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

After a piercing crash, the armor-piercing arrow failed to penetrate the black corpse's skull and was instead knocked to the ground.

The distance was only forty meters, the stage where the arrow's power was at its peak. Unexpectedly…

This black corpse's head is truly as hard as iron.

Just as Yu He said, a four-stone bow couldn't pierce its flesh and bones.

However, it did hurt the black corpse.

“Woo-ooh!”

The black corpse immediately let out a shrill scream, clutching the back of its head with its only remaining left hand, rolling around on the ground in pain, completely disoriented, and no longer thinking about escaping.

Just then, a whip suddenly lashed out, binding the black corpse several times over. With a pull… the black corpse rolled to Yu He's feet.

Yu He raised her foot and directly stepped on the black corpse's head, preventing it from moving.

Snap, snap.

Yu He clapped her hands contentedly and said to Xie An behind her, "Master, it's taken care of."

Xie An dismounted and walked forward with his broadsword, praising, "Miss Yu He, well done."

Receiving Xie An's praise, Yu He seemed very excited and didn't dare to take all the credit, "It was Master's arrow that hurt it; otherwise, this servant wouldn't have been able to catch it."

This was also the truth.

This black corpse was too fast, and the surroundings were full of thorns. In the blink of an eye, the black corpse would burrow into the thorns. Yu He could never catch up.

The thorns were full of prickles; how could Yu He get in?

Moreover, although the four-stone bow's armor-piercing arrow didn't pierce the black corpse's skull, it was enough to make its head numb, causing it to briefly lose consciousness.

Ranged attacks combined with close combat complemented each other perfectly.

Getting closer, Xie An could finally see the black corpse's appearance clearly: its skin was covered with striped wood grain, like the texture of bark. Its entire body was greenish-blue. This was especially obvious on its face and neck. Its whole face was like a piece of tree bark.

It no longer looked like a dried corpse, but rather somewhat like a treant.

Its appearance was far more terrifying than Chen Yuan's dried corpse.

With its head stepped on by Yu He, unable to speak, it stared fixedly at Xie An with a pair of green eyes, making hoarse "ah-woo, ah-woo" sounds.

From that terrifying gaze, Xie An sensed that:

It didn't feel angry at being stepped on by Yu He; instead, its eyes were filled with greed, a craving for blood.

It wanted to suck Xie An's blood dry.

Even in this state, it still wanted to drink human blood?

Not even caring about its own safety?

Did it still have any rationality?

A monster!

“Master, this black corpse should be a young one, with little rationality. It just wants to suck human blood. It's already been subdued by me; Master doesn't need to be afraid of it.”

Xie An frowned, "A young one? Didn't you say that this thing was refined by corpse refiners?"

It was like the human traffickers who trafficked people in his previous life.

They would definitely prefer children. Bringing them back and slowly nurturing them would make them less likely to go out of control. If they trafficked older ones, they would be more likely to go out of control, the risk would be greater, and they would be harder to control.

However, a thought also sprouted in Xie An's mind: Why is Yu He so… clear about these things?

However, thinking that she had followed Chen Qinglang to Dayin Mountain a few times before and had seen the demons of the Corpse Refining Hall, he was relieved.

“Master, how should we deal with it?”

“Kill it. Just consider it an explanation to shopkeeper Chen Yuan.” Xie An left those words and turned to leave. Yu He wasn't ambiguous either, raising her foot to break the black corpse's throat.

“Wait!”

Xie An suddenly shouted, startling Yu He, "Master, what's wrong?"

Ignoring Yu He's response, Xie An suddenly rushed to the black corpse as if he had discovered a new continent, squatting down next to it and staring at it closely, his whole person becoming extremely excited.

What no one knew was… the white Dao Talisman in Xie An's mind was showing signs of activity for the first time.

For a long time, the white Dao Talisman had been completely silent.

However, at this moment, it was actually trembling slightly.

Accompanied by a line of text:

[Detected a wisp of minuscule Undying Qi. Absorbing it can accelerate the evolution of the Longevity Fate. If enough Undying Qi is collected, the Longevity Fate can advance to Level Two!

Absorb?]

Holy crap…

Undying Qi?

This black corpse actually has half a wisp of Undying Qi… that can help the Longevity Fate evolve to Level Two?

All along, Xie An's Longevity Fate had been at Level One.

Even so, two years of bursting his liver with health cultivation techniques had effects that exceeded others' twenty or thirty years of progress. It could be seen that the Level One Longevity Fate was extremely powerful in matters of health and longevity.

If it advanced to Level Two…

Xie An was very much looking forward to it.

Just as he was about to say "absorb," he suddenly realized that Yu He was beside him. If absorbing triggered something strange and Yu He found out… that wouldn't be good.

After all, the golden finger was Xie An's biggest secret.

No one knew.

Xie An naturally needed to be cautious.

“Yu He, I'll step on it; you step back a bit.” Xie An said.

Yu He didn't know Xie An's plan, "Master, although this black corpse is a young one, it's also incredibly strong. Master might not be able to hold it down…"

Crack.

Xie An stepped on the black corpse's chest with one foot, his power exploding, like a thousand-pound boulder pressing down. It startled Yu He next to him: What great strength; is this the Refined Flesh Realm?

Xie An said, "This monster killed Chen Yuan; I need to personally finish it off. To avoid black blood splashing on your clothes, you should step back a bit."

After Yu He retreated ten meters away, Xie An silently recited:

Absorb!

Buzz!

The black corpse, which was struggling frantically under his feet and constantly making "woo-wah" sounds, suddenly seemed to have its life force sucked dry by something. Its vitality disappeared at a rate visible to the naked eye.

Even Yu He, ten meters away, was shocked by what she saw.

However, Yu He only thought that Xie An was constantly exerting force to stomp the black corpse to death, but she didn't think… it was the Longevity Fate exerting force!

In about an instant, the black corpse was lifeless, limp on the ground, not moving at all, dead as could be.

And the white Dao Talisman in Xie An's mind emitted a white light for the first time.

Although it was a very faint wisp of white light, Xie An still noticed it.

This made Xie An very excited.

Immediately afterwards, two lines of subtitles appeared.

[Level 1 Fate has gained growth]

[Current Fusion: 0.0001]

Xie An, who had been a little excited, was immediately shocked by the zeros after the decimal point.

One ten-thousandth?

What the hell…

This fusion is too difficult, right?

But something is better than nothing…

At least he knew that the Longevity Fate could also advance. He had a goal, high or low.

“Although the Fate only increased by one ten-thousandth, why do I feel like the heat flow in my lower abdomen has become thicker?”

At first, Xie An thought it was an illusion, so he circulated the Fetal Breathing Technique and carefully sensed it.

That's right.

It had indeed become thicker.

Even Xie An vaguely felt that the progress of the Fetal Breathing Technique and the Five Animal Frolics, these two health cultivation techniques, had noticeably improved.

To confirm his judgment, Xie An immediately brought up the panel:

[Five Animal Frolics: Cultivating Inner Qi (64/100)]

[Fetal Breathing Technique: Divine Light Manifestation (22/1000)]

[Remaining Years: 35 Years]

‘Cultivating Inner Qi and Divine Light Manifestation actually directly increased by ten points, equivalent to more than half a month of bursting his liver!’

Hiss!

Xie An couldn't help but gasp.

In a flash, Xie An had a deeper understanding of the Longevity Fate:

No wonder Xie An had always felt that the Longevity Fate had no obvious effect on his martial arts. It wasn't until he learned from Wei Dian that Meng Hu had cultivated the Fetal Breathing Technique for twenty years before cultivating internal breathing that Xie An knew the power of the Longevity Fate.

Now that the Longevity Fate had increased by one ten-thousandth, it had actually directly increased the progress of the two major health cultivation techniques by ten points.

Then… the Longevity Fate is a very large unit.

The depth and breadth of its influence is very exaggerated, and it may take a very long time dimension to reflect its power.

It's like… a person's life is but a fleeting hundred years, utterly insignificant before a mineral deposit that has settled for tens of millions of years.

Previously, Xie An had a vague feeling about this, but it wasn't a profound realization. Only now did he truly experience it firsthand.

Black corpse, undead energy… good stuff indeed.

Clang!

Xie An drew his broadsword and with one strike, severed the black corpse's neck, causing a spray of foul-smelling black blood…

…

“So this is the monster that killed Chen Yuan?”

“Truly a terrifying monster!”

The next morning, Li Hongming and Chen Lei arrived at the three-courtyard residence early, and were greatly shocked upon seeing the headless black corpse on the ground.

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Xie An said, “I kept watch all night and encountered this monster. I then joined forces with Miss Yuhe to kill it.”

“Sect Leader Xie's martial arts are superb, a great act of kindness!” Chen Lei was overjoyed. “I will tie up this monster and take it out to parade through the streets, so that the villagers will know the monster has been eliminated and can have a good New Year.”

In Chen Lei's view, Xie An's good deed should be widely publicized so that the villagers of Black Bridge Town would know about it. This would allow them to celebrate the New Year in peace without fear.

Li Hongming readily agreed, “Sect Leader Xie's great act of kindness and righteousness should indeed be widely publicized.”

Xie An exchanged a glance with Yuhe, then voiced their agreed-upon opinion, “Elder Li, Master Chen. From what I understand, this black corpse is a juvenile. There may be other adult black corpses. If we attract other black corpses, it will be difficult to deal with.”

Li Hongming and Chen Lei's faces immediately turned pale. They couldn't believe it… there were other black corpses. This made them feel uneasy.

Xie An said, “Therefore, I suggest… it's best not to publicize it. On the one hand, to avoid attracting the attention of other black corpses, which could easily bring disaster. On the other hand, it's good to keep the villagers vigilant.”

To reassure everyone, Xie An said, “Don't worry, both of you. I will go to Tang Family Fort and report this matter. The New Year is just two days away. After the New Year, I will come back to discuss this with you. During the New Year, please advise the villagers not to go out late at night.”

Although Li Hongming and Chen Lei felt frightened, they had no choice but to cup their fists in thanks.

Li Hongming repeatedly said that the residence would be kept for Xie An. Xie An sensed Li Hongming's goodwill and knew that if he didn't leave a residence in Black Bridge Town, the two great village elders would be uneasy. So he agreed. He also stated that he would be traveling between the Black Market and this place in the future, and if the town encountered any emergencies, they could come to him at any time.

Only then were Li Hongming and Chen Lei much relieved, and after expressing their gratitude, they left.

“Yuhe, burn this black corpse to ashes.”

“Yes, Master.”

…

The following days returned to peace once again.

Besides visiting the Black Market, Xie An spent the rest of his time in the three-courtyard residence. Occasionally, he would stroll down the streets, simply to reassure the villagers.

In fact, that was indeed the case. The villagers clearly felt much more at ease when they saw Xie An.

And Xie An spent more of his time in closed-door martial arts practice.

The black corpse incident reawakened Xie An's vigilance.

He instinctively realized that killing the juvenile black corpse was definitely not the end, but very likely the beginning of something big.

Only by possessing powerful strength could he protect himself. If possible, he could also do something for the villagers here.

Strength is everything.

This day was the thirtieth of the Lunar New Year.

The sky had just begun to brighten when the continuous sound of firecrackers rang out, festive and lively.

Xie An was still in the backyard, diligently practicing the Life-Nourishing Exercise.

Fierce Tiger Descends the Mountain.

Roar!

The sound of a tiger roaring in the mountains and forests exploded throughout the entire backyard.

[Five Animal Frolics: Cultivating Inner Energy (99/100)]

Seeing the information on the panel, Xie An became even more excited.

“Only two days of intensive training, and the progress has increased from 64 to 99, it's too heaven-defying! Surpassing the progress of the past month. The Longevity Destiny only increased by one ten-thousandth, yet it has such miraculous effects, it's simply outrageous.”

“It feels like cultivating inner energy is about to reach its limit, just one last breath away.”

Xie An had already practiced the Five Animal Frolics for two hours continuously, but he didn't feel tired. He planned to break through in one go.

Finally—

[Five Animal Frolics: Cultivating Inner Energy (100/100)]

[Five Animal Frolics, Perfected!]

Xie An immediately felt a surge of heat all over his body, drenched in sweat, his hair completely soaked.

Hot spots!

Many hot spots appeared throughout his body, in his limbs and bones.

Hmm?

This was a situation that had never occurred before.

Xie An seemed to realize something, immediately sat down cross-legged, and circulated the Fetal Breathing Technique, guiding the hot spots throughout his body to the lower abdomen… that stream of heat reached the thickness of two thumbs.

In an instant, Xie An felt incredibly comfortable in his body, as if he had become much younger.

So refreshing!

After being excited for a while, Xie An began to circulate the Fetal Breathing Technique.

[Fetal Breathing Technique: Divine Light Manifestation (98/1000)]

In the past two days, not only had the Five Animal Frolics progressed rapidly, but even the Fetal Breathing Technique had also made great progress, reaching nearly 100.

Undoubtedly, the difficulty and level of the Fetal Breathing Technique were above the Five Animal Frolics.

Just now, after the Five Animal Frolics reached its limit, Xie An felt that the Five Animal Frolics had become a martial art for killing, and even felt that his strength could not be simply measured by the set of martial artists.

This time, facing the Fetal Breathing Technique, Xie An was very cautious, suppressing the excitement in his heart, and operating it bit by bit.

Based on experience, he judged that it should be able to reach its limit by the afternoon.

Xie An circulated the heat flow again and again to gather, disperse, and internally breathe in a cycle. Tirelessly cycling back and forth, heading towards the final part.

Early Shen Hour.

Buzz!

Xie An, who was sitting cross-legged, suddenly trembled violently, his aura changed slightly, but his pulse stopped.

[Divine Light Manifestation: 100/1000]

Xie An didn't notice the change in these data, and had completely entered a selfless state. Without a single distracting thought, his pulse didn't beat, not only did his external breathing stop, but his internal breathing also stopped.

Fetal breathing stops, fixed in the void.

He vaguely felt a ray of light shining on the ancestral aperture in his body, entering a state of minor samadhi.

Extreme stillness gives rise to movement, suddenly feeling that the heat flow throughout his body was condensed in the lower abdomen, the heat flow turned into hot air, and suddenly slowly moved up to the central position of the chest, contained in the Crimson Palace.

The Qi of the Crimson Palace has been formed!

Buzz!

Xie An suddenly opened his eyes, and a sharp light burst out.

He stretched out his right hand and stroked the position of his chest, clearly feeling that he no longer had a heartbeat, but there was a hot air the size of two thumbs rolling and stirring in his chest.

“This, is the Qi of the Crimson Palace?”

“I, have succeeded!?”

Xie An was stunned for a long time, and suddenly clearly felt the air fluctuations around him, and the birds chirping outside the window.

He pushed open the window and saw a beetle crawling on the treetop thirty meters away, and also saw the patterns on the beetle's back, and the wriggling feet. He could even feel the beetle's breathing.

Hiss!

Xie An gasped.

Terrifying!

After cultivating the Qi of the Crimson Palace, Xie An felt that his Qi perception had greatly improved.

He himself felt afraid.

If it were in actual combat, Xie An would be completely equal to opening God's perspective, able to detect the slightest changes in the enemy, taking full advantage. Even if the opponent's strength was five times greater than his own, he might not be unable to behead them!

“How do I feel… that what I'm walking seems not to be the martial path? But rather, treading out a path on the Life-Nourishing Exercise?”

All of this was thanks to the Longevity Destiny increasing the fusion by one ten-thousandth.

One ten-thousandth is already like this…

If it were one thousandth, one hundredth… how would that be?

Black corpses, right?

Come a few more, the more the better!

It's best to come ten thousand, directly filling the decimal point of the Longevity Destiny, doing it to 1…

Soon, Xie An showed a helpless bitter smile, feeling that he was thinking too much.

Just at this time, Yuhe hurried over, “Master, the carriage from Tang Family Fort is parked at the door, inviting you to spend the New Year at Tang Family Fort.”