Chapter 25: ghost
Shi Yan gripped the dagger and crudely etched butterfly patterns on two large trees before swiftly climbing one of them. Using the dagger, he hacked off branches as thick as an arm, splitting them into five segments. He then quickly sharpened them, haphazardly smearing the tips with "Seven Serpent Venom."
All of this took him two minutes.
Two minutes later, Tu Mu and Jin Mo, members of the Wolf Fang Mercenary Corps, arrived as expected.
Neither Tu Mu nor Jin Mo paid any heed to Shi Yan or the two women. As they weaved through the forest, they leered and joked about how they would soon ravish Di Yalan.
"Whoosh! Whoosh!"
The sharpened branches sliced through the leaves, like stubborn rays of sunlight piercing through the canopy, aimed straight at Tu Mu and Jin Mo.
Tu Mu remained unfazed, casually swinging his battle axe to deflect the two branches. He laughed heartily, "These folks are pathetic, using tree branches to greet us. They don't even give us any face."
"Pitiful fools," Jin Mo sneered, shaking his head.
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"
Three more branches stubbornly shot toward them.
Tu Mu, now a bit impatient, swung his battle axe in a half-circle arc. The silver gleam of the axe flickered, and the three branches fell to the ground once more.
Shi Yan slowly emerged from the foliage, his cold gaze fixed on the two men. "Will you come at me one at a time, or together?"
Tu Mu squinted, glanced up at Shi Yan, and shook his head indifferently. "Just a wet-behind-the-ears kid, probably just entered the innate realm. Big talk, but not much power. I'm not interested."
With that, Tu Mu turned and walked away without a second glance at Shi Yan, his voice trailing off in the distance, "Jin Mo, handle it quickly and catch up. If you're late, I'll take that woman for the second time myself, hahaha!"
Jin Mo snorted coldly, driving his massive wolf-toothed club into the ground with a thud, embedding it deep into the earth. "Come down, boy. I won't use weapons, and don't make me climb up there to chase you. I'm in a hurry, so hurry up."
"Yes, I'm in a hurry too." Shi Yan's eyes were cold and indifferent, as if life and death meant nothing to him. He leaped from the ancient tree, his dagger flashing as it shot into the earth beside the wolf-toothed club.
"Boom!" Shi Yan stood ten meters in front of Jin Mo, raising his empty hands with a slight wave. "I won't use weapons either."
"Brave kid," Jin Mo sneered, his face contorted with bulging veins as his eyes shot a fierce glare. He charged toward Shi Yan.
Jin Mo's hands suddenly swelled, veins writhing like worms on his fists. As he clenched them and swung, the air hummed with the sound of their force, and fist marks materialized in the air, growing stronger with each step.
After five steps, dozens of fist marks had already appeared in front of Jin Mo's swinging arms.
"Fist of the Chaotic Stars!"
Shi Yan's eyes narrowed as he concentrated his vital energy, expelling all stray thoughts from his mind. Only the fist marks remained in his vision, and the single thought of killing Jin Mo dominated his heart.
"Boom!"
A thunderous explosion resounded in Shi Yan's mind, as if he had achieved sudden enlightenment, drawing him into a mysterious realm.
His senses—sight, hearing, and touch—became acutely sensitive. Everything around him sharpened into crystal clarity. Staring at Jin Mo, he could vividly sense the flow and pulse of vital energy within Jin Mo's arms.
In an instant, the countless fist marks vanished into thin air, leaving only Jin Mo's two fists in his vision. Even the trajectory of those fists was perfectly clear to him.
Taking a deep breath, Shi Yan suddenly roared. His arms visibly shriveled, as wisps of mist-like white smoke twined around them.
At the same time, his skin began to harden, starting from his neck, turning into a gray-brown stone-like texture, as tough as iron.
Dark mist also seeped out from his body, enveloping his lean frame.
Jin Mo's iron fists, carrying overwhelming force capable of shattering rocks, crashed into Shi Yan's chest.
The dark mist shield twisted under the impact, and with a burst, it shattered into fragments of dark light. Jin Mo's fists punched through the mist shield, slightly weakened, but still struck heavily against Shi Yan's chest.
"Boom!"
"Crack!"
The sound of the heavy blow and the breaking of bones rang out almost simultaneously.
Jin Mo's face twisted in pain as he realized that the cracking sound hadn't come from Shi Yan's chest but from his own fists!
Gritting his teeth, Jin Mo shook his arm, trying to ease the excruciating pain. His face showed shock as he stared at the cold, unyielding Shi Yan, suddenly recalling something. He exclaimed, "The 'Petrification Martial Soul' of the Shi family! You're from the Shi family of the Commerce Alliance?"
"Smart," Shi Yan sneered, his smile as cold as ice.
Jin Mo cursed under his breath, trying to retreat, but found himself too close to Shi Yan, with no time to escape.
Like lightning, Shi Yan's hand shot out, gripping Jin Mo's throat. The white mist swirling around his arm, filled with fear, madness, violence, and despair, seeped into Jin Mo's body.
Jin Mo felt as if he had plunged into a hellish abyss, his face contorted in terror as he trembled uncontrollably. "No! No! Please, no!"
It was as if Jin Mo had lost all sight, screaming in panic, his iron fists flailing aimlessly, as if warding off some terrifying specter.
Shi Yan had long since released his grip. The white mist had vanished from his arm, his expression returned to normal, and he began silently counting the seconds.
One, two, three, four, five…
As he counted, Shi Yan calmly walked over to where his dagger was embedded, pulling it out of the earth before lightly stepping toward Jin Mo.
When he reached seventeen, Jin Mo seemed to have adjusted to the nightmarish visions, his breathing steadying, his eyes gradually regaining clarity, as if he was about to snap out of it.
Seventeen seconds—enough time to kill a man dozens of times.
Nodding slightly to himself, Shi Yan suddenly darted forward, his dagger slicing cleanly across Jin Mo's throat.
As blood sprayed from the wound, Jin Mo's eyes finally cleared. He glared at Shi Yan with bitter hatred before collapsing backward, unwilling to accept his fate.
Shi Yan crouched down, wiping the blood from his dagger with Jin Mo's clothes. He then searched Jin Mo's body, finding some food, several hundred purple crystal coins, and two sharp fangs of a "Fire Cloud Demon Python."
Unceremoniously pocketing the items, Shi Yan took a deep breath, feeling the essence of Jin Mo's life force flood into his acupoints. Only then did he stand up, muttering to himself, "The Innate Second Sky realm… Even under the influence of the 'Berserk' negative power, it takes seventeen seconds to lose one's mind. This martial skill is truly terrifying. Perhaps the more negative energy I gather, the more powerful it will become…"
Muttering to himself, Shi Yan steadied his emotions, held his breath, and dashed in the direction Tu Mu had fled.
…
"You wicked woman, you're really a wild one! Haha, but I like it!" Tu Mu laughed heartily, wielding his battle axe as he clashed with Di Yalan.
Mu Yu Die's eyes flashed coldly as she held her ancient zither, her delicate face showing signs of inner turmoil, as if making a difficult decision.
Tu Mu's heavy battle axe seemed as light as a feather in his hands, as if it weighed nothing.
With each swing of the axe, Di Yalan's short sword struggled to keep up. Every clash caused Di Yalan to shudder slightly, clearly outmatched by Tu Mu's superior vital energy.
Tu Mu's axe whirled like a wheel, entangling Di Yalan in its shadow. The sharp edge gleamed as it sliced through the air, sending her long hair flying and tearing new slashes in her short skirt, exposing more of her body.
"Wicked woman, do you see how strong I am now? Don't worry, soon I'll show you my real strength, and it's not just my martial skills, hahaha!" Tu Mu laughed sinisterly, seemingly in no hurry to finish her off, toying with her instead.
Di Yalan was furious, but too overwhelmed to reply, struggling to fend off his attacks.
"Need some help, big sister?" A lazy, mocking voice suddenly called out from the forest.
The next moment, Shi Yan emerged, dagger in hand. His eyes swept over Di Yalan's exposed skin, and he clicked his tongue appreciatively. "Smooth and full, firm and round. Excellent, excellent."
Di Yalan's face lit up with joy, too relieved to argue. She stepped back and exclaimed, "You scoundrel, you're still alive."
Tu Mu's expression darkened, suddenly becoming serious. He didn't press his advantage against Di Yalan, instead turning to look at Shi Yan, his voice deep, "Is Jin Mo dead?"
"What do you think?" Shi Yan replied, smiling as he approached, his
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone