Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen: The Treasure Map

Beside a gentle stream, the earth dragon quietly drank water, its massive body adorned with various bottles and jars.

Mo Yan Yu sat high on the earth dragon's back, playing with a blue smoke bomb in her hand, lost in thought.

Over the past two days, Shi Yan's figure often appeared in her mind, refusing to go away. Every time she thought of the naked desire in Shi Yan's eyes, she found it hard to sleep or eat, wishing she could grab Shi Yan and tear him apart to feel satisfied.

Due to Karu's death, the medicinal slaves who had been following her were no longer useful and were released early.

Now, only eleven Mo family martial artists at the先天之境 (Xiantian realm) were still with her. This force was far from enough to allow her to search for Shi Yan's trail freely; she could only wait for the family's reinforcements to arrive.

Suddenly, a blue glow rose into the sky five miles ahead, surrounded by thick fog that slowly dissipated.

"Finally, they're here!" Mo Yan Yu's expression brightened, and she quickly threw the blue smoke bomb into the air. A similar blue glow burst open above her head.

The martial artists beside the earth dragon all wore joyful expressions, rubbing their hands in anticipation, ready for a big fight.

In less than a moment, three figures flew over from the distance. The leader, with long flowing beard, had a faint smile on his lips. He quickly approached Mo Yan Yu and called out, "Yu'er, where is Master Karu?"

"Uncle, Master Karu is already dead," Mo Yan Yu explained, her voice trembling. "On the way, we encountered a small thief. The thief was only at the Xiantian realm, but he somehow managed to decapitate Master Karu."

Mo Chaoge's face darkened, "Did you get the items from Karu's body?"

Mo Yan Yu shook her head, "The thief took them away."

"Fool!" Mo Chaoge cursed, his face turning grim. "We received word that Karu stole a map depicting the 'Heavenly Gate' from his master. Now, his master, Mu Xun, is searching for him to retrieve the map. It is said that the 'Heavenly Gate' leads to a 'Divine Realm' where there are Ling-level and even Holy-level martial techniques. I brought two elders here in a hurry to get that map, and you failed to keep him! What a fool!"

"What?" Mo Yan Yu's face was full of shock. "How could this happen?"

"If Karu hadn't stolen the map from his master, why would he agree to leave the Medicine King Valley with you? Do you really think Karu was after the wealth of our Mo family? Humph, he was just afraid of Mu Xun's pursuit and wanted to seek refuge in our Merchant Alliance."

Mo Chaoge's face darkened as he pondered for a moment, then shouted, "Tell me the details of what happened. That boy is still in the Dark Forest; we must find him! The treasure map is of great importance; our Mo family must obtain it!"

Mo Yan Yu realized the severity of the situation. Except for the two times Shi Yan had violated her, she recounted the other details without any omissions.

"Fool!" Mo Chaoge cursed again, furious. "You didn't even pursue him? That boy is only at the Xiantian realm. No matter what method he used to kill Karu, he must have paid a significant price. He might be severely injured. If you had pursued him, you could have easily killed him! What a fool!"

"I was afraid of greater losses, so..." Mo Yan Yu lowered her head in shame.

"That boy is only at the Xiantian realm, and you were afraid of him?" Mo Chaoge stomped his feet in anger. "You've wasted so many of the family's resources! What are you waiting for? Show me the way! You! You! You! Take the earth dragon back to the Merchant Alliance via a safe route. The rest of you, come with me to continue the search!"

...

Shi Yan had been chasing for two days but hadn't seen a single trace.

Under the cool moonlight, Shi Yan leaned against an ancient tree, frowning, and temporarily gave up the idea of continuing the chase.

He took off the backpack he had obtained from Karu and opened it, staring at the contents inside.

The backpack contained a scroll of poison techniques, several bottles of poison that Karu had refined, and two ordinary-level martial techniques, "Black Light Shield" and "Mysterious Yin Technique."

In addition, there was only a wax-yellow map left, depicting two mountain peaks that resembled a woman's breasts. Shi Yan had looked at it for two days but couldn't see anything significant, so he didn't pay much attention to it.

The two martial techniques, "Mysterious Yin Technique," required the collection of Mysterious Yin Qi, which Shi Yan had no idea where to find, so he didn't pay much attention to it either.

However, the cultivation of "Black Light Shield" required no additional assistance; one just needed to circulate essence energy according to the meridian diagram to cultivate it.

Shi Yan took out the "Black Light Shield" technique from the backpack, closed his eyes, and memorized the cultivation method, deciding to try it out.

"Black Light Shield" was a purely defensive martial technique that used the essence energy within the body to form a layer of black light on the surface of the body to resist the opponent's attacks. "Black Light Shield" was an ordinary-level martial technique, and its cultivation required no threshold; one just needed to have essence energy flowing within the body.

After putting the backpack away, Shi Yan observed his surroundings and quietly climbed up the ancient tree behind him, hiding his body in the dense branches and leaves before starting to cultivate "Black Light Shield."

After entering the Xiantian realm, his meridians were unobstructed, and as soon as he had the thought, essence energy could quickly flow through his meridians.

Closing his eyes, holding his breath, and focusing his mind, Shi Yan silently gathered essence energy according to the meridian flow diagram of "Black Light Shield."

Streams of essence energy flowed through his body, and Shi Yan carefully controlled them, suddenly accelerating the flow of essence energy.

"Puff!"

A faint black light suddenly emerged from his body. The black light was substantial and had strong flexibility, slowly pushing the branches and leaves where he was hiding to one side, forming a thin, cicada-wing-like membrane that completely enveloped his body.

Shi Yan felt reassured, knowing that the cultivation direction was correct, and he accelerated the flow of essence energy again.

The black light emanating from his body gradually increased, from half a meter to one meter, just like when Karu had used "Black Light Shield."

After a long time, Shi Yan gently exhaled a breath, and his essence energy had circulated through six major cycles. He slowly opened his eyes.

Very successful!

Shi Yan smiled, finding that cultivating "Black Light Shield" was not difficult.

In just one night, he had mastered the key points. In the future, as his essence energy increased, he only needed to accelerate the flow of essence energy to make the defensive power of "Black Light Shield" stronger.

Looking up at the sky, he saw that the moon had disappeared, and it was about to dawn.

Without rushing to leave immediately, Shi Yan calmed down and again stimulated the essence energy in his body, directing it to flow into his left arm. When the essence energy touched the first acupoint, Shi Yan's mind suddenly moved, and the essence energy began to spin with the qi vortex in the acupoint.

After three breaths, Shi Yan's mind changed again, and the essence energy suddenly flowed in reverse, causing a sharp pain to surge from that meridian!

This was a unique phenomenon during the cultivation of "Rage."

Enduring the pain in his arm, Shi Yan gritted his teeth and continued to stimulate the essence energy, using the same method he had used to cultivate his right arm.

His left arm muscles contracted and gradually became thin, and a faint white mist slowly emerged from his left arm...

The white mist contained fear, violence, and despair, with a strange power that could bewitch the mind. These negative emotions came from the acupoints in his left arm and were temporarily restrained in the white mist. Once in combat, they could directly escape from his arm.

The sun was high in the sky.

In the branches of the ancient tree, Shi Yan was drenched in sweat, his eyes sharp like knives, staring intently at his left arm. Under his gaze, his left arm was shrouded in mist, and evil forces, like evil spirits, wrapped around his hand, making him feel an uncontrollable urge to vent his anger.

"Breath, breath!"

Panting heavily, controlling his inner desires, Shi Yan slowly withdrew the essence energy from his arm, gradually absorbing it into his abdomen. His arm slowly returned to normal, and the mist that had enveloped his arm retracted into the acupoints along his meridians until it completely disappeared.

Leaning weakly against the tree trunk, Shi Yan's face was pale, and his mood was complex.

This "Rage" martial technique could stimulate the various negative forces hidden in his acupoints, but these negative forces could also disrupt his mind. This martial technique was a double-edged sword; while it could kill enemies, it could also make him lose his reason. The power of "Rage" was astonishing, but it was also extremely dangerous.

However, thinking of how "Rage" had shattered Karu's "Black Light Shield" and the strange phenomena when the negative forces entered Karu's mind, Shi Yan decided to quickly cultivate this evil martial technique throughout his body. He wanted to see what would happen to his body when all the negative forces in his acupoints were stimulated at once.

He vaguely felt that once he fully cultivated the first level of "Rage," his body would undergo significant changes, and his strength could instantly increase by one or two times.

"Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!" The sound of bodies breaking through the air suddenly came from the distance.

Shi Yan frowned, quietly收敛 (concealing) his aura, and even stopped the flow of essence energy in his body, silently observing below.

Soon, seven figures in gray clothes, wearing pale masks, suddenly stopped beside the ancient tree below him, seemingly waiting for something.

On the shoulders of these seven figures, six had a silver star emblem, and one had a silver crescent moon emblem.

"Buzz, buzz, buzz!" A strange sound wave came from the forest ahead, like a signal for communication.

Under the ancient tree, the tall, thin figure with a silver crescent moon emblem on his shoulder, his eyes under the mask flashing with icy, cold, and evil light, listened quietly for five seconds, then said coldly, "In a small valley twenty miles away, the dark envoy has already spotted them. Follow me!"

The seven figures hurriedly passed by.

After the seven figures had left for ten breaths, Shi Yan emerged from the leaves, his face dark, hesitated for a moment, then leaped down from the tree and quietly followed them.

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End of Chapter Sixteen