The gentle sound of flowing water, lush green trees, and a land dragon drinking from a crystal-clear stream, its body laden with various packages.
Beside the land dragon, a dozen or so burly warriors were eating heartily, enjoying their meal and discussing topics unsuitable for children. Behind the land dragon, another dozen or so emaciated individuals were crouched on the ground, each shackled with heavy chains on their arms and legs, staring blankly at the ground as they ate their bland and nutritious food.
Inside a palanquin atop the land dragon, an elderly man with a cold expression sat. He wore a black-gray long robe, with five delicately embroidered white medicine bottles on the chest. The man was thin and wore a headdress. He looked down condescendingly at the shackled individuals, as if choosing pigs to be slaughtered.
The elderly man's eyes darted about, sometimes falling on the warriors devouring their meals, giving them a sinister, meaningful gaze. Every warrior who met his eyes turned pale and silent, seemingly terrified of him.
"Are you done eating? If so, we continue our journey," Mo Yan Yu said coldly as she pulled Shi Yan along through the bushes.
The warriors gave forced chuckles, quickly putting away their unfinished food, and repeatedly said, "We're done eating, done eating."
Mo Yan Yu wore a stern expression, showing no patience. When she reached the elderly man's side, she forced a smile and said, "Master Karu, I trust you've finished eating as well?"
The old man nodded indifferently, muttering, "Miss Mo, we are still three months away from the Merchant Alliance, but the medicine slaves you brought have already dwindled to only sixteen. I'm afraid we won't make it to the Merchant Alliance at this rate…"
"Master, don't worry. We will continue to supplement the medicine slaves along the way," Mo Yan Yu said seriously, tossing Shi Yan onto the ground. She smiled and added, "See, we've gained another medicine slave."
"Hmm." Karu nodded without enthusiasm, his eyes like venomous snakes as they scanned Shi Yan's body. He frowned and said, "This kid is so thin, he probably won't last more than a few days."
"He is indeed weak, but he has vitality within him…" Mo Yan Yu explained.
"A martial artist?" Karu's eyes lit up with interest.
"Yes, indeed a martial artist!" Mo Yan Yu affirmed.
"That's more like it," Karu smiled coldly, then began to scrutinize Shi Yan more carefully. After a long while, he slowly nodded, "Very well, Miss Mo, make sure to feed him well. I need his body to become stronger first. A severely injured martial artist can't withstand my treatment. If he dies too soon due to his frailty, it would be a waste."
"Rest assured, Master." Mo Yan Yu's brows knitted with murderous intent. She snapped, "Jiang Sen, why are you still standing there? Don't just stand there, chain this guy up!"
"Coming!" A nearly two-meter-tall, burly bald man responded, swiftly removing a new set of shackles from the land dragon and roughly fastening them around Shi Yan's hands and feet, not caring whether Shi Yan felt any pain.
The man was clad in heavy armor, his muscles bulging with explosive strength. Despite the dark armor, it seemed light as air on him, not hindering his speed in the slightest.
"Jiang Sen, take care of him. Don't let him fall behind," Mo Yan Yu said with a hateful glance at Shi Yan, then walked toward the front of the group as though she didn't want to stay near him for a second longer.
"Don't worry, Miss. This is what I'm best at," Jiang Sen grinned savagely, pounding his chest in assurance.
Shi Yan felt his body aching all over, coldly watching the developments unfold, but said nothing.
He knew that in this situation, words were useless. In this world of survival of the fittest, no one would reason with you. He knew that unless he adapted to this world, he would soon become just another forgotten skeleton, with no one to pity him.
The weak vitality inside him slowly circulated. His arms and legs, which had been numb for a while, had improved somewhat from the rest, but the new shackles were a burden, making his still-recovering body feel like it was carrying a heavy iron mountain, making each step feel agonizing.
"Slap!"
Suddenly, a whip cracked across his back, landing swiftly and forcefully. The impact was so strong that his back was torn open, searing pain shooting through him. When he turned around, he saw Jiang Sen, the burly man, holding a whip, grinning viciously at him.
"D*mn medicine slave! Move it! Or do you want another lash?" Jiang Sen bared his teeth, laughing loudly.
Shi Yan did not reply, instead, he calmly stared at Jiang Sen for a few seconds. Just before Jiang Sen raised the whip again, he reluctantly began to walk forward, feeling like each step was a thousand pounds, consuming enormous amounts of strength.
After Shi Yan turned away, Jiang Sen's wild grin faded, replaced by a strange look.
On this journey, many unruly medicine slaves had been "taken care of" by him. His methods were brutal and merciless. Two medicine slaves had even been beaten to death before Karu had a chance to test them. All the medicine slaves had two types of expressions when they looked at him: either fear or deep hatred.
However, this one, when he had glanced at him earlier, showed neither fear nor hatred but was instead eerily calm—calm in a way that gave a chilling impression. It seemed that this person had no sense of being a captive. He couldn't tell whether it was because he didn't yet understand the situation or for some other reason.
That calm gaze made Jiang Sen feel like he had become someone else's prey, a strange feeling that made him uncomfortable. But because Shi Yan was obediently walking forward, Jiang Sen had no excuse to lash out at him. He had to suppress his frustration but swore in his heart to make sure this kid would show fear in front of him eventually.
He loved the feeling when others looked at him with fear, as it made him feel like he held the power over their lives.
Over the following days, Shi Yan remained silent and cooperative. He would walk when told to walk, stop when told to stop, and showed no resistance whatsoever, as though indifferent to the things happening around him. Among the non-cooperative medicine slaves, Shi Yan seemed very out of place.
Even Jiang Sen, who wanted to teach Shi Yan a lesson, found it hard to find an excuse to act against him. Shi Yan was too cooperative, too much so that it felt unnatural, though Jiang Sen couldn't pinpoint why.
Shi Yan only spoke during rest times, always asking for food. Under Master Karu's instructions, this request was always granted.
Soon, the warriors noticed that Shi Yan had an impressive appetite. Even the inferior food meant for the medicine slaves, he ate with great relish. The first time he ate, his portion was equivalent to seven other medicine slaves' worth. Every day, his appetite grew by one portion, and it showed no sign of slowing down.
This amazed the warriors. They couldn't understand how such a thin body could consume so much food. At first, they worried he wouldn't be able to digest it, but they soon realized they had been mistaken.
Shi Yan's bony frame, over just a few days, began to grow stronger. Although the change wasn't extremely obvious, the keen-eyed warriors noticed it.
Clearly, Shi Yan wasn't just digesting the food but was turning it into nourishment for his body.
Master Karu was very pleased with this. This sinister-eyed old man gave Shi Yan permission to eat freely, saying he could eat as much as he wanted—no less.
As Shi Yan grew stronger day by day, Jiang Sen began to feel uneasy. Every time he saw Shi Yan's cold, calm gaze, he felt this kid might be a troublemaker, but he didn't dare to defy Karu's orders. He had to keep supplying Shi Yan with the required amount of food.
Thankfully, Jiang Sen knew of Karu's methods, which put his mind somewhat at ease, secretly hoping Karu would take action soon.
After consuming twelve servings of food, Shi Yan finally stopped. He wiped the last grain of rice from the corner of his mouth, ignoring the astonished looks from the other medicine slaves. He slowly closed his eyes.
The twelve servings were swiftly digested in his stomach. His body seemed like an endless pit or a highly refined machine, grinding and breaking down the food into nutrients that fed his blood, veins, bones, organs, and muscles, gradually strengthening his previously frail body without a sound.
The wound on his chest had healed long ago. That long gash had completely closed in just a day and a half, without leaving any scar—a miraculous healing process that made him realize he was indeed different from before.
Only he knew how much his body had changed in these few days. He could clearly feel and experience these changes every single moment!
The food he consumed turned into nourishment for his body, gradually making him stronger. The faint vitality inside him grew stronger as well. Over these few days, his vitality had doubled in strength!
He could clearly feel the power growing inside him. The heavy shackles that once seemed like a burden no longer weighed him down.
With his mind focused, he clearly felt the vitality inside him naturally flow from the lower dantian, up the governing vessel, down the conception vessel, passing through the Three Passes to connect the governing and conception vessels, thus completing a small circulation. After this, his vitality grew again.
Having some understanding of Qi cultivation, Shi Yan knew the difference between the small and large circulations. The small circulation only involves the governing and conception vessels, but the large circulation