I am about to die of old age, and I have awakened the character of longevity.

Chapter 143: Absorb the crystal corpse and climb the tall building!

There is a huge black beam on the top floor of the nine-story ancient pagoda. I don’t know what material it is made of. It can actually bear the weight of such a large bronze bell.

The large bronze bell under the moonlight appears golden and is particularly eye-catching.

Xie An made a rough estimate. From where he was, he was nearly three hundred meters away from the ancient tower, but he could clearly feel a magnificent and sacred aura being released from the big bronze bell and pressing down on him.

This suppression is not physical, but mental.

This made Xie An feel very uncomfortable, causing him to instinctively want to use Mingyu Gong to resist.

However, Xie An still forced himself to endure it.

This place is full of corpses, and these corpses were created by the high priest and Li Changchun. It is possible that these corpses are sensitive to Mingyu Gong.

If anyone were to discover any clues, the entire plan might fail.

Although the possibility was not great, Xie An still did not want to take the risk.

Thinking of this, Xie An secretly took a few deep breaths and forced his mental willpower to withstand the mental pressure from the big bronze bell.

After Xie An got used to the pressure, he turned around to look at Yuhe and Muyu Jinshi beside him, and found that they both looked normal, as if they were not under the pressure of the big bronze bell.

This detail made Xie An think more. He analyzed it and found two reasons:

First, Muyu Jinshi and Yuhe were both members of the Corpse Refining Hall, and the large bronze bell was also considered a Corpse Refining Hall possession. It could protect their family members from pressure.

Second, the pressure from the big bronze bell was directed at himself.

If it was the first reason, Xie An felt okay.

If it's the second one, things will be a bit troublesome.

Why are you only targeting yourself?

Because I practiced Mingyu Gong?

Or was it because he held the immortal treasure in his hand... or was it because the immortal treasure absorbed the power of national destiny and resonated with the national seal on the large bronze bell?
All of this made Xie An feel a little uneasy.

Although Xie An felt that he might be overthinking things, arriving at the Corpse Refining Hall's lair, even with Yu He leading the way, would inevitably be fraught with danger. He should be more cautious and thoughtful.

Just when Xie An was stunned——

Take it!
The golden corpse suddenly struck the wooden fish, bringing Xie An back to reality. He then scanned the entire square and found that there were no other golden corpses. It was empty, without any birds, beasts, insects or ants.

Even ordinary internal force martial artists would have their vision obstructed at night. It was normal not to be able to see birds, beasts, insects, or ants.

But Xie An had an extraordinary sense of energy and could feel all the vital energy fluctuations within a radius of thirty-five meters.

Along the way, I really didn't sense even an ant or a crawling insect.

This is very unusual.

It was as if something had wiped out all life around it.

Take it!
The golden corpse struck the wooden fish again.

From now on, you should knock once every three steps you take.

It looks very weird.

Xie An had seen Taoist priests who were in seclusion beating wooden fish to calm their minds and focus on their practice.

But this is the first time I have seen someone beating a wooden fish while walking.

Yuhe seemed to be accustomed to this and followed closely behind the wooden fish and golden corpse.

Seeing this, Xie An suppressed his shock and pretended to follow behind him as if it was nothing. However, Xie An secretly activated his Qi sense and kept a close eye on the movements of the wooden fish corpse.

After walking for several hundred meters, the wooden fish golden corpse stopped at the gate of the ancient pagoda.

The gate of the ancient pagoda was tightly shut. The wooden fish corpse did not dare to knock on the door. Instead, it knelt respectfully on the ground at the gate. "Commander Hengyan, a gold medal commander has an urgent matter to report to you."

After a while, a sinister voice came from inside, "Then let's talk outside the door."

Xie An didn't expect that Hengyan Tongjing was so cautious.

When they just went up the mountain, Yuhe discussed the detailed plan with Xie An: Yuhe would use her identity in the Corpse Refining Hall to lure away the guys blocking the way and send Xie An into the ancient tower.

The rest is Xie An's business.

So far, everything has gone according to plan.

Yuhe brought Xie An to the entrance of the ancient pagoda very easily and smoothly.

However, it seems that Commander Hengyan is not easy to fool.

However, Yu He seemed to have anticipated this and was not at all flustered. She bowed and said, "I have something to give to Commander Heng Yan. Please allow me to come in and discuss this."

The same sinister voice still rang out from within the ancient tower, devoid of any emotional fluctuations. "What is that?"

Yu He took out a yellowed letter and said, "Commander Heng Yan knows. The High Priest has been asking me to investigate the whereabouts of the Immortal Treasure. Now I know where the Immortal Treasure is, and it's in this letter. Commander Heng Yan, please read it and decide whether to send more people to recover the Immortal Treasure."

Hearing that this letter was actually related to the fairy treasure, Gu Tari's voice became uneasy, "Come in."

Yu He's role in the Corpse Refining Hall is unique: she's a dispatched spy. Few people know of her; besides the High Priest, there are only four Crystal Commanders.

Commander Hengyan naturally knows this.

"Thank you Hengyan for the spiritual communication."

Yuhe bowed and thanked him, pushed open the door of the ancient tower, and was about to take Xie An in.

At that moment, the Hengyan Commander once again uttered a sinister voice, "You can come in, but he can't."

Yu He was not in a hurry. Instead, she politely took a step back and said with a bow, "This letter concerning the whereabouts of the immortal treasure was obtained by my deputy. He also has more important information to report. I ask for your permission, Commander Heng Yantong."

Guta hesitated for a moment, and then a voice came, "Then come in."

Yuhe nodded and led Xie An into the ancient pagoda gate. The wooden fish corpse stayed behind to guard the gate, occasionally striking the wooden fish. Perhaps because it didn't quite know the rhythm and strength of the strikes, the sound was very harsh.

This finally caused the rebuke from Commander Hengyan:
"Stop knocking. It's awful to hear."

hiss!
The wooden fish corpse trembled with fear and immediately knelt on the ground to admit his mistake, repeatedly saying things like "I won't knock anymore," as if feeling that this sincerity was not enough and would still provoke a rebuke from Commander Hengyan. He simply threw the wooden fish and stick to the ground and crushed them with one foot.

Sure enough, his efforts were meaningful.

I heard a "hmm" coming from the ancient tower.

Just one simple word made the wooden fish and golden corpse very excited, and he decided not to beat the wooden fish anymore, as it was really boring.

In fact, he didn't want to strike the wooden fish himself.

Instead, the high priest gave the golden corpses a high-level task: to let them deeply learn about human lifestyles, knowledge, civilization, and etiquette and rules.

Therefore, each golden corpse has its own skills that need to be learned.

Coincidentally, the task assigned to the Wooden Fish Golden Corpse was to cultivate Taoism and strike the wooden fish. In the future, he would find a human Dharma assembly and infiltrate it to become a Taoist priest.

I didn't want to cause the wrath of Commander Hengyan...

Xie An followed Yu He into the ancient pagoda and saw that the space inside was quite large. There were eternal lamps lit everywhere, and it was very bright.

Although the ancient pagoda appears to have nine floors from the outside, it is actually hollowed out inside. Standing on the first floor and looking up, you can see a spiral staircase that winds its way up to the roof.

And the huge bronze bell was right above Xie An's head.

The closer he looked, the more he felt the enormousness of the bronze bell. If it fell down, Xie An felt that with his current ability, he would have no way to escape.

Tatata!
There was a sound of footsteps coming from above.

Xie An looked in the direction of the sound and suddenly saw a person walking down the stairs slowly. When the person was far away, Xie An saw that the person seemed to be glowing.

what's the situation?
When the man slowly walked from the top of the ancient tower to the fourth floor, Xie An, with his extraordinary eyesight, finally saw his appearance clearly:
He looked to be in his fifties or sixties, without a single wrinkle on his body, a stark difference from the Golden Corpse. Even more bizarrely, his skin was translucent, allowing for a faint glimpse of his blood vessels, muscles, bones, and so on beneath the surface.

Even though Xie An had lived two lives, he was deeply shocked by the scene before him.

If Xie An had not seen it with his own eyes, he would not have believed that such a thing existed in the world.

In his previous life, Xie An had heard that there were some special tribes living in the snow-capped mountains. When a leader of the tribe died, because of his great merits and special techniques, his body could be turned into ice crystals after death, forming a crystal corpse that would not decay for thousands of years.

In addition, there are some similar sayings in Daqian martial arts, such as natural martial bones, and even higher than natural martial bones is ice skin and jade bones. This is probably the same situation.

But that was just a rumor spread by word of mouth. I didn't expect to actually see it today.

It's really shocking.

However, after thinking about it for a while, Xie An felt relieved.

Because... this Crystal Commander Hengyan didn't have any life force at all. It was obvious that he was a living corpse.

The high priest himself was an expert in corpse refinement. Adding some special materials to Heng Yan's death and creating a crystal corpse... didn't seem too strange.

Although Xie An had never met the high priest, from what he saw and heard along the way... Xie An clearly felt that the high priest was making the bronze corpse, silver corpse, and gold corpse learn human customs.

I don’t know what the high priest is planning.

It doesn't look like a good thing at all.

Soon, Commander Hengyan walked down the stairs and came to Yuhe. He glanced at her sinisterly and said, "Bring the letter here."

Yu He and Xie An exchanged glances, then respectfully presented the letter with both hands. "The contents of this letter are extremely urgent. I wanted to hand it directly to the high priest, but he's not here. I'll have to trouble Commander Heng Yan to review it."

"Okay, okay. If we can recover the magic treasure, it will be a great achievement. When the time comes, I will naturally say a few good words for you in front of the high priest. I will not forget your contribution." Heng Yan took the envelope and promised with a smile.

As he opened the envelope, he smiled and promised Yu He, "For years, the High Priest has been most concerned about the Immortal Treasure. If we can recover the Immortal Treasure this time, it will help the High Priest resolve his most pressing issue. Then... you and I will definitely benefit."

Although he hadn't opened the envelope yet, Hengyan was already overjoyed and had greatly relaxed his vigilance.

In fact, Hengyan's status is not low, second only to the high priest and Li Changchun.

After all, there are only four crystal commanders in the entire Corpse Refining Hall. Some are human, and some are zombies.

But Heng Yan was the second of the four crystal commanders. He was assigned to guard the large bronze bell in the ancient pagoda. Without the order of the high priest, he was not allowed to leave the place all year round, and no one other than Li Changchun and the high priest was allowed to enter.

Today is an exception.

Hengyan knew that doing so was against the rules, and if the high priest knew about it, he would be severely beaten.

Still, he decided to make an exception.

After all, it involves the fairy treasure.

As long as he could retrieve the magical treasure, the high priest would be very happy. He thought that by then, the high priest would not blame him for making an exception, but would praise him for his ability to get things done and his ability to adapt.

From now on, becoming the first of the four crystal leaders... is a foregone conclusion.

Stab it!

Commander Hengyan tore open the seal of the envelope, stretched out two fingers to take out the letter, and asked, "Where did this letter come from?"

Xie An brought out the story he and Yu He had come up with earlier. "Back when the Plum Blossom Monster attacked the Chen Mansion, a monk named Zhang Hengshui killed it and took the magical treasure. I spent a long time tracking him down. This letter is Zhang Hengshui's attempt to trade the magical treasure with the outside world."

"Oh?"

Commander Hengyan was stunned for a moment, then reviewed what had happened in his mind.

He knew about that.

The information provided by Xie An matches the information known to Commander Heng Yan.

After a brief comparison, Commander Hengyan felt that this matter was almost certain, and he became more and more looking forward to the contents of the envelope. He felt that there was a high probability that he could find the magic treasure this time.

For this reason, Commander Heng Yan glanced at Xie An and gave him affirmation: "Well done. When I recover the treasure, I will definitely not miss your contribution."

Xie An cupped his hands, revealing a very happy expression, "Thank you, Commander Hengyan."

"Ah."

Commander Hengyan nodded with a smile, then took out the letter and couldn't wait to read it.

As the folded letters were unfolded layer by layer, Commander Heng Yan became more and more excited. He didn't notice that Xie An and Yu He were staring at him.

Seeing Commander Hengyan focusing more and more on the letter, when he opened the last fold, Hengyan's excitement reached its peak, and his entire attention was 100% on the letter.

At this moment——

brush!
Yuhe brazenly took out a dagger from her sleeve and pierced Commander Hengyan's forehead without any warning, creating a big hole in his forehead in an instant.

At this moment, Xie An drew his sword and slashed at Heng Yan's neck.

The Demon-Suppressing Sword already carried an aura of demon-slaying and demon-killing power. Coupled with Xie An's unreserved unleashing of the Nine-Layered Mountain Blade, the explosive power generated instantly was truly astonishing!

puff!

There was a cut on Commander Hengyan's neck, and a fishy liquid flowed out.

It's not blood, it stinks.

“You, you…you!”

Even so, Commander Hengyan was still able to speak. However, he soon collapsed to the ground, a large amount of foul-smelling liquid continuously flowing from his neck.

He was not dead yet, and his limbs could still move. He actually grabbed Yuhe and Xiean's heels with one hand each, and resisted vigorously.

This surprised Xie An quite a bit.

It's all like this, why don't you die?

Is the crystal corpse so fierce?

You know, although Yuhe said that the combat power of the crystal corpse is comparable to that of a fourth-level martial artist, Yuhe is obviously also an internal force martial artist, and Xie An's full-strength burst of strength is comparable to that of a second-level martial artist.

Two martial artist-level masters launched a sudden killing attack at close range, and even a fourth-level martial artist would be killed instantly.

Xie An and Yuhe were not the shy ones, and once they decided to take action, they would not hesitate.

Yu He raised her sword and stabbed Heng Yan in the face repeatedly, while Xie An followed up with a few more slashes, continuing to tear open the wound on Commander Heng Yan's neck. Even so, Xie An found that he couldn't even cut his neck.

Yu He had stabbed his face like a hornet's nest, but he wasn't completely dead yet, still clinging to the two men's heels tightly...

Simply outrageous.

Seeing that Heng Yan was not dead yet, Xie An was worried that this guy would cry for help... In addition to the wooden fish and golden corpse, there were many other corpses outside. If they all gathered around, it would be a disaster.

Xie An did not hold back and immediately activated the Dao Lu in his mind to absorb the immortal energy from it.

Buzz!
The white Daolu in his mind suddenly vibrated and emitted a white light.

[Detected 30 strands of immortal energy, do you want to absorb it? ]

Xie An didn't even think about it.

absorb!

As a white light flashed in my mind:

[Successfully absorbed 30 strands of immortal energy, and the life force grew.]

[Current Longevity Level 1, Fusion Degree: 0.0239]

As the immortal energy was sucked away, Hengyan's "life breath" immediately disappeared, and he let go of the hands that were holding the two people, becoming deader than dead.

Xie An and Yuhe breathed a sigh of relief at the same time, looked at each other, and couldn't help but smile.

Yu He chuckled and said, "Master, you are really efficient. Go to the rooftop and smash the big bronze bell. I will take care of this."

"it is good."

Xie An knew that the situation was urgent, so he didn't hesitate and went upstairs quickly.

Yu He's voice could be heard from behind, "Commander Heng Yan asked you to come in and talk."

"Ah? That's not good."

"Just come in if you're told to. Why are you talking so much nonsense?"

"Oh, here I come."

Xie An didn't even turn his head, probably knowing what Yu He was planning. Killing Heng Yan earlier didn't make much noise, and the ancient pagoda gate was closed. If he hadn't shouted for help, no one outside would have heard it.

Soon, a soft cry was heard from downstairs.

Xie An knew...the man who beat the wooden fish was dead.

call!
Xie An took a deep breath and quickened his pace towards the roof.

Soon, Xie An arrived at the top floor and stood close to the big bronze bell. Xie An felt that this bell was... really big.

I'm afraid it's about twelve or thirteen meters high and more than five meters in diameter.

It is much larger than the largest Yongle Bell in the previous life.

Su Yuqing was doing her thing, and Yuhe had completed her task very well. It was up to her now.

(End of this chapter)