Slaughter 51

Chapter 51 The Martial Spirit Palace

There were five floors in the Martial Spirit Palace of the Shi Family.

Every floor was named after the cultivation levels and each floor held the Martial Skill books
corresponding to that cultivation level.

On the first and the second floor were Martial Skills of the Mortal Level. Generally, Elementary Level
warriors would choose from the Martial Skills on the first floor, while Nascent Level warriors would
choose the books on the second floor.

On the third and fourth floor were the Martial Skills of the Profound Level. Human Level warriors would
go to the third floor and Disaster Level warriors to the fourth floor.

The fifth floor of the Martial Spirit Palace held the sole Spirit Level Martial Skill of the Shi Family.

But this floor was exclusively for the family head, Shi Jian, who occasionally went up there.

The Spirit Level Martial Skill was so special that even the Ministers of the Shi Family didn’t have a chance
to look at it. Only the Shi descendants who reached the Earth Level would have the chance to train with
it.

However, among the Shi descendants, Shi Yang had reached the highest level, but was only at the Third
Sky of the Disaster Level. He was still one step away from the Earth Level.

...

Shi Jian led Shi Yan directly to the Martial Spirit Palace.

In front of the Martial Spirit Palace, an old woman with wrinkles all over her face bowed as she saw Shi
Jian, “Family head.”

This old woman was named Yun Luo, an old Minister of the Shi Family. Like Han Feng, she was also a
Nirvana Level warrior of the First Sky. It was said that she was even older than Shi Jian. She was already
a Minister when Shi Jian was a little boy.

She had stayed in the Shi Family for decades and was trusted by Shi Jian, so she was assigned to guard
the Martial Spirit Palace.

“I will help Shi Yan choose his Martial skills.” Shi Jian strode to the door, turned and ordered Han Feng
and Yang Hai, “You two wait here for a moment.”

Han Feng and Yang Hai nodded together.

Yun Luo stepped away for Shi Jian and Shi Yan to enter the palace. And as soon as they entered it, she
stood at the door and nodded at Han Feng with a weird expression.

During the past few days, Shi Yan was closely protected by Shi Jian and stayed in the Gravity Room day
and night.
Not to mention Yun Luo, even the relatives of Shi Family didn’t know much about Shi Yan’s latest
achievements.

And now Shi Jian had taken him to the Martial Spirit Palace to choose Martial skills in person, which
means Shi Yan was officially a warrior!

Yun Luo knew about Shi Yan. She knew that this young master didn’t possess a Martial Spirit and was
not into Martial Arts as a kid. Now he was seventeen and turned out to be a warrior. This was too
abnormal!

Thus, Yun Luo was confused.

As she couldn’t figure it out, Yun Luo looked to Han Feng in suspicion, but Han Feng shook his head,
implying that he couldn’t explain.

Yun Luo was even more confused, but didn’t ask anymore. She stood at the door and began to think.

If it was a normal day, she would have closed the iron door and followed the visitor into the Martial
Spirit Palace, in case they went into an unsuitable floor.

But this time Shi Jian took Shi Yan there in person, so she didn’t need to be too cautious.

...

“There are eighteen Mortal Level Martial Skills on the first and the second floor, eight Profound Level
Martial Skills on the third floor, and four Profound Level Martial Skills on the fourth floor. Now that you
are at the Third Sky of Nascent Level, you can go up to the second floor directly.”

Shi Jian briefly explained to Shi Yan and took him directly to the second floor.

On the walls of every floor of the Martial Spirit Palace, there were several stone grooves. In each of
these grooves, there was a book on Martial Skills.

The grooves were covered with green crystals, at the center of which was a small key hole. A piece of
paper beside the keyhole briefly introduced the Martial Skill located in each groove.

After walking around the second floor, Shi Yan found that at least ten Martial Skills of the eighteen
Martial Skills were ordinary and were trained by many Mercenaries and warriors, such as Kinmo’s ‘Star
Fist’.

The other eight Martial Skills were rarely seen outside, but their power and training process seemed
quite simple to Shi Yan.

Deep down, Shi Yan was someone who loved a challenge, who loved the process in solving a problem.

Therefore, after walking around on the second floor, Shi Yan shook his head, “Big Grandpa, the Martial
Skills on this floor are too boring. Let’s go upstairs.”

If it was one year ago, Shi Yan couldn’t have talked to Shi Jian like this.

But Shi Yan had demonstrated his Immortal Martial Spirit, which gave him the right to do what he
wanted.
To him, only the mysterious Martial Spirit was important to him, so he wouldn’t say a word about it to
anyone.

But the Immortal Martial Spirit was far from a secret, and only by showing it to others could he gain
more privileges in Shi Family and receive more training from Shi Jian.

As he possessed twin Martial Spirits, Shi Jian would tolerate anything.

As expected, Shi Jian didn’t show any disagreement. He was a little hesitant as he grunted, “You are a
mere Nascent Level warrior. It’s not a good thing to train in Profound Level Martial Skills.”

“Am I an average person? You see, though I’ve just reached Nascent Level, my Petrification has already
reached the Second Stage. Beside, I possess the ability to quickly recover which others don’t have. The
average person may be not suitable to train in Profound Level Martial Skills as my level, but maybe I
am.”

Hearing upon this, Shi Jian was surprised and he nodded, “Well, you have a point. Let’s go upstairs.”

One after another, mysterious Martial Skill were laid in the grooves. If Shi Yan showed any interest in a
Martial Skill, Shi Jian would patiently explain its features and training process to him.

“Great, the Martial Skills on the third floor are much more interesting!” Shi Jian kept nodding his head,
and he quickly noted all the Profound Level Martial Skills on the third floor in his heart. After a while, he
said, “Let’s go to the fourth floor now.”

“Ok, I will give you a detailed explanation of the four Martial Skills on the fourth floor. You are different
from those common people, so I can explain them in advance.”

Shi Jian then took Shi Yan to the fourth floor.

As they got to the fourth floor, Shi Jian walked to a groove directly. “This is ‘Star Net’, which can turn
one’s Profound Qi into light and weave it into a star net. This star net can directly restrain the enemy’s
Profound Qi so he can’t use it at all.”

“That’s amazing!”

“Well. It’s currently beyond your ability. This Martial Skill requires very dense Profound Qi and complete
control of your Profound Qi. You are too far away from it!”

Shi Jian was very strict. He sneered and walked to another groove, “This is ‘Desert Prints’, which can
produce thousands of hand prints from all directions and block the enemy’s movement, pushing them to
fight you directly. We of the Shi Family have a special Martial Spirit, and used in conjunction with ‘Desert
Prints’, we can release our ability to the fullest. This ‘Desert Prints’ is the perfect match for our
Petrification Martial Spirit!”

“This is great too.”

“Well, it’s also beyond your ability. You can’t train with it before you reach Disaster Level, for the same
reasons as before. How can you block people from all directions if you can’t even release a hand print?”

“What’s the next one?”

“It’s ‘Dark Moon Shadow’. When trained to the highest state, your body would turn into an untouchable
shadow. It’s not easy either. It requires a high level and the help of the energy of Disaster Level. So just
forget about it.”

“This is the last groove.”

Shi Jian exclaimed as he seemed to find something. His eyes brightened and then he paused, “This
Martial Skill trains one’s fingers. Once you complete it, your fingers will be as sharp as knives and can
pierce the enemy’s body easily. It’s very easy to defeat an enemy and completely shatter him after
training in this Martial Skill. Combined with our Petrification Martial Spirit, it has an extremely strong
power.”

“I’m intrigued about this one!” Shi Yan was surprised, “Any special requirements?”

“There are. But it seems you are very suitable for it.” Shi Jian said after hesitation, “To train with the
Finger Gun, one needs to reach the second stage of Petrification and have the dark light first. Thus he
won’t break his fingers while training. Hmm, you can train with it.”

“Then I choose this one.” Shi Yan said decisively.

Shi Jian gazed at Shi Yan with a weird look and sank in deep thought.

“What’s wrong? Anything else?” Shi Yan felt a little anxious.

“Kid, you really want to train with this Finger Gun?” Shi Jian took a deep breath and looked abnormal.

“What’s the problem?”

“You can train with it at a very fast speed and your Immortal Martial Spirit would be used to its fullest.”
Shi Yan paused then continued speaking, “But it’s a hideous process to train the Finger Gun! It’s much
harder than slamming your body into the mace! It’s complete torture! You really want to try it? Not
those Elementary Martial Skills?”

“Yes!”

“Ok, then I will tell to the process to train the Finger Gun. Your fingers will become very sharp after you
finish the training process. But it’s torture to get there...”

...

A day later, in the Gravity Room.

Out of seven gravity pillars, six were covered by the skins of a fifth-level demon beast, the Silver Snake.
The skin could negate the gravity, so the gravity was currently two times normal.

Beside the only pillar not covered by the snake skin, Shi Yan was positioned upside down, supported by
the index finger of his left hand.

This thin index finger was supporting his whole body weight, which was twice as heavy due to the
increased gravity.

His index finger was trembling slightly and seemed about to break at anytime.
Shi Yan’s face was as red as a lobster. The muscles on his left arm were quivering and the veins were
shaking like small snakes which were trying to force their way out of his skin.

Extreme pain came from his fingertip to his heart!

It felt like numerous needles were stabbing into his finger. The pain stroked his nerves like waves and he
was about to break down.

Endure it!

Shi Yan gritted his teeth and blood was about to gush out of his face. As he was positioned upside down,
his blood had flowed down into his head which was intolerable.

Five minutes.

Shi Yan was about to break down after only five minutes.

The pain from his finger almost made him give up. It would have broken if it wasn’t petrified.

Carry on!

Six minutes! Seven minutes!

When it came to the eighth minute, Shi Yan was at the edge of breaking down, and his consciousness
began to dim...

Just then!

All sorts of negative emotions exploded in the meridians of his head all at once.

All the negative emotions gushed into his mind crazily!

‘Rampage’ had been triggered.

Chapter 52 The Mysterious Area

“Bang!”

Shi Yan couldn’t hold himself up anymore and he fell to the ground while breathing heavily.

Wisps of invisible but odd negative energy secretly poured out of his meridians and into his mind like
silk.

The negative energy intertwined in his mind and seemed to have combined with his nerves.

A piercing pain suddenly invaded his mind .

The pain was like a electric current which struck out from his mind and flew across his whole body,
activating all of his meridians.

It lasted for only three seconds!

A dense negative energy dispersed from all of his meridians.

The negative energy expelled from his meridians didn’t stop, but kept moving through his veins, flesh,
blood, bones, cells, and entrails.

There seemed to be electric currents flowing through his body. While his head was still hurting severely,
his limbs began to contract.

Thin white smoke poured out from every single one of his pores...

A layer of pale smoke rapidly wrapped around him. Combined with the smoke was a murderous, bloody
smell which encouraged people to kill!

As all the negative energy escaped from his meridians, his body contracted by one third!

Standing there with his skinny body, Shi Yan was surrounded with the desire for blood, which also filled
his body.

Suddenly, the pain in his mind disappeared all at once.

Opening his eyes, Shi Yan found his nerves had become more acute and he could even think and
calculate faster.

His mind could maintain a very calm state!

The wisps of negative energy in his head seemed to combine with his nerves and had made his body
extremely sensitive!

Standing there, he could even feel the changes the negative energy had made in his flesh and blood and
how much power it had brought him.

Now he had become an unfeeling machine without any human emotions. The only thing left in his mind
were methods to kill. How to kill quickly and efficiently.

He was a most hideous creature right now!

All other thoughts other than murder were disposed of. The only thing he could think of was how to kill
his enemies.

No kindness. No concerns. Nothing but killing.

“Hoohoo!”

Shi Yan was breathing heavily like a murderous monster in the bloody Gravity Room. There wasn’t any
mercy left in his eyes and it seemed that he could kill at any time.

“Stop!”

A sound echoed in his mind. With the strength of will, Shi Yan withdrew the white smoke into his
meridians.

Sitting down cross-legged, he closed his eyes and composed himself. He cleansed the thought of murder
from his mind and let the odd negative energy slowly gush back into the meridians in his head.
After a very long time.

Shi Yan began to breath evenly, although he was still extremely fatigued. Then he slowly opened his
eyes.

The clarity in his eyes had returned and there was no trace of any coldness or bloody desire.

The First Sky of ‘Rampage’!

At that moment Shi Yan realized the real state of the First Sky of ‘Rampage’.

Apart from the change to his body, the change to his mind was more horrifying!

He believed that in that mindset, he would be the coldest killing machine and would be able to trigger all
of his potential.

In that state, he had no emotions, only the need to kill! All he could think about was how to kill faster
and more efficiently. Too cold blooded!

Horrifying!

Shi Yan couldn’t help but shout in his mind after he recovered and remembered that weird state.

And at that moment, he realized that maybe the direction of his training was wrong.

The training of ‘Rampage’ should start from the head and the whole process would be led by the head.
Once ‘Rampage’ started in his head, his whole body would change with it.

But he had begun to train from his hands and feet and then his whole body. When he finally trained with
his head, he would body would change and then the recoil would strike the meridians in his head.

Apparently he was training in an incorrect way, thus he fainted during several trainings.

Now the last step of ‘Rampage’ was finally complete...

Exhausted, Shi Yan didn’t have any energy to train his ‘Finger Gun’. He had to sit where he was and drive
out the side effects of ‘Rampage’ using the Immortal Martial Spirit.

After a full circulation, his Profound Qi had as recovered by a lot and so he tried to strike the blood ring.

Recently, he was often trying to strike the blood ring and break another shield to see if there were other
secrets.

But every strike ended in failure. Although he was at the Third Sky of Nascent Level, he couldn’t break
another layer in the ring.

His sharp Profound Qi was always blocked when touching that shield.

The Profound Qi bounced back in waves. Shi Yan stood up and went to the corner of the Gravity Room
and took out the Spirit Level Martial Skill book ‘Gravitational Field’ out of his bag.

Sitting in the corner, Shi Yan was frowning as he was turning the pages one by one.
He was very grateful to the previous master of his body now. He could read the ancient book all because
of that boy’s knowledge.

And apart from that boy, no one else in the Shi Family could read the ancient language.

Luckily that boy passed the ancient language to him. Or he would have had to find a special person who
could read the ancient language and translate it for him.

This was a book was a Spirit Level Martial Skill.

He didn’t say a word about this book even to Shi Jian or Yang Hai. It would be much too troublesome if
his translator spread it.

...

He slowly read out those ancient characters secretly in his mind.

The book was not thick at all as it only had twenty seven pages. He quickly finished reading all the
content.

Closing the book, Shi Yan looked weird as he mumbled, “This book on the Spirit Level Martial Skill is too
much fun. One needs to possess different types of power to train with it.”

Though this Martial Skill wasn’t strict about one’s cultivation level, it had strict requirements on one’s
power.

Though it was a type of Spirit Level Martial Skill, Elementary Level and Nascent Level warriors could also
train with it.

There was only one requirement for training it; one had to possess at least two types of power.

Only when the two powers clashed against each other would a Field be created. The space in the Field
would twist and thus, create attraction.

Once the Field was created, it would drag everyone but its creator into it.

Under its power, anyone who was dragged into the Field would automatically spin and their blood and
flesh would be squeezed. Their Profound Qi would be suppressed and they wouldn’t be able to operate
their Martial Skills.

According to the author of the book ‘Gravitational Field’, the more types of power the trainer possessed,
the more powerful the Field would be.

If the trainer had three or four types of power, the Field he created could directly kill Disaster Level
warriors!

Once there were five types of power in the Field, even an Earth Level warrior would definitely die!

Holding the book and thinking for a while, Shi Yan chuckled softly as his eyes turned bright.

Common warriors had only one type of Profound Qi in their body. Only those who possess special
Martial Spirits could have another type of power, such as Di Yalan’s Blue Magic Flame.
Apparently most warriors couldn’t train with this magical Spirit Level Martial Skill, because very it was
rare for people to possess two or three types of powers in their body.

Luckily Shi Yan was among the minority. The negative energy from his meridians was very different from
Profound Qi.

He could train with it directly.

Chapter 53 Visitors from the Zuo Family

In the Gravity Room.

Shi Yan leaned against the Gravity Pillar, standing upside down while balanced on the middle finger of
his left hand, all of his veins popping out.

A quarter of an hour later, he switched to his ring finger. Every fifteen minutes, he would shift to the
next finger and repeat the process all over again.

After one complete cycle, Shi Yan sat on the green stone ground covered in sweat. He stretched out his
left hand and released some of the negative energy from the meridians in his arm.

Wisps of white smoke sprawled over his arm and stealthily flew in front of him according to his will.

Profound Qi was being operated in his fingers, then it quivered and was injected into the white smoke
which was floating in front of Shi Yan.

The Profound Qi then wriggled like a snake in the white smoke...

The white smoke and the Profound Qi slowly combined, forming into one after some small swirls, in
which, a magical attraction suddenly erupted.

As the attraction occurred, that space seemed to collapse and contract at once.

The nearby air was sucked in and the surrounding space seemed to decrease sharply, feeling rather
heavy.

His eyes shining brightly, Shi Yan focused on the small Field and tried to feel the magical power, injecting
more Profound Qi into it.

Strangely, the Field didn’t get any stronger. On the contrary, the magical power in it became weaker.

“Eh?”

Shi Yan was stunned and confused.

After pondering for a long time, he seemed to figure out the trick. He stopped injecting Profound Qi and
pushed some of the negative white smoke surrounding his arm into the Field.

The Field which was previously getting weaker, suddenly began to strengthen as soon as the white
smoke was added.
Gazing at the Field for ten seconds, Shi Yan was thinking on the details. Eventually he withdrew the two
types of power out of the Field.

The Field disappeared at once.

Through this training, he drew the conclusion that in order to strengthen the Field, the two types of
power should be balanced. Only by doing this could the Field remain powerful.

If one of the powers surpassed the other one, it wouldn’t strengthen the Field, but break the balance
and decrease its power.

There needed to be an accurate balance between the two powers, or the power of the Field could not
be released to the fullest extent.

During these days, Shi Yan devoted himself to his two Martial Skills: [Finger Gun] and [Gravitational
Field]. Apart from having three meals a day, he spent almost all of his time on his training.

After a month’s torment, Shi Yan had made significant progress in the [Finger Gun].

Now he could stand on each of his fingers for fifteen minutes.

His ten fingers became harder and harder, and would even make the sound of metal when struck after
Petrification.

Every time he finished training the [Finger Gun], he would delve into the Spirit Level Martial Skill book
[Gravitational Field].

He didn’t exhaust his negative energy in his meridians every time he trained. Instead, he just released a
little part of it from his arms and combined it with his Profound Qi to explore the effects of
[Gravitational Field].

Though the Field he formed was small, it had the the same mechanism as the big ones.

After endless repeated use, he gained a deeper understanding about [Gravitational Field], and knew
more about it after a period of time.

The deeper he probed the [Gravitational Field] skill, the more profound he found this Spirit Level Martial
Skill to be. There were many more truths hidden in it.

While training in this Spirit Level Martial Skill, Shi Yan was also in the process of trying to understand the
truth of this universe.

Sitting there upright covered in perspiration, Shi Yan sank deep into thought.

“Creaakkk”

The door of the Gravity Room opened, as Han Zhong walked in and yelled, “Brother Yan, the family head
has asked for you to come to the living room.”

“Living room?” Shi Yan glanced at him and frowned, “Didn’t he forbid me from leaving the Gravity
Room? Are there important visitors?”
“Zuo Xu came with that little girl Zuo Shi.” Han Zhong explained while standing at the door, “Zuo Xu just
brought Zuo Shi back from her teacher, Chi Xiao, in the Cloud Mountain. So they came to visit us on the
way and discuss the Martial Competition with the family head.”

The Zuo Family was one of the five big families in the Merchant Union, and was quite close to the Shi
Family.

The Zuo Family possessed the Shadow Martial Spirit. During fights, there would be clones beside them.
Many skilled Zuo family warriors could even create seven or eight clones during a fight. These clones
could move and make different actions in order to confuse the enemy.

As the Zuo Family members possessed the Shadow Martial Spirit, they would be in a beneficial position
from the very beginning

The opponents would mistakenly attack the clones, so the Zuo warriors could kill them easily.

The Shadow Martial Spirit was not only beneficial for fights, but also made a big difference when one
needed to escape.

Once the Zuo warriors were threatened, they would create several clones of themselves and run in
different directions. If they had only one enemy, that person could only choose one direction to chase
them in.

After he caught up, he would find out that it was just a clone, and their real body had already ran off
somewhere else.

If the real body was chased, they could create more clones and make the enemy guess again.

One would break down if he came across a Zuo Family warrior and had to find the real body to chase.

“Ok, got it.” Shi Yan nodded and casually picked up a green warrior uniform from the ground and put it
on. He strode out of the Gravity Room, “Let’s go.”

“Err...Brother Yan, aren’t you going to take a shower first?” Han Zhong covered his nose with one hand
and waved with the other, “You stink like sweat!”

“Nope. I will be back soon anyway.”

“You don’t want to leave a good impression on Zuo Shi?” Han Zhong looked weird, “Zuo Shi is well
known for her talent in the Merchant Union. Tian Xiao, Tian Luo, and some other young masters are all
around her these days. Aren’t you going to try and impress her?”

“Zuo Shi?” Shi Yan was stunned when a bright flash crossed his mind. Unexpectedly, he felt a slight
sorrow in his heart, and he shook his head, “Well, there is something between this girl and me...”

“Exactly!”

Han Zhong smirked, “You were born on the same day! What a coincidence! So your grandpa and Zuo Xu
nearly got you two engaged. But on the third day after her birth, she turned out to possess the Shadow
Martial Spirit, while you didn’t. Hmm, then no one brought your engagement up, when the two sides
both chose to be silent about it...”
Han Zhong paused and sighed, “It’s natural. Zuo Shi inherited a Martial Spirit, but you didn’t show yours
at the beginning, which, to the Shi Family and the Zuo Family, meant that you wouldn’t be successful.
The Zuo Family wouldn’t marry a real warrior like Zuo Shi to some commoner. And the Shi Family can’t
take advantage of it. So that is it.”

Memories hidden deep within Shi Yan’s mind were awoken by Han Zhong’s speech. Standing there
stunned, Shi Yan slowly sorted out these memory fragments and mumbled after a long time, “That guy
was really sentimental...”

“Zuo Shi is incredibly talented and intelligent, but it is also said that she is rather lazy, and not into
Martial Arts. Her accomplishment was the result of her family pushing her. Even so, she trains much
faster than average warriors. Seventeen and the Second Sky of the Human Level! Another miracle in the
Merchant Union.”

Han Zhong shook his head, and sighed, “That bastard Beiming Ce has also reached the Second Sky of
Human Level at seventeen, but he kept training so hard. While Zuo Shi kept sleeping and fooling
around… I guess Zuo Shi is more talented than Beiming Ce.”

Shi Yan didn’t reply but frowned.

He could feel that slight sorrow in his heart which was triggered by Zuo Shi...

As he focused on the memory, Shi Yan realized that the previous master of his body was deeply in love
with Zuo Shi, while she never felt anything for him.

Zuo Shi was very lazy. She didn’t like hard training, but was into art, nature, tea ceremony, astrology and
so on...

Her hobbies varied. Though she didn’t train hard, she could easily break the levels, and managed to
reach the Second Sky of Human Level with the help of her incredible talent.

Apart from her incredible talent, she also had an extraordinarily delicate face.

The previous master of this body fell for Zuo Shi at the first sight. But he wasn’t good with words, and
knew he was at a disadvantage, so he never expressed his admiration for her.

Typical unrequited love.

“Well...” after his mind wandered for a while, Shi Yan smiled, “So… that girl is a genius?”

“Absolutely!”

Han Zhong nodded and affirmed, “Otherwise, Chi Xiao in the Cloud Mountain wouldn’t have insisted on
teaching Zuo Shi and taken her to the Cloud Mountain after seeing her for the first time three years ago.
Chi Xiao is an expert of the Sky Level, which is very rare in the Merchant Union, Fire Empire and the God-
blessed Empire. It is said that even Beiming Shang has been beaten by him.”

“Okay.” Shi Yan looked indifferent, “Shall we go now?”

“Errr… you are not moved by what I said? You are not going to clean yourself and suit up?” Han Zhong
smiled bitterly.
“Now that this girl is so popular and she is protected by Chi Xiao and Zuo Xu, I don’t think I will have a
chance with her. So why waste my time.”

Chapter 54 - Zuo Shi

In front of the living room, there was a mid-sized garden which contained all sorts of rare plants. There
were flowers that bloomed during every season, sending out intoxicating fragrances.

Shi Yan walked to the front of the garden and saw Zuo Shi at once, who was crowded by several boys.

Among the fresh flowers, Zuo Shi was standing in a beautiful position. Her long, straight legs looked
sexy.

In the sunlight, her porcelain-like skin was shining elegantly. On her small, delicate face, her two big eyes
were as clear as crystals.

Although Shi Yan knew Zuo Shi was pretty, he was still amazed after seeing her in person.

Zuo Shi was as beautiful as Mu Yu Die, and she was even taller, with longer and more delicious legs.

These youths crowded around Zuo Shi like stars that circled the moon. Zuo Shi was holding a watering
can and was leisurely watering the flowers, though there was a sign some helplessness in her eyes.

It seemed that she didn’t like to be treated like she was special.

Shi Yan took a glance at her from afar and turned away. He entered the garden and directly headed
towards the living room behind the garden.

“Shi Yan!”

A young man’s loud shout came, and many youths around Zuo Shi turned their eyes to Shi Yan.

“Yes Brother?” Shi Yan paused, turned and asked.

“Where have you been these days? I heard you came back months ago, but why didn’t I see you?” Shi
Tianxiao yelled and waved at Shi Yan, “Come, Shi Yan, Little Shi has a piece of turtle shell with her and
there are some odd characters on it. Aren’t you an expert on these things? Come and help us check.”

Zuo Shi, who was among these youths, was interested after hearing that. Her lake-like eyes crossed over
the ten meters and settled upon Shi Yan.

“I’m busy now. Big Grandpa is asking for me. Talk to you later.”

Shi Yan looked indifferent and refused at once, then walked towards the living room without any
hesitation.

“Hmm.”
Shi Tianxiao felt weird and was stunned. He smiled and explained embarrassingly, “Shi Yan is bad
tempered, wordless and not into Martial Arts at all. All these years he has been running around all over
the place. Even I don’t know what he was doing. Don’t worry, I will get him to read it for you.”

There was suspicion in Zuo Shi’s eyes. She gazed at Shi Yan’s disappearing back and asked, “He is not
interested in Martial Arts? Then why is his cultivation level even higher than yours?”

“Wha… what?”

Shi Tianxiao was shocked as he hurried to ask, “Little Shi, are you serious? I have never seen him train
Martial Arts for one second in the last seventeen years! Cultivation?”

Zuo Shi’s pretty face showed some surprise too. She asked earnestly after some thought, “He has
reached the Third Sky of the Nascent Level, how couldn’t he have trained in Martial Arts? That old man
taught me his [Magical Eyes], through which I can tell anyone’s cultivation. His cultivation is not higher
than mine, so my estimation must be correct.”

“The Third Sky of Nascent Level!”

Shi Tianluo, who was standing beside them, shook his head and shouted, “No way! It’s impossible! For
the past seventeen years, Shi Yan literally hasn’t trained Martial Arts for even one second! How could he
reach the Third Sky of the Nascent Level in one night? Don’t be ridiculous!”

Seeing them unconvinced, Zuo Shi shook her head slightly without further explanation, and went to the
other side with the watering can.

...

“Big Grandpa, what can I do for you?”

Shi Yan walked into the living room, bowed to Shi Jian, Han Feng, and Zuo Xu one by one, and asked Shi
Jian.

Shi Jian nodded, stepped up, grabbed Shi Yan’s arm and dragged him to the front of Zuo Xu, “Brother
Zuo, look at him carefully, and check how on earth he has his Martial Spirit. Your Zuo Family has
collected so many classic books on Martial Spirits, you must know more about it than me. I can’t figure it
out. I believe you can.”

Zuo Xu was around sixty years old with white hair along the two sides of his forehead. He didn’t look
arrogant or proud at all, but was extremely learned and refined.

He didn’t look like a family head from a big family, but rather a teacher at the school.

Shi Jian and Zuo Xu had been close friends for many years, and the Shi Family and the Zuo Family were
solid allies. Therefore, Shi Yan’s latest news might be still a secret to most Shi Family members, but it
wouldn’t be a secret to Zuo Xu.

Zuo Xu frowned slightly as he stretched out one of his skinny dry hands and put it on Shi Yan’s wrist,
“Petrify your body first.”

Shi Yan did as Zuo Xu asked.

Suddenly, thousands of wisps of energy seemed to come out from his wrist like silk.

The wisps felt alive as it nimbly floated to every corner of Shi Yan’s body, but didn’t cause him any pain,
despite some itchiness.

The wisps passed through his veins, probed his bones, entered his entrails, and moved over every corner
of his body, and finally it went back and disappeared at his wrist.

Zuo Xu released his hand and frowned deeply. After a long silence, he said, “Nothing strange.”

Shi Jian was so joyful that he said in haste, “You mean, this boy has a normal Martial Spirit? And it will
also improve in the future?”

“Should be.” Zuo Xu was in deep thought while his face showed a weird expression, “Brother, is there
another Martial Spirit in his body?”

“How do you know?”

Shi Jian was too happy to contain himself, and he couldn’t help but laugh, “Brother Zuo! You are really
something! Yes, there is another Martial Spirit in his body which can provide self-recovery! Haha! I
intended to tell you later, but you detected it so soon!”

A light flashed Zuo Xu’s eyes as his mouth trembled. After a long while, he nodded heavily and greeted
happily, “Congratulations Brother!”

“Haha, you too, you too.” Shi Jian was delighted as he laughed, “Your little girl is so talented that she has
already reached the Second Sky of the Human level. Even that old Chi Xiao insisted on teaching her. I bet
her accomplishments will be much greater than that boy in the Beiming Family.”

Zuo Xu shook his head with a bitter smile, and sighed with fondness, “That girl is really talented, but she
is too lazy! She won’t train until I force her to. Her cultivation would be much higher if she was as
diligent as Beiming Ce.”

Zuo Xu looked a little proud as he mentioned Zuo Shi’s talent.

“Your girl advances really fast. But Shi Yan advanced to the Third Sky of the Nascent Level in a very short
time too! He never trained in the past seventeen years. To mention this speed, I have never seen
anyone who advances faster than him.” Shi Jian replied with a smile, raising his head.

Another light crossed Zuo Xu’s eyes. He looked at Shi Jian, and nodded with a smile, “Twin Martial Spirits
are really amazing. The Shi Family will definitely win the Martial Competition this time.”

“Sure!”

Shi Jian wasn’t modest at all, as he said loudly, “I kept this guy in the Gravity Room for so long so that he
could teach a lesson to the Mo Family.”

“Brother, since Shi Yan possesses twin Martial Spirits, it’s understandable that his Petrification could
directly advanced to the second stage.”

Zuo Xu thought for a while, and said, “As far as I know, there is a small possibility that the two Martial
Spirits in one body could change after coming into contact with each other. And that variation is harmful
in most cases. The two Martial Spirits may influence each other in a negative way and decrease their
power. But there is a small chance that some twin Martial Spirits could nourish each other. Shi Yan is
lucky, apparently his twin Martial Spirits are compatible, therefore his Petrification could directly
advanced to the second stage when he is still at the Nascent Level.”

“Yeah, this guy is really blessed! Or he wouldn’t have given me such a surprise at the age of seventeen!”
Shi Jian nodded with a broad smile.

Then the two old men started to talk about other trivial things, seeming to forget that Shi Yan was still
beside them.

“Hmm, may I go back to the Gravity Room if there is nothing else I can do?” Being ignored, Shi Yan
suggested helplessly.

“Well, go! Hurry up! Don’t be lazy!” Shi Jian urged seriously.

“Oh, by the way, you are an expert on ancient characters right?” Zuo Xue remembered something and
added, “Little Shi got a piece of turtle shell which has some ancient characters on it. She wants to know
what it says, please help her read it when you pass by her.”

“Okay.”

Chapter 55 - The Weirdo

In the garden in front of the living room.

Some Shi family boys were fawning over Zuo Shi passionately with modest smiles. Every time Zuo Shi
asked about something, they would answer quickly in order to create a good impression of themselves.

Some of them were from the branches of the Shi family and some, such as Shi Tianxiao and Shi Tianluo,
were from the direct line.

Walking slowly among the fresh flowers, Zuo Shi looked a little absent-minded, though her steps didn’t
falter. She shook the watering can in her hand, bored and detached, like a spirit among the flowers.

Shi Yan walked out of the living room, thought for a while, and directly went into the flower garden
towards Zuo Shi. He then stretched out his hand and said, “Please show me the turtle shell.”

“You stupid guy. Now you come to make up to Little Shi! Where have you been just now?” Shi Tianxiao
grunted in discontent.

“Big Grandpa wanted to have a word with me.” Shi Yan explained casually, “I promised Grandpa Zuo to
help Zuo Shi read the shell. We have different intentions.”

“Intentions? What’s the difference?” Shi Tianxiao was a little embarrassed. Suddenly he covered his
nose with his hand and cried, “Shi Yan, what is that smell coming from you?!”

A sour smell was wafting out from him.

The crowd didn’t notice it in the beginning as they were busy fawning over Zuo Shi. As they heard Shi
Tianxiao’s cry, they finally noticed and quickly covered their noses, complaining that Shi Yan was too
shameful.

Unexpectedly, the only girl there didn’t even take a step back, but stood there carrying the watering
can, seemingly not caring about the smell at all.

Zuo Shi stared at Shi Yan in surprise, while confusion overtook her mind.

Every man, including Shi Tianxiao and Shi Tianluo, would suit up and put some perfume on before they
saw Zuo Shi, using flower essence to ensure they didn’t leave a bad impression on her.

But this boy was too different! His warrior gown was wrinkled and dusty; apparently he had been
wearing it for a very long time. There was the strong smell coming from him indicating that he had just
finished training his martial arts.

This guy obviously doesn’t take me seriously!

Zuo Shi was stunned and soon drew this conclusion, which triggered her interest in Shi Yan.

Seeing the crowd turned off but Zuo Shi still standing there, Shi Yan was a little happy, as he asked
softly, “Where is the turtle shell?”

“It’s at the living room, I will get it right away.” Zuo Shi replied in a very melodious voice. She then
moved her beautiful legs and thin body and disappeared in an instant.

The girl moved as fast as lightning. Even Shi Yan could only see her shadow pass by, unable to follow her
movement.

The crowd, including Shi Tianxiao, were astounded.

They realized that not only was Zuo Shi pretty, but also a warrior one realm higher than them.

By the time Zuo Shi had returned, the crowd were still drowning in amazement as only six seconds had
passed.

Zuo Shi appeared in front of Shi Yan with a basin-sized turtle shell in her hand and handed it to him,
“Here you are.”

Shi Yan nodded and took the shell, only to find his body dragged down by a massive weight and he
almost fell to the ground by the heavy turtle shell.

He operated his Profound Qi and was barely able to stabilize his body. He exclaimed, “So heavy!”

He looked to Zuo Shi in discontent and assumed she was deliberately trying to make a fool out of him!

However, he found that Zuo Shi’s eyes were crystal clear and devoid of any malicious intentions.

“Yes, I don’t know what this shell is made out of. It’s about four hundred kilograms.” Zuo Shi didn’t
notice that Shi Yan had secretly cursed her, instead she fingered the short hair beside her ears and
added, “I was surprised when I first got it.”

“Four hundred kilograms!” Shi Tianxiao rubbed his temples and felt his head go numb.
Zuo Shi held the turtle shell with one hand and could still move that fast! This made him realize the
distance between him and Zuo Shi and he was a little disappointed.

Shi Yan was holding the turtle shell firmly after he recovered, which also improved his understanding of
Shi Yan, and he now believed what Zuo Shi had previously said.

“Shi Yan, you, you bastard...”

Though Shi Tianxiao was not a gifted boy, he was clever enough. He realized that Shi Jian had kept this a
secret, so he stopped himself before he announced Shi Yan’s latest shocking news.

Shi Yan remained indifferent. Without replying to Shi Tianxiao, he examined the turtle shell carefully and
nodded to Zuo Shi, “This is one of the oldest languages, so I need to read it with the help of some books.
Follow me to my room.”

At once, Shi Yan headed to his own house with the turtle shell in his hand.

“Okay.” Zuo Shi nodded and stepped up leisurely.

“Big brother, um, are we following them?” Shi Tianluo showed a strange face, and asked quietly after
the two had moved far away.

“Hmm, good idea.” Shi Tianxiao couldn’t suppress his curiosity. Seeing no one was walking out of the
living room, he also followed to Shi Yan’s house.

...

Shi Yan lived in a three storey stone house.

The first floor held various trivial stuff, the second floor was for resting, and the third floor was filled
with huge book shelves where Shi Yan kept all sorts of ancient books.

After leading Zuo Shi to the house, Shi Yan saw that the crowd had also followed them. He shouted at
them from the door, “I need quiet. Don’t come into my house.”

Then he closed the door and said to Zuo Shi, “Let’s go upstairs.”

Zuo Shi nodded obediently and followed him to the second floor.

“Well, you go up and rest on the third floor for a while. I need to take a shower and change my clothes. I
will catch up with you shortly.” He handed the turtle shell back to Zuo Shi and pointed at the stairs
leading to the third floor, “This way.”

“Why shower now?” Zuo Shi rolled her eyes at him, and grunted with her delicate nose.

“I want to feel comfortable, it’s not out of consideration for you. Don’t think too much of yourself little
girl.”

“You think too much!”

“Don’t waste my time. Go to the third floor! I’m taking off my clothes.”
Not bothering to care, Shi Yan took off his warriors gown and threw it onto the hanger. He was only in
his underwear and almost naked. He glanced at Zuo Shi indifferently, “Why are you still here?”

After a long period of intense training, Shi Yan had become much stronger. Every muscle looked shiny
and hard, as if moulded by iron, emitting a strong sense of masculinity.

As Zuo Shi saw him take off his clothes without any shame, she panicked. She cursed, “Bastard!” and
quickly took the turtle shell up to the third floor with her face blushing.

This guy… had some figure. Zuo Shi thought to herself as she was walking upstairs.

The third floor covered two hundred square metres.

Apart from the book shelves, there were many bizarre jars, bottles, pots and wine glasses on the
expanded third floor.

Zuo Shi took out an ancient book randomly, flipped it open and realized she couldn’t read it.

Zuo Shi shook her head and thought to herself, “What a weirdo!”

Zuo Shi had various hobbies as well.

She studied plants, tea ceremony, astrology, medicine and weapons, each for a short time. But she was
too lazy so she couldn’t focus on one thing for too long. She would switch to a new thing shortly after.

These ancient books on the third floor were mostly about ancient history and ancient.

Zuo Shi was not interested in them at all, so she found them all boring and difficult to understand. Now
she was sure Shi Yan was officially a weirdo.

Why are you interested in ancient life? What does it have to do with you? What can you do with it?

Zuo Shi curled her lips, and thought that Shi Yan was more ignorant and incompetent than her.

Chapter 56 - Basalt Scriptures and the Dragon Turtle Armor

Zuo Shi strolled around on the third floor, feeling very bored, so she went and stood next to the turtle
shell on the ground, waiting for Shi Yan to get back.

After half an hour, Shi Yan slowly walked up the stairs. Wearing a light green long garment, he looked
fairly handsome.

But Zuo Shi only glanced over him once, then retracted her gaze, and continued staring at the turtle
shell. She spoke, “If you’re done then let us take a look at it quickly, I’ve been waiting for so long.”

Zuo Shi had seen too many attractive men, and the men of the Zuo family were all good-looking. So Zuo
Shi was nearly immune to all the different types of handsome men.

“Girl, you’re used to making people wait for you, aren’t you? If you don’t try waiting for someone else,
how would you know how hard it is?”
Shi Yan sneered, he didn’t rush to approach her, but first he went around the bookshelves, and using the
memories deeply rooted in his head, took out a heavy ancient book that was covered with dust, then
moved to Zuo Shi’s side.

Zuo Shi stared in a daze, as she had unexpectedly blanked out due to Shi Yan’s words. She nodded
lightly, and spoke in agreement, “You’re right, it has always been others waiting for me. I’ve never
waited for anyone. So this is how it feels to wait for someone... Why is it that those people waited so
long for me, yet they never made a fuss, and still talked to me with a face full of smiles?”

“That’s because they’re low!” Shi Yan commented bluntly.

“Ha!”

Zuo Shi chuckled, her bright eyes scanning Shi Yan, and she spoke while smiling, “You’re so wicked. So
how are they low?”

“I think you shouldn’t be named Zuo Shi, you should instead be called Zuo Xin Xin.”

“Why?”

“From where I come from, they name children based on what they lack. Like how the name Zhao Xin (鑫
meaning gold) means lacking wealth and Wang Miao (淼 meaning flood/water) means lacking water, so
you should be called Zuo Xin Xin (心 meaning wits)...”

“You lack wits! Asshole!”

“So you’re not stupid?” Shi Yan said indifferently, “If you weren’t so slow-witted, how could you not
know what they were thinking? They wanted to flatter you so of course they wouldn’t show any
discontent. All men, before they obtain a wonderful thing, act incredibly low. After they obtain it, they
become even lower!”

“Are you talking about yourself?”

Zuo Shi’s eyes brightened, and she smilingly as she looked at him.

“Cough cough, I said normal men are like that, but I’m an exception.”

Shi Yan shamelessly stated, then crouched down, moving closer to the piece of turtle shell on the
ground. With one hand, he quickly flipped through the pages of the thick ancient book. Whenever he
flipped to a certain page, he would pause, his finger pointing to a specific ancient character.

On the back of the basin-sized turtle shell, aside from the complex old moire pattern, was actually eight
lip-sized ancient characters. Those eight ancient characters didn’t seem to look like they were forcefully
carved on, instead they looked like they were naturally formed by the moire patterns on the turtle shell;
it was extraordinarily magical.

The eight ancient characters were arranged in two lines and each character was about the same size,
and gave off a cold feeling when touched.

Shi Yan felt the surface of each character with his left hand, his right hand constantly flipping through
the ancient book in his hand. Sometimes he wrinkled his eyebrows in thought, other times, his eyes
would brighten and a smile would appear at the corner of his lips, as if he came to an understanding. He
engrossed himself in deciphering the ancient characters on the turtle shell.

As focused as he was, it seemed as if he didn’t noticed there was a beautiful young girl nearby.

Zuo Shi’s dainty figure knelt down, her delicate face pointed towards him, constantly paying attention to
the changes in expression on Shi Yan’s face.

It was to say, when Shi Yan was deeply concentrating on something, he displayed the unique charms of
a man.

Zuo Shi somewhat admired this kind of concentrated dedication, and she nodded silently in her mind,
thinking, “Although he has a big attitude, and rants a lot, when working on things, he’s pretty serious
about it.”

“Rustle! Rustle!”

In the silent room, there was only the sound of Shi Yan rapidly flipping through his book. Zuo Shi had
quietly kneeled down next to him, not interrupting.

After a long while, Shi Yan suddenly shut the book in his hand and with a serious face he said, “Done.”

“What do these eight characters mean?” Zuo Shi’s eyes brightened, and she asked delightedly.

“Dragon Turtle Armor! Basalt Scriptures!” Shi Yan shouted with a deep voice.

“Hey!”

Zuo Shi whispered, pointing at the turtle shell, and spoke in surprise, “The turtle shell is glowing because
of your voice!”

Shi Yan was surprised, and hurriedly looked down. The meticulous moire pattern on the turtle shell was
indeed releasing a faint green glow.

It was as if the eight ancient characters were brought to life, slowly shifting on the turtle shell, reforming
altogether.

Staring, both Zuo Shi and Shi Yan were stunned.

The eight ancient characters, after shifting for a while, formed a hand-shaped indent.

On the turtle shell, there was a light green glow that was swirling, and strange continuous pulses
escaped from the turtle shell. The air in the room seemed to be attracted to the turtle shell, as it quickly
flowed into the shell, making it hard for Shi Yan and Zuo Shi to breathe.

“Zuo Shi, I’ll stay right here, you go into the living room right now and call both of our grandpas over!
Now!” Shi Yan was dazed for a moment, then shouted.

“Okay!”

Zuo Shi was also stunned by the change to the turtle shell, so she didn’t dare to hesitate. Her tall figure
shook for a second and she disappeared from Shi Yan’s view.
Shi Yan’s expression was serious, his eyes steadily fixed upon the turtle shell.

After staring at the turtle shell for a while, Shi Yan’s heart skipped a beat, suddenly realizing the strange
conditions of the turtle shell was as if it wanted someone to put their hand in.

As soon as the thought surfaced in his mind, Shi Yan could not resist, and wanted to place his hand onto
the turtle shell.

Yet, right after his hand reached out, he realized what he was doing.

“No, this turtle shell belongs to Zuo Shi, I shouldn’t be the one to do it.”

Thinking this, Shi Yan stopped, took a deep breath, and he made himself take a few steps away from the
turtle shell, waiting patiently.

After a short moment, Zuo Shi, Zuo Xu, and Shi Jian rushed to the room, and the three surrounded the
turtle shell, watching the continuously shifting turtle shell.

“So this is what happened…” Shi Yan explained the situation briefly, and then said, “The hand print
that’s shown on the turtle shell should be the key to opening it. Just place your hand onto it and you
should be able find out the secret of the turtle shell. Since it was Little Shi who brought it, I’m not going
to mess with it.”

“Could it be dangerous?” Zuo Xu’s wondered aloud. At this moment, he was a little unsure of what to
do.

“I don’t know.” Shi Yan shook his head, and he hesitated for a second, then stated his thoughts, “The
reason why I called you guys over was because I don’t know whether it’s dangerous or not. Since you’re
all here, even if the turtle shell turns out to be dangerous, you’ll be able to stop it.”

“So you’re saying that we can give it a try?” Zuo Xu’s eyes brightened. ‘Dragon Turtle Armor’ and ‘Basalt
Scriptures’ were obviously connected to secret treasures and martial skills, so no wonder they grabbed
Zuo Xu’s interest.

“Of course we can give it a try.” Shi Yan smirked, and said lightly, “Grandpa Zuo, if you’re worried about
Xiao Shi, I can do it for her, how’s that?”

“I’ll do it.”

Zuo Shi heard what Shi Yan said, and without asking for Zuo Xu’s opinion, held out her glistening hand
and pressed it into the deep indent on the turtle shell.

“Boom!”

A low, exploding sound came from the inside of the turtle shell.

Five thin needles shot out and embedded themselves into Zuo Shi’s five fingers that were placed into
the indent.

Bright red blood immediately dripped out of Zuo Shi’s fingers. Like rubies, the blood rolled around in the
indent as if it was solid, and was finally absorbed by the turtle shell.
Bright green light suddenly burst out from the turtle shell, and the blazing green light was blinding to
everyone’s eyes.

Strange ancient symbols formed by the green light suddenly flew out, went along Zuo Shi’s arm, and it
flew straight into her head.

Chapter 57 - In My Hands!

In the stone tower.

Zuo Xu, and Shi Jian looked serious, their eyes glistened in the light, as they stared intensely at Zuo Shi,
who was pressing one hand on the turtle shell.

As the head of the Zuo family, Zuo Xu actually felt excited, his fingers kept clenching together, and the
corner of his lips occasionally twitched.

Zuo Shi was the future hope for the Zuo family. Whether The Zuo family could rise to power in the
future, and whether they could hold their status in the business league, was directly connected to how
strong Zuo Shi became!

If Zuo Shi were to become strong, the Zuo family would keep their powerful influence. If she was weak,
the Zuo family might decline.

There were countless families whose rise and falls were tied to an important figure. A family had to have
a powerful central figure in order to keep their remarkable position.

The reason why Beiming Shang put Yin Kui and Jiu Shan close to Beiming Ce’s side, was to prevent any
mishaps that may happen to Beiming Ce before he became powerful. Their main objective was the
future prosperity of the family.

Shi Yan looked indifferent, and at this moment, he was secretly observing Zuo Xu’s reaction.

Through the slight change in Zuo Xu’s expression, he realized that Zuo Xu really did see Zuo Shi as the
most important treasure of the Zuo family. He also realized just how much importance a future strong
figure holds to these elders!

A strange green symbol flew out of the turtle shell, and disappeared into Zuo Shi’s body.

Zuo Shi’s eyes were now closed, and there was a thin layer of green light covering her delicate face.

Tiny little spots of light jumped across Zuo Shi’s face, like lively fireflies, passing their thoughts to Zuo
Shi.

Zuo Xu’s expression changed, and nearly exclaimed out loud. He instinctively wanted to step forward
and protect Zuo Shi, afraid that she might be in danger.

“Stop!”
Shi Yan stepped forward suddenly and held back Zuo Xu, and spoke lightly, “It’s okay, Grandpa Zuo, you
shouldn’t be too tense.”

Zuo Xu stared for a second, then looked at Shi Yan in surprise, “Are you sure it’s okay?”

“Yes, nothing will happen to her!” Shi Yan nodded with certainty, “The little strange lights in the turtle
shell should be a type of memory communication. If I guessed correctly, it could be the way to cultivate
the Basalt Scriptures, so you don’t need to worry, this is just a memory transfer.”

When Shi Yan obtained [Rampage] from the Blood Vein Ring, the scenery was quite similar.

At that time, there was also many memory lights flowing out of the Blood Vein Ring, drilling into his
mind, forming the memory imprint in his head.

After having that experience, and looking at Zuo Shi now, his heart settled down.

“Brat, don’t speak nonsense, this is very serious!” Shi Jian shouted with a straight face.

Shi Jian was also unsure, he was scared that Shi Yan’s careless plans might cause harm to Zuo Shi. If that
happens, the Shi family and the Zuo family could turn against each other!

Ever since the Zuo family was connected to Chi Xiao because of Zuo Shi, they secretly began to have
what it takes to compete with the Beiming family. To the Shi family, having such a strong ally could only
be to their benefit, no matter if it’s against the Beiming family, or the Mo family.

Shi Jian doesn’t want to become enemies with the Zuo family.

“It’s okay, Little Shi will definitely be fine, you can relax.” Shi Yan said, and comforted Zuo Xu,
“Congratulations Grandpa Zuo, this time Zuo Shi will surely gain a great benefit, you can get ready to
giggle.”

“You brat.” After hearing his words, Zuo Xu actually loosened up, and he laughed, “If it really turns out
to be like what you said, I’ll owe you a big favor little brat.”

“Grandpa, you really do owe him a big favor.”

Zuo Shi suddenly opened her eyes, and smiled, joyfully she said, “Those strange lights are the cultivation
info of the [Basalt Scriptures]. Now in my mind, I’ve obtained the complete cultivation method of the
[Basalt Scriptures].”

“What level of Martial Skill?” Zuo Xu impatiently asked, he was so excited he could jump.

Shaking her head, Zuo Shi said, “I don’t know. All I got was the cultivation method of the [Basalt
Scriptures], and it didn’t say which level of Martial Skill it is.”

“The writing's on the turtle shell are very ancient! This should be a Martial Skill cultivated by prehistoric
warriors. At that same time, their skills were not as meticulously ranked as ours are.” Shi Yan smiled,
and casually explained, “But the Martial Skills of that time are much more mysterious than the ones we
have now. This time Xiao Shi really got lucky.”

“Haha!”
Zuo Xu laughed, delightfully patted Shi Yan’s shoulder, and said, “You little brat, I can’t help but like you!
The Shi family has such a clever boy as you. Why worry about rising to power in the future?”

Shi Jian’s eyes brightened, he glanced over at Zuo Shi. Thinking of something, his face brightened up into
a smile.

“Crack crack crack!”

Once Zuo Shi removed her hand from the turtle shell, it cracked open, separating into pieces of turtle
armor.

These turtle armor pieces turned very thin, and shone with a strange green light. One of the pieces
showed the shape of a dragon head, and another piece had the shape of a dragon tail. They looked like a
pair of shoulder armor, and were very strange.

In the middle of the armor, there were three walnut-sized medicinal pills, shining with green light. These
pills had a silly Dragon Turtle shape, with a dragon’s head and turtle’s body, as if it was alive.

A refreshing medicinal aroma spread from the three pills. The scent was very strong. Just by breathing in
a little bit, everyone suddenly felt alert.

“These three are the Dragon Turtle Pill, especially made to go with the cultivation of the [Basalt
Scriptures]. This set of armor is the Dragon Turtle Armor, supposedly it has very strong defense
abilities.” Zuo Shi reached to pick up the three Dragon Turtle Pills and pocketed all of them, and said,
“When cultivating the [Basalt Scriptures], I will need the Dragon Turtle Pills. Three of these are just
enough to help me cultivate this skill.”

Zuo Xu’s expression brightened even more, and he clapped and laughed in excitement.

It was Shi Jian who actually felt slightly low spirited. He saw Zuo Shi taking all of the Dragon Turtle Pills,
pressing his lips into a line, he finally couldn’t help but murmur, “Shi Yan helped too…”

“He can have the Dragon Turtle Armor.” Zuo Shi lightly kicked the set of armor on the ground, adorably
she furrowed her brows, and chuckled, “I don’t want to wear this heavy-ass Turtle Shell! Take it as you
please.”

Shi Jian jolted, and impatiently stared at Shi Yan, urging him to take the Dragon Turtle Armor.

“Is it okay to do that? Everything is a full set.” Zuo Xu clenched his teeth, looking reluctant. Although he
liked Shi Yan, he still didn’t want to give away the Dragon Turtle Armor.

Shi Yan stood still and shook his head, “I don’t want it, the Shi family’s Martial Spirit specializes in
defense, I don’t need to suffer with this heavy set of Turtle Armor.”

“You!” Shi Jian was upset, he stomped and shouted, “Ungrateful!”

“You don’t want it, but can’t you give it to someone else? Stupid!” Shi Jian cursed in his mind.

“Boy! I like you!” Zuo Xu laughed, and wiggled his eyebrows at Shi Jian, “It’s not that I’m unwilling to
give it up, but Shi Yan himself rejected the offer. Now you can’t blame me for this.” He said, and
immediately picked up the pieces of turtle shell, his smile becoming even wider.
“Grandpa, if you were to wear this Dragon Turtle Armor I bet you would look like a big old turtle, do you
want to try it on?” Zuo Shi chuckled.

“Yes, the girl is right, Brother Zuo, why not try it on?” Shi Jian said with great pleasure, and secretly felt
delighted.

“Disrespectful! You brat, what kind of nonsense are you talking about?” Zuo Xu’s face turned dark, he
glared at Zuo Shi, “If you keep bullshitting like that, next time I’m not going to pick you up from Cloud
Mountain, and you can die from boredom at Chi Xiao’s place!”

“I won’t do it again.” Zuo Shi stuck out her tongue, and chickened out.

“Cough cough, Brother, alright then, we should get going.” Zuo Xu smilingly looked at Shi Jian, and said,
“Don’t worry, people from our family are going to keep watch by the Dark Forest. If there’s any news on
Karu, I’ll send people to tell you. Same thing with you guys, communicate with us once something comes
up.”

“Of course, sigh, I can’t believe a figure as little as Master Karu can steal the treasure map of Mu Xun.
Now Misty Pavilion has another piece, whoever is able to get both pieces of the map would be able to
open the ‘Gate of Heaven’ with no difficulty, it’s really unfortunate…” Shi Jian’s expression was full of
lament.

“Master Karu?”

Shi Yan furrowed his brows and whispered, he thought for a second, then asked, “That Karu guy, was he
a Level 5 Mortality alchemist?”

“Hmm, you know about Master Karu?” Zuo Xu was curious.

“Is he important?” Shi Yan didn’t answer the question, and asked in response.

“He’s not important. However, the treasure map indicating the ‘Gate of Heaven’ that’s on him, is
extremely important!” Zuo Xu said.

“I killed him a long time ago, and that treasure map, hmm, just happens to be in my hands.”

“What?!”

Zuo Xu, Shi Jian, and Zuo Shi all opened their eyes wide, simultaneously they exclaimed out loud.

Chapter 58 - The Plot

In the Gravity Room.

From the bag at the corner, Shi Yan took out a yellowish broken picture and handed it to Shi Jian, “Here,
this is it.”

Shi Jian, Zuo Xu and Zuo Shi all looked at him with faces full of suspicion.
Shi Jian took that broken picture, and started to scan it carefully, when his eyes gradually lighten up,
“Good, this picture doesn’t look fake. It is quite old, as some of the patterns on it have already blurred.”

“Let me have a look!” Zuo Xu was a little hasty, as he quickly took the broken picture. After touching it,
he cried, “It can’t be fake! We have the same paper in the Zuo family which is made of the soft skin from
the belly of a demon beast from remote ages. It’s fire, water and wear proof; basically indestructible.”

“Tell me in detail about what happened between you and Karu. And how many people know about
this?” Shi Jian looked rigid as he took a deep breath, but he couldn’t hide the happiness in his eyes.

“You, weirdo, are really strange.” Zuo Shi’s beautiful eyes were also focused on Shi Yan. She was
becoming more interested in him.

“Well, this is the thing...”

Shi Yan noticed the seriousness of it after seeing Shi Jian and Zuo Xu’s reaction, therefore, he quickly
explained how he got that picture and how he escaped from the ancient cave.

“So the Mo family knows about it too?”

Zuo Xu’s face changed. After a pause, he sneered, “No wonder the people from the Mo family are still
lingering in Silent Town. They must be searching for you.”

“The Mo family!”

Shi Jian grunted and said angrily, “Thank goodness Shi Yan is fine. If he was hurt by them, I would
destroy Mo Tuo even by sacrificing myself! The Mo family has done too many evil things! They are going
to look down upon the Shi family if we don’t teach them a lesson soon.”

“Mu Yu Die and Di Yalan were taken away by Beiming Ce, and they don’t know who you are?”
Deliberating for a while, Zuo Xu asked again.

“No matter if it is Mu Yu Die, Di Yalan, or the people from the Mo family, no one knows who I am. I told
the two girls that my name was Ding Yan.”

“Good boy! Cautious enough! Or it would be very tough!” Zuo Xu complimented.

“Now that we got this half of the picture, we should get the other half!” Shi Jian said firmly to Zuo Xu,
“Brother Zuo, we can take the risk. Once we got the other half of the picture from the Misty Pavilion, we
two families can open the Sky Gate and enter the God Area to search for treasures!”

Narrowing his eyes, which were blinking brightly, Zuo Xu sank deep into thought. He then said, “There
are many experts in the Misty Pavilion. We have to make a good plan if we want to grab the picture
from them.”

He added after a pause, “I will write a letter right away to Chi Xiao and let an eagle take it to Cloud
Mountain. Chi Xiao is at the Sky Realm. We will be safer if he is here with us. After all, that old man
Beiming Shang is eager for the picture too, and was already planning on getting it.”

“Great! We have larger chance of winning if Chi Xiao attends too!” Shi Jian was joyful.
Chi Xiao was Zuo Shi’s teacher, and close to the Zuo family. As a Sky Realm Warrior, he could help a lot
once he came to Tianyun City and allied with the two families.

Zuo Xue didn’t fear that Chi Xiao would keep the secret of the Sky Gate to himself. Though there were
many treasures in the God Area, this was also accompanied with incredible dangers. The journey would
be much more secure if a Sky Realm Warrior was with them.

The most important thing was; Chi Xiao was an individual!

However greedy he was, he couldn’t possess everything in the God Area. On the contrary, a big family
like the Beiming Family would take all the advantages.

“Kid, you’d better not attend this year’s Martial Competition.” Zuo Xu said after some deliberation, “If
the Mo family recognizes your face, they would know that we already have half of the picture. Once the
other half in the Misty Pavilion is stolen, they will know it was us. Then our two families would be
assaulted by everybody.”

“Well, this...” Shi Jian hesitated, but at last he nodded helplessly, “Hmm, for the Sky Gate’s sake, we
have to do this.”

“Not exactly; He can attend the Martial Competition once he changes his appearance. No one from the
Mo family has seen him before. Just change his face. Who would know that he was the boy who killed
Karu.” Zuo Shi suggested with a big smile, blinking her eyes.

“Hey! Good idea!” Shi Jian’s eye’s blinked. After examining Shi Yan for a while, he said, “His appearance
has changed a lot in the past few months, and the people from the Mo family won’t identify him if we
put a little makeup to him.”

“And you better take action during the Martial Competition. Han Zhong said the Misty Pavilion will also
send some people to the competition. During the Competition, if you send some experts with Chi Xiao to
the Misty Pavilion to steal the picture, you may not be suspected.”

Shi Yan thought for a while, and also uttered his opinion.

“We can take action in the middle of the Martial Competition...”

Zuo Xu mumbled something and then replied loudly, “Sounds great! Let’s do it during the Martial
Competition! We will also be present then, and no one will know it was us who robbed the Misty
Pavilion! Hmm. Once Chi Xiao helps us, we will have an eighty percent possibility of getting the other
half of that picture.”

“Will Chi Xiao help us?” Shi Jian was not sure.

“Don’t worry. He definitely will. That old guy is very interested in the Sky Gate, thus he will come right
away from Cloud Mountain as soon as he gets the news.” Zuo Shi didn’t worry at all, “I know him too
well. He is more curious than anyone about unknown things.”

“Then it’s fixed!”

Shi Jian was assured, he then took the picture back from Zuo Xu, and put it into his own pocket happily,
“Brother Zuo, it’s time for you to go back and make preparations. I’ll be waiting for Chi Xiao to get the
other half and come to complete mine. Hahahahaha!”

“Great!” Zuo Xu nodded with satisfaction. He pulled Zuo Shi, “Let’s go, we should plan on it.”

“Let me keep the picture. You should do nothing but training! I will find someone tomorrow to come
and change your appearance. You should beat the Mo descendants hard!” Shi Jian yelled.

“Okay.”

...

In the Mo family.

Mo Tuo was strolling around the Thunder Palace with a rigid face. Beside him stood Mo Chaoge and Mo
Yanyu.

Mo Yanyu’s pretty face was full of bitterness, so was Mo Chaoge, as he lowered his head.

“Why can’t we find him? Are you so useless? You can’t even find a boy who has no background! We
have so many people in every city! Do they only know how to waste our resources?” Mo Tuo berated
loudly. He pointed at Mo Chaoge and Mo Yanyu and yelled furiously, “You two! You have made so much
trouble over such a small task! You are more like two rice buckets!”

[TL note: a ‘rice bucket’ is a chinese slang term for a useless person]

“Father, I’ve sent people to search, and our people in Silent Town never took a single day off. But the
Merchant Union is too vast. Who knows where that boy has gone? I did my best!”

“Useless! All useless!”

Mo Tuo cursed loudly for about ten minutes, before finally tiring, and he sighed helplessly, “Seems I
have to pay a visit to the Beiming family in person.”

“Father, will we not receive anything if Beiming Shang knows about it?”

“Do you have any better ideas?” Mo Tuo looked so gloomy that he could swallow a monster, “Do you
think I want to? If you hadn’t let that guy escape, I wouldn’t need to visit Beiming Shang! Only Mu Yu Die
knows who that young boy who killed Karu is! Only her! And only she may know where that boy is now.
Do you think I would need to do this if you weren’t so useless? Crap!”

“Father, sorry, I was wrong.” Mo Chaoge pleaded miserably. Then he turned and stared at Mo Yanyu
hard, “If you can’t win the Martial Competition, your father can’t help you either!”

Mo Yanyu nodded hastily with her face full of fear.

...

In the Beiming family.

At the centre of an artificial lake, there was a medium sized island covered with bamboo houses.
In the garden of one of the bamboo houses, Mu Yu Die was sitting, feeling soft breeze on her skin and
focusing her nimble fingers on the zither.

The melodious zither melody rippled out slowly, attracting the birds on the clear lake, which gathered in
the garden and forgot to leave.

Di Yalan was in the training field of another garden. With a long sword in her hand which was splashing
fire, she was training with a certain Martial Skill. Her hot figure was sending out intoxicating charisma in
the sunlight.

At the bank of the lake, every passing warrior would stop and stare, gazing at the island with eager eyes
and a captured face.

“Sister Lan, how is this Fire Cloud Sword?” After a piece of music, Mu Yu Die approached Di Yalan with a
big smile, “The Beiming family is known for its expertise in making weapons. Even in our Fire Empire, no
one is better at it than the Beiming family.”

“The Fire Cloud Sword is a Mystery Level weapon, which can really help me release all of my strength
when accompanied with the Fire Cloud Formula. More specifically, it can bear the fire from my Blue
Magic Flame. It’s really good.” Di Yalan nodded. Apparently she was very satisfied with her new weapon.

“So, are you still regretting coming with me?”

“Alas...”

Di Yalan shook her head and an image appeared in her mind again. She barely smiled, “It’s useless to say
these things now. I’m afraid I won’t see him again in this life. For revenge, for our family’s prosperity, I
have to do this. It’s just… just can’t...”

“Can’t let it go?”

“Yeah.”

“Sometimes, I miss him too...”

Mu Yu Die let out a rare sigh as well, “I feel that I owe him. But what could we do? We are only two girls
who have lost their family and are saddled with a heavy mission. We have to be realistic and choose a
powerful party. Or we will spend our whole life as a commoner and live a boring life.”

“He is not common at all! Sometimes I feel he is more horrifying than Beiming Ce! He won’t be any
worse off than others if he has the opportunity.”

“Unluckily God didn’t give him an opportunity. If he wants to succeed, he needs to advance step by step
since he doesn’t have a big family supporting him. We can’t wait for too long.”

“I know. That’s why I’m here with you, and not with him.”

...

“Miss Mu, the family head has invited you and Miss Di Yalan to the Ice Pavilion. It is an important talk!”
At the centre of lake, a warrior was standing on a boat and shouting at the island.
“Okay.” Mu Yu Die replied, as she frowned in puzzlement, “Why does he ask for us? We never made an
appearance since we arrived at the Beiming family. This unexpected invitation is very strange...”

“He is going to talk about your marriage with Beiming Ce?” Di Yalan assumed.

“I won’t marry Beiming Ce if they don’t help me get my revenge!” Mu Yu Die humphed coldly, “I came to
the Beiming family for their ability to help in my revenge. I feel nothing for Beiming Ce at all. Even if I fall
in love with him in the future, I will leave sooner or later. Humph!”

Chapter 59 - The Situation Surges

Beiming family, Ice Pavilion

The Ice Pavilion was made of Snow Ice Stones which were naturally gelid stones, even on a hot summer
day, it would still be radiating freezing cold energy.

The Ice Pavilion was made up of nine levels, each as tall as ten zhang. Overflowing with freezing air, it
looked like a frigid ice mountain.

[TL note: one zhang 丈 is approximately ten feet]

This was where Beiming Shang usually trained at.

The Beiming family’s Polar Ice Flame Martial Spirit, was cold in nature. Cultivating in an Ice Pavilion
made of Snow Ice Stones was incredibly beneficial to the Beiming family’s Polar Ice Flame Martial Spirit.

Usually, unless tempering himself with a secret treasure, Beiming Shang would never leave the Ice
Pavilion.

Everyone who wished to meet the Beiming family head had to endure the cold energy of the Ice Pavilion
in order to see him.

Beiming Shang would never take into account the feelings of others, he would only make others
accommodate him.

As you go up levels in the Ice Pavilion, the cold energy gets worse, even when the ordinary sons of the
Beiming family come to visit, they would only wait at the third or fourth level. If they kept going up, it
would be too much for their body to handle.

Level six of the Ice Pavilion.

In the middle of the erect ice pillars, sat the hulking Beiming Shang, his body was shrouded by lingering
cold energy. On the ice pillars of the sixth level, strange ice flames were burning bright, making the
freezing energy even more chilling to the bones.

Mo Tuo furrowed his eyebrows, and stood across from Beiming Shang. Next to him was the handsome
Beiming Ce.
Yin Kui and Jiu San were like two ghastly shadows, sitting behind two ice pillars. They lowered their
heads, as if already asleep.

Lead by one of the warriors in the Ice Pavilion, Mu Yu Die and Di Yalan entered the sixth level of the Ice
Pavilion.

The cold energy of this level had twice the strength of the fifth level!

The two girls took one step into the sixth level, and their delicate bodies shook, as if stepping into an ice
pit, while their limbs began to slowly stiffen.

“You’re here.” Beiming Ce stepped forward, and shot a meaningful glance at Mu Yu Die, “This is my
grandpa, and this… is the head of the Mo family,”

Mu Yu Die and Di Yalan’s faces simultaneously changed, the two of them looked at Mo Tuo, as their
expressions became stiff as stone.

The death of Luo Hao and Hu Long was described very clearly. Aside from the intervention of Bernard
and the Crescent Emissaries of the Dark World, there were also strikes of lightning from the sky.

Afterwards the two girls had seen Mo Chaoge, they knew that Mo Chaoge definitely had something to
do with Luo Hao’s death.

Unfortunately the Mo family held a great amount of power in the Merchant Union, and they also had
connections with the Beiming family. When Beiming Ce simply shouted at Mo Chaoge to go away, he
clearly didn’t want to get into a difficult situation with the Mo family, and he had no intention of
speaking out for the girls.

Now they suddenly encountered the head of the Mo family with the Beiming family, Mu Yu Die and Di
Yalan felt displeased. However, in front of Beiming Shang, there was nothing they could really do, so
they only sulked in secrecy.

“Nice to see you Grandpa Shang.” Together Mu Yu Die and Di Yalan bowed to Beiming Shang, purposely
ignoring Mo Tuo.

Mo Tuo looked as usual, with a slight smile on his lips, as if he didn’t mind the disregard at all.

“I heard the two of you were in the Dark Forest, you stayed with some boy for a while? I want to discuss
certain things about this boy, would you happen to know his background?” Beiming Shang lightly
nodded, his long thin eyes expressionless, and asked straight to the point.

Mu Yu Die’s heart shuddered, she hesitated, then said, “Only an insignificant little warrior, how did
Grandpa Shang come to know about such a person?”

“He has something I want.” Beiming Shang furrowed his eyebrows, and said: “Do you know where he
comes from?”

Shaking her head, Mu Yu Die responded, “I don’t know, we met him along the road. We only travelled
together because we were afraid of the beasts killing people. As for this person’s background, I have no
idea. All I know is that his name is Ding Yan, I think he’s some ordinary warrior from the merchant
union.”
“Ding Yan…” Beiming Shang nodded, then paused for a moment and said, “Do you know which city he is
from, or which region he goes around?”

“I don’t know.” Mu Yu Die shook her head again.

Beiming Shang suddenly became silent, after a moment, he spoke faintly, “Okay, there’s nothing else. In
some time, the Martial Competition is going to be held. You two and Ce should go and watch. If you stay
here all the time, I think you all will get bored. Your grandpa and I had some friendship back in the day,
and now that he’s gone, of course I will take care of you. Don’t worry, the people of the Dark World
can’t touch you here in the Merchant Union.”

“Thank you, Grandpa Shang.” Mu Yu Die’s eyes moistened, her voice sobbing lightly, “Whenever I think
of what happened to our family, I want to burn those people alive! Hundreds of people in the Mu family,
all slaughtered in one night, Grandpa Shang, you have to help me!”

“You can’t rush such things, we’ll talk about it later.” Beiming Shang nodded, waving his hand as he said,
“You can go rest, this level is too cold, with your capability it will be too hard to bear.”

“Yes.” Without further ado, Mu Yu Die bowed and lightly pulled on Di Yalan’s clothes. The two exited
together.

“Could that girl have hidden the truth?” After the girls left, Mo Tuo spoke with furrowed brows: “With
only a name, it would be very difficult to search.”

“Ce, what do you think?” Beiming Shang looked at Beiming Ce.

“Doesn’t look like she’s lying, I can keep asking her some other time. Since the other fragment is still at
Misty Pavilion, we don’t need to rush” Beiming Ce responded.

Beiming Shang nodded, and said, “Okay, you keep an eye on those two girls, remember don’t get
manipulated, I don’t want you to become someone else’s weapon. Do you understand?”

“I know, Grandpa.” Beiming Ce smiled.

“Brother Mo, you don’t need to be so anxious, I’ll notify the Shi and Zuo families, and let them both look
for Ding Yan. Don’t worry, I’ll use my name to search for him, you won’t get involved.” Beiming Shang
said unyieldingly, “Together with the five great families of the Merchant Union, I do not believe that we
can’t find a mere commoner! Humph. Remember, send someone to bring that brat’s portrait. As long as
he still lives, there’s no way he can hide.”

“Okay, then I will leave now.” Mo Tuo nodded, and left without any further ado.

“Ce, keep an eye on Zuo Shi from the Zuo family. Now that she has connections with Chi Xiao, if you can
take Zuo Shi as your wife, it will be much less troublesome for us.” After Mo Tuo left, Beiming Shang
glanced over at Beiming Ce, and said, “That girl’s natural gifts are quite extraordinary, and she’s also Zuo
Xu’s little sweetheart, quite a capricious one. If you can rein her in, that old man Zuo Xu won’t be able to
do a thing, they’ll be bound to the Beiming family.”

“No need to worry, one at a time.” Beiming Ce said with confidence.

Nodding, Beiming Ce continued, “That Mu Yu Die girl is also quite talented, but although her Musical
Martial Spirit is strong, it’s not of much assistance to the Polar Ice Flame Martial Spirit of our Beiming
family. However, that Di Yalan has the Blue Martial Flame Martial Spirit, it could be complementary to
our family’s Martial Spirit, so you have to keep a close watch on that girl, and if you can, bond with her.
She might be able to give birth to an outstanding offspring of our Beiming family.”

“Don’t worry Grandpa, the things I have my eye on can never escape from me.”

“Alright, since they entered into our Beiming family, they can’t even think about leaving.”

The Zuo family.

Zuo Xu was in his room, leisurely drinking tea. Behind him, a dark shadow suddenly knelt down and
reported, “Beiming Shang sent a messenger, he requested us to find a boy named ‘Ding Yan’, saying that
he stole something from the Beiming family, and they will give us five Mystery Level weapons for the
boy.”

“Five Mystery Level weapons.” Zuo Xu took a sip of tea, and smiled, “Beiming Shang is as stingy as usual,
using five Mystery Level weapons he wants to get the other half of the map to the ‘Gate of Heaven’, he’s
sure playing it well.”

“Master, what should we do?”

“Search for him, of course. Let our people spread the word in some cities, but don’t put too much effort
into it, just finding some random dude named ‘Ding Yan’ will do, just so that guy doesn’t get suspicious.”

“Understood.”

The Shi family.

Shi Jian received the same message, he held the envelope and sneered: “So Mo Tuo has found Beiming
Shang. Hmph! Luckily that little brat Shi Yan told me the truth, or else I’d be in the dark about this too.
Beiming Shang oh Beiming Shang, you would never believe that Ding Yan is Shi Yan. Asking me to search
him out, hehe, then I’ll sure help him look!”

“How?” Han Feng said faintly.

“Find a few people connected to the Mo family, make them mute, just say that they’re all called Ding
Yan and send them to the Beiming family.”

“Yes.”

The Beiming, Zuo, Mo, Shi, and Ling families, as the Merchant Union’s five great families, started to both
openly and secretly search for a guy named ‘Ding Yan’ in the nearby cities.

In a short time, the name ‘Ding Yan’ quickly became widespread.

Many of those named ‘Ding Yan’ were doomed, all taken by the five families. And many who were not
named ‘Ding Yan’ but were related to the Mo family, also encountered unexpected calamities, they
were beaten and crippled, forcibly muted, and escorted to the Beiming family.

Since the Martial Competition was about to start, the warriors in the Merchant Union had been grinding
their fists, and those warriors from far away, were traveling thousands of miles to come to the Martial
Competition.

What was funny was that a lot of these warriors who came, because their name was ‘Ding Yan’, were
immediately taken by the five families.

After one night, ‘Ding Yan’ became the street villain, and everyone wanted to beat him up.

And the person who started all of this, Shi Yan, had been staying in the Shi family’s heavy weight room,
jabbing his hand into a metal sand bag tens of thousands of times a day.

“Puchi!”

Shi Yan jabbed his five fingers straight in, arm deep, into the centre of the metal sand bag. He pulled out
his arm, and those five fingers actually glinted with strange chilly light, as if they were blades made of
steel, which was very frightening.

“Hmm, the Martial Competition is about to start, and the storm from the Misty Pavilion is coming. My
[Finger Gun], is finally having some success.”

Chapter 60 - The Endless Sea

At the Misty Pavilion.

The Misty Pavilion was a mysterious power which primarily held auctions, selling all sorts of rare training
materials for warriors. It had opened its only shop in Tianyun City in the Merchant Union.

It was rumoured that the Misty Pavilion was supported by warriors from the Endless Sea. The Endless
Sea, a vast ocean, was located to the east of the Merchant Union.

There were thousands of islands in the Endless Sea, which were scattered like stars. Some large islands
were even vaster than the Fire Empire and the God-blessed Empire combined.

Warriors from the Endless Sea rarely came to the Grace Mainland, for they looked for higher things.
There were numerous experts there, and they all had a powerful family or power behind them.

It was said that there were even expert warriors who were above the Spirit Realm.

On that day, at the entrance of the Misty Pavilion, stood the manager. Ku Luo was a warrior of the First
Sky of the Nirvana Realm, and had been in charge of the Misty Pavilion for many years.

For many people, Ku Luo was the master of the Misty Pavilion.
But today, Ku Luo was standing with several important members of the Misty Pavilion, seeming to wait
for someone important.

Time passed.

It was dusk. Though Ku Luo had waited for a whole day, he didn’t show any impatience on his face.

“Father, how long do we have to wait? Who are we waiting for?” Ku Luo’s only son Ku Ban grunted in
discontent, “This guy is too pretentious! He is making us wait for so long!”

“Kid, you were born in the Merchant Union, so you have no idea how big the world is! Don’t think that
the Beiming Family is the biggest family oin the mainland. Compared to the prominent families in the
Endless Sea, the Beiming Family is nothing!”

Ku Luo stared at his son and said coldly, “I am from the Endless Sea. And it was the Xia Family who sent
me here to take charge of the Misty Pavilion. The person we are waiting for is Xia Xinyan of the Xia
Family. She is my master. If it weren’t for the fragmented map of the Sky Gate, she wouldn’t even spend
her precious time visiting us from thousands of miles away.”

“Father, aren’t we at the center of the Grace Mainland?” Ku Ban was stunned. After a long while, he
asked in surprise.

“Here? The center of the Grace Mainland?” Ku Luo sneered as he shook his head, “The Fire Empire, the
God-blessed Empire, and the Merchant Union are on the outskirts of the Grace Mainland. How would
they be at the center of it? Remember! The Grace Mainland is far more vast than what you imagined.
Well, the so-called experts here, are merely considered low level warriors outside this country!”

“What?” Ku Ban couldn’t believe what he heard.

As the sun faded gradually, the moon climbed up the dark sky. Under the bright moonlight, Ku Ban was
still waiting patiently.

At midnight, three shadows appeared from the long street.

Under the red lanterns on the road side, the three shadows looked like hideous ghosts, swaying
spookily.

“Here they are! Listen, don’t utter a single word!” Ku Luo announced in a low voice.

The person in the lead was a slim woman wrapped up by a black gown and a broad bamboo hat, so her
face could not be seen.

Beside that woman were two giant men who were about two meters tall, and looked exactly the same;
they were twins.

The two huge tower-like men had dark skin and a masculine aura, but they moved really fast, giving the
impression that they weighed nothing.

“Miss, you have finally arrived.” Ku Luo bowed and said respectfully, “Ku Luo has been waiting for you
for a long time.”

“Let’s get inside first.”

A melodious voice came from under the bamboo hat. That woman didn’t waste one more word, as her
slim body passed Ku Luo, and directly headed inside the Misty Pavilion. It looked like she could be the
master wherever she was!

“Yes, Miss.” Ku Luo nodded with a smile, then he followed her at her pace, feeling relieved.

In the inner garden of the Misty Pavilion, in a quiet room.

The women in the black gown sat down on the seat at the center of the room, which was prepared for
the Master. After the two huge men found their positions to stand behind her, she waved her hands,
“Ku Luo stays here. Everyone else is dismissed.”

“Leave us alone.” Ku Luo announced to those men loudly, and specially stared at his son, Ku Ban.

Ku Luo was the manager of the Misty Pavilion, so after his announcement, they quickly left the room.

Ku Luo entered and gave a salute to the woman, then quickly took out an account book from his chest
pocket, handing it to the woman with two hands, “This is the accounts for the past ten-some years.
Miss, please check.”

“Well, put it away. I haven’t come for the accounts.”

Then she leisurely waved her hand and took off the bamboo hat. An extremely beautiful face appeared.
She frowned with her pretty eyebrows, and said softly, “Show me the fragmented map.”

“Yes.” Ku Luo immediately took out the fragmented map of the Sky Gate from underneath his clothes
and handed it to her respectfully.

Xia Xinyan picked the map with her jade like fingers, glanced at it once, and nodded softly, “Good, from
its old look it seems to be authentic.”

“Miss, there are also three Nutrition Pills and one Blood Magical Crystal, which were sent by the
Immortal Yang Family through Empty Strategy. They said it’s for you.”

Ku Luo took out those things mentioned before and handed them respectfully to Xia Xinyan, “Miss, it’s
enough for you to handle the situation here with the three Nutrition Pills. You will be heavily hurt every
time you operate the Incarnation Martial Spirit; but with these, you will be fine.”

“Well, the Yang Family is literally generous, and pretentious!” Xia grunted, “The Misty Pavilion doesn’t
belong to the Xia Family exclusively. The Yang Family is also a heavy stockholder. They don’t even send a
man here but three Nutrition Pills? Haha. They trust me so much.”

As she spoke, Xia Xinyan put away the three red longan-sized Nutrition Pills. Stroking the Blood Magical
Crystal, she asked, “And what about this Blood Magical Crystal?”

“The Yang Family has requested you to look for a person. The family head of the Yang Family, Yang
Qingdi, said his grandson Yang Hai is still alive in this place, as he perceived through the [Blood Search]
skill. So he has asked you to find him. The three Nutrition Pills are payment.” Ku Luo lowered his head as
he answered in a low voice, not daring to look at her.
“What?” Xia Xinyan exclaimed in indignation, and she said coldly, “Hehe, I wondered why they were
they so generous! They want me to do this difficult thing for them for three Nutrition Pills? Too bossy!”

Ku Luo kept his head lowered, not daring to say anything.

“Miss, fifty years ago, Yang Qingdi and his experts entered the Fourth Demon Area, where his son, Yang
Xiao, died in a battle. Moreover, Yang Xiao’s wife gave birth to an infant there. After Yang Qingdi killed a
Demon King in the Fourth Demon Area, the other three Demon Kings allied to chase him out, and his
daughter-in-law died soon after. Yang Qingdi assumed he was about to die, so he broke the space with
[Blood Escape] skill and threw that infant out of the Fourth Demon Area.”

One of the huge men explained with his rusty voice.

“And then?” Xia Xinyan frowned slightly, and asked nonchalantly.

That huge man paused, thought for a while, and continued, “After he threw out that infant, Yang Qingdi
stayed in the ‘Fourth Demon Area’ for another twenty years, encircled by the other three Demon Kings.
But luckily he escaped and came out of the Fourth Demon Area alive, though he was badly hurt.
Recently, Yang Qingdi finished his secret training and came out as a Spirit Realm Warrior. He had saved
one drop of blood from the infant when he threw him out of the Fourth Demon Area, so he perceived
through [Blood Search] skill that his grandson is in the Merchant Union. That’s why he sent the three
Nutrition Pills as the payment. He cares about the Yang descendent.”

“The three Demon Kings in the Fourth Demon Area seemed to have a big plan recently, so I guess Yang
Qingdi has been too busy to search for the infant in person.” The other huge man added.

“Yes, they sent a message that one of the three Shura Kings, Xiao Hanyi, had already set off from the
Immortal Island with fifty Shura escorts. They will arrive in at most one month, and hope that you could
find the infant before they arrive.” Ku Luo said slowly with deference.

“Shura King, Xiao Hanyi! Fifty Shura escorts!” Xia Xinyan sneered, “Seems like Yang Qingdi really cares
about that infant!”

“The Yang Family is so domineering in the Endless Sea, thus they offended a lot of people. For the past
few years, they were busy fighting with the Fourth Demon Area and lost a lot of descendents who
possess the Immortal Martial Spirit. That infant is Yang Qingdi’s direct grandson left by Yang Xiao, sure
enough, he takes it to heart.” One of the huge men responded.

“Ku Luo, from now on, I will take charge of the Misty Pavilion, and you will go look for his grandson
discreetly. The Shura King, Xiao Hanyi is coming. I can’t take the three Nutrition Pills if we can’t find Yang
Hai before he arrives. You understand?” Xia Xinyan looked at Ku Luo indifferently.

“Yes, I got it.” Ku Luo nodded.

“I will keep the Blood Magical Crystal. After you find all those men called Yang Hai, bring them to the
Misty Pavilion and then with Yang Qingdi’s Blood Magical Crystal, we will know who is the Yang Hai we
want.” Xia Xinyan said with an indifferent face as she stroked the Blood Magical Crystal.
“Okay, I will go right away.” Ku Luo bowed and left, while sighing to himself bitterly, “The five big
families are looking for Ding Yan, and I have to go look for Yang Hai. It’s so boisterous in the Merchant
Union.”