In the densely shadowed forest, where the foliage was thick, human figures moved like specters. The Ink Clan warriors were spread out in a semicircle, sweeping through the woods, each face grave.

Mo Yanyu’s face was icy as she snapped, “Search! The moment you spot any trace of him, fire a blue smoke flare immediately. Do not engage him!”

“Three days, and still no sign of him. Yet, he leaves behind just enough clues. I wonder if he truly lacks stealth, or if this is intentional…” Kalu’s expression was grim, his temper visibly rising. During these past few days, the party had frequently spotted traces left by Shi Yan as he passed—broken branches and footprints indicated that he had been circling near them. But every time they sent people out to search, they came back empty-handed, never even catching sight of him.

“Expand the search perimeter!” Mo Yanyu decided ruthlessly, barking the command, “Spread out! Use this spot as the center and scour the area! If you see him, fire the blue smoke flare instantly, and I will be there at once!” The Ink Clan warriors acknowledged the order in unison.

“Is everything alright at the Earth Dragon’s side?” Kalu frowned, a flicker of worry crossing his face. “All my medicine vials are there. If that brat goes over there to cause trouble and destroys them, we’re in serious trouble.”

“Master, rest assured. Johnson and seven warriors are guarding the Earth Dragon. Johnson has already reached the third layer of the Houtian realm; that little thief stands no chance against him,” Mo Yanyu stated proudly.

Kalu nodded, saying no more.

The Ink Clan’s search party moved farther and farther afield, the distance between the warriors growing wider. Since each warrior carried a blue smoke flare, they weren't overly concerned; as long as Shi Yan appeared in their line of sight, firing the flare meant they could relax.

One warrior, his face taut with irritation, moved beneath a canopy of shade, occasionally glancing up at the towering ancient trees or sweeping his eyes over the surrounding thickets. After three full days of searching without sighting Shi Yan—and given that Shi Yan was only a minor warrior in the Houtian realm—these men simply refused to believe he would still be lurking nearby. They assumed he had long since fled, so as they searched, they inwardly grumbled, feeling they were wasting their effort.

When this particular warrior stepped beneath the dense canopy of an ancient tree and instinctively looked upward, a wave of killing intent—icy, malevolent, and ancient—suddenly descended upon him. Shi Yan materialized above, launching himself downward like a hungry wolf, driving his knee straight into the warrior’s face.

“Thud!”

A massive force struck, and the warrior fell backward, his face awash in blood. Tears and gore mixed in his eyes; for a moment, he could see nothing. Clutching a dagger, he flailed blindly, screaming, “Here! He’s here!” Just as he prepared to release the blue smoke flare in his left hand, agonizing pain shot through his wrist. Unable to bear the sharp sting, he involuntarily loosened his grip, and the flare was snatched away.

“Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!”

Shi Yan’s expression was cold, his pupils subtly shifting to a dark crimson, radiating fierce killing intent. He moved at high speed around the fallen warrior, dodging the wild swings of the dagger while delivering a succession of heavy kicks to the man’s head. Vigorous True Essence surged through his limbs; every kick landed with the force of a sledgehammer. Under this brutal assault, just five kicks were enough to extinguish the warrior’s life.

Shi Yan stepped forward, retrieving the dagger from the man’s lifeless hand. With a calm demeanor, he swung the blade, delivering a final slash across the man’s throat. Invisible, intangible wisps of air—intermingled with feelings of unease, rage, and terror—poured out of the dead warrior’s body, instantly flowing into Shi Yan’s acupoints. In just a few dozen seconds, the warrior was completely drained of essence and vitality, becoming a desiccated husk.

Shi Yan frowned, stepping closer to rifle through the corpse. He found only a bag of rations and just over thirty Purple Crystal Coins, which he promptly claimed as his own. Shi Yan lingered no longer, darting through the forest like a solitary fox, swiftly moving away.

This was his first kill, yet he felt no fear; he remained utterly composed throughout. With every heavy strike to the warrior’s head, he felt an exhilarating release, a satisfaction of desire fulfilled. He felt an indescribable euphoria, as if he were innately destined to be a warrior, meant to reap lives in combat.

The pleasure derived from killing captivated him; he found that moment exquisitely beautiful. The suppression he had endured for days seemed to burst forth the instant he severed that throat.

Shi Yan knew this was wrong; he understood that something in his body must be amiss. A normal person, when killing for the first time, would never be so self-possessed, nor would they feel such an addictive high, like a drug user.

The influx of vital energy from the slain man surged into his acupoints, and a fresh wave of murderous intent sprouted from the depths of his heart. Soon, after the furious churning within his internal acupoints, a strange energy injected itself into his True Essence, causing it to refine and strengthen once more.

This was concrete benefit!

For five consecutive days, Shi Yan moved like a ghost in the forest, appearing and disappearing, committing atrocities in various corners. Each strike was swift and clean; he killed instantly by ambush before the warriors could even manage to release their blue smoke flares.

In five days, three more warriors fell. Every time Mo Yanyu and the others discovered a body, the deceased was emaciated, their essence and blood seemingly entirely drained.

Mo Yanyu grew increasingly agitated. She and Kalu searched the forest frantically, desperate to flush Shi Yan out, and both gradually sensed a growing peril. The first slain warrior’s face was mutilated, his skull severely damaged, with clear signs of a struggle. The second and third victims had been ambushed from behind, pierced repeatedly through the torso, though there were brief signs of a fight. The fourth warrior, however, had his throat cleanly slit with a single stroke, showing no evidence of a struggle whatsoever.

Judging by the four deaths, Shi Yan’s killing technique was rapidly becoming more practiced. This forest had become a stage for him to display his innate talent; he utilized the terrain masterfully to conceal his tracks, operating like a seasoned hunter conducting a hunt of his own.

The four deaths unnerved the remaining warriors. Mo Yanyu and Kalu began to treat the situation with grave seriousness, ordering the warriors not to move alone under any circumstances, but strictly in pairs, so that if one was ambushed, the second could immediately intervene, preventing a silent demise.

High in the dense, dim forest, perched upon an ancient tree dozens of meters tall, shrouded within layers of leaves, Shi Yan sat cross-legged, peering through gaps in the foliage at the distant, swaying figures.

Getting smarter, are they? Shi Yan scoffed internally, knowing that achieving another instant, one-hit kill ambush would now be significantly harder. He did not rush to act. After observing for a while, he noted that after losing four men, they now required partners. Their current search vectors could no longer cover everything. They were not advancing in his direction, but were instead plunging deeper into three other sectors.

Confirming they would not approach him immediately, Shi Yan gently closed his eyes and secretly circulated his True Essence. The essence of the men he had killed over the past few days—which had not dissipated into the environment immediately upon death—had been absorbed by his acupoints. After purification by the vortex within, it had fed back into his body, causing his True Essence to more than double.

With a shift of thought, the flow of True Essence accelerated sharply. The significantly augmented essence coursed through his meridians like lightning, surging from his lower abdomen straight toward his right arm. The essence flooded his limb, and Shi Yan suddenly held his breath, focusing his entire concentration, and exerted sudden force!

The True Essence within his arm erupted like an untamed wild horse, frantically rushing toward his index finger!

“Hiss, hiss!”

A faint, silvery-white mist suddenly emerged from his fingertip, emitting a strange sound in the air. The mist did not condense; it merely persisted for a moment before dissipating into the atmosphere.

Shi Yan abruptly opened his eyes. His pitch-black pupils shimmered with an unusual light, and his face was alight with astonishment.

Essence Effusion!

This was the precursor to the third layer of the Houtian realm. Through this period of arduous tempering, he had finally used the strange power fed back through his acupoints to break through to a new stage! Although the effused essence was not yet refined enough to manifest as a brilliant beam of light like a long rainbow, from this moment forward, he could infuse True Essence directly into his weaponry and use the effused energy to directly damage an enemy’s internal organs. This proved that his control over True Essence was finally beginning to ascend to a master level.