Undying Martial Soul

Gut-Severing Powder slid down his intestines into his stomach. Shi Yan only felt a dull ache in his gut, as if his insides had been filled with slow-acting sulfuric acid, corroding his stomach and intestines bit by bit. The pain within his body also intensified incrementally.

"Gut-Severing Powder is extremely potent, but it doesn't take effect immediately. Instead, it progresses slowly. A normal person's internal organs would be completely rotten within two days, and the decay would spread throughout the body within three days at most, leading to death by decomposition," Kalu said, narrowing his eyes and speaking unhurriedly. "No rush, let's wait a day and see."

"Alright, we'll check on him again around this time tomorrow night," Mo Yan Yu nodded, casting a smug glance at Shi Yan before happily walking away alongside Kalu.

"Heh heh, kid, your good days are over." Qiang Sen bared his teeth and let out a couple of hearty laughs. The thought of Shi Yan soon dying from a rotting body brought him a great sense of relief, as if a weight had been lifted from his heart.

Shi Yan lowered his head, his eyes cold.

The potency of Gut-Severing Powder had already begun to take effect in his stomach and intestines. He could feel it clearly. It was as if billions of ants were fighting for territory inside him, gnawing at his insides.

A wisp of Essence in his lower abdomen circulated silently, quickly flowing into his stomach and intestines. The Essence, like a warm, gentle stream, was, under his control, silently cleansing the poison from his gut. Wherever the Essence flowed, the rate at which the poison corroded his stomach and intestines slowed down. Shi Yan secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

A damp breeze blew past. Shi Yan greedily took a breath, not bothering to conceal himself from Qiang Sen. He sat down on the spot, concentrating all his attention on circulating his Essence to resist the corrosive effects of the poison.

That wisp of Essence, which had grown considerably stronger recently, became Shi Yan's life-saving herb. It continuously flowed through his stomach and intestines. With each circulation, the potency of the poison corroding his gut seemed to be slowed by a fraction, and the speed of the poison's corrosion never managed to accelerate.

At this moment, Shi Yan truly understood the marvel of Essence, and his resolve to cultivate it diligently and become the strongest Martial Artist was further solidified.

If Essence alone had such great benefits, how much more powerful would a "Martial Soul," revered by Martial Artists as a divine gift, be? If he could possess a "Martial Soul," wouldn't he become even stronger and suffer less?

Shi Yan suddenly resented the owner of this body for not inheriting the Shi Family's "Petrifying Martial Soul." Otherwise, he might have fought back just now, perhaps using the "Petrifying Martial Soul" to withstand Mo Yan Yu's "Lightning Martial Soul" and escape, avoiding the need to ingest this deadly Gut-Severing Powder.

Time flew by, and the moonlight grew cooler. In the blink of an eye, it was already the latter half of the night. The Martial Artists in the distance, having traveled all day, had also quieted down, each finding a comfortable spot to cultivate their Essence, seeking to break through their physical limitations, enter deeper realms, and gain greater strength.

The Medicine Slaves looked up at the sky. In the quiet night, they were more prone to missing their distant families and more susceptible to fear. Every time they thought that perhaps tomorrow they would become test subjects, a new corpse, despair would overflow their bodies, sending shivers of cold.

Under the moonlight, Shi Yan sat cross-legged. A look of solemnity gradually appeared on his usually calm face.

Five hours of circulating Essence had managed to control the rapid spread of Gut-Severing Powder within his body. However, without him realizing it, he found that one-third of his Essence had been consumed, and it was still being depleted!

Yet, the efficacy of the Gut-Severing Powder remaining in his stomach and intestines showed no signs of disappearing. On the contrary, it possessed a tenacious vitality.

The Gut-Severing Powder seemed to be waiting for an opportunity, waiting for the moment his Essence ran out to suddenly counterattack!

Shi Yan suddenly felt a chill run through his body.

Once his Essence was depleted, he would have no other means of defense. At that point, with no other options, he would, like an ordinary person, begin to rot from his stomach and intestines, the decay spreading throughout his entire body.

He had no other way.

In this situation, he couldn't cultivate to gather more Essence, because if he neglected the poison in his gut, the Gut-Severing Powder attached to it would only intensify, leading him to death faster.

Therefore, even knowing that this path led to certain death, he could only continue.

Another two hours passed.

Not only did the potency of Gut-Severing Powder show no signs of slowing down, but it was gradually strengthening. The consumption rate of his Essence was accelerating, he could feel it clearly!

He felt as if he was getting closer and closer to the God of Death...

Once his Essence was depleted, his stomach and intestines would rot. He wouldn't die immediately, but the decay would continue to spread to his vital organs. At most, it would last for five or six days before he, like the other Medicine Slaves, would die from full-body decomposition.

Shi Yan's face darkened, his eyes like ice shards, shooting towards Mo Yan Yu, who was perched on a distant ancient tree.

Under the bright moonlight, Mo Yan Yu sat on the thick trunk, her skin like frost, her pretty face serene. Her long hair swayed gently in the wind, like a spirit in the dark night. Unaware of Shi Yan's sinister gaze, she was cultivating quietly, nourishing the spiritual veins that contained her "Lightning Martial Soul" with Essence.

Kalu was at the rear of the group, his left hand tucked into his loose sleeve, leaning against another old tree. His right hand held a scroll of the Poison Scripture, reading with great interest.

Occasionally, Kalu would glance in Shi Yan's direction, a malicious smirk playing on his lips.

This won't do, Shi Yan frowned deeply. While continuously circulating his Essence to resist the invasion of the poison, he rapidly pondered a solution.

If things continued like this, his Essence would be depleted before dawn. Once his Essence was gone, he would surely die! With the poison in his body, even escaping wouldn't change anything. The only solution was Kalu!

Kalu could refine Gut-Severing Powder, so he must have the antidote in his possession. Only by obtaining the antidote from Kalu could he escape his predetermined fate of bodily decay. However, besides being an Alchemist, Kalu was also a Martial Artist in the Innate Realm. Trying to snatch the antidote from him would be no different from suicide.

Shi Yan observed secretly and found that although Kalu was reading the scripture, he kept glancing towards his area. It was clear that Kalu was not completely unguarded. He might have even guessed what Shi Yan would do and was waiting for him to fall into a trap.

Thoughts flashed through his mind. Shi Yan understood that although the chance of success was almost nonexistent, he had to target Kalu, and he had to act quickly. Otherwise, once his internal Essence was completely depleted, his chances of survival would be even smaller.

Shi Yan secretly adjusted his breathing, temporarily disregarding the poison in his gut, and withdrew all his Essence, preparing for a desperate gamble.

As expected, after withdrawing his Essence, the potency of Gut-Severing Powder suddenly intensified, and the speed at which the poison spread immediately accelerated. The pain within his body naturally surged accordingly.

Just as Shi Yan was preparing to make his move, the already rotten part of his intestines underwent a change!

The rotten section of his intestines suddenly became active. Faint wisps of power, extremely weak, wrapped around the rotten area, as if an invisible hand was holding a needle and thread, mending his decaying gut. The already rotten parts were slowly healing...

Shi Yan was suddenly stunned.

He, who had intended to act immediately, did not rashly rush out. Instead, he calmed down and focused all his mental energy on observing the strange changes within his body!

His cells became incredibly active, as if they had suddenly come alive. The rotten flesh squirmed slightly, and the rotten areas gradually healed. In just half an hour, those rotten parts returned to normal, and he could no longer feel any pain.

A current seemed to flow through his body. Shi Yan felt immense joy, but his face showed no emotion, remaining as calm as water, as if he had fallen into a deep sleep.

Any unusual talent that did not require the circulation of Essence must be a special "Martial Soul"!

A sentence defining the characteristics of a "Martial Soul" suddenly flashed into his mind. After pondering it for a moment, Shi Yan immediately realized that the changes in his body were the result of a special "Martial Soul" at work.

Self-healing of the body – this was a special innate ability, seemingly an undiscovered, miraculous "Martial Soul"!

The medicinal toxins of Gut-Severing Powder acted up again! It began to take effect in his stomach and intestines once more. Without Essence to resist, the poison quickly caused a portion of his intestines to rot again.

Miraculously, those rotten intestines changed once more. Under the activity of his cells, the rotten parts healed again in a short period!

The medicinal power of the poison continuously flared, corroding Shi Yan's intestines and stomach time and again. However, every time his insides were ravaged by the poison, his self-healing "Martial Soul" would activate, successfully repairing the festering areas before the poison struck again.

A Martial Soul would improve along with a Martial Artist's realm, even undergoing special transformations. The higher a Martial Artist's realm, the stronger the special talent displayed by their Martial Soul.

Another saying about the characteristics of a "Martial Soul" flashed into his mind. Shi Yan was overjoyed. Judging by the talent displayed by this self-healing "Martial Soul," as his realm increased, his body could rapidly recover even if injured. Perhaps once his realm reached terrifying stages like Heaven Position or Connecting to God, this self-healing "Martial Soul" could restore severed limbs to their original state.

If he could reach that point, even if someone stabbed him through the heart, wouldn't he be able to recover completely using this "Martial Soul" and thus avoid death?

If it truly reached that point, and one day he attained the realm of a True God, wouldn't he be able to live forever?

A series of thoughts raced through Shi Yan's mind. After careful consideration, Shi Yan silently named this "Martial Soul" the "Undying Martial Soul."

After sensing it for a while longer and confirming that the "Undying Martial Soul" could resist the poison of the Gut-Severing Powder, Shi Yan finally relaxed. He abandoned the idea of risking his life to snatch the antidote from Kalu, continuing to sit still on the spot and, ignoring the repeated struggle within his intestines, began to secretly recover his Essence.