Overlord of the Wilderness

(Had some stuff to take care of today, so this Chapter is a little late. Sorry about that. Ahem. I’d like to take this moment to thank all my friends for their support. Without you, my Sanjiang Tickets and Recommendation Tickets would surely be in a sorry state.)

SWISH SWISH SWISH SWISH— Sharp Sword Qi sliced through the void. With each slash, a Robber Ant fell. The thick armor and two huge pincers on the Robber Ants were completely unable to block the Thick-Backed Saber in the slightest.

”Haha, this is incredible! So exhilarating!” Zhaang Ye became a whirlwind, the Thick-Backed Saber in his hands dancing like a nimble snake. Weaker Robber Ants were slain in a single strike. If he encountered a powerful one, he would retreat after one blow and wait for another opportunity to attack. This feeling of unrestrained freedom, of moving like a fish in water, was something Zhaang Ye had never experienced before.

This was already the fifteenth day since Zhaang Ye had entered the Ant Robbing Plain. During these fifteen days, Zhaang Ye and the Mammoth had raided several Tribulation Ant Nests, spending every day in fierce battle.

The biggest advantage of being with the Mammoth was that Zhaang Ye could attack with abandon, without needing to worry about his own safety. If he ran into a particularly powerful Robber Ant, the Mammoth would step in to help deal with it. Thus, although Zhaang Ye had been gravely injured time and again over these past days, his life had never been in danger.

The constant, fierce battles allowed Zhaang Ye’s Saber Technique to progress even further. Now, when he executed it, his technique faintly contained a trace of rotating power.

The rotating power consisted of three parts. The first was the rotation of his Body Technique. By leveraging the Rotating Power of his Body Technique, Zhaang Ye could use his physical body to execute more powerful Sword Techniques. The second was the rotation of his Sword Force. A rotating Sword Force was more agile and unpredictable, and it could also leverage the weight of the Thick-Backed Saber itself to kill opponents. The third was the rotation of True Qi. After being rotated within the Meridians, True Qi, when infused into the blade, would unleash astonishing destructive power.

Zhaang Ye’s Cultivation was still low. Of these three rotating powers, he could only practice the first two for now. As for how to make his True Qi rotate, Zhaang Ye had not yet even considered the problem.

None of the three rotating powers were easy to master. To successfully cultivate all three and merge them into one would require a long time and countless life-and-death trials.

SWISH! SWISH! Zhaang Ye unleashed two final slashes, killing two Robber Ants equivalent in strength to the Martial Arts Third Layer Middle Stage in one fell swoop. He turned to look at the Mammoth and was suddenly taken aback.

He saw the Mammoth standing blankly within the Tribulation Ant Nest. Its golden fur was moving on its own, despite there being no wind. Streams of invisible airflow swept over its body, and the Robber Ants nearby were all sent flying by the strong currents.

After a moment of shock, Zhaang Ye immediately noticed that the Heaven and Earth Essence Qi around him was faintly flowing toward the Mammoth. At that point, Zhaang Ye understood at once: the Mammoth was about to advance!

Since entering the Ant Robbing Plain, the Mammoth had eaten an untold number of Robber Ants. After devouring them time and time again, its power had finally reached a critical point, and it began to advance.

’This guy... its power increases so fast!’ Zhaang Ye felt a pang of envy. He sheathed the Thick-Backed Saber on his back and quickly walked toward the Mammoth.

When the Mammoth advanced, all the Heaven and Earth Essence Qi in the vicinity would gather, forming a visible layer of energy around its body. At a time like this, if one stayed close to the Mammoth, they could take the opportunity to absorb the Heaven and Earth Essence Qi.

The Heaven and Earth Essence Qi swarmed in, growing denser and denser. The last time the Mammoth had advanced, the Heaven and Earth Essence Qi, while dense, was only just thick enough to be visible to the naked eye. Now that its power had increased significantly, its advancement required even more. The constantly surging Heaven and Earth Essence Qi was as thick as water.

Immersed in this incredibly rich Heaven and Earth Essence Qi, Zhaang Ye had only to circulate his Cultivation Technique slightly, and the energy poured endlessly into his body. The True Qi in his Meridians and Dantian increased at a startling rate.

Zhaang Ye’s power had been at the Mid-Tier of Martial Arts Third Layer for some time. After this period of battle and Cultivation, he was on the verge of breaking through to the Late-stage Martial Arts Third Layer at any moment. Now, immersed in this dense Heaven and Earth Essence Qi, Zhaang Ye had only to complete a few Circulations before the True Qi in his body increased by a large amount.

When the True Qi inside the body increased, it had to be compressed to make it more condensed.

The True Qi circulated through him, compressed by his Dantian before flowing back into his Meridians to nourish his entire body. After this cycle repeated for several Circulations, Zhaang Ye suddenly felt a tremor. All the True Qi inside him had been condensed to a certain point, and his Cultivation had broken through from the Martial Arts Third Layer Middle Stage to the Late-stage Martial Arts Third Layer.

After the True Qi was condensed, his Dantian felt somewhat empty. Zhaang Ye then began absorbing Heaven and Earth Essence Qi from the outside world again, converting it into his own True Qi via his Dantian.

What Martial Artists refined was Heaven and Earth Essence Qi, using their Dantian as a furnace to transform it into their own True Qi. The terms Early Stage, Middle Stage, Late Stage, and Peak in the Martial Dao referred to the degree of condensation of one’s True Qi.

At its core, True Qi was a type of qi; the more condensed it was, the greater its power. Legendary Immortals could even cultivate their qi until it materialized, forming a Golden Core and allowing them to roam freely between heaven and earth.

With the help of the seemingly endless Heaven and Earth Essence Qi, Zhaang Ye took just under an hour to completely refill his Dantian. At this moment, he was only a hair’s breadth away from the Peak of Martial Arts Third Layer.

Just then, the boundless Heaven and Earth Essence Qi continued to surge in. Zhaang Ye pondered for a moment and decided to keep pushing—to charge toward the Peak of Martial Arts Third Layer.

Zhaang Ye based his decision on two considerations. First, the amount of Heaven and Earth Essence Qi he needed for his own Cultivation was insignificant compared to the endless supply. In other words, even if he continued to cultivate, it wouldn’t affect the Mammoth’s advancement. Second, his Dragon Elephant Skill had already reached the 4th Layer, and he had eaten that nameless fruit in the Young Elephant Trial Arena. His body and Meridians were much stronger than an ordinary person’s. Therefore, after breaking through to the Late-stage Martial Arts Third Layer, he could try to break through again without worrying about damaging his body.

Without hesitation, Zhaang Ye entered a state of Cultivation once more. On one hand, he continuously absorbed Heaven and Earth Essence Qi, converting the endless supply into his own True Qi. On the other, he circulated the converted True Qi for a full Circulation before compressing it in his Dantian, making it purer and more condensed.

With compression after compression, Zhaang Ye felt his Meridians swell to the bursting point. His body felt as if it would explode under the pressure of the incredibly condensed True Qi.

HUMMM!

Zhaang Ye’s Meridians trembled slightly. The last wisp of True Qi in his body was finally compressed and refined by his Dantian. The condensed True Qi circulated slowly through his body, feeling as if it could erupt with power at any moment.

’That was a close call! Thank goodness I practice the Dragon Elephant Skill. Otherwise, there’s no way I could have advanced to the Peak of Martial Arts Third Layer in one go!’ Zhaang Ye slowly withdrew his power, feeling a secret sense of relief.

After an ordinary person’s True Qi condensed, they would need to spend a period of time allowing their Meridians and Dantian to adapt to the dense True Qi. In other words, after a Martial Artist at the Martial Arts Third Layer Middle Stage broke through to the Late-stage Martial Arts Third Layer, they would have to let their Dantian and Meridians acclimate to the new True Qi before they could attempt another breakthrough. But because Zhaang Ye cultivated the Dragon Elephant Skill, his Dantian and Meridians were much stronger than an ordinary person’s. That was why he was able to break through from the Martial Arts Third Layer Middle Stage all the way to the Peak of Martial Arts Third Layer in one go.

After reaching the Peak of Martial Arts Third Layer, however, even Zhaang Ye didn’t dare attempt another breakthrough. The next breakthrough would mean advancing to the Martial Arts Fourth Layer. Advancing from the Martial Arts Third Layer to the Martial Arts Fourth Layer was a major expansion of the Dantian and Meridians. Zhaang Ye was not yet prepared for this. If he forced a breakthrough, the only result would be his Dantian self-destructing.

Zhaang Ye stood up, and he suddenly heard a long cry from over a dozen *li* away.

’Someone’s coming at a time like this?’ Zhaang Ye was slightly alarmed and strode out.

After spending so many days together, Zhaang Ye had come to see the Mammoth as a partner and a friend. While it was advancing, Zhaang Ye would absolutely not allow anyone to interfere.