Mu Yu Die really didn't speak again.
Once she truly fell silent, Di Ya Lan and Shi Yan were the ones who grew awkward. They looked at each other, neither knowing what to say.
"It's almost dawn." Shi Yan looked up at the sky, grasping for something to say. "How are you feeling? How much of your essence energy have you recovered?"
"Not only have I fully recovered, I've even improved."
Di Ya Lan quietly examined herself. Her eyes suddenly lit up, and she blushed as she whispered, "Just now, just now, it seemed... it seemed a force entered my body. That strange force merged with my essence energy and even changed the area around my chest..."
She furrowed her brow, slowly recalling what had happened. She vaguely sensed that the strange force had spilled out of the essence energy Shi Yan had sent into her.
Shi Yan froze, then murmured, "Just as I thought..."
Di Ya Lan's beautiful eyes shimmered as she stared at him. "This has something to do with you?"
Shi Yan nodded and smiled as he explained, "I swallowed a lot of pills from an alchemist, but never managed to digest them. Most of their medicinal power is still in my body. Just now... some of it dissolved and entered your body."
Absorbing the vital energy of the dead was far too bizarre and evil. Shi Yan didn't want anyone to learn that secret, so he used Kalu as a scapegoat, claiming that the strange power came from unusual pills.
"These pills must be extremely precious." Di Ya Lan nodded without suspicion. Shi Yan had used poisonous powders several times along the way, so she had already guessed he was connected to an alchemist.
"Yeah, they probably are." Shi Yan smiled, still not explaining his connection to Kalu. After thinking for a moment, he frowned and asked with a strange expression, "...You said a force seemed to alter the muscles and blood vessels around your chest. Could you try sensing it and see what's changed?"
Shi Yan suddenly recalled the miracle of his Petrifying Martial Soul awakening. That strange force seemed capable not only of improving essence energy, but also of awakening martial souls.
His Petrifying Martial Soul, which had never manifested before, had suddenly awakened under the influence of that force. Even the appearance of his Undying Martial Soul might have been related to it. When Di Ya Lan mentioned a change in her chest, Shi Yan immediately formed a guess.
"I'll try." Di Ya Lan nodded slowly, focusing her attention on the change in her chest.
At a thought, wisps of essence energy flowed into the space between her breasts. They swirled for a moment beneath the soft flesh of her cleavage, and seemed to undergo a wondrous transformation, suddenly turning scorching hot.
Di Ya Lan's expression changed. She hurriedly sent the essence energy flowing into her arm, along its meridians, and into the palm of her right hand.
Poof!
A ball of blue-green flame burst from Di Ya Lan's palm. It radiated scorching heat and was only the size of a fist. The flame flickered unsteadily in her hand, illuminating the hollow tree as if it were a surging sapphire sea.
"Ah!"
Di Ya Lan cried out in surprise, her bright eyes shining as she abruptly stood.
Just as he'd thought!
Shi Yan cried out inwardly, his eyes narrowing slightly. He had finally confirmed that the strange force really could awaken the martial souls within Martial Artists!
"Blue Demon Flame!"
Di Ya Lan shrieked, her voice trembling with excitement. Her eyes sparkled, and she stammered incoherently, "This is my Lineage's martial soul! I know it, this is our Lineage's martial soul! No one in our Lineage has inherited the Blue Demon Flame martial soul since my grandfather's generation. Heavens! How is this possible?"
Mu Yu Die had woken up earlier, and now she stared blankly at Di Ya Lan, her face full of disbelief. "How is this possible? Sister Lan, you're already twenty-seven. How could you still awaken a martial soul? What's going on? Am I seeing things?" She rubbed her eyes hard, but still couldn't believe it.
"Ha!" Di Ya Lan's body trembled with joy. She was at a loss for how to express her delight, staring fixedly at the blue-green flame in her palm as her eyes slowly grew moist.
She was crying tears of joy...
Shi Yan understood how she felt.
On the Divine Grace Continent, Martial Artists with martial souls had a tremendous advantage in battle and brighter prospects for advancement. To a Martial Artist, a martial soul was more precious than anything else. Those without one dreamed of having one.
For members of a Lineage like Di Ya Lan's, whose ancestors had once possessed a martial soul but whose descendants had failed to inherit it, the lack of a martial soul was a disgrace.
It could even lead a once-glorious Lineage to slowly decline!
Martial souls were crucial, whether to a Lineage or to an individual.
"What in the world is going on?" Mu Yu Die stood stunned for a long while. Ignoring Di Ya Lan, who was lost in a daze, she turned to Shi Yan.
"Uh..." Shi Yan smiled wryly. "It's hard to explain. It has something to do with the medicinal power of those strange pills in my body. I don't even know what kind of pills they are. All I know is that their medicinal power is strange. Don't look at me like that; I really don't know much more."
"Brat, thank you! Thank you!" The flame in Di Ya Lan's hand vanished, and she suddenly threw her arms around Shi Yan, as if trying to squeeze herself into his body. Her slender frame trembled with excitement.
Her impressive breasts were crushed against Shi Yan's chest, making him feel secretly pleased as his body began to respond again.
Di Ya Lan immediately noticed. Blushing, she released Shi Yan. Her beautiful eyes were full of spring, and she smiled as she scolded him softly, "You really can't behave yourself, can you?"
"Heh." Shi Yan gave an awkward laugh and said nothing.
Mu Yu Die glared at the two of them, huffing. "I'm still here! Could you two stop putting on a steamy love scene every chance you get?"
"Brat, I'm just too happy," Di Ya Lan said with a teasing laugh.
"What in the world is going on?" Mu Yu Die was frantic for an answer.
"I don't know either." Di Ya Lan shook her head, her joy never fading from her eyes. She smiled and said, "It's all because of him."
"You mean... you and him did that, and your martial soul, which hadn't awakened in twenty-seven years and might never have awakened, suddenly did?" Mu Yu Die's lovely face took on an utterly peculiar expression.
"Although it's hard to believe, that's what happened." Di Ya Lan admitted it, blushing.
"His... that thing of his couldn't be the juice of a God Grade pill, could it?" Mu Yu Die blushed too and shook her head hard. "I don't believe it! That makes no sense!"
"Ahem..." Shi Yan looked up at the opening of the hollow tree. "It's already light. We should get going."
"Mm, we should." Di Ya Lan clearly didn't want to dwell on the matter any longer, lest Mu Yu Die say something else embarrassing.
After saying that, Di Ya Lan hurried up to the opening and tossed a rope down to the bottom of the tree hollow, urging Mu Yu Die to hurry.
"I still don't believe it!" Mu Yu Die was still stuck on the matter. She shook her head hard and huffed before reaching for the rope.
With Di Ya Lan pulling her, Mu Yu Die slowly rose toward the opening.
"Ah, you bastard, what are you doing!" Mu Yu Die suddenly shrieked, her beautiful legs kicking wildly as her body swayed in midair.
"Giving you a hand." Shi Yan grabbed her shapely bottom with both hands and pushed her upward, grinning. "This way, it'll be easier for you."
"Don't! Let go! I don't need your help!" Mu Yu Die shrieked. She thrashed wildly, released her grip, and dropped from the air.
Thud!
They both fell into the tree hollow.
Shi Yan sprawled on the ground, looking thoroughly pleased. Mu Yu Die landed right on his waist, her legs still kicking as she shouted without thinking, "Let go! Let go!"
Mu Yu Die's full, firm bottom pressed against a certain part of Shi Yan.
Because Di Ya Lan had hugged him earlier, he was still hard as an iron rod. As Mu Yu Die twisted against him, the cleft of her buttocks kept rubbing against him, making Shi Yan feel so good he could barely keep from crying out.
"Bastard! You lecher!"
Mu Yu Die quickly realized what had happened. She shrieked, clutched her bottom, and hurriedly stood up, blushing. Her beautiful eyes glistened with tears, and she looked ready to cry. "Sister Lan, he bullied me! That bastard bullied me!"
"Shh!" Di Ya Lan's expression turned solemn as she raised a finger to her lips.
Shi Yan sprang to his feet, instantly forgetting the tantalizing scene in the tree hollow. He nimbly climbed up and stood beside Di Ya Lan, his voice calm. "What's going on?"
"There's a demon beast!"
Before you continue