The Mysterious Martial Soul

It turned out the strange power seeping from his acupoints could not only awaken a martial soul, but also make it advance by leaps and bounds!

Martial souls generally grew in direct correlation with breakthroughs in cultivation. Only by breaking through a barrier and entering a new major realm did a martial soul have a chance to grow.

In other words, for a martial soul to advance, its owner had to move from the Acquired Realm into the Innate Realm, or from the Innate Realm into the Human Position Realm.

A minor advance, like moving from the first to the second level of the Innate Realm, could not change a martial soul.

Only when someone broke through from one realm to another could their martial soul possibly improve or change—and even then, only during that brief period of breakthrough.

And even that was no sure thing!

A martial soul did not necessarily grow whenever a Martial Artist broke through. Sometimes, it took two or even three realm breakthroughs before a martial soul advanced!

Take Shi Yan's Petrifying Martial Soul, for example. Its growth could be divided into four stages.

If a boy from the Shi Family possessed a Petrifying Martial Soul, his skin would sometimes turn grayish-white when he was only ten days old or so—a mere infant. That was the first stage.

If that boy devoted himself to martial arts and was fortunate enough to reach the Human Position Realm, his Petrifying Martial Soul would change again, turning dark brown. That was the second stage.

If he could break through to the Earth Position Realm, his Petrifying Martial Soul would turn yellow-green. That was the third stage.

And if he were a once-in-a-generation genius who could break through to the Heaven Position, his Petrifying Martial Soul would turn purple-red. That was the fourth stage!

The Shi Family's Petrifying Martial Soul had four stages in total. It only underwent a qualitative change and surged in strength after its owner advanced through two realms, at which point his muscle color changed dramatically.

Each time the Petrifying Martial Soul changed and entered a new stage, the body's defensive power doubled!

The first-stage Petrifying Martial Soul could generally withstand only punches and kicks, along with a small amount of essence energy.

By the second stage, when the muscles turned dark brown, the body's defensive power multiplied several times over. It could withstand not only much fiercer blasts of essence energy, but also ordinary slashes from sharp weapons!

At the third stage, the Petrifying Martial Soul turned yellow-green, and its defensive power doubled again! The body was almost impervious to blades and spears. Its agility didn't diminish—in fact, it increased considerably. It was utterly abnormal!

At the fourth stage, the body turned purple-red as it petrified, and its defensive power became downright terrifying. It was impervious to blades and spears, water and fire, and could even withstand attacks from many bizarre secret arts. The body gained immense strength, yet somehow grew more agile by the day.

All four stages were attained through advances in cultivation. If a boy from the Shi Family possessed the Petrifying Martial Soul but remained in the Acquired or Innate Realm, it would be forever locked at the first stage. Unless he reached the Human Position Realm, his Petrifying Martial Soul would never change.

The same held true for other martial souls on the Divine Grace Continent. Most could only improve as their owners advanced in cultivation. Only a handful of God Grade pills could alter the laws governing special martial souls and let them advance beyond their owner's realm.

Such pills existed only in legend on the Divine Grace Continent. Martial Artists from the Blazing Fire Empire, the Divine Grace Empire, and the Merchant Alliance had only heard stories about them; none had ever seen one with their own eyes.

Even the three Medicine Kings of Medicine King Valley in the Blazing Fire Empire were only Spirit Grade alchemists, far from being able to refine God Grade pills.

And yet the strange power seeping from the acupoints in Shi Yan's body seemed to have broken that rule!

That strange power could not only awaken a martial soul—it could even make one advance beyond its owner's realm!

After his arm petrified, it turned dark brown—the color only attained by Shi Family experts who had reached the Human Position Realm.

It was unmistakably the second stage of petrification!

What did it mean to possess a strange power that could awaken a martial soul and make it grow?

It meant he didn't need to reach the Heaven Position to have a chance at entering the fourth stage of petrification!

Impervious to blades and spears, water and fire; a body that wouldn't stiffen, but would instead grow more agile, able to withstand all kinds of bizarre secret techniques—and capable of gaining tremendous divine strength...

Remembering the wonders of the fourth stage of petrification, Shi Yan realized he'd struck gold.

This ability was clearly a martial soul of its own. It could purify the vital essence of the dead through the acupoints in his body. It could also run wild in battle, inflicting negative emotions on his enemies. It was mysterious beyond measure.

This mysterious martial soul could draw vital essence from death. The acupoints transformed that essence into a strange, vigorous power that could awaken martial souls, strengthen them, and increase essence energy...

Shi Yan's dark eyes shone like cold stars in the night, glittering brilliantly.

Sitting there in silence, he knew that as long as he was willing to work hard, this wondrous martial soul could make him the most astonishingly fearsome being on this extraordinary continent!

Deep in the Gloomy Forest, in a blood-soaked clearing strewn with bones, a group of people stood with grim expressions, examining the scene.

"These are people from the Jackal Mercenary Group." Barnard walked among the bones for a while, his expression grave. "The group's leader was at the Hundred Tribulations Realm, same as me... Judging by this, they've been wiped out to the last man."

At that, the Nether Moon Envoy and Mo Chao Ge both furrowed their brows.

The Nether Moon Envoy hesitated, then took out a silver horn and blew softly into it.

No sound came from the horn, but a strange vibration rippled outward.

Before long, two masked men dressed in silver slipped out from the trees. Their masks bore blue faces and fangs, unlike the pale masks worn by the Nether Moon Envoy's group.

"Dark Envoy, did you find anything?" the Nether Moon Envoy asked coolly.

"Demonic beasts ran rampant last night. Many Martial Artists and mercenaries were attacked. There are too many tracks around here, so it's difficult to tell which ones belong to our target," one of the Dark Nether's Dark Star Envoys replied respectfully.

The Dark Nether was divided into Dark Envoys and Nether Envoys. The Dark Envoys were responsible for tracking and gathering information, while the Nether Envoys handled killings. Their ranks were divided into Sun, Moon, and Star levels.

Though the Dark and Nether Envoys had different duties, their hierarchy was strict. Star-level Dark Star Envoys had to obey the Moon-level Nether Moon Envoys.

"Is it really that hard to find our target?" The Nether Moon Envoy excelled at killing and combat, but not tracking. At the Dark Star Envoy's words, his expression darkened.

"My lord, the search area really is too vast. There are too many Martial Artists, mercenaries, and demonic beasts moving through this area, so tracking them is extremely difficult. Over the past few days, we've also been attacked by quite a few mercenaries while tracking. Another envoy has been killed."

The Dark Nether had a bad reputation. The Martial Artists and mercenaries active in this region weren't the sort to shy away from trouble. If they were in a foul mood and happened to spot someone from the Dark Nether, they might well attack and kill them.

The Nether Moon Envoy's group had run into this kind of trouble plenty of times over the past two days. Even after joining forces with the Mo Family's Martial Artists, people had still dared to provoke them, though they hadn't suffered any major losses.

"If we can't find our target and the demonic beasts are acting up, this is going to be difficult..."

Mo Chao Ge pondered for a moment, then suddenly said, "Wandering around searching aimlessly isn't going to work. How about we wait in Silent Town? It's the only route to the Merchant Alliance. Once they leave the Gloomy Forest, they're bound to go through Silent Town. We can wait for them along the road there."

"That's a good idea." Barnard nodded, his eyes brimming with killing intent. "Anyone heading to the Merchant Alliance has to pass through Silent Town. Waiting by the tree for a rabbit is a sound plan."

"Then let's cross this area as quickly as possible and wait for them on the road to Silent Town." The Nether Moon Envoy remained silent for a long while, unable to think of a better plan. In the end, he could only agree.

The three reached an agreement without further discussion. They stopped wasting time searching the area for Shi Yan and the others, and set off through the Gloomy Forest, planning to lie in ambush on the road between the forest's edge and Silent Town.

For five days straight, Shi Yan and the two women moved cautiously through the Gloomy Forest, doing their best to avoid demonic beasts and mercenaries.

As soon as night fell, they immediately sought out a secluded place to rest. They didn't dare travel after dark.

Thanks to their cautious approach, they made it through safely, avoiding many high-level demonic beasts and human mercenaries. Their luck was remarkably good.

Each night, Shi Yan trained relentlessly, adapting to the second stage of petrification and letting the changes from his "Rampage" gradually spread over his entire body.

After years without a man, Di Ya Lan had gotten a taste for it after making love with Shi Yan. She kept seeking him out for more, and the base of a tree, a thicket, and a streamside all became witnesses to their fiery passion.

Mu Yu Die knew she couldn't stop them, so she turned a blind eye. Every so often, she grumbled resentfully, inwardly cursing the pair for their shamelessness.

That night, after Di Ya Lan and Shi Yan had gone at it beneath a great tree, they had only been meditating for a short while when she suddenly sprang up and cried out in delight, "I—I broke through!"

From another ancient tree not far away, Mu Yu Die poked her head out through the leaves. Her pretty face was full of astonishment as she stared at Di Ya Lan, whose clothes were in disarray. Covering her mouth, she exclaimed, "Th-this... That worked too?"