The Lightning Martial Soul

Shi Yan opened his eyes and stared blankly at the Medicine Slaves not far away.

Most of these people came from poor families and had no choice but to make an agreement with Mo Yan Yu and become Medicine Slaves. If they could endure for half a year, they would not only earn their freedom but also receive two hundred Purple Crystal Coins. Of course, if they died while testing medicine, their families would receive the money instead.

On the Divine Grace Continent, one Black Crystal Coin was worth one hundred Purple Crystal Coins, or ten thousand Blue Crystal Coins. Ordinary people earned only five or six Purple Crystal Coins a year. A Medicine Slave would have to work for forty years to earn two hundred.

On the day they signed the agreement, their families received fifty Purple Crystal Coins. The rest would be handed over six months later. If they died, the coins would go to their families. Two hundred Purple Crystal Coins was more than these people might earn in a lifetime of hard work. That was why they had been willing to take the risk.

However, when they signed the agreement, they had never imagined that testing medicine could be so cruel. Almost every few days, one of them died from it, and each met a gruesome end. Terror left them constantly on edge, and all kinds of thoughts began to stir in their minds.

Unfortunately, the agreement was in black and white: once signed, they could not back out. In other words, for the next six months, they had handed their lives over to the Mo Family. If they refused to honor the agreement or dared to sneak away, the Mo Family had the right to kill them.

There was no such thing as a free lunch. By the time they realized how cruel testing medicine was, it was already too late. All they could do was grit their teeth and endure.

Shi Yan knew they would never make it to that day. He knew that sooner or later, every one of these Medicine Slaves would die; someone might lose their life testing medicine as soon as tomorrow. He also knew his abilities were limited and he couldn't change any of this. So he avoided getting close to them. If he had no ties to them, he wouldn't feel grief when they died.

Shi Yan frowned and stole a glance at the alchemist, Kalu, seated high inside the Earth Dragon's carriage, then quickly looked away.

From the five white medicine-bottle emblems embroidered on Kalu's chest, he could tell that Kalu was a fifth-grade Mortal Grade alchemist. Alchemists were an unusual group, even rarer than Martial Artists in this world.

Almost every alchemist was also a Martial Artist. The pills they made could improve a Martial Artist's cultivation, and the special pills crafted by a handful of especially skilled alchemists could even enhance the abilities of a Martial Soul.

Unlike Martial Artists, who were divided into ten realms, alchemists on the Divine Grace Continent were ranked according to their skill in pill-making. There were five grades: Mortal Grade, Mysterious Grade, Spirit Grade, Saint Grade, and God Grade, each divided into seven ranks.

Every grade of alchemist had its own distinctive emblem. Mortal Grade alchemists wore white medicine bottles on their chests, Mysterious Grade alchemists wore flames, Spirit Grade alchemists wore medicinal herbs, Saint Grade alchemists wore pills, and God Grade alchemists wore medicine cauldrons. Kalu had five white medicine bottles embroidered on his chest, making his cultivation as a fifth-grade Mortal Grade alchemist obvious at a glance.

Since their pills could transform Martial Artists and increase their essence, alchemists held an extremely high position among them. And because alchemists were so rare, every one of them became the object of a struggle between the various powers, further elevating their status.

Kalu, a fifth-grade Mortal Grade alchemist, had been invited from Medicine King Valley in the Divine Grace Empire by Mo Yan Yu to serve the Mo Family. Like the Shi Family, the Mo Family was one of the Merchant Alliance's five great clans. The Mo Family had a Martial Soul of its own—Lightning Power. Many members of the family were born with a Lightning Martial Soul, which grew stronger as their cultivation advanced.

And Mo Yan Yu was a young master of the Mo Family's main line, gifted with a Lightning Martial Soul.

The Mo Family dealt in medicinal herbs throughout the Merchant Alliance and had long sought to recruit alchemists from all over to make pills for them. But alchemists were eccentric and thought highly of themselves. Few were willing to submit to a clan's control, so the Mo Family had never gotten its way.

Though Kalu was only a fifth-grade Mortal Grade alchemist, persuading him to join them had been no easy feat. Mo Yan Yu had somehow convinced him to leave Medicine King Valley and agree to make pills for the Mo Family.

But Kalu seemed to stray from the righteous path. He was intensely interested in the study of poisons, which alchemists regarded as a crooked art. And to brew poisons with precision, testing them on demonic beasts wasn't enough—they had to be tested on living people. That was how the Medicine Slaves had come to be.

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"Move out!" Mo Yan Yu's sharp voice rang out in the distance. The Martial Artists who had been resting hurried to their feet and gathered their things, ready to set off. The Medicine Slaves huddled together scrambled up too, afraid they would be beaten if they lagged behind.

Shi Yan rose silently. He cast a cold glance at the graceful yet venomous silhouette at the front of the group and gave an almost inaudible snort before dutifully following the others.

The Mo and Shi Families had never gotten along in the Merchant Alliance. Three years ago, Mo Yan Yu's fifth uncle had been killed by Shi Dang of the Shi Family while the two clans fought over a mine. The Mo Family had retaliated ferociously, killing many of the Shi Family's guards. Ever since then, the two clans had often clashed in secret.

Shi Yan knew that if he revealed the identity of the body's original owner, he wouldn't be freed. He would probably die even sooner.

Fortunately, the original owner of this body had no Martial Soul and had never taken to martial arts. He had never attended any of the Merchant Alliance's martial arts events, so Mo Yan Yu didn't recognize him. Otherwise, his situation might have been even worse.

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Night fell beneath a moon like a silver platter, with stars scattered across the sky.

The Mo Family's group made camp beside a small river. The Earth Dragons rested quietly by the water, snorting and huffing. The Mo Family's Martial Artists ate dried meat and laughed as they talked about the Merchant Alliance's brothels and the famous whores who worked there.

A few audacious Martial Artists stole glances at Mo Yan Yu's shapely figure whenever her back was turned. They swallowed hard, though they knew that a woman of her status and standing was beyond their reach. They had to settle for feasting their eyes on her.

Shi Yan sat down quietly and was about to continue circulating the essence within his body when he suddenly saw Mo Yan Yu and Kalu walking toward him from the front of the group.

Shi Yan's heart sank. He knew trouble was coming, and his expression gradually darkened.

"The Gut-Severing Powder is too potent. Ordinary folk can't withstand it. Two have died in just six days. It seems only Martial Artists can bear it. That boy's been recuperating for a while, and he looks much better now. I think he's ready to be put to use..." Kalu said with a sinister grin, holding a bowl of thick, black medicine in his left hand.

"Please, Master, don't hold back. Do whatever you like with him—just don't let him die too easily," Mo Yan Yu said with a light laugh.

"Heh heh, don't you worry, Miss Mo. Now that he's fallen into my hands, there's no chance I'll let him die quickly. You saw what the Gut-Severing Powder did to those other commoners. Their bodies slowly rotted away before they died. The stronger this boy's body is, the slower it'll rot, and the more he'll suffer. Just watch," Kalu roared with laughter, completely unconcerned about Shi Yan hearing him.

"That's exactly what I want." Mo Yan Yu nodded, a cold gleam in her beautiful eyes. She clearly hated Shi Yan to the core.

They chatted as they approached Shi Yan. Without wasting a word, Kalu held out the bowl of thick, black Gut-Severing Powder and said coldly, "Drink it."

Mo Yan Yu held out her snow-white left hand. Dazzling arcs of electricity writhed across her five fingers, winding slowly from her little finger toward her thumb like a nimble, living electric serpent. Her Lightning Martial Soul fused with her essence, and threads of energy crackled through the air.

"Heh!" Qiang Sen's cold laugh came from behind Shi Yan. "Boy, you know what'll happen if you dare refuse to drink."

Kalu's eyes shone with excitement. He couldn't help rubbing his hands together as he cried, "Boy, the Gut-Severing Powder is fascinating. It'll make you rot bit by bit, starting with your intestines..."

Mo Yan Yu watched Shi Yan coldly without blinking, waiting for him to resist. The moment he showed the slightest unwillingness to cooperate, she would strike like lightning and vent her rage on him. She had already made up her mind to teach him a brutal lesson.

Whenever she thought about the way Shi Yan had violated her in those past few days, fury filled her. The forbidden place her fiancé had not even touched had been the first to be savored by Shi Yan, leaving her so humiliated and furious she could hardly keep from vomiting blood.

"I'll drink," Shi Yan replied calmly. He took the bowl of Gut-Severing Powder without a tremor and drained it in one gulp.