Kalu landed and shot toward Shi Yan like lightning, his speed phenomenal; the deep reserves of essence possessed by a martial artist in the Xiantian Realm were incomparable to those of ordinary Houtian practitioners. Mo Yan Yu’s beautiful eyes flashed with murderous intent as she relentlessly pursued, disregarding the Mo Family contingent trailing behind her, utterly determined to capture and slay Shi Yan.

Shi Yan's face was grim. He channeled every bit of vital essence in his body into the meridians of his legs, slamming each foot down hard.

His lean frame surged forward seven or eight meters with every stomp, closing the distance to the six Blade-Edged Jade Spiders. “Crack!

Crack! Crack!

Crack! Crack!

Crack!” The Blade-Edged Jade Spiders dug their legs into the damp earth, all eight appendages scuttling furiously as they swiftly burrowed into the dense undergrowth. Shi Yan plunged headlong into the thicket, which towered five or six meters high.

His expression grew heavy as he locked his gaze onto the leading spider, paying no heed to the terrifying nature of the creatures. Upon entering the brush, the Jade Spiders’ speed abruptly slowed.

Two of them suddenly wheeled around, the pinpricks of light in their compound eyes glittering as if anger was mounting from being chased. Unaware of Shi Yan's true intentions, the spiders assumed the three pursuing humans were spoiling for a fight to the death.

One Jade Spider let out a strange shriek, and suddenly, the other four turned back as well, all focusing their attention on Shi Yan. Shi Yan’s demeanor remained unshaken; instead of slowing, he accelerated toward the spiders.

His focus became extraordinarily sharp. His mind felt like a clear mirror, and suddenly, he realized he had slipped back into that wondrous state.

Everything in his surroundings seemed to snap into astonishing clarity. He could even perceive the low murmuring communications of the Jade Spiders, and the whooshing sound of Kalu rushing behind him registered perfectly in his ears.

“Whoosh! Whoosh!” As Shi Yan hurtled forward at top speed, his body displaced the air, causing the rush of airflow to grow louder.

Just as Shi Yan was about to crash directly into the center of the Jade Spider cluster, his body executed an uncanny shift in mid-air. He sliced past one spider’s gleaming leg, narrowly weaving past the edge of the swarm without pausing, rocketing onward.

The Blade-Edged Jade Spiders were enraged. The six creatures seemed to feel they had been toyed with by this audacious human.

Following a sharp hiss, all six put on a burst of speed and lunged after Shi Yan. Kalu and Mo Yan Yu charged into the undergrowth one after the other, only to find Shi Yan had vanished.

They saw only the six Jade Spiders tearing away at full tilt. Kalu slammed to a halt, a chilling glint in his eyes.

“That brat must have hidden himself somewhere in the surrounding thicket.” “Could he have broken through the spider swarm and gotten ahead of them?” Mo Yan Yu asked, her delicate brows furrowed slightly. “Hmph,” Kalu scoffed dismissively.

“Even if he had the guts, he couldn't have survived among them. In this dense brush, the spiders’ eight legs act like meat grinders.

This entire thicket is their territory. If he really became their target, it would be a death sentence.” “That’s true,” Mo Yan Yu conceded, nodding.

She then separated from Kalu, beginning to search the nearby shrubs for any trace of Shi Yan. Shi Yan fled frantically through a patch of undergrowth in the shadowed forest, the six Jade Spiders relentlessly pursuing, the distance between them steadily shrinking.

There were no towering ancient trees in this section, only endless, continuous bushes. These shrubs were not particularly sturdy; as the spiders’ legs scuttled through, the plants snapped with a “crack,” unable to withstand the creatures’ destructive force.

Finding no high ground to rest, Shi Yan had no choice but to run for his life, hoping to widen the gap between himself and the spiders. Fortunately, a portion of strange power had previously seeped from his acupoints and mingled with his vital essence, making his essence more than twice as rich and pure.

Otherwise, under the relentless pursuit, he feared he would have already collapsed and been hacked to pieces by those monstrous legs. His vital essence churned in the meridians of his feet.

Shi Yan felt his legs inflate, granting him an almost effortless leap of several meters with every impact. He inwardly marveled at the utility of this essence, strengthening his resolve to become a true master martial artist.

He ran for an unknown duration before fatigue began to set in. The vital essence in his leg meridians had depleted significantly after such prolonged exertion, and his speed began to drop.

As his pace slackened, the Blade-Edged Jade Spiders showed no sign of slowing. These beasts, relying on sheer physical power, required no supporting essence and could dart through the brush like the wind.

Having eight legs, they proved to be terrifying obstacles in this terrain. The gap between them was closing, bit by agonizing bit...

Shi Yan’s nerves were taut, sweat beading on his back. At this rate, the spiders would catch him soon.

When his vital essence finally gave out, what would he have left to fight them with? Suddenly, damp, moist air drifted from his left.

Shi Yan, whose senses were keenly attuned, took two deep breaths, his face lighting up with hope. He abruptly changed direction and bolted toward the left.

Water! Shi Yan concentrated his mental energy, absorbing every sound from that direction.

Indeed, after just a few minutes of frantic running, he heard the pleasing sound of rushing water in the distance. A few minutes later, the view ahead opened up dramatically.

Before him, a waterfall cascaded like a silver silk ribbon into a deep pool below. The water struck massive rocks with a roar, sending pearl-like droplets scattering amidst the heavy mist rising from the pool.

“Splash!” Shi Yan shot into the icy pool like an arrow, feeling an instant wave of relief. He thought, I’m safe now.

“Thump! Thump!

Thump! Thump!

Thump! Thump!” The six Blade-Edged Jade Spiders arrived moments later and plunged into the deep pool one after another.

They floated on the surface like small boats, their eight razor-sharp legs churning the water as they rapidly advanced toward him. Shi Yan, who had just managed to catch his breath, cursed under his breath.

Seeing the spiders drawing near, he frantically sank toward the bottom of the pool. Holding his breath, Shi Yan submerged seven or eight meters before daring to look up.

From beneath the surface, he could clearly see the six Jade Spiders’ legs, sharp as blades, hacking downwards and stabbing violently into the pool. The Jade Spiders did not fear the water; they could float, but they seemed unwilling to sink to the bottom.

The six beasts thrashed their legs on the surface, merely swimming about on top. Only then did Shi Yan truly relax.

Keeping his breath held, he remained submerged in the pool. Holding his breath underwater was a limit Shi Yan often tested in the past; he had experience and could remain submerged for more than ten minutes on a single breath.

The Jade Spiders did not linger long. After slashing the surface for a while and seeing no sign of Shi Yan surfacing, they climbed out of the water one by one.

Shi Yan drifted slightly upward from the bottom until he could see the six beasts on the bank, then immediately stopped ascending, secretly observing them from the water. The six creatures soon departed.

Shi Yan broke the surface, taking a deep gulp of the damp air, then immediately sank again. He only risked surfacing near a large rock in the corner of the pool once his breath ran out, inhaling quickly before plunging back down, repeating the cycle.

He feared the spiders might return, and even more, he worried that Kalu and Mo Yan Yu might follow the spiders’ trail. This caution kept him rooted in the water, unwilling to emerge immediately.

At the bottom of the pool. Holding his breath, Shi Yan began to contemplate the strange anomaly in his acupoints.

He had been standing right beside the two martial artists when they died. It was as if their entire essence and blood had been sucked away by his acupoints; he had clearly gained something from their demise.

When fleeing with the Jade Spiders, he distinctly felt a peculiar energy emanating from within his acupoints. This energy was exceptionally pure, and upon merging with his vital essence, it instantly amplified his essence by more than double.

This left Shi Yan deeply puzzled. Could it be that the power absorbed from those two deceased martial artists by his acupoints was purified, and then gifted back to his own body?...

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