The Eternal Saint of Alchemy

Xiao Fan took the bamboo tube, opened it, and found a silk scroll as thin as a cicada's wing inside.

Grandma Miao's handwriting is crooked and uneven, yet vigorous and powerful, like dragons and phoenixes dancing in the wind:

"Young man, deep in the dense forests of the Southern Frontier, there is a black stone tower. Based on your description, I compared the runes on it and confirmed that it is one of the nine pagodas."

Most importantly, I discovered signs of living people near that tower. The ashes were fresh, probably left about ten days ago. Someone has pitched a tent there. Come quickly!

Xiao Fan read it once, then let Yun Ruoxi and Gu Yuan read it as well.

Xiao Fan pondered for a moment, then looked towards the distant sea.

"We need to hurry."

The night grew deeper, and the sea breeze grew colder. Under the starlight, the small boat cut through the waves and headed south, leaving a long white trail in its wake.

Further south, deep within the miasma-filled forests of southern Xinjiang, the gates of the black stone tower opened once more.

The speedboat traveled south along the East China Sea for six days before stopping at a small fishing village called "Baisha Ferry".

This is already the southernmost part of the Daqing Empire. Traveling another hundred miles or so south will take you into the Southern Frontier, a primeval forest shrouded in miasma.

At Baisha Ferry, A-Cai was already waiting. She had changed into a light Miao outfit, with a row of thin bamboo tubes tied around her waist.

Upon seeing Xiao Fan and his companions, she didn't say much, but simply said, "My mother-in-law sent me to fetch you. The road through the miasma forest is difficult to travel, so please come with me."

Xiao Fan packed his luggage and walked into the depths of the forest with A Cai.

The jungles of southern Xinjiang are completely different from the wilderness of the north and the deserts of the western regions.

Above us were layers upon layers of tree canopies, blocking out the sun, and under our feet was a thick layer of decaying leaves and dead branches, which felt soft and spongy, carrying a strong earthy smell.

Pale green mist drifted in the air, like a thin veil.

A-Cai took out several dark red pills from the bamboo tube at her waist and handed them to everyone: "Anti-miasma medicine. Hold them in your mouth, don't swallow them."

Xiao Fan took the pill and put it in his mouth. He felt a spicy sensation rush to his head, but a cool sensation protected his lungs. He inhaled the pale green mist and no longer felt suffocated.

Two days later. The further they went in, the denser the vegetation became. Countless unidentifiable vines entwined the branches of the towering ancient trees, and every now and then, colorful venomous snakes would slowly dangle from the branches.

Ah Cai walked ahead with light steps, holding a green bamboo cane in her hand, occasionally tapping the grass in front of her to scare away some snakes and insects hiding in the grass.

Master Gu Yuan was covered in sweat and murmured, "In my life, I have traveled all over the Arctic ice fields, the Western Regions, and the East China Sea, but I never imagined that the forests of the Southern Frontier would be the most dangerous place."

Han Fei followed, saying weakly, "Elder Gu, you still have the leisure to complain? It seems you still have quite a bit of energy."

"shut up!"

Xiao Fan walked in the middle, his divine sense constantly spreading out, searching for every trace of spiritual energy fluctuation in this miasma forest.

The closer they got to their destination, the clearer the familiar aura became. It was a chilling aura, originating from the same source as the poisonous fog of Qingyun Mountain, but even more intense.

By evening on the third day, the woods in front of them suddenly thinned out, revealing a wide-open valley surrounded by trees.

A black stone tower stands in the center of the valley. Unlike the gray-white stone towers seen before, it is made entirely of black boulders, is more than ten meters high, occupies a vast area, and has a base that is five zhang in diameter.

All around the tower were countless black lotus flowers, one after another, stretching from the base of the tower to the edge of the forest dozens of feet away, like a black wave that submerged the entire valley.

Most of these black lotuses have not yet bloomed; they are still just buds, each one trembling slightly and emitting a faint gray mist.

When Granny Miao saw Xiao Fan approaching, she squinted at him and said, "You've lost weight. Didn't you eat well on the way?"

Xiao Fan gave a wry smile and said, "Grandma, you're really joking."

He stepped forward, glanced at the Black Stone Tower in the direction Granny Miao pointed, and couldn't help but frown.

The tower door was indeed loose, more noticeably so than the one on Qingyun Mountain. It was only two fingers wide, pitch black, and the inside was completely obscured. The tower was covered in cracks, making it look like a broken piece of porcelain.

The roots of the black lotus have already sprouted from the cracks in the base of the tower and are climbing up the tower.

What attracted Xiao Fan's attention the most was a pile of ashes ten feet away from the tower gate, along with several bags made of animal hides, a few broken knives, and a piece of charred animal bone.

The ashes on the campfire were still fresh, not yet washed away by the rain.

Xiao Fan crouched down to examine the ashes. "There were at least three people. There were no sect markings on the knives, so we can't determine their origin."

"By the time I found this place, they had already left. But since then, the tower gate has become loose. The gap in the gate, which used to be so narrow that you couldn't even stick a knife through, is now as wide as two fingers."

Xiao Fan stood up, walked around the edge of the canyon, and probed the tower with his divine sense. After a while, he returned, his expression even more solemn: "The sealing formation at the bottom of the tower has been damaged by thirty percent. In three days, the tower gate will grow larger."

Yun Ruoxi walked over and looked at the dense clusters of black lotus flowers: "And these flowers? They are a hundred times better than those on Bibo Island."

Xiao Fan thought for a moment and said, "The one on Bibo Island grows at the top of the tower, with its roots underground. Starting from the base of the tower, its roots extend upwards. If it's the other way around, then we have to do it the other way around."

He thought for a moment, then took out the liquid medicine and empty bottle from the storage bag and put them away.

He thought of the wisp of golden divine soul power left behind by the Grandmaster of the Void in his sea of ​​consciousness—this power was extremely strong and yang, which was exactly the opposite of the yin and cold of the black lotus, and might be able to play a role.

He closed his eyes, activated the Qiankun Refining God Technique, and guided the wisp of golden energy with his divine sense, transforming the energy into a faint golden light that covered his palm. Then he bent down and placed it on the bud of one of the black lotuses.

"Zzz—"

The black lotus buds shriveled up quickly, as if scalded by boiling water, turning into a pile of ashes scattered on the ground.

Wherever the golden energy reached, the roots of the black lotus seemed to encounter the ice line of the flames, breaking off one by one and shrinking back into the soil.

Xiao Fan withdrew his hand and his gaze fell on the pile of ashes on the ground.

However, with the amount of metal energy I can currently mobilize, I can only clean an area of ​​about ten feet at most. The area outside needs to be cleaned with a medicinal solution.

Granny Miao, leaning on her cane, walked over. Looking at the pile of ashes, her cloudy eyes gleamed with a sharp light: "Boy, what method did you use? I've lived for ninety years and have never seen anything so effective at restraining the Black Lotus."