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

Chapter 152: Pulling out the protective plant, Mingyu Eighteenth Section!
Yuhe, who had hardly smiled in four years, smiled with great joy for the first time.

Because she had just come out of the water, Yuhe's clothes were all wet. When they came into contact with the cold current around her, they froze into ice, sticking hard to her body, making it difficult for her to walk.

Yuhe didn't care about all this. She held three precious plants in one hand and a spirit tablet in the other, and ran towards Xie An with her messy hair shaking.

Xie An heard the noise behind him and immediately turned around to see. Seeing that it was Yu Hou, a happy smile appeared on his face.

I thought Yuhe would rush up and give me a friendly hug.

As a result... Yuhe suddenly stopped when she was three meters away from Xie An, staring at Xie An in front of her, as if she felt embarrassed and a little unfamiliar, so she stood there and looked at Xie An and laughed foolishly.

Xie An thought that his clothes were not put on properly, so he looked down.

Although his clothes were tattered and disheveled, nothing was revealed.

But… Xie An saw that his skin had become tighter and less knotty. The lines on his skin were also more delicate and smooth. He no longer looked like a rough martial artist who had been exposed to the wind and sun for years, but like a heroic young man with noble temperament.

Xie An felt that Yuhe felt unfamiliar because of his changed temperament.

Xie An took the initiative to walk over and gave Yuhe a big hug, "Yuhe, thank you."

This made Yu He feel very warm in her heart, her nose felt sore, and her eyes became hot. She felt that everything she had put in over the past few years had meaning and was worth it at this moment.

After releasing her hand, Yu He wiped the corners of her eyes and looked at Xie An in surprise. "Master, you don't look like a man in his fifties now. You look like a dashing young man in his early twenties."

Xie An felt very relieved after hearing this, but he said modestly, "That's an exaggeration."

"It's not an exaggeration at all. Come to the water and take a look." Yuhe was no longer as unfamiliar as before. She eagerly pulled Xie An's arm and walked towards the water.

With the help of the light from the bell and stone, Xie An saw his reflection in the water.

That face indeed looked much younger.

It is delicate and energetic, but not spoiled, and still has a bit of heroic spirit.

It’s really good.

What Yuhe said was not an exaggeration.

This made it difficult for Xie An to be modest, otherwise he would have passed.

"Well, Yuhe has a pretty good eye,"

Yuhe was standing beside them, giggling.

Perhaps influenced by her, Xie An looked back at Yuhe and smiled, "Yuhe looks a lot younger and more beautiful now."

Yuhe did not refute anything.

She looked at herself in the "mirror" with water every day and knew that what Xie An said was true.

Then the two of them looked at each other and smiled.

The clear laughter lingered in this enclosed underground space for a long time.

It diluted the loneliness and solitude, despair and darkness of the past four years.

All the bad emotions disappear with a smile.

After a long while, the two of them stopped smiling.

Yu He asked, "When I saw the master sitting in seclusion earlier, I saw air currents swirling around him. This is a sign of a seventh-level martial artist releasing his inner strength. Has the master reached a level comparable to a seventh-level martial artist?"

Four years ago, Yu He judged Xie An's strength to be roughly equivalent to that of a second-level martial artist, and she herself was about the same level.

For four years, Yu He had been consuming precious plants and diligently cultivating. She had only just reached the fifth level of martial arts master. Even this progress was incredible to Yu He.

It should be that Baozhi played an excellent role.

You know, the strongest local martial artist in Qingwu County was only at the fourth level. For example, Liu Chun and his ilk. If you must say, only Old Master Tang was a step above him.

How many people are stuck at the fourth level of martial artist for their entire lives.

The fact that Yuhe was able to reach the fifth level of internal strength in four years was truly incredible.

And Xie An actually reached the level of a seventh-level martial artist?
I haven't eaten much Baozhi yet.

This made Yuhe feel extremely surprised.

Xie An thought for a moment and said, "I have never seen the level of a seventh-level martial artist, but your estimate should be a rough estimate."

When saying this, Xie An felt very humble.

Only Xie An himself knows what changes have taken place in him over the past four years.

Xie An's spiritual consciousness had just been freed from the Taoist talisman and returned to reality.

At that time, Xie An had a rough feel of his body and the data panel. However, he had been sitting cross-legged for too long, and his whole body was sore and numb. Before he had time to further adapt, he stood up and stretched his hands and feet, and happened to meet Yu He coming ashore.

[Level 1 Fate Gains Growth]

[Current Fusion Degree: 0.8132]

[Ming Yu Gong: Frost Descent 61/100]

[Remaining Years: 58]

Before the retreat, Xie An had only cultivated the Mingyu Gong to the eleventh solar term. Now, he had reached the eighteenth solar term: Frost Descent!

How terrifying? !

Xie An didn't even dare to imagine how terrifying the power would be if he pushed the Mingyu Gong to its limit...

The mere act of releasing heat was enough to make Xie An feel incredibly magical: on the one hand, it greatly enhanced the range of his five senses. In the area covered by the heat, Xie An had a God's perspective, and could even circulate this heat to produce various magical effects.

Xie An felt that he needed to find some time to test these wonderful uses.

In addition, Xie An felt that his boxing strength had reached an extremely abnormal level.

Speed, flexibility, perspective... have all been substantially improved.

Although Xie An had never seen the horror of a seventh-level martial artist, he didn't know why... Xie An had a strong sense of confidence in his heart, and felt that he didn't need to take the seventh-level martial artist seriously.

As for how it works, we still need to test it.

Xie An recovered, looked around, and asked curiously, "Where's the woman in the shrine?"

Yu He frowned. "When the master first began his retreat, I watched for a day but didn't notice anything unusual about the woman. So I went into the water to dig up the precious plants. When I came ashore again, the woman was gone... I was terrified at the time and searched everywhere, but couldn't find her. After that, I was on guard every day. But four years later, I haven't seen the woman again. There's something strange about the shrine, so I didn't dare to go close to check."

"Four years?"

Xie An was shocked by the time.

He clearly felt like he had been in front of the talisman for several days.

Yuhe said, "Well, I made a simple clepsydra to calculate time. Although my timing was inaccurate for a while at first, it was accurate afterwards. It's true that more than four years have passed."

For an experienced wanderer like Yuhe, making a simple clepsydra to calculate time is very easy.

It is formed by water dripping down from a great height, accumulating over a long period of time, and is used to measure time.

Many ordinary people use this device.

Although its accuracy is not particularly high, it has a wider range of uses than a sundial. After all, a sundial is useless if it rains.

There is not much error in using a clepsydra to calculate the number of days.

Four years...

Although Xie An had a psychological expectation, he was still deeply moved when he actually heard this number.

How many four years are there in a lifetime?

In front of the Taoist talisman, it passed by in a flash...

The unit of the long life grid is really too large, so you should use it with caution in the future.

After recovering from his shock, Xie An activated his five senses and began to look for traces of the woman.

Yuhe also looked around and said, "I checked before, and there are no footprints left around. It feels like that woman disappeared into thin air."

Xie An searched for a while but found no trace, so he muttered curiously: "Is there really a way to make people disappear out of thin air in this world?"

Yu He shook her head. "I've only seen the young lady take one hundred-meter stride, and that was just her speed. Disappearing out of thin air... I've never heard of her doing that."

Xie An nodded.

If the other party is really so scary, why doesn't he kill himself and Yuhe?

Even though Yuhe and Xie An were holding the sword paper left by Su Yuqing, they could not withstand it.

Something was wrong... After much thought, Xie An finally set his sights on the shrine. "You said you had never checked the shrine before?"

Yuhe nodded in agreement.

"I gonna go see."

Xie An's intuition told him that the disappearance of old lady Jin might be related to the shrine.

Maybe there is a way out in the shrine.

What's more, Xie An used his Qi sense to check the shrine and found nothing unusual.

It should be safe.

Even so, Xie An still drew his demon-suppressing sword, alert and on guard against any unexpected situation. Yu He followed beside him, holding a dagger.

After approaching the shrine, Xie An saw several tubes inserted into the shrine. There was a layer of white liquid in the tubes, emitting a biting chill.

Even with Xie An's current level of cultivation, he felt the chill.

When Xie An's demon-suppressing sword came into contact with the white liquid, the blade actually froze, and Xie An was so shocked that he quickly moved the blade away.

This is a precious sword that can only be worn by the General of Zhenmo Prefecture. If it gets frozen... it would be a pity.

"Yuhe, do you know what this white liquid is?"

Yu He leaned over and took a closer look. "I'm not sure, but I've seen it in books... After death, some martial arts masters would infuse their bodies with a liquid called ice marrow. Combined with certain secret techniques, this could prevent the corpse from decaying. It could even make the corpse as beautiful as a living person. I guess the woman's body was able to remain so intact because of this ice marrow."

Ice Marrow...

Xie An felt that he still lacked experience.

The world of Daqian is truly full of wonders.

When I leave here, I must study hard and broaden my horizons.

It is obviously not enough to just work hard to maintain health. After all, he lives in the world of Daqian. If he doesn't understand the various magical methods of this world, he will suffer a great loss sooner or later.

Previously, Xie An was in his developmental stage and the level of exposure was very low, so it is understandable that he did not know many things.

He had now reached the eighteenth stage of Mingyu Gong, comparable to Li Changchun before the beginning of winter a hundred years ago. Even if he couldn't match a martial arts master, he could easily kill a seventh-level martial artist.

Then it’s time to understand the secrets of this world.

Only in this way can you go far and steadily.

Xie An felt that this ice marrow was a good thing, so he took off his coat and wrapped up the tubes. Then he put his head into the shrine to take a look.

The shrine was made of a type of wood that Xie An had never seen before.

It is said that some magical wood can keep corpses from decaying for hundreds or thousands of years. As for whether it is true or not... Xie An doesn't know.

After searching, I found nothing else unusual.

There are no secret passages or mechanisms.

This made Yuhe feel very desperate.

Although Xie An had come out of seclusion, leaving here was still a problem. Moreover, Bao Zhi had already finished eating...

Thinking that she would still be trapped here, Yuhe couldn't help but feel sad.

Xie An was older and had a better attitude. He consoled her, "Don't be discouraged. If this woman could leave, there must be a secret passage. I'll sit down and take a look."

Xie An followed the example of Mrs. Jin and sat cross-legged inside the shrine.

It's quite comfortable...

After sitting for a while, Xie An opened up the Qi sense.

Suddenly I felt the board under my butt shaking.

Ok?
Xie An immediately knocked on the bottom board with his hand.

Listen to the sound...it's empty.

Yuhe came over and knocked on the bottom a few times, overjoyed, "Is it empty underneath?"

Xie An felt the same way, feeling that there was some kind of trap. After searching for a long time without finding it, he used a knife to split the bottom plate. Sure enough, a passage was revealed underneath.

There was also a slight breeze blowing out of the passage, which meant that the passage led to the outside.

"Master, we can go out now." Yuhe grabbed Xie An's arm, showing an ecstatic smile, her eyes moist.

After being trapped in this place for four whole years, even a martial artist like Yuhe could no longer hold on.

Xie An breathed a sigh of relief. "It seems we are lucky. Let's pack up quickly and go out through the secret passage."

The two of them cleaned up immediately.

There are no outsiders here, so it doesn't matter if I look a little sloppy. But now that I have the opportunity to go out and meet people, I still have to be a little more careful.

Yuhe put her long hair in a simple bun and helped Xie An to do the same. Xie An also knew how to do hair, but he was not as skillful as Yuhe.

Yuhepan’s hair looks better.

Since he had no change of clothes, he could only go out in tattered clothes.

"Pack up the two spirit tablets and take them away."

Xie An always felt that there was something strange about these two spirit tablets. They could actually resist the extremely cold air under the cold pond. Moreover, the identities of the old lady Jin and Mr. Chen on the spirit tablets were strange. Xie An felt that he needed to take them out to ask about them.

Yuhe readily agreed.

While packing the spirit tablets, Xie An suddenly thought of something, "Wait, I'll go down and take a look at the precious plant. If possible, I'll dig up the precious plant and take it away with me."

Yuhe nodded vigorously, "Master is really thoughtful. Although the trunk of this precious plant has been eaten, the roots are still there. If it can be taken outside and cultivated, it will be a great treasure."

Just do it.

Although Xie An's strength increased greatly, he still held a spirit tablet for safety reasons before diving underwater.

The cold pond was about thirty meters deep, and the light at the bottom was very poor. Fortunately, Xie An had excellent eyesight and was able to see Bao Zhi's situation clearly.

Most of the roots and stems were dug up and eaten by Yuhe, but the main root was still there.

Only a large tree stump was left.

Can a lotus grow like this?
It looks like a mutated lotus monster.

However, Xie An used his Qi sense to "see" that there was still an extremely powerful breath of life essence lingering in the tree stump. It was much purer and richer than the blood lotus Xie An had seen before.

"Such a powerful aura of life essence. I guess the lotus's transformation into this state is related to the life energy within it. And the fact that this plant can grow in such a harsh and extremely cold environment is probably also related to this aura."

A rare good thing.

Take it out first and ask an expert about the types of treasure plants and the various things to pay attention to when cultivating them. See if you can cultivate them.

Thinking of this, Xie An no longer hesitated. He landed on the ground with his legs, stepped on the mud on the ground, then tied the spirit tablet to his back with a belt, freed his hands, and held the tree roots.

Be brave and exert force.

The tree roots are deeply embedded in the mud and are extremely difficult to pull out.

In Water Margin, Lu Zhishen uprooted a weeping willow tree, but that was only on the ground. Moreover, the willow tree was far smaller than the root of this tree.

After the initial effort failed, Xie An immediately activated the Mingyu Gong.

Section 11, Section 12…

By the thirteenth section, the heat in Xie An's body was already surging like a stream, urging his body to move at high speed, and he actually radiated an unprecedented strength.

But Xie An was shocked.

"Sure enough, the Mingyu Gong becomes more and more powerful as it progresses. It has such divine power after only thirteen sections..."

Xie An couldn't help but want to test his peak strength at level 18, but being underwater made that difficult. He chose to play it safe, feeling that level 13 of Ming Yu Gong was more than enough to pull out the tree roots.

Up!
Use both hands to exert force again.

Wow!

As the mud swayed and bubbles surged, Xie An uprooted the huge tree stump.

Xie An marveled at the magic of Ming Yu Gong, then pulled the tree stump to the surface.

He left the stump on the shore and simply washed his face. "Yuhe, let's go out."

(End of this chapter)