Chapter 71: The Hand of Asura

So powerful—the force of bone energy is truly immense, my vitality was utterly defenseless. Lu Yan was shocked beyond measure.

In their collision, he realized that his robust vitality was easily torn apart, offering no resistance at all. If not for his strong body, his Diamond Body and martial unity, it wouldn't have been just minor injuries.

To cultivate bone energy, one must practice first-class martial arts. The vitality forged by such martial arts is already superior in quality to that of second-rate techniques. Moreover, bone energy evolves to an even higher level.

Comparing his vitality to the opponent’s bone energy was like comparing dirt to steel. While enough dirt can overwhelm—like a landslide or mudflow, with tons of earth crashing down, possessing the power to shatter stones and sweep all before it—his vitality was five times thicker than an ordinary person's. Against peers, even those practicing first-class martial arts, he could overwhelm them.

But facing a Martial Lord, it was a different story. His vitality, no matter how dense, couldn’t sweep away a Martial Lord unless it was ten or twenty times stronger... The Martial Lord’s bone energy was like a giant axe, easily splitting through earth.

This was his first true confrontation with a Martial Lord. He’d underestimated them before. He had thought that after breaking his limits five times, he could contend with a Martial Lord—maybe not win, but at least hold his own for a while.

Now he realized how wrong he was. Without Shen Yinuo, facing a Martial Lord head-on, he would be dead within ten moves.

“Just a minor injury. Come again,” Lu Yan muttered, suppressing his wounds, and charged at the Martial Lord from the Ge family once more.

Bang!

They clashed again; Lu Yan retreated, wounded once more. But he immediately rushed back. He noticed that Shen Yinuo’s palms were beginning to flush red, and each time he exchanged blows with the Martial Lord, the red deepened.

She was gathering her strength—taking advantage of the Martial Lord’s distraction by dealing with Lu Yan. Clearly, after breaking through to Martial Lord herself, Shen Yinuo had gained a deeper mastery of her martial art. Previously, when fighting the mutated Blood Armored Lizard, she had to stand aside and gather her power alone, but now she could find openings to prepare even amid battle.

Bang! Bang!...

Lu Yan charged seven times, was struck back seven times. Though each wound was slight, the accumulation made his injuries worse; his organs ached, and his hands felt as if his bones were fractured, throbbing with pain.

Such a price was not without effect.

Shen Yinuo’s hands turned crimson as blood. With a cry, she struck out fiercely.

With a splatter, the Martial Lord from the Ge family was unable to defend. He tried to block with his palm, but at the moment their hands touched, it was as if his palm was cut by a divine weapon—half of it flew off.

Shen Yinuo’s right hand pierced through the Martial Lord’s heart like a force of nature.

“You... the Asura Hand...” Blood poured from the Martial Lord’s mouth, his eyes wide with terror.

As Shen Yinuo withdrew her hand, the Martial Lord from the Ge family lost all signs of life.

“Asura Hand?” Lu Yan’s heart stirred; the Martial Lord seemed to fear this martial art even in his final moments. But this was Shen Yinuo’s secret, and Lu Yan wouldn’t pry.

“Congratulations. Vitality enters the bone, bone energy is born, henceforth you bear the title of Martial Lord,” Lu Yan saluted.

“Just broke through, the bone energy is impure. Otherwise, killing such a wretch wouldn’t have been so troublesome,” Shen Yinuo replied, shaking off the blood from her hand and wiping it with a few leaves.

Lu Yan believed Shen Yinuo wasn’t boasting; at fivefold limit, she could slaughter peers with ease.

Then Shen Yinuo regarded Lu Yan curiously. “So this is what you really look like—quite young. I thought from your gaze you must be over thirty. Looks like I should be called elder sister.”

Lu Yan ignored her last remark. “You knew I was in disguise all along?”

During the battle with the Martial Lord, Lu Yan fought with all his might, making it hard to maintain his Morphing Technique, and so his true face was revealed.

“Of course,” Shen Yinuo nodded.

“How did you see through it?” Lu Yan frowned; his Morphing Technique was perfected, supposedly seamless, yet Shen Yinuo knew he was disguised. Where had he gone wrong?

“You must have practiced some special martial art like the Morphing Technique, and at a high level. But you need to know, the muscles and bones of a masked face differ from those naturally formed. The differences are subtle, but they don’t escape my eyes,” Shen Yinuo said, pointing to her sparkling eyes.

“But rest assured, even though I know you’re in disguise, I can’t tell your real appearance. Most people can’t even tell you’re disguised. It takes special training,” she added.

Lu Yan nodded; he was sure of this. He’d tested it—even Lu Qingshan and Wang Cui, who knew him well, couldn’t detect it.

Shen Yinuo was just special—the more he interacted with her, the more unfathomable she seemed.

No matter how deep the mystery, someday I’ll find its bottom.

“Don’t worry, I won’t expose you. After all, Shen Yinuo’s word is her bond,” Shen Yinuo patted her chest.

“I believe you,” Lu Yan nodded, and this time, he spoke sincerely.

Earlier, Shen Yinuo had broken through to Martial Lord. She had researched the mutated beast meat here for some time; the Blood Vein here held little value for her now, and she’d already promised to give it all to Lu Yan.

Thus, when facing the Martial Lord from the Ge family, she could have simply left, even skipping her promise to prepare martial food for him for a year.

But she didn’t. Instead, she risked her safety to hold off the Martial Lord.

That eased much of Lu Yan’s wariness toward Shen Yinuo.

Next, they searched the Martial Lord’s body, but only found a few hundred taels of silver notes. As for first-class martial arts, there were none.

“The entrance is exposed, the foliage has been cut away. We need to cover it up again,” Lu Yan said.

“Let’s check outside first,” Shen Yinuo nodded.

They went outside.

After discussing, they decided to block the crevice with large stones, cover it with earth, and then layer flowers and grass for concealment, leaving only a single entrance.

“You’re injured. Eat some martial food to recover—I’ll move the stones,” Shen Yinuo said, then vanished with a flick of her toes.

Lu Yan didn’t protest; his wounds were indeed serious. If neglected, he might suffer lasting effects.

He ate a piece of martial food, began striking and swinging his fists, guiding his vitality to nourish his injuries.

After a day, his wounds stabilized, and he began helping. It took two days for them to cover the entire crevice, layering it with flowers and grass, leaving only a discreet entrance, even more hidden than before.

They returned to the Blood Vein.

Lu Yan continued to eat martial food for healing, and after several days, his injuries were nearly healed.

“What should we do with the rest of the mutated heart meat?” Lu Yan was troubled, staring at the sizable chunk remaining.

He’d learned that of the three sets of supplementary herbs he’d purchased last time, two had failed. Only the third, Shen Yinuo had succeeded with, cooking the mutated nine-section heart meat and breaking through to Martial Lord.

Of the total twenty pounds, Shen Yinuo had used four, leaving sixteen.

“Obviously, sell it. If we leave it here, it’ll spoil and lose potency,” Shen Yinuo said.

“So much—it’s hard to find buyers,” Lu Yan replied.

Sixteen pounds—even elite Martial Lord clans might not consume it all at once. And it would surely attract Martial Lords.

Not just likely—certainly.

“Leave it to me. I have ways. But selling sixteen pounds at once won’t fetch a high price—not like last time in Qingyang City, when it soared to fifteen thousand taels per pound,” Shen Yinuo said.

Lu Yan nodded. He knew the usual market price was ten thousand taels per pound. Anything above eleven or twelve thousand was already very good.

“The range will be ten to thirteen thousand per pound. But I have a condition: after selling, I want half,” Shen Yinuo added, as if afraid to tarnish her reputation for honesty.

“I’ll need silver to travel the world, buy ingredients, and hone my culinary skills. But rest assured, except for what I need for my own cultivation, I won’t take any other beast meat—all the rest is yours.”

“Agreed. Half each,” Lu Yan said with a wave.

In truth, even if Shen Yinuo wanted half of all beast meat, he wouldn’t object. After all, this place was discovered by both of them. And it was thanks to Shen Yinuo that the Martial Lord from the Ge family was slain.

Lu Yan was a man who repaid favors and grudges with clarity.