The Gatecrashers

Shi Yan slowly opened his eyes and smiled at Di Ya Lan, who was still lost in her delight. "Congratulations, Sister Lan."

Now that he understood the mysterious Martial Soul's strange effects, Shi Yan was just as excited. Di Ya Lan had only spent a few days fooling around with him, and had already gained enough to miraculously break through to the Human Position Realm. The mysterious Martial Soul truly had endless wonders.

"Thank you."

Gratitude brimmed in Di Ya Lan's beautiful eyes.

Of course, she knew that all these changes in her body were thanks to Shi Yan. Over the past few days, she had felt the benefits firsthand.

"Mm, perhaps it has something to do with the medicinal power in my body, but it's also thanks to your hard cultivation, Sister Lan." Shi Yan's expression was calm. "Now that you've reached the Human Position Realm, you can see if your Blue Demon Flame Martial Soul has changed."

Di Ya Lan smiled radiantly, like a flower in bloom, and gracefully held out her left hand. A cloud of blue flame sprang from her palm.

The flame was about the size of a watermelon, and gradually spread until it covered her entire left hand.

The hazy blue flame seemed to have a life of its own. It formed into one fiery serpent after another, winding around her smooth wrist.

As Di Ya Lan's thoughts shifted, the marvelous Blue Demon Flame changed into all kinds of shapes. One moment it became a spirit serpent, the next a bird, each form so lifelike it seemed ready to fly out of her palm at any moment.

"The moment I broke through to the Human Position Realm, I felt the Blue Demon Flame change. The Martial Soul grew stronger..." Di Ya Lan smiled. "It's not only grown from the size of a fist to the size of a human head, it can also condense into solid forms. This is its second stage."

The Martial Soul could condense into solid forms?

Shi Yan nodded, immediately realizing that Di Ya Lan's Blue Demon Flame Martial Soul was extraordinary too. "Then I really should congratulate you, Sister Lan."

"And it's all thanks to you." Her eyes rippled with laughter, and a hint of spring seemed to bloom at the corners of her mouth.

"H-how is this possible?"

Up in the tree, Mu Yu Die stared in disbelief, her delicate face full of shock. "It's only been a dozen days! How could Sister Lan break through to the Human Position Realm so quickly? Sister Lan, I remember you'd only been at the Innate Third Heaven Realm for half a year, right?"

"That's right." Di Ya Lan was delighted, and rather smug. "I only entered the Innate Third Heaven Realm half a year ago. Even I didn't expect to break through to the Human Position Realm this quickly. I thought I'd need at least three to five years of hard cultivation. Hehe."

Mu Yu Die rolled her eyes, at a loss for words.

Could that thing of his really have the miraculous effects of God Grade medicinal juice?

At the thought, Mu Yu Die blushed again and cursed herself under her breath. She didn't dare think any further.

Another five days passed.

The three of them continued to move cautiously through the Gloomy Forest.

For five nights running, the Gloomy Forest had been unusually lively. The roars of demonic beasts and the screams of human Martial Artists and mercenaries rang out from time to time, chilling anyone who heard them.

Shi Yan realized that someone must have provoked a high-level demonic beast. Each night, he found a quiet, safe place to rest and refused to venture outside.

He avoided provoking both the demonic beasts and the mercenaries passing through.

Thanks to his caution, the three of them had made little progress over the past five days, but they had also avoided any major threats.

On top of that, Shi Yan was lucky enough to come across several human Martial Artists who had been killed by demonic beasts. As soon as the beasts left, he went to absorb the residual essence the dead had left behind.

For safety's sake, he always waited until the beasts had been gone for a while before showing himself.

His gains each time were small, but they added up, gradually strengthening his Petrifying Martial Soul.

By now, he could turn his entire body to stone in an instant just by willing it. His skin turned dark brown, and his body's defenses continued to slowly improve.

Over these past few days, he had never forgotten to practice Rampage.

The final hurdle, however, was exceptionally difficult. Whenever he tried to stir up the negative energy in the acupoint in his head, his skull felt as if it were splitting apart. Once his essence began to flow backward, the pain knocked him unconscious in an instant.

After practicing for several days, he still hadn't made any progress on the final stage of Rampage.

After fainting several times, he quietly guessed that his method might be wrong. He stopped blindly forcing it and decided to take a few days to think of another approach before trying again.

It was deep into the night once more.

The three of them hid in a dim cave in a mountain valley. They covered the entrance with leaves and branches, speaking in low voices.

Outside the cave, the sounds of demonic beasts passing came in wave after wave. Their low growls and cries seemed to fill every direction; no one knew how many beasts were roaming outside.

"Something's wrong tonight. It seems like all the demonic beasts in the Gloomy Forest have come out," Di Ya Lan said with a frown. "It's strange. Normally, even if the mercenary Martial Artists are unusually active, the beasts only rampage for two or three days. There's no way so many would come out. I wonder what's going on."

"With this much commotion, a high-level demonic beast must be pulling the strings," Shi Yan said grimly. "That Thunder Wing Silver Wolf is a seventh-level demonic beast, equivalent to a Martial Artist at the Heaven Position. It has a Demon Crystal inside it, and its intelligence is no less than ours. Since it's leading the charge, this must be serious."

"Good thing we've been careful these past few days. We haven't worried about covering much ground, only about staying safe. Otherwise, we'd be in real trouble." Di Ya Lan nodded.

"Clop! Clop!"

The sound of hurried footsteps suddenly came from outside. From the noise, it seemed to be human Martial Artists moving about.

With demonic beasts roaming everywhere, human Martial Artists out and about at a time like this were almost certainly up to no good. They had probably been chased by beasts again.

"Should we go out and take a look? Maybe we could help them," Mu Yu Die asked softly, her heart too kind to ignore them.

Shi Yan and Di Ya Lan exchanged a glance, but neither said anything.

"What? You want to stand by and let them die?" Mu Yu Die's brows drew together, and she sounded displeased.

"Demonic beasts are running rampant outside. We went to all this trouble to find a hiding place, and if we give away the cave's location, we might not make it out alive. Besides, how can you be sure the Martial Artists out there aren't troublemakers? If they take a fancy to your looks, who knows how many problems that could cause? Better not to meddle." Shi Yan snorted, not mincing his words.

Mu Yu Die wasn't stupid. She understood all that. She only spoke up because she couldn't bear to see people killed by demonic beasts right in front of her.

But Shi Yan's stern rebuke made her feel she couldn't save face. She tipped her chin up and huffed, muttering, "Cold-blooded! You have no compassion at all. So you're afraid of dying too. I thought..."

"That's not being afraid to die. That's asking for death!"

Shi Yan laughed coldly, baring his teeth. "Miss Mu, you saved my life twice, but I think I've repaid that debt already. Remember this: I'm still here not because of you anymore, but because of Uncle Luo's instructions."

He paused, then continued in a low voice. "I'm not your servant, so stop throwing your young lady temper around at me! If you really get on my nerves, I'll turn on my heel and leave. You can make whatever trouble you like."

"You!" Mu Yu Die felt aggrieved. Her eyes misted over, and she choked back tears. "Y-you just know how to bully me!"

"All right, all right. We need to stick together right now. We're all going to the Merchant Alliance, and it's good to have each other for support. Don't start arguing," Di Ya Lan said, trying to calm them down.

"Something's wrong!"

Shi Yan sprang to his feet, his expression darkening. "Those people seem to know there's a cave here. They're coming this way!"

"No way!" Di Ya Lan exclaimed, hurriedly lifting her short sword. She stood shoulder to shoulder with Shi Yan at the entrance. "What do we do?"

"Roaaar!" "Grrr!"

Roars echoed from outside the cave. More and more demonic beasts seemed to be gathering in this direction.

"Block the entrance!"

Shi Yan's expression changed. He pressed his hand against a boulder blocking the cave entrance and shouted, "Help me hold it! Don't let anyone into the cave! If someone gets inside, the demonic beasts will know something's going on here, and they'll keep watching this place. Then we'll be in trouble too!"

When Shi Yan had entered the cave, he had not only concealed it with leaves and branches outside; he had also hauled a boulder in front of the entrance, just in case something like this happened. He hadn't expected it to come in handy after all.

"Okay!" Di Ya Lan jumped, then hurriedly reached out to hold the boulder in place with Shi Yan.