"Uncle Luo, someone's following us." The leader of the three mercenaries' expression darkened, and he said through gritted teeth, "It must be a scout from Dark Nether—the one who left earlier!"
The mercenary had a heroic air about him. He looked twenty-five or twenty-six, stood about six feet tall, and had a lean, muscular build. He was in the Innate Third Heaven Realm, and his bright eyes were constantly on alert. He was clearly a skilled fighter.
"He's not with Dark Nether. He's just a lecherous brat. Ignore him." Luo Hao shook his head and frowned. "Let's hurry and lose him."
Zhao Xin's expression darkened, and he said coldly, "Could he actually be lusting after Miss Mu? Should I stay behind and deal with him?" As he spoke, he glanced with concern at Mu Yu Die, whom Luo Hao was supporting.
"Don't make trouble for ourselves." Luo Hao shook his head again, then asked gently, "Xiao Die, can you hold on? Should we go faster?"
Mu Yu Die's pretty face was pale, and beads of sweat glistened on her snow-white forehead, but she smiled lightly. "All right, let's go faster. It'll be better to lose him sooner. Otherwise, Dark Nether's envoy might kill him in passing."
Luo Hao sighed inwardly, unable to bear it, but nodded in agreement. "Xiao Die, don't use up even a trace of your essence. I'll handle everything."
With that, Luo Hao grabbed Mu Yu Die by the shoulder and carried her as lightly as a feather, bounding and leaping through the forest. When he landed, his burly body slowed at once, and not even a footstep sounded beneath him. His control over his essence was clearly exquisite.
Shi Yan gritted his teeth, his breathing growing heavier.
The bloodlust had been tormenting him relentlessly, and the injuries Kalu had inflicted made his body feel as if it were tearing apart. He had burned through a great deal of essence using "Rampage," and it would take a long time to recover.
In his current state, if he ran into Mo Yan Yu, death would be his only fate. He had to stabilize the strange condition of his body as quickly as possible.
And the girl's music was his only hope!
Whether or not the girl despised him, Shi Yan felt he had no choice. Even if he had to shamelessly cling to her, he would keep following her, hoping she would play another song.
Forcefully suppressing his growing bloodlust, he channeled what little essence he had left into his legs. With a grim expression, he followed the five of them at his fastest speed.
When he focused his attention completely, with only one thought in his mind—to catch up—he suddenly felt his steps grow much lighter.
"Uncle Luo, is that man really only at the Postnatal Realm?" Zhao Xin asked in surprise as they raced forward.
Luo Hao was puzzled too. By rights, a Martial Artist at the Postnatal Realm shouldn't have been able to keep up with them. Although Shi Yan was gradually falling behind, he had incredible tenacity and still hadn't lost sight of them. Luo Hao wasn't sure what to make of it, and privately wondered if he'd misjudged him earlier.
"Uncle Luo, I can manage. You can go faster." Mu Yu Die endured the pain, sweat dampening her clothes.
"No! We can't go any faster!" Luo Hao firmly refused, frowning. "We don't need to worry about him. If he insists on courting death, that's his own fault."
"Roar!"
Just then, a bloodthirsty growl like that of a ferocious beast came from behind them. From the sound, it was clearly Shi Yan, but the roar was nothing like a human's. It was brimming with a frenzied, murderous baleful intent that made them shudder.
"Is that thing even human?" The female mercenary Di Ya Lan's curvaceous body shuddered, and she cried out in astonishment. "How can a human make such a terrifying roar? Even a maddened demonic beast wouldn't sound any worse!"
"The madness inside him has flared up." Luo Hao's expression changed, and he hurriedly said, "Keep your distance. Otherwise, he'll attack us like a madman. Killing him wouldn't be difficult, but if we waste time and Dark Nether's envoy catches up, we'll be in trouble."
"I'll help him. Otherwise, he'll become a monster that knows nothing but killing, slaughtering people all over the Gloomy Forest." Mu Yu Die thought for a moment, then suddenly took the ancient zither off her back. Before Luo Hao could stop her, she sat cross-legged and began to play.
Luo Hao stamped his foot furiously. "You stupid brat!"
The zither music flowed through the forest like a clear, winding stream. It had a powerful, focused quality, its notes streaming straight toward Shi Yan...
Shi Yan's eyes were bloodshot, and he was on the verge of losing control of his bloodlust. When the lilting music drifted to him, he froze, bewilderment flashing through his frenzied eyes.
Wisps of pale mist tinged with negative emotions—exposure, despair, fear, and more—wound out of his body and enveloped him. The energy vortices within all 720 of his acupoints spun wildly, refining and purifying the strange energy again and again.
The red faded from Shi Yan's eyes, and clarity returned to his gaze. He realized that the beautiful girl had reached out to help him after all.
Grateful, Shi Yan sat down where he was and immersed himself in the enchanting music. He focused intently on circulating the essence within his body and slowly relaxed.
In this forest, where danger lurked everywhere, he had miraculously entered a state of serene, egoless emptiness.
After an unknown length of time, the hazy white mist wreathing Shi Yan was drawn back into his body, guided by him into the acupoints within.
Suddenly, streams of peculiar warmth spilled from all 720 of his acupoints, flowing along his meridians and into the essence within him.
Shi Yan's whole body shuddered. He could clearly feel the essence in his body growing richer and more refined at an incredible rate!
In just ten breaths, the essence within him had grown five or six times denser!
The suddenly surging essence continued to condense in his lower abdomen, filling his entire body with boundless strength. Overjoyed, Shi Yan immediately realized that the vital essence he had gained from Kalu had finally been purified by his acupoints.
Holding his breath and focusing completely, Shi Yan thought of nothing else as he circulated his essence toward the twelve primary meridians and eight extraordinary meridians.
His essence surged forward through his body like a flood sweeping away everything in its path. Amid the stabbing pain in his meridians, it broke through the blockages one by one, leaving them clear and unobstructed.
The essence, now several times richer, brimmed with limitless potential. Like a river bursting its banks, it flowed slowly through his body along the Greater Celestial Circuit's meridian path. One blocked meridian after another was forced open by its fierce surge.
The sun disappeared, and the bright moon rose into a night sky pricked with stars.
Suddenly, Shi Yan's body shuddered as his essence broke through the last blocked meridian. Suppressing the wild joy in his heart, he circulated his essence through a complete Greater Celestial Circuit.
When the circuit was complete, he let out a deep breath and awoke from his arduous cultivation. Looking up at the starry sky, he felt that the bitterness had finally given way to sweetness, and his whole body was indescribably comfortable.
The meridians throughout his body were clear and unblocked. That meant he had officially entered the Innate Realm!
With the aid of all the vital essence in Kalu's body, and after twice coming close to being driven mad by bloodlust, he had finally succeeded in purifying Kalu's power. With his essence now richer and purer, he had broken through the meridians throughout his body in one stroke and stepped into an entirely new realm.
After Kalu's vital essence had been fully purified, the bloodthirsty madness in Shi Yan's heart had vanished without a trace.
Thinking back over what had happened before, Shi Yan reached a conclusion: whenever his acupoints absorbed a dead person's vital essence, some negative emotions would spill out before the energy was fully purified. Those emotions stirred the darkest part of his heart and made him lash out in a violent frenzy.
The Postnatal Martial Artists he had absorbed before weren't very strong, so he had managed to keep his desires under control.
But Kalu had been an entire realm above him, and his vital essence carried far too many negative emotions. That was why Shi Yan hadn't been able to resist and had nearly lost his mind.
Now that Kalu's vital essence had been completely purified and Shi Yan had stepped into a new realm, he no longer had to worry about it turning against him.
"Crack, crack!"
Shi Yan moved his hands and feet, then slowly stood up. The pain in his body was gone, and even the broken bones in his chest seemed to have healed.
After taking a careful look at himself, Shi Yan smiled with satisfaction.
He understood that his injuries had healed so quickly not only because his realm had advanced, but also because of the Undying Martial Soul.
Just before he had nearly gone mad, he had clearly felt the cells around the wound in his chest becoming unusually active. They had started repairing the injury long before.
Looking around, Shi Yan realized there was nothing to shelter him where he was. When he remembered that he had been cultivating, oblivious to everything, in such an open place, a shiver of lingering fear ran through him.
If Mo Yan Yu had still been hunting him, cultivating in a place like this would have left him no chance of escaping her clutches.
The melodious zither music had long since faded away. Before he began cultivating, it had still been daytime; now the moon hung high, so he must have been cultivating for a long time. He felt grateful to the beautiful girl. She had saved him twice: the first time unintentionally, the second time clearly on purpose.
From the conversation he had overheard, Shi Yan knew someone was still hunting them. Out of gratitude, he didn't hesitate for long before deciding to keep following their route.
He disliked owing people favors. He would repay that woman in his own way for saving him twice.
Before you continue