Originally, the strange power overflowing from the acupoints could not only spur the Martial Soul but also cause the Martial Soul to grow across levels! The growth of a Martial Soul is generally directly linked to breakthroughs in cultivation realms; only by breaking through barriers and advancing to a new major realm does the Martial Soul have a chance to grow.

In other words, for a Martial Soul to advance, one must move from the Houtian realm to the Xiantian realm, or from Xiantian to the Ren position. A minor progression, such as moving from Xiantian First Heaven to Second Heaven, would not cause any change to the Martial Soul.

Only during the process of breaking through from one major realm to another—that brief window of transition—does the Martial Soul stand even a slight chance of enhancement or transformation. And even that is not guaranteed!

It is not the case that a Martial Soul immediately grows every time a martial artist breaks through a realm; sometimes, the Martial Soul’s development requires spanning two, or even three, major realms! Take Shi Yan’s “Petrification Martial Soul,” for instance; its growth is divided into four distinct stages.

If a young man of the Shi family possesses this Martial Soul, within about ten days after birth, while still an infant, his skin will, at some point, turn ashen-white—this is the first stage. If this Shi family heir diligently cultivates the martial path and is fortunate enough to break through to the Ren realm, the “Petrification Martial Soul” will change again, taking on a dark-brown hue—this is the second stage.

If he can break through to the Di realm, the “Petrification Martial Soul” will shift to a yellowish-green—this is the third stage. Should there be a transcendent genius capable of breaking through to the Tian realm, the “Petrification Martial Soul” will finally display a purplish-red color—this is the fourth and final stage!

The Shi family’s “Petrification Martial Soul” is divided into four stages in total; only after breaking through every two major realms does the Martial Soul undergo a qualitative change, intensely strengthening once, leading to a massive shift in muscle coloration. Each time the “Petrification Martial Soul” changes and enters a new stage, the physical body's defensive power doubles!

The first stage of the “Petrification Martial Soul” generally only resists the force of punches and kicks, along with minor impacts from Essence Qi. But upon reaching the second stage, once the muscles turn dark brown, the physical defense power nearly multiplies several times over; it can then resist more ferocious Essence Qi strikes and even withstand ordinary sharp weapon slashes!

The third stage, the yellowish-green “Petrification Martial Soul,” doubles its defense again! It becomes nearly impervious to blades and spears, and incredibly, the body’s agility not only fails to decrease but is significantly enhanced—it becomes utterly monstrous!

When it reaches the fourth stage, with the body turned purple-red upon petrification, the physical defense is simply terrifying; not only are blades and spears useless, but it also becomes impervious to water and fire, and can even resist the assaults of many strange secret techniques. The physical body becomes immensely powerful, yet paradoxically, the body becomes increasingly agile.

These four stages are only achieved corresponding to advancements in cultivation realms. If a Shi family heir possessing the “Petrification Martial Soul” remains in the Houtian or Xiantian realms, their Martial Soul will forever be fixed at the first stage; without breaking through to the Ren realm, the “Petrification Martial Soul” absolutely will not change.

On the Divine Grace Continent, it is the same for all other Martial Souls; the vast majority only advance as the cultivation realm improves. Only an extremely rare, God-grade medicinal pill can alter the heavenly laws governing a special Martial Soul, allowing it to advance across levels.

Such pills exist only in legends on the Divine Grace Continent; the martial artists of the Blazing Fire Empire, the Divine Protection Empire, and the Merchant Alliance have only heard tales of them but have never seen one firsthand. Even the Three Great Pill Kings of the Medicine King Valley in the Blazing Fire Empire are merely Spirit-grade Alchemists, far from reaching the level required to refine God-grade pills.

However, the strange power overflowing from the acupoints in Shi Yan’s body seems to shatter this rule! That strange force can not only spur the Martial Soul but actually advance it across levels!

The dark-brown hue his arm displayed after petrification is clearly something only Shi family experts who have broken through to the Ren realm can possess. This is unequivocally the second stage of Petrification!

The ability to both spur and advance the Martial Soul with this strange power—what does that imply? It implies that he has the chance to enter the fourth stage of Petrification without needing to break through to the Tian realm!

Impervious to blades and spears, immune to water and fire, the body will not stiffen but become more agile, capable of resisting all manner of bizarre secret techniques, and gaining formidable divine strength... The moment Shi Yan grasped the miraculous potential of reaching the fourth stage of Petrification, he realized he had struck gold.

This ability is clearly another type of Martial Soul; this Martial Soul not only allows his body’s acupoints to purify the essence Qi of the deceased but can also go berserk during combat, inflicting negative emotions upon enemies—it is profoundly mysterious. This mysterious Martial Soul can draw essence Qi from death; this essence Qi is converted by the acupoints into vital, vibrant strange power, which can spur the Martial Soul, advance the Martial Soul, and augment Essence Qi...

Shi Yan’s pitch-black eyes glittered like cold stars in the night, shining brightly. Sitting there, silent, he knew that possessing this marvelous Martial Soul meant that as long as he worked hard, he could become the most astonishing and terrifying existence on this wondrous continent!

... In the Gloomy Forest, on a blood-soaked field littered with skeletons, a group of people stood observing something with grim expressions.

“This is the work of the ‘Jackal Mercenary Group,’” Barnard stated after walking among the bones, his face solemn. “Their leader has the same cultivation as I do, the Hundred Tribulations realm...

Judging by the scene, they were completely wiped out.” At these words, both the (Nether Moon Emissary) and Mo Chaoge frowned. The hesitated for a moment, then drew out a silver horn and blew a gentle note.

No sound emerged from the horn, yet a strange resonance propagated outward. Soon after, two masked men clad in silver robes quietly emerged from the trees.

The masks on their faces featured blue fangs, differing from the pale-white masks worn by the ’s group. “Dark Emissaries, any findings?” the asked coldly.

“Last night, demonic beasts ran rampant. Many martial artists and mercenaries were attacked.

Too many tracks were left in the vicinity; it is difficult for us to discern which tracks belong to our targets,” replied a Dark Star Emissary of the "Dark Nether" organization, his expression deferential. The "Dark Nether" faction is divided into Dark Emissaries and Nether Emissaries; the Dark Emissaries are responsible for tracking and intelligence gathering, while the Nether Emissaries are responsible for assassination, ranked by Sun, Moon, and Star designations.

Although the Dark Emissaries and Nether Emissaries have different duties, their hierarchy is strict: a Star-level Dark Star Emissary must obey a Moon-level Nether Moon Emissary. “It’s hard to find the targets?” The specialized in assassination and combat, not tracking.

Hearing this, his gaze gradually darkened. “My lord, the area is indeed too vast.

There are too many martial artists, mercenaries, and demonic beasts frequenting this area; it is genuinely difficult to pursue them. Over the past few days, while tracking, we have even been attacked by several mercenary groups; another Emissary has already been killed.” The reputation of "Dark Nether" is not good.

Martial artists and mercenaries operating in this region are not pushovers; sometimes, if they are in a foul mood and happen to spot a "Dark Nether" operative, they might just move to kill them. In the last couple of days, the ’s party had encountered such incidents frequently.

Even after joining forces with the Mo family martial artists, some still dared to provoke them, though they hadn't suffered any major losses. “If we can’t find the targets, and the demonic beasts are restless lately, this becomes problematic…” Mo Chaoge pondered for a moment, then suddenly said, “Searching aimlessly like this is not a solution.

Why don’t we guard Quietude Town? Quietude Town is the mandatory path leading to the Merchant Alliance.

As soon as they leave the Gloomy Forest, they will inevitably head to Quietude Town. We can wait for them to appear on the road leading to Quietude Town.” “That’s an idea,” Barnard agreed, a murderous glint in his eyes.

“Anyone heading to the Merchant Alliance must pass through Quietude Town. Waiting for them there, like waiting for a bird to land, is a good strategy.” “Very well, then we will cross this area at our fastest speed and wait for them on the route between the Gloomy Forest border and Quietude Town.” The remained silent for a moment, unable to devise a better solution, and finally agreed to the plan.

The three reached an accord, said no more, and wasted no time continuing to search this area for Shi Yan and the others. They began traversing the Gloomy Forest, preparing to set up an ambush on the route between the forest boundary and Quietude Town.

... For five consecutive days, Shi Yan and the other two moved through the Gloomy Forest with extreme caution, trying their best to avoid demonic beasts and mercenary martial artists.

As soon as night fell, they would immediately choose a hidden area to rest, daring not to travel in the dark. Thanks to their careful approach, they managed to avoid danger, sidestepping many high-level demonic beasts and human mercenary martial artists—their luck was exceptional.

During these past few days, Shi Yan, every night, would cultivate without rest, adapting to the second stage of Petrification, allowing the changes of the “Berserk State” to gradually cover his entire body. Di Yalan, having been celibate for many years, found true satisfaction after her intimacy with Shi Yan; she constantly sought him out for pleasure.

Under trees, amidst bushes, and beside small rivers became secret witnesses to their fiery passion. Mu Yudie knew she couldn't stop them, so she turned a blind eye, frequently offering a few words of indignant complaint, secretly cursing the pair as utterly shameless.

One night, after a frenzied session under a large tree, Di Yalan and Shi Yan had only just settled into quiet cultivation when Di Yalan suddenly leaped up, crying out joyfully, “I—I’ve broken through!” Not far away, in another ancient tree, Mu Yudie poked her head out from the leaves, her pretty face filled with astonishment. She stared blankly at the disheveled Di Yalan and gasped, covering her mouth, “This—this… this is possible?” ...

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