Overlord of the Wilderness

Zhaang Ye looked toward the Mammoth. He saw an endless amount of Heaven and Earth Essence Qi first swell outward before suddenly surging into the creature’s body. Infused with the Heaven and Earth Essence Qi, the Mammoth grew even taller, becoming like a great mountain.

The moment the Heaven and Earth Essence Qi surged in, the Mammoth’s body released a dazzling golden light. Simultaneously, a terrifying aura radiated from its body, its pressure causing the entire Tribulation Ant Nest to collapse with a thunderous roar. For a moment, dust and smoke billowed up, completely obscuring the Mammoth’s form.

RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE!

The Mammoth strode out from within the dust and smoke. With every step, the ground shook violently; the force of its movement was like mountains collapsing and the earth splitting asunder. Zhaang Ye took a quick glance and saw that the Mammoth had actually grown another twenty or thirty feet taller, and its length had also increased considerably. Every strand of its golden fur now radiated a metallic luster, making it look like a gigantic elephant forged from pure Gold.

Seeing Zhaang Ye up ahead, the Mammoth cried out happily and quickened its pace toward him.

As the Mammoth drew closer, Zhaang Ye felt as if a great mountain were slowly bearing down on him. This was partly because the Mammoth was now so much larger, but also because its aura had become immensely more powerful. The pressure it released inadvertently made Zhaang Ye feel as if he were facing a mountain that pierced the clouds, and even his breathing became labored.

Sensing the vast, ocean-like aura emanating from the Mammoth, Zhaang Ye couldn’t help but feel a pang of envy. ’This big guy seems to have already become a High-level Fierce Beast,’ he thought. ’With another ten or so years of Cultivation, I’m afraid it will advance to become an incomparably powerful Barbaric Beast.’

In the Barbaric World, beasts were classified into several levels based on their strength: ordinary wild animals, Fierce Beasts, and Barbaric Beasts, among others. Low-level Fierce Beasts were comparable in strength to a Martial Artist of the Martial Arts Third Layer. A Mid-level Fierce Beast’s strength was roughly equivalent to a Martial Artist between the Martial Arts Fourth and Sixth Layers. As for the most powerful High-level Fierce Beasts, their strength could be compared to experts from the Martial Arts Seventh to the Martial Arts Ninth Layer.

After a Martial Artist cultivates to the Martial Arts Ninth Layer, they enter an entirely new Realm: the True Dao. And when a beast’s strength progresses beyond that of a High-level Fierce Beast, it becomes an even more powerful Barbaric Beast.

The Mammoth walked up to Zhaang Ye’s side, let out a soft cry, and extended its long trunk, intending to lift him onto its back. Zhaang Ye quickly stopped it, saying, ”Hang on, hang on. I still have some things to collect.”

As he spoke, he cautiously began to search the two corpses on the ground.

After a thorough search, Zhaang Ye had added the following items to his pouch: two bottles of Qi Gathering Pills, one bottle of Antitoxic Pills, four Golden Tickets totaling seventy thousand taels of Gold, and a Body Technique Secret Manual called *Little Luo Step*. Zhaang Ye took a look; the *Little Luo Step* was a unique Footwork Technique of the Luo Family, classified as a Mid-Level Combat Skill. When cultivated to the Great Success realm, one could weave through blades and swords as if moving through an empty space.

In addition to the Elixirs, Golden Tickets, and the Martial Arts Secret Manual, Zhaang Ye also found a metal medallion on the body of the man he knew as Senior Brother Luo. This metal medallion was exquisitely crafted, and engraved on its face was a name: Luo Jianqing.

’So Luo Jianqing must be this Senior Brother Luo’s name. Strange, why would his name be engraved on a metal medallion?’ Zhaang Ye wondered. He flipped the metal medallion over and saw a line of small metal characters strikingly engraved on the back: ”Luo Family True Disciple.”

’A True Disciple! This Luo Jianqing was actually a True Disciple! I actually killed a True Disciple! Damn it, if the Luo Family finds out, they’ll hunt me down and kill me immediately!’ Seeing the medallion, Zhaang Ye couldn’t help but draw in a sharp, cold breath.

True Disciples were the most outstanding and promising disciples in a clan. Taking the Zhaang Family as an example, the Outer Sect had nearly two thousand people, but there were only forty-nine Inner Sect Disciples. And among those forty-nine, only seven could become True Disciples and receive the clan’s most dedicated nurturing.

Every True Disciple was exceptionally outstanding in terms of aptitude, Comprehension, and temperament. Each one was the hope of their clan. Now that Zhaang Ye had killed a True Disciple of the Luo Family, it was easy to imagine that the Luo Family would be utterly enraged and would launch a massive search to hunt down and kill the murderer.

’I have to leave immediately! Every moment I linger here is dangerous!’ Ignoring his injuries, Zhaang Ye sprang into action. With two flicks of his Thick-Backed Saber, he tossed the two corpses into the depths of the Tribulation Ant Nest. He then had the Mammoth lift him onto its back and shouted, ”Big guy, let’s get out of here, fast!”

The Mammoth let out a soft cry and strode away, its thundering steps carrying it out of the Ant Robbing Plain.

After its advancement, the Mammoth’s speed was much faster than before. Each stride covered a distance of twenty to thirty zhang. Sitting atop its back, Zhaang Ye felt the wind whistling past his ears as the surrounding scenery blurred and shot backward. This pace was more than ten times faster than his Startled Swan Step, surpassing even the speed of an ordinary bird in flight.

The Mammoth’s back was remarkably stable, so Zhaang Ye sat cross-legged and began to recover from the injuries sustained in the recent battle.

Zhaang Ye had clashed head-on with Luo Jianqing, exchanging several direct blows. Even though Zhaang Ye had cultivated the Dragon Elephant Skill to the 4th Layer, his internal organs had still sustained considerable damage from his opponent’s tyrannical True Qi.

In addition to his internal organs, Zhaang Ye’s arms were also badly injured. Luo Jianqing was a cultivator at the Martial Arts Fourth Layer Middle Stage, after all. Even while using a portion of his True Qi to suppress the potent poison in his system, the Swordsmanship he unleashed was still incredibly tyrannical. After clashing with him a few times, the bones and Meridians in Zhaang Ye’s arms had been damaged by the shockwaves and required significant time to heal.

Zhaang Ye first applied the Golden Healing Powder to his arms, then began to circulate the Dragon Elephant Skill, slowly mending the injuries to his internal organs and the rest of his body.

The Mammoth beneath him ran on tirelessly.

The Dragon Elephant Skill circulated through Zhaang Ye’s body again and again. As the Cultivation Technique ran its course, Zhaang Ye sensed that the mysterious energy that had entered his body in the Mammoth Cemetery had actually grown a little stronger. It silently cleansed and remolded the qi and blood within him. With each cycle, Zhaang Ye felt his internal injuries improve slightly.

As his injuries healed, the Dragon Elephant Skill circulated even more smoothly. Suddenly, Zhaang Ye felt the aura inside his body faintly resonating with the aura of the Mammoth beneath him.

His heart stirred, and Zhaang Ye immersed his entire Heart Spirit into this miraculous resonance, silently sensing the circulation of the Mammoth’s own aura.

The Mammoth’s body was immense, and its Meridians and skeletal structure were completely different from a human’s. However, the aura circulating within its body was quite similar to the aura of the Dragon Elephant Skill.

That small similarity was more than enough!

Pulled in by this resonance of auras, Zhaang Ye could clearly sense how the aura in the Mammoth’s body was generated and how it circulated within. He could even perceive how this aura slowly changed the body, how it coordinated with the flow of blood to perform all kinds of actions...

Zhaang Ye remained seated cross-legged. Before he knew it, the Mammoth had been running at full speed for two days. It had charged out of the Ant Robbing Plain, returned to the outskirts of the Barbaric Beast Mountain Range, crossed the swamp, passed the Dark Canyon, and once again brought him back to the Mammoth Cemetery, with its mountains of bones.

(Thank you to Meng Meng Beast for the donation. Also, with the New Year fast approaching, updates have been late. My apologies!)