Chapter Thirty-Eight: Spirit-Level Martial Techniques

Corpses piled up in the cave, each one utterly devoid of its vital essence. Under the effect of Shi Yan’s mysterious martial soul, not only were their bodies shriveled, but even their blood had coagulated in a matter of moments. With the blood solidified, the stench in the cave was no longer so overpowering.

Still, Shi Yan was uneasy. After some thought, he hurriedly took out a packet of medicinal powder from his pack and, without hesitation, scattered it throughout the cave. The powder, called “Purifying Dust,” possessed a powerful absorptive quality—it could capture impurities in the air, including toxins, thick odors of blood, and poisonous smoke.

As the Purifying Dust drifted through the cave, the smell of blood vanished as if by magic. The powder floated in the air, absorbing the bloody scent and transforming into tiny crimson granules, each like a drop of blood shrunk to a fraction of its size.

“I’ll find something to cover the entrance,” Shi Yan murmured.

Seeing that he had managed to control the smell, Shi Yan remained cautious. He crept to the mouth of the cave and began to pull the branches and leaves of the shrubs from either side, dragging them slowly to cover the entrance. Although the six men who had previously occupied the cave had forcibly claimed it, they knew to keep the entrance concealed, so they hadn’t damaged the foliage outside.

However, the shrubbery at the mouth had been shredded by the burst of “Star Thunder,” though the foliage on both sides remained untouched. Shi Yan’s task was to draw those leaves over the center of the entrance to hide it.

Breathing evenly, Shi Yan concentrated, inching the leaves toward the entrance with utmost care, fearful that the beasts outside would notice any disturbance.

The roars of beasts grew ever more frequent; the valley beyond was teeming with unknown numbers of them. Shi Yan’s face was grim, his expression solemn, sweat trickling from his brow and soaking his back.

When he finally pulled the last large cluster of leaves into place, his arms trembled as though the effort had drained him.

“What’s wrong?” Di Yalan whispered.

“It’s nothing, just fatigue,” Shi Yan replied, shaking his head and looking pale. After a moment’s contemplation, he said, “Be careful. If we’re discovered by the beasts, you must hold the entrance.”

Di Yalan nodded, concern in her eyes. “I understand… but what’s happened to you? I saw you withstand that expert’s attack just now—why are you so weak now?”

“Because I forced myself to endure him, that’s why I’m exhausted.” Shi Yan sat cross-legged where he was, offering no further explanation.

At this critical moment, he closed his eyes to rest.

The side effect of “Rampage” had struck…

Every time he used “Rampage,” his body endured tremendous strain. The martial skill forced negative powers from his acupoints, a double-edged sword: it granted strength beyond his realm for a short time, but left him spent afterward.

Those negative powers were too sinister, too strange…

As they flowed from his acupoints, they harmed his body. When the Rampage ended, exhaustion washed over him like a tide, rapidly weakening him.

Seated there, Shi Yan felt his limbs powerless, his acupoints aching. The vital essence from the six fresh corpses surged into his acupoints, filling him with a torrent of energy, but as his acupoints purified that energy, negative powers seized the opportunity to corrode his mind.

At this moment, he could not exert his strength; his acupoints were still purifying the essences within. If he remained tense, his body could not recover.

So he wisely chose to ignore everything else and focus on recuperating.

Di Yalan and Mu Yudie, seeing him close his eyes, also adopted solemn expressions, keeping a vigilant watch on the cave’s surroundings.

Beasts prowled the valley, some even drawing near the cave, as if searching for something.

Mu Yudie and Di Yalan guarded the entrance, their nerves stretched taut, not daring to relax.

Di Yalan gripped her short sword tightly, peering through the gaps in the shrubbery, alert for any beast that might approach.

Both knew how sharp a beast’s sense of smell could be, and worried these creatures might track them by scent. They understood: if a single beast discovered the cave, they would have to defend the entrance with their lives.

Thud, thud.

A three-headed hound shook its massive heads, as if it had sensed something, and began to walk toward them at a measured pace. Six eyes swept the area, seeming to have noticed something…

Trouble!

Di Yalan’s face changed, her grip on the sword tightening until sweat broke out on her palm; her bright eyes fixed on the hound, never wavering.

She was tense, ready to fight at a moment’s notice.

The three-headed hound was a level three beast, equivalent to a human expert of the Mortal Realm. Its sense of smell was exceedingly keen; the cave’s blood scent might escape lesser beasts, but not necessarily this one.

Nervousness made Di Yalan’s pores stand on end; her sword hand trembled slightly—a sign that her energy was racing through her veins.

Howl!

Suddenly, the call of the Lightning-Winged Silver Wolf echoed from not far away, drowning out all other beastly cries in the valley.

“I am Gan Xiao of the Medicine King Valley! I came to the Dark Forest only to gather herbs, never entered your lair! Lightning-Winged Silver Wolf, I know your strength—yet I, Gan Xiao, am not afraid. If you dare to slaughter my people further, don’t blame me for being ruthless!” A chilling voice carried from far off.

Howl!

The Lightning-Winged Silver Wolf’s cry sounded again.

The three-headed hound, nearly at Shi Yan’s hiding place, suddenly halted. It paused, then abruptly turned and sprinted toward the source of the wolf’s howl.

One after another, the beasts that had gathered in the valley began to disperse, drawn by the wolf’s cry, converging upon its location.

The Lightning-Winged Silver Wolf and Gan Xiao must be locked in combat…

Di Yalan’s body slackened; she sank to the ground, drenched in cold sweat.

Had the hound advanced just a few dozen meters more, the cave would have been exposed. If it discovered them, the other beasts would surely follow, and then—none of them could escape the beasts’ fangs.

“Lan, are you alright?” Mu Yudie, clutching her blood-stained handkerchief, wiped sweat from her brow and sat against the rock wall.

“I’m fine,” Di Yalan laughed softly, sighing, “Our luck is extraordinary. If the Lightning-Winged Silver Wolf hadn’t fixed its sights on Gan Xiao the Medicine King, summoning the beasts, we’d likely have met a grim fate.”

“I was half scared to death myself,” Mu Yudie admitted, her face pale. “I was ready to take my own life.”

“Don’t think of such things unless there’s truly no other choice.”

Shi Yan snorted, abruptly opening his eyes and frowning. “Since you’re idle, search those six men’s packs. Let’s see what they stole from the Lightning-Winged Silver Wolf’s lair.”

Di Yalan’s eyes lit up, her spirits suddenly restored. “Good idea! The Lightning-Winged Silver Wolf is a level seven beast, one of the most powerful in the Dark Forest! It’s said to be highly intelligent, having killed many formidable warriors and amassed their treasures in its lair. Anything stolen from it must be remarkable!”

“I’ve heard of a method to cultivate a spirit-grade martial skill…” Shi Yan said quietly.

Di Yalan’s face bloomed with a smile, her eyes sparkling. “Spirit-grade martial skills are extremely rare—even our Blazing Fire Empire’s royal family has only five. Any method to cultivate one is priceless, and could easily spark bloody conflict between rival clans.”

“Search thoroughly,” Shi Yan nodded, closing his eyes once more in thought.

He knew well the value of spirit-grade martial skills.

In the Blazing Fire Empire, Divine Blessing Empire, and Merchant Alliance, there were perhaps a hundred warriors who had broken through to the Earth and Nirvana Realms. Yet among them, only a quarter possessed spirit-grade martial skills.

And among those, some practiced the same skill.

It was said that throughout the Blazing Fire Empire, Divine Blessing Empire, and Merchant Alliance, only eighteen spirit-grade martial skills had ever been revealed.

Each one was held by a powerful faction or a dominant warrior.

The Shi family, for example.

They had many ordinary and profound-grade skills, but only one spirit-grade martial skill, which the family patriarch, Shi Jian, guarded fiercely—even his direct descendants didn’t know where he hid it.

“We really are incredibly lucky.”

Di Yalan’s eyes brimmed with joy as she eagerly found the pack belonging to the leader of the six. She yanked it open.

A dazzling silver light burst from the pack, illuminating the dim cave as bright as day.

“Huh!”

…