Chapter Seven: Double Sky

  The next morning, at dawn, when the sky was still dimly lit and the sun had not yet risen, the troops were already ready to depart.

  Shi Yan blended in with the crowd of slaves, his expression calm and collected, without a hint of abnormality. He silently followed the group as they marched forward. Originally, Qiang Sen had been looking forward to seeing him make a fool of himself, but now that he saw Shi Yan had regained his composure, he was left stunned.

  These days, every medicine slave who drank the Duangangsan would turn pale as paper after one night, extremely weak and frail. Those with weak bodies couldn't even walk on the road, while those with strong bodies would show pain and reveal fear and anxiety.

  Ke Shiyan's footsteps were steady, his face was rosy, and he didn't seem to be injured at all, which made Qiangsen full of doubts.

  Jiangson observed for a while and after making sure that the stone rock was not a hindrance, he furrowed his brow and came to the front of the team, explaining the situation of the stone rock to Mo Yan Yu and Kalu.

  "Don't mind him." Old God Kaluo said, "Since that kid is a martial artist, he won't show any unusual signs so easily. Once his internal energy is depleted, he'll be the same as others. The power of the Disintegrating Intestines medicine is something I've taken into account."

  "Uh-huh, you go ahead, just keep a close eye on him." Mo Yan Yu instructed calmly.

  Johnson saw that both of them were so relieved, and it was not good to say anything more. He honestly returned to the rear of the team and continued to stare tightly at Shi Yan, afraid that he would make any abnormal move.

  "Master, how long will it take for him to be in agony?" After Strongson left, Mo Yan Yu hesitated for a moment and asked Karu, who couldn't wait for Shi Yan to roll on the ground in pain right now, so she could feel relieved.

  "Don't worry, it should be almost done tonight."

  The daytime flashes by, and the moon quietly hangs in the night sky.

  After the team settled down, Karu and Mo Yan Yu walked towards the stone rock together. They saw that the stone rock was sitting on the ground in the distance, lowering its head to eat quickly, seemingly unaware of the poor quality of the food in its hand.

  "Master, this guy doesn't seem to be..." Mo Yan Yu was about to speak but stopped herself. Shi Yan's eating appearance made people not dare to compliment him, but no matter how you looked at it, he didn't seem to be suffering either.

  Ka Ru's face gradually darkened, and he coldly snorted, saying: "You're doubting my ability to refine medicine?"

  "I don't dare to," Mo Yan Yu shook his head, "The master has already proven the miraculous effect of Du Cang San on other medicine slaves. What I'm curious about is... why he's unscathed? Did the master accidentally leave out some medicinal ingredients in the previous dose of Du Cang San?"

  "Miss Mo, although I'm not a high-level alchemist, I won't make any mistakes in this matter." Karu's face fell, and he hummed discontentedly: "If you don't believe in my abilities, we can part ways right now."

  "Master, don't be angry, Yan Yu didn't mean it that way, she just found it strange, Master mustn't think wildly..." Mo Yan Yu smiled apologetically.

  "Hmph!" Karu Li ignored Mo Yan Yu as well, his figure flashing like lightning, swiftly dashing towards the rocky cliff.

  Shi Yan lowered his head, pretending not to see Kalu, but in his heart he was secretly shocked by Kalu's speed and grateful that he hadn't made a rash move yesterday, otherwise he would have been killed by Kalu.

  Karu, apart from being an alchemist, was also a martial artist who had entered the realm of Innate. He, on the other hand, was only a Postnatal Second Heaven warrior who could barely control the essence within his body. The gap between them was like a chasm, leaving no room for victory. Taking action would be nothing but a path to certain death.

  "Hiss!"

  Karu's figure flashed over, a strange sound echoing through the air, and in an instant, Karu was standing before him.

  Shi Yan calmed down and put down the food in his hand, looking up at Kalu.

  Karu's pale face was filled with a cold, gloomy aura as he swiftly reached out and grasped Shi Yan's left arm. His dry fingers stuck to Shi Yan's arm, and a thread of pure, electric-like energy suddenly surged into Shi Yan's arm, following the meridians up his arm and into his body. It circled around his intestines before slowly returning, ultimately disappearing back into Karu's fingertips.

  Karu's Jingyuan condensation was extremely powerful, his Jingyuan flowed through the meridians in Shiran's body, causing Shiran's meridians to swell with a dull ache.

  "Huh......" Kalu furrowed his brow in puzzlement, muttering to himself: "This isn't right... the medicinal properties of Duān Gāng Sàn are still active, so why does he still have spiritual energy left? His intestines and stomach shouldn't be rotting away either... He's just a low-ranking martial artist, it's impossible for him to have such pure spiritual energy, he should be collapsing by now..."

  Shi Yan remained still, letting him grasp his arm without resisting.

  "Master, how is it?" Mo Yan Yu walked over and asked curiously.

  "Wait another day and see." Karu's face was gloomy, and he didn't understand what was going on at all. He hadn't even thought in the direction of "Martial Soul", because a "Martial Soul" wasn't something that an ordinary martial artist could possess, and he had never heard of a "Martial Soul" that could make one's body heal automatically.

  Mo Yan nodded, although her heart was full of doubts, she didn't say much, but instead gave Shi Yan a strange look, as if thinking of some sinister idea.

  The next evening, Karu and Moyan Yu came again and checked Shiyan's body. They found that Shiyan's intestines and stomach were still not rotten, and Karu's face looked even worse. He said to wait another day and see.

  On the third night, the two came again, and Karu checked once more, but still there was no harvest.

  On the fourth evening, Karu came again.

  This time, Kalu held two bowls of Duǎn Gāng Sàn in his hands and when he arrived at the stone rock, he asked Qiangsen to call a medicine slave named Gu Luo to come over. He let Shi Yan and Gu Luo drink the newly refined Duǎn Gāng Sàn together.

  Shi Yan cooperatively drank down the Duan Chang San.

  "These two bowls of Intestine Dispersing Pellets were refined by me in one go." Kalu looked at him as he finished drinking, and only then did he say this sentence with a lukewarm tone.

  Mo Yan nodded, "As long as that ancient body rots away, it means there's a problem with this guy's body. Mo Yan understands the master's meaning."

  "Uh-huh." Karu nodded, "Let's come back tomorrow at this time and compare, then we'll know."

  At night, Shi Yan sat on the ground with a solemn expression, slowly circulating his vital energy.

  That strand of essence in his body was gradually lengthened, extending to the entire main meridian. In the midst of his changing thoughts, the essence was extremely agile, quickly flowing from one meridian to another. Along with his mental focus, that strand of essence shuttled back and forth among various meridians, truly like a spiritual snake.

  Gradually, that strand of vital energy followed his arm meridian to the right hand's index finger. Shi Yan concentrated his spirit and will, and that strand of vital energy slowly retreated back into the meridians in his arm. Suddenly, it accelerated rapidly, like a rainbow-colored gas shooting towards the index finger, its speed getting faster and faster!

  "Hahaha!"

  A strange sound came from the tip of his index finger, and the pain grew stronger. The spiritual energy rushed into his index finger, causing it to tremble slightly, like a rattlesnake's tail shaking constantly.

  Essence gathered in his index finger, constantly conflicting, yet being stubbornly blocked by the skin and flesh at the fingertips. No matter how hard he tried, essence couldn't break through this layer of obstruction, making it difficult for essence to leave the body.

  "Ah!"

  He let out a deep breath and slowly drew his vital energy back into his lower abdomen, muttering in an almost inaudible voice: "Still not working..."

  The realm of the day after tomorrow has three layers of heaven. Cultivating the essence to form one layer of heaven, mastering the essence and allowing it to circulate through the body with thoughts is two layers of heaven, and being able to burst out of the physical flesh and overflow from within is the third layer of heaven.

  Shi Yan could now freely manipulate his vital energy, and he was at the Second Sky of the Realm. These past few days, he had been constantly cultivating to gather more vital energy, trying to make it overflow from his fingertips, hoping that he could break through into the Third Sky. Unfortunately, after several attempts, each time he was blocked by the skin on his fingertips, and he couldn't break through.

  "It seems that the cultivation of a martial artist is not something that can be accomplished overnight, and my vital energy is still not strong enough. I can only continue to charge forward after my vital energy has been condensed and strengthened again." After another failure, Shi Yan let out a sigh in his heart, knowing that he had been too impatient due to being in a precarious situation.

  He knew that at this time tomorrow, his body would still be intact and unaffected by the poison, but that Gu Luo, the medicine slave, would inevitably suffer from intestinal rupture and possibly even damage to his internal organs.

  Karu only needs to make a comparison, and he will know that his Duan Jing San is not a problem. He will naturally understand that his body is different from ordinary people, and when the time comes, new troubles will arise. It's possible that his good days are really coming to an end. In order to avoid future troubles, Mo Yan Yu has a high possibility of taking poisonous action immediately.

  It's also possible that tomorrow morning, Gu Luo will show signs of poisoning under the effect of the Du Cang San medicine. He might even be in danger by then. At that time, the warriors won't be as focused on their bitter training as they are now, and they'll all be staring at him. He won't have any chance.

  Looking up at the starry sky, Shi Yan's expression gradually became determined. He knew that if he wanted to escape, he had to take action tonight!

  ……