Unable to suppress the bloodlust in his heart any longer, Shi Yan panted heavily and plunged down through the layers of leaves. Essence surged like a tide through his refined right arm, and a savage, violent Killing Intent seemed ready to burst from it.
"Not good!"
The Martial Artist who had been on guard the whole time changed color and jerked his head up, shouting in alarm. Shi Yan shot straight down from above like a sharp sword, and the vast mist coiling around his arm darted out ahead of him, instantly covering the man's entire head.
Boundless resentment, despair, and other negative emotions suddenly flooded into the man's nose and mouth. In that instant, he felt as if he were standing in a surging sea of blood, with countless evil spirits lunging at him, baring their fangs and claws. They wrapped around him tightly, making his heart and gall quiver with terror until he could not even bring himself to fight.
"Crack!"
Shi Yan's iron fist slammed into the man's head. The crisp sound of his skull shattering rang out, and the man barely had time to scream before he died on the spot. The essence in his body surged uncontrollably into Shi Yan's acupoints.
The other Martial Artist, Zheng Tie, was filled with horror. Instinctively, he tossed the Blue Smoke Bomb in his hand into the air. It flew upward, then suddenly exploded, and a hazy blue light shone brilliantly in the sky like a little sun.
"Over there!"
Mo Yan Yu's expression brightened. Without a second thought, she immediately turned and charged toward the spot where the Blue Smoke Bomb had exploded. Kalu hesitated briefly, sneered, and followed.
"Kid, you can't get away!" After releasing the Blue Smoke Bomb, Zheng Tie felt much more at ease. He glared at Shi Yan and sneered. "I've waited for you for ages. You finally couldn't help coming out. Let's see where you run this time!"
Shi Yan panted heavily, his dark eyes brimming with condensed Killing Intent. His murderous urge surged in his heart like a tide. The essence of the dead Martial Artist had flowed into his body, further fueling the savage Baleful Intent around him. It was as if a voice inside him kept urging him to slaughter everything in sight.
Seeing that Shi Yan was only panting and hadn't attacked right away, Zheng Tie secretly congratulated himself. He deliberately kept ten meters between them and sneered. "Kid, Miss Mo and Master Kalu will be here any moment. You're as good as dead!"
"Roar!"
Shi Yan growled like a beast breaking free from its cage and suddenly charged at Zheng Tie. A hazy white mist, like a long snake, shot from his right arm, winding toward Zheng Tie's neck.
Zheng Tie had been prepared. He didn't meet Shi Yan head-on, instead retreating another ten meters.
The snake-like white mist gave chase without pause. It seemed to have a mind of its own; even after Zheng Tie retreated, it stubbornly coiled toward him, determined to wrap him up.
Zheng Tie was startled. He snorted, swept his dagger through the air, and slashed at the white mist.
The mist broke apart under the blade, splitting in two, but it didn't stop there. Instead, the two strands wrapped around Zheng Tie's arms, one on each side. Two sinister thoughts surged into his mind, and Zheng Tie shuddered all over. His eyes filled with scenes of blood-soaked corpses and bones bobbing in the current. He felt all the strength drain from his body, leaving him unable to move.
"Bang!"
Shi Yan rushed forward and channeled the strength of his whole body into his right arm, driving his fist into Zheng Tie's face. A frenzy of bloodlust and violent essence blasted from his fist, surging madly into Zheng Tie's head.
Blood poured from Zheng Tie's seven orifices. His eyes were wide with terror and disbelief, his hands and feet went cold, and he fell backward. The essence in his entire body burst forth.
The two corpses gradually shriveled. The blood drained from their faces, and the essence in their bodies was completely depleted.
The violent bloodlust in Shi Yan's heart surged without end, but he forcibly restrained his urge to go on a rampage. Calmly, he took the food and crystal coins from the two men, then climbed back up the ancient tree like a nimble monkey and hid among its dense branches, reminding himself again and again to stay calm.
The bloodthirsty urge still lingered in his heart. He circulated his essence, and the surging energy in his right arm slowly flowed back into his lower abdomen. His arm gradually returned to normal.
Breathing evenly, Shi Yan tucked the turbulent negative energy inside his body away into his acupoints, and even the Killing Intent in his eyes faded bit by bit. He calmly watched the area below through gaps in the leaves.
Before long, several figures appeared in the shade beneath the tree. The first to arrive were two Martial Artists from the Mo Family. Like Zheng Tie, they were both at the Postnatal Second Heaven and couldn't project their essence beyond their bodies. After arriving, they remained on guard, constantly looking around, afraid he would strike again.
A little later, Mo Yan Yu and Kalu arrived one after the other. When Mo Yan Yu got there, she glanced at Zheng Tie and the other man's corpses and said with certainty, "It was him!" Her phoenix eyes glinted coldly as she searched all around for traces of his departure, carefully inspecting the branches.
If he had fled in a panic earlier, he would surely have snapped some branches or left heavy footprints behind. With time so short, there was no way he could have erased those traces.
Mo Yan Yu's reasoning was sound.
Unfortunately for her, he was right there in the ancient tree and had never left. Mo Yan Yu searched quickly all around but found nothing. Her pretty face darkened as she said, "Damn it, this is unbelievable! He didn't leave a single trace!"
Kalu stroked his chin and narrowed his eyes as he surveyed the area. Then he suddenly looked up at the sky and sneered. "Kid, come out already. Do you really think you can hide from me?"
Shi Yan's heart jolted. His dark eyes gleamed coldly, and the Baleful Intent he had been suppressing inside him suddenly spilled out!
"So you really are up there!" Kalu sneered. A dark, strange light abruptly gathered in his hands. Cold glimmers flickered within it before it shot toward Shi Yan's hiding place.
"You little bastard! Let's see where you run now!" Mo Yan Yu gritted her teeth. Her Azure Arc Half-Moon Slash, laced with thin threads of lightning, also shot skyward toward the leaves where Shi Yan was hiding.
"Whoosh!"
Shi Yan burst out of the leaves. Without even looking at Kalu and Mo Yan Yu, he hit the ground and sprinted toward the densest part of the woods.
Both Mo Yan Yu and Kalu had cultivation at the Innate Realm, an entire realm above him. Without the chance to launch a surprise attack, he was no match for either of them, let alone both at once.
"After him!" Mo Yan Yu shouted coldly and took the lead. The two Martial Artists from the Mo Family immediately followed.
Kalu didn't move right away. He beckoned, and the dark, strange light that had crushed the trees around Shi Yan's hiding place into powder actually flew back and vanished into his palm. Kalu sneered, then quickly gave chase.
The two Martial Artists from the Mo Family soon fell behind. Mo Yan Yu and Kalu pursued Shi Yan, one behind the other, steadily closing the distance.
"Bang!"
A hazy blue light suddenly burst out in front of Mo Yan Yu and Kalu. Its brilliance was dazzling. Fixated on Shi Yan, the two were caught off guard and temporarily blinded. Each of them crashed into a tree. By the time their vision returned, Shi Yan had run a hundred meters ahead.
"Blue Smoke Bomb! Damn it!" Mo Yan Yu cursed furiously and chased after him again.
Kalu was roused to anger as well. He swore under his breath and shot forward like lightning, instantly overtaking Mo Yan Yu as he finally revealed his true strength. "Kid, I'll make you wish you were dead!"
"Bang!"
Another Blue Smoke Bomb exploded. This time Kalu was prepared and closed his eyes in time. He waited for the blue light to fade before continuing the chase.
Kalu had cultivation at the Innate Realm, far above Shi Yan's. He ran like a green willow swaying in the breeze, light as a feather. Once the Blue Smoke Bomb's light faded, he quickly closed the distance to Shi Yan again.
The dark, strange light condensed into a ball in Kalu's hand once more. He wore a grim expression. When he was only twenty meters from Shi Yan, he raised his hand and hurled it. The ball of dark light shot out like a cannonball, whistling toward Shi Yan's back.
"Bang!"
Shi Yan released another Blue Smoke Bomb. It collided with the dark light and suddenly sent blue radiance spraying in every direction. The light scattered through the woods, immediately setting off a roaring blaze.
With the Blue Smoke Bombs to help him, Shi Yan raced onward. Whenever Kalu got too close, he released one of the Blue Smoke Bombs he had stolen, taking the opportunity to put more distance between them and buy himself time.
At last, he ran out of the stolen Blue Smoke Bombs. A strange warmth also welled up from the acupoints in his body. The essence he had gained from the two Martial Artists had been purified by his acupoints and infused into the essence in his lower abdomen, making it a little stronger and purer.
Shi Yan abruptly turned and charged straight at Kalu!
Kalu's face was full of mockery. He calmly condensed his essence, and in an instant a layer of dark light covered him. Half a meter long, the light enveloped his entire body, wrapping him tightly.
Essence Shield!
Shi Yan's heart jolted, but he didn't stop. He condensed his essence into his left hand but didn't use "Rampage." Clenching his iron fist into a cone, he punched toward Kalu's abdomen.
Kalu looked at him with disdain and didn't move at all, seemingly waiting for Shi Yan to close in.
"Bang!"
Shi Yan's fist slammed into the dark light covering Kalu. It felt like punching a wad of cotton. The light around Kalu's body only contracted sharply, and Shi Yan's punch failed to break through it and reach Kalu.
"Heh. A mere Postnatal Realm Martial Artist thinks he can break my Dark Light Shield!" Kalu sneered. A ball of dark, strange light surged from his palm and struck Shi Yan squarely in the chest.
Shi Yan was hit as if by a mountain. A surging force slammed into his chest, and he couldn't help spitting out a mouthful of blood. His body flew backward, and he even heard the bones in his chest crack.
After hitting the ground, Shi Yan's mouth was full of blood. He felt as though his body had fallen apart, and the pain was unbearable.
"Overestimating yourself." Kalu shook his head and walked toward Shi Yan, his expression cold. "Kid, you'd better obediently become my Medicine Slave. I held back with that blow. Otherwise, you'd already be dead."
"Again!"
Shi Yan got to his feet, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and charged at him again, his gaze resolute.
"Hmph! You're asking for death!" Kalu sneered coldly. He still didn't dodge, summoning the Dark Light Shield again. The dark light shimmered all over him, once more covering his entire body.
Shi Yan clenched his right fist and punched at him the same way, as if he still refused to accept defeat. Kalu chuckled and said, "Kid, since you're asking to die, don't blame me."
As he rushed forward, Shi Yan's right hand suddenly shriveled and thinned. Before his fist could reach the dark light covering Kalu's body, hazy white mist spilled from it, and the negative forces of despair, fear, and bloodlust suddenly erupted!
Kalu's expression changed drastically, but it was already too late for him to react.
In the next instant, a frenzied, despairing force surged into the Dark Light Shield. The shield, strong enough to withstand a full-power strike from a Postnatal Martial Artist, shattered in an instant. The evil force covering Shi Yan's right fist pierced into Kalu's body and surged through it like a river bursting its banks.
Under that frenzied, bloodthirsty force, Kalu's thoughts seemed to freeze. He couldn't even react in time to defend himself.
The dagger hidden in Shi Yan's left sleeve swept across Kalu's neck. A gush of hot blood sprayed from Kalu's throat, splattering all over Shi Yan.
Kalu's fine head flew high into the air before landing three meters away with a plop.
The essence in Kalu's body suddenly dispersed. Mixed with his dying, unwilling thoughts of terror, it surged madly into Shi Yan's acupoints!
Feeling the extraordinary power of that essence, Shi Yan trembled with excitement.
Unlike Zheng Tie and the others, Kalu was a Martial Artist at the Innate Realm. His essence was far denser and richer. The essence that flowed into Shi Yan's body after Kalu's death was much stronger than what he had taken from Zheng Tie and the others. Shi Yan stood motionless for a full minute before absorbing all of Kalu's essence.
After taking the only pack Kalu had, Shi Yan felt numb all over. His hands and feet seemed to have lost their strength. His right arm, in particular, had no strength left at all after he used "Rampage." It seemed to be a side effect of using "Rampage," one his body could barely withstand.
"After him!"
Mo Yan Yu's shouts came from afar. Delayed by the repeated Blue Smoke Bombs, she finally caught up a little over a minute later.
It seemed several Martial Artists from the Mo Family were with her.
At that moment, part of Shi Yan's strength seemed to be temporarily sealed. Not daring to fight Mo Yan Yu and the others head-on, he grabbed the pack he had taken from Kalu and fled awkwardly into the dense forest, once again running blindly through the woods.
Before you continue