The Eternal Saint of Alchemy

She sheathed her sword and said, "The thing that the Ancient Bell Clan took has been sending us signals."

They don't even need to explore on their own; they can find their next destination simply by following the directions on the map.

They are much stronger than everyone else.

Xiao Fan aligned the location of the light pillar with the map of the gray rift valley area, confirming that this location was the circle on the map north of the rift valley.

The Guling clan is expanding northward.

After winter set in, Shuangjietai received a message from Qingluzhuang: the Qingluzhuang patrol team discovered an ancient stone base on the northeastern edge of the Aurora Plain, which is the extension of the Silver White Plain. The stone base is carved with a layer of silver-gray halo, and it is made of the same material as the stone gate and tower in the rift valley.

The young master of Qinglu Manor said that the old stone foundation is located at the spot marked on the map, just north of that tower.

The patrol team from Qinglu Village did not make any rash moves. They simply marked the coordinates on the map and left some traces before returning to their patrol area.

After receiving the news, Xiao Fan headed to the location reported by Qinglu Manor that afternoon.

Although the ground was covered with snow, the ancient stone foundation was still clearly visible, and the silvery-gray halo stood out against the white snow.

The area of ​​the stone base is roughly the same as the area of ​​the tower's base. A route map can be vaguely seen below the halo, but it is much simpler, only marking the north side of the rift valley and further away, ending with a circular symbol.

Pei the hunter squatted at the edge of the stone base and tapped the side of the stone base with the back of his knife, confirming the existence of some kind of cavity beneath the stone base by the echo.

When Xiao Fan aligned the frequency of the crimson-gold crystal on his short staff with that of the halo, a uniform golden halo appeared on the halo, with no further changes.

Xiao Fan put away the short staff and then said, "The activation conditions for this stone foundation are different from those of the Gray Rift Gate and the Dwarf Tower. It may require some special things to activate."

Xue Han glanced north and said, "The location indicated by this symbol is farther than the short tower and the end point on the route map. There are no settlements or landmarks along the way, only a white expanse of land."

The continuous snowfall following winter covered the entire surface of the northern part of the Rift Valley with snow within a few days.

The transport of supplies between the Iron Anvil and the Rust Rift Valley continued unimpeded despite the heavy snow, and the resonant stone burial area was completed on schedule.

Throughout the heavy snowfall, the life-sensing array remained active. Data from the array master's room indicated that the spiritual energy in the Gray Rift and the Stone Base area had remained stable since the snowfall began, without any new fluctuations.

The Star Pattern Sect's observation post has been officially established in the passage behind the secondary barrier, and the patrol teams of the Twin Realms Platform and the Star Pattern Sect's observation post maintain regular contact in the heavy snow.

After analyzing the composition of the stone, Qingyan Sect made no further requests.

After the pillar of light, the Ancient Bell Clan never saw it again; the traces on the ground were covered by heavy snow.

In the array room, Xiao Fan placed the topographical map of the low tower, the halo layer of the stone base, and the circle symbol at the end of the route map on the table in turn. Using the distance between them as a reference, he completed a series of trajectory sequence positioning "north of the Gray Rift Valley".

He has determined that the direction of movement of the Gu Ling bloodline is this positioning sequence.

Bai Ye stood at the entrance of the array room, a silver frost sword hanging at his waist. Inside the array room, the sword's light patterns continuously connected with the crimson-gold crystal.

A layer of continuous ice crystals covers the rocky base in the northern part of the rift valley. This is the first time that the cloud layer has appeared since the first snowfall of winter. The halo is wrapped in snow and ice crystals and still retains its original silvery-gray hue.

The Star Pattern Sect's observation station sent out a confirmation message in the second week of winter, stating that there had been no significant changes in the direction and speed of the airflow within the passage.

No new animals were found in Qingluzhuang during the winter report.

The entire northern region of the Grey Rift Valley remained covered in heavy winter snow, progressing at a steady pace.

In the second month of winter, a messenger from the Central Chamber of Commerce of the Silver Plains braved the wind and snow, arriving at Twin Realms Platform with an official invitation stamped with a gold seal.

The invitation was much more formal than the Heavenly Ranking Competition. It stated that the Silver Plains Central Chamber of Commerce, together with seven major forces including Aurora Plains, Gray Domain, and Silver Plains, would hold the "Seven Sects Grand Competition" next spring.

The content includes four aspects: spiritual power, weapon crafting, alchemy, and formation. The top-ranked participants will receive an ancient spiritual artifact that has been sealed in a secret vault for many years, as well as a 10% priority allocation right to the spiritual materials trade in the three regions next year.

The invitation clearly states that the Twin Realms Platform is a newly emerging force and is qualified to participate.

Just as Master Cheng finished reading the contents of the invitation, Elder Pei walked over, took the invitation, glanced at it, and said, "This Seven Sects Grand Competition is much larger in scale than the Heavenly Ranking Competition. Almost all the participating forces are from the vicinity of the Silver-White Plains. The outcome of this competition will determine the priority order for resource exchange at the Twin Realms Platform within the entire Silver-White Plains region."

After confirming the authenticity of the invitation, Xiao Fan put it away.

Bai Ye arrived at the Twin Realms Platform that very night. Through the spiritual energy records on the Silver Frost Sword, he confirmed that the ancient spiritual artifact mentioned in the invitation perfectly matched the route map to the north of the Gray Rift.

He said, "The spiritual items in the Chamber of Commerce's secret vault are very likely from the same era as what the Ancient Spirit Clan took from that tower. If we can obtain the actual items in the competition, we might be able to gain more information."

Over the next few days, Xiao Fan finalized the competition lineup: he and Bai Ye would handle the spiritual energy aspect; Elder Hunter Pei would be in charge of weapon crafting; Blacksmith Shang would be responsible for it; and Xiao Fan would be in charge of alchemy. The Song surname cultivator, Xue Han, and the Cheng cultivator from the Hunter's Vanguard Camp assisted him, making preparations for the competition.

In the third week after the start of spring, Xiao Fan led his team to the Central Chamber of Commerce in the Silver Plains.

The arena has more than doubled in size, with a three-story auction hall added to the north and a dedicated weapon-refining area, alchemy area, and formation area to the south.

At the entrance to the venue, seven flags of different colors hung there, representing the regions to which the seven factions belonged.

The background of the Twin Realms Platform flag is dark gold, with a simplified red gold crystal pattern embroidered in the center. It was specially made for the cultivator before his departure, and it is simple and easy to learn, echoing the Twin Realms Platform's short staff system.

The moment this dark gold banner appeared, it attracted everyone's attention. The holders of the other banners also turned around to look at the Twin Realms Platform, wanting to confirm whether they had come from the Heavenly Ranking.