Chapter 41: The Third Stage of the Innate Realm!

Outside the valley, it was silent.

The beasts had long since departed.

It was now daylight, and the sunlight, like threads of fire, penetrated through the leaves of the shrubs and into the cave.

Inside the cave, the three people were breathing evenly, maintaining their cross-legged positions, quietly cultivating.

After an unknown amount of time, Shi Yan awoke from his deep state, twisted his neck, and stood up, slowly moving his joints.

The Third Stage of the Innate Realm!

Taking a deep breath, Shi Yan felt refreshed and invigorated, the fatigue in his body completely gone, and his senses more acute than ever before.

With the help of those strange powers, his cultivation speed was like an arrow, rapidly advancing, and he had successfully reached the Third Stage of the Innate Realm!

Standing at the entrance of the cave, he could faintly sense the spiritual energy in the air.

This spiritual energy, which he had never been able to detect before, was now perceptible to him.

Sensing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth is something only a martial artist at the Third Stage of the Innate Realm can do. Only by sensing this spiritual energy can a martial artist better cultivate and perform certain martial techniques.

With a thought, his body became as hard as stone, his skin turned a dark brown, and a faint black light covered his skin, similar to when he used the Black Light Shield.

"Huh?"

Shi Yan was somewhat surprised. After carefully sensing it, he confirmed that he had not used his essence to activate the Black Light Shield.

... In other words, the faint black light emanating from his skin was purely due to the second stage of the Stone Body martial soul.

After a moment of contemplation, a smile appeared on his lips, and he realized that the wondrous changes in his skin were definitely related to his martial soul.

The cave was no longer dim. Shi Yan's dark eyes moved, his gaze wandering over Mu Yuedie and Di Yalan.

Mu Yuedie and Di Yalan were still in their cross-legged positions, their eyes closed, and a faint light emanating from their bodies. Their essence was circulating in special patterns.

The reason he had injected some of those strange powers into Mu Yuedie was, first, to see if this strange power could be transferred to others without intimacy.

Secondly, he wanted an additional helper. He didn't know what enemies they might encounter next, and if Mu Yuedie remained a burden, it would be very detrimental to their journey.

According to Di Yalan, Mu Yuedie was also a martial artist before her meridians were severed. If Mu Yuedie could recover, it would be very beneficial for their journey.

Considering these two points, he had divided a small portion of the strange power in his body and given it to her.

Shi Yan held his breath and focused his attention on Mu Yuedie, suddenly noticing that there was a pure and thick essence flowing in her body.

Surprised, Shi Yan couldn't help but stare at Mu Yuedie for a while, frowning as he carefully sensed it, and his surprise grew even more...

He discovered that the essence in Mu Yuedie's body was much purer than that in Di Yalan's, meaning... Mu Yuedie's realm was actually deeper than Di Yalan's!

This discovery surprised him greatly. Although he had known that Mu Yuedie was also a martial artist, he had assumed she was only at the Innate Realm.

After all, Mu Yuedie was much younger than Di Yalan, and logically, she should not have a deeper realm than Di Yalan.

But the facts were not as he had expected. Now, he realized that Mu Yuedie was indeed very powerful, having reached the Human Rank Realm, which was one realm higher than the original Di Yalan!

Just as he was surprised, he keenly sensed that the essence in Mu Yuedie's body was gradually calming down.

He knew that Mu Yuedie was about to wake up...

Sure enough, not long after, Mu Yuedie's long eyelashes fluttered, and she slowly opened her eyes.

A pair of clear and ethereal eyes suddenly lit up in the cave, adorning her delicate face, making her seem like a fairy in the forest, exuding an indescribable charm that captivated the heart.

Shi Yan was momentarily stunned, staring at her with a strange expression.

"Are you done looking?" Mu Yuedie's expression was indifferent as she gracefully stood up, stretched, and smiled lightly, "From today on, I won't be a burden anymore."

A faint white light flowed from her slender hands as she stretched, like strings of a zither.

Mu Yuedie's fingers trembled slightly, and she plucked the air twice, causing the vanished light to reappear, dancing nimbly between her fingers.

"I'm practicing my technique. I haven't played the zither for a long time, and I'm afraid I might get rusty," Mu Yuedie smiled, her voice like a clear stream in the mountains, ethereal and serene, with a captivating charm.

"You're even more beautiful than before," Shi Yan stared at her for a while and said frankly.

With her meridians connected and the essence of the Human Rank Realm flowing through her body, Mu Yuedie's skin became more radiant, her face rosy, and her eyes clear and bright. She seemed to have overcome any fear of hardship, exuding confidence and a stunning change in her demeanor.

After recovering her strength, she seemed like a different person, her charm increased by more than double.

At this moment, Mu Yuedie, in Shi Yan's eyes, was absolutely a beauty of a higher level than Di Yalan and Mo Yan Yu, surpassing the two women in both realm and charm.

"Thank you," Mu Yuedie smiled faintly and said casually, "How long has it been?"

"Two days, I guess," Shi Yan pondered for a moment and said, "I'm not sure, but I feel we've been in the cave for more than a day. Are you recovered?"

"Yes," Mu Yuedie nodded confidently, "When Lan-ji wakes up, we'll leave this place."

"Okay," Shi Yan replied casually, feeling a bit uncomfortable.

The previous Mu Yuedie, though overly kind, was still cute, like a little sister.

But now, with her strength restored, Mu Yuedie, though more charming, had lost her cuteness and instead exuded a sense of being high and mighty, almost untouchable. This feeling... Shi Yan didn't like it.

Because he didn't like it, Shi Yan didn't bother to say much and walked out of the cave, wandering around the valley.

Taking out the martial technique book named "Magnetic Field Domain" from his backpack, Shi Yan casually flipped through a few pages without carefully reading the content. After confirming that there were words in the book, he carefully put it back in his backpack.

A Spirit-level martial technique requires at least the Rank Realm to cultivate. He was currently only at the Innate Realm, far from the Rank Realm. If he forced himself to study a Spirit-level martial technique, it might confuse his mind and even cause his cultivation to regress.

Understanding this, he carefully stored the Spirit-level martial technique after confirming it was fine.

Half a day later, Di Yalan and Mu Yuedie came out of the cave, their clothes neat and their spirits high, clearly ready to continue their journey.

"Thanks, kid, my realm is stable," Di Yalan said casually after coming out.

Just after breaking through to a new realm, it is actually very dangerous. At this time, one must quickly strengthen their essence; otherwise, the realm will be unstable, and it's easy to encounter problems during battles or cultivation.

The essence that Shi Yan had infused into her body in the cave played a role again, helping her stabilize her new realm, allowing her to fight without worrying about running out of strength and risking a mental breakdown.

"Alright, let's go," Shi Yan smiled faintly, not taking credit, and led the way out of the valley.

...

Seven days later.

Shi Yan and the two others finally emerged from the vast and dark forest.

Looking back at the towering ancient trees behind them, all three felt a sense of survival after a great ordeal.

During these seven days, they did not encounter any dangers.

The martial artists and mercenaries in the dark forest had either died or fled, not daring to linger in that dangerous area. The beast led by the Silver-Winged Wolf had also stopped moving around and become quiet.

With the beasts and mercenaries behaving, the rest of their journey was surprisingly smooth. They encountered no obstacles and easily passed through the dangerous and treacherous areas, finally exiting the dark forest.

To get to the Merchant Alliance, they had to pass through the Silent Town. On the way to Silent Town, there was a vast stone forest.

The stones in the stone forest were of various shapes, some as large as small mountains and others only as tall as a person. There were countless caves, providing natural hiding places.

Some ruthless martial artists often lurked in the stone forest, engaging in murder and robbery.

Those who came out of the dark forest were either merchant caravans or martial artists and mercenaries who had explored the dark forest.

Merchants from other countries would definitely be carrying goods, and the martial artists and mercenaries who survived the dark forest would have herbs and materials from the dark forest and beasts.

These two groups were both valuable...

Because of this, the stone forest was always filled with experts, targeting these two groups. As long as they felt their targets were easy to handle, they would viciously attack.

The stone forest could sometimes be more dangerous than the dark forest. Those who entered the stone forest alone, unless they were at the Hundred Tribulations Realm, would almost certainly encounter trouble.

"The stone forest is very dangerous. There might be Dark Abyss people lying in wait..." Di Yalan pondered for a moment and warned Mu Yuedie.

"Don't worry, there will be people to meet us in the stone forest," Mu Yuedie smiled and glanced back at Shi Yan, "Are you going to the stone forest?"

"Yes, I'm from the Merchant Alliance, so I need to go back," Shi Yan said.

"That's good. We'll go together. As long as you follow us, you don't need to worry about the stone forest," Mu Yuedie said confidently, not waiting for Shi Yan's answer, "Let's go, we'll enter the stone forest. Don't worry, we're safe now."

"Okay," Shi Yan said casually but did not relax. As soon as they entered the stone forest, he became highly alert.

From the memories of the other Shi Yan, he knew that the stone forest was extremely chaotic, filled with various forces, and even some major families of the Merchant Alliance were involved.

He didn't know what preparations Mu Yuedie had made, but he knew that if he relaxed in the stone forest, he might be instantly killed.

In the stone forest, Shi Yan's mind was calm, his eyes darting around. Every five steps, he would look back.

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