The Eternal Saint of Alchemy

Xiao Fan stepped out of the pagoda and approached Master Gu Yuan, handing him a Qi-restoring pill. "The talismans inside the pagoda have stabilized considerably. Once you recover, you can continue drawing the second layer."

Emperor Guyuan took the elixir, sat cross-legged, and began to regulate his breathing.

Xiao Fan walked around the tower, his gaze fixed on the crack. He crouched down again, and this time, instead of using his true essence, he probed into it with his divine sense.

The crack was about three zhang deep, and it got narrower and narrower until it was just a single gap.

In the center of this line, a small, dark red dot of light is slowly pulsating, like a heart sleeping deep in the earth.

As soon as Xiao Fan's divine sense approached the ball of light, he felt a wave of intense heat rushing towards him, forcing him to quickly withdraw his divine sense.

"It truly is the fire of creation..."

Although this fire is weak, it is extremely pure, far surpassing ordinary flames.

If he could refine it, his control over flames would reach a new level, and he might even unlock more alchemical scriptures.

But now is not the time. He suppressed his thoughts, stood up, and threw himself back into the work of restoring the tower.

Another hour passed, and Master Gu Yuan had recovered his strength and began to add the second layer of runes.

The second layer was not as badly damaged as the base, but the patterns on it were more intricate, resembling countless vines entwined.

Gu Yuan had no choice but to bend down and start drawing on the stone wall, cold sweat pouring down his forehead.

Xiao Fan continued to pour his soul energy into the jade talisman. As the golden soul energy was injected, the jade talisman became brighter and brighter, gradually changing from pale green to cyan-gold, illuminating the entire tower.

When the second layer of runes was two-thirds complete, Han Fei suddenly roared, "Someone's there!"

Xiao Fan quickly withdrew his divine sense and appeared outside the tower gate in a flash.

In the thick fog, a gray figure was moving rapidly along the mountain ridge, its speed so fast that it was almost flying close to the ground.

Han Fei jumped down from the height, wielding a short sword in pursuit, but the opponent was clearly faster, disappearing into the mist in a few leaps.

By the time Xiao Fan reached Han Fei, the gray shadow had already disappeared.

"Did you see it clearly?" Xiao Fan asked.

Han Fei shook his head, his face slightly pale: "The speed was too fast; it was impossible to tell whether it was a man or a woman. But it seemed like he was holding a ball of fire in his hand."

Gu Yuan put down his pen, walked to Han Sen's side, and frowned as he asked, "Flames? Could it be that the Black Fire Sect arrived before us?"

"The poison from the Gu needles can't be cured in a short time." Xiao Fan thought for a moment, then shook his head and said, "Moreover, that person only looked at it from a distance and then left, seemingly without any intention of making a move."

Yun Ruoxi also came down from the east side, her expression grave. "They're testing us. Now that they've already been exposed once, I think they'll definitely come back tonight."

Xiao Fan looked up at the sky. In the mist, it was impossible to tell whether it was day or night; the sky was gradually darkening.

"Tonight, Elder Gu and I will take turns on night watch," he decided decisively. "Let's complete the second layer of runes first; we can deal with the rest tomorrow."

As night fell, the fog over the Thousand Mist Mountains did not dissipate; instead, it became even thicker.

All around was pitch black, except for a ball of talismanic fire that Master Gu Yuan had lit beside the base of the tower, which emitted a faint glow, illuminating an area of ​​about ten feet around it. The light appeared somewhat dim in the mist, as if it might go out at any moment.

Xiao Fan sat on a blue stone not far from the tower entrance, holding a few spare miasma-avoiding pills in his hand, but his eyes were fixed on the mist in front of him.

Half an hour later, nothing happened.

Xiao Fan frowned. It was eerily quiet. There were no birds or insects in the mountains; even the wind seemed to be swallowed by the thick fog.

This deathly silence made him even more vigilant.

Just as he was about to get up and take a look, the wisp of golden soul energy in his sea of ​​consciousness trembled slightly.

The tremor came from the northwest, about a hundred feet away.

Xiao Fan quickly released his divine sense and, through the layers of mist, detected an extremely faint fluctuation of spiritual energy.

The fluctuation was very faint, as if someone had deliberately concealed their aura, just like the woman they had encountered in the southern forest, only more discreet.

Xiao Fan stood there, silently memorizing this scene.

Another half hour later, the ripple slowly moved several dozen feet south and then stopped, as if it were monitoring the situation around the tower base.

Xiao Fan stood up and, feigning nonchalance, walked towards the northwest. He walked very quietly, trying not to make a sound.

Reaching the edge of the open space, he used the white mist as cover and turned to look in the direction from which the spiritual energy fluctuations were coming from.

There was a blurry figure in the fog, shorter than a person, crouching behind the bushes.

The figure remained motionless, seemingly trying to hold its breath, with only a pair of bright eyes visible, staring at the tall tower.

Xiao Fan retreated quietly without alerting anyone.

Then he returned to the tower and said to Han Fei, who was on night duty, "There's someone a hundred feet to the northwest, probably scouting ahead. Don't disturb him; just pretend nothing happened."

Han Fei grunted in acknowledgment and tightened his grip on the short sword.

In the latter half of the night, the figure changed its location twice more, but never entered within a hundred feet of the tower's base. It wasn't until the first light of dawn appeared on the horizon that the figure quietly retreated, disappearing into the depths of the thick fog, never to be seen again.

As dawn broke, the fog dissipated slightly, but that was all.

Master Gu Yuan stretched and rubbed his slightly sore neck: "Last night was really tiring. How many times did that guy come?"

"Three times," Xiao Fan answered honestly. "They came from one direction. Judging from their cultivation level, they shouldn't be very high, but their concealment skills are excellent. They should be spies sent by Blackfire to gather information."

"And then?" Gu Yuan opened the wine jug, took a sip of wine, and said, "While building the tower, we also need to guard against those rats. If it drags on for too long, it will be bad for us."

Xiao Fan thought for a moment and said, "Let's complete the runes on the second layer today, and then come back to check on the third layer tomorrow. If that person comes again tonight, we'll set a trap and see if we can detain him for questioning."

Yun Ruoxi emerged from the mist, holding several damp fruits in her hand, and handed them to Xiao Fan. "Let's eat first."

Xiao Fan took the fruit, said thank you, and took a bite. The sweet juice melted in his mouth.

After a simple breakfast, Master Gu Yuan went to finish the remaining runes on the second floor, while Xiao Fan returned to the tower and began to stabilize the operation of the jade talisman.