The Eternal Saint of Alchemy

Xiao Fan left the north gate of the capital and walked for ten days before finally leaving the Great Qing Kingdom.

The further north you go, the more open the terrain becomes, and the fewer people there are. The once smooth official road is gradually replaced by potholed dirt, and in its place is a desolate wilderness.

The cold grew stronger day by day, and by the evening of the tenth day, his breath was already condensing into white mist.

Xiao Fan reined in the horse and looked back.

The capital city has completely disappeared, leaving only a hazy gray sky.

"Brother Xiao, there's a town ahead." Han Fei rode back on his horse, his nose red from the cold. "North Wind Town is the last town we'll pass before entering the Northern Region. We'll rest there for the night and head into the wilderness tomorrow."

Xiao Fan nodded, waved his hand, and signaled everyone to follow.

Although Beifeng Town is not a big place, it has everything you need.

There were inns, taverns, blacksmith shops, and herbal medicine shops. There were few pedestrians on the street, but everyone was wrapped in thick fur and had weapons hanging from their waists, and none of them looked like kind people.

In this lawless land, where there are no imperial laws to restrain people, everything is decided by force.

Xiao Fan found the largest inn in town and booked an entire row of rooms in the backyard to stay there.

Zhao Tieshan sent several guards to take turns guarding the courtyard, which was like an impregnable fortress.

That night, Xiao Fan, Han Fei, and Yun Ruoxi were sitting in the lobby of the inn, warming themselves by the fire.

"Are you all heading to the North Sea Dan Palace?"

The shopkeeper was a gaunt old man with sharp, triangular eyes. "We have to be careful. The Northern Region is not like the South. It has everything: monsters, bandits, glacial crevasses. Nine out of ten people who enter the Northern Region each year don't survive."

Yun Ruoxi asked, "Did the shopkeeper go to the North Sea Pill Hall?"

The old man shook his head. "However, that place is very strange; there isn't a single living being within a hundred miles. It's said that the Pill Palace set up some kind of formation that sucked away all the spiritual energy, so nothing can grow there, not even a blade of grass."

Xiao Fan raised an eyebrow.

He absorbed all the spiritual energy within a hundred miles? This is something that no ordinary alchemy sect could do.

"Do you know Yin Tianyuan, the Palace Master of the North Sea Pill Palace?"

The innkeeper's expression changed, and he said in a low voice, "Sir, no one dares to speak recklessly. Sir, I advise you, once you enter the Northern Region, don't ask too many questions, and don't cause trouble. The people there are ruthless killers."

Xiao Fan thanked him, paid the room fee, and turned to go back to his room.

Yun Ruoxi was tidying the bed when she heard this and turned to look at him: "What's wrong?"

"Yin Tianyuan was able to set up an array that drained all the spiritual energy within a hundred miles. His cultivation level is probably more than just the peak of the Tribulation Realm." Xiao Fan sat on the edge of the bed with a serious expression. "I heard from Tower Master Jiang that he was already at the peak of the Tribulation Realm hundreds of years ago. The reason he couldn't break through for hundreds of years shouldn't be because he lacked time, but because he lacked some kind of opportunity."

"Could it be that he intends to use your cauldron to mend it?"

"That's possible." Xiao Fan pulled Yun Ruoxi to sit down next to her. "So in the North Sea Pill Palace, you have to listen to me. If I tell you to leave, you leave immediately."

Yun Ruoxi leaned on his shoulder and said weakly, "I know."

The next morning, the group packed up and walked through the last street of Northwind Town before entering the Northern Wilderness.

The wilderness was far more desolate than Xiao Fan had imagined.

The whole world was a hazy gray, the ground covered with frozen soil and gravel, with only a few clumps of withered yellow grass shivering in the cold wind. The wind was like a knife, making it impossible to open one's eyes.

The group walked for three whole days without seeing a single living creature. On the evening of the fourth day, a dark cloud suddenly rolled in from the horizon, accompanied by thunder and a sudden gust of wind.

Han Fei roared, "It's going to snow! We need to find somewhere to hide!"

Zhao Tieshan looked around, then pointed to a small hill not far away and said, "There's a low mound over there that can block the wind!"

The group galloped on horseback and finally reached the low hillside before the blizzard arrived.

Xiao Fan had his guards form a circle with horses to prevent the wind from blowing, and then took out more than ten cold-dispelling pills and distributed them.

After swallowing the pill, a warm current flowed through his body, and his frozen cheeks gradually regained their color.

The snow fell all night, only gradually stopping the following morning. Xiao Fan stepped out of the tent and stared in disbelief at the scene before him.

Yesterday it was a gray and white wasteland, but now it is an endless ice field.

The sky was cloudless, and the sun hung high in the sky, reflecting off the ice surface like a mirror. In his view, a solitary mountain peak rose abruptly from the ground, as black as ink, like a nail piercing the sky.

"What is that?" Yun Ruoxi asked, looking at him.

Han Fei took out a map, compared it, and immediately hissed: "North Sea Pill Palace, Obsidian Peak."

Obsidian Peak seemed close, but it took us seven whole days to reach it.

As Xiao Fan got closer to Obsidian Peak, he could clearly feel that the spiritual energy around him was thinning at a visible rate, as if an invisible force was constantly drawing it away.

By the last day, the spiritual energy in the world was almost depleted. If they hadn't carried a large number of pills to replenish their spiritual energy, these guards would have collapsed long ago.

Finally, after twenty-five days, they arrived at the foot of Obsidian Mountain.

The mountain was much more majestic than it appeared from a distance, its entire body black and its surface as smooth as a mirror.

A stone gate stands at the foot of the mountain, with the four large characters "Beihai Dan Palace" carved on it. On both sides of the stone gate stand two rows of guards dressed in silver-white robes, each of whom has a cultivation level of Yang Realm or above and looks quite extraordinary.

Xiao Fan took a deep breath, stepped forward, and took out the silver token that Yin Beichuan had left him.

"Xiao Fan, the chief of the Pill Tower, has been invited to this grand alchemy gathering."

The guard took the token and immediately became respectful: "Young Master Xiao has arrived. The Palace Master has given orders. This way, please."

The stone gate slowly opened, revealing a spiraling stone staircase leading upwards.

Xiao Fan turned around and looked at Yun Ruoxi. Han Fei and the other two exchanged glances, then walked up the stone steps shoulder to shoulder.

The interior of Obsidian Peak is much larger than it appears.

After walking up the stone steps for half an hour, Xiao Fan's vision suddenly opened up—the mountain was actually hollow, and inside was a huge hall that could accommodate thousands of people.

The walls of the main hall were inlaid with countless ice crystals that had remained frozen for millennia, emitting a faint blue light. In the center of the hall stood rows upon rows of alchemy furnaces, numbering no less than a hundred, far superior to those in the Zhao family's basement.

What shocked Xiao Fan the most was that at the end of the hall was a wall.

A huge portrait hangs on the wall. The person in the portrait is dressed in white, with a handsome face and deep eyes.

Below the portrait is a white jade throne, upon which sits a real person who looks exactly like the one in the portrait.

Yin Tianyuan.