"Thank you, Third Young Master." Mu Yudie rose slowly, carefully putting away her Guqin, and looked at the flickering eyes of the Mingyue Envoy. "Chased for so long, you didn't expect to bury yourself, did you?" "Bei Mingce, this is a matter between our Anming and the Mu family.

Your Bei Ming family had best not interfere!" The Mingyue Envoy did not look at Mu Yudie, but stared straight at Bei Mingce. "As long as you let me take Miss Mu away, our Ming Lord will surely reward your Bei Ming family handsomely; everything can be discussed." "No need to discuss," Bei Mingce shook his head calmly.

"Since you've come, then don't leave." Behind him, two old men, one fat and one thin, suddenly surged forward again. The two elders, resembling fiends, lunged directly at the Anming envoys.

Within seconds, all the Anming envoys, including the Mingyue Envoy, were ripped open, dying instantly on the spot. Having done this, the two eerie old men silently returned to stand behind Bei Mingce, like his two shadows.

Di Yalan stood beside Mu Yudie, watching the gruesome deaths of the Anming envoys with horror etched on her face. Though she knew of the Bei Ming family's dominance within the Merchant Alliance, she had never expected them to be this formidable!

The Bei Ming family clearly held Anming in utter contempt, striking without mercy, killing when necessary without giving any face whatsoever. "Sister Lan, do you still think our decision was wrong now?" Mu Yudie asked with a smile.

Di Yalan's expression was complicated, and she sighed softly, "You were not wrong, it's just that I..." "Stop thinking about it. For your and my future, forget it sooner rather than later," Mu Yudie gently advised.

"En," Di Yalan nodded slightly, her face full of helplessness. "May we depart now?" Bei Mingce's dark eyes swept over Di Yalan and Mu Yudie briefly before he asked with perfect courtesy.

"Certainly." ... In another location within the Stone Forest.

Shi Yan had just stepped into a fork in the path when a sudden alarm flared in his heart, causing him to retreat sharply. "Whoosh!" An arrow sliced past him in an instant, and simultaneously, a blue smoke bomb from the Mo family flew into the sky.

"Hmph! It's you again!

Courting death!" Shi Yan's face darkened as he let out a cold snort. Mo Yanyu's face icy cold, peeked out from behind a rock cave, crossbow in hand, staring at him.

"You finally showed yourself!" The one-armed Qiang Sen and Li Han also emerged from behind the rocks, flanking Shi Yan to block him, their faces guarded. "You seek death!" Shi Yan roared, suddenly moving like a sharp sword, lunging directly toward Mo Yanyu.

Mid-flight at high speed, his body was enveloped in white mist, and his killing intent soared, making him look like a malevolent demon. "Miss, be careful!" Li Han cried out, moving like floating duckweed, flashing toward Mo Yanyu like lightning.

Li Han, possessing the cultivation of the Human Tier Second Heaven Realm, saw at a glance the terrifying explosive power contained within Shi Yan's body! Mo Yanyu would find it hard to withstand such ferocious strength!

"Sizzle, sizzle!" Shi Yan scraped his heels against the ground, leaning his body back, carving a long trench in the dirt. Mid-lunge, he forcefully reined in his body, then suddenly spun around, charging toward Qiang Sen with even greater speed.

"Bang!" Before Qiang Sen could even process what was happening, he felt a white, hazy figure suddenly rush toward him, and a mountain-collapsing force slammed into him. "Crack, crack, crack!" Qiang Sen's bones shattered, blood streamed from his mouth and eye sockets, and he collapsed to the ground, groaning.

"Qiang Sen, is it? A while ago, when you whipped me, was it satisfying?" Shi Yan stood beside Qiang Sen, relentlessly kicking his chest, sneering as he did so.

"Is it more satisfying now? Hmm?" Qiang Sen looked on in terror; the broken ribs pierced his heart.

His eyes rolled back, and he drew his last breath. "Vicious brat!" Li Han's expression changed drastically.

He wanted to rush forward to kill Shi Yan, but worried Mo Yanyu would suffer the same fate as Qiang Sen. He hesitated, shouting, but dared not step forward to intervene.

Mo Yanyu's beautiful eyes were wide with shock. She watched as Shi Yan brutally murdered Qiang Sen, momentarily stunned into inaction.

Qiang Sen's essence energy rapidly vanished into Shi Yan's acupoints. In just a few seconds, all the vital energy within Qiang Sen was gone.

Shi Yan turned his head, his gaze burning as he fixed on Mo Yanyu, sneering, "Beautiful lady, we will meet again. Believe me, you will regret provoking me." With that, he lowered his head and slipped into a hollow rock.

After lingering in the Stone Forest for a moment, he vanished. "Elder Li, why didn't you kill him!" Only after Shi Yan disappeared did Mo Yanyu exclaim in exasperation.

"This fellow has at least the cultivation of the Innate Tier Second Heaven. His methods are ruthless, and every move is lethal.

His speed is too fast; even I have some trouble keeping up. If I leave your side, you become the target.

I worry something might happen to you..." Li Han said helplessly. "Innate Tier Second Heaven!" Mo Yanyu sucked in a sharp breath, the horror in her eyes deepening.

She murmured, "How is that possible? Two months ago, he only had a wisp of vital essence within him; he was only at the Post-Heaven First Heaven Realm!" "What?" Li Han shuddered violently, looking at her in disbelief.

After a long pause, he said, "If that is true, forgive my bluntness, Miss, you have brought a huge problem upon the Mo family!" ... Shi Yan moved calmly and composedly, darting rapidly through the Stone Forest without lingering in any single area.

He recognized that Li Han possessed the cultivation of the Human Tier Realm, and with the Mo family's blue smoke bomb already airborne, experts would soon converge. He needed to leave quickly to avoid being surrounded.

It was precisely because of his vigilance that he escaped that dangerous area long before Mo Chaoge and his group arrived. The Stone Forest seemed to lack many ruthless operators lurking about.

He sped through without being ambushed by a single stranger, which struck Shi Yan as odd. He vaguely guessed that the strangeness of the Stone Forest might be connected to the important figure Mu Yudie was waiting for.

As evening approached. Shi Yan finally traversed the Stone Forest and headed toward the nearby Quiet Town.

At this point, he slowed his pace, slowly sorting through the memories of this body's original owner, gaining a detailed understanding of the Shi family's affairs. He needed the identity of this body's owner.

As one of the five great families of the Merchant Alliance, the Shi family possessed unparalleled advantages in various martial cultivator resources, such as martial arts manuals, gravity training halls, rare medicinal herbs, and sincere guidance from seasoned experts... He needed to exploit these advantages to maximize his own strength.

He had already decided to go to the Shi family when he was by the Blood Pool; his prior planning was why he refused Mu Yudie's invitation. The identity of this body's original owner was too unique; integrating into a foreign power would only breed unnecessary trouble.

Furthermore, a strange faction would never invest their truly valuable resources into him. Going to the Shi family was different...

The original owner of this body was the young master of the Shi family. As long as he displayed sufficient talent, the Shi family would spare no expense to cultivate him, holding back no cultivation resources.

To not utilize such innate resources would be a complete waste, wouldn't it? ...

Stepping into Quiet Town, Shi Yan headed straight for a shop that bought all sorts of strange ores without a second thought. Upon entering, he called out loudly, "Is anyone there?" A shop assistant, looking like a young servant, approached with a fawning smile.

"Young Master Yan, you've returned! The Family Head thought you were taking too long to emerge from the Gloomy Forest and even sent Master Han to fetch you.

Young Master Yan, Master Han is in the back courtyard; he's been waiting for you for some time now, but Master Han is currently indisposed. Should we wait a bit before..." The assistant's expression was suggestive, his gaze toward the back courtyard holding a deeper meaning.

"It's fine; I know what he's doing." Shi Yan ignored him and walked straight toward the shop's rear courtyard. In the back courtyard, several Shi family martial artists were gambling.

Seeing Shi Yan approach, they panicked slightly and awkwardly tucked away their dice, greeting in unison, "Young Master Yan!" "Keep playing," Shi Yan waved a hand and strode through the group of martial artists toward a side room in the back. These gamblers were somewhat surprised as Shi Yan passed without any sign of reprimand.

"Huh? Young Master Yan isn't blaming us this time; that's strange." "Yeah, every time he saw us gambling before, he'd lecture us about neglecting our duties, indulging in vice, and so on.

He didn't say anything this time; how odd." "Young Master Yan seems different from before, perhaps... perhaps he has a bit of imposing presence, a certain dignity, don't you think?" "Now that you mention it, it seems true." Shi Yan reached the door of the side room, pushed it open abruptly, and walked right in.

"Uncle Han, when did you arrive?" Inside the room, Han Zhong was vigorously engaged in an activity atop a voluptuous young woman, shouting excitedly, "**! Let's see my **!

Isn't this powerful? You little tart, watch how Master Han pounds you to death!" "...Oh, Master Han is mighty!" The young woman was slick with sweat, lying by the bed, her two snow-white legs tightly clamped around Han Zhong's waist, screaming loudly in excitement.

The two were at the crucial moment and hadn't noticed Shi Yan enter, continuing their shouts. Shi Yan grinned, naturally seating himself on a chair in the room.

He calmly poured himself a cup of tea, sipping it while smilingly watching the pair. Two minutes later.

Han Zhong let out a low groan and collapsed onto the woman like a dead dog, saying lazily, "How was it? Am I amazing, Master Han?

Better than your Wu Gui?" "How could that 'turtle' compare to Master Han?" The young woman stretched languidly. Her casual glance landed on Shi Yan sipping tea nearby, and she immediately shrieked, "Ah..." Han Zhong froze, fumbling to put on his clothes, and chuckled awkwardly, "...Uh, Young Master Yan, when did you come in?" "For a while now," Shi Yan smiled, taking another sip of tea, and waved his hand.

"It's fine. If you two weren't finished, you can go for another round of **.

I'm bored anyway; I might as well observe and learn some experience from you, Uncle Han." "...Cough, cough, cough!" Han Zhong coughed violently, then said awkwardly, "We're finished, completely finished. ...Say, Little Fengxian, shouldn't you go back to work?" "En, I'll leave now." The young woman hastily covered herself in the ** while dressing, her face flushed as she stepped off the bed.

When she reached the door, she suddenly turned back and glared at Shi Yan, saying, "They all say Young Master Yan of the Shi family is the most proper gentleman, but I think those people are blind. I've never seen such a wicked 'proper' young master!

Hmph!" With that, Little Fengxian let out a muffled laugh, gave Shi Yan a flirtatious wink, and then gracefully walked out. ...M