I Grant You Eternal Life

The sudden woman's voice caused the atmosphere to plummet to freezing point. Holding her saber across her chest, Li Qingyan shielded Xu Yuan in the center alongside Bai Muxi. Her gaze swept about, seemingly trying to pinpoint the source of the voice within the crimson mist. Yet that coldly alluring feminine voice was like mist, like an illusion, ethereal and vast, making its direction impossible to discern. Frowning slightly, Li Qingyan glanced at Xu Yuan and sent a mental transmission: *Is this aberrant ghost a woman?* "A woman?" Xu Yuan recalled briefly, the boss's appearance in 2.5D graphics surfacing in his mind. The corners of his mouth twitched, and smacking his lips, he pulled an odd smile. "Perhaps. I haven't seen her in person." With that, Xu Yuan also began scanning their surroundings, weighing what he should say next. In the noiseless silence, the woman's voice came again, though beneath its cold allure now lurked a trace of savagery: "Human, answer my question!" "Wait, just because you ask means I have to answer?" "..." The Inter-Abyss fell silent for a brief moment. Then the crimson mist surged violently like boiling water. The woman's voice carried a hint of killing intent: "Human, I know your identity is indeed not simple, but you do not seem to understand your own situation." Sheltered between Li Qingyan and Bai Muxi, Xu Yuan looked around and spoke aloud, "Since you're willing to speak, it means you want to negotiate with us. Isn't showing yourself the most basic courtesy when negotiating?" The coldly alluring voice suddenly chuckled softly. "Human, do you think that without this Blood God Stone, I cannot break the seal and emerge? Without it, I will only need to spend a few more years at most..." "Are you afraid to show yourself because you think you're ugly?" Xu Yuan abruptly cut across the voice in the mist. He stepped slowly to Li Qingyan's side, and beneath her puzzled gaze, he lightly brushed the back of his fingers across her dashing, beautiful cheek and down her slender yet enchantingly curved figure. Looking at the blood mist, he remarked, "After all, as a woman turned into that kind of monster, it's only natural to feel ashamed in front of my princess and little Bai. But it's not like I'd discriminate..." Before his words even finished— *Swish!* A fleshy tendril abruptly shot out from the blood mist, tearing through the air straight toward Xu Yuan's head. It was so fast that even Bai Muxi, having lost the Blood God Stone jade pendant, couldn't follow its speed. Divine light flashed in Li Qingyan's scarlet pupils. The hand gripping her crimson saber jerked upward with explosive force, her red robes billowing. *Clang!!* A vibrating resonance echoed through the cave as the fleshy tendril was deflected by the blade. It streaked past Xu Yuan's head by a hair's breadth, yet the sharp wind it stirred still carved a faint line of blood across his cheek. Only once everything settled did Xu Yuan, blood-red light flickering in his eyes, register that a tentacle of flesh roughly ten centimeters in diameter had appeared right beside his cheek. The surface of the tendril was covered with grotesque spikes. After pausing for a fraction of a second, it retracted along its incoming trajectory at blinding speed and vanished into the blood mist. Immediately after, the coldly glamorous woman's voice rang out once more: "Human, my patience has its limits. You had best stop talking nonsense. The expert you rely on cannot keep you safe." Li Qingyan's expression was grave to the extreme. She transmitted mentally: *This aberrant ghost is extremely powerful. If we fight, I will be no match for it at all. Why not give me the demon crystal?* "No need." Xu Yuan didn't bother using mental transmission, answering directly aloud: "Even between Transcendent Realm experts, there are vast differences. That Black Serpent from earlier cannot compare to this woman at all." Xu Changge and Qin Weijiu were both in the Origin Realm, but could they be compared? Not in the slightest. Xu Yuan even felt that if his elder brother were here, he could slash this Transcendent Realm aberrant ghost boss down with a single sword of causality. Day one of missing Xu Changge. After all, even with the boost from the "purple tier" black death armor, Li Qingyan hadn't been able to defeat the heavily wounded Black Serpent, let alone the head aberrant ghost of this Silent Crypt. Pausing for a moment, Xu Yuan looked toward the blood mist, narrowed his eyes, and chuckled softly. "Though I'm guessing she won't strike again. After all, those tendrils earlier can split." A minor skill of the Silent Crypt boss. Fire a tendril, wait one second, and thousands of branches would shoot out like tree limbs from the tendril. In the past, Xu Yuan had always used Void-Stepping Slash to dodge this move. But now he probably couldn't dodge it; it was too fast, and with his current cultivation, he couldn't react in time. Thinking of this, Xu Yuan gave a soft chuckle and said, "If I'm not mistaken, your flesh has probably already wrapped around this entire cavern, hasn't it?" The coldly glamorous voice did not immediately reply, but Li Qingyan's eyes narrowed. She had clearly seen just how massive this spherical cavern blasted open by the Source Crystal bombs was. Could this aberrant ghost's body really be so enormous? Subconsciously glancing back at Xu Yuan, she saw that he still wore his usual calm smile, his heartbeat steady as ever. The information she knew and her own judgment caused Li Qingyan to unconsciously tighten her grip on her saber hilt. Yet the next moment, she slowly let out a breath and emptied her mind, refusing to overthink. Faced with mortal peril, letting go of thought and simply following orders didn't seem so bad after all... "Human." As Li Qingyan's thoughts wandered, the woman's voice drifted from the blood mist again: "It seems you truly know me very well." "No, no, no. The things I know even better, I haven't mentioned yet," Xu Yuan said with a wave of his hand, chuckling as he looked around. "Although you've wrapped this place in your flesh, your true body isn't here. "Am I right, "Luo Xiran?" The coldly alluring voice took on a chill: "Human, who on earth are you?" Xu Yuan smiled faintly and uttered three words: "Overseeing Heaven Pavilion." "Over... Overseeing Heaven Pavilion?" *Rumble—* Following that trembling whisper, the cavern began to resonate. Amidst the earth-shaking tremor, countless dark silhouettes within the crimson mist swayed gently. The woman's voice was no longer coldly aloof; it was saturated with hysterical fury: "Ten thousand years! You imprisoned me here for ten thousand years! You studied my body, carved up my soul, and now you dare barge into this crypt with such meager cultivation? I will not convert you—you will be imprisoned by me..." "So, do you want to get out?" "..." The woman's frantic raving came to an abrupt halt, and the tremors rocking the cavern ceased as well. After pausing for several breaths, the woman's voice regained its calm, tinged with a hint of doubt: "Get out?" Xu Yuan sighed. Right beneath this aberrant ghost's nose, he linked his intent-soul to the four crates of Source Crystal bombs and replied, "You seem a little too agitated. Although my information came from Overseeing Heaven Pavilion, that doesn't mean I belong to them. After all, it could have been obtained through interrogation." At this point, Xu Yuan's tone tightened slightly as he spun his lie with an unruffled expression: "I came specifically looking for you. We need your power as an aberrant ghost to deal with Overseeing Heaven Pavilion." "..." When his words fell, the crimson Inter-Abyss lapsed into silence. Beside Xu Yuan, both Li Qingyan and Bai Muxi maintained composed expressions, as if they had anticipated this all along, betraying not the slightest flaw in his lie. Several breaths later, the coldly alluring voice sounded faintly amused: "Human, do you take me for a fool? I wondered what you were going to say, but to think you merely came to tell a joke." Xu Yuan pondered for a moment. "Why do you think it's a joke?" "I am an aberrant ghost." The voice scoffed playfully. "Suppressing my instincts and sparing your lives right now is only out of concern for the Blood God Stone and those weapons made of Source Crystals beneath your feet." "Are you unfamiliar with the character of our human race?" Xu Yuan's eyes showed a hint of mirth. Glancing at Bai Muxi at his side, he gave a confident, soft chuckle: "The reason you were able to launch that so-called Blood Nest calamity—wasn't it precisely because infighting among the humans in the crypt gave you an opening to exploit?" It was a very simple deduction. This underground crypt had been established ten thousand years ago by humans to study aberrant ghosts, and the horror of aberrant ghosts was known to all in that era. While the foolishness of rulers might occur in ordinary times, in an era where their entire race faced extinction, it was utterly impossible. Moreover, Bai Muxi had already said that the formations in this crypt targeting the aberrant ghost still restrained it even after ten thousand years. In other words, if the humans in the crypt hadn't started fighting among themselves back then, the aberrant ghost would never have had any chance of turning the tables and becoming the master. The blood mist churning around the three grew quiet. After several breaths, the woman's voice echoed through the surrounding Inter-Abyss once more: "Continue." Hearing this, Xu Yuan felt somewhat reassured and continued weaving his lie: "We have been pushed to a dead end by Overseeing Heaven Pavilion. We need to borrow your power as an aberrant ghost." The crypt was isolated from the outside world; information about Overseeing Heaven Pavilion's decline could not possibly have reached it. Ten thousand years ago, the might of Overseeing Heaven Pavilion was etched into the marrow of every cultivator. It had existed for tens of thousands of years, and virtually everyone believed it would continue to exist for eternity. Even Bai Muxi, who had never experienced that ancient era, immediately assumed upon seeing him and Li Qingyan that the "visitors from the upper realm" were people from Overseeing Heaven Pavilion. How much more so for Luo Xiran, an aberrant ghost captured alive and imprisoned by the Pavilion? After finishing his words, Xu Yuan waited quietly for Luo Xiran's reply, but unfortunately, all he received was a prolonged silence. Yet seeing this, Xu Yuan actually relaxed considerably. Old Man Luo hadn't lied to him. Aberrant ghosts needing to kill humans was just like mortals needing food and water. However, these high-tier aberrant ghosts were capable of suppressing their instinct to "eat and drink," allowing them to hide among human elites and bide their time. As long as the benefits were great enough—or the deception convincing enough—even an aberrant ghost would act as your dog. "Empty words are no proof. Why should I believe you?" Luo Xiran's voice drifted over softly, carrying a hint of disdain. "Human, if you can stand against Overseeing Heaven Pavilion, surely you wouldn't be unable to produce even a single Transcendent Realm expert, sending an Origin Realm cultivator as the Dao protector for your Innate Dao Body to seek me out?" *A mere Transcendent...* Xu Yuan immediately grasped the key point. His Innate Dao Body was something a Transcendent Realm expert could see through at a single glance, but using a contemptuous phrase like "a mere Transcendent" was clearly something only a Saint would say. Presumably, ten thousand years of passage had caused her strength to degenerate. With that thought, Xu Yuan was about to speak, but then hesitated. One lie usually required a hundred more to sustain it. If he were alone, he had full confidence that by leveraging information asymmetry, he could fleece this aberrant ghost leader Luo Xiran down to her very drawers. The problem was that he still had Li Qingyan and Bai Muxi beside him. Things had happened too suddenly to coordinate their stories; if Luo Xiran played a "prisoner's dilemma," their cover would most likely be blown wide open. Seeing Xu Yuan fall silent, the ghostly woman's voice echoed with killing intent: "Furthermore, even without your help, I would only need less than ten years to break free. Boy of the Xu clan, give me a reason why I must cooperate with you." Xu Yuan touched the tip of his tongue to his dry lips, scanned his surroundings, and channeled Source Qi into his voice: "Very simple. You have been isolated from the world for ten thousand years. Over ten thousand years, the world has undergone sea changes. You need intelligence on the outside world. Moreover, aberrant ghosts have been weakened for ten thousand years; you also need a great deal of time and sufficient space to infect living beings and convert them into aberrant ghosts. And I can give you what you want." With that, Xu Yuan pointed toward the ceiling, his Source Qi-infused voice echoing meaningfully: "Ten thousand years ago, you aberrant ghosts invaded from the Great Desolation in the south and ran rampant for a time. The allied armies of our sects suffered defeat after defeat, retreating all the way to the northern ice plains. Even the site of this underground city was built beneath the ice plains of the Northern Border—which is now the territory of the Barbarians." Luo Xiran's voice carried a chilling chuckle: "It seems you are indeed quite familiar with events ten thousand years ago. Yet you still don't seem to have answered my earlier question: why would a faction capable of opposing Overseeing Heaven Pavilion fail to send even a single Transcendent Realm expert?" "Luo Xiran, I think you are the one who needs to understand your place." Mockery danced in Xu Yuan's eyes as he continued spinning his tale off the cuff: "Right now, I am offering you an opportunity, not the other way around. Perhaps you were once a being comparable to a Saint, but right now, you are merely a Transcendent. "You woke up because you sensed that punch thrown by my Dao protector, didn't you?" The Barbarian King. Xu Yuan was betting that this Transcendent Realm aberrant ghost hadn't found the Barbarian King, or at least that there had been no communication between the two. If he won the gamble, he could brandish the Barbarian King's banner and keep hoodwinking her. If he lost, they could simply start the conversation over from scratch; after all, the Source Crystal bombs beneath his feet and the Blood God Stone jade pendant were tangible leverage. After a long silence, Luo Xiran's voice drifted languidly: "What a pity. Your Dao protector seems to be wounded and dares not show himself before me." "Indeed," Xu Yuan did not deny it, letting his voice echo out. "But let me tell you one thing: even if you can break the restriction currently binding you on your own, the only person who can get you out in the shortest possible time is me!" In Cangyuan, even after the entire crypt had been slaughtered by aberrant ghosts into a lifeless wasteland, none of the ghosts had ever escaped. As an open-world dungeon in a game, that made sense, but transformed into reality, there had to be a causal reason behind it. In other words, even if Luo Xiran broke her current restriction, other restraints would be waiting for her. As he spoke, Xu Yuan's voice took on a trace of killing intent: "Furthermore, Luo Xiran, with such a massive disturbance occurring here, my Dao protector has most likely arrived nearby—perhaps he has already gone looking for your true body." "..." Silence followed his words. The thick crimson mist around them was eerily still. After a long time, a sigh drifted from the blood mist. The coldly alluring voice carried a laugh: "In other words, if I want to leave, I can only cooperate with you?" Xu Yuan grinned. "Not necessarily, but you probably don't have a better choice." "You are right." Luo Xiran's voice softened considerably, bearing a hint of gentle amusement: "Yet you seem to have forgotten one thing." "What?" "As long as I convert you into an aberrant ghost and place you under my control, I will know everything, and the problem of escaping the crypt will be readily resolved." "..." Xu Yuan narrowed his eyes, and then his pupils constricted violently. He subconsciously reached toward the cheek that had been grazed by the blade of air, but his hand halted abruptly mid-motion. The next moment— *Blargh...* A mouthful of fresh blood sprayed from his lips. Xu Yuan collapsed uncontrollably to his knees. The vivid scarlet before his eyes stood out starkly against the pitch-black stone ground, and everything began to tilt and sway. Meanwhile, *Tap, tap... tap...* Like the crisp clicks of high heels striking the floor, a colossal, grotesque shadow slowly materialized from the crimson mist. Pressure swept across the entire cavern. The voice sounded cold, alluring, and noble: "Xu Changtian... "I hereby grant you eternal life."