The Mysterious Martial Skill in the Blood Pattern Ring

After drawing back the overflowing essence, Shi Yan suddenly glanced at the dark-red ring on his left ring finger. This strange ring, which he had named the Blood Pattern Ring, had come from the blood pool and seemed to have a profound connection to it...

A thought stirred, and he abruptly recalled what had happened when he first put on the Blood Pattern Ring. Back then, the essence inside him had been extremely weak. The moment he put on the ring, his essence had surged toward it uncontrollably, but it was too weak to break through the restraints of his flesh and so never flowed into the ring.

Now he had broken through to the Third Heaven. The essence inside him had grown much stronger and purer, and he could already let it flow outside his body...

What would happen if he poured his essence into the ring?

Shi Yan was intensely curious. He had a vague feeling that this ancient, unadorned ring concealed a secret. Perhaps, through it, he could figure out what was wrong with the acupoints in his body.

Through a gap in the leaves, Shi Yan watched for a while and saw that the Mo Family Martial Artists were moving farther and farther away. They probably wouldn't be back anytime soon.

Shi Yan decided to give it a try!

Essence flowed slowly from his lower abdomen, gathering speed until it suddenly surged into his left arm. As it raced through his arm, the veins throbbed with a dull ache. Like a ship breaking through the waves, the essence rushed all the way to his left ring finger, then suddenly poured furiously into the flesh beneath the ring's face.

"Hiss, hiss!"

The essence, like smoke, first seeped out from beneath the face of the Blood Pattern Ring. Then strands of pure essence instantly sank into the ring.

The Blood Pattern Ring suddenly blazed with a crimson light. It was as though a barrier inside the ring had been torn apart, and a strange thought poured out. It flowed back into Shi Yan's arm, raced up toward his neck, and finally surged into his mind.

Martial Skill—Berserk!

The thought released by the Blood Pattern Ring turned out to be a stream of memories. It was a bizarre martial skill, and the method for cultivating it flooded into Shi Yan's mind, etched deep into his memories like a brand.

Martial skills were methods by which Martial Artists used their essence—the techniques they employed to attack with it. Like alchemists' grades, martial skills were divided into five levels: Mortal Grade, Mysterious Grade, Spirit Grade, Saint Grade, and God Grade.

The divisions of martial skills differed somewhat from those of alchemists. Each alchemist grade was further divided into seven ranks, but martial skills had no ranks—only these five grades.

High-grade martial skills allowed Martial Artists to make the best possible use of their essence, giving them terrifying attack power. The higher a martial skill's grade, the more refined its use of essence. However, to cultivate a high-grade martial skill, a Martial Artist needed to have reached a suitable realm. The higher the grade, the more stringent the cultivation requirements.

Generally speaking, Martial Artists in the Postnatal and Innate Realms were best suited to cultivating Mortal Grade martial skills. Those in the Human Position and Hundred Tribulations Realms were suited to Mysterious Grade skills; those in the Earth Position and Nirvana Realms were best suited to Spirit Grade skills; and those in the Heaven Position and Connecting to God Realms were best suited to Saint Grade skills. Martial Artists in the True God and God King Realms, meanwhile, were best suited to cultivating God Grade skills.

Low-level Martial Artists who forcefully cultivated high-grade martial skills usually wasted their time.

Their realms and essence were insufficient, so they could rarely master high-grade martial skills. Even if they somehow succeeded, their realms and strength were too limited for them to unleash the skill's true power. They would be better off cultivating a martial skill suited to their realm.

For instance, even if a Martial Artist in the Postnatal Realm possessed a legendary God Grade martial skill, it would be like handing a pearl to a pig. Their realm and strength were too weak; they simply couldn't master a God Grade martial skill.

Of course, high-level Martial Artists who lacked high-grade martial skills and cultivated only low-grade ones also couldn't unleash their full strength.

If a Martial Artist in the True God Realm had only Mortal Grade or Mysterious Grade martial skills, their strength would be greatly diminished. Their low-grade skills would hold them back, allowing them to wield only seventy or eighty percent of their true power.

On the Divine Grace Continent, martial skills were even rarer than the miraculous elixirs refined by alchemists. They were the most precious treasures on the continent, and were generally controlled by the great clans and various factions. The martial skills they possessed were a major reason certain clans could attract Martial Artists to join them.

The higher a martial skill's grade, the greater its value. If highly accomplished Martial Artists lacked high-grade skills, they would be at a disadvantage in every fight, left to suffer one humiliation after another—and might even be killed.

For the sake of a high-grade martial skill suited to them, those highly accomplished Martial Artists would do anything.

Sitting amid the leaves, Shi Yan slowly sorted through the Berserk martial skill in his mind. Once he had organized the memories, he discovered that Berserk had three stages. But all he had was the method for cultivating the first stage. He didn't know what grade the skill was, or whether it would even suit him.

The martial skill had come from the Blood Pattern Ring, its memories pouring directly into his mind in a strange manner. Its cultivation method required him to circulate his essence in reverse, completely unlike that of ordinary martial skills. Shi Yan hesitated, unsure whether to cultivate this skill, whose origins were unknown and which seemed incomplete.

As one of the five great Shi Families of the Merchant Alliance, the Shi Family naturally had martial skills of its own. Its highest-grade skill was a single Spirit Grade martial skill, which Shi Jian, the Shi Family patriarch, treasured like a priceless jewel. So far, only one old man who had reached the Earth Position Realm was qualified to cultivate it.

Aside from that highest-grade Spirit Grade skill, the Shi Family also had a variety of Mortal Grade and Mysterious Grade martial skills.

Shi Yan had originally planned to return to the Shi Family and use his new identity to cultivate some of its Mortal Grade and Mysterious Grade skills. Now that the Blood Pattern Ring had suddenly produced a mysterious martial skill of unknown grade and unknown origins, he didn't know whether he should cultivate it.

With a grim expression, he condensed his essence again and sent it into the Blood Pattern Ring, only to find it blocked by a barrier inside. No matter how hard he tried, his essence couldn't break through. He vaguely sensed something beyond that barrier, but without breaking through, he couldn't learn what it was.

Beyond the barrier, there might well be more information about Berserk—perhaps even the cultivation methods for its other two stages. Unfortunately, it seemed that only when his essence grew strong enough would he be able to break through.

With no other choice, Shi Yan drew back the essence he had poured into the Blood Pattern Ring, then went over the incomplete martial skill in his memory once more. He hesitated again.

Should he cultivate it?

His dark eyes glimmered. Enveloped by the leaves, Shi Yan's expression shifted between light and shadow. After a long, long while, he decided to try it and see how his body changed as he cultivated the first stage of Berserk.

Essence slowly flowed toward the Jugu Acupoint. Once it reached the acupoint, Shi Yan followed the first stage of Berserk and slowly poured his essence into it. The Jugu Acupoint abruptly began to spin, triggering the resentment, despair, madness, and other negative emotions stored inside it. They turned into a force that spilled out and began changing the muscles, bones, and flesh around the acupoint.

A stabbing pain followed!

The flesh around the Jugu Acupoint suddenly contracted, and his muscles seemed to tense in an instant.

Shi Yan's heart jolted. He hurriedly reversed the flow of his essence, and a tearing pain spread through his entire body. After reversing it by a few inches, he steeled himself and forced it onward. His essence surged like a raging beast, sweeping past the Jugu Acupoint in an instant and charging toward the Jianzhen Acupoint.

When his essence gathered at the Jianzhen Acupoint, he spun it in the same way, stirring up the resentment, despair, fury, and other negative emotions hidden there. Once again, the flesh in that area contracted abruptly. A faint white mist even seeped from the pores on his shoulder. Despair, hatred, and other emotions mingled in the gray-white fog, chilling anyone who sensed it to the soul!

His essence reversed course again. Pain tore through Shi Yan's right arm, cold sweat beaded on his forehead, and even his back was drenched.

It hurt terribly!

Grinding his teeth, Shi Yan's buried madness suddenly erupted. Ignoring the agony in his arm, he continued driving the essence in his body, sending it toward the Wuli Acupoint...

No one knew how much time passed. Enduring the urge to howl, Shi Yan drove his essence from the Jugu Acupoint all the way to the Yangchi Acupoint at his wrist. It seemed that all the negative forces within the acupoints in his right arm had been stirred up.

Looking closely, he saw that the muscles in his right arm had contracted and grown leaner, as if they had been honed down. A faint gray-white mist swirled around his arm and refused to disperse. Resentment, despair, terror, and other negative emotions emanated from it.

Even looking at it seemed to affect the mind, filling one with fear.

Essence coursed back and forth through his arm. A force like a river bursting its banks, mixed with all kinds of negative emotions, surged within it. Shi Yan felt as if his right arm possessed boundless strength, and he was seized by an urge to unleash it.

Suddenly, violent and bloodthirsty thoughts burst forth from the depths of his heart!

Shi Yan panted, murder flashing through his eyes. Hidden among the leaves, he searched for a target like a savage wolf, itching to crush anyone below him into dust with the strength in his right arm—to pound them until their flesh and bones were mangled beyond recognition.

A little while later, two figures came cursing along the path, moving at a leisurely pace. They were two Mo Family Martial Artists. After searching in other directions without success, Mo Yan Yu had sent them to this area.

"That little bastard could've run off anywhere. If I catch sight of him, I'll cut his head off! Damn it, my old flame's waiting for me in the Merchant Alliance, and I've wasted all this time out here for nothing. Fuck!" A tall, broad-shouldered Martial Artist with a thick, unkempt beard cursed foully.

"Zheng Tie, be careful. That kid killed four of our men, so he's no easy target. He eats more in one meal than the two of us put together. There's something strange about him. Don't let a gutter rat sink your boat." The other Martial Artist looked wary, glancing around as he walked. He was clearly much more cautious.

"Relax. We're both in the Postnatal Second Heaven, and we're walking together. If that little bastard dares show his face, he's just asking to die. Hmph! Once we finish him off, we can get back on the road. I'm sick to death of this godforsaken place. I want women! Women!" Zheng Tie seemed crazed with lust and bellowed into the woods.

"Heh heh, the young lady's a woman too..." The cautious Martial Artist let out a lewd chuckle.

"Heh heh, the young lady's definitely a woman, but we're not lucky enough to have a taste. I've seen Master Kalu chasing after her a lot lately. Wonder if he'll get a chance to kiss her. That face, that ass—tsk, tsk. Who knows which bastard will get lucky? Too bad our realms are too low. We probably don't stand a chance in this lifetime."

Zheng Tie lowered his voice, a lewd grin on his face as he seemed to indulge in some secret fantasy. When he got to the exciting part, he thrust his hips once and laughed out loud.

"Stop dreaming. The young lady has a fiancé. That Ling Shaofeng isn't someone to trifle with. If he finds out you've been fantasizing about her, you're dead!"

At the mention of Ling Shaofeng, Zheng Tie's expression changed. He muttered, "That guy's a freak. I heard he's close to reaching the Human Position Realm. I've seen him kill—his methods are more vicious than you can imagine. If Kalu runs into Ling Shaofeng, he'll probably end up dead too. We'd better be careful. What if that guy hears what we've been saying..."

Zheng Tie couldn't help shuddering. He was clearly terrified of Mo Yan Yu's fiancé.

The two men spoke in low voices about Ling Shaofeng, their expressions growing uneasy as they slowly approached Shi Yan's position. They had no idea that Shi Yan, a bloodthirsty beast, was concealed in the dense leaves right above their heads.