The Eternal Saint of Alchemy

Xiao Fan determined the correspondence between the position of the shallow groove and the sequence of marks at the archway, and placed the six marks and the genuine bronze short bell into the corresponding shallow grooves in the order recorded on the scroll.

When the seventh mark was placed into the groove, the entire archway lit up with a silver light, which extended upwards to the ceiling, forming a light curtain that enveloped the entire archway. The light curtain was smooth, without ripples or cracks, indicating stable operation.

Xue Han examined the light screen closely and discovered that behind it was a corridor of the same width. On both sides of the corridor were lights resembling the stone gates of a rift valley. The crystals inside the lights had gone out, but they still looked relatively intact.

After inspecting the light screen, Xiao Fan put away his short staff and paused in front of the archway for a few seconds to confirm that all the road signs were embedded in the light screen and that the light screen was still intact.

Xiao Fan passed through the light curtain and entered the passage. After sensing the fluctuations of spiritual energy, the lamps on both sides of the passage lit up one by one as he walked further in.

Every so often, another set of lights would illuminate, forming a continuous band of light. The passageway sloped westward, wide enough for three people to walk side by side, with a flat floor and silver halos on the walls that matched the archway perfectly.

Bai Ye scanned the spiritual energy structure in the passage with his Silver Frost Sword, confirming that the light emitted by the lamp was the same as the light in the Rift Stone Gate, and that it resonated stably with the real bronze bell.

The passage was much longer than expected, and each light lit up one after another, each maintaining the same color and consistency.

As Xue Han walked, he noticed several dents on the cave walls on both sides of the passage. Upon closer inspection, he found that the spacing between these dents was consistent with the distance between the bases of the streetlights in the rift valley, indicating that these dents were stable.

About half an hour later, the passage turned west and continued to extend forward, with lights coming on one by one.

The passageway began to narrow. What was once a passageway that could accommodate three people walking side by side was now only wide enough for one person. There were no light sources in the narrow passageway, but the silvery-gray halo was much brighter than the first half of the passageway, providing a continuous source of illumination for everyone.

The narrow passage was only a few feet long. After passing through the passage, a circular stone chamber with a diameter of several feet suddenly appeared before us.

The dome of this stone chamber is much higher than the others, and the walls are covered with a silvery-gray halo. The bases of the lamps are distributed at various heights on the walls, but none of them are lit.

A fist-sized, crimson-gold crystal ball was embedded in the center of the dome, its surface constantly shimmering with light. As the short staff approached, the crimson-gold crystal ball emitted a soft golden light, originating from the same source as the short staff, but far more powerful, with a richer spiritual energy.

Xiao Fan confirmed that the connection between the crimson-gold crystal ball and the short staff was consistent. He then conducted a series of tests in the magic array room to confirm that the spiritual energy channel between the crystal ball and the dual-realm platform magic array was unobstructed. He then used the short staff to teleport the crystal ball into the magic array room.

Bai Ye scanned the area with his Silver Frost Sword and then said, "The crystal ball in the very center and the crimson-gold crystal on the short staff are from the same source, but the latter is much larger and contains much more concentrated spiritual energy. It was originally the central hub of this positioning system, and now it has been integrated into the spiritual energy network of the Dual Realm Platform."

When Xiao Fan entered the test results of the main hall into the file, he added that the location and state of the crystal ball in the center of the dome would link the crystal ball to the route north of the Gray Rift.

When he closed the scroll, the long-range connection between the staff and the crystal ball continued, and a new pattern appeared on the Silverfrost Sword, the same wavelength as the dome crystal ball.

As the spiritual energy connected between the crystal ball and the short staff, the lamp bases in the entire circular stone chamber also lit up simultaneously.

These lights weren't randomly lit; rather, they extended downwards from the dome, each level emitting a brief hum, and the silvery-gray halos on the walls lit up accordingly. The entire stone chamber was bathed in golden light, soft and warm.

Once all the lights were on, the flowing patterns on the surface of the dome crystal ball converged into a thin beam of light that stretched from the center of the stone chamber to the ground, projecting the entire layout of the spiritual energy network onto the ground.

This area stretches from Anvil Settlement in the south of Grey Rift to a large uncharted area north of Scale Ridge. The Grey Rift, Scale Ridge, and the road north of Arch are marked with prominent lines. The Crystal Ball is located slightly north of the center of the map, and the extending lines cover the routes of all previous road signs.

Once the beam projection stabilized, Bai Ye scanned the map with his Silver Frost Sword, confirming that the crystal ball was at the end of the scroll, "Core of Fire."

Xiao Fan pinpointed the positions of all the lines on the map, then brought the short staff close to the center of the beam of light projection. The frequency between the crimson-gold crystal and the crystal ball remained consistently connected. On the beam projection, the image shone steadily without any fluctuations.

Xue Han circled the walls of the stone chamber, confirming that each lamp was stable and bright, without any signs of loosening or vibration. The cultivator surnamed Song checked whether the lamp was always lit, and whether it was exactly the same as the golden light in the stone chamber.

Xiao Fan took out the metal scroll and the silver-gray replica bell from the hidden compartment of the stone box. He compared them with the pattern drawn on the dome crystal ball and confirmed that the route marked on the passage matched the spiritual energy wavelength of the replica bell perfectly. The position of the dome crystal ball also coincided with the destination marked on the scroll.

He wrote in his log, "The dome crystal ball has been activated, and the room where the flame core is located has been identified," and attached a map, as well as metal scrolls and road sign documents.

The day after the crystal ball was activated, the Dual Realm Magic Chamber began receiving spiritual signals from the hazy north of the rift valley. The frequency and rhythm of these signals were consistent with the operating pattern of the dome-shaped crystal ball, without any noise or interference.

The crimson-gold crystal at the tip of the short staff remained synchronized with the crystal ball while receiving signals, and the signal was very stable despite the great distance.

Bai Ye used her Silver Frost Sword to observe for seven consecutive days, confirming that the signal strength remained stable without any fluctuations. On the seventh day, she wrote down: "The spiritual energy channel between the Two Realms Platform and the Dome Crystal Sphere has been stably established, with no signal attenuation."

Brother Cheng included the discovery of the dome crystal ball in the appendix of the Twin Realms Platform's annual file and added a note to the map of the northern Gray Rift: "Fire Source Core, activated."