Capítulo 11: counterattack
In the dense and shadowy forest, the Mo Clan warriors scattered, searching in a semicircle formation, their expressions solemn.
Mo Yanyu's face was cold as she sternly commanded, "Search! The moment you spot him, release the blue smoke signal—don't engage with him!"
"Three days, and still no trace of him. Yet, he leaves behind subtle signs. Is he unaware of how to hide, or is he doing this on purpose?" Karu's face darkened, his frustration growing.
For the past few days, they had scoured the forest, frequently encountering traces of Shi Yan's passage—broken branches and footprints that indicated he was nearby. But every time they sent someone to investigate, they found nothing, not even a shadow.
"Expand the search area!" Mo Yanyu gritted her teeth and coldly ordered, "Spread out, with this place as the center. Search thoroughly! The moment you spot him, release the blue smoke signal. I'll be there immediately!"
The Mo Clan warriors responded in unison.
"Could there be trouble with the Earth Dragon?" Karu frowned with concern, "All my potions are there. If that brat messes with them, we'll be in trouble."
"Master, rest assured. The Earth Dragon is guarded by Johnson and seven warriors. Johnson has reached the third stage of the Houtian Realm. That thief is no match for him," Mo Yanyu replied proudly.
Karu nodded and said no more.
The Mo Clan's search extended further, increasing the distance between each person. Each warrior carried a blue smoke signal, so they weren't worried. The moment Shi Yan was spotted, they could release the smoke and feel secure.
One of the warriors walked under the shade of the trees, cursing under his breath, his face tense. He occasionally looked up at the ancient trees above or scanned the surrounding bushes.
After three days of searching, they hadn't seen a trace of Shi Yan. Moreover, Shi Yan was just a minor warrior in the Houtian Realm, so they didn't believe he would dare linger nearby. They thought he had long since fled, and so they secretly resented the fruitless search, feeling it was a waste of time.
As this warrior walked under the dense branches of an ancient tree, he instinctively looked up at the sky. Suddenly, a murderous, icy, and evil aura descended from above. Shi Yan's figure appeared abruptly, like a starving wolf pouncing on its prey, his knee smashing into the warrior's face.
"Bang!"
A powerful force struck, blood splattered across the warrior's face, and he fell backward, tears and blood mixing in his eyes, blinding him.
Clutching a dagger, he swung wildly, screaming, "Here! He's here!"
As he prepared to release the blue smoke signal from his left hand, a sharp pain shot through his wrist. Unable to bear the pain, his grip loosened, and the signal was snatched away.
"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Shi Yan's expression was cold, his eyes unknowingly turning dark red, filled with killing intent. He moved rapidly around the warrior, dodging the wild swings of the dagger while kicking him repeatedly in the head.
With the surging essence energy coursing through his legs, each kick landed with the weight of an iron hammer. In just five kicks, the warrior was lifeless.
Shi Yan stepped forward, calmly retrieving the dagger from the limp hand, and casually slashed the warrior's throat.
Invisible streams of air, laced with anxiety, anger, and fear, flowed out of the warrior's body, rapidly entering Shi Yan's acupoints. In just a few seconds, the warrior was drained of all vitality, leaving only a shriveled corpse behind.
Frowning, Shi Yan searched the corpse, finding only a bag of food and more than thirty purple crystal coins. Unceremoniously pocketing the valuables, Shi Yan moved on, swiftly disappearing into the forest like a fox.
It was his first time killing someone, yet he felt no fear. From start to finish, he remained unusually calm. As he delivered each blow to the warrior's head, he felt a thrill, a sense of satisfaction, as if his deepest instincts were being fulfilled. The suppression of the past days was suddenly released when he severed the man's throat.
Shi Yan knew this wasn't right. He realized that something must have gone wrong with his body. Normally, a person wouldn't be so calm and composed after their first kill, let alone feel such pleasure, almost like an addict craving more.
The air currents from the dead man flowed into his acupoints, and a murderous impulse grew within him. Soon, after the mad swirling of energy within his acupoints, a strange power was injected into his essence energy, further refining and strengthening it.
It was a tangible benefit!
***
For five days, Shi Yan moved like a ghost through the forest, striking from the shadows. Each attack was swift and deadly, ensuring the victim couldn't release the blue smoke signal before being killed.
In those five days, three more warriors were slain. Each time Mo Yanyu and the others arrived, they found the corpses shriveled, all their essence and blood seemingly drained.
Mo Yanyu grew increasingly anxious and uneasy. She and Karu searched the forest desperately, hoping to find Shi Yan. They began to feel the growing threat.
The first warrior's face was mutilated, his head severely damaged, with signs of a struggle.
The second and third warriors had been ambushed from behind, each stabbed multiple times in the abdomen, but there were still traces of a brief fight.
By the fourth warrior, the kill was clean—a single slash across the throat, leaving no signs of a struggle.
From the state of the four bodies, it was clear that Shi Yan's killing technique was becoming more refined. The forest had become his stage, where he displayed his growing skill, using the terrain to his advantage, hiding his tracks, and hunting them like a seasoned predator.
The deaths of the four warriors instilled fear in the others. Mo Yanyu and Karu began to take the situation more seriously, ordering the warriors to pair up, so if one was ambushed, the other could immediately assist, preventing any silent kills.
***
In the dense, shadowy forest, atop a towering ancient tree, Shi Yan sat cross-legged, hidden among the layers of leaves, watching the distant figures moving below.
Smart, Shi Yan sneered inwardly, realizing that it would be much harder to ambush and kill them now.
Not in a hurry to make a move, Shi Yan observed for a while, noting that after losing four warriors, the searchers had paired up. Their search was now less thorough, as they didn't head in his direction but instead moved deeper into the other three areas.
Once sure they wouldn't come his way anytime soon, Shi Yan closed his eyes and began to circulate his essence energy. The energy from the people he had killed hadn't yet dissipated, and it was absorbed by his acupoints. After being refined by the acupoint spirals, it was returned to his body, increasing his essence energy by more than double.
With a thought, the flow of essence energy suddenly quickened, surging through his meridians like lightning, rushing from his abdomen to his right arm. As the energy poured into his arm, Shi Yan concentrated, holding his breath, and suddenly exerted force!
The essence energy in his arm became unruly, like a wild horse breaking free, crazily charging towards his index finger!
"Hiss!"
A faint silver smoke suddenly emitted from his index finger, making a strange sound in the air. The smoke didn't coalesce, dissipating after a moment.
Shi Yan abruptly opened his eyes, his dark pupils gleaming with excitement.
Essence energy overflow!
This was the sign of the third stage of the Houtian Realm. After this period of training and battle, he had finally, with the help of the strange power in his acupoints, broken through to a new level!
Although the overflowing essence energy wasn't yet refined and couldn't form a concentrated beam, from this moment on, he could inject his essence energy into his weapons, using it to directly damage an enemy's internal organs. This indicated that he had begun to master the use of essence energy.
Estado de energía semanal
-- Ranking de
Poder 
-- Piedra de
Poder