The Eternal Saint of Alchemy

The return journey took six days. When they arrived at a rolling hilly area, Xiao Fan suddenly stopped.

It has a tail.

Master Gu Yuan's ears twitched slightly, and he subtly touched the talisman pouch at his waist.

Han Fei looked around and saw only a few crooked ancient trees in the distance and dust flying everywhere. Other than that, there was nothing else.

Without turning her head, Yun Ruoxi stepped into the stirrup and pulled the warhorse behind Xiao Fan, blocking his path.

Xiao Fan's divine sense had already detected the aura that was following him several days ago.

Although that person's concealment skills were quite good, the Creation Fire's sensitivity to spiritual energy was far more acute than that of ordinary people. Most importantly, there were three of them.

Xiao Fan whispered, "That locust grove ahead is the ambush point. Elder Gu, once you enter the grove, use the concealment talisman to hide them."

Gu Yuan sneered, took out a stack of yellow paper from his talisman bag, and held it steadily between two fingers.

Near the locust grove, the lush foliage casts dappled shadows in the twilight.

Just as Xiao Fan stepped onto the edge of the forest, three sharp spiritual energies attacked from three different directions, and three flying blades pierced towards the backs of the three of them.

Gu Yuan reacted even faster than the throwing knife, crushing a concealment talisman into countless golden powders.

Where the golden light passed, three figures appeared: one crouched under a tree, one hid in the grass ten steps away, and the third jumped out of the woods, holding a gleaming dagger in his hand.

When the flying blade approached Xiao Fan from behind, he didn't even turn around.

The Creation Fire in his dantian rushed along his meridians to his back, silently unfolding a crimson-gold protective shield. The three flying blades struck it, and with three "clangs," they were all bounced off, their tips charred and emitting blue smoke.

"Ninth Rank of Yang Realm?" The voice from the treetop was somewhat surprised. "Our information is that it's seventh rank."

Xiao Fan had already jumped off the horse.

The next moment, he appeared in front of the figure that had suddenly sprung up from the bushes.

The man clearly hadn't expected him to be so fast. Just as he held the dagger horizontally in front of his chest to try and block, Xiao Fan's fist had already slammed into the blade.

With a muffled thud, the short sword made of fine iron was bent and the back of the blade bounced backward. The person holding the sword was forced back five or six steps and coughed up a mouthful of blood.

That punch contained the Yin and Yang energies of the Immaculate Fire and the Fire of Creation. It looked ordinary, but it was as heavy as a mountain.

The person in the tree, seeing that things were going badly, turned and ran.

Xiao Fan lightly touched the ground with his toes, his body soaring into the sky. In mid-air, he pointed out with a finger, and a wisp of crimson-gold flame shot out, accurately hitting the acupoint on the man's ankle.

The man felt half of his leg go numb, lost control of his body, and fell from the tree, landing on the dry leaves on the ground with a muffled groan.

Seeing his companion being utterly defeated, the third man in black, who was hiding in the bushes, turned and ran without hesitation.

However, just as he took three steps, a light suddenly appeared beneath his feet, and a layer of frost quickly spread to his ankles, freezing him in place.

Yun Ruoxi withdrew her fingers from the spell, appearing completely calm and collected.

It took no more than twenty breaths.

Xiao Fan stepped forward, squatted down, and lifted the man's mask.

It was a tall, thin face, about thirty years old, with tightly pursed lips and eyes filled with fear and resentment.

"Who sent you?" Xiao Fan asked calmly.

The man gritted his teeth and remained silent. Xiao Fan didn't ask any questions, but directly placed his hand on the top of the man's head. A burst of creation fire entered the edge of his sea of ​​consciousness through his meridians. Although it wouldn't kill him, it was enough to make his mental defenses collapse instantly.

The man's eyes widened, his lips trembling as he said, "The Fire Source Crystals you brought out at the Crimson Cloud Pill Gathering were originally reserved by our hall master. You intercepted them halfway and made us come here to collect them."

Xiao Fan raised an eyebrow. He had discovered the "Fire Crystal" deep within the Crimson Cloud Mountain Secret Realm. The crevices were so deep that he wouldn't have been able to detect its existence unless the Creation Fire resonated with it. How could he say it was "pre-ordered"?

Clearly, they were envious of the treasure they had obtained and wanted to steal it.

"Who is it?"

"West of Crimson Cloud City, in the Earth Fire Hall, the hall master's surname is Wei, and he is known as Wei Fire Master..." He paused here, then continued:

Xiao Fan loosened his grip, and the man's head lolled to the side as he passed out.

Gu Yuan walked over, kicked the two people lying on the ground, and spat: "What Earth Fire Hall, Heaven Fire Hall? You think you can steal our things just by opening your mouth?"

"Your Fire Crystal appeared out of thin air on a rock deep within the secret realm. How could it have been reserved by someone else?"

Xiao Fan stood up, dusted himself off, glanced in the direction of Crimson Cloud City, and said, "During the Crimson Cloud Pill Gathering, besides Liu Changgeng, there were two other referees."

I remember one of them had a dark red flame pattern on the cuff of his robe; at the time, I thought it was some kind of family crest.

Master Gu Yuan pondered for a moment, then suddenly realized, "The emblem of the Earth Fire Hall is Dark Fire! That old fellow sat on the judging panel, staring intently at your alchemy furnace. He's been keeping an eye on you ever since."

Han Fei took a communication talisman from the black-clad man's corpse and handed it to him, saying, "This thing is still lit up; it's still in communication mode."

Xiao Fan took the talisman and lightly traced its surface with his finger. "Got it?" A deep male voice immediately came from the other end of the talisman, the voice of a middle-aged man.

Xiao Fan brought the talisman to his lips and said, "Your people are lying at my feet. If you want the fire crystal, you can go and get it yourselves."

There was a moment of silence on the other end before a cold snort came: "How dare you. I will meet you at the Purple Rock Ferry in Crimson Cloud City in three days. If you dare not come, leave the Fire Source Crystal behind, and I will forgive and forget."

The talisman immediately dimmed, and communication was interrupted.

"Are you going or not?" Master Gu Yuan asked as he walked to his side.

Xiao Fan folded the talisman paper neatly, tucked it into his robes, and smiled slightly. "Let's go. We still have some things to take back from Crimson Cloud City. Liu Changgeng has a few ancient books on the Immaculate Fire Grafting Technique, which I'd like to take back with me."

Yun Ruoxi looked at him, a rare smile curving her lips. "It's good that you know."

A group of people returned to the main road, tied up the three unconscious men in black, and threw them into the bushes by the roadside, waiting for them to wake up before returning to report.

Having said that, he whipped his horse, increased its speed, and galloped towards the direction of Crimson Cloud City.

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

Ziyan Ferry is located more than 20 miles west of Chixia City. It is a dead bridge at the end of Yanyuan River.