Overlord of the Wilderness

(Thank you, Public Security Police Officer and Kunlun Beggar King for the tips. Thank you to all my readers for the Recommendation Tickets. I got over a thousand new tickets in a single day, which I never expected. I’m so grateful to all of you.)

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”HAHAHAHA, interesting, interesting, truly interesting. To think I’d stumble upon such an entertaining fight just by taking a casual stroll...” A great distance from Zhaang Ye’s small courtyard, atop an exquisite pavilion, a Middle-aged Man in Purple Clothes with an extraordinary bearing was laughing heartily.

Standing beside him was a middle-aged man in black, someone Zhaang Ye would have certainly recognized. This man in black was none other than Steward Bai. At this moment, Steward Bai still wore an expression of disbelief. The fact that Zhaang Tianming and Zhaang Yuhu had just been thrown out by Zhaang Ye in an instant was simply too shocking, too unbelievable.

”Steward Bai, this little fellow is quite interesting. Do you know his name?” the Middle-aged Man in Purple Clothes asked after another laugh.

”Patriarch, as it happens, I do know this young man,” Steward Bai said respectfully. ”His name is Zhaang Ye. He’s from the Three Rivers Town branch and is an Outer Disciple who joined not long ago. Zhaang Ye’s aptitude is Eighth Grade, but what’s strange is that his cultivation speed is extremely fast. In just a few short months, he has cultivated from the Early Stage of Martial Arts Third Layer to the Peak of Martial Arts Third Layer...”

The Middle-aged Man in Purple Clothes said, ”Zhaang Ye? That name sounds a bit familiar... Oh, right. When Yue Mei ran into danger in the outer forests of the Barbaric Beast Mountain Range, she was saved by a young man named Zhaang Ye. The boy who saved my daughter’s life... that couldn’t be him, could it?”

Steward Bai nodded. ”It’s most likely him. After this Zhaang Ye joined the Zhaang Family, the Fourth Miss sought him out several times. Patriarch, his cultivation speed is astonishingly fast. Should we investigate him?”

”There’s no need for an investigation.” The Middle-aged Man in Purple Clothes waved his hand. ”Everyone has their own fortuitous encounters. There’s no need to pry.”

”Yes,” Steward Bai said respectfully.

Changing the subject, the Middle-aged Man in Purple Clothes said, ”Steward Bai, what do you think Zhaang Ye’s true strength is?”

Steward Bai pondered for a moment before replying, ”In terms of cultivation, Zhaang Ye is only at the Peak of Martial Arts Third Layer. However, judging from the recent fight, he defeated Zhaang Tianming, who is at the Martial Arts Fourth Layer, in just ten moves. Based on that, I suspect Zhaang Ye also trains in a Body Refining Technique and has become quite accomplished in it. His actual combat prowess should be at the Martial Arts Fourth Layer Middle Stage...”

As he said this, even Steward Bai himself found it hard to believe. He had personally been involved in the strength and aptitude tests for the new Outer Disciples, so he had a strong impression of Zhaang Ye. He knew that Zhaang Ye was a mere fourteen years old. For a fourteen-year-old boy to possess the strength of the Martial Arts Fourth Layer Middle Stage... it made him feel as if he had wasted the past several decades of his life.

”Martial Arts Fourth Layer Middle Stage?” The Middle-aged Man in Purple Clothes chuckled. ”You’ve misjudged him this time. Zhaang Ye wasn’t using his full strength at all during that fight. If he had gone all out, he likely could have thrown Zhaang Tianming out within three moves. I estimate Zhaang Ye’s combat prowess is at the Late Stage of Martial Arts Fourth Layer. Perhaps even higher.”

”The Late Stage of Martial Arts Fourth Layer? Th-That’s impossible!” Steward Bai was stunned. His mouth hung wide open like a fish out of water, and he couldn’t close it for a long time.

The Middle-aged Man in Purple Clothes simply smiled without explaining. ”This little fellow is very interesting, and the Body Refining Technique he practices is interesting as well. Let’s observe him for a while longer. If he can raise his cultivation to the Martial Arts Fourth Layer within a month, I’ll come back for him. Let’s go.”

The two of them drifted away like wisps of smoke, and the pavilion and bamboo forest returned to their previous tranquility.

「In the small courtyard’s Training Room.」

Zhaang Ye sat cross-legged. His spirit and will seemed to have separated from his physical body. The two observed each other from a distance, yet neither interfered with the other’s function.

This wondrous cultivation method was precisely the technique Zhaang Ye had comprehended from a line in the Tao Te Ching: ”Carrying the soul and embracing the One, can you do it without them separating? Specializing in Qi to Achieve Softness, can you be like a newborn babe?”

Zhaang Ye’s cultivation speed was extremely fast. While this was certainly related to the elixirs he consumed, it was also largely due to this wondrous cultivation method. Under this unique technique, not only was Zhaang Ye’s cultivation speed much faster, but the True Qi he refined was also exceptionally pure. It was only by being impelled by this pure True Qi that his self-created move, ”Reverse Flow Slash,” could become so highly condensed and unleash such immense power.

For ten consecutive days, Zhaang Ye consumed one Low-level Qi Gathering Pill each day. He would then refine the pill’s medicinal power, converting the Heaven and Earth Essence Qi it contained into his own True Qi.

As he continued to consume the elixirs, the True Qi within his dantian and meridians gradually filled to the brim. By the eleventh day, a subtle instinct told Zhaang Ye that his dantian and meridians were now completely saturated with True Qi.

Having reached this stage, there was only one way to allow his dantian to hold more True Qi: expand the dantian and meridians themselves.

Within the realm of the Martial Dao, this expansion of the dantian and meridians occurs nine times in total. This is the origin of the Martial Arts Ninth Layer.

According to legend, some cultivation techniques allowed one to contain True Qi by opening more acupoints. However, Zhaang Ye had never encountered such techniques, nor did he have the ability to open those elusive acupoints within his body. Therefore, he could only stick to the conventional method of expanding his dantian and meridians to accommodate more True Qi.

When he cultivated the Dragon Elephant Skill to the 5th Layer, Zhaang Ye’s dantian and meridians had already undergone one round of expansion and strengthening. Now, expanding them again would be much easier.

With a slight stir of his Heart Spirit, Zhaang Ye began to circulate his Basic Inner Power in a profound manner. The True Qi in his body emanated a vibrant life force, making subtle modifications to his dantian and meridians.

He didn’t know how long this transformation continued, but one day, Zhaang Ye suddenly heard a great ”BOOM” from within his consciousness. Following this sound, he was instantly pulled out of his state of cultivation. It was only then that he discovered a strange transformation had occurred in his dantian at some unknown point. All of his True Qi was surging toward it, and the dantian, like a bottomless pit, absorbed every last bit, no matter how much there was.

’Heh, I succeeded. I’ve finally broken through to the Martial Arts Fourth Layer.’ With a stir in his heart, Zhaang Ye knew that he had successfully expanded his dantian and meridians, officially advancing to the Martial Arts Fourth Layer Heaven.

Having advanced to the Martial Arts Fourth Layer Heaven, his dantian had expanded. The True Qi that had previously filled his meridians was now all sucked back into his dantian. Not only was the True Qi in his body drawn back, but even the abundant Heaven and Earth Essence Qi in the Training Room was being continuously drawn into his body to replenish his dantian.

”Good, good, good!” Zhaang Ye exclaimed three times after assessing the condition of his body.

Ordinarily, advancing to a new realm required a long period of arduous tempering to slowly transform the body. But because Zhaang Ye had cultivated the Dragon Elephant Skill, his meridians and dantian had already been modified by it. His breakthrough was surprisingly easy; he had entered the Martial Arts Fourth Layer before he even realized it.

This feeling of everything falling into place so naturally was simply wonderful.

However, Zhaang Ye also understood that this breakthrough was entirely thanks to those six wisps of incomparably pure Elephant Power. It was because of this Elephant Power that he was able to rapidly cultivate the Dragon Elephant Skill to the 5th Layer. And it was because the Dragon Elephant Skill had reached the 5th Layer that he was able to advance to the Martial Arts Fourth Layer Heaven with such ease.

Now that the Mammoth Cemetery had collapsed, it was impossible for Zhaang Ye to obtain any more Elephant Power. From now on, he would have to rely on his own efforts to cultivate the Dragon Elephant Skill, one step at a time.

’Without Elephant Power, my cultivation speed will undoubtedly slow down. But as long as I continue to cultivate step by step, I will one day reach the end of the Martial Dao and enter the mysterious True Dao.’ Zhaang Ye swung his arm confidently and began to focus his mind on consolidating his new realm.

「Four days later.」

Zhaang Ye’s Martial Arts Fourth Layer realm was completely stabilized. He rose from the ground and with a light wave of his hand, the True Qi in his body immediately gushed out, forming a ceaselessly flowing current of air.

This ability to casually transform True Qi into a current of air was a skill unique to the Martial Arts Fourth Layer—True Qi Transformation.

’My cultivation has reached the Martial Arts Fourth Layer, so the second step of my training plan is complete. Now, I need to go to the Steward Hall to register, join the Inner Sect, and become an Inner Sect Disciple. Then I can use my status as an Inner Sect Disciple to enter the family’s Library Pavilion, find a Mid-Level Body Technique Secret Manual, and properly cultivate a body technique.’ With this plan in mind, Zhaang Ye pushed open the door to the Training Room, left his courtyard, and strode toward the family’s Library Pavilion.