Chapter 54: Zuo Shi

In front of the Shi family's reception hall, there was a fairly large garden. The garden was planted with various flowers and many precious plants. This garden was in full bloom all year round, and the intoxicating fragrance of the flowers would never dissipate.

Shi Yan came to the front of the garden and immediately saw Zuo Shi, who was surrounded by several young men.

Amidst the flowers, Zuo Shi stood gracefully, her long and slender legs were very attractive.

In the sunlight, her snow-white skin seemed to emit a strange luster like porcelain, and her delicate face was adorned with gem-like eyes, clear and free of any impurities.

Although Shi Yan had long known that Zuo Shi was beautiful, when he saw her in person, his eyes still lit up, feeling a sense of amazement.

This Zuo Shi was actually a beauty on par with Mu Yudie, and Zuo Shi was even taller, with even more slender legs, making her very outstanding.

Zuo Shi, surrounded by several young men like stars around the moon, casually held a small pot and watered the flowers, her clear eyes showing a hint of helplessness.

It seemed that she did not like being treated so specially.

Shi Yan just glanced from a distance and then did not continue to stare. He entered the garden and headed straight for the reception hall at the back.

"Shi Yan!"

A young man called out, and the many young men surrounding Zuo Shi all turned their gazes toward Shi Yan.

"Big brother, is there something?" Shi Yan paused, turned his head, and asked.

"Where have you been these days? I heard you came back a long time ago, but why haven't I seen you?" Shi Tianxiao shouted, waving at Shi Yan and said, "Shi Yan, come over here. Xiao Shi found a turtle shell with some strange ancient characters on it. Since you are good at ancient texts, come and help her take a look."

Hearing Shi Tianxiao's words, Zuo Shi, who was in the center of the group of young men, seemed to finally become interested. From a distance of about ten meters, her clear, lake-like eyes fell on Shi Yan.

"I don't have time. Great-grandfather needs me. We'll talk when I'm free."

Shi Yan's expression was indifferent, and he casually refused. Then, without stopping, he walked directly toward the reception hall at the back of the garden.

"Uh..."

Shi Tianxiao's expression was strange, and he was stunned for a moment before awkwardly smiling and explaining to Zuo Shi, "Shi Yan has a peculiar temper and is not good at talking. He has no interest in martial arts. These years, he has been running around everywhere, and I don't even know what he has been busy with. Don't mind him, I'll bring him to you later to look at the characters."

There was a hint of doubt in Zuo Shi's bright eyes. She glanced at Shi Yan's back and asked curiously, "If he has no interest in martial arts, how can his cultivation be higher than yours?"

"What, what?"

Shi Tianxiao was greatly startled and hurriedly said, "Xiao Shi, did you see it wrong? In these seventeen years, I have never seen him practice martial arts. How could he have any cultivation?"

Zuo Shi's delicate face showed a bit of surprise. After a moment, she said seriously, "He clearly has the cultivation of the Third Heaven of the Innate Realm. How could he not have practiced martial arts? The 'Divine Eye Technique' taught by that old man can let me see the cultivation level of others at a glance. His level is not higher than mine, so I wouldn't see it wrong."

"Third Heaven of the Innate Realm!"

Shi Tianluo, who was nearby, exclaimed, shook his head, and repeatedly said, "Impossible! Absolutely impossible! In these seventeen years, Shi Yan has never practiced martial arts for a single day. How could he enter the Third Heaven of the Innate Realm overnight? It's too absurd!"

Seeing that no one believed her, Zuo Shi lightly shook her head and did not continue to explain. She picked up the water pot and went to the other side.

...

"Great-grandfather, you called me?"

Shi Yan entered the reception hall, first bowed to Shi Jian, Han Feng, and Zuo Xu, and after the greetings, he asked.

Shi Jian nodded, stepped forward, grabbed his arm, and dragged him to Zuo Xu, saying, "Little brother Zuo, take a good look and see what's going on with this boy's martial soul. Your family has so many books about martial souls, and your knowledge of martial souls is naturally much deeper than mine. I can't figure it out, but you definitely can."

Zuo Xu, around sixty years old, with white temples, sat in a chair without any domineering or arrogant air, but rather with a refined and elegant demeanor.

He didn't look like the head of a noble family but more like a teacher in some academic society.

Shi Jian and he were close friends for many years, and the Shi family and the Zuo family were staunch allies. Therefore, regarding Shi Yan's matters, Shi Jian had kept it a secret from many of his own people but did not hide it from Zuo Xu.

Zuo Xu's brows lightly furrowed, and he extended his slightly emaciated left hand, gently placing it on Shi Yan's wrist, saying, "First, petrify your body."

Shi Yan immediately cooperated and petrified his skin.

Suddenly, thousands of strands of strange energy, like threads, drilled into his wrist!

Those threads seemed to have a life of their own, moving flexibly in every corner of his body without causing Shi Yan any pain, only making him feel a bit itchy.

Those threads passed through his tendons and muscles, drilled into his bone marrow, entered his internal organs, and after circling through every corner of his body, they disappeared at his wrist again.

Zuo Xu released his hand, his brows deeply furrowed, and after a long silence, he said, "There is no abnormality at all."

Shi Jian was overjoyed and hurriedly said, "So, this boy's martial soul is completely normal? He can continue to grow in the future?"

"It should be so." Zuo Xu pondered for a moment, his expression somewhat strange, and said, "Old brother, is there another martial soul in his body?"

"How can you tell?"

Shi Jian couldn't contain his joy and laughed heartily, "Little brother Zuo, you really have a knack for it! This boy indeed has another martial soul that can heal wounds! Ha ha, I was planning to tell you later, but I didn't expect you to figure it out first."

A flash of surprise appeared in Zuo Xu's eyes, and his lips twitched slightly. After a while, he nodded heavily and said, "Congratulations, old brother!"

"Ha ha, congratulations to you too." Shi Jian was very happy and laughed, "Your daughter is also excellent. She is now at the Second Heaven of the Human Realm, and even the old man Chixiao is begging you to take her as a disciple. Her future achievements will definitely not be inferior to the young man from the Beiming family."

Zuo Xu smiled bitterly and shook his head, somewhat indulgently sighing, "That girl has no problem with her talent, but she is too lazy. If I don't keep an eye on her every day, she won't waste time practicing. If she had the perseverance of Beiming Ce, her current achievements would definitely be even greater."

As he spoke, there was a hint of pride on Zuo Xu's face, clearly proud of Zuo Shi's talent.

"Your daughter's cultivation speed is indeed fast. However, this rascal Shi Yan has directly entered the Third Heaven of the Innate Realm! In the past dozen years, he has never practiced, and if we compare cultivation speed, ha ha, I have never seen anyone faster than him." Shi Yan raised his head and smiled.

A flash of keenness appeared in Zuo Xu's eyes as he looked at Shi Yan and nodded with a smile, "Dual martial souls are indeed powerful. It seems that the Shi family will definitely win a match in this martial arts competition."

"Of course."

Shi Jian was not the least bit modest and said boldly, "I kept this boy locked up for so long, just to give the Mo family a taste at the martial arts competition."

"Old brother, since Shi Yan has dual martial souls, his petrification ability being able to directly enter the second stage also makes sense."

Zuo Xu pondered for a moment and said, "According to my knowledge, when two martial souls appear in one person's body, they may undergo mutations after coming into contact with each other. However, most of these mutations are not beneficial. After mutation, the two martial souls may affect each other, and the power of each martial soul may be weakened. However, there are also cases where the martial souls can nourish each other and grow together, but the probability of this is very small. Shi Yan's luck is really good. His dual martial souls have developed positively, so he can directly enter the second stage of petrification at the Innate Realm."

"Indeed, this boy's luck is quite good! Otherwise, he wouldn't have given me such a big surprise at the age of seventeen." Shi Yan nodded with a smile.

Next, the two old men chatted about trivial matters, seemingly forgetting that Shi Yan was still there.

"Cough, if there's nothing else, I'll go back to the gravity room to continue practicing." Shi Yan, who had been ignored, called out helplessly.

"Um, go ahead, hurry up, don't slack off!" Shi Jian sternly instructed.

"Oh, right, I heard you are good at ancient texts, right?" Zuo Xu seemed to suddenly remember something, patted his head, and said, "Xiao Shi found a turtle shell with some ancient characters on it. She wants to know what those characters are. After you go out, help her take a look."

"Okay."

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