Martial Conquest of the Nine Desolates
Chapter 155 - 153: The Malice of Human Hearts

Chapter 155: Chapter 153: The Malice of Human Hearts

Apart from Xiao Ye, who sat alone on a large tree, skilled and courageous, the other seven martial artists huddled together in their clothes, afraid of being attacked.

"Now we only have three Primordial Stones left." Xiao Ye took out a Primordial Stone and sighed quietly.

He then began to cultivate, all the while keeping an eye on his surroundings.

When the night passed and dawn broke, surprisingly, nothing had happened. The seven martial artists were visibly confused, but they were also relieved and secretly glad.

"Let’s move on." Kuang Shi jumped down from the tree, and after everyone had cleaned up, they hit the road again.

"Brother Ye, it seems you really are our lucky star, even Kuang Shi doesn’t dare to make a move with you here." Zhang Dashan approached with a smile.

Xiao Ye smiled faintly, his gaze shifting to Kuang Shi ahead, a trace of sharpness flashing through his eyes.

Last night, while he was cultivating, he noticed everyone else was too nervous to sleep, yet Kuang Shi was snoring loudly.

"To be able to sleep without any worries must mean the perpetrator is him, but why didn’t he make a move last night? Could it be that he has noticed my cultivation level?" Xiao Ye pondered with confusion.

"Damn it, it’s all because I carelessly walked into the Lost Forest, now I can only be led by the nose by someone else!"

"Yes, now we can only hope that Kuang Shi can lead us out."

The two martial artists grumbled as they hastened along the road.

After a day’s travel, the forest ahead seemed endless, surrounded by fog like a sea of mist, disorienting them.

"Let’s stop here for today and rest." Kuang Shi suggested as he observed the sky.

The seven martial artists gathered together again, lit a bonfire, and took out their dry food to eat.

Xiao Ye, just like the previous night, found a large tree to sit cross-legged while he cultivated and kept vigilant of his surroundings.

"Hu hu—"

Soon, snores started coming from where Kuang Shi was resting.

When another night passed and again nothing happened, the seven martial artists smiled and continued on their way under Kuang Shi’s lead.

Over the next three days, nothing happened either. Zhang Dashan chatted with Xiao Ye from time to time, and the two became quite familiar with each other.

However, Xiao Ye did not reveal his origins, merely stating his surname was Ye. Zhang Dashan did not inquire further.

"Folks, after tonight, we should be able to exit the Lost Forest by tomorrow," Kuang Shi said as he turned and smiled.

"Haha, finally we can escape this damn forest!"

"The first thing I’m doing after getting out is finding a tavern to eat and drink to my heart’s content; it’s been so long my mouth is nearly fading!"

The martial artists cheered, very excited.

"Brother Ye, Kuang Shi will surely make a move on you tonight, otherwise he’ll have no chance." Zhang Dashan leaned in and whispered.

Xiao Ye nodded quietly, his gaze drifting, as if in thought.

"Brother Ye, why not stay with us tonight, for some mutual protection against Kuang Shi? He surely wouldn’t dare to attack you then."

Zhang Dashan said with a grin and subtly raised his right hand, suddenly striking towards Xiao Ye’s back.

Boom!

However, before his palm could land, he was sent flying by a punch and smashed through several large trees before coming to a halt.

This scene shocked the other martial artists, and Kuang Shi walked back.

"That murderer, it’s you, isn’t it," Xiao Ye withdrew his fist, his gaze icy as he stared at Zhang Dashan.

"Brother Ye, what are you saying? How could I be the murderer?" Zhang Dashan looked at Xiao Ye, his face pale and eyes frantic.

"Still not admitting it!" Xiao Ye scoffed, "All along you’ve been saying Kuang Shi was the murderer, just to divert my attention and then take the opportunity to strike at me; am I wrong?"

Xiao Ye was no longer the naive young man of the past and knew well the deviousness of human heart. After detecting something off about Zhang Dashan, he no longer suspected Kuang Shi.

"How did you discover it?" Zhang Dashan stood up from the ground, his eyes filled with lethal intent, a stark contrast to his formerly honest and simple demeanor.

"I have no close ties with you, yet your enthusiasm has been too great, there must be an agenda," Xiao Ye said coldly.

Zhang Dashan froze, not expecting that his own behavior would give him away.

"Haha, what does it matter if you’ve discovered it? Hand over your Primordial Stones, and I can let you die without pain!" Zhang Dashan dropped all pretenses, laughing wildly.

"So Zhang Dashan was the murderer!"

"He seems so honest and simple, but he hid it very deep!"

The group of martial artists, thinking of themselves always being with the murderer, couldn’t help but break out in a cold sweat.

"If you want the Primordial Stones, come and get them yourself!" Xiao Ye said coldly.

Boom!

Zhang Dashan erupted with a powerful aura, shaking the surrounding trees.

Early Stage of Innate Realm Eighth Layer!

Feeling this powerful aura, the other martial artists were shocked and turned pale; the strongest among them was only at the Innate Realm Fourth Level.

"Feeling scared? Then obediently hand over the Primordial Stones," Zhang Dashan approached Xiao Ye with a menacing grin.

Xiao Ye’s face showed disbelief. Just the early stage of Innate Realm Eighth Layer made Zhang Dashan so wildly arrogant?

"Truly ignorant!" Xiao Ye coldly said, his body erupting with a majestic aura that swept all around.

"Innate Realm Eighth Stage Middle Stage!" Zhang Dashan’s face turned pale and his steps faltered, then without thinking, he turned and fled.

"Sun and Moon Seal Technique, Great Sun Seal!"

Xiao Ye soared into the sky, his hands forming the Great Sun Seal, like a rising sun, emitting a fierce radiance, then pressed down towards Zhang Dashan.

Zhang Dashan looked back and saw this scene, instantly terrified as if his soul was about to leave his body, fearful of the power of this move.

"Ah!" Zhang Dashan roared, unleashing all his strength in an attempt to withstand the Sun and Moon Seal.

However, he was still blown away, blood spraying as he fell to the ground, lifeless, turning into a cold corpse.

"This...." The martial artists nearby, including Kuang Shi, were dumbfounded, their faces full of shock.

In their eyes, the immensely powerful Zhang Dashan was instantly killed by Xiao Ye, and to think, there was only a small gap in their cultivation.

"This man must be a powerful Young Talent!" The crowd looked at Xiao Ye with fear.

"Hmph, still dare to fight against me."

Xiao Ye landed on the ground, looking at the corpse of Zhang Dashan, suddenly had a thought, and walked over to search his body.

With Zhang Dashan’s cultivation, he should have Primordial Stones on him, Xiao Ye naturally wouldn’t let them go.

Quickly, Xiao Ye found a black wrap on Zhang Dashan’s body.

"Hmm? What’s this?" Xiao Ye pulled out two soft objects from the wrap, seemingly like skin.

"Could this be Human Skin Masks?" Xiao Ye was stunned, as these were quite rare, and he had only heard about them.

"There’s also a Treasure Box and a book." Xiao Ye pulled out two more items, and first opened the book.

The book was not a Cultivation Technique or Combat Techniques, but rather appeared to be Zhang Dashan’s journal.

Xiao Ye stood there flipping through the book, while people like Kuang Shi in the distance, didn’t dare to approach and disturb.

"So that’s it." After half an hour, Xiao Ye closed the book.

According to the records in the book, Zhang Dashan’s real name was Wang Lin, an Independent Practitioner.

His face was extremely ugly, shunned by others, so Wang Lin began to study the Disguise Technique, wanting to change his face.

Unexpectedly, he actually succeeded. He made three Human Skin Masks: one honest and straightforward, one of average appearance, and one bizarre and charming.

Normally, he relied on these three Human Skin Masks to disguise himself, hunting several martial artists, gaining Cultivation Resources, thus his cultivation soared to the Middle Stage of Innate Realm Eighth Layer.

Because of his cultivation, he even received an invitation from the Qingming Commerce, becoming a Guest Elder of that commerce. This time he went out to collect a precious medicinal herb for the commerce; if successful, he would receive a reward of fifty Primordial Stones.

"This Treasure Box must contain that medicinal herb." Xiao Ye picked up the Treasure Box, his heart stirring.

If he could get those fifty Primordial Stones, his cultivation could soon break through to the Innate Realm Ninth Layer.

"Wang Lin, in Qingming Commerce, always showed himself with a bizarre and charming face, nobody knows his true appearance, why not take his place wearing the Human Skin Mask, complete the task, and take the fifty Primordial Stones." This thought flashed in Xiao Ye’s mind.

Fifty Primordial Stones were a considerable fortune to him, after all, even Direct Disciples of the Chongyang Sect would find it hard to accumulate so many.

This was quite literally Primordial Stones being handed to him, why would he not take them?

"Qingming Commerce, is a commerce force spread across the Black Dragon Country, not only can I obtain Primordial Stones by completing tasks, but also find help for acquiring Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures to breakthrough to the Four Cauldrons Power." As Xiao Ye thought of this, his face filled with excitement.

He was just preparing to hide his identity to avoid the pursuit of the Sun and Moon Sect, doing this would kill several birds with one stone, after all, having a ready-made identity is better than none, if discovered he could simply flee.

"Let’s see his real face." Xiao Ye reached towards Wang Lin’s face, and suddenly tore off a Human Skin Mask, revealing an extremely ugly face.

"Damn, he’s really ugly, having me impersonate you is really an insult to me." Xiao Ye showed a repulsed expression.

Then he also found quite a few broken silver pieces in the wrap, and then walked back carrying the wrap.

Having figured out his next course of action, Xiao Ye felt much more cheerful.

After resuming their journey, people treated Xiao Ye with great respect.

"Lord, couldn’t imagine your cultivation was so strong." Kuang Shi said to Xiao Ye.

Xiao Ye gave a slight smile and suddenly asked, "Kuang Shi, they all wrongfully accused you of being the murderer, why don’t you explain?"

"Explain?" Kuang Shi gave a bitter smile, "If I explained, would they believe me?"

Xiao Ye paused, then nodded.

Indeed, if he hadn’t figured out Zhang Dashan was peculiar, he wouldn’t have believed Kuang Shi’s explanation either.

A day later, Kuang Shi finally led everyone out of the Lost Forest.

"Kuang Shi, hope there is a day we meet again," Xiao Ye said with a fist salute.

"Haha, maybe the next time we meet, Lord, you will have reached the peak of the Black Dragon Country," Kuang Shi laughed heartily.

Xiao Ye laughed heartily, and continued walking along the Tao.

In a deserted place, he changed into one of the Human Skin Masks, instantly transforming into a bizarre and charming young man, his features so handsome that even women would be envious.

He guessed Wang Lin probably wanted to compensate for his deficiencies in appearance, that’s why he specially made such a mask.

"Hope this Wang Lin doesn’t have too many romantic debts for me to repay," Xiao Ye gave a wry smile.

Qingming Commerce’s headquarters was in Red Sun City, Xiao Ye took out the map of Black Dragon Country, confirmed the direction, and then dashed forward.

(Thanks to book friends Extreme, This Time I Will Hold You Tight, and Passing Guest for the rewards, much appreciated!)