8000 strands of Undying Qi…
Xie An stared blankly at the words in his mind, especially the three zeros after the 8… Xie An even thought he was seeing things and counted them several times before he dared to be sure.
Eight thousand strands!
An unprecedented amount.
Xie An's heartbeat suddenly accelerated.
The last time Xie An absorbed Qi was when he publicly executed Li Xiaoting, the seventh son of the Prince of Huainan, on the execution ground, collecting two hundred strands of Faith Qi. Facts proved that for the Longevity destiny, Undying Qi and Faith Qi had the same effect.
After that, Xie An never absorbed Undying Qi or Faith Qi again. Until just now under the ancient pagoda, Xie An absorbed thirty strands of Undying Qi in order to kill Commander Heng Yan as quickly as possible.
A crystal corpse, comparable to a human fourth-level Inner Strength martial artist, only provided thirty strands of Undying Qi.
It can be seen that the difficulty of obtaining Undying Qi is very high.
At that time, Xie An was wondering if he would have the opportunity to take these eight thousand strands of Undying Qi into his possession.
However, Xie An only had this idea at the time, and he didn't have too much obsession about whether he could really do it… He had the idea of taking it one step at a time.
After all, the matter was of great importance, and his strength was still very weak. He also knew that many things could not be forced.
Later, as things progressed, Xie An increasingly felt the depth of the Corpse Refinement Hall, and he didn't take this idea too seriously. Unexpectedly… the opportunity was really placed in front of him.
Calm down!
Xie An took a deep breath, warning himself to calm down.
Soon, Xie An suppressed the excitement in his heart and began to consider what to do next:
Last time, recklessly absorbing two hundred strands of Faith Qi still caused Xie An to retreat for three months. During this period, Xie An had no perception of what happened outside. Fortunately, with Su Yuqing's protection, nothing happened.
Although Xie An's Clear Jade Skill has been fundamentally improved compared to that time, it definitely cannot withstand the impact of absorbing eight thousand strands of Undying Qi at once.
Even if the Dao Talisman could absorb it, he would probably need to spend several years… to completely digest it. And during these several years, Xie An would be almost unconscious.
If he was outside, Xie An could naturally find a place where no one was and retreat for several years… it wouldn't be a big deal.
But this is the headquarters of the Corpse Refinement Hall, and it is still the forbidden area of the ancestral hall. A large group of corpses are gathered outside. Once the crystal commander arrives, Xie An feels that he is likely to be in trouble. Not to mention absorbing eight thousand strands of Undying Qi.
Thinking of this, Xie An suddenly felt as if a large bucket of cold water had been poured over his head. The original excitement suddenly subsided.
What a pity!
What a pity!
It would be better not to let me sense these eight thousand strands of Undying Qi…
It's really uncomfortable to have a huge treasure but not be able to possess it.
Xie An sighed in his heart, but he quickly recovered. He knew that this was not the time to worry about gains and losses. If the Undying Qi is gone, there will be opportunities to get it in the future. But if life is gone, nothing will be left.
"Yuhe, more and more corpses are gathering outside the door. It is estimated that some of them have gone to call the crystal commander. Once the crystal commander comes, is there any way to escape?"
Saving his life is the top priority.
Xie An noticed that these corpses had some intelligence. Not only did they block the gate, but they also surrounded the entire ancestral hall. Completely blocking all escape routes for Xie An.
Even if Xie An and Yuhe could fight, they would only be courting death in the face of so many corpses.
Xie An glanced at the direction of the ancestral hall's courtyard gate and saw more and more corpses crowding at the gate. Many corpses even climbed up the walls, poking their heads out and staring at the direction of the ancestral hall's main hall. They were shouting and roaring in a dark and chaotic manner.
They became more irritable than before, as if Xie An had touched their vital interests.
Yuhe was also shocked when she saw this, and gritted her teeth, "There is no better way for the time being. We can only hope for the young lady's arrangement."
"What is the Princess's arrangement?" Xie An's previous communication with Su Yuqing was very obscure, and the other party didn't say anything. If Xie An could leave safely, he wouldn't want to ask more questions.
But now that it was a matter of life and death, Xie An had to ask Yuhe.
In addition, Xie An also wanted to know one thing through this: Yuhe is Su Yuqing's absolute confidant. If the Princess doesn't even tell Yuhe the plan, then it means that Su Yuqing… may not be as frank as she appears. If Yuhe knows, that's fine.
Yuhe said, "Tonight, the young lady will meet the Grand Priest at the Huai River at the foot of Dayin Mountain to negotiate. As long as the young lady hears the bell ringing here and sees a fire, she will kill the Grand Priest and then personally enter Dayin Mountain to kill the demons."
Hearing that a martial arts grandmaster was going to personally take action, Xie An felt a little relieved.
Soon, Xie An showed a worried look again, "But the number of demons in the Corpse Refinement Hall… seems to be over ten thousand. Can your young lady kill them all by herself?"
The hearts placed in the ancestral hall numbered eight thousand. They were all beating, indicating eight thousand corresponding corpses.
Adding other people, it is likely to be over ten thousand.
With such a huge number, if they go down the mountain… the entire Qingwu County will instantly become a living hell.
Su Yuqing is just one person, even if she is a martial arts grandmaster… she can't kill them all, right?
Yuhe said: "Don't worry, sir. The young lady is not a reckless person. Once she takes action, she must have a backup plan. The people from the Nanyang Demon Suppression Division, the experts from the Tai'a Dao Academy, and even the people from the capital will come as agreed to clean up the mess. We have to delay time until they come, then we will be safe."
Speaking of the end, Yuhe suddenly changed the subject, "Moreover, didn't the young lady give you a sword paper? This sword paper is very powerful. I also have one. When the corpses rush in, I will use my sword paper first to kill them. Sir, you just sit here and recover your strength. I will guard the door."
Leaving a sentence, Yuhe stood at the gate of the main hall, facing Xie An with her back, with a bit of meaning to protect Xie An with her life. She was not afraid at all when facing the crowded and roaring corpses outside.
Xie An saw it in his eyes 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.
But after thinking about it, that was the only way.
Soon, Xie An seemed to have made up his mind, "Yuhe, come here."
Yuhe walked to Xie An, looked at Xie An up and down, and thought that Xie An was going to explain his last words, so she said with red eyes: "Sir, it was I who dragged you into this muddy water. If it really comes to the end of the road, I will definitely stand in front of you. If those corpses want to attack sir, they will have to step over Yuhe's body."
Her voice was not loud, but she bit her lower lip and said each word. As if she was saying it to Xie An, and also as if she was saying it to herself.
Xie An could feel the determination of this little girl from her tone.
Being in this dangerous environment, listening to the heartfelt words of a maid. Made the usually cautious Xie An feel a great touch in his heart.
In this life, when faced with life and death, how many people are really willing to take a knife for themselves?
Xie An didn't want to say too sentimentally, so he said: "It won't come to that. Just stand inside the gate, don't rush out, and don't stay too far away from me."
Yuhe felt Xie An's concern and happily "ummed", and finally stood inside the threshold, holding a sword paper in her hand, biting her finger, dripping blood into the sword paper, and then vigilantly stared at the swarm of corpses outside, ready to throw the sword paper out at any time.
Yuhe's strength is equivalent to a second-level martial artist, and it is not a problem to deal with two golden corpses. But if a swarm of corpses rushes in, she will be besieged to death immediately. Using sword paper is obviously the safest way.
Moreover, Yu He's understanding of the power of sword papers was more accurate than Xie An's, as she had a rough estimate of their capabilities. Her usage was also more skillful, with a better grasp of timing and angles.
However, the number of corpses gathering was increasing, and their dense, wailing cries were truly frightening.
Huff!
Xie An took a deep breath and sat down cross-legged on the spot.
He tried to suppress his anxiety and unease.
Since he couldn't leave and still had two sword papers to buy time, then... why not take this opportunity to absorb the undead energy properly? Strengthening himself even a little would be beneficial.
Maintaining composure and eliminating distracting thoughts in such an environment... was truly a difficult task.
Especially for someone like Xie An, who hadn't experienced many Jianghu battles, it was a particular challenge. Fortunately, Xie An had a good mindset and was older. After a few breaths, he had calmed down by seventy or eighty percent. Then, focusing his attention on the eight thousand strands of undead energy, he imagined the extraordinary effects of absorbing them... using this to suppress the last twenty or thirty percent of his nervousness.
Finally, he entered a meditative state!
"Before absorbing the undead energy, first digest the previous thirty strands."
Even in this tense environment, Xie An still maintained considerable composure. He knew that he needed to digest the previous strands first for stability, to avoid any problems.
Xie An opened the Bright Jade Skill.
【Bright Jade Skill: Summer Solstice 15 / 100】
A slight dizziness came from his mind, and his vision blurred. Xie An immediately held his breath, concentrated his attention, suppressed the discomfort, and then looked at the data panel again, his vision becoming clear once more.
Much better.
"The fusion degree increased by thirty ten-thousandths, directly raising the Summer Solstice stage of the Bright Jade Skill's tenth section by fifteen points."
Although the progress wasn't fast, Xie An was already very satisfied.
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In the beginning, increasing the fusion degree by one ten-thousandth allowed the initial stage of the Bright Jade Skill to directly increase by ten points of progress. Now, increasing it by thirty ten-thousandths only resulted in fifteen points of progress.
But... this was the tenth section of the Bright Jade Skill.
Old Master Tang spent a hundred years to cultivate the Bright Jade Skill to the sixth section.
This shows how significant those fifteen points of progress were.
After digesting, absorbing, and adapting to the new Bright Jade Skill, Xie An focused his attention on the surrounding eight thousand transparent containers.
Thanks to the continuous light and vibration of the white Taoist talisman in his mind, Xie An could clearly "see": each heart within the transparent containers contained anywhere from one to thirty-odd strands of white energy.
"In other words, the highest heart has only thirty strands of undead energy. This matches the previously discovered corpse levels. Heng Yan, as a Crystal Commander, has thirty strands of undead energy. The other three Crystal Commanders should also have around thirty."
The more undead energy a corpse possessed, the stronger their strength and the higher their intelligence.
Therefore, Xie An paid special attention to the three transparent containers with the most undead energy:
One container contained twenty-eight strands of undead energy. Xie An estimated that the heart corresponded to a Crystal Commander who was weaker than Heng Yan.
Another container contained twenty-nine strands of undead energy, also belonging to a Crystal Commander weaker than Heng Yan.
The last container actually contained thirty-six strands of undead energy. This should be the strongest of the four Crystal Commanders.
Xie An thought, "If I directly absorb the undead energy from these three containers, wouldn't that mean the three Crystal Commanders... would die directly? Eliminating the danger of them leading the charge into the ancestral hall?"
After this thought emerged, Xie An felt extremely surprised.
It felt like a sudden realization.
The crisis, resolved just like that?
Was it too simple?
Xie An always felt like he was missing something, but after weighing it several times in his mind... he didn't find any omissions. It was highly feasible.
After all, he had never encountered any problems when absorbing undead energy.
The Longevity Fate had never disappointed him.
With Xie An's current strength, absorbing the undead energy from three Crystal Commanders, which would total less than a hundred strands... he felt he could handle it.
Soon, Xie An realized the problem: "Before, when I absorbed undead energy, I needed to subdue the corpse and make contact to absorb it. Why is it that in this ancestral hall... I don't need to touch the crystal corpses, nor do I need to subdue them... to directly absorb the undead energy?"
Xie An was always cautious and quite calculating. Even in this extremely dangerous moment, Xie An still forced himself to maintain a calm mind.
After this question arose, Xie An felt that this ancestral hall... was very strange.
Something was wrong!
It matched the intuition he had when he first saw the ancestral hall.
Moreover, the deeper he investigated, the more he felt the strangeness of this ancestral hall.
Over the past four years, Xie An's process of absorbing undead energy had never changed. He wouldn't assume that it was the effect of the Longevity Fate's increased fusion degree.
After all, even when absorbing Heng Yan's undead energy, he needed to subdue and touch him.
It couldn't have suddenly transformed.
It must be a problem with this ancestral hall!
Thinking back to the Grand Priest sacrificing his life to refine corpses in large quantities and collect vast amounts of corpse energy... Xie An suddenly remembered a sentence Su Yuqing had said: As long as she collected ten thousand strands of corpse energy, the Corpse Refining Hall's century-long plan would be completed.
"Could it be that the Grand Priest's century-long plan to collect ten thousand strands of undead energy has its core in this ancestral hall?"
Thinking of this, Xie An felt a great tremor in his heart.
He didn't rashly absorb the undead energy, but allowed the Taoist talisman in his mind to continue emitting light and vibrating. As the Taoist talisman became more and more excited, Xie An's perception of the undead energy became clearer.
When the talisman's vibration reached a critical point, Xie An suddenly "saw":
The white energy emitted from the eight thousand containers in the entire ancestral hall actually converged and drilled into a wooden board in the northwest corner.
This discovery shocked Xie An immensely.
"What is it? It can gather eight thousand strands of undead energy?"
Xie An immediately stood up, drew the Demon Suppressing Blade, and cautiously walked step by step to the dark compartment in the northwest corner.
This wooden block was a door panel embedded in the wooden wall, and ordinary people couldn't see the mystery. If Xie An hadn't been patient and waited for the Taoist talisman to provide clearer information, he probably wouldn't have discovered this door panel.
Xie An could imagine with his toes that something that could gather eight thousand strands of undead energy... must be terrifying.
Normally, Xie An would definitely avoid it.
But there was no retreat at the moment.
Xie An had to summon his courage and gently swipe the tip of the Demon Suppressing Blade across the door panel.
With a "crack" sound, even though Xie An hadn't exerted much force, the door panel slid open to the side.
It was a hidden compartment with a mechanism!
Swish!
Xie An was startled and immediately took a step back, holding the blade in front of him, ready for any unforeseen events.
Gusts of cold night wind blew in from outside the door, tousling Xie An's long hair and striking his face with a chilling, bone-piercing cold.
Xie An stared intently and saw a staircase behind the door panel, winding downwards into the ground. With Xie An's current eyesight, he could only see the fifth step, and below that... was bottomless darkness.
And the eight thousand strands of undead energy were all drilling into the passage, entering the depths of the endless darkness.
A yin wind drilled out from the passage, slapping Xie An's face.
An unprecedented chill swept through Xie An's body.
An instinctive thought popped into his mind:
Inside this cellar, there was another guy like him, absorbing undead energy. And this guy could absorb eight thousand strands of undead energy in one breath... how terrifying would that be?
This... was the Grand Priest's century-long plan?
