At the top of the nine-story ancient pagoda was a massive black beam, made of an unknown material, that somehow supported the weight of the enormous bronze bell.
In the moonlight, the great bronze bell shimmered with a golden hue, particularly eye-catching.
Xie An roughly estimated that from his position, he was nearly three hundred meters away from the ancient pagoda, yet he distinctly felt a majestic and sacred aura emanating from the great bronze bell, pressing down on him.
This suppression didn't originate from the physical body but from the spirit, making Xie An feel extremely uncomfortable and instinctively want to circulate his Bright Jade Skill to resist.
However, Xie An forcibly restrained himself.
This place was teeming with corpse soldiers, crafted by the Great Priest and Li Changchun. It was possible that these corpse soldiers could sense the Bright Jade Skill.
If he were discovered because of any clues, the entire plan might fall apart.
Although the possibility wasn't high, Xie An didn't want to take the risk.
With that in mind, Xie An secretly took several deep breaths, forcibly using his mental will to withstand the spiritual pressure from the great bronze bell.
Once Xie An adapted to the pressure, he couldn't help but turn to look at Yu He and the wooden fish golden corpse beside him, noticing that their expressions were normal, as if they weren't affected by the bell's pressure.
This detail made Xie An contemplate further. He analyzed that there were only two possible reasons:
First, both the wooden fish golden corpse and Yu He were members of the Corpse Refining Hall, and the great bronze bell could be considered as belonging to the Corpse Refining Hall, protecting its own people from the pressure.
Second, the pressure from the great bronze bell was directed at him.
If it was the first reason, Xie An felt relieved.
But if it was the second, things would be somewhat troublesome.
Why was it only directed at him?
Was it because he cultivated the Bright Jade Skill?
Or was it because he held the Immortal Treasure… or perhaps because the Immortal Treasure absorbed the power of the nation and resonated with the national seal inscription on the great bronze bell?
All of this made Xie An feel somewhat uneasy.
Although Xie An felt he might be overthinking things, being in the Corpse Refining Hall's lair, even with Yu He leading the way, was bound to be fraught with dangers. It was appropriate to be more cautious and thoughtful.
Just as Xie An was distracted—
Dong!
The wooden fish golden corpse suddenly struck the wooden fish, pulling Xie An's thoughts back to reality. Only then did he scan the entire plaza, finding that there were no other golden corpses here; it was empty, without any birds, beasts, insects, or ants.
Even ordinary inner strength martial artists would have their vision obstructed at night. Not seeing birds, beasts, and insects was normal.
But Xie An's perception was extraordinary, and he could sense all life force fluctuations within a thirty-five-meter radius.
All the way here, he hadn't sensed even an ant or a crawling insect.
This was very unusual.
It was as if something had erased all life around.
Dong!
The wooden fish golden corpse struck the wooden fish again.
Every three steps, it would strike the fish once.
It seemed very strange.
Xie An had seen Taoist priests striking wooden fish during their seclusion to calm their minds and achieve single-mindedness.
But striking a wooden fish while walking was truly a first for him.
Yu He seemed accustomed to this, closely following behind the wooden fish golden corpse.
Xie An hadn't expected this Commander Hengyan to be so cautious.
When they first arrived at the mountain, Yu He had discussed a detailed plan with Xie An: Yu He would use her identity in the Corpse Refining Hall to distract the blocking figures and send Xie An into the ancient pagoda.
The rest would be up to Xie An.
So far, everything had proceeded according to plan.
Yu He had easily brought Xie An to the entrance of the ancient pagoda, quite smoothly.
It was just that this Commander Hengyan didn't seem easy to fool.
However, Yu He seemed to have anticipated this and wasn't flustered at all, cupping her hands and saying, "I have something to hand over to Commander Hengyan. Please allow me to enter for a discussion."
The sinister voice still came from inside the ancient pagoda, without any emotional fluctuations, "What is it?"
Yu He took out a yellowed letter, "Commander Hengyan knows that the Great Priest has always had me investigate the whereabouts of the Immortal Treasure. Now I already know the Immortal Treasure's whereabouts, and it's in this letter. Please, Commander Hengyan, examine it and decide whether to send more people to retrieve the Immortal Treasure."
Hearing that the letter was related to the Immortal Treasure, the voice inside the ancient pagoda became less calm, "Come in."
Yu He's identity in the Corpse Refining Hall was special; she was an external spy. Not many people knew Yu He's identity, only the Great Priest and the four Crystal Commanders.
Commander Hengyan naturally knew.
"Thank you, Commander Hengyan."
Yu He cupped her hands in thanks, opened the ancient pagoda's gate, and was about to bring Xie An inside.
Just then, Commander Hengyan's sinister voice sounded again, "You can come in, but he can't."
Yu He wasn't anxious but politely took a step back, cupping her hands and saying, "This letter concerning the Immortal Treasure's whereabouts was obtained by my deputy. He also has more important information to report. Please allow it, Commander Hengyan."
The ancient pagoda was silent for a moment, then a voice came, "Then come in."
Yu He nodded and led Xie An into the ancient pagoda's gate, while the wooden fish golden corpse stayed behind to guard the door, occasionally striking the wooden fish. Perhaps because it didn't quite understand the rhythm and force of striking the fish, the sound it made was very grating.
Finally, it aroused Commander Hengyan's rebuke:
"Stop striking it. It's horribly unpleasant."
Hiss!
The wooden fish golden corpse trembled in fear and immediately knelt on the ground to admit its mistake, repeatedly saying words like "I won't strike it anymore, I won't strike it anymore." As if feeling that such sincerity wasn't enough and would still provoke Commander Hengyan's rebuke, it simply threw the wooden fish and mallet on the ground and crushed them with one foot.
Sure enough, its efforts were meaningful.
The ancient pagoda emitted a simple "Hmm."
This simple word made the wooden fish golden corpse feel very excited and determined to never strike any wooden fish again in the future; it was truly meaningless.
In fact, striking the wooden fish wasn't something it wanted to do on its own.
It was a high-level task assigned to the golden corpses by the Great Priest: to deeply study human lifestyles, knowledge, civilization, and etiquette.
Therefore, each golden corpse had its own skills to learn.
Coincidentally, the task assigned to the wooden fish golden corpse was to cultivate Taoism and strike the wooden fish, hoping to infiltrate a human Dharma assembly in the future and become a Taoist priest.
Unexpectedly, it aroused Commander Hengyan's scolding…
It was said that Xie An followed Yu He into the ancient pagoda, noticing that the space inside the pagoda was quite large. It was brightly lit everywhere by burning ever-bright lamps.
Although the ancient pagoda looked like it had nine stories from the outside, it was actually hollow inside. Standing on the first floor and looking up, one could see a spiral staircase winding upwards, directly to the top floor.
And that huge bronze bell was right above Xie An's head.
Looking at it up close, he felt the bell's immensity and majesty even more. If it were to fall, Xie An felt that with his current abilities, he would have no way to escape.
Tap tap tap!
A series of footsteps came from above.
Xie An looked in the direction of the sound and suddenly saw a person slowly walking down the stairs. When this person was far away, Xie An saw that this person seemed to be glowing.
What was going on?
When that person slowly walked from the top of the ancient pagoda to the fourth floor, Xie An, with his extraordinary eyesight, finally saw the person's appearance clearly:
He looked to be about fifty or sixty years old, without any wrinkles on his entire body, a significant difference from the golden corpses. Even more bizarrely, the skin on this person's body was actually translucent, vaguely revealing the blood vessels, muscles, bones, and so on beneath the surface.
Even Xie An, who had lived two lives, was deeply shocked by this scene before him.
If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, Xie An wouldn't have believed that such a thing existed in the world.
In his previous life, Xie An had heard of special groups living in the snowy mountains. When the leaders of the clan died, because of their great merit and special techniques, their corpses could become ice-crystallized after death, forming a thousand-year-old incorruptible crystal corpse.
Furthermore, in the Great Qian's martial arts world, there are similar concepts, such as 'innate martial bones,' and even more advanced than innate martial bones is 'ice muscle jade bones.' It's probably a similar situation.
But that was merely hearsay, I didn't expect to actually see it today.
It's truly astonishing.
However, after a moment's thought, Xie An understood.
Because… this Crystal Commander Heng Yan has no signs of life.
Evidently, he is a living corpse.
And the High Priest himself is a corpse refiner skilled in refining corpses. After Heng Yan died, adding some special materials to make a crystal corpse… doesn't seem too far-fetched.
Although Xie An has never met the High Priest, from what he has seen and heard along the way… Xie An clearly feels that the High Priest is making the bronze corpses, silver corpses, and gold corpses learn human customs.
He doesn't know what the High Priest is planning.
It doesn't look like a good thing at all.
Soon, Commander Heng Yan walked down the stairs and came before Yu He, glancing at her with a sinister look: "Bring the letter here."
Yu He exchanged a look with Xie An, then respectfully offered the letter with both hands, "The contents of this letter are very urgent. I originally intended to deliver it directly to the High Priest, but unfortunately, the High Priest is not here. I have no choice but to trouble Commander Heng Yan to take a look."
"Easy, easy. If you can recover the Immortal Treasure, it will naturally be a great achievement. At that time, this commander will naturally say a few good words for you in front of the High Priest. I will certainly not embezzle your share of the credit," Heng Yan said with a smile as he accepted the letter, promising her rewards.
While opening the envelope, he drew a cake for Yu He with a smile: "For years, the High Priest has been most concerned about the Immortal Treasure. If we can recover the Immortal Treasure this time, it will be helping the High Priest solve a major concern. At that time… you and I will surely benefit."
Although he hadn't opened the envelope yet, Heng Yan was already overjoyed and greatly relaxed his vigilance.
In fact, Heng Yan's position was not low, second only to the High Priest and Li Changchun.
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After all, the entire Corpse Refining Hall only has four Crystal Commanders. Some are humans, some are living corpses.
But Heng Yan ranks second among the four Crystal Commanders. He is assigned to guard the Great Bronze Bell in Gu Ta Town, and without the High Priest's order, he must not leave this place all year round, nor can he allow anyone other than Li Changchun and the High Priest to enter.
Today is an exception.
Heng Yan knew that doing so was against the rules, and if the High Priest found out, he would inevitably be beaten severely.
However, he still decided to make an exception.
After all, it concerned the Immortal Treasure.
As long as he could retrieve the Immortal Treasure, he would surely make the High Priest very happy. He thought that at that time, the High Priest would not only not blame him for making an exception but would also praise him for being able to handle affairs and knowing how to be flexible.
In the future, taking over the first position among the four Crystal Commanders… that was a sure thing.
Tear!
Commander Heng Yan tore open the seal of the envelope, and while reaching inside with two fingers to pull out the letter paper, he asked, "Where did this letter come from?"
Xie An presented the story that he and Yu He had agreed upon long ago, "When the Plum Blossom Fiends besieged the Chen Mansion, a leader named Zhang Hengshui killed the Plum Blossom Fiends and took the Immortal Treasure. I spent a long time finally finding him. This letter is the correspondence between Zhang Hengshui and the outside world when he tried to trade the Immortal Treasure."
"Oh?"
Commander Heng Yan was slightly stunned, then reviewed the previous events in his mind.
He knew about that matter.
The information provided by Xie An matched the information known by Commander Heng Yan.
After a little comparison, Commander Heng Yan felt that this matter was almost certain, and he became even more expectant of the contents of the letter, feeling that this time he would most likely be able to recover the Immortal Treasure.
For this reason, Commander Heng Yan did not forget to glance at Xie An, giving him affirmation: "You've done well. When this commander retrieves the Immortal Treasure, you will certainly not be lacking in credit."
Xie An cupped his hands, revealing a very happy expression, "Thank you, Commander Heng Yan."
"Yes."
Commander Heng Yan nodded with a smile, then pulled out the letter paper and eagerly began to read it.
As the folded letter paper was unfolded layer by layer, Commander Heng Yan's spirit became more and more expectant. He completely didn't notice that Xie An and Yu He's eyes were fixed on him.
Seeing that Commander Heng Yan was focusing more and more on the letter, when he unfolded the last layer, Heng Yan's excitement reached its peak, and his attention was 100% on the letter.
At this instant—
Swish!
Yu He suddenly revealed a dagger from her sleeve and pierced Commander Heng Yan's brow without warning, instantly creating a large hole.
At the same time, Xie An also drew his blade and slashed at Heng Yan's neck.
The Demon Suppressing Blade inherently carried an aura of suppressing demons and slaying monsters. Coupled with Xie An's unreserved eruption of the Ninefold Mountain Blade, the explosive force formed in an instant was extremely astonishing!
Puchi!
Commander Heng Yan's neck was cut open, and a foul-smelling liquid flowed out.
It wasn't blood, but a disgusting stench.
"You, you…!"
Even so, Commander Heng Yan could still speak. But he quickly fell to the ground. A large amount of foul-smelling liquid continued to flow from his neck.
He wasn't dead yet, his limbs could still move. He actually grabbed Yu He and Xie An's ankles with one hand each, resisting with all his might.
This surprised Xie An quite a bit.
He's still not dead after all this?
Are crystal corpses so fierce?
You must know that although Yu He said that the combat power of a crystal corpse was comparable to a fourth-level Martial Master, Yu He was obviously also an inner strength Martial Master, and Xie An's full burst of strength was comparable to a second-level Martial Master.
Two Martial Master-level experts, launching a surprise killing move at close range, would instantly kill even a fourth-level Martial Master.
Xie An and Yu He were not people who hesitated. Once they decided to act, they would no longer hesitate.
Yu He held the sword high and stabbed Heng Yan's face repeatedly, while Xie An continued to slash a few more times, continuing to tear open the wound on Commander Heng Yan's neck. Even so, Xie An found that he couldn't cut off his neck.
And Yu He had stabbed his face into a hornet's nest, but he still wasn't completely dead, still stubbornly grabbing the two people's ankles…
It's simply outrageous.
Seeing that Heng Yan was still not completely dead, Xie An was worried that this guy would make a cry for help… Outside, in addition to the Wooden Fish Gold Corpse, there were many corpse people. Once they all gathered around, it would simply be a disaster.
Xie An didn't hold back and immediately activated the Dao Record in his mind, absorbing the undead energy from his body.
Buzz buzz buzz!
The white Dao Record in his mind suddenly vibrated, emitting a white light.
[Detected 30 strands of undead energy, absorb?]
Xie An didn't even think about it.
Absorb!
As the white light flashed in his mind:
[Successfully absorbed 30 strands of undead energy, the Longevity Destiny has grown.]
[Current Longevity Destiny Level 1, integration: ]
As the undead energy was sucked dry, Heng Yan's "life aura" immediately disappeared, releasing the two people's hands, dead as can be.
Xie An and Yu He breathed a sigh of relief at the same time, looked at each other, and couldn't help but smile.
Yu He giggled, "Master is indeed decisive in his actions, you go to the top floor quickly and smash the Great Bronze Bell. Leave this to me."
"Okay."
Xie An knew that the situation was urgent at the moment, and he didn't hesitate. He immediately went upstairs quickly.
Behind him, he could still hear Yu He talking to the door, "Commander Heng Yan asked you to come in and talk."
"Ah? Is that alright?"
"I'm telling you to come in, stop with the nonsense."
"Oh, I'm coming."
Xie An didn't even turn his head, he probably knew what Yu He was planning. Just now, he didn't make much noise when killing Heng Yan, plus the ancient pagoda door was closed. Unless he shouted loudly for help, the outside couldn't hear him at all.
Soon, a soft cry came from downstairs.
Xie An knew… that the one who was knocking the wooden fish was dead.
Huff!
Xie An took a deep breath and accelerated towards the top floor.
Soon, Xie An came to the top floor. Standing close to the Great Bronze Bell, Xie An felt that this bell… was really big.
It was probably twelve or thirteen meters high, and the diameter was more than five meters.
It was much larger than the largest Yongle Bell in his previous life.
Su Yuqing was doing her thing, and Yu He's mission was also completed very well, now it was up to him.
