Chapter Fifteen: Advancing to Xiantian "Uncle Luo, someone is tailing us." The leader of the three mercenaries, his face suddenly darkening, spat out hatefully, "It must be a scout from that 'Dark' group we left earlier!" This mercenary had a dashing appearance, looking twenty-five or twenty-six, standing tall at one meter eighty-five, with a lean and strong build. He was at the third heaven of the Xiantian realm, his eyes sharp and constantly vigilant—clearly an experienced fighter.
"He’s not one of 'Dark's' people, just some audacious brat. Ignore him." Luo Hao shook his head, frowning.
"Let's hurry and shake him off." Zhao Xin’s expression chilled, and he said coldly, "Does he dare to covet Miss Mu? Should I stay behind and deal with him?" As he spoke, he glanced with concern at Mu Yudie, who was being supported by Luo Hao.
"Don't stir up trouble unnecessarily." Luo Hao shook his head again, then softly inquired, "Xiao Die, can you manage? Shall we speed up a bit more?" Mu Yudie’s delicate face was pale, a hint of fragrant sweat glistening on her snow-white forehead, yet she chuckled lightly, "Yes, let's go faster.
It's better to lose that person quickly; otherwise, he might just be casually killed by an envoy from 'Dark'." Luo Hao sighed inwardly, feeling a pang of reluctance, but he obediently nodded. "Xiao Die, don't exert even a sliver of essence energy; I'll handle everything." With that, Luo Hao grabbed Mu Yudie’s slender shoulder, lifting her as lightly as a feather, soaring and dipping through the woods.
When he landed, his sturdy body suddenly eased, and not a single footfall sound registered beneath his feet—his control over his essence energy was clearly exquisite. …… Shi Yan clenched his teeth, his breathing growing heavy.
The bloodthirsty desire was constantly tormenting him, and the body, severely wounded by Karu, was throbbing with pain. Because of using "Berserk," his essence energy consumption was massive, difficult to recover in a short time.
In this condition, if he encountered Mo Yanyu, it would be a dead end. He needed to stabilize the abnormality in his body quickly.
And the maiden's zither music was his only hope! Regardless of whether the maiden disliked him or not, Shi Yan felt he had no choice.
Even if it meant being thick-skinned, he had to follow her, begging only that she would play another piece on her instrument. Forcibly suppressing the increasingly intense urge to kill, he channeled what little remaining essence energy he had into his legs.
Shi Yan, with a grim face, followed the group of five at his fastest pace. As his focus became intensely concentrated, with only the thought of keeping up remaining in his mind, he suddenly felt his steps grow much lighter.
…… "Uncle Luo, is that person really only in the Houtian realm?" Zhao Xin asked in astonishment while moving at high speed. Luo Hao was also puzzled.
Logically, a martial artist in the Houtian realm shouldn't be able to keep up with their speed. Yet, although Shi Yan was gradually falling behind, he showed tenacious persistence and never lost track of them.
This made Luo Hao begin to doubt if he had misjudged the situation earlier. "Uncle Luo, I can hold on; you can go a little faster," Mu Yudie murmured, suppressing the pain as sweat continued to bead on her brow.
"No! We can't go any faster!" Luo Hao firmly refused, frowning deeply.
"We shouldn't bother with him. If he insists on courting death, we can't be blamed." "Awooo!" Just then, a savage, bloodthirsty roar, like that of a ferocious beast, erupted from behind them.
Based on the sound, it clearly came from Shi Yan, but the roar was unlike that of a human; it was filled with a murderous, frenzied aura that made listeners tremble. "Is that guy even human?" The female mercenary, Di Yalan, shuddered in shock.
"How can a human produce such a terrifying roar? Even a maddened demonic beast wouldn't be like this!" "The frenzy in his body has taken hold," Luo Hao’s face changed drastically.
"Get away from him quickly, or he will attack us madly. Killing him won't be hard, but if it wastes time and the envoy from 'Dark' finds us, that will be trouble." "I should help him, or he will turn into a monster who only knows how to kill, slaughtering people throughout the Gloomy Forest." Mu Yudie pondered for a moment, then suddenly unclasped the ancient zither from her back.
Before Luo Hao could object, she sat down cross-legged and began to play. Luo Hao stomped his foot fiercely, cursing, "That damned brat!" The melodious and clear notes of the zither drifted through the forest like trickling water.
The music was highly focused, flying in a straight line toward Shi Yan's location... With crimson eyes, on the verge of succumbing to his bloodlust, Shi Yan paused when he heard the winding, echoing zither music.
A flicker of bewilderment crossed his crazed eyes, and he suddenly froze on the spot. Wisps of faint, misty vapor, mixed with negative auras like exposure, despair, and fear, swirled out from his body, enveloping him entirely.
The energy vortexes in his seven hundred and twenty acupoints spun frantically, purifying and refining the strange energy again and again. Shi Yan's crimson eyes gradually returned to normal, and a hint of clarity surfaced in his gaze.
He realized that the beautiful maiden had, in the end, extended a helping hand. Shi Yan felt deeply grateful.
He immediately sat down where he was, immersing his spirit in the wonderfully moving music, diligently circulating the essence energy within him, and slowly relaxing his entire body. In this Gloomy Forest, teeming with dangers, he miraculously entered a state of ethereal emptiness.
After an unknown length of time, the faint white mist swirling around Shi Yan was drawn back into his body, guided by him to re-enter the acupoints within him. Suddenly, streams of strange warm current flowed out from the seven hundred and twenty acupoints in his body, injecting into the essence energy through his meridians.
Shi Yan trembled, clearly sensing that the essence energy in his body was thickening and refining at an incredible speed! In a mere ten breaths, his internal essence energy had multiplied five or six times!
The suddenly surging essence energy continuously condensed in his lower abdomen, making him feel boundless power. Shi Yan was overjoyed, immediately realizing that the essence qi gained from Karu had finally been purified by his acupoints.
Holding his breath and concentrating, Shi Yan focused all his attention, letting go of all other thoughts, and drove the essence energy towards the Twelve Main Meridians and the Eight Extraordinary Vessels. The surging essence energy advanced rampantly through his body like an unstoppable flood, and along with a stinging sensation in his meridians, the blocked passages within Shi Yan were broken open one by one, becoming completely unobstructed.
The essence energy, multiplied several times over and holding infinite potential, flowed slowly through his body along the path of the Great Heavenly Cycle meridians, like water bursting from a dam. Every previously sealed meridian was forcibly opened under this fierce impact.
The sun sank, and the bright, jade-like moon rose amidst the tapestry of twinkling stars. Suddenly, Shi Yan’s body jolted; the last blocked meridian within him was broken through by the essence energy.
Suppressing the ecstasy in his heart, Shi Yan circulated his essence energy and completed one full cycle of the Great Heavenly Cycle cultivation. Once this Great Heavenly Cycle cultivation was finished, he exhaled deeply, emerging from his arduous practice.
He looked up at the starry sky, feeling that bitterness had given way to sweetness, and an incomparable sense of ease permeated his body. With all his meridians clear, it meant he had officially stepped into the Xiantian realm!
By harnessing Karu's vast essence qi, after surviving two crises where he nearly descended into bloodthirsty madness, he had finally achieved success, purifying Karu's entire force. He used the resulting purer and denser essence energy to blast open all his meridians in one go, entering a brand-new realm.
The bloodthirsty and manic thoughts in his heart vanished without a trace after the essence qi from Karu was completely purified. Recalling the previous few situations, Shi Yan reached a conclusion: every time his acupoints absorbed the essence qi of the deceased, before it could be fully purified, a portion of negative emotions would overflow.
These negative emotions would trigger the darkest aspect of his heart, making him unable to resist becoming violent and insane. Previously, with the Houtian realm martial artists, their strength was not high enough, so he could still barely control the desires within him.
But Karu was a full realm above him, and the negative emotions attached to that essence qi were too great, which is why he couldn't resist and nearly lost his sanity. Now that Karu's essence qi was thoroughly purified and he had ascended to a new realm, he no longer needed to worry about backlash.
"Crack, crack!" Stretching his limbs, Shi Yan slowly stood up. The pain was gone, and the broken bones in his chest seemed to have healed.
Feeling carefully, Shi Yan smiled with satisfaction. He understood that the rapid recovery of his injuries was related not only to his realm advancement but also to that 'Undying Martial Soul.' Just before he lost control, he clearly felt the cells in the wound on his chest becoming abnormally active, having already begun repairing the trauma to his chest.
Glancing around, Shi Yan noticed that his location offered no cover whatsoever. The thought that he had cultivated so wholeheartedly in such an open place made him feel a lingering fear.
If Mo Yanyu was still hunting him, cultivating in such a spot meant he certainly wouldn't escape Mo Yanyu's deadly grasp. The melodious zither music had long since faded.
He remembered it was still daytime when he started cultivating, and now the bright moon hung high—his cultivation time must have been considerable. He felt grateful to the beautiful maiden; she had saved him twice in total.
The first time was unintentional; the second time was clearly deliberate. From the conversation of those people, Shi Yan knew that someone was still pursuing them.
Out of gratitude, he decided without much hesitation to continue following their path. He disliked owing favors, and he intended to repay the woman for saving him twice in his own way.
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