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

Chapter 243 The Secret of the Ancient City!

Under the three people's incredulous gazes, the heavy gate of Kongsang City slowly opened, and a puff of dust blew out from inside.

The most shocked person was Xie An.

Before, he just felt that the five-colored lotus was vibrating, as if it was reacting to the ancient city of Kongsang. Later, Xie An decided to take it out and try it out, but he didn't expect it to really work...

The five-colored lotus vibrated and glowed, but it seemed as if an extremely mysterious power flowed out from the five-colored lotus and blessed the gate.

After a while, the heavy door was completely opened.

Xie An stood in the center of the gate, looked up and looked inside, and immediately saw an ancient city that was magnificent beyond words.

Jin Yuping and Chen Yuer also came over and looked forward.

"So this is the ancient city of Kongsang." Jin Yuping widened her eyes and instinctively wanted to rush in to see what was going on, but after taking two steps, she turned back.

Obviously, Jin Yuping knew that the city was full of traps and dangers, and she was very likely to lose her life because of a rash move.

Chen Yu'er was not in a hurry to enter, but asked Xie An, "Xie An, are you okay?"

Xie An, who had been dazed for a while, finally came to his senses, put away the five-colored lotus, and shook his head to indicate that everything was fine. "Go in."

The three of them moved forward cautiously.

The ancient city is very large, with magnificent streets, houses, schools and other buildings. Walking in it really makes you feel insignificant.

But what made everyone curious was that after walking for several miles, they didn't see any living creatures and it was completely silent.

Chen Yuer suggested, "This city-state is built on the mountain, and its coverage area is too vast. We could not explore it completely even if we had years to do so. Let's go to the top of the mountain first to find the location of the magic array's center."

Xie An agreed: "Okay."

……

Shortly after Xie An and the other two entered the ancient city, another person slipped in.

It was Chen Haiming.

Stepping into this place again, Chen Haiming seemed particularly excited, with a smile on his face, "Hey, I'm finally in. I can find that thing. As long as I figure it out, I may know the true secret of this world."

Chen Haiming was excited for a while, and then he took a path completely opposite to Xie An and others.

"The Imperial Astronomical Observatory is truly resourceful..."

……

Black Mountain Town.

Bai Jinshui found Mayor Bai late at night. After a brief chat, he got straight to the point: "Mayor Bai, they've been in there for a long time, and there's been no news yet. They're probably dead in there. Should we send someone in to collect the bodies?"

Mayor Bai sat at the head of the table, sipping his tea. "Why are you so enthusiastic about these things today?"

Bai Jinshui said, "It's all because of my little girl. She's just kindhearted and couldn't bear to see them die in there, with no one even collecting their bodies."

Thinking of Bai Jinshui's daughter, Mayor Bai said, "Well, it's been tough for you these past few years. Don't worry, their lives aren't short. Just go home and rest. I'll take care of everything else."

Bai Jinshui wanted to speak, but he heard Bai Zhenchang shout, "Go."

"Yes."

Bai Jinshui finally did not dare to disobey, so he clasped his fists and left.

Hearing Bai Jinshui's footsteps fading away, Mayor Bai put down his teacup and stood up. Then he closed the door, went back to the bedroom, took out the crystal ball, and continued to communicate with the white-haired woman.

"Master, several months have passed. There's still no news from inside. Do you want me to go in and take a look myself? To avoid any accidents?"

"What kind of accident could happen?"

"No one except the owner of that ancient city can open it. If you rush in rashly, you will easily trigger the formation, suffer backlash, and die."

"That's all right. But there's one person who deserves your attention."

"Who?"

"Chen Haiming. He has already sneaked into the ancient city. If you are worried, you can wait outside the ancient city. Do not enter the ancient city unless it is absolutely necessary."

"Yes."

Mayor Bai put down the crystal ball, interrupted the communication, and fell into deep thought for a long time.

The thought was so terrifying that his face turned pale.

Did Chen Haiming sneak into the ancient city?
How is this possible?
Only the owner can open that ancient city.

Could it be Xie An?
No wonder the master attached so much importance to Xie An and treated him with extraordinary care in every way.

After much thought, Mayor Bai felt that he could no longer wait and had to go outside the ancient city to see the situation.

After all, this ancient city is of great importance.

If anything goes wrong, the consequences will be unimaginable.

……

Yunzhou City.

Su Yuqing recently discovered that the aura that was secretly monitoring her had disappeared.

At first, Su Yuqing thought it was an illusion, but after two days, she found that the aura had indeed disappeared. She went to the residence of her master in the Demon Suppression Division, but found that her master was not there, and Li Chungang was not there either.

Only Hua Yunfeng is left.

After some inquiries, Hua Yunfeng said that he didn't know where his master and senior brother had gone.

A few days ago, Master said he had to take Second Senior Brother out for something, and then he disappeared. Hua Yunfeng asked Li Chungang about it, but Li Chungang didn't say anything.

Su Yuqing didn't say much and left after some greetings.

She left Yunzhou City and arrived at Qixing Village.

The Seven Star Village had changed dramatically by now. Its walls were tall and sturdy, and its defenses were as strong as a castle. Fortunately, Master Huang was still here and personally welcomed Su Yuqing to the forbidden medicine garden.

"Brother Xie said that the princess played an indispensable role in obtaining these spiritual plants. The princess can use these spiritual plants as she pleases."

Su Yuqing nodded, "Where did Xie An and the others go?"

Master Huang briefly recounted what he knew.

Su Yuqing was shocked when she heard this.

Jin family’s residence?

Kongsang Ancient City?

To outsiders, the ancient city of Kongsang was just a legend. After all, countless people in the world had searched for it but never found it. But Su Yuqing believed in Xie An.

Since Xie An took action, there is a high probability that he found it.

She thought again: Could it be that the sudden departure of Master and Li Chungang was also for the ancient city of Kongsang?
Although Su Yuqing was very curious about the Kongsang Ancient City, she was not one to join in the fun, so she settled down in Qixing Village and began to cultivate using spiritual plants.

……

Xie An and the other two walked up the ancient city. After quite some time, they finally reached the top of the mountain.

This is a very ancient palace.

After entering the palace gate, you will see a large courtyard.

It was quiet and no one was around.

Cross the courtyard and enter the palace.

He was surprised to discover that there was an altar in the magnificent hall. A large bronze tripod was placed on each side of the altar. Rich spiritual energy rose from the tripods, rushing through the hall, reaching the sky, and covering the entire ancient city. Even standing more than ten meters away from the tripods, Xie An could feel the powerful spiritual energy fluctuations.

Jin Yuping was shocked when she saw it. "Could this be the core of the formation that protects the entire ancient city?"

Jin Yuping has not yet reached the Qi Refining Stage, and her understanding and use of spiritual energy are not very proficient. Naturally, she cannot make any further judgments and can only make guesses.

Chen Yu'er moved closer to the altar to take a look. After circling it, she said, "That should be it. These four bronze tripods are the four centers of the magic circle."

Jin Yuping said, "This city protection formation covers such a large area, it must have lasted for at least hundreds of years. It's simply sustained by the spiritual energy in these four bronze tripods? That's simply too incredible."

Xie An said, "I've heard there's something called a spirit stone that can provide a tremendous amount of spiritual energy. Could it be that these four large bronze tripods are filled with spirit stones?"

Chen Yu'er said, "It's very likely. Go and see for yourself."

After saying this, the three of them approached the altar to see what was inside the bronze tripod.

The bronze tripod is very tall, a full four meters, and needs to be lifted up to be seen.

When Xie An was three meters away from the bronze tripod, he felt a strong spiritual energy fluctuation coming from it. It was obviously difficult to get any closer. Xie An jumped up and looked at the bronze tripod with all his strength.

Sure enough, I saw that the bronze tripod was filled with lumps of things.

However, Xie An had never seen a spiritual stone, so he could not tell whether the one in the bronze tripod was a spiritual stone.

But in terms of efficacy, they should be similar.

Xie An had thought about taking out the things in the bronze tripod for his own cultivation. After all, the spiritual energy in the bronze tripod was too rich, far surpassing the spiritual plants he had planted before, and the quality was incomparable.

If you can use the spiritual energy in the bronze tripod to practice, you can get twice the result with half the effort.

However, the bronze tripod was inside the altar, and the altar itself had an exclusionary function, which prevented Xie An and Chen Yuer from getting close.

After many failed attempts, the two had to give up the idea of ​​obtaining the spirit stone.

"There should be no danger in this hall. Don't touch anything. Let's go and check separately." Xie An said, and then began to check the hall.

There are bronze statues and various statues standing in the main hall.

There was a statue standing at the top seat, with a cushion placed beneath it, perhaps for worship.

Xie An slowly walked to the bottom of the portrait, looked up and examined it carefully.

The statue is too old, and the image is somewhat decayed and the appearance is a little blurry. From the appearance, it looks a bit like a Taoist priest.

Taoist priest?

Daomen?

Is there any connection between Taoism and this statue?
Xie An stared at it for a long time, but finally, because there was too little information to refer to, he could not make a judgment. He walked around the portrait and continued forward.

There is a back door, and outside the back door is a backyard.

The backyard was very grand, with some trees and flowers planted there, but these trees and flowers were already dead and rotting. Xie An blew gently, and the trees and flowers turned to dust and floated everywhere.

It's been too long.

Beyond the backyard is a room.

There was a large bronze bell hanging upside down in the room. Although it was not as big as the one I saw in the Corpse Refining Hall in Dayin Mountain, it was much older.

Apart from this, nothing else was discovered.

At this moment, Jin Yuping hurried over, "Third Master, please follow me."

Seeing her hurried appearance, Xie An thought something unexpected had happened. "Did you encounter an accident?"

Jin Yuping hurriedly led the way and said, "That's not the case. Miss Yu'er discovered an ancestral hall."

Xie An didn't ask any more questions and followed Jin Yuping all the way forward, finally arriving at the gate of a remote mountain ancestral hall. After entering the ancestral hall, Xie An was really shocked by the scene inside.

There were more than 800 people kneeling in the ancestral hall. All of them looked lifelike and they were bowing their heads and kowtowing towards the incense table at the end of the hall.

This scene is too shocking.

At this moment, Chen Yuer came out and said, "These people are all dead, and they were all cultivators in the Qi Refining Stage when they were alive."

Hearing this, Xie An's pupils suddenly dilated.

More than 800 Qi Refining cultivators, all kneeling, died here?

More than 800!!
What a terrifying existence this is.

You know, during the Tianbao era, not a single Qi-refining cultivator was born. During the Jingtai era, only Ye Nantian was known to have been born.

More than eight hundred people suddenly appeared in this place?

Scary.

Xie An looked up and saw that every Qi-refining practitioner was kneeling on the ground devoutly, worshiping the incense table.

Jin Yuping was shocked by the scene and asked, "Eight hundred Qi Refining cultivators, what was the cause of their death?"

Chen Yu'er shook her head. "I don't know yet. But I speculate...they died at least five hundred years ago. Maybe even a thousand years ago."

Five hundred years ago...the Tianbao Dynasty had not yet been founded.

As for a thousand years ago, that is unimaginable.

Xie An recovered and carefully observed these Qi Refiners, muttering, "What are these people kneeling for? I see these corpses... many of them have reached the sixth or seventh level of Qi Refining, and some even the eighth or ninth level. What power could make over eight hundred Qi Refiners kneel down and worship like this?"

With doubts, Xie An slowly walked to the incense table.

Normally, an incense table would have a spirit tablet or shrine. But this one didn't have a shrine or spirit tablet, only an incense burner and three incense sticks. It felt like something was missing.

Xie An turned around and looked at the eight hundred Qi Refining cultivators kneeling before him, and suddenly thought...

Could it be that the cultivator Baiyun is among them?
It was here that the cultivator Baiyun passed away. He said this world lacked spiritual energy, leaving him hopeless. He died within the final four hundred years.

However, Baiyun's statement conflicts with what we see and hear here.

Baiyun cultivator said there was no spiritual energy, but in fact there were bronze tripods and spiritual stones in the castle. They were able to maintain the formation for hundreds of years, which shows that there was a lot of spiritual energy.

However, Xie An changed his mind and felt that what Bai Yun Xiuzhe said was not wrong.

When Baiyun Cultivator said there was no spiritual energy, he probably meant there was no continuous source of spiritual energy. The spiritual energy in the bronze tripod might have been obtained through methods like planting spiritual plants with the Martial Saint's withered bones.

Xie An rubbed his temples and felt more and more that this place was not simple.

Jin Yuping then said, "Third Master, since there are incense sticks here, why not light them and see how they go? Also, don't you have a lotus in your hand? It can open the gate of the ancient city, so I guess it has a connection with this ancient city."

Xie An looked around again.

Incense sticks, incense burners, eight hundred Qi Refining Stage cultivators kneeling in worship...

Is it really necessary to light incense?
Chen Yu'er then said, "Xie An, I always feel that you have a deep connection with this ancient city, a connection that not many people can match. Why don't you light the incense and see for yourself?"

Jin Yuping immediately agreed, "Yes. Apart from the corpses of eight hundred Qi Refining cultivators, there are no other clues here. The incense sticks wouldn't be placed here for no reason."

Xie An nodded, "Okay, I'll give it a try."

After saying this, Xie An walked solemnly to the incense table, took out the fire starter in his hand, blew out the flame, then raised his right hand, picked up three incense sticks, and slowly lit them.

Afterwards, Xie An held three incense sticks in both hands and slowly inserted them into the incense burner.

Just then——

hum!
Xie An felt dizzy, as if time and space were disordered, and his mind became confused.

(End of this chapter)