The return journey was silent and swift. Lin Fan and Yue Qingqian flew low, their disguised auras merging with the night, taking a deliberately convoluted route back to the perceived safety of Xiao Xiao Peak. The weight of the acquired Deep Ocean Black Iron felt both like a victory and a ticking bomb.
Upon landing in the familiar courtyard, the first thing Lin Fan did was reactivate the peak's full defensive and concealment arrays to their maximum setting. Only then did he allow himself a moment to breathe the relatively clean, safe air of their sanctuary.
He immediately took the Harmony-Sealing Pouch containing the Black Iron into his hut. Yue Qingqian followed, watching as he meticulously transferred the dark, heavy ore into the same lead-lined, rune-covered box that already held the Kongming Flower petal and the three Serpent's Eye tokens. He added several more layers of sealing talismans, each designed to suppress a different type of energy signature – spatial, yin, and now, the strange energy-absorbing quality of the Black Iron.
The box now contained a collection of materials that defied conventional cultivation logic, items intrinsically linked to space, ancient power, and concealment. It was the physical manifestation of their desperate plan, a box of impossible ingredients for an impossible escape. Lin Fan stored it in the most heavily shielded corner of his hut, hidden beneath layers of mundane clutter and defensive formations.
With the immediate prize secured, the stark reality of their situation settled back in. Lin Fan unrolled the teleportation array blueprint on his workbench. The core navigational module, incorporating the Star-Navigating Iron, sat beside it, pulsing faintly. The circle representing the stabilization matrix, requiring the Deep Ocean Black Iron, could now theoretically be built.
But the intricate channels meant to carry the immense energy needed for the teleportation – the energy conduits – remained blank, marked only by the symbol for Starlight Sand.
"The Ghost Market yielded nothing on the Sand," Lin Fan stated, his voice flat with exhaustion. "Old Man Chen gave no hints. It seems our luck only extends to dodging death, not finding every treasure we need."
Yue Qingqian looked at the blueprint, her brow furrowed. "Is there... no alternative, Senior Brother? Something else that can conduct that much power?"
"Standard high-grade spiritual metals would vaporize instantly," Lin Fan explained, tapping the complex conduit design. "This isn't just channeling energy; it's channeling spatial energy under immense pressure during the teleportation sequence. Starlight Sand is ideal because its structure, formed in the void between stars, is inherently stable against spatial shear and conducts vast amounts of energy with minimal resistance. Most other materials would simply tear themselves apart or explode."
He sighed, running a hand through his increasingly messy hair. "Back to the library scrolls it is. There must be something."
While Yue Qingqian resumed her duties – checking on their still-slumbering master, tending the herb garden, and maintaining a vigilant watch over the peak's perimeter – Lin Fan once again lost himself in the sea of jade slips copied from Bai Cao Peak. He bypassed the alchemy texts, the beast compendiums, the historical records. His focus was now laser-sharp, targeting only the most obscure texts on array formation theory, celestial phenomena, and exotic material properties.
He poured over diagrams of ancient, failed teleportation devices, searched through records of bizarre geological formations, and deciphered fragmented notes left by eccentric array masters from millennia past. For days, he found nothing but dead ends – materials even rarer than Starlight Sand, theoretical substances that might not even exist, or techniques requiring cultivation levels far beyond his current (displayed or actual) reach.
The pressure mounted. Every rustle of leaves outside, every distant bird call, made him jumpy. He knew Elder Zhao wouldn't remain idle forever. He knew the Sect Master's curiosity was a dangerous variable. And he felt, with a growing certainty, the cold, impersonal attention of the Heavenly Dao beginning to focus on him again, perhaps preparing its next 'plot twist'.
Then, late one night, deep within a badly damaged scroll discussing the energy dynamics of celestial bodies, he found a footnote. It was scribbled in archaic characters, barely legible, an annotation made by a long-forgotten scholar.
"...while Starlight Sand remains the optimal conduit for stellar-derived energies, certain theoretical texts posit that pure Lunar Essence Dew, collected during a Triple Conjunction under a Blood Moon on a peak exceeding thirty thousand zhang, might exhibit similar properties due to its extreme condensation of yin-aligned celestial power and inherent spatial resonance..."
Lin Fan's eyes widened. Lunar Essence Dew. He knew of it – a mythical substance said to form only under the rarest of conditions, condensing pure moonlight into liquid form. It was incredibly potent for yin-attribute cultivation and certain types of soul-related alchemy. But used as an energy conduit for a spatial array? It was unheard of. Yet, the theory... the resonance... it made a bizarre kind of sense.
He immediately cross-referenced the celestial records he had copied. His blood ran cold. A Triple Conjunction (three specific celestial bodies aligning) under a Blood Moon (a lunar eclipse with specific atmospheric conditions) was an event that occurred perhaps once every five hundred years. According to the ancient calendar conversions... the next one was happening in six days.
And the location? The texts were clear: the highest peaks collected the purest essence. Within the Tianxuan Sect's territory, only one place fit the description – the notoriously treacherous, perpetually storm-shrouded summit of Sky-Piercer Peak (Chuantian Feng). It was the tallest, most dangerous, and largely unexplored peak in the entire mountain range, located far beyond the established sect territories, bordering the wild lands.
It was another suicide mission. But unlike the Ghost Market, this wasn't just dangerous; it relied on precise timing and a specific, rare celestial event. If they missed this window, the next chance might be centuries away.
Lin Fan stared at the scroll, then at the array blueprint. Starlight Sand was unattainable. Lunar Essence Dew was incredibly dangerous but potentially within reach, if they acted immediately.
He made his decision.
He walked out of the hut into the pre-dawn chill. Yue Qingqian was sitting in meditation near the cliff edge, watching the stars fade.
"Junior Sister," Lin Fan said, his voice quiet but resolute. "Pack your warmest clothes and your climbing gear. It seems we need to go moon-gazing."