Explosion!

"Bang! Bang!"

The sound of rocks being struck hard rang out one blow after another.

The force behind each strike was astonishing. As it hammered the boulder blocking the entrance, Shi Yan and Di Ya Lan's arms went numb, and their faces filled with alarm.

"Friends inside, stand down! Or I won't be responsible for what happens!"

A cold voice called from the cave entrance. "My martial soul can sense life signatures within two hundred meters. I know there are three of you in there. We only want to come in and take shelter for a while. Please, make room for us!"

"This cave is ours. Find somewhere else to go, and don't bring your trouble here."

Shi Yan's expression darkened. He poured all his essence energy into his arms. His muscles contracted, and his arms slowly withered as wisps of white mist curled around them.

"Move, now! In a few minutes, the demonic beasts will gather here. High-grade beasts are bound to show up then. If you don't want to die, let us in immediately!" a burly voice shouted urgently.

"Get lost! Our cave is too small to fit you!" Shi Yan replied coldly.

The cave where the three of them were hiding was not large; it could hold only six or seven people. With the boulder blocking the entrance, there was room for five at most. Judging by the breathing outside, there were six people. The cave simply couldn't fit them all.

"Second, let's join forces and break it open!" The first, icy voice gave an impatient order.

"Fine."

"Boom! Boom!"

Two explosive bursts of force struck the boulder at once. A surging power erupted from within it!

Amid a deafening rumble, the boulder that Shi Yan and Di Ya Lan had been bracing together shattered into more than a dozen pieces.

"Crack! Crack!"

Piece after piece of rock hit the ground, and light suddenly spilled into the dim cave entrance.

Three figures seized the chance to rush inside.

The man in front was in his thirties, clad in silver martial artist robes. His face was as cold as ice, his expression arrogant. He glanced at Shi Yan and the others, then sneered. "There's only one Human Position Realm expert here, and you still dared to stop us? You're overestimating yourselves!"

"Big brother, hurry and kill them!" urged another man, a burly young fellow. "There's only room for six inside. They're taking up space, and An Nuo and the others can't get in!"

"You three, get out now, or I'll kill you where you stand!" The silver-clad Martial Artist spoke icily. "You're no match for us! We have two Human Position Realm experts and four Innate Realm Martial Artists. Don't make this difficult."

The three intruders at the entrance watched Shi Yan and Di Ya Lan coldly. Faint halos of light slowly emanated from their bodies. They were clearly ready to strike at any moment.

"Big brother, look at those two beauties!" The third man, a somewhat skinny youth, had finally adjusted to the darkness and spotted Di Ya Lan and Mu Yu Die. He let out a leering cry.

"Third, do you want a beauty, or do you want our brothers outside to survive?" The leader snorted.

The skinny youth gave an awkward laugh and hurriedly said, "Don't be angry, big brother. I was only joking. Of course I care about our brothers' lives. Women are everywhere, right? Ha! We got a treasure from the Thunder Wing Silver Wolf's lair this time. Why would we worry about finding women to enjoy ourselves with? Haha!"

"Still not leaving?" The leader's expression suddenly turned cold. He looked ready to attack.

"Let's fight!" Di Ya Lan shouted angrily, raising her short sword. "The outside is crawling with demonic beasts. Even if we leave, we'll die!"

"Heh-heh, you could run farther away. Better yet, lead the beasts away from us. Then we'll be safe," the burly youth laughed. "Otherwise, do you think you'll survive?"

"Big sister Lan, we're leaving." Shi Yan took a deep breath, but his expression had oddly settled into calm. Before Di Ya Lan could say anything, he grabbed her and said, "Hurry. If we get away from here quickly, we might still escape this area."

"That's impossible..." Di Ya Lan started to object, but Shi Yan dragged her outside.

Mu Yu Die had already gotten to her feet and followed close behind Di Ya Lan.

As she passed the skinny youth, he reached out with a grin and tried to touch her bottom. "Beautiful, don't hold it against me. If we meet again, we can get to know each other better."

A flash of cold light crossed Mu Yu Die's eyes. She hurried through the entrance as fast as she could, but the skinny fellow still managed to grope her waist. She gritted her teeth in fury.

Outside the cave, the other three Innate Realm men had long since grown impatient.

As soon as Shi Yan and the others emerged, the three men leered at Di Ya Lan and Mu Yu Die before reluctantly filing into the cave. They clicked their tongues in amazement. "Big brother, I didn't expect there'd be two beauties here. Your martial soul is incredible! It sensed the cave from so far away. Without your amazing martial soul, we wouldn't have dared go searching for treasure in the Thunder Wing Silver Wolf's lair."

"Haha! We made quite a haul this time. We even got a Spirit Grade Martial Skill! Once we get back to the Divine Grace Empire, we can trade that one Spirit Grade Martial Skill for everything the six of us need. Then we can have any women we want!" the burly man inside the cave chuckled.

"It's all thanks to big brother's amazing martial soul. To be able to detect the life fluctuations all around us—that's incredible."

The six of them had forcibly taken over Shi Yan and his companions' cave and were talking quietly inside.

"You three, get as far away as you can. There's still time to run for your lives. Once the demonic beasts have all gathered, you'll be dead!" The leader's cold voice drifted from inside the cave, unhurried. "Keep standing at the entrance, and I'll deal with you myself."

Under the clear moonlight, Shi Yan's face was icy, his expression sinister.

The howls of demonic beasts rang out from every direction. They had clearly sensed that people were in the area and were slowly converging on it.

At this rate, the beasts would soon surround the place completely.

Trying to escape now would only make them the beasts' targets. Even if they managed to draw the beasts elsewhere, they would never escape those ravenous jaws.

Shi Yan understood why the leader inside had spared them: he wanted them to flee and draw the beasts' attention, allowing the men in the cave to survive a little longer.

"Ding Yan! Why didn't we fight them? If we go outside, the beasts will kill us anyway. Running away means we'll die for nothing, without even dragging them down with us!" Di Ya Lan glared at Shi Yan furiously.

To avoid unnecessary trouble, Shi Yan had told them his name was Ding Yan when they first met. But Di Ya Lan and Mu Yu Die rarely called him that.

Now Di Ya Lan had called him by name, making it clear she was furious with his decision.

Mu Yu Die's face was deathly pale. She spoke in despair. "Rather than be eaten by the beasts, I'd rather be killed by the people from Dark Nether. Big sister Lan, let's kill ourselves right here. Even in death, we can draw the beasts over."

"You two, come here!" Shi Yan frowned, grabbed them both, and pulled them into a blind corner beside the cave entrance, away from its line of sight.

"What are you doing?" Di Ya Lan was furious. "Are you really planning to run?"

"Run? Do I look that easy to push around?" Shi Yan grinned coldly, his expression savage. Suddenly, he pulled an iron lump from his clothes and held it up for the two women to see.

Di Ya Lan and Mu Yu Die froze, then immediately understood. Their expressions changed, and they sneered as they quietly moved farther from the entrance.

Shi Yan nodded. Once he saw they had found a good position, he suddenly darted toward the cave entrance.

The moment his body came into view inside the cave, he hurled the iron lump through the entrance, then swiftly swept past it.

"Boom!"

A violent explosion erupted inside the cave. Sharp blades whistled through the air, and dozens of them shot out of the entrance, shredding the bushes outside.

Piercing screams suddenly rang out from within.

"Second!"

"Fourth!"

"Sixth brother! Sixth brother!"

"Big brother, I—I've been hit!"

"..."

Shouts and cries of pain erupted from the cave. The heavy stench of blood wafted out through the entrance.

Shi Yan waved to Di Ya Lan, then went back into the cave.

Standing at the entrance, he gazed coldly at the carnage inside and sneered. "How was that, everyone? Feel good?"

Three men on the ground had been riddled like beehives, their bodies covered in bloody holes. The burly man was among them, his head pierced through.

Inside the cave, only the leader, the skinny youth, and a somewhat plump man remained.

The three had survived because the others had shielded them. They were wounded too, but the blades from Star Thunder had missed their vital spots.

The survivors' limbs were riddled with bloody holes. The leader's abdomen was also slick with blood; he was clearly badly injured.

The cave was so small that once the single Star Thunder had exploded, there was nowhere to hide. If the others hadn't been in front of them, not one of them would have survived the blast.

"I'll skin you alive!" The leader's eyes bulged with rage. He hated Shi Yan to the core.

"What rich essence energy." Shi Yan drew in a deep breath, his expression one of pure enjoyment.

As he spoke, his muscles began to contract, and his body slowly withered.

A cold, frenzied, icy, and savage aura began to coil around him, forming a pale mist that covered his entire body.