Silent Town

"Thank you, Third Young Master."

Mu Yu Die stood up and calmly put away her guqin. Looking at the Nether Moon Envoy, whose eyes darted about, she said, "You chased us for so long. You didn't expect to end up burying yourself too, did you?"

"Bei Ming Ce, this is a matter between Dark Nether and the Mu Family. The Bei Ming Family would be wise not to interfere!" The Nether Moon Envoy didn't look at Mu Yu Die, staring instead straight at Bei Ming Ce. "If you let me take Miss Mu away, our Nether Lord will surely reward the Bei Ming Family. We can negotiate anything."

"There's nothing to negotiate." Bei Ming Ce shook his head and said calmly, "Since you're here, you're not leaving."

The two old men behind him, one fat and one thin, suddenly shot forward again.

The two old men looked like evil spirits as they pounced straight at the Dark Nether envoys. A few seconds later, all of them—including the Nether Moon Envoy—had been disemboweled and lay dead on the spot.

Having finished, the two sinister old men silently returned to stand behind Bei Ming Ce, like a pair of shadows.

Di Ya Lan stood beside Mu Yu Die, watching the Dark Nether envoys meet their gruesome ends. Her face was stricken with shock.

She knew the Bei Ming Family held great sway in the Merchant Alliance, but she still hadn't expected them to be this powerful!

The Bei Ming Family clearly didn't take Dark Nether seriously at all. They showed no mercy, killing whenever they pleased and not giving a damn about appearances.

"Lan-jie, do you still think we made the wrong decision?" Mu Yu Die asked with a smile.

Di Ya Lan's expression was complicated. She sighed softly. "You weren't wrong. It's just that I..."

"Don't dwell on it. For our future, we should forget what needs forgetting as soon as we can," Mu Yu Die gently advised.

"Mm." Di Ya Lan nodded, looking helpless.

"Shall we set off?" Bei Ming Ce's dark eyes wandered over Di Ya Lan and Mu Yu Die for a moment before he asked with impeccable courtesy.

"Of course."

Elsewhere in the Stone Forest.

Shi Yan had just stepped into a fork in the path when he suddenly sensed danger and sprang backward.

Whoosh!

An arrow flashed past right in front of him. At the same time, a Blue Smoke Bomb from the Mo Family shot into the sky.

"Hmph! You again! You're asking for death!" Shi Yan said with a dark expression and a cold snort.

Mo Yan Yu, holding a crossbow, emerged from a rocky cave. Her face was icy as she stared coldly at him. "You finally showed yourself!"

The one-armed Qiang Sen and Li Han also stepped out from behind the rocks, blocking Shi Yan from either side, their faces full of wariness.

"Die!"

Shi Yan roared and suddenly shot toward Mo Yan Yu, his body moving like a sword.

As he hurtled forward at high speed, white mist swirled around him. His killing intent soared, making him look like a vicious fiend.

"Miss, look out!" Li Han cried. His body darted toward Mo Yan Yu like a duckweed caught in a flash flood.

Li Han was a Human Position Realm martial artist at the Second Heaven. At a glance, he saw the terrifying explosive power hidden within Shi Yan's body. Mo Yan Yu would have a hard time withstanding such a fierce force!

Scrape!

Shi Yan dug in his heels and leaned back, carving a long furrow through the dirt. He actually managed to brake his body in mid-charge, then suddenly turned and rushed toward Qiang Sen at even greater speed.

Bang!

Qiang Sen hadn't even figured out what was happening before a blurry white figure suddenly charged at him. A force like a collapsing mountain crashed into his body.

Crack, crack, crack!

Qiang Sen's bones shattered all over. Blood streamed from the corners of his mouth and his eye sockets as he collapsed to the ground, groaning.

"So you're Qiang Sen? When you whipped me the other day, did it feel good?" Shi Yan stood beside him and kicked him in the chest over and over. With each kick, he sneered, "Does this feel even better? Hm?"

Qiang Sen's face was full of terror. The broken bones in his chest had pierced his heart. His eyes rolled back, and he died.

"You vicious brat!" Li Han's expression changed dramatically. He wanted to charge over and kill Shi Yan, but he was also afraid Mo Yan Yu would suffer the same fate as Qiang Sen. He hesitated and shouted, yet didn't dare step forward to stop him.

Mo Yan Yu's beautiful eyes were full of horror. She watched Shi Yan brutally kill Qiang Sen with her own eyes and froze in place.

The vital essence in Qiang Sen's body rapidly disappeared into Shi Yan's acupoints. In just a few seconds, every trace of vital essence had vanished.

Shi Yan turned his head and fixed his blazing gaze on Mo Yan Yu. He sneered, "Beautiful, we'll meet again. Believe me, you'll regret provoking me."

With that, he ducked into a hollow stone. After wandering through the Stone Forest for a while, he disappeared.

"Elder Li, why didn't you kill him?" Only after Shi Yan had disappeared did Mo Yan Yu ask in furious frustration.

"That fellow is at least at the Xiantian Second Heaven. His methods are vicious, and every move is a lethal attack. He's also far too fast; even I would have trouble keeping up with him. If I left you alone, you'd become his target. I was worried something might happen to you..." Li Han said helplessly.

"Xiantian Second Heaven!"

Mo Yan Yu drew in a sharp breath. The horror in her eyes deepened, and she murmured, "How is that possible? Two months ago, he had only a wisp of vital essence in his body and was at the Houtian First Heaven!"

"What?" Li Han's body shook violently. He stared at her in disbelief and stood stunned for a long while before saying, "If that's really true, then forgive my bluntness, Miss, but you've brought a huge disaster upon the Mo Family!"

Shi Yan remained calm as he sped through the Stone Forest, never lingering long in any one area.

He had seen that Li Han was a Human Position Realm martial artist. On top of that, the Mo Family's Blue Smoke Bomb had already gone up, and experts would soon gather here. He had to leave as soon as possible, before he found himself surrounded.

Thanks to his vigilance, he had escaped that dangerous area well before Mo Chao Ge and the others arrived.

There didn't seem to be many ruthless characters lurking in the Stone Forest. He ran at full speed the whole way and wasn't ambushed by a single stranger. Shi Yan found it somewhat surprising and faintly guessed that the unusual quiet might have something to do with the important person Mu Yu Die was waiting for.

By dusk.

Shi Yan finally made it through the Stone Forest and headed toward Silent Town, which lay within easy reach.

At this point, he slowed his pace and began sorting through the previous owner of this body's memories, going over everything he could learn about the Shi Family.

He needed the identity of the previous owner of this body.

As one of the Merchant Alliance's five great families, the Shi Family had exceptional advantages when it came to the cultivation resources available to Martial Artists: Martial Skills, gravity training chambers, all manner of rare medicinal herbs, and expert guidance given without reservation...

He needed to take advantage of these resources to improve his strength as much as possible.

He had decided to go to the Shi Family back when he was beside the blood pool. He had already planned to do so, which was why he had turned down Mu Yu Die's invitation.

The previous owner of this body had a special status. Joining an unfamiliar faction would only create a lot of unnecessary trouble.

Besides, an unfamiliar faction wouldn't give him its truly good resources.

Going to the Shi Family was different...

The original owner of this body had been a young master of the Shi Family. As long as he displayed enough talent, the Shi Family would spare no expense in cultivating him and wouldn't begrudge him any cultivation resources.

With such exceptional resources at his disposal, wouldn't it be a waste not to use them?

The moment he stepped into Silent Town, Shi Yan went straight to a shop that bought all kinds of strange ores without a second thought. As soon as he entered, he called out boldly, "Someone, come here."

A shop assistant hurried over with an ingratiating smile. "Young Master Yan, you're finally back! The family head saw that you hadn't come out of the Gloomy Forest for so long, so he even sent Concubine Han to fetch you. Young Master Yan, Concubine Han is in the back courtyard. He's been waiting for you for a while, but he's a little... occupied right now. Would you like to wait a bit before—"

The assistant wore a knowing expression as he glanced toward the back courtyard, his eyes full of meaning.

"It's fine. I know what he's doing." Shi Yan ignored him and headed straight for the shop's back courtyard.

Several Shi Family Martial Artists were gambling in the back courtyard. When they saw Shi Yan, they panicked and awkwardly put away their dice, greeting him in unison. "Young Master Yan!"

"Carry on." Shi Yan waved a hand and strode between them toward a side room farther back.

The gambling Martial Artists were surprised to see Shi Yan leave without showing the slightest sign of blame.

"Huh? Young Master Yan didn't scold us this time. That's strange."

"Yeah. Before, every time he caught us gambling, he'd lecture us, saying we were neglecting our duties and wasting our lives away. This time he didn't say a word. Weird."

"Young Master Yan seems different from before. He seems... he seems to have a certain presence now, a kind of authority. Don't you think?"

"Now that you mention it, he really does."

"..."

Shi Yan reached the side room and shoved the door open, barging in. "Uncle Han, when did you get here?"

Inside the room, Han Zhong was enthusiastically working atop a seductive young woman. He shouted excitedly, "Nine shallow, one deep! Let me show you my nine shallow, one deep! How's that? You little minx, I'll have you begging for mercy!"

"...Oh, Uncle Han, you're amazing!" The young woman lay beside him, drenched in sweat. Her two snow-white legs were clamped tightly around Han Zhong's waist, and she cried out loudly.

They were in the middle of things and hadn't even noticed Shi Yan come in. They continued shouting without pause.

Shi Yan grinned, then naturally took a seat in a chair. He calmly poured himself a cup of tea and watched them with a smile as he sipped.

Two minutes later.

After a low groan, Han Zhong collapsed on top of the young woman like a dead dog. He said lazily, "Well? Wasn't I impressive? How do I compare to that Wu Gui of yours?"

"How could that 'tortoise' compare to you, Uncle Han?" The young woman stretched lazily. Her gaze wandered casually and landed on Shi Yan, who was drinking tea nearby. She immediately shrieked, "Ah..."

Han Zhong froze, then hurriedly fumbled for his clothes and put them on. He gave an awkward laugh. "...Well, Young Master Yan, when did you come in?"

"I've been here a while." Shi Yan smiled and took another sip of tea. He waved his hand. "It's fine. If you haven't had enough, you can go for another round of nine shallow, one deep. I'm idle anyway; I might as well observe and learn a thing or two from you, Uncle Han."

"...Cough, cough, cough!" Han Zhong coughed violently for a while, embarrassed. "We've had enough, we've had enough... Anyway, Xiao Feng Xian, shouldn't you get back to your business?"

"Mm, I'll be going now." The young woman covered herself as she got dressed on the bed, her face red. As she reached the door, she suddenly turned and glared at Shi Yan. "They all say Young Master Yan of the Shi Family is the very picture of propriety. I think they must all be blind. I've never seen a 'proper' young master as wicked as you! Hmph!"

With that, Xiao Feng Xian burst into laughter and even shot Shi Yan a flirtatious glance before leaving with a graceful sway.