Himmel Soan kept moving further north, but the village wasn’t marked on the map. It seemed the place was too small.

He looked further to the north. He wanted to know what that forest was. He only killed some random snakes and lizards, but their cores were so valuable!

Why weren’t any people there?

He finally found a name at the edge of the map.

“Dusk Soul Forest.”

Was that the forest he came out of? He felt the name “Edgeless Forest” would be more appropriate.

Why did the forest seem so small on the map?

He had walked for a month to get out. It had to be much bigger. That was to say, no one on this continent had crossed that forest, which was why they thought the continent was all there was on this planet.

It had to be!

Himmel Soan figured it out.

“Sir, are you reading a map?” Ton walked in and got intrigued when he saw the map.

“I’m glad you’re here. I have a few questions for you.” Himmel Soan was happy to see Ton.

Just as he was looking for someone to answer his questions, Ton showed up.

“No problem!” Ton walked up to Himmel Soan.

“Why is the Dusk Soul Forest so little on this map?” Himmel Soan asked.

Well…

Ton was confused. He soon found an answer.

“The eight emperors drew the map. People like us know the forest can’t be that small, but no one has put much thought into it.

“The school has sent people there before, but they all went missing. None of them came back.

“We know it’s big, but we don’t know what’s on the other side of the forest, so the eight emperors declared it a restricted area.

“And these four more places are all restricted areas. The Eternity Desert, Endless Sea, Thunder Region, and Freezing Land. Together, they wrap around Stelladom.”

Wrap around Stelladom?

Himmel Soan didn’t understand. How did such an environment exist on a planet?

The eight emperors were the most advanced cultivators on this continent. Couldn’t they do anything about it?

“Are you saying the eight emperors just restricted them without any explanation?”

Ton nodded. They were onto a sensitive subject. If he revealed more, the eight emperors would notice, and his life would be in danger.

Although the principal of the school was as advanced as any of the eight emperors, he couldn’t beat all eight of them at once. Therefore, he would say as little as possible and be as ambiguous as he could.

“People at the top seem to know something about it. However, they all chose to remain silent. All influential people are like that. If anyone wants to know something, they’ll have to reach their level first.”

Ton made it very clear, practically admitting that the eight emperors knew the truth.

Knowing it was different from saying it. Since the eight emperors chose to remain silent, they must have had their own reason. To find out the truth, one had to become one of the eight emperors or stand equal to them.

“I see.” Himmel Soan looked across the map and memorized everything. He then folded it and headed back inside.

Ton said gingerly, “Sir, I have a request.”

Himmel Soan stopped, turned around, and asked quietly, “What’s up?”

He was living in their room and eating their food, so he was going to fulfill their requests.

“I… I want to watch you refine pills!” After a long pause, Ton finally voiced his wish.

He hesitated because most alchemists didn’t want to reveal their secrets. His request was a little out of the line.

Himmel Soan blinked. Watch him while he made pills?

He didn’t have a problem with that, but what was there to watch?

“Yes, but not now. I’ll refine pills tomorrow morning. If you want to drop by, be my guest.”

He then went back inside. As for why the next day, it was because he needed to practice tonight.

He had never dabbled in alchemy before and couldn’t let them know. For other newbies, they couldn’t make any pills in a month, let alone a night. But Himmel Soan was different. He was sure that he could master the skill after trying it once.

He didn’t read all the books for nothing. Before long, the preparation was done. He was ready to begin.

Himmel Soan followed the steps in the books he had read.

“First this, then that… Start the spiritual fire now…” It took him two seconds to master it. It was another form of spiritual essence.

“Then turn it to low heat…” He slowly reduced the spiritual fire.

Before it was low, he frowned and turned it back to medium.

“No, I shouldn’t turn down the heat. Medium heat is the right choice. Low heat will ruin the pills.”

He couldn’t believe everything in the books. The knowledge in the books came from other people, and there could be errors. For instance, the book was wrong about the pills he was making right now.

Although following the instructions could produce pills, he was confident it wouldn’t be as good as the ones he made following his intuition.

Bang!

There was a muffled noise.

The alchemy session was successful.

Himmel Soan opened the furnace and found nine round pills inside. Each pill had inscriptions on it.