Explosion!

"Bang!" "Bang!"

The sounds of heavy impacts against rock echoed one after another.

An incredibly fierce force slammed into the rock blocking the cave entrance. Shi Yan and Di Ya Lan's arms went numb, their faces filled with horror.

"Friends inside, please let us in! Otherwise, I won't be polite!"

From the cave entrance, a cold, sinister voice hissed, "My Martial Soul can sense life signs within two hundred meters. I know there are three of you. We just want to come in and take shelter for a bit. Please, be convenient!"

"This cave is ours. Find your own way to survive and don't bring disaster here."

Shi Yan's face darkened. He poured his Essence madly into his arms, which contracted and slowly withered, wisps of white mist coiling around them.

"Hurry up and move aside! In a few minutes, Yao Beasts will gather here. High-level Yao Beasts will definitely appear then. If you don't want to die, let us in immediately!" a rough voice shouted anxiously.

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

The cave they were hiding in wasn't large, only able to accommodate six or seven people. Including the rock blocking the entrance, the cave could hold at most five people. Judging by the breaths coming from outside, there were six people. The cave simply couldn't fit that many.

"Second brother, let's join forces and blast it open!" the first sinister voice impatiently growled.

"Alright."

"Boom! Boom!"

Two explosive, ferocious forces struck the rock simultaneously. Tremendous power erupted from within the rock!

Amidst the extremely dull roaring, the rock Shi Yan and Di Ya Lan were holding together shattered, breaking into more than ten pieces.

"Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!"

The pieces of rock fell to the ground, and light suddenly appeared at the dim cave entrance.

Three figures seized the opportunity and darted into the cave.

The leader, a man in his thirties wearing a silver Martial Artist's uniform, had a face like ice and an arrogant expression. He glanced at the three of them and sneered, "Only one expert at the Human Position realm dares to block us? Overestimating yourselves!"

"Big brother, kill them quickly!" another burly young man urged, "The cave can only hold six people. They're taking up space, and An Nuo and the others can't get in!"

"You three, get out immediately, or I'll kill you right now!" the silver-clad Martial Artist said sinisterly. "You are no match for us! We have two experts at the Human Position, and four Martial Artists at the Innate Realm. Don't cause us trouble."

At the cave entrance, the three outsiders stared coldly at Shi Yan and Di Ya Lan. Faint halos emanated from their bodies, indicating they were ready to kill at any moment.

"Big brother, those two girls, tsk tsk!" the third, slightly thinner youth, finally adapting to the dimness inside the cave, noticed that Di Ya Lan and Mu Yu Die were rare beauties. He couldn't help but exclaim flirtatiously.

"Third brother, do you want beauties, or do you want our brothers outside to live?" the leader snorted.

The thin youth chuckled awkwardly and quickly said, "Big brother, don't be angry. I was just joking. Of course, I care about my brothers' lives. Women? Where can't we find them, right? Haha! This time, we got treasures from the Thunder Wing Silver Wolf's den. Are we worried about not having women to enjoy?"

"Aren't you leaving yet?" the leader's expression suddenly turned cold, looking like he was about to make a move.

"Let's fight!" Di Ya Lan roared, raising her short sword as if to attack. "There are Yao Beasts everywhere outside. If we go out, it's a dead end!"

"Heh heh, you can run far away. It's best if you help us lure the Yao Beasts away a bit, so we can be safe," the burly youth laughed heartily. "Otherwise, do you think you can survive?"

"Sister Lan, let's go out," Shi Yan took a deep breath, calming down. Before Di Ya Lan could say anything else, he grabbed her. "Let's go, quickly. If we leave now, maybe we can escape this area."

"Impossible..." Di Ya Lan started to say more, but Shi Yan forcefully dragged her out.

Mu Yu Die had already stood up and followed closely behind Di Ya Lan.

As her slender body passed by the thin youth, he reached out and lewdly tried to touch her buttocks, saying, "Beauty, please forgive me. If we meet again, we can get closer."

A cold glint flashed in Mu Yu Die's eyes. She rushed out of the cave as fast as she could, but the thin fellow still managed to grope her waist. She gritted her teeth in hatred.

Outside the cave, the other three men at the Innate Realm were already impatiently waiting.

As soon as they saw Shi Yan's group emerge, the three men's lecherous gazes swept over Di Ya Lan and Mu Yu Die. Only then did they reluctantly enter the cave, marveling, "Big brother, I didn't expect there to be two beauties. Big brother, your Martial Soul is truly amazing. You knew there was a cave so far away. If not for your miraculous Martial Soul, we wouldn't have dared to go into the Thunder Wing Silver Wolf's den for treasures."

"Haha, we've gained quite a lot this time, even a Spirit Grade Martial Skill! When we return to the Divine Grace Empire, just one Spirit Grade Martial Skill can be exchanged for everything we six need. By then, what kind of women can't we find!" the burly man inside the cave chuckled softly.

"It's all thanks to big brother's amazing Martial Soul, being able to detect life fluctuations around us. It's too powerful."

The group of six forcibly occupied Shi Yan's cave and spoke in low voices inside.

"You three, it's best if you get lost immediately. You can still escape now. Otherwise, once the Yao Beasts gather, you'll only have a dead end!" the leader's cold voice came from inside the cave, unhurriedly. "If you continue to stand at the cave entrance, don't blame me for being impolite and dealing with you directly."

Under the bright moonlight, Shi Yan's face was as cold as ice, his expression sinister.

The roars of Yao Beasts came from all directions. The Yao Beasts clearly knew there were people in this area and were slowly converging towards it.

Judging by the situation, this place would soon be surrounded by Yao Beasts.

At this point, trying to escape would only make them targets for the Yao Beasts. Even if they could lure the Yao Beasts elsewhere, they would ultimately not escape their poisonous maw.

Shi Yan understood that the leader inside hadn't killed them because he wanted them to flee, hoping the three of them would attract the Yao Beasts' attention, allowing them to hide safely in the cave for a while.

"Ding Yan! Why didn't we fight them? If we come out, we'll just be killed by Yao Beasts anyway, right? Running away will only lead to a meaningless death, and we can't even take them down with us!" Di Ya Lan glared angrily at Shi Yan.

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

Now that Di Ya Lan was calling him by name, it showed her extreme dissatisfaction with Shi Yan's decision.

Mu Yu Die's face turned pale, and she said sadly, "Rather than being devoured by Yao Beasts, it's better to be killed by people from the Dark Nether. Sister Lan, let's just kill ourselves here. Even in death, we can lure the Yao Beasts over."

"Come here!" Shi Yan frowned, grabbing one in each hand, he pulled Di Ya Lan and Mu Yu Die to a dead corner by the cave entrance, preventing their bodies from facing the opening.

"What are you doing?" Di Ya Lan asked furiously. "Do you really intend to run away?"

"Run? Do I look like someone who'd let you?" Shi Yan sneered, his expression ferocious. He suddenly pulled out a metal lump from his chest and waved it at the two women.

Di Ya Lan and Mu Yu Die froze, then reacted, their expressions simultaneously shaking. They sneered and quietly moved a little further away from the cave entrance.

Shi Yan nodded. After seeing the two women find good positions, he suddenly charged rapidly towards the cave entrance from the side.

As his body appeared within the stone cave, he fiercely threw the metal lump in his hand into the entrance, then swiftly darted past it.

"Boom!"

A violent explosion suddenly erupted from within the cave. Sharp blades whistled through the interior, with dozens of them flying out of the entrance and shredding the bushes outside into pieces.

Piercing screams suddenly came from the cave entrance.

"Second Brother!"

"Fourth Brother!"

"Sixth Brother! Oh, Sixth Brother!"

"Big Brother, I, I've been hit!"

"..."

Roars and screams echoed from within the stone cave, and a thick smell of blood wafted out from the entrance.

Shi Yan waved at Di Ya Lan and re-entered the stone cave.

Standing at the entrance, he coldly observed the tragic scene inside and taunted, "Everyone, feeling good?"

The three on the ground had been turned into a beehive, their bodies covered in bloody holes. The burly man was among them, his head pierced through.

Inside the cave, only one leader remained, along with a skinny youth and a slightly fatter man.

These three were still alive because the other three had shielded them. Although they were also wounded, they hadn't been hit in vital spots by the blades from "Star Thunder."

The three survivors had blood holes all over their limbs. The leader's abdomen was also bleeding profusely, clearly severely injured.

The cave was small. After the only "Star Thunder" exploded, they had nowhere to hide. If someone hadn't shielded them, not a single one would have survived such an explosion.

"I'm going to skin you alive!" the leader, Big Brother, roared, his eyes splitting with hatred.

"Such potent Essence." Shi Yan took a deep breath, his expression one of enjoyment.

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

A cold, mad, icy, and violent aura slowly emanated from his body, forming a pale white mist that enveloped him entirely.