Chapter Nineteen: Petrified Martial Soul

  A gigantic ancient tree appeared in Luo Hao's line of sight, the tree was so big that it would take ten people to encircle its trunk, and its height reached dozens of meters, with branches and leaves covering the sky and earth.

  Lu Hao suddenly stopped and let go of Mu Yu Die, his expression solemn as he gazed at the ancient tree, his face clouding over with indecision, as if he was about to make a major decision.

  Zhao Xin, Diya Lan and Hu Long, the three of them, arrived in front of this ancient tree, their faces also changing slightly, as if they all knew that there was something unusual about this place.

  Shi Yan furrowed his brow, staring at this giant Sky-Reaching Tree, silent and unspoken.

  Luo Hao took a deep breath, turned around to face everyone, and said in a low voice: "The road on the right side of Wàng Tiān Tree has very few demonic beasts appearing. The vast majority of merchant teams and warriors who pass through Yōu àn Forest will choose this route. Because this route is very safe, even if you encounter demonic beasts, they are usually only level one or two low-level demonic beasts. Moreover, this route is relatively close to the Merchant Alliance, only about ten days' journey."

  Zhao Xin and the other two nodded slightly, apparently all understanding the situation.

  He paused, and Luo Hao's expression turned solemn as he continued: "But if we take the road to the left of the Tian Shu, it's a completely different story! Not only is the journey much longer, but there are also many ferocious beasts roaming about, and numerous ruthless warriors and mercenaries lurking around. Anyone who dares to take this road is not a good person; in the face of long-term danger, those people have always been unscrupulous and unrestrained. If we take this road, we'll need to be constantly on guard against ferocious beasts, and also against those crazy warriors and mercenaries... especially since there are two beautiful girls among us..."

  "Hmph! Who dares to cross me, I'll cut off all their thoughts!" Diya Lan made a cutting motion with her left hand in the air, her beautiful eyes gleaming with cold light.

  "Uncle Luo, what do you mean?" Zhao Xin asked cautiously.

  "Taking the safe route from the right, at most one day, those 'Darkness' people will catch up again, and by then we can't avoid another bitter battle." Luo Hao's face sank, his expression helpless as he said: "Next time, who knows if we'll be so lucky? Moreover, the other side might have received reinforcements. If we really encounter them again, I'm afraid it'll be a disaster..."

  "Shall we go from the left?" Hu Long replied.

  "On the left, ferocious beasts roam, and ruthless warriors and mercenaries often appear. Walking from the left will lead to encounters with ferocious beasts, and it's also possible to be attacked by those warriors who are on the verge of going crazy under pressure. However, the crisis we're about to face is something that 'Darkness' people will also encounter. The reputation of 'Darkness' is not good, and in the Empire of Lava, there may not be many people who dare to confront them directly. But in that area, those who look for trouble with them will certainly not be few. If they're not careful and run into high-level ferocious beasts, it's possible for their entire army to be wiped out..."

  Luo Hao slowly spoke, after explaining the situation, and expressed his own opinion: "If we go from the right side, we won't be attacked by monsters and other warriors, but we'll face the great threat of 'Darkness'. On the left side, we'll be attacked by monsters and warriors, but 'Darkness' might be even more miserable than us. For us, the left side may have a better chance of escape."

  "Go left!" Mu Yudie made a decisive statement.

  "Alright." Luo Hao immediately nodded and took a last glance at Shi Yan, saying: "Little brother, you can still leave now. If you don't go now... it will be too late to think about leaving again."

  "I'll go with you." Shi Yan had already made up his mind, and there was a crazy side to his personality - otherwise he wouldn't have spent ten years indulging in extreme sports, a game of death.

  When Luo Hao talked about the crisis on the left side, he couldn't help but get excited.

  He nodded and Luo Hao waved his hand: "Alright, let's go. From now on, everyone be twice as cautious!"

  ……

  An hour later.

  Mo Chao and Mo Jia Wu also stopped in front of the Wang Tian Tree.

  "Second Uncle, which path will they choose?" Mu Yan Yu asked.

  "I'll chase from the right side, if I don't come back in two hours, you all follow up. If I haven't caught up with them in two hours, they should have gone left." Mo Chao Ge thought for a moment and ordered everyone to wait here, then flew away alone from the left side.

  An hour and a half later, Mo Chao Ge returned with a gloomy face. "Not even a ghostly shadow was seen, yet these people dared to take the left path. Be careful! The left road is infested with ferocious beasts and madmen, don't be careless. Remember, don't easily make enemies of those warriors and mercenaries who dare to extort money from ferocious beasts, they are all reckless lunatics who fear no death, don't provoke them."

  "Yes!"

  "Let's go!"

  ……

  A three-headed sword-toothed rhino slowly paced along the creek, its back gleaming with a silver light, its mouth corners adorned with fang-like teeth, and its fist-sized brown eyes radiating a fierce glow. The rhino's skin was covered in a layer of hard, muddy armor that was as tough as natural steel, impervious to even ordinary swords.

  The three-headed sword-toothed rhino occasionally took a sip of the stream water, its fierce eyes scanning around as if searching for prey.

  In a thicket of trees not far from the Tri-Horned Sword-Toothed Rhinoceros, Luo Hao made a gesture, signaling everyone to be quiet.

  When the three-headed sword-toothed rhinoceros slowly disappeared into the distance, Luo Hao finally let out a sigh of relief and said: "The sword-toothed rhinoceros is a third-level demon beast, equivalent to a martial artist at the human rank boundary. This kind of demon beast moves swiftly and its mouth corners have extremely sharp fangs. If a low-level martial artist were to collide with it, they would either die or be crippled!"

  The cold and gloomy eyes of the stone rock were wandering on the slowly disappearing sword-toothed rhinoceros, revealing an expression that seemed to be eager to make a move.

  "Our goal this time is to protect the small butterfly, not to hunt down the monsters here. I hope everyone remembers that and doesn't get distracted." Luo Hao seemed to have seen through Shi Yan's thoughts and casually reminded him.

  Shi Yan smiled slightly and nodded in understanding.

  "Let's go, we need to be careful here, can't rush too much, and pay attention to the surroundings, try to avoid encountering demonic beasts and warriors, reduce unnecessary trouble." Luo Hao reminded again, then led the way forward.

  ……

  Night falls quietly.

  By a big tree with dense branches and leaves beside the stream, Zhao Xin and the other two dispersed, vigilantly gazing around to ensure that no monster would suddenly pop out.

  Shi Yan sat on the wet ground with a solemn expression.

  A bloodthirsty desire, like a mist of smoke, entwined in his heart, giving him an irrepressible urge to vomit. The two dark stars' vital energy had reached the critical moment of purification, and he felt somewhat restless and anxious.

  Lu Hao stood beside Mu Yutian, frowning and staring at Shi Yan, afraid that he would make any unusual moves.

  Mu Yu's expression was indifferent, and she gazed at Shi Yan for a while. As she saw the ferocious look on his face gradually emerge, she slowly sat down, placing her ancient zither on her slender legs, and began to play with a gentle touch.

  As the sound of the qin emerged, the violent thoughts that had risen in Shi Yan's mind seemed to be dissolved by a cool and refreshing energy, slowly fading away from his heart.

  Holding his breath and concentrating his spirit, Shi Yan silently operated the essence of the universe, carrying out his weekly cultivation.

  An hour later, a warm current surged out from all over the body.

  The stone cliff shook violently.

  The stone rock suddenly felt that his body was extremely hungry, and the strange power that surged out of the cave this time had not yet converged into his lower abdomen's essence, but was absorbed by his muscle cells and bones halfway. Those warm currents flowed into his flesh and bones, taking root in his blood, flesh, and skeleton.

  In just a few short breaths, the strange warm current that surged out of his acupoints spread throughout his flesh and bones, leaving him utterly astonished.

  A sudden movement in his heart, Shi Yan tried to sense the warm flow in the center of his flesh and bones.

  "Boom!"

  A loud rumbling sound echoed through his mind, and in the next instant, Shi Yan suddenly discovered that his body had undergone a strange transformation.

  His eyes snapped open in shock and horror as he discovered that his arm outside had begun to slowly transform into a grayish stone color.

  Petrification!

  Shi Yan's face was shocked, and he hurriedly didn't think about the abnormality of his body, withdrawing his mind from his body.

  Under his changing thoughts, his body that was about to "petrify" quickly recovered normally and became a normal flesh color.

  He quietly focused his attention forward and found that Naluo Hao and Mu Yu Die were whispering to each other behind a nearby tree, without noticing him.

  He let out a breath of relief, and his eyes sparkled with delight, his heart secretly rejoicing.

  The body's "petrification" is a sign that the Shi family's "Petrified Martial Soul" has awakened!

  This martial soul is unique to the Shi family, and as one's cultivation realm increases, this "Petrification Martial Soul" will also become increasingly powerful, eventually even becoming impervious to swords and guns, and fearless of the violent impact of essence.

  Originally, Shi Yan thought that this guy was born without this Martial Spirit, but unexpectedly, after breaking through to the Xiantian realm, this Martial Spirit suddenly awakened, making him overjoyed.

  This "petrification" martial soul is extremely useful in battle, after "petrifying", the body becomes as hard as stone, yet it won't affect agility, enough to increase his strength by a notch.

  Apart from "Petrification", he had long confirmed that there was another self-healing "Immortal Martial Soul" in his body. The two martial souls complemented each other, and if cultivated to the extreme, his body could reach a kind of magical state that even he himself dared not imagine.

  "Isn't that right!" Shi Yan furrowed his brow, thinking to himself, "Don't martial souls usually reveal themselves shortly after birth? You're already seventeen and can still awaken your martial soul, this is too strange! Could it be related to the unusual energy overflowing from the acupoints in my body?"

  He vaguely realized that the awakening of the two martial souls, petrification and immortality, on his body might be related to the blood in the blood pool and the changes within his acupuncture points.

  Shi Yan felt that the strange warm current overflowing from the cave, seemed to be able to stimulate the "Martial Soul" within the human body. As soon as he thought of this possibility, he became excited and almost wanted to express his inner excitement with a loud roar.

  "Martial Soul" is innate and generally only grows stronger as one's cultivation realm increases. Apart from this, there are almost no other ways for the "Martial Soul" to grow.

  "Martial Soul" is the most proud innate talent of a martial artist, and it's also the key to determining a martial artist's strength. Martial artists cultivate and seek breakthroughs in order to increase their "Martial Soul".

  Even if the boundary is upgraded, the growth of "martial soul" is limited, with various restrictions.

  Even on the continent of God's Grace, even legendary alchemists can only barely refine elixirs that are effective against common "Martial Souls". Those elixirs are among the rarest and most precious treasures in the world, existing only in legend.

  However, even for those elixirs, the enhancement effect on "Martial Spirit" is very limited. "Martial Spirit" is an innate talent and cannot be easily changed.

  The strange warm current that overflows from the body's cave, however, seems to defy the laws of nature, as if it can really catalyze the "Martial Soul" and enhance this innate ability!

  ……

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