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

The cold and hot energies within his body intertwined and circulated.

Although the hot energy still occupied the dominant position, the proportion of cold energy had obviously increased a lot.

As the cold and hot energies traveled throughout his body, limbs, and bones, and returned to the Crimson Palace, Xie An clearly felt much more comfortable all over, and most of his fatigue seemed to disappear, making him energetic.

[Minor Snow: 1/300]

The Bright Jade Skill had finally entered the twentieth stage.

Relying on the blessing of the Tier 2 Longevity fate, it took him more than half a year to finally improve by one solar term.

It seemed slow, but Xie An was very clear that this was an extremely exaggerated rate of progress.

"Improving by one major solar term should significantly enhance my strength, speed, and senses."

In order to verify the effectiveness of the twentieth stage of the Bright Jade Skill, Xie An pushed open the door and came to the backyard.

Now, the backyard only held Jin Xiaotang, whose secret storage had been sealed, so Xie An could let go.

He activated the Bright Jade Skill to the twentieth stage.

Minor Snow.

In an instant, an icy chill appeared in the hot air surging around Xie An. The cold and hot energies intertwined and poured into his whole body, causing some kind of evolution in his flesh and bones, which was obviously much more miraculous than the nineteenth stage.

Xie An lightly tapped the ground with his toes, and his whole body leaped more than twenty feet into the air like a swallow, standing on the roof.

Walking on the tiles, he moved like the wind, but did not leave much sound on the tiles.

Although the nineteenth stage of the Bright Jade Skill could also do this, it was far less free and easy than the twentieth stage.

After carefully feeling it, Xie An increasingly felt that the Bright Jade Skill was too profound. When he returned to the ground in the backyard, Xie An exerted force with his right foot, stepping on the ground as heavy as Mount Tai, directly causing the ground within a radius of five or six meters to sink half a foot.

Light as a swallow, heavy as a mountain.

Inexpressibly wonderful.

Due to the limited space, Xie An did not do further probing. Otherwise, he would have to find someone to repair the house again.

He also carefully tested his senses and Qi, and they all had obvious improvements.

Afterwards, Xie An raised his right hand.

The hot air hummed, carrying the roar of a giant bear.

He struck out with a palm in the air, hitting the big jujube tree ten meters away, causing it to shake non-stop and the leaves to fall.

[Bear Form Qi Skill: 44/100]

After more than a month of tempering, Xie An's Five Animal Qi Skill had also been cultivated to the second part. The Bear Form Qi Skill had 44 connected nodes, and the progress was about to be halfway.

Only Xie An himself knew how terrifying the Five Animal Qi Skill was.

Xie An felt that with the blessing of the twentieth stage of the Bright Jade Skill, coupled with the Ninefold Internal Strength, he could completely defeat a ninth-rank grandmaster head-on. If he unleashed the complete form of the Tiger Form Qi Skill, it was very likely that he could forcibly kill a ninth-rank grandmaster head-on within ten or so rounds.

If he could cultivate the Bear Form Qi Skill to perfection in the future, Xie An felt that he could slap a ninth-rank grandmaster to death with one palm.

Of course, if the ninth-rank grandmaster possessed special weapons or secret techniques, that would be another matter.

In any case, he was completely unafraid of Crimson Silk and Black Water.

After practicing until he was familiar with it, Xie An left the backyard with satisfaction.

What he didn't notice was that Jin Xiaotang, who was imprisoned in the backyard room, had been staring at Xie An's every move through the half-open window slit. Especially when he saw Xie An operating the twentieth stage of the Bright Jade Skill, Jin Xiaotang's eyes became particularly bright.

"Only in his fifties, and he has already cultivated the Bright Jade Skill to the twentieth stage, it's really scary. Back then, it took me hundreds of years to cultivate the Bright Jade Skill to the twenty-fourth stage. This person's talent in martial arts is not high, how can he have such a deep understanding of the Bright Jade Skill and other techniques?"

......

Xie An returned to the central courtyard and made some preparations.

He took the Demon-Suppressing Famous Saber, hid the pen-tip needles, and took the Seven Treasure Exquisite Box. Then, he found Master Huang, instructed Master Huang to watch Jin Xiaotang, and then took the white fox out into the night, heading straight for Black Swamp County.

"It seems that the disappearance of Guang Chanzi has not caused too much turmoil within the Tian'an Gang. In order to ensure it again and again, I still have to go to Hongze Lake to take a look."

The next day, Xie An sneaked into Hongze Lake to observe the situation of the Tian'an Gang.

With Xie An's current strength, quietly sneaking into Hongze Lake was not a problem.

As a result, he found that the Tian'an Gang in Hongze Lake was still as lively as usual, with no difference.

Xie An could basically make a judgment: Guang Chanzi's disappearance did not cause any fluctuations. It seems that finding a substitute is also dangerous... meaning that after the real body disappears, everyone will treat the substitute as the real body.

But Xie An felt that there should still be grandmaster experts within the Tian'an Gang. These experts might know something, but they did not release the news to the outside world.

Then the question comes.

What will the grandmaster experts of the Tian'an Gang do after learning of Guang Chanzi's disappearance?

After a little thought, the answer jumped on the paper: Li Hao.

They will go to Li Hao for help.

After finding the clue, Xie An left Black Swamp County, returned to Azure Crow County, changed back to his original appearance, and found Chen Tie, Zhao Qing'er, and Wei Haoran, asking them to secretly pay attention to the personnel entering and leaving Li Hao's residence, and keep a daily record.

The three immediately mobilized and stayed in the inn diagonally opposite Li Hao's house, observing day and night and keeping records.

Three days later, Chen Tie identified two people and told Xie An the news.

Xie An rushed to the inn as soon as he learned the situation, "A monk and an old woman?"

Chen Tie said firmly: "That's right, Li Hao's house doesn't receive many outside guests. Most of them are officials from the Demon Suppression Division and former officials from Azure Crow County. I know these people. Only an old monk and an old woman look unfamiliar. Moreover, they have come to the door four times in the past three days. Each time they went out, they made different disguises."

Although Zhao Qing'er didn't know what Xie An was planning, she was sure that Xie An and the Eldest Princess were plotting a major event, so she asked: "Chief Xie, is there something wrong with this?"

Xie An didn't say it clearly, "You have been a great help. When the Eldest Princess returns, I will report it truthfully."

Hearing this, Zhao Qing'er felt very happy: "Did you really help?"

"Yes." Xie An nodded firmly. In fact, Xie An could have completed these trivial matters alone. The main reason why he still asked Zhao Qing'er and the others for help was for two reasons.

First, Zhao Qing'er and the others were plotted against by Li Hao, dismissed from their posts and investigated, and they were in a miserable state. After returning to the capital, they would inevitably be blamed by their fathers. Xie An intended to give them some credit.

Second, staking out is too time-consuming and labor-intensive, and there is no certainty. It may take several months of staying up all night to find someone. Xie An was unwilling to spend time on this kind of uncertain thing, it was better to practice his skills.

Chen Tie was well-versed in human relationships and saw the first point, and quickly thanked: "Brother Xie, you are taking the initiative to give us a chance to make meritorious service, thank you so much."

Wei Haoran and Zhao Qing'er also immediately reacted and stood up and bowed their hands to thank them.

Xie An waved his hand generously and said enthusiastically: "Everyone is a friend, it is right to help each other. I have been so busy recently that I can't open my eyes. I'm going to take a nap in the next room. If you find this monk and old woman, come and notify me immediately."

Chen Tie said very ashamed: "Since the few of us were dismissed, the affairs of the Demon Suppression Division have been handled by Brother Xie alone, it is indeed hard work. It's all our fault for not doing well and implicating Brother Xie. We should go to rest, please, please."

Zhao Qing'er was also very ashamed, "Hey, isn't it? If Chief Xie hadn't arrived in time to clean up the mess for me last time, the punishment I would have received would probably be more than just dismissal. You are our great benefactor. Go and rest quickly. Wei Haoran, you go and make the bed for Chief Xie."

Wei Haoran glared at Zhao Qing'er, thinking to himself, you have been dismissed, and I am no longer your subordinate, why are you still calling me around like this... what is the proper way?

Am I, Wei Haoran, so easy to bully?

Seeing that Wei Haoran had some emotions, Zhao Qing'er said, "You are really heartless. What use are you? I'll go myself."

The four words "What use are you" made Wei Haoran angry, and he said immediately: "I'll go, I'll go. Chief Xie, come with me. She is just a woman, and it is very inconvenient."

Just like that, Xie An settled into the room next door.

Actually, Xie An wasn't tired at all; he mainly didn't want to stake out the place and waste his energy.

He'd rather use that time to practice his skills, killing two birds with one stone.

Xie An secluded himself in the next room for three days, connecting the nodes of the Bear Form Qi Skill to 50.

With over half the nodes connected, the Bear Form Qi Skill was gradually taking shape, adding even more power.

This further increased Xie An's chances of victory when facing a ninth-rank Grandmaster.

He truly was a master of time management.

That night, at midnight, Xie An's door was knocked.

He woke up with a start, stopped his practice, and opened the door, only to see Wei Haoran standing outside.

"Chief Xie, those two people have appeared; come quickly and take a look."

"Okay."

Xie An followed Wei Haoran to the room with the best view, and through the crack in the window, he indeed saw an old monk wearing a bamboo hat and an old woman with white hair entering Li Hao's residence.

Li Hao himself came out to greet them.

Because the distance was too great, Xie An's five senses couldn't reach, and he couldn't determine the strength of these two people's life force or their cultivation level.

"Little White!"

Xie An patted the white fox clinging to his shoulder, "Fifteen lemmings, sneak into Li's residence and take a look.

Be careful."

The white fox shook its head, "Too few.

Fifteen was the going rate a few months ago."

Xie An felt quite speechless, "Then what's the current going rate?"

The white fox tilted its head and thought for a moment, "It should be at least seventeen now."

Xie An breathed a sigh of relief, thinking to himself that's all the ambition you have.

"Agreed."

Gaga.

The white fox was very happy to have gotten two more lemmings, grinned, and then scurried away.

Wei Haoran was very surprised to see this, "Chief Xie, this fox is extraordinary."

Xie An said: "It's alright.

It's fast, doesn't attract attention easily, and is very convenient for gathering information.

We'll just wait here for news."

Everyone was deeply amazed but quickly calmed down.

After all, they were from the capital and had seen a lot.

Having a talking spirit fox wasn't too surprising.

Chen Tie invited everyone to sit down and drink tea.

After some small talk and waiting, the way everyone looked at Xie An changed.

They all felt that Xie An had changed a lot in the past few months.

But they couldn't quite put their finger on it.

Xie An asked about the three's cultivation progress.

Chen Tie said: "Although the few of us drowned our sorrows in alcohol, abandoned ourselves to despair, and felt guilty, we didn't slack off in our martial arts.

I'm already a ninth-level Martial Master, and Zhao Qing'er has broken through the eighth level.

Wei Haoran will be there soon too."

Zhao Qing'er was very dejected, "Unfortunately, there's nowhere to display my ambitions.

Alas, I've disappointed my royal father and the Eldest Princess.

Such a pity."

Wei Haoran also drooped his head: "I'm still too young.

The officialdom is a deep pool, and my father has already stopped my allowance, which means he's very disappointed in me."

Chen Tie didn't say anything, but the frustration in his eyes was also very obvious.

Xie An took the initiative to comfort everyone, "Things haven't reached the end yet, so there's no need to be so discouraged.

Maybe there will be a light at the end of the tunnel."

Obviously, Xie An's comfort didn't have much effect; everyone just responded with a few perfunctory words, and their faces were filled with disappointment.

Of course, Xie An wouldn't tell them the truth.

In fact, their dismissal from office and investigation hadn't affected the overall situation; it had even had a positive effect to some extent.

Otherwise, Li Hao and Tian Anbang wouldn't have dared to get so close.

About an hour later, the monk with the bamboo hat and the old woman with white hair left Li's residence.

Li Hao personally saw them off.

Not long after, the white fox slipped back.

The white fox didn't hesitate and jumped directly onto the table, "Water, I'm dying of thirst."

Zhao Qing'er and the others looked at each other in bewilderment.

Why did they feel like something was off…

Xie An took the initiative to pour a glass of cold water for the white fox, and after drinking it, the white fox said: "There's too much information; if I said it word for word, I'd probably be talking for half a day, so I've summarized it.

There are three main points."

Xie An was speechless for a moment, marveling at the white fox's ridiculously high intelligence.

It could even summarize and highlight key points.

"First, the old monk is called Pu Kong, and the old woman is called Hei Po.

They should both be fourth-rank Grandmasters."

That explosive information made everyone take a deep breath of cold air.

Two fourth-rank Grandmasters!

The foundation of the former imperial religion was indeed extraordinary.

"Second, Pu Kong and Hei Po didn't explicitly say that Guang Chanzi had been captured; they only said that Guang Chanzi had been ambushed, and Fa Du and Fa Yuan had died, and Pu Du had been captured.

They asked Li Hao to help find the culprit and find Pu Du."

Hearing this news, Xie An was very shocked and quickly made a judgment: Pu Kong and Hei Po should be Tian Anbang's biggest trump cards now.

They didn't explicitly say that Guang Chanzi had been captured because they didn't want to ruin their cooperation with the Prince of Huainan.

After all, once Li Hao knew that Guang Chanzi had been captured, he would probably not dare to start a rebellion.

Following this logic: If Guang Chanzi couldn't be found for a long time, Tian Anbang might push the fake Heavenly Father to the front and operate him as the real Heavenly Father.

Behind this, there was also something that puzzled Xie An: Guang Chanzi was dead, but Tian Anbang was still not in chaos, which showed that there was a stabilizing force within Tian Anbang.

Otherwise, it would have been a complete mess long ago.

He just didn't know what this stabilizing force was.

Putting away his distracting thoughts, Xie An asked the white fox: "What's the third point?"

The white fox said: "Six months later, they agreed to meet and talk at Da Yin Mountain outside the city."

Zhao Qing'er was puzzled, "Haven't they met already?

Why do they have to run to Da Yin Mountain to meet?"

The white fox said: "It seems to be some kind of four-party meeting."

Chen Tie said: "Aren't there only two parties?

What are the other two parties?"

The white fox realized that this information was very important, so it looked at Xie An with a questioning gaze, as if asking if Xie An could say it.

After getting Xie An's permission, the white fox said: "Northern Liang, Five Old Peaks."

Hiss!

Everyone in the room gasped.

Especially Chen Tie and the other two, they didn't know about Li Hao and Tian Anbang's plans, and they were even more confused.

Only Xie An knew that the most terrible thing was about to happen.

Xie An gently stroked the white fox's head, "The information you brought back is too important.

I'll give you two more lemmings."

The white fox was so excited that it cheered.

Zhao Qing'er couldn't help but ask: "Chief Xie, what exactly is going on?"

Xie An hesitated.

Chen Tie came out to smooth things over, "Alright, if it's not convenient to say, then don't ask.

In short, with the Eldest Princess planning and strategizing, nothing major will happen.

Brother Xie, if there's anything you need us to do, just say it.

We will definitely cooperate.

Moreover, we will never reveal today's events."

"Thank you for your trouble.

Continue to pay attention to the movements of Li's residence, and if there's anything wrong, immediately come to Xie's residence to inform me.

I still have things to do, so I'll take my leave first."

Xie An cupped his hands to the three, and then left with the white fox.

Xie An's disclosure of some information to the three was a last resort.

These three had followed the Eldest Princess in Nanyang Prefecture for many years and had once been highly regarded by the Eldest Princess, so they were definitely trustworthy.

Xie An had also asked the Eldest Princess about this, and the Eldest Princess said they were trustworthy.

In addition, the current situation in Qingwu County was a mess, and Xie An was really too busy to handle it alone; he needed helpers.

It was already late at night when he returned to Xie's residence.

Because Chunlan, He Chunli, and Han Li were not there, Yu He tidied and cleaned the house.

She was very happy to see Xie An return, "Master, you're finally back."

Xie An nodded, "Thank you for your hard work, Yu He.

By the way, has there been any change in the house these past few days?"

Yu He shook her head, "No."

After a brief greeting, Xie An returned to the central courtyard and went to the east wing to find Master Huang.

He wanted to have tea and chat with Master Huang, but unexpectedly, Master Huang wasn't pretending anymore; he was sitting cross-legged on a futon, holding the Spirit Communication Mirror in both hands, using it to recover from his injuries, "This old man is busy recovering his strength, Chief Xie, you might as well speak directly.

I can hear you."

Xie An told him about the four-party meeting, and Master Huang immediately became uneasy, jumping up from the ground, "Good, those four old things are finally going to show their faces.

They are traitors to the Demon Court; they deserve to die."

Xie An quickly comforted him, "Master Huang, please don't be agitated.

By the way, the other four old demons… what is their strength?"

Master Huang said: "They are all third-rank Grandmasters.

The Five Old Peaks are full of demons, and there are more than a dozen Grandmaster-level great demons.

If they all come out of Da Yin Mountain, that would be really scary.

Can your wife handle it?"

Xie An was so shocked that the hand holding the teacup trembled, and the tea splashed out, "Should be able to, right?"

Master Huang was very speechless, "Are you asking me?"