Overlord of the Wilderness

(Thank you to readers Meng Meng Beast, A Fish That Loves Cats, and Dream Shattered Heart Destroyed for your generous tips! Thank you to all my dear readers for your Recommendation Tickets, thank you all! On the occasion of the New Year, I wish you all good luck every day and happiness day in and day out!)

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The things Zhaang Ye laid out were simple. Strictly speaking, there were only two items: a bound bundle of Beast Whiskers and a tied bunch of Bone Spikes. Though the items were simple, the feeling they gave off was anything but. The moment the Beast Hide wrapping was undone, everyone in the shop could feel the Suppression emanating from these two things.

Only Fierce Beast Materials carried such Suppression.

Of Zhaang Ye’s two items, the Suppression from the Bone Spikes was already quite powerful. But what shocked everyone the most was the bundle of long whiskers. The Suppression emanating from this bundle of long Beast Whiskers was several times stronger than that of the Bone Spikes. Just a few glances from afar was enough to instill a sense of dread.

Even the most clueless of them, Wu Guanghai, knew these two items were extraordinary after feeling their Suppression. Meanwhile, Wu Guangyue, who had just challenged Zhaang Ye, felt his heart leap. He couldn’t believe Zhaang Ye had managed to obtain such Fierce Beast Materials.

’With Zhaang Ye’s strength, there’s no way he could have killed a Fierce Beast! Could it be... he just found these Fierce Beast Materials?’ Wu Guangyue secretly guessed, though even he didn’t dare believe this conclusion.

If Fierce Beasts were that easy to ”find,” the clan disciples wouldn’t need to risk life and limb on missions.

Just then, the Shopkeeper reached out a hand, bent a finger, and lightly tapped one of the Bone Spikes, producing a metallic clang. He listened for a moment and said, ”Not bad, not bad at all. These are Bone Spikes from the back of a Bone Spike Beast. The quality of these six Bone Spikes is quite excellent, harder than most ordinary weapons. Young man, these six Bone Spikes are all rather large. It seems they came from two Bone Spike Beasts?”

Zhaang Ye nodded slightly. ”That’s right.”

”Bone Spikes from a Bone Spike Beast!” Hearing the words ”Bone Spike Beast,” the hearts of both Wu Guangyue and Wu Guanghai thumped heavily in their chests.

Although they had never seen a Bone Spike Beast, they had heard others speak of its power. According to some of the senior brothers from the Inner Sect, the Bone Spike Beast was one of the strongest among the Low-level Fierce Beasts. Even an expert at the Martial Arts Fourth Layer Early Stage wouldn’t dare claim they could slay a Bone Spike Beast. How could Zhaang Ye possibly have materials from such a powerful Fierce Beast? ’Could it be that Zhaang Ye got these Bone Spikes after killing the Bone Spike Beasts himself?’

While Wu Guangyue and Wu Guanghai were reeling in shock and doubt, the Shopkeeper turned his gaze to the bundle of Beast Whiskers. Each whisker was as thick as a thumb, smooth and faintly glowing with a white luster. The Shopkeeper ran his hand over them, then twisted one forcefully for a moment. A look of delight appeared on his face as he said, ”These Beast Whiskers are like steel yet like water, a perfect blend of hard and soft, and they contain a hidden Suppression. Each one is twenty-three zhang long. These are precisely the long whiskers from before the mouth of a Mid-level Fierce Beast, the Long-bearded White-footed Beast. Young man, you are quite something, to have obtained the whiskers from two Long-bearded White-footed Beasts...”

”Materials from a Mid-level Fierce Beast!” Hearing the Shopkeeper’s words, both Wu Guangyue and Wu Guanghai sucked in a sharp breath of cold air. Wu Guanghai stammered, ”Shopkeeper, you... you didn’t see wrong, did you? This bundle of whiskers, they’re really from a Mid-level Fierce Beast?”

The Shopkeeper shot Wu Guanghai a displeased glare and said proudly, ”This old man has been a shopkeeper here for decades and has handled countless materials. How could I possibly be mistaken!”

Zhaang Ye then spoke up, ”Shopkeeper, please calculate the price for me.”

The Shopkeeper nodded slightly and said, ”Six Bone Spikes from a Bone Spike Beast. Two are top-grade, and four are mid-grade. The top-grade ones are three thousand taels of Gold each, and the mid-grade ones are one thousand five hundred taels of Gold each, for a total of twelve thousand taels of Gold for all six. The whiskers of the Long-bearded White-footed Beast are also top-grade. I can give you twenty-one thousand taels of Gold for each one. For twenty whiskers, that’s a total of four hundred twenty thousand taels of Gold. Combined, the total price is four hundred thirty-two thousand taels of Gold.”

HISS! Hearing the price the Shopkeeper quoted, Wu Guangyue and Wu Guanghai were both shocked and green with envy. Wu Guanghai couldn’t help but touch his own pocket, which contained a Golden Ticket for two thousand five hundred taels. He and his older brother, Wu Guangyue, had earned that Golden Ticket after toiling for over a month and killing more than a dozen wild beasts.

Earning two thousand five hundred taels in a month had originally left Wu Guanghai feeling quite satisfied with his earnings. But after hearing the price of Zhaang Ye’s batch of materials, Wu Guanghai felt that his own haul was too embarrassing to even mention...

After hearing the Shopkeeper’s quote, Zhaang Ye was quite satisfied. Although this price was a little lower than the quotes in the city, it wasn’t by much and was within an acceptable range. Nodding, Zhaang Ye said, ”I’ll take it in Golden Tickets.”

The Shopkeeper chuckled, called over a nearby assistant to pack up the items, and then deftly filled out several Golden Tickets and handed them to Zhaang Ye.

Zhaang Ye tucked the Golden Tickets into his robes, looked at Wu Guangyue with a half-smile, and said, ”Senior Brother Wu, when would you like to begin our fight? If you ask me, we should just find a place and have our match right now. That way we won’t have to keep it on our minds.”

Seeing Zhaang Ye’s casual demeanor, Wu Guangyue felt a surge of displeasure. He sneered, ”Right now it is! You follow me. We’ll fight outside!”

With that, he led the way out, walking all the way to a training ground on the west side of the family compound.

Wu Guangyue stood his ground from a distance and said slowly, ”Zhaang Ye, if I’m not mistaken, your Cultivation was obtained by a stroke of luck, by consuming some Celestial and Earthly Treasures. In other words, your strength wasn’t gained through your own Cultivation. Therefore, even though you also have a Cultivation at the Peak of Martial Arts Third Layer, your actual combat strength can’t possibly compare to mine.”

Zhaang Ye was speechless for a moment, then smiled. Back when he was in the Zhaang Family of Three Rivers Town, many people also thought his Cultivation came from consuming Celestial and Earthly Treasures and that his actual combat strength was low. In the end, every single person who had looked down on him was beaten into the dust, left speechless.

The people in Three Rivers Town who had underestimated him were all defeated. He never thought that after coming to the Cyan Mulberry Zhang Family, someone would once again think his combat strength was low. He had to admit, history was sometimes astonishingly repetitive.

Seeing Zhaang Ye’s completely unconcerned expression, Wu Guangyue couldn’t help but seethe with anger. No matter what, he was still an expert at the Peak of Martial Arts Third Layer. This Zhaang Ye knew perfectly well that his strength was at the Peak of Martial Arts Third Layer, yet he still acted so nonchalant. This was blatant disrespect!

’How dare he look down on me!’ A fierce glint flashed in Wu Guangyue’s eyes. He suddenly took a step forward and sent a palm strike flying toward Zhaang Ye, shouting, ”Zhaang Ye, take this!”

Wu Guangyue’s palm strike was as heavy as a mountain. When he struck, it was as if a great mountain was suddenly falling from the sky. The dull sound of the Palm Power tearing through the air was enough to make one’s skin crawl. Even more formidable was that while his palm was powerful and heavy, it also contained over a dozen hidden Transformations. No matter which direction Zhaang Ye dodged, he could follow up with continuous attacks.

Zhaang Ye didn’t dodge. Just as Wu Guangyue’s palm was about to land on his head, Zhaang Ye’s arm suddenly shot out. He didn’t use any technique; he just reached out and—GRAB!

”You’re courting death!” Seeing Zhaang Ye so casually trying to grab his palm, Wu Guangyue was overjoyed. His palm strike was incredibly fierce; it could shatter a stone the size of a table. He was confident that with just a light press downward, all five of Zhaang Ye’s fingers would snap, leaving him unable to exert force ever again.

”Heh heh, courting death!” Wu Guanghai, watching from the side, cursed under his breath, also overjoyed. He knew his big brother’s abilities better than anyone. For Zhaang Ye to recklessly try to grab Wu Guangyue’s palm—wasn’t that just asking to die?!

Both Wu Guanghai and Wu Guangyue were secretly delighted, but their expressions quickly changed.

Wu Guangyue discovered that Zhaang Ye’s casual grab had actually caught his palm! His hand, trapped in Zhaang Ye’s grasp, felt as if it had been fused into a block of refined steel, throbbing with pain, and he was unable to exert any of his strength. Even more terrifying, he found he couldn’t pull his hand back!

How was this possible!

What in the world was going on!?

Wu Guangyue’s expression changed, and so did Wu Guanghai’s.

Wu Guangyue was, after all, an expert at the Peak of Martial Arts Third Layer. After the initial shock, he immediately recovered. His other hand chopped down toward Zhaang Ye, while his lower body moved in a blur, one foot delivering three kicks in an instant, all aimed at Zhaang Ye’s vital points.

At that moment, Zhaang Ye made another move. He gripped Wu Guangyue’s arm, gave it a sudden shake, and then swung!

With that one shake, Wu Guangyue felt all of his attacks miss completely. And Zhaang Ye’s swing made Wu Guangyue’s face drain of color—his body was actually being swung into the air by Zhaang Ye!

”Haha!” Zhaang Ye laughed and said, ”The weather is so stuffy, and Senior Brother Wu must be tired from all that effort. Let this little brother help you cool off!”

As he spoke, he began to swing his arm. Wu Guangyue felt the world spin around him, his mind went blank, and the True Qi in his body was completely unresponsive. He could only let Zhaang Ye swing him around and around.

WHOOSH!

After a few dozen spins, Zhaang Ye suddenly let go, and Wu Guangyue’s body shot like a meteorite toward Wu Guanghai. Wu Guanghai had never expected that his seemingly invincible big brother would be defeated by Zhaang Ye in an instant, played with like a puppet. He was still staring blankly, completely unprepared for Wu Guangyue to come flying at him.

BAM! Wu Guangyue’s body slammed into Wu Guanghai, sending him flying over a dozen zhang and spitting out a mouthful of blood.

”You...” Wu Guanghai pointed at Zhaang Ye, speechless.

Zhaang Ye laughed heartily and said, ”Wu Guanghai, do you want to challenge me too?”

Wu Guanghai stared at Zhaang Ye as if he were a monster, shook his head rapidly a few times, then picked up his dizzy and immobilized big brother. Without even a word to save face, he scrambled and stumbled away.

”Heh, that kid was scared stupid.” Zhaang Ye glanced at Wu Guanghai’s retreating back and muttered to himself, ”It’s a shame my Dragon Elephant Skill is only at the Late Fourth Layer. If I could break through to the 5th Layer, I could toss around even Martial Arts Fourth Layer experts like they were stones. Hmm, now that I have money, I need to buy a batch of Elixirs and quickly cultivate the Dragon Elephant Skill to the 5th Layer!”