Chapter 82 - A Step Further

In the following days, Shi Yan continued to remain in the carriage and no one knew what he was doing.

Altogether, the two carriages travelled in the forest for nine days.

In these nine days, both Zuo Shi and Wu Yunlian would come out time and time again to groom themselves on the riverside and collect water for everyone.

Every time Shi Yan came out, he would bury himself in his food, and when he was done, he would hurry back into the carriage, without acknowledging the others.

---

It was night again.

The two carriages were parked under the dense foliage of the trees. The horses were released from their reins to graze nearby.

After taking bath, both Zuo Shi and Wu Yunlian were leisurely lying in their carriage, teasing each other in whispers.

Chu Ping, Han Feng, and Ku Long were guarding the carriages and horses, exchanging their cultivation experiences at the same time.

In the carriage of the Shi family.

Shi Yan’s face was full of seriousness, his expression never being so dignified. After nine days of relentless study, he was finally able to gain some insights.

Hi right arm was gleaming in light, and one could see some strange little white spots flowing through the veins in his arm.

Strands of pure concentrated Profound Qi were repeatedly refined in his meridians. He kept using a special method to temper it.

After the seventh time.

Shi Yan’s right arm, which was continuously expanding, soon grew a whole lot thicker! His muscles looked ferocious with veins popping out of them, looking very frightening.

“Ha!”

Shi Yan lightly shouted, his eyes grim. He kept his gaze on his right arm, and a thought suddenly struck his mind.

His right arm abruptly let out a strange “popping” sound.

After the Profound Qi was refined seven times, it actually separated into seven different flows. The seven flows of power were dispersed into his meridians, with a clear distinction between them.

When he put his concentration into his Profound Qi, the seven flows of Profound Qi suddenly converged onto his wrist. In an instant, those seven flows turned into one, and a lively aura suddenly gushed out from his right palm!

Shi Yan’s eyes suddenly became as bright as the galaxy, he immediately tried to stimulate that light formed by the seven flows of Profound Qi.

“Boom!”

The seven flows of Profound Qi fiercely rushed into his palm. The center of Shi Yan’s palm suddenly burst into bright rays. The mass of strange Profound Qi coagulation all of a sudden exploded in his palm!

Countless light specks of Profound Qi instantly filled his palm. They flowed into the lines on his palm, making his hand shine with a strange light.

Suddenly, the countless light specks fiercely shot out from the lines on his palm. The light specks were gleaming and unbelievably, formed into a strange handprint.

A glistening handprint took off and flew out!

Shi Yan’s palm continuously exploded six more times, and six identical handprints formed into shape.

The seven handprints were like unleashed horses, and randomly struck the carriage that Shi Yan was in.

“Boom boom boom boom boom boom boom!”

The carriage broke into pieces. The solid wood planks became like sawdust, and flew into the air.

Shi Yan just sat there on the ground with a serious expression. He looked at the smashed carriage and the flying sawdust around him in surprise.

He could clearly feel that one-third of his Profound Qi had being consumed from this single move.

Seven [Life Seals] burst out, and all the Profound Qi that had been gathered in his right arm was instantly sucked dry!

When those seven [Life Seals] shot out, his right arm returned to normal, leaving only a slight tingly feeling.

Zuo Shi and Wu Yunlian jumped out of the Zuo family’s carriage in alarm. They gazed at this scene in shock.

On the grass, Chu Ping, Han Feng, and Ku Long were also astonished, their faces full of confusion. They had no idea what happened.

Shi Yan sat on the ground in a daze, he looked for a second, then coughed and said heartlessly, “Uncle Han, I think we have to ride the horses now.”

Han Feng’s expression was very strange, he slightly nodded, and looked towards him perplexed.

“Young Master Yan, what the hell are you doing?”

Wu Yunlian’s flirty little face was full of bewilderment, she stepped up along with Zuo Shi, and looked at Shi Yan weirdly, “Why did you suddenly destroy the carriage? Can you give us an explanation?

“I got carried away while practicing.” Shi Yan shrugged, and said casually, “This is normal. Don’t worry about it, the carriage is gone, but the horses are still here, it won’t slow you guys down.”

“All this time you were in the carriage and refused to come out... was just for practice?” Zuo Shi’s pretty face was full of surprise.

“Mmm hmm.”

“Silly.” Zuo Shi shook her head, and said in disdain, “Training is the most boring thing, your grandpa isn’t forcing you or anything, why do you have to put in so much effort?”

“Hobby.”

“Psh, I don’t believe you.”

“Young Master Yan, what is the skill that you’re practicing?”

Wu Yunlian hesitated for a second, then her expression also slowly turned normal again, “The power that was unleashed back in that moment, was extremely violent and fierce. That instant explosive force, shouldn’t be something that an ordinary Human Realm warrior should have...” Wu Yunlian said thoughtfully.

“It’s nothing.” Shi Yan smiled, he didn’t want to explain further. He stretched and said to Han Feng, “Uncle Han, my stomach is hungry, get me something to eat.”

“Okay.”

Seeing that Shi Yan didn’t want to say anything more, Wu Yunlian didn’t ask for more details. She smiled and took Zuo Shi away with her.

After gorging down a bunch of food.

Shi Yan said to Han Feng, “Uncle Han, I’m going to go wash myself. I’ll come back in a bit, you don’t need to come along.”

“Young Master...” Han Feng hesitated.

“It’s alright.” Waving his hand, Shi Yan reassured him, “I won’t walk very far, if there’s anything I’ll holler. Don’t worry.”

“Be careful, Young Master.”

---

Shi Yan quickly arrived at the riverbank. He jumped into the river and joyfully took a bath and changed into a fresh set of clothes.

After coming ashore, instead of rushing to return to the gathering point where Han Feng and the rest were, he moved further away from them.

---

Under an old tree.

Shi Yan’s expression was solemn, he suddenly invoked the negative energies in his body!

In the meridians all over his body, there hid the different negative energies of bloodlust, fear, slaughter, and desperation. They all emerged, and under his will, the negative powers all flowed towards his left arm.

The shrivelled left arm was covered with white mist. The mist shifted unpredictably, like the faint shadows of ghosts.

His mind flicked.

Following to the circulation method of the right arm, Shi Yan started invoking the negative energies in his left arm.

Under his control, the already shrivelled left arm became even more shrivelled and shrunken.

Looking at that, it was like as if there was only a layer of skin pressing on his bones, which appeared very strange.

However, as his left arm shriveled up, a mass of extremely evil power started slowly growing.

The thick white mist on his left arm shortly turned pitch black. The arm was also frighteningly black, as if it was heavily toxic.

A mass of maniacal, evil, destructive power quickly condensed in his left arm.

After seven full cycles, the power in his left arm flowed down into his left palm using the same technique as his right arm, and together they burst from his left palm!

“Boom boom boom boom boom boom boom!”

Following the explosion, seven pitch black handprints flew out from his palms.

The destructive power, along with the thick essence of death, all struck the old tree in front of him.

The old tree was as thick as two people’s waists and around a dozen meters tall. It suddenly collapsed onto the ground. The life force of the lush old tree was instantly cut off!

Under the watchful eyes of Shi Yan, the old tree was surrounded by a swirling black energy. The leaves withered with visible speed.

The lively old tree looked like it had instantly reached the end of its lifespan and turned into a withered husk of a tree that could not be deader. The leaves that fell from it promptly lost all traces of life.

The leaves fell onto the ground and the surrounding leaves looked as if they were also affected, and instantly died. The scene was extremely strange.

The [Death Seal]!

Shi Yan’s eyes glinted with an odd light, and his mind was slightly startled.

He knew that the [Death Seal] would be very extraordinary, but what he did not know was that it would have such an astonishing destructive force!

This kind of destructive power was not only astounding in strength, but more importantly, this [Death Seal] additionally came with the power of Death!

It could actually cut off the life force in plants!

The [Death Seal] is already this frightening. If the [Life Seal] and [Death Seal] merged together, forming the true [Seal of Life and Death], what would happen?

Shi Yan took a deep breath in, but he knew that this was not the time to continue experimenting.

He heard the sound of footsteps.

Shi Yan immediately knew that Han Feng and the rest had definitely rushed here. His expression shifted for a moment, then he hurriedly left, and quickly took the same route back.

As expected, Han Feng and Ku Long hastily arrived, they exclaimed from afar, “Young Master, are you alright?”

Wu Yunlian and Zuo Shi also poked their heads out from behind Han Feng, they looked at him surprisingly, like they came to figure out what happened.

They all clearly heard that violent thundering sound back there. And in that sound, there seemed to be a mass of evil power.

This made Han Feng and the rest secretly frightened, their minds filled with confusion.

“It’s alright, let’s go back.” Shi Yan calmly walked towards them, seemingly unconcerned, “I got carried away again while I was practicing, I think it generated some bad phenomenons. But it’s nothing, it won’t happen next time.”

“Shi Yan, what Martial Skill are you practicing? Why do I think what you’re practicing is not some ordinary Martial Skill?” Zuo Shi couldn’t hold back anymore, her face was full of curiosity.

“Who cares if it’s ordinary or not. Any Martial Skill that can kill is a good one!” Shi Yan said indifferently.

“You little guy! Always acting so mysterious! God knows what you’re really doing.” Zuo Shi curled her lips, feeling a little discontent. She snorted and finally said, “Come on, hurry up. It’s been almost a month. If we’re late, that Xia girl won’t necessarily wait for us.”

“Xia Xin Yan...”

Shi Yan murmured, and suddenly remembered the wonderful taste of that woman’s lips. His heart could not help but skip a beat. A shady look appeared on his face, and after a long while he finally nodded and said, “Yeah, we should move faster. Don’t worry, I won’t slow you guys down any more.”

“Shi Yan, you can’t possibly be thinking of hitting on that woman?” Wu Yunlian’s eyes were sharp. From his micro expressions she saw some clues, and then made a fuss, “I’d recommend you to back down! That woman is trouble. From what I see, no man in the Merchant Union would be qualified to make a move on her, not even Beiming Shang!”

“Well I had already tasted her.” Shi Yan retorted in his mind.

Shi Yan snorted, then said in disdain, “No matter how noble or how beautiful a woman is, in the end she’s going to lay on a man’s bed anyway. Xia Xin Yan is no exception!”

“You! You are so vulgar!” Zuo Shi’s face flushed, and she shot a glare at him, “How did I not realize this before? So this is your true nature! You are a perverted man too!”

“Bullshit!” Wu Yunlian was also upset, “I’ve never laid on anyone’s bed! You little punk, truly nothing decent can come out of that filthy mouth!”

“Huh, then poor you.” Shi Yan was surprised.

“Brat! Why are you getting on my nerves now?” Wu Yunlian clenched her teeth, and said bitterly. She now missed the quiet days back when Shi Yan always hid in the carriage and never came out.

---

Three li away from Shi Yan and the group.

(One 裡 li is a little more than a third of a mile.)

The two towering, giant men looked murderous, and then said angrily, “Mistress, there is a bastard that’s talking bad about you!”

Shi Yan’s voice was quite loud. And although they were three li apart, the three people from the Misty Pavilion still clearly heard what he said.

“No matter how noble or how beautiful a woman is, in the end she’s going to lay on a man’s bed anyway. Xia Xin Yan is no exception!”

Xia Xin Yan frowned, as she silently repeated Shi Yan’s words in her mind. Her bright eyes flashed with a cold look, and she said indifferently, “Those people are from the Zuo and the Shi families. We don’t need to care about them now, soon we will meet with them. Then, at that time, I will see how arrogant that bastard is. He dares to gossip about me behind my back!”