The Eternal Saint of Alchemy

Xiao Fan took out a small cloth bag from his pocket, inside which was a black lotus root that he had obtained in Sunset Valley.

This lotus flower is as thick as a finger, entirely black, and covered with fine white lines, like a spider web or blood vessels, crisscrossing each other.

Yin Beishan glanced at it and said, "I've seen this thing in the Northern Region as well. Deep in the Ice Sea, around the sealed ruins, there are similar roots, but on a much smaller scale. The Palace Master said that this seems to be the remains of an ancient formation."

"An ancient formation?" Xiao Fan frowned. "Did your palace master specify what kind of formation it is?"

"No. The Palace Master just told me to follow the clues, saying that this kind of thing might not only exist in the Northern Region."

Xiao Fan held the lotus root up to the light and examined it carefully.

Within the sea of ​​consciousness, the illusory image of the Qiankun Creation Cauldron trembled slightly, and a familiar aura emanated from the lotus root, somewhat similar to the aura within the remains of the Taixu Pill Saint, only colder.

"There's something strange about this black lotus." Xiao Fan put away the lotus root. "Tomorrow I'll go to Sunset Valley again and explore deeper to see just how deep the tree roots in Sunset Valley really are."

Yin Beishan stood up and said, "I'll go with you."

Xiao Fan glanced at him.

"It's because my injuries have healed that I wanted to go back and see what exactly hurt me." Yin Beishan smiled, a rare occurrence, though he looked tired, his smile was sincere.

Xiao Fan nodded. "We'll leave first thing tomorrow morning."

Early the next morning, Xiao Fan and Yin Beishan, along with several elite disciples from Medicine King Valley, entered Luoxia Valley once again.

Because of yesterday's experience, they walked faster.

With the help of detoxification pills and protective elixirs, the gray fog had little effect on the group. Half an hour later, the two arrived at the large blue stone at the bottom of the valley again.

The black lotus was burned to ashes, but its roots continued to spread outwards.

Xiao Fan squatted down, placed his hand on the bluestone, and channeled his true essence into it, feeling the patterns on it.

A moment later, he opened his eyes, a solemn expression on his face.

"Its roots are much deeper than I saw yesterday, and they're branching out. There's nothing behind that wall to the south."

Yin Beishan stepped forward and tapped a few times on the south-facing stone wall.

The two exchanged a glance and simultaneously raised their hands, pouring their true energy into the stone wall.

boom!

The stone wall collapsed inward, revealing a narrow opening.

This is a passageway that can only accommodate one person at a time, and the walls on both sides are covered with dense black tree roots.

Xiao Fan took the lead, a golden light condensing in his palm, illuminating the path ahead, with Yin Beishan and the others following closely behind.

The passageway wound its way down, and after about half an hour, the view suddenly opened up before us.

What appeared before them was an underground cave several meters in diameter.

The cave walls are covered with black lotus roots, which form a huge spider web that extends from the cave ceiling to the ground.

In the center of the cave stands a stone pillar covered with ancient runes, which are very similar to the runes on the bronze gate in the ruins of the Taixu Dansheng.

Yin Beishan murmured, "This is...the same thing?"

Xiao Fan stepped forward and reached out to touch the patterns on the stone pillar. The moment his fingers touched the stone, a chilling spiritual power surged from it, rushing straight into his sea of ​​consciousness.

The illusory image of the Creation Cauldron of Heaven and Earth trembled for a moment, and then a burst of golden light shone brightly, isolating the fluctuation.

However, Xiao Fan noticed something.

The runes did not record words, but a picture: a man in white robes who buried a batch of black lotus seeds in the ground and sealed them with an array.

The man on the screen couldn't see his face clearly, but he was tall and straight, exuding an aura that Xiao Fan was extremely familiar with.

After doing all this, the man in white robes looked up at the sky, his figure gradually fading away, as if he had merged with the heavens and earth.

Xiao Fan quickly withdrew his hand, cold sweat pouring down his back.

That person... that aura... had an indescribable connection with the vast and boundless aura within the Taixu Dansheng's inheritance.

Yin Beishan asked, "Young Master Xiao, what did you see?"

Xiao Fan took a deep breath to calm himself down and said, "This is a sealed place. The black lotus wasn't planted by humans, but rather sealed. Someone used the roots of the black lotus to lock this stone pillar, preventing it from emerging."

Yin Beishan stepped forward, looked at the pillar, and asked, "What's inside that pillar?"

Xiao Fan placed his hand on the stone pillar once again, but this time, he did not try to touch it. Instead, he used the power of his soul from the Qiankun Refining God Technique to slowly probe into the stone pillar.

After a while, he withdrew his hand.

"There's a coffin. It's at least ten thousand years old."

For a moment, the entire cave was deathly silent, with only the black roots slowly wriggling and making rustling sounds.

"A coffin?" Yin Beishan lowered his voice, afraid of disturbing someone.

"I didn't realize this seal was so thick." Xiao Fan frowned. "However, this aura is very similar to the inheritance of the Grand Void Pill Saint, but it's also somewhat different. It's like a tributary, or rather... a different path."

The air inside the cave grew even colder. Several disciples of Medicine King Valley stood at the entrance, looking at each other, none daring to step forward.

Xiao Fan walked back and forth on the stone pillar, carefully examining each rune.

This sealing method was not mentioned in the inheritance of the Grandmaster of the Void Pill. However, with his current cultivation of the Qiankun Refining God Technique, his spiritual power is far beyond that of other cultivators of the same level. He can vaguely sense a faint trace of life within the stone pillar.

This is a living thing.

Xiao Fan made a decision: "The structure of this seal is very stable and can last for many years. First, we'll remove the roots of the black lotus to prevent the poisonous mist from spreading further, and then we'll return to Medicine King Valley to make further plans."

Yin Beishan nodded, and the two of them, along with several disciples, began clearing away the tree roots on the ground.

Xiao Fan poured the medicinal liquid drop by drop, while Yin Beishan used his true essence to peel the roots off the stone wall. It took them most of the day to clean up the surrounding tree roots.

When Xiao Fan returned to Medicine King Valley, he was still thinking about the coffin.

The white-robed man, the black lotus seal, the Grandmaster of the Void Pill, the ruins of the Northern Ice Sea... all these clues are like invisible threads, separating the tens of thousands of years of time.

He had a vague feeling that this matter was not as simple as a grudge between a certain person or a certain force.

"What are your thoughts, Brother Xiao?" Xiao Fan was pondering this when Han Fei suddenly rode up on horseback.

Xiao Fan shook his head and said, "I'm thinking about that coffin. I feel that it might be related to the inheritance of the Grandmaster of Pill Refining, but I can't say for sure what the specific connection is right now."

"Should we inform the tower master?"