The Eternal Saint of Alchemy

Liu Ruyan was already waiting outside the door. Today, she was wearing a light green dress, a slender sword at her waist, and a jade hairpin in her hair, looking neat and tidy. She looked at Xiao Fan and nodded.

"Young Master Xiao, you've arrived quite quickly." Her tone remained indifferent, but her eyes held a hint of ease.

Xiao Fan dismounted and cupped his hands, saying, "Miss Liu just sent a letter saying that there is something strange about Bibo Island. I dare not be negligent."

Led by Liu Ruyan, the group entered the main hall of Dan Pavilion. A nautical chart was already displayed in the hall, marking the location of Bibo Island—a small island located eighty miles southeast of Dan Pavilion in the East Sea. The island was uninhabited, with only some abandoned fishing huts.

"This is the result of my investigation on the island seven days ago." Liu Ruyan took out a black tree root from her sleeve. This tree root was much thinner than the one Xiao Fan had seen before, only about the thickness of his little finger, and it was covered with fine white lines.

Xiao Fan took it and examined it with his divine sense. The familiar, chilling aura seeped into his fingertips along the lines, just like the one he had encountered in the icy sea and Qingyun Mountain.

"That's it," Xiao Fan said.

"It's about two feet wide, and you can't see the bottom. The chilling air is emanating from it. I tried to probe it with my spiritual power and found runic fluctuations below, but the crack is too small to enter."

Master Gu Yuan leaned closer for a look: "A two-foot-long crack? Even someone as small as me couldn't move that far."

Han Fei interrupted him: "What are we going to do? Are we supposed to split this island in two?"

Xiao Fan thought for a moment and said, "Let's go to the island and take a look. Although the gap is small, cold air is coming out of it, which means that there is a problem with a certain part of the seal. We can try to find the array core on the outside and then reinforce it from the outside."

Liu Ruyan nodded and said, "I've already made all the preparations for you. We'll leave first thing tomorrow morning."

That night, in a guest room at the East Sea Pill Pavilion, Xiao Fan once again took out a jade slip and immersed himself in it with his divine sense. The illusory image of the East Sea was almost exactly the same as the location of Azure Wave Island.

He carefully compared the runes on the jade slip with the roots that Liu Ruyan had given him, and determined that he was in one of the nine pagodas.

Yun Ruoxi was sitting by the window reading a book. The sea breeze blew in through the cracks in the window, making the candlelight on the table flicker. She reached out and touched the candlelight, saying, "Don't you think the order in which these towers appeared is strange?"

"How so?" Xiao Fan looked up at her.

"The Northern Ice Sea, the Western Black Sand Sea, Qingyun Mountain, Bibo Island, and the East China Sea!"

Yun Ruoxi put down the book in her hand, did some calculations with her fingers, and said, "The first two places are remote and sparsely populated. The latter two, one in Medicine King Valley and the other in East Sea Pill Pavilion, are both inhabited."

Xiao Fan was taken aback for a moment, then suddenly realized and said, "You mean, those who broke the seal weren't just randomly chosen, but specifically selected from those who were close to the alchemy factions?"

"That's what I think too," Yun Ruoxi said. "If this person knows the territory of each sect and knows which towers are guarded and which are unguarded, then there is a basis for selection."

Xiao Fan thought for a moment and said, "If that's the case, his next target is very likely to be a certain alchemy sect."

Yun Ruoxi didn't say anything more, walked up to him, and patted him on the shoulder.

Outside the window, the waves crashed against the rocks, one after another.

Early the next morning, Xiao Fan and the others were taken out of Donghai Dan Pavilion by a speedboat.

Liu Ruyan personally steered the ship, accompanied by four disciples. The ship cleaved through the azure waters, white waves rolling in from the stern.

After flying for about an hour, a small island came into view. The island was sparsely vegetated, mostly with low shrubs and wild grass, and a few dilapidated fishing huts stood crookedly on the beach.

When the small boat reached the shore, Xiao Fan could already feel the chill that rushed towards him.

In stark contrast to the heat of the Black Sand Sea, the air here was as cold as an icebox, making one's throat tighten with every breath. Master Gu Yuan shuddered and quickly took out a warming talisman, sticking it to his chest.

Led by Liu Ruyan, the group headed towards the center of the island. A layer of white frost covered the grass on both sides of the road, making it feel like the dead of winter even though it was springtime.

After walking for about half an hour, he suddenly felt a crack appear in the ground in front of him.

The crack was about three zhang long and two chi wide, with smooth edges as if it had been cut open by something.

Cold air kept seeping out from the cracks, condensing into a cloud of white mist on the ground.

Xiao Fan squatted down and placed his hand on the crack. He activated the Qiankun Refining God Technique and probed the crack with his divine sense.

About twenty zhang deep, there was a stone tower. Most of the tower was covered by earth and stones, with only the upper part exposed. Several roof tiles were broken, and the cold air emanated from those fragments.

At the very center of the tower's top, a palm-sized black lotus had already bloomed halfway. Strands of black lines seeped from the petals, spreading outwards like a spider web and disappearing into the stone wall.

Xiao Fan withdrew his divine sense, a solemn expression on his face: "The seal has been broken. The roof tiles are shattered, and the black lotus has taken root at the top, corroding the entire tower from top to bottom."

"Can it be repaired?" Liu Ruyan asked, frowning.

"Yes." Xiao Fan stood up. It was rooted at the top of the tower; with it there, the cold air would continuously dissipate, and the seal would gradually weaken.

Master Gu Yuan stroked his beard and said, "What is there to fear from the Black Lotus? Didn't you use that potion to eliminate it last time?"

Xiao Fan shook his head and said, "The previous tree grew in the cracks of the rocks and had very shallow roots. This one is growing on the tiles on the top of the tower. Its roots have penetrated deep into the interior of the tower. Watering it with medicine won't work; we have to pull the roots out of the tower."

He looked at Liu Ruyan and asked, "Miss Liu, do you have a Cold Jade Box in your Pill Pavilion that can temporarily seal spiritual energy?"

Liu Ruyan pondered for a moment, then nodded. "We have a sixth-grade cold jade box here, specifically used to store extremely cold items; it should come in handy."

Xiao Fan cupped his hands in greeting and said, "Let me borrow it."

Early the next morning, Xiao Fan took the Frost Jade Ice Box and some tools and went up to the island.

As Liu Ruyan handed over the ice box, she reminded her, "This box is our treasure. After you've used it, you must return it intact."

Xiao Fan smiled and said, "Don't worry, it'll be even cleaner than when it was first delivered."

Yun Ruoxi, Gu Yuan, and Han Fei all followed.