Chapter Eleven: Counterattack

  In the dense and dark forest with lush trees, figures emerged one after another. The Mo family warriors dispersed in a semi-circle to search this piece of forest, each with a solemn expression.

  Mo Yan's face was cold and stern as she shouted: "Search for me! If you find any trace of him, immediately fire a blue smoke bomb, don't get entangled with him!"

  "It's been three days, but I still can't find any trace of him. He left some clues behind, I don't know if he doesn't understand how to hide or if he did it on purpose..." Kalu's face darkened, and his anger was also ignited.

  For several days, the group searched in the forest and often saw traces left by Shi Yan, from some broken branches and footprints, it seemed that Shi Yan was wandering around them. However, every time they sent someone to search, they came back empty-handed, without even catching a glimpse of Shi Yan's shadow.

  "Expand the search range!" Mo Yan Yu's face turned cold, and she shouted: "Disperse and search around this place as the center! As soon as you see anyone, fire a blue smoke bomb immediately, I'll rush over right away!"

  The Mozi warriors responded one after another.

  "Will something happen on the Earth Dragon's side?" Karu furrowed his brow, worriedly saying: "My medicine bottles are all over there. If that little scamp goes and causes trouble, destroying my medicine bottles, it'll be a real pain."

  "Don't worry, Master. The Earth Dragon is being guarded by Strongson and seven warriors on that side. Strongson has already reached the Three Heavens Realm of tomorrow, that little thief is no match for him." Mu Yan said with a proud smile.

  Karu nodded and didn't say anything more.

  The Mo family's team searched farther and farther away, and the distance between people also became larger and larger. These warriors each held a blue smoke bomb in their hands, and they didn't need to worry about anything. As long as they saw Shi Yan's tracks in their line of sight, they could release the blue smoke bomb and rest easy.

  A warrior walked calmly with a scowl on his face, muttering to himself under the shade of trees, occasionally looking up at the ancient trees above him and glancing around at the surrounding bushes.

  For three consecutive days of searching, they didn't see Shi Yan at all. Moreover, Shi Yan was just a postnatal warrior with a low cultivation base, so these people simply didn't believe that he would dare to stay in the vicinity. They thought he had left early, so when they came to search, they were secretly complaining in their hearts, feeling that it was a useless effort.

  As the warrior walked under the dense foliage of an ancient tree, he subconsciously looked up at the sky. Suddenly, a bloodthirsty, icy, and evil aura came from above his head. Stone Rock's figure emerged, pouncing on him like a hungry wolf, using his knee to violently strike his face.

  Pong!

  A surge of great force came, this warrior was covered in blood, fell to the ground with his face upturned, tears and blood mixed together, filling his eye sockets, for a moment he couldn't see anything.

  He brandished a dagger in his hand and shouted wildly: "Here! He's here!"

  He was just about to release the blue smoke bomb from his left hand when he felt a sharp pain coming from his wrist, unable to bear the stinging sensation, his left hand loosened and the blue smoke bomb was snatched away.

  "Boom! Boom boom!"

  Shi Yan's face was cold and cruel, his eyes inadvertently revealing a dark red color, with a fierce killing intent. Beside this martial artist, he swiftly dodged the randomly swung dagger while continuously kicking him in the head.

  Rolling Jin Yuan was in two streams, each foot as heavy as an iron hammer. Under such a fierce attack, it only took five short steps to end the life of this warrior.

  He stepped forward from the rock, snatched the dagger from his weak hand, and calmly swung it to add another slash to his neck.

  Invisible and intangible air currents, mixed with emotions such as anxiety, anger, and fear, poured out of the body of a martial artist and quickly flowed into the acupoints of the stone statue. In just a few dozen seconds, the martial artist's vital energy was completely depleted, turning him into a shriveled corpse.

  Shi Yan furrowed his brow and stepped forward, rummaging through the corpse's body, only to find a bag of food and over thirty purple crystal coins. Without hesitation, he took possession of the deceased's belongings and didn't linger any longer. Ling Hu generally darted through the forest, swiftly disappearing into the distance.

  This was his first time killing someone, but he didn't feel a shred of fear. From start to finish, he remained eerily calm. As he repeatedly kicked the warrior's head, he felt an intoxicating sense of pleasure, as if a deep-seated desire had been fulfilled, and an inexplicable feeling of exhilaration coursed through his veins. It was as if he were born to be a warrior, destined to reap the lives of others in battle.

  The thrill of the kill gave him immense pleasure, and he reveled in it. He thought that moment was incomparably beautiful, and the repression that had been building up over the days was suddenly released as he cut the person's throat.

  Shi Yan knew this was wrong, and in his heart, he understood that there must be something wrong with his body. A normal person would not be so calm and composed when killing for the first time, nor would they feel as exhilarated as if they were taking drugs.

  The aura from his body surged into the meridians, and a bloodthirsty thought sprouted again from the bottom of his heart. Not long after, a strange energy injected into his essence after the crazy rotation in the meridians, making his essence condensed and strengthened once more.

  This is a real benefit!

  For five consecutive days, Shi Yan was like a ghost in the forest, suddenly appearing and disappearing in every corner to make a move. Each time he struck, it was clean and swift, before the warriors could release their blue smoke bombs, he would kill his opponents in an instant.

  In five days, three more warriors were killed. Each time Mo Yan and Yu discovered the bodies, they found that the corpses had withered away, their vital energy and blood seemingly drained completely.

  Mo Yan Yu became increasingly restless, and the two of them searched everywhere in the forest, hoping to find Shi Yan. The two gradually felt a sense of crisis.

  The first dead warrior had a face smeared with blood and flesh, his head severely injured, and there were signs of struggle.

  The second and third deceased warriors were stabbed from behind, with multiple knives inserted into their hearts and abdomens, but there were also brief signs of struggle.

  By the time they got to the fourth warrior, he had been slashed across the neck with a single knife stroke, clean and efficient, without any signs of struggle.

  From the four dead warriors, it can be seen that Shi Yan's killing skills have become more and more skilled. This forest has become a stage for him to show off his talents. He cleverly uses the terrain to hide his tracks, like an experienced hunter, hunting them down.

  The killing of the four warriors made other warriors uneasy, and Mo Yan Yu and Kalu also began to take this matter seriously. They ordered that no warrior was allowed to act alone, but must form a team of two people. In this way, if one person is ambushed, the second person can immediately come to their aid, avoiding the possibility of being killed silently.

  A dense, dark forest, on a tree tens of meters high, in the wrapping of layered leaves, a stone rock sits cross-legged, gazing at the distant figures swaying through the gaps in the leaves.

  You've learned a thing or two, Shi Yan sneered inwardly, knowing that another sneak attack would be difficult to land.

  Without rushing to take action, Shi Yan observed for a while and discovered that after losing four warriors, the others needed to form pairs. The direction they were searching in was no longer possible to cover all areas, and at this time, they did not come chasing in his direction but instead went deep into three other directions to search.

  After confirming that they wouldn't be coming over for a short while, Shi Yan gently closed his eyes and secretly operated the essence of his body. The people he had killed in the past few days hadn't dispersed their vital energy into the air after death, and it was all absorbed by his acupoints. After being purified by the vortex of his acupoints, it was fed back to his body, causing his essence to increase by more than double.

  With a sudden movement of his mind, the flow of essence accelerated rapidly, and the greatly enlarged essence flashed through the meridians like lightning, rushing from the lower abdomen to the right arm, the essence surged into his arm, he suddenly held his breath, concentrated his attention, and made a fierce effort!

  The vital energy in his arm suddenly burst forth like a wild horse breaking free from its reins and madly charged towards his index finger!

  "Hahaha!"

  A faint, silvery-white mist suddenly emerged from the tip of his index finger, making a strange sound in the air. The mist did not condense, but only lasted for a moment before dispersing.

  Shi Yan suddenly opened his eyes, and a strange light flickered in his dark pupils. His face was filled with surprise.

  Essence leaked out!

  This is the sign of the Three Heavens, after this period of tempering and bitter cultivation, he finally borrowed the strange power of the feedback in the cave to enter a new realm!

  Although the overflowing essence is not condensed, it cannot be like a long rainbow in a glorious state, but from now on, he can already inject the essence into the sword, and use the overflowing essence to directly harm the enemy's five internal organs. This shows that he has gradually mastered the essence.

  ……