Yi Beidou nodded slightly at Cheng Zhihong’s words.

The Qin Dynasty alchemist Xu Fu had extremely deep ties to Japan.

The First Emperor, in his quest for longevity, scoured Donghua for the secrets of immortality. The alchemist Xu Fu advised him that three Immortal Mountains existed in the East Sea, inhabited by Immortals who possessed elixirs of eternal life. And so, the First Emperor dispatched Xu Fu on two expeditions to find them.

On his second expedition, Xu Fu led three thousand young boys and girls, hundreds of artisans, and the seeds of the five grains, along with Great Qin guards, aboard ships bound for the East Sea. After that, he was never heard from again.

In reality, however, Xu Fu successfully crossed the eastern sea and reached Japan. He settled there, bringing with him advanced technology, culture, and philosophies. It can be said that he had a profound influence on the formation of Japanese culture.

Many Japanese historical records contain clear accounts of this event. For instance, the *Brief History of Japan* mentions, "In the seventy-second year of Emperor Xiaoling’s reign, Xu Fu of Qin arrived."

There are no fewer than twenty or thirty legends and historical sites in Japan related to Xu Fu. Even many Japanese surnames are linked to Xu Fu and the Qin, and their bearers are believed to be descendants of those who made the eastern voyage.

"After Xu Fu settled in Japan, he intermarried with a descendant of the Japanese Imperial Family and had children, establishing a bloodline that has been passed down through the generations. His influence wasn’t limited to agriculture, medicine, metallurgy, and other technologies and cultural aspects. Even Japan’s cultivation culture was deeply inspired by him. The current lineage of Japan’s Nine Chrysanthemums Sect, for example, is connected to Xu Fu."

"And today, that Domain Lord from Japan goes by the codename ’Alchemist’ within the Pioneer Group."

Cheng Zhihong continued.

"Do you have a way to track him down?"

Yi Beidou asked, a flicker of interest in his eyes.

’A person like that must be hiding some major secrets.’

’But tracking down someone of his caliber would be an exceedingly difficult task.’

"We did bring something that might be useful, but whether it will actually work is hard to say. That might depend on your abilities, Mr. Yi."

Cheng Zhihong said, then with a flip of his palm, he produced an object.

It was a palm-sized Copper Compass, appearing neither new nor old. A network of Talismans formed from blood-red threads crisscrossed its surface, all converging toward the center.

In the very middle was an amber-like object, though it was perfectly crystalline and transparent. It was about the size of a thumb.

And inside this amber-like object, Yi Beidou could see a speck of crimson.

It looked like a tiny piece of bloody flesh, only about half the size of a fingernail.

"This is..."

Yi Beidou raised an eyebrow.

"It’s a small piece of flesh and blood from the ’Alchemist.’ One of our Dark Vine seniors managed to obtain it during the chaotic era of global turmoil nearly a century ago."

"That era wasn’t just about the wars in the Mortal World. The Hidden Realm was in upheaval as well. It was a global reshuffling. That man from Japan was secretly fanning the flames of war and influencing the mortal plane. Our predecessors managed to track him down, but unfortunately, they only took a piece of his flesh, not his head."

"How useful this piece of flesh will be now is anyone’s guess. After so many years, the ’Alchemist’ may have already undergone Corpse Dissolution and changed his physical body. This is the most critical piece of intelligence we can offer on him."

Cheng Zhihong said with a sigh.

"With this, things will be much easier."

A smile touched Yi Beidou’s lips. ’This organization, Dark Vine, can actually get their hands on something like this. They’re more capable than I expected. They’ve proven their sincerity and their worth.’

"Don’t celebrate too soon," Cheng Zhihong said, shaking his head. "First, this is not from his current body, which makes it extremely difficult to locate him. More importantly, if he’s deliberately hiding, he’s likely already returned to his own Secret Realm. All forms of scrying will probably fail there."

"Secret Realm?"

’I’m certainly learning a lot of new terms today.’

"A Secret Realm... you can think of it as a ’Grotto Heaven’ or ’Safe House’ that an Ancient One creates for themself. By leveraging Arrays and the natural world, it can produce incredibly powerful effects. A Domain Lord like the ’Alchemist’ is even more terrifyingly powerful within their own Secret Realm."

Cheng Zhihong said in a grave voice.

The senior who fought the "Alchemist" all those years ago died from his grievous injuries not long after returning. His Fruit Position returned to the Sealing God Spirit Stele.

And even then, he had only barely managed to injure the man, and that was with the element of surprise. The "Alchemist" wasn’t in his Secret Realm at the time. Otherwise, forget fighting, that senior probably wouldn’t have even been able to find him.

"We’ll know once we try," Yi Beidou said calmly. "Even if he has transcended the three realms and attained a True Immortal Body, he cannot escape the ebb and flow of karma, the coming and going of tribulations."

"Well then, let’s give it a try."

Cheng Zhihong nodded.

’If Yi Beidou can’t sense their target’s location, it would be the perfect opportunity to persuade him to leave Japan.’

Cheng Zhihong gave Yuna a look. The two of them sat cross-legged on the floor, extending their four hands to hold the Compass between them.

"Mr. Yi, this Compass and the Array inscribed on it can amplify one’s ability to sense auras. We will be operating it at full power in a moment. We’ll have to trouble you to conceal our own auras. If the fluctuations spread and he senses them, it will alert him to our presence." 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

Cheng Zhihong said to Yi Beidou.