing the "Linju Clan's Territory Confirmed" on the eastern map.

After the Silver Frost Sword came into contact with the tree branch, it generated a new spiritual energy fluctuation. This fluctuation matched the spiritual energy characteristics of the naturally growing plants within the Forest Dwelling Clan's territory, confirming that the Forest Dwelling Clan had officially incorporated the boundaries of the Twin Realms Platform into the inner map.

In the third week of autumn, large herds of Arctic bison appeared in the open areas north of Anvil.

These bison, with their enormous size and great endurance, are not usually found near Shuangjietai, but this autumn their migration route has changed, with the entire herd beginning to move south, expected to pass through the geothermal anomaly zone surrounding Tiezhenji.

If the land passes through a geothermal anomaly point, the surface structure is relatively weak and it is prone to local collapse under non-uniform load.

Inside the main house, Xiao Fan discussed the next steps with Hunter Pei and Cultivator Cheng.

The vanguard battalion's mission was to guide the cattle herd eastward, avoiding the geothermal anomaly area.

Guided by Hunter Pei, the six members of the Hunter's Vanguard Camp set off immediately.

The following evening, the Hunter's Camp returned to confirm that the cattle herd had been led to the open eastern side, avoiding the geothermal anomaly zone.

At the same time, the forest dwellers also sent a message from the edge of the forest: on the same day, they had also noticed the unusual movements of the cattle and set up several plant barriers between the forest and the open area to guide the cattle to their destination.

The purpose of guiding the cattle in both directions was to lead them to an open area and avoid conflict.

By recording the wave characteristics of the spiritual energy waves from the plant barrier of the Forest Dwellers on the Silver Frost Sword, Bai Ye officially entered them into the identification database of the Twin Realms Platform, providing a basis for identifying the iconic actions of the Forest Dwellers in the future.

When Brother Cheng patrolled in the autumn, he added a fixed route, keeping it away from the edge of the woods.

Qinglu Manor has confirmed that the spiritual energy fluctuations around this forest are the same as those recorded on the Twin Realms Platform.

During the fourth week of autumn, while conducting subsurface sand mining operations at Tiezhenji, a previously unnoticed narrow crack was discovered in the stratified profile at the bottom of the underground river. The crack extended downwards and connected to a deeper underground cavity structure.

When Xiao Fan arrived at the scene, he discovered that this was not a natural cavity. The edges of the crack and the direction of the fissure below the narrow passage were consistent, indicating that they should be connected.

The rock strata between the Anvil Village and the narrow corridor have been penetrated by an underground river. If reinforcement structures are built in the dark area while the lower layers are reinforced, then the Anvil Village can use the narrow passage to transfer everyone underground without having to take a detour.

After confirming the feasibility of the reinforcement, Ms. Shi arranged for two teams to work in shifts day and night to install and fix the reinforcement structure in sections of the dark section.

And in this narrow corridor, they had already completed their spiritual connection.

Xiao Fan checked the positions at both ends, and then officially marked the underground passage on the backup network diagram of the bronze disc, and marked it as "Both ends are connected, and the basic conditions for personnel passage are met".

On the last day of the month, as Bai Ye inspected the entire disc, his gaze fell upon the horizontal line.

“Now,” she said, “this path leads from the anvil yard all the way to that narrow corridor, and then to the ancient ruins. This path is complete for you.”

She closed her Silver Frost Sword, glanced out the window, and saw that it was already late autumn and the sky was getting dark.

During the first heavy snowfall before winter, the Rock Skin tribe sent a brief message to White Camel Ridge, saying that they had arrived at their designated migration destination and established a winter camp there, and thanked Shuangjietai for providing them with a safe passage during this time.

This message was signed in a simple way, without any markings or stamps.

Xiao Fan read the message and saved it in the Rock Skin Clan's archives.