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

Chapter 146 Revealing the truth about the Corpse Refining Hall!
8000 strands of immortal energy...

Xie An stared blankly at the words in his mind, especially when he saw the three zeros after 8... Xie An thought he was dazzled and counted them several times before he was sure.

Eight thousand strands!
Unprecedented numbers.

Xie An's heartbeat suddenly accelerated.

The last time Xie An publicly executed Li Xiaoting, the seventh son of the King of Huainan, on the guillotine, he collected two hundred strands of Faith Qi. Facts have proven that for a person with a long life, Immortal Qi and Faith Qi have the same effect.

After that, Xie An never absorbed the immortal energy and faith energy again. Until just now under the ancient tower, Xie An absorbed thirty strands of immortal energy in order to kill Commander Heng Yan as soon as possible.

A crystal corpse, comparable to a human martial artist of the fourth level of internal strength, can only provide thirty strands of immortal energy.

It can be seen that it is very difficult to obtain immortality.

Now, eight thousand strands of immortal energy have been detected...

No matter how calm Xie An was, he couldn't help but get excited at this moment.

He vaguely remembered that when he first agreed to cooperate with Su Yuqing, it was because he had no choice but to cooperate with Li Changchun, and on the other hand, it was because Su Yuqing said... The high priest spent a hundred years to gather eight thousand strands of immortal energy.

At that time, Xie An was wondering whether he had a chance to obtain these eight thousand strands of immortal energy.

However, Xie An had only this idea at the time. As for whether he could really do it... Xie An did not have too much obsession and took the idea of ​​taking it one step at a time.

After all, the matter is of great importance, and his own strength is still very weak. He also knows that many things cannot be forced.

Later, as things progressed, Xie An felt more and more that the Corpse Refining Hall was in trouble, so he didn't take this idea too seriously. Unexpectedly... the opportunity actually appeared before him.

calm down!

Xie An took a deep breath and told himself to calm down.

Soon, Xie An suppressed his excitement and began to think about what to do next:

The last time he rashly absorbed two hundred strands of faith energy, Xie An had spent three months in seclusion. During this time, Xie An had no awareness of what was happening outside of him. Fortunately, with Su Yuqing's protection, nothing happened.

Although Xie An's Mingyu Gong had been fundamentally improved compared to that time, he definitely could not withstand the impact of absorbing eight thousand strands of immortal energy at one time.

Even if the Dao Scroll could be absorbed, it would probably take him several years to completely digest it. During these years, Xie An was almost unconscious.

If he were outside, Xie An could naturally find a deserted place and seclude himself for a few years...it's no big deal.

But this was the Corpse Refining Hall headquarters, a forbidden area within the ancestral hall. There were a ton of corpses gathered outside. Once the Crystal Commander arrived, Xie An felt like he was going to be in big trouble. Not to mention absorbing eight thousand strands of immortal energy.

Thinking of this, Xie An felt as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over his head. His initial excitement subsided in an instant.

Pity!
What a pity!

Rather than this, it would be better to prevent me from sensing these eight thousand strands of immortal energy...

It is really sad to have such a huge treasure but not be able to possess it.

Xie An sighed inwardly, but he quickly recovered. He knew this was not the time to worry about gains and losses. If the immortality was gone, there would be another chance to get it back in the future. But if the life was gone, everything was gone.

"Yuhe, there are more and more zombies gathering outside the door. I guess some of them have already gone to call for the Crystal Commander. If the Crystal Commander comes, is there any way to escape?"

Staying alive is the most urgent thing.

Xie An realized that these corpses had some intelligence. Not only did they block the gate, they also surrounded the entire ancestral hall, completely blocking all of Xie An's escape routes.

Even though Xie An and Yuhe are good at fighting, they can only die when facing the siege of so many zombies.

Xie An glanced toward the ancestral hall's gate and saw an increasing number of corpses crowding the gate. Many had even climbed the walls, poking their heads out to stare toward the hall. They were shouting and screaming in unison.

They became more violent than before, as if Xie An had touched upon their vital interests.

Yu He was also frightened when she saw this. She gritted her teeth and said, "There is no better way for now. I can only hope that the young lady can arrange it."

"What is the arrangement of the Princess?" Xie An's previous communication with Su Yuqing was very obscure, and the other party said nothing. If Xie An could leave safely, he would not want to ask more questions.

But now that it was a matter of life and death, Xie An had no choice but to ask Yu He.

Xie An also wanted to know one thing: Yuhe was Su Yuqing's absolute confidant. If the princess didn't even tell Yuhe about her plan, then it meant that Su Yuqing... might not be as open and honest as she appeared. If Yuhe knew, then it would be easy to say.

Yuhe said, "My lady will meet with the high priest tonight at the Huai River at the foot of Dayin Mountain to negotiate. As soon as I hear the bell ringing here and the light of fire appears, I will kill the high priest and then personally enter Dayin Mountain to kill the demon."

Hearing that the martial arts master would take action personally, Xie An felt a little relieved.

Soon, Xie An's face turned worried again. "But the number of demons in the Corpse Refining Hall... seems to be over ten thousand. Can your young lady kill them all by herself?"

There were eight thousand hearts displayed in the ancestral hall, all beating, corresponding to eight thousand corpses.

Including other people, the number is probably over ten thousand.

If such a huge number of people go down the mountain... the entire Qingwu County will become a living hell in an instant.

Su Yuqing is alone, even a martial arts master...wouldn't be able to chop her down, right?
Yu He said, "Master, don't worry. The young lady is not a reckless person. Once she takes action, there will be a back-up plan. The people from the Nanyang Demon Suppression Division, the masters of the Tai'a Taoist Academy, and even people from the capital will arrive as promised to clean up the mess. We need to buy time until they arrive, and then we will be safe."

At the end, Yu He suddenly changed the subject, "Besides, didn't the young lady give you a piece of sword paper? This sword paper is very powerful. I also have one. When the zombies rush in, I will use my sword paper to kill them first. Master, you just sit here and recover your strength. I will go to guard the door."

Leaving behind a word, Yu He stood at the main hall door, facing Xie An with her back, as if she was determined to protect Xie An even at death. She faced the swarm of roaring corpses outside alone, without any fear.

Xie An saw this and touched the sword paper in his arms.

Xie An didn't know how much power the two sword papers could exert. He also had no idea how long they could delay the attack.

But after thinking about it, this is the only way.

Soon, Xie An seemed to have made up his mind, "Yuhe, come here."

Yuhe walked up to Xie An and looked him up and down. She thought Xie An was going to tell her about his last wishes, so she said with red eyes, "Master, it's me who got you into this mess. If we really reach the end of our rope, I will definitely stand in front of you. If those corpses want to attack you, they'll have to step over Yuhe's body."

She spoke softly, biting her lower lip as she spoke word by word, as if she was speaking to Xie An, but also as if she was speaking to herself.

Xie An could feel the little girl's determination from her tone.

Deep in this crisis, listening to the maid's voice, Xie An, who was always cautious, felt deeply touched.

In life, facing life and death, how many people are really willing to take the knife for themselves?
Xie An didn't want to sound too sentimental, so he said, "Not really. Just stand inside the gate, don't rush out, and don't go too far away from me."

Yuhe felt Xie An's concern and said "hmm" happily. Finally, she stood at the threshold, holding a piece of sword paper in her hand. She bit her finger and dripped blood onto the sword paper. Then she stared vigilantly at the groups of corpses outside, ready to throw the sword paper out at any time.

Yu He's strength was equivalent to that of a second-level martial artist, so dealing with two golden corpses wouldn't be a problem. But if a horde of zombies rushed in, she would be immediately besieged and killed. Using sword paper was obviously the safest method.

Moreover, Yu He was different from Xie An in that she had a rough estimate of the power of the sword paper. She was also more experienced in using it, and was more proficient in grasping the timing and angle.

However, the number of zombies gathering together was increasing, and the roaring sounds kept coming, which was really scary.

call!
Xie An took a deep breath and sat down cross-legged on the ground.

He tried hard to suppress his anxiety and uneasiness.

Since I can't leave, I still have two sword papers to buy time. So... why not use this time to absorb the immortal energy? The stronger I can be, the better. In such an environment, staying calm and clearing away distracting thoughts... is truly a difficult task.

This was especially challenging for someone like Xie An, who hadn't experienced much of the bloodshed in the martial arts world. Fortunately, Xie An maintained a positive attitude, and given his age, he had calmed down within a few breaths. He then focused on the eight thousand strands of immortal energy, imagining the extraordinary benefits it would bring... and thus suppressed the remaining tension.

Finally, I entered into a state of meditation!

"Before absorbing the immortal energy, first digest the thirty strands of immortal energy you had before."

Even in such a tense environment, Xie An remained quite calm. He knew that he needed to digest the previous things first, so that it would be safe and avoid any chaos.

Xie An opened Ming Yu Gong.

[Ming Yu Gong: Summer Solstice 15/100]

A slight dizziness came over his head, and his vision became blurry. Xie An immediately held his breath and concentrated his attention, suppressing the discomfort. He then looked back at the data panel, and his vision became clear again.

comfortable.

"The thirty-thousand-point increase in fusion degree directly increased the summer solstice of the tenth stage of Mingyu Gong by fifteen points."

Although the progress was not fast, Xie An was already very satisfied.

Initially, every 10,000-point increase in fusion degree would directly increase the initial Mingyu Gong by 10 points. Now, increasing it by 30,000 points would only increase the progress by 15 points.

But... this is the tenth section of Mingyu Gong.

Old Master Tang spent a hundred years to cultivate the Mingyu Gong to the sixth level.

It can be seen how valuable the progress of these fifteen points is.

After digesting, absorbing and adapting to the new Mingyu Gong, Xie An turned his attention to the eight thousand transparent vessels around him.

Thanks to the continuous glow and vibration of the white Taoist talisman in his mind, Xie An could clearly "see": the heart in each transparent container contained one to thirty strands of white airflow.

"In that case, the highest heart would only have thirty strands of Undying Qi. This matches the level of the corpses we discovered earlier. Hengyan, as the Crystal Commander, has thirty strands of Undying Qi. The other three Crystal Commanders should also have around thirty strands of Undying Qi."

The more immortal energy a corpse has, the stronger it is and the higher its wisdom is.

So, Xie An paid special attention to the three transparent vessels that had the most lifeless energy:

A vessel contained twenty-eight strands of immortal energy. Xie An estimated that this heart corresponded to a crystal commander whose strength was not as good as Heng Yan.

There is another vessel containing twenty-nine strands of immortal energy, and it also belongs to a crystal commander whose strength is not as good as Hengyan.

The last vessel actually contained thirty-six strands of immortal energy. This should be the strongest among the four crystal commanders.

Xie An thought, "If I directly absorb the immortal energy in these three vessels, doesn't that mean the three crystal commanders... will die immediately? There will be no danger of them leading the charge into the ancestral hall at all?"

When this idea came up, Xie An was extremely surprised.

There is a feeling of sudden enlightenment.

The crisis is resolved just like that?
Wouldn’t that be a bit too simple?
Xie An felt like he was missing something, but after weighing it over in his mind several times, he found nothing. It was very practical.

After all, he had never encountered any problems when absorbing the immortal energy.

The longevity character has never let me down.

With Xie An's current strength, the total amount of immortal energy absorbed from the three crystal commanders is less than one hundred... He feels that he can withstand it.

Soon, Xie An realized the problem: "When I absorbed the immortal energy before, I needed to subdue the corpse and come into contact with the corpse before I could absorb it. Why is it that in this ancestral hall... I don't need to come into contact with the crystal corpse, nor do I need to subdue it... I can directly absorb the immortal energy?"

Xie An was always cautious and thoughtful. Even in this critical moment, Xie An still forced himself to keep a cool head.

After this question arose, Xie An felt that there was something wrong with this ancestral hall.

has a problem!
It matches the intuition I had when I first saw the ancestral hall.

Moreover, the more I delved into it, the more eerie this ancestral hall seemed.

Over the past four years, Xie An's process for absorbing the immortal energy has never changed. He doesn't think it's the result of the increased integration of the longevity character.

After all, when absorbing Hengyan's immortal energy before, it also required subduing and contact.

It's impossible to transform suddenly.

There must be something wrong with this ancestral hall!

Thinking about the fact that the high priest was willing to refine a large number of corpses and collect huge amounts of corpse qi regardless of the risk to his own life... Xie An suddenly remembered what Su Yuqing said: as long as she gathered 10,000 strands of corpse qi, the Corpse Refining Hall's century-long plan would be accomplished.

"Could it be that the core of the High Priest's century-long plan to collect ten thousand strands of immortal energy lies in this ancestral hall?"

Thinking of this, Xie An was shocked.

He did not hastily absorb the immortal energy, but allowed the Dao talisman in his mind to continue to glow and vibrate. As the Dao talisman became more and more excited, Xie An's perception of the immortal energy became clearer and clearer.

When the vibration of the Taoist talisman reached a critical point, Xie An suddenly "saw":
The white air currents emitted from the eight thousand vessels in the entire ancestral hall actually gathered together and penetrated into a wooden board in the northwest corner.

This discovery shocked Xie An immensely.

"What is this thing? It can actually gather eight thousand strands of immortal energy?"

Xie An immediately stood up, drew out the Demon-Suppressing Sword, and walked cautiously to the secret compartment in the northwest corner.

This piece of wood was a door panel, similar to a door, embedded in the wooden wall. Ordinary people could not see the door. If Xie An had not been anxious and chose to wait for the Taoist talisman to give more specific information, he would probably not have discovered this door panel.

Xie An could guess with his toes that something that could gather eight thousand strands of immortal energy must be terrifying.

If it were under normal circumstances, Xie An would definitely stay away from him.

But there is no turning back now.

Xie An had to muster up his courage and gently scratch the door panel with the tip of the Demon-Slaying Knife.

There was a "click" sound, and Xie An didn't even use much strength, but the door panel slid to the side.

It's a secret compartment with a mechanism!

brush!
Xie An was startled and immediately took a step back, holding his sword across his body, ready to be on guard against any unexpected event.

Gusts of cold night wind blew in from outside the door, ruffling Xie An's long hair and hitting his face, making it feel eerie and bitingly cold.

Xie An looked over and saw a staircase behind the door, winding down to the underground. With Xie An's current eyesight, he could only see the fifth step. Further down... there was bottomless darkness.

And those eight thousand strands of immortal energy actually drilled into the passage and entered the endless depths of darkness.

A cold wind came out from the passage and hit Xie An's face.

An unprecedented chill swept over Xie An.

An idea popped up in his mind instinctively:
Inside this cellar, there was another guy who was absorbing the Undying Qi just like him. Moreover, this guy could absorb eight thousand strands of Undying Qi in one breath... How terrifying was that?
This... is the high priest's century-long plan?
(End of this chapter)