Shi Yan

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	Shi Yan (石岩)
Alias(es)	Ding Yan 36 41
Species/Race	Human
Gender	Male 3
Affiliation	Shi Family of the Merchant Alliance; formerly a Medicine Slave of the Mo Family 4 43
Occupation/Role	Martial Artist; formerly an archaeologist and explorer of ancient ruins 1 2
Status	Alive 50
First Appearance	Chapter 1

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Postnatal First Heaven	2 43	The blood pool grants him his first Essence, placing him on the Martial Artist path.
Postnatal Third Heaven	10	Reaches Essence Emission, allowing him to project Essence and infuse it into weapons.
Innate Realm	14	Purifies the Essence taken from Kalu, opens his meridians, and completes a Great Zhou Tian cycle.
Petrifying Martial Soul awakened	18	The Shi Family’s inherited Martial Soul manifests, allowing his body to petrify while retaining agility.
Innate Second Heaven	29	Realizes he has advanced another Heaven after the tree-hole incident.
Petrifying Martial Soul — Second Stage	33	His petrification becomes dark brown, a stage normally reserved for Shi Family members at the Human Position Realm; physical defense rises dramatically.
Innate Third Heaven	40	Gains the ability to sense the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

Background / History

Rebirth and the Blood Pool

Shi Yan was originally an extreme-sports enthusiast from Earth. After dying in a blue hole, his consciousness awakened in the body of another seventeen-year-old Shi Yan: a frail Shi Family descendant who had spent half a year pursuing an ancient map into a stone cave. The original body’s memories, including its knowledge of ruins and ancient writing, became part of Shi Yan’s consciousness 1.

The cave’s blood pool encased him in a blood cocoon and transformed all 720 of his acupoints into spinning vortexes. He emerged with Essence, an ancient Blood Pattern Ring, and a body radically altered by the pool’s power 2.

Mo Family Captivity and Escape

After encountering Mo Yan Yu in the Gloomy Forest, Shi Yan was captured and made a Medicine Slave for the Mo Family’s alchemist, Kalu. He concealed his intentions, used the caravan’s food to restore his weakened body, and endured repeated poison tests 3 4.

Kalu’s Gut-Severing Powder awakened Shi Yan’s self-healing Undying Martial Soul. During a White Blade Jade Spider attack, Shi Yan escaped captivity and discovered that his acupoints could absorb Essence from the dead 6 8. He later acquired the Berserk Martial Skill from the Blood Pattern Ring and used it, together with Kalu’s own Dark Light Shield technique and Blue Smoke Bombs, to kill Kalu and flee the Mo Family’s pursuit 11 12.

Journey through the Gloomy Forest

Driven near madness by the negative forces released through Berserk, Shi Yan was calmed by Mu Yu Die’s zither music. Her aid allowed him to purify Kalu’s Essence, enter the Innate Realm, and stabilize his bloodthirsty impulses 13 14.

He travelled with Mu Yu Die, Di Ya Lan, Luo Hao, Zhao Xin, and Hu Long while repaying Mu Yu Die’s kindness. During the journey, Luo Hao trained him under increasingly harsh Gravity Fields, while Shi Yan fought the Tusk Mercenary Group, Dark Nether, and Mo Family pursuers 17 19 23. He survived Luo Hao’s death, used Star Thunders and poison to cripple their pursuers, and continued protecting Mu Yu Die and Di Ya Lan through the forest 26 27.

Return to the Shi Family

Shi Yan eventually separated from Mu Yu Die and Di Ya Lan, refusing Mu Yu Die’s offer to introduce him to a major power because he did not want to be constrained by another faction 41. He returned instead to the Shi Family, intending to use his inherited status and the family’s cultivation resources to grow stronger 43.

He concealed the Blood Pattern Ring, his mysterious corpse-absorbing Martial Soul, and most of his Gloomy Forest experiences. To explain his changes, he claimed that he had found and eaten vermilion-red fruits in an ancient cave 45. Shi Jian confirmed that Shi Yan possessed both the Undying and second-stage Petrifying Martial Souls, then placed him through intensive Gravity Room refinement and personally allowed him to select the Finger Spear Art 47 49 50.

Appearance

Shi Yan initially inhabits the frail body of a seventeen-year-old archaeologist. The blood pool, relentless physical conditioning, and repeated combat transform him into a lean but heavily muscled Martial Artist with an angular face and a notably more masculine bearing 1 44 49.

• Dark eyes that become sharp or bloodshot when fighting or suppressing Berserk’s negative impulses 11 14.
• A lean frame concealing exceptional explosive strength and endurance 19 47.
• Dark-brown petrified skin when activating the second stage of his Petrifying Martial Soul 33 40.
• His body may emit pale white mist laden with resentment, fear, despair, and bloodlust while using Berserk 11 36.

Personality

Shi Yan is adventurous, thrill-seeking, and unusually calm under lethal pressure. His former life as an extreme-sports enthusiast shapes his view that danger and combat are exhilarating tests of personal limits; he repeatedly pushes himself through injuries and exhaustion rather than accepting a safe limit 3 19 20.

He is pragmatic and highly retaliatory. Shi Yan endures humiliation when survival demands it, but once capable of striking back, he uses ambushes, poison, explosives, and psychological warfare without hesitation. He distinguishes sharply between debts of kindness and enmity, choosing to repay either “tenfold” 4 17 27.

Shi Yan values independence over the protection and resources offered by powerful factions. He is willing to cooperate with others, but refuses to become subordinate to them 41 43.

His behavior toward women is frequently lewd and intrusive, including voyeurism, provocative remarks, and unwanted advances. These actions create lasting hostility with Mo Yan Yu and recurring conflict with Mu Yu Die, even as he later aids both women 3 29 39.

Abilities & Skills

Mysterious Martial Soul

Shi Yan’s unnamed Martial Soul is tied to the 720 vortex-like acupoints created by the blood pool.

• Draws residual Essence from nearby dead Martial Artists into his acupoints, leaving bodies shriveled and drained 8 10 37.
• Purifies absorbed Essence into a strange warm power that strengthens his Essence, flesh, and Martial Souls 14 33.
• Can stimulate Martial Souls beyond normal realm restrictions; it advances his Petrifying Martial Soul to its second stage before he reaches the Human Position Realm 33.
• Excessive absorbed Essence carries the deceased’s negative emotions and can provoke violent bloodlust, mental instability, or loss of control 17 39.
• His Innate Realm body can initially absorb the Essence of two deceased Martial Artists of the same realm without overwhelming his reason 17.

Undying Martial Soul

Shi Yan named his self-healing Martial Soul after it repaired the internal decay caused by Gut-Severing Powder.

• Restores poisoned, damaged, and wounded tissue without requiring Essence circulation 6.
• Rapidly repairs injuries sustained during combat and harsh physical refinement 20 26.
• Rebuilds muscle tissue stronger after it is pushed beyond its limit in Gravity Field training 20.
• Greatly reduces Berserk’s debilitating aftermath, allowing him to recover combat capability far sooner than expected 39.
• Its eventual ability to restore severed limbs or grant immortality is only Shi Yan’s speculation, not a demonstrated power 6.

Petrifying Martial Soul

The Shi Family’s inherited Martial Soul allows Shi Yan to harden his body without sacrificing mobility.

• First manifestation: turns portions of his body stone-gray and greatly improves physical defense 18.
• Second stage: turns his petrified body dark brown and grants defense normally associated with Human Position Shi Family members 33 47.
• Resists sharp weapons, powerful Essence impacts, and attacks that would otherwise cripple him 25 36.
• Produces a faint protective dark sheen without requiring him to activate Dark Light Shield 40.
• Requires brutal physical tempering to fully exploit its potential; Shi Yan trains through repeated impacts under sevenfold gravity 48.

Berserk

An incomplete, unknown-grade Martial Skill transmitted by the Blood Pattern Ring. Shi Yan possesses only its first-stage cultivation method.

• Reverses the flow of Essence through acupoints, releasing negative energy from his body as pale white mist 11.
• Increases his physical force enough to kill opponents above his realm and break through Kalu’s Dark Light Shield 12.
• The mist can instill fear, despair, rage, and murderous impulses in enemies 11 36.
• Can form ghostly figures from accumulated negative energy, as seen with Jin Mo’s phantom and the three figures used in the stone cave 24 36.
• Causes severe pain during cultivation, bloodthirsty impulses during use, and crippling fatigue afterward 15 37.
• He has refined Berserk through most of his body, but attempts to activate the acupoints in his head cause overwhelming pain and unconsciousness 21 34.

Dark Light Shield

A defensive Martial Skill taken from Kalu’s possessions.

• Forms a flexible dark membrane around Shi Yan’s body through Essence circulation 15.
• Its defensive strength increases with the speed and volume of Essence he can circulate 15.
• Cannot be maintained reliably while Shi Yan fully channels Berserk’s power 25.

Physical Conditioning and Combat Tactics

Shi Yan combines extreme conditioning with ambush tactics rather than relying solely on realm strength.

• Completed eleven laps under Luo Hao’s fivefold Gravity Field without using Essence during his first session 19 20.
• Continued training to fifteen laps while jumping, striking, rolling, and evading under the same field 21.
• Uses improvised traps, poison-coated branches, corpse bait, Blue Smoke Bombs, and Star Thunders against stronger opponents 12 24 27.
• Selected the Finger Spear Art, a close-combat Martial Skill that hardens the fingers into spear-like weapons; he begins its painful cultivation in the Gravity Room 50.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Blood Pattern Ring — Ancient ring recovered from the drained blood pool; contains the first-stage method of Berserk behind an Essence-sealed barrier 2 11.
• Dagger — Concealed weapon used to kill Kalu, fight Tu Mu, and prepare traps 12 25 27.
• Magnetic Shock Domain Field scripture — Spirit Grade Martial Skill scripture taken from the Thunder Wing Silver Wolf’s den; Shi Yan can read its ancient title and claims it as his share of the treasure 38 39.
• Finger Spear Art — Mysterious Grade Martial Skill selected from the Shi Family’s Martial Soul Hall for his second-stage Petrifying body 50.
• Purification Powder — Powder used to absorb blood scent, toxins, and impurities from the air while hiding in a cave 37.
• Star Thunders — Three explosive secret treasures acquired from Tu Mu; Shi Yan uses them in traps against the pursuing factions and against hostile cave intruders 26 27 35.

Relationships

• Shi Jian — Grandfather and patriarch of the Shi Family. Initially dismissive of Shi Yan’s lack of a Martial Soul, he becomes his principal supporter after confirming Shi Yan’s dual Martial Souls and anomalous second-stage petrification 21 47 50.
• Yang Hai — Shi Yan’s father. A non-Martial Artist who manages Shi Family mining affairs and worries deeply about Shi Yan’s safety 21 47.
• Han Zhong — Shi Family Martial Artist and confidant. He helps Shi Yan return from Silent Town, teaches him about the Merchant Alliance, and supplies food and wine during Gravity Room training 43 45 48.
• Mo Yan Yu — Mo Family heiress and persistent enemy. She captured Shi Yan after their first encounter, made him a Medicine Slave, and continues pursuing him after his escape and Kalu’s death 3 4 12 43.
• Kalu — Mo Family alchemist and Shi Yan’s former captor. His poison awakens Shi Yan’s Undying Martial Soul; Shi Yan later kills him and takes his possessions 6 12.
• Luo Hao — Mu Yu Die’s guardian and Shi Yan’s Gravity Field mentor. Luo Hao gradually respects Shi Yan’s endurance and dies protecting the group from Dark Nether and the Mo Family 19 21 26.
• Mu Yu Die — Benefactor and travelling companion. Her zither music repeatedly stabilizes Shi Yan’s Berserk-induced madness, enabling his Innate Realm breakthrough; he later aids her recovery but clashes with her over his conduct and independence 14 18 39 41.
• Di Ya Lan — Travelling ally and intimate partner. Shi Yan helps awaken her Blue Demon Flame through his unusual energy, and the two fight together against the Tusk Mercenary Group and other pursuers 25 30 36.
• Qiang Sen — Former Mo Family guard who shackled and abused Shi Yan as a Medicine Slave. Shi Yan kills him after encountering Mo Yan Yu’s group in the Stone Forest 4 43.

Notable Quotes

“Even a drop of kindness deserves a gushing spring in return. How could I not repay Miss Mu for saving my life? I'm a person who clearly distinguishes between kindness and enmity. If someone targets me, I'll repay tenfold! If someone treats me kindly, I'll repay tenfold!” 17

“I have things to do and don't want to become a slave to any family.” 41

Trivia

• Shi Yan’s inherited memories of archaeology and ancient ruins allow him to identify the title of the Spirit Grade scripture, Magnetic Shock Domain Field, when Di Ya Lan cannot read its ancient characters 38.
• He deliberately reveals the Undying Martial Soul to Shi Jian while concealing the far more dangerous mystery of his corpse-absorbing Martial Soul 45 50.
• Shi Yan’s Petrifying Martial Soul reaches its second stage while he is still in the Innate Realm, a phenomenon Shi Jian states has never occurred in the Shi Family before 47.