Chapter Fifty: A Single Slash

  Gravity Room

  Shi Yan's whole body felt numb and sore, leaning against a gravity pillar at an angle.

  His naked body was robust and strong, with distinct muscle lines, sharp edges and corners, as if cast in steel and iron, full of astonishing explosive power.

  Under the condition of sufficient food, Shi Yan persisted in his bitter training for another month. Not only did he become much sturdier, but even his height increased by several centimeters.

  Suddenly, the door of the gravity room was pushed open.

  Shi Jian, Han Feng and Yang Hai appeared together at the door.

  Shi Jian's eyes gleamed like electricity as he swept a glance at Shi Yan from afar, nodding slightly and saying, "It seems you haven't been slacking off."

  "Of course." Shi Yan's face was exhausted, his posture unchanged, and he said: "I think the physical tempering is almost done, next I should be able to choose a martial skill to cultivate."

  "Is that really all you've got? What you said doesn't count." Shi Jian strode over, came to his side and said with a straight face: "Stretch out one hand."

  Shi Yan coordinated with his left hand, and as soon as he thought about it, his left hand quickly petrified and turned dark brown.

  On the surface of his skin, strands of visible black light flickered unsteadily. Upon closer inspection, it could be seen that the faint black glow was like a thin layer of gauze, covering one of his hands entirely.

  "Huh?"

  Shi Jian let out a shout of surprise, his face radiant with excitement, and grinned: "You've got some skill now! A layer of dark light has actually appeared - it seems you haven't been slacking off this whole time. Not bad! Very good!"

  Yang Hai's heart was filled with joy, and he leaned forward to take a look. "Master," he said, "this phenomenon is the ultimate state that can be achieved by someone in the Human Realm, right? Back when Qing Er broke through to the third heaven of the Human Realm, her skin also showed this dark glow after petrification, didn't it?"

  "Hmm." Shi Jian nodded slightly, his mouth twitching involuntarily, "This kid is indeed not bad! In just a month and a half, he's able to bring out the potential of his martial soul to this extent, very impressive!"

  Shi Jian couldn't help but praise him, his face filled with surprise, "Kid, how did you manage to do that?"

  "It's just that following your method and continuing to cultivate like this has led to this result." Shi Yan spread out his hands, his expression indifferent.

  "How many hours a day do you practice?" Even Han Feng, who rarely spoke, couldn't help but ask.

  "About fifteen hours."

  "Fifteen hours?!"

  Han Feng and Shi Jian exclaimed at the same time, both of them looked at each other in shock, seeing the astonishment in each other's eyes.

  "Impossible! You must be lying!" Shi Jian's face turned cold, and he said in a deep voice: "After one practice session, the body needs at least eighteen hours to recover from such high-intensity impact. Plus mealtime, you can only practice for five hours a day, which is already quite good! Where did you get fifteen hours of practice time?"

  Han Feng also looked puzzled, shaking his head lightly, clearly not very convinced either.

  "You little scamp, honestly speaking, don't try to be clever in front of your great-grandfather." Yang Hai snorted and scolded.

  "Who says it takes eighteen hours to recover?" Shi Yan's expression was relaxed, and he smiled: "Four hours is enough for me."

  "It's impossible!"

  Shi Jian and Han Feng simultaneously let out a startled cry.

  "This kind of high-intensity collision, the body absolutely cannot recover so quickly! I've been in charge of the Shi family for so many years, and I've never seen anyone who can recover that fast! That year, Shi Zhong's kid, with his exceptional physical condition, even needed fifteen hours to fully recover after a collision of this intensity at the Human Rank boundary. You're saying you're four times faster than him? Do you think that's possible?"

  "There's nothing impossible." Shi Yan smiled, suddenly stood up, turned around and walked to a corner, took out a dagger from the backpack in the corner, and calmly walked over, saying: "Grandpa, I've always had a doubt in my heart, it just so happens that my dad is here now, I want to do a test, I hope Grandpa will allow it."

  "What test?" Shi Jian furrowed his brow.

  "Han Bo, I want to cut your arm."

  "Preposterous!" Shi Jian shouted coldly, "You little brat, are you still trying to reach for the sky?"

  "It's just a light cut." Shi Yan's expression didn't change, and he continued, "I'll also make a cut on my father's arm, and another one on my own arm, so we can compare them properly."

  "Housekeeper, perhaps Young Master Yan has some plans, let's try it out."

  "What exactly do you want to do?" Shi Jian was also puzzled.

  "You'll know soon enough." Shi Yan walked calmly and unhurriedly towards Han Feng, saying: "Han Bo, don't use any of your spiritual energy, the wound is bleeding, and you can't mobilize your spiritual energy either, okay?"

  "Uh-huh."

  "Then I'll take action?"

  "Uh-huh."

  Shi Yan took a step forward on the rock, and with a swift slash of his knife, he cut Korean Feng's outstretched left arm. A bright red blood immediately gushed out from Korean Feng's arm.

  "Dad, it's your turn." Shi Yan walked towards Yang Hai.

  "You little stinker, what are you doing? Your old man isn't a martial artist, go easy on him!"

  "Hmm, I have a number." Shi Yan stepped forward, his dagger flashing like lightning as he made a swift slash, and in an instant, Yang Hai's arm was cut.

  Yang Hai yelled out in pain, looking at his bleeding arm and shouting, "You little stinker, you're really ruthless! I wasn't even ready yet!"

  Under the gaze of Han Feng and Shi Jian, Shi Yan's face remained calm as he casually cut another wound on his arm, and bright red blood immediately flowed out.

  "You little stinker, what exactly do you want us to see? Is there some deep meaning behind this? I don't get it at all." Yang Hai continued to shout.

  "Wait a bit, just wait for a while." Shi Yan's face turned solemn, his expression gradually becoming more serious.

  Han Feng and Shi Jian were both puzzled, unsure of what he was trying to do, their eyes shining brightly as they turned back and forth on him.

  Shi Yan smiled and didn't explain, and actually covered the bleeding arm with his clothes, not letting Han Feng and Shi Jian see his wound.

  Ten minutes later.

  "Huh?"

  Han Feng was the first to notice something was off, he stared blankly at Yang Hai's arm and said: "Master, look!"

  Shi Jian's attention was all on Shi Yan, and upon hearing Han Feng say that, he couldn't help but glance at Yang Hai's arm.

  Looking at it this way, he also saw the peculiarities and said: "Hai'er, the wound on your arm, why did the fresh blood congeal and form a scab?"

  "Ah!" Yang Hai exclaimed, and only then did he notice his arm, saying: "I don't know either."

  "My arm... blood is still flowing..." Han Feng stretched out his own hand, gesturing for Yang Hai to take a good look.

  "What's going on?" Yang Hai looked shocked, "You've been practicing martial arts for many years, your physical quality is far superior to mine, logically speaking, you should have stopped bleeding much earlier, how could it be like this?"

  "Look at my arm."

  Shi Yan smiled slightly and finally removed the sleeve on his arm, revealing it. He slowly wiped away the congealed blood.

  All he saw was the wound on Shi Yan's arm, which had somehow become as thin as a thread.

  The flesh on both sides of his wound seemed to be slowly squirming, making an effort to come together and heal the wound at a visible rate.

  Shi Jian and Han Feng's bodies shook violently, their eyes filled with horror.

  "You little scoundrel, what's going on here?" Shi Jian blurted out after being stunned for a while.

  "This is a Martial Soul, a self-healing Martial Soul! My dad has one too, unfortunately he didn't cultivate martial arts and never suffered serious injuries, so it was never discovered." Shi Yan casually dropped the bombshell.

  Shi Jian's eyes shone brightly, his fists clenched tightly, and he remained silent for a moment before suddenly throwing his head back and laughing wildly: "Haha! Martial Soul! Self-healing Martial Soul!"

  "I call it the Undying Martial Soul." Shi Yan explained softly, "I feel that this martial soul can even regrow severed limbs and re-condense internal organs in its later stages. It means the body won't die."

  Han Feng and Shi Jian were stunned for a moment, then immediately realized the horror of this martial soul. Both of them couldn't help but feel excited, their breathing becoming much more rapid.

  "Stinky brat, so you're saying you have a dual martial soul?" Yang Hai couldn't help but feel overjoyed, and it was only after a long while that he reacted, unable to hold back his astonished cry.

  "Of course it's a dual martial soul! Can there be any mistake?" Shi Jian burst out laughing, and with a loud slap on Yang Hai's shoulder, he directly slapped Yang Hai to the ground. "Hai'er, I didn't expect you to have a martial soul too! Haha, I really didn't think so, if I had known earlier, I would have cut you open when you were young to take a look, haha!"

  "I said I could recover in four hours, now you believe me?" Shi Yan smiled calmly.

  "Believe it! Believe it completely! Haha!" Shi Jian's mood had never been so good, and he didn't care that Yang Hai was sitting on the ground. He said directly: "Kid, follow me! I'll take you to the Wu Soul Temple! All of our Shi family's martial arts secret manuals are inside. You can choose any martial art you like!"

  "Good."

  ……;