Mo Yanyu abruptly halted. Four martial artists from the Mo family emerged from the forest, panting, and took positions beside Mo Yanyu, their expressions grave.

The severed head of Karu lay there, his blood not yet dry, yet his body was shriveled as if all moisture had been sucked out, his vital essence utterly depleted. The four martial artists clustered around Mo Yanyu, their eyes wide with horror.

One of them hesitated, then stepped forward slightly. “Miss…” Mo Yanyu’s delicate eyebrows were deeply furrowed, her slender frame trembling faintly.

After a long pause, she decisively stated, “Do not pursue him.” “Miss…” The martial artist still tried to interject. “Karu was at the second level of the Innate Realm, the same as me, and his combat experience surpasses mine,” Mo Yanyu shook her head weakly.

“No matter what method he used to kill Karu, it means he possesses the capability to kill any one of us. If we continue the chase, we might all fail to return to the Alliance.” “Then we just let him go?

Miss, we paid a heavy price to invite Master Karu back,” the martial artist mumbled hesitantly. “Besides giving up, Li Tian, do you have any better method to deal with him?” The martial artist immediately fell silent.

Mo Yanyu squatted down, rummaged through Karu’s corpse, and cursed through clenched teeth, “Damn it, he took all of Karu’s elixirs and medicinal scriptures. This trip was a complete waste.” The four martial artists fell silent together.

“Return to Johnson. From this moment on, no one is to separate!” Mo Yanyu took a deep breath, stood up, turned, and headed back the way they came.

She hated Shi Yan to the very core. … Shi Yan traversed the gloomy forest in a desperate flight.

The violent, bloodthirsty desire within him felt like a monstrous flood, slowly devouring his rationality. Turmoil, bloodlust, and madness surged through his mind like untamed wild horses.

His vision gradually blurred, and he sensed the negative power inside him was on the verge of breaking free. Compounding this, his body was utterly exhausted; his limbs felt unable to summon any strength.

To fight anyone in this state meant certain death. He had no idea how much longer he could hold on, nor had he anticipated such a drastic physical anomaly, leaving him with no contingency measures.

“Boom!” The sanguinary impulse finally erupted completely. Shi Yan gasped for air, his eyes seeing nothing.

A single voice repeated incessantly in his mind: “Kill! Kill!

Kill! Kill!

Kill!” Shi Yan understood that he would soon lose all sanity, transforming into a bloodthirsty beast knowing only slaughter. … A melodious and pure zither melody suddenly drifted from the distance.

The music sounded like pearls dropping onto a jade plate, like the chime of fine pendants, flowing smoothly—like a bird lightly beating its wings, or like the tinkling spring water in a tranquil grove. It was exquisitely beautiful and deeply captivating; the skill of the playing had reached perfection.

Each note of the elegant and pure melody seemed like a soft, boneless, delicate jade hand caressing his soul, soothing the violent, bloodthirsty desire within him, allowing his nearly collapsing reason to slowly regain clarity. Under the influence of the music, the frenzied Shi Yan gradually regained his composure.

With a look of intoxication, he slowly walked toward the source of the sound, his entire being seemingly immersed in the flowing world of the music, the bloodthirsty urges inside him gradually dissolving into nothingness… In a small valley carpeted with exotic flowers and rare grasses, a graceful, ethereal figure sat cross-legged amidst the blossoms, her hand moving over an ancient zither, head slightly bowed, playing with utter abandon, completely unaware of Shi Yan’s slow approach. Shi Yan stopped a hundred meters away, gazing at the beautiful silhouette with his back to him, slowly closing his eyes, immersing his spirit in the exquisite melody.

After a long, long while, the music gradually softened and finally ceased. Shi Yan jolted awake from his trance, realizing the violent bloodlust inside him was utterly gone, as if it had never existed!

But his body remained heavy, and his chest ached terribly. Karu’s strike had clearly inflicted a serious injury.

Feeling closely, he discovered that the cyclones within his acupoints were still persistently revolving, relentlessly digesting the vital essence absorbed from Karu. The ethereal figure in the distance slowly turned around, holding the ancient zither, frowning slightly as her eyes met Shi Yan’s.

Shi Yan’s body quivered slightly. His gaze was sharp, fixed unmovingly on her, and the word escaped his lips involuntarily: “Beautiful!” The beauty was clad in a white, flowing dress, appearing eighteen or nineteen years old, with luminous eyes, bright teeth, skin like snow, and bones like jade.

Her aura of ethereal purity and charming innocence merged perfectly; she was truly a beauty on par with Mo Yanyu. The beauty merely glanced at Shi Yan before silently turning away, clutching her zither, and walking with a graceful gait toward the small river a hundred meters ahead.

Shi Yan sighed inwardly at the first-rate quality of the beauties in this world. In this place, he had only seen two women in total, yet both were utterly soul-stealing and exceptionally outstanding.

“Miss, thank you for your music just now. May I…” Seeing the beauty walking farther away, Shi Yan called out loudly.

“Kid, know when to stop.” A sturdy figure suddenly leaped down from an ancient tree ahead of Shi Yan. This was a swarthy, middle-aged man with a full beard, dressed in coarse, ash-brown martial attire, broad-waisted and sturdy, lazily carrying a broadsword, who blocked Shi Yan’s path, looking at him with a half-smile.

Shi Yan’s heart jumped, and his whole body tensed. From this dark-faced man, he sensed an exceptionally terrifying aura.

Without overthinking, Shi Yan immediately realized this fellow was certainly a martial artist far beyond his own realm. The man looked at him without intentionally releasing any pressure, yet Shi Yan felt as unmovable as a mountain.

Taking a step back, Shi Yan first signaled he meant no harm, gave a dry laugh, and then said, “That beautiful lady’s music was endlessly memorable. I only wished to hear her melody a few more times; I had no other intentions.” This captivating young woman possessed mastery over the zither; her pure, elegant music could clearly suppress the bloodlust within him.

He was uncertain when that desire might erupt again, so he sought an anchor to control the internal urge. “I know you are purely lustful and mean nothing more, otherwise you wouldn’t be alive right now,” the dark-faced giant chuckled, then waved dismissively.

“But this is not the right place for your admiration. I suggest you keep far away from us, lest you invite unnecessary disaster.” “Understood.” Shi Yan raised his hands, made no further attempts to linger, took one last deep look at the slender, graceful figure in the distance, turned, and departed.

… “Uncle Luo, this person carries a strong killing intent. He was just radiating murderous energy and nearly lost control, but now that he’s clear-headed, he still dares to show his face, and his eyes are… so unrestrained.

He probably isn’t one of the people sent by the ‘Dark Abyss’,” Mu Yudie felt a slight discomfort recalling Shi Yan’s naked stare. That person seemed never to hide his inner desires.

Others might have intentions toward her too, but when they looked at her, they at least tried to conceal it, acting furtively, afraid to reveal their true thoughts. But that fellow’s gaze was utterly bare, with no hint of disguise, as if he wouldn’t be satisfied until he had completely consumed her—a desire for possession so pure it was absolute.

“He is definitely not from the ‘Dark Abyss.’ Those sent by the ‘Dark Abyss’ are at least at the Innate Realm; that kid is still hovering around the Acquired Realm,” Luo Hao laughed. “However, that fellow is quite interesting.

Not yet in the Innate Realm, yet he dares to covet the beauty of our little fairy at the third heaven of the Human Realm. Truly audacious lust, haha.” “Sigh, I don’t know when I will recover.

I cannot use any power right now,” Mu Yudie sighed faintly, her heart filling with worry. “Uncle Luo, if things become truly dire, don’t worry about me.

I… I am prepared.” “What are you saying?” Luo Hao’s face darkened, and he scolded, “We are not far from the Alliance now. If we can hold out for another ten days or half a month, we will certainly pass through the Gloomy Forest.

Once we reach the Alliance, the ‘Dark Abyss’ won’t be able to reach us.” “Coo! Coo!” A strange whistling sound came from the distance.

Soon after, three mercenary-like youths—two men and one woman—emerged from the woods. The leader, with a grave expression, immediately reported upon arrival, “Uncle Luo, we failed to catch the ‘Dark Abyss’ trackers.” Luo Hao nodded, frowning.

“We must leave immediately. We need to choose a new resting spot, or the people from the ‘Dark Abyss’ will quickly surround this area.” The group of five packed up quickly and departed in haste without lingering.

… As soon as he left those people, the bloodthirsty urge in Shi Yan’s heart slowly resurfaced. This bloodthirsty urge was linked to Karu’s vital essence.

Karu possessed the cultivation of the Innate Realm, and his essence was mixed with too many negative emotions. When Shi Yan’s acupoints purified that power, some of the troublesome negative emotions would periodically leak out, triggering his internal bloodlust.

The maiden’s zither music had forcibly suppressed that desire, preventing him from losing his mind and falling into mad chaos. However, the purification process in his acupoints was ongoing, meaning he was at risk of falling into madness again at any moment until the process was complete.

Until Karu’s entire essence was purified, that beautiful maiden was his sole anchor for maintaining clarity! Feeling the bloodthirsty desire slowly surge back into his heart, Shi Yan’s spirits sank.

After a moment of hesitation, he turned and pursued in the direction of the maiden. The maiden’s celestial music could temporarily calm him.

Only by following her did he have a chance to hear that beautiful, winding melody again.