Overlord of the Wilderness

The two figures who emerged from the woods were Zhaang Yuhu and Zhaang Dahong. It was Zhaang Dahong who had just been mocking Zhaang Yang.

Looking at Zhaang Dahong, Zhaang Yang said in a cold voice, ”Zhaang Dahong, don’t celebrate too soon. You’re also here to challenge Zhaang Ye, right? In a moment, your fate won’t be much better than mine.”

Hearing Zhaang Yang’s retort, Zhaang Dahong laughed heartily. ”I am here to challenge Zhaang Ye. But don’t you worry, my fate will be nothing like yours. Zhaang Yang, you’re supposed to be one of the clan’s specially trained disciples, but you couldn’t even take a single move from Zhaang Ye? You’ve completely disgraced the reputation of all specially trained disciples.”

Zhaang Yang sneered but said nothing. He simply took a bottle of healing medicine from his robes and applied it to his foot. He had just been struck by two of Zhaang Ye’s Hand Blades. Although Zhaang Ye had shown mercy, the flesh wound was not light, and he needed the healing medicine to recover quickly.

Zhaang Yuhu and Zhaang Dahong walked closer and closer.

Zhaang Ye carefully sized up the two of them, noticing that the auras of Zhaang Yuhu and Zhaang Dahong had indeed grown much stronger. Zhaang Dahong, like Zhaang Yang, had reached the Martial Arts Third Layer Middle Stage, and his aura was exceptionally stable; clearly, his Cultivation was a bit deeper than Zhaang Yang’s. But Zhaang Yuhu was even more astounding—his entire aura was profound and powerful, and his Cultivation showed faint signs of breaking into the Late-stage Martial Arts Third Layer!

”HISS—” Both Zhaang Ye and Zhaang Qing sucked in a sharp breath. Zhaang Qing said in shock, ”A Second-Grade Talent is truly extraordinary! Looking at him, I’m afraid it won’t even take him half a year to reach the Late-stage Martial Arts Third Layer!”

Zhaang Ye nodded slightly. Zhaang Yuhu’s rapid progress put immense pressure on him.

Zhaang Yuhu looked at Zhaang Ye.

Zhaang Ye looked back at Zhaang Yuhu.

After they locked eyes, Zhaang Yuhu gave Zhaang Ye a slight nod and said, ”Zhaang Ye, I didn’t expect that in just over ten days, you’ve not only made a huge name for yourself in the Outer Sect, but you’ve also reached the Martial Arts Third Layer Middle Stage. It’s just a pity your talent is Eighth-Grade. Someone with Eighth-Grade Talent is destined for mediocrity on the Martial Dao.”

Zhaang Ye replied flatly, ”That’s not necessarily true. Throughout history, the most talented geniuses are often the ones who die the quickest. Every generation in Cyan Mulberry City has a few geniuses, but the vast majority die in battle. Zhaang Yuhu, I hope you’re lucky.”

”You...” Zhaang Yuhu’s face flushed red with anger. Despite his outstanding talent, he was still just a thirteen-year-old kid. When it came to a battle of words, he was no match for Zhaang Ye.

In a fit of rage, Zhaang Yuhu took two steps forward and suddenly lashed out with a palm strike at Zhaang Ye.

Zhaang Ye’s expression was calm and untroubled. He met Zhaang Yuhu’s palm with one of his own.

”CRACK!”

The two exchanged a palm strike. A powerful force surged up Zhaang Ye’s arm, making the Qi and blood in his body roil and forcing him to retreat three steps involuntarily.

Zhaang Yuhu also retreated two steps. Though he took one step less than Zhaang Ye, he wasn’t unscathed. Zhaang Ye had been taking Body Refining Pills for a long time and had also cultivated the Dragon Elephant Skill, making his palms sharper and harder than Zhaang Yuhu’s. In the exchange, although Zhaang Yuhu had relied on his abundant True Qi to force Zhaang Ye back three steps, his own palm was now throbbing with pain.

The two faced off, a hint of wariness in each of their eyes. Although they had only exchanged a simple blow, they both now knew that their opponent’s strength was even greater than they had estimated.

Zhaang Dahong was a born belligerent and had long wanted to have a big fight with Zhaang Ye. Seeing how powerful Zhaang Ye was, he could no longer hold back and said in his booming voice, ”Are you two going to fight or not? Zhaang Yuhu, if you’re not fighting, then leave Zhaang Ye to me. I’ll fight him.”

A cunning glint flashed in Zhaang Yuhu’s eyes as he slowly stepped aside.

After that one exchange with Zhaang Ye, he had a faint feeling that there was more to Zhaang Ye than met the eye. Zhaang Yuhu was a cautious person. He decided to let Zhaang Dahong lead the charge and use the opportunity to observe Zhaang Ye.

With Zhaang Yuhu out of the way, Zhaang Dahong turned his gaze to Zhaang Ye and said, ”Zhaang Ye, you heard what I said, right? Draw your blade. I came here today to defeat you. I hope you can last more than a couple of moves against me.”

’Another overconfident one,’ Zhaang Ye sneered inwardly. Although Zhaang Dahong had advanced to the Martial Arts Third Layer Middle Stage, Zhaang Ye was still quite confident he could defeat him.

Zhaang Dahong’s steel staff was certainly formidable, but his Body Technique wasn’t flexible enough. Zhaang Ye’s Startled Swan Step had already reached Great Success, and he believed that dealing with someone as sluggish as Zhaang Dahong wouldn’t be difficult.

Looking at the confident Zhaang Dahong, an idea suddenly flashed through Zhaang Ye’s mind. He chuckled and said, ”You want to fight me? No problem. But I’d like to add a small wager. Do you dare?”

Zhaang Dahong was taken aback. ”What kind of wager?”

Zhaang Ye smiled. ”We each put up five Qi Gathering Pills. Whoever loses, the pills go to the winner. What do you think?”

”Using Qi Gathering Pills as the wager? Good, good!” Zhaang Dahong’s interest was piqued. He laughed loudly a few times, then looked at Zhaang Ye with a hint of suspicion. ”A single Qi Gathering Pill costs three hundred taels of Gold. Zhaang Ye, can you even come up with five of them?”

Five Qi Gathering Pills was a huge fortune for a young man. Zhaang Ye had always dressed very plainly, so it was no wonder Zhaang Dahong suspected he couldn’t afford them.

Zhaang Ye didn’t waste words. He directly pulled a Jade Bottle from his robes and said, ”There are exactly five Qi Gathering Pills in here. Where are yours? Don’t tell me you can’t even produce five?”

Zhaang Dahong’s eyes lit up when he saw the Qi Gathering Pills in Zhaang Ye’s hand. These pills were incredibly valuable. Even as specially trained disciples, they didn’t receive many. If he could win the five Qi Gathering Pills from Zhaang Ye, his own finances would be much more comfortable...

Zhaang Dahong grew excited. He yanked a Jade Bottle from his robes and said with a sinister laugh, ”I have five Qi Gathering Pills right here. But these five Elixirs, Zhaang Ye, are destined to never be yours. Just get ready to hand over the Elixirs in your hand to me now, haha...”

”What an idiot!” a nearby Zhaang Yang cursed with a sneer, seeing Zhaang Dahong’s behavior.

Seeing the Elixirs in Zhaang Dahong’s hand, Zhaang Ye’s eyes couldn’t help but gleam as he thought, ’These specially trained disciples really are rich! In a moment, Zhaang Dahong’s five Elixirs will be mine!’

Both Zhaang Ye and Zhaang Dahong coveted the other’s Qi Gathering Pills. They shot sharp glares at each other, and a great battle was about to erupt at any moment!