Overlord of the Wilderness

Considering that his opponents in the ranking tournament might be experts from the Zhou and Luo Families, Zhaang Ye returned to his small courtyard and silently studied the Zhou Family’s ”Lingbo Triple Extremes,” as well as the Luo Family’s ”Seven Seas and Heaven Swords,” ”Little Luo Sword Technique,” and ”Little Luo Step Method.”

Although these Secret Manuals were incomplete, studying them would still grant him a better understanding. When it was his turn to compete, he would be able to handle things with much more ease.

Time slowly passed. Zhaang Ye only snapped out of his concentration when Zhaang Yizhi came looking for him.

Zhaang Yizhi said, ”Let’s go, Junior Brother. It’s time to depart.”

Zhaang Ye nodded. The two of them went to the Cyan Stone Mountain training grounds and met up with the other competing disciples. Then, with a wave of his hand, Fifth Elder Zhaang Tianlong led the group out of the Zhaang Family estate. They left Cyan Mulberry City and headed straight for a stone mountain over thirty miles away.

This stone mountain was covered in hard, smooth stones, making it the perfect place for competitions. For hundreds of years, the Cyan Mulberry City ranking tournament for the young experts of the Four Races had been held on this very mountain. Thus, many people had come to call it Huiwu Mountain.

Zhaang Ye traveled swiftly with the group. They soon covered the distance of over thirty miles and arrived at the foot of Huiwu Mountain. Everyone present was an extraordinary martial artist; they didn’t even seem out of breath after the long journey. Without a moment’s pause, they continued toward the summit.

The stones on Huiwu Mountain followed a pattern. Zhaang Ye noticed that the higher they climbed, the larger the stones became. At the foot of the mountain, most of the stones were only about the size of a tabletop, but by the time they reached the midway point, the stones were as large as houses. Looking up, he could see even bigger boulders, like small hills. Near the summit, an astonishingly large, pitch-black monolith stood, seeming to touch the sky and anchor the earth. The sight left Zhaang Ye stunned.

”Amazing, isn’t it?” Zhaang Yizhi chuckled beside him and said, ”This giant rock is called the Memorial Stone. It’s a thousand feet tall and ten thousand feet long, so big you can even see it from Cyan Mulberry City, over thirty miles away. Not only is this Memorial Stone unusually large, but it’s also as hard as iron. An ordinary Martial Artist couldn’t even scratch it, even if they used all their strength.”

Zhaang Ye’s interest was piqued. He said, ”It’s called the Memorial Stone. Is there some special significance to that?”

Zhaang Yizhi smiled and said, ”The Memorial Stone, as the name implies, is for contestants to leave their names upon it. This stone is incredibly hard. Only those who can carve their name into it are qualified to participate in the ranking tournament for the young experts of the Four Races. Anyone who fails is immediately disqualified.”

As they spoke, the group quickly arrived at the base of the Memorial Stone. Approaching it, Zhaang Ye discovered that the stone’s surface was astonishingly smooth, almost like a mirror. He curled a finger and tapped it, but the stone made no sound at all. This just went to show how unbelievably hard and solid the Memorial Stone truly was.

Past the Memorial Stone was the summit. There, Zhaang Ye saw three groups of people standing beneath the colossal rock, all craning their necks to look up at it.

”Those three groups are the Zhou, Luo, and Lee Families,” Zhaang Yizhi said from the side. ”The Zhou Family wears red, the Luo Family wears white, and the Lee Family wears yellow. Now we all have to leave our names on the Memorial Stone in front of everyone. It’s also a kind of silent competition before the tournament begins.”

Zhaang Ye asked with great interest, ”What kind of competition?”

Zhaang Yizhi laughed. ”The competition is simple. The higher, larger, and deeper you carve your name, the stronger your power is proven to be. Just think, if your name is hanging high up there, looming over all the others... what a wonderful feeling that would be.”

Realization dawned on Zhaang Ye. He said, ”The Memorial Stone itself is incredibly hard, so just leaving a name on it is no easy feat. Carving it larger and deeper requires even more strength. You also have to be careful when you leap. If you go too high, you might exhaust your True Qi and not have the strength left to write. But if you leap too low, your name will be overshadowed by others. There are so many subtleties to this.”

At that moment, the Fifth Elder chuckled and said, ”Zhaang Ye, the fact that you can see all the intricacies at a glance shows you have excellent Comprehension.”

Just then, a figure in yellow suddenly flew up from the group. The yellow shadow soared like a bird, rising over three hundred feet to the impossibly smooth face of the Memorial Stone. He shot out a finger like a bolt of lightning and—SWISH SWISH SWISH—carved several characters, each the size of a tabletop, into the stone. Then, he drifted back down to the ground like a bird, his movements fluid and graceful, drawing everyone’s attention.

”Nice!”

The group of young experts from the Lee Family all cheered.

Beside Zhaang Ye, Zhaang Guanghe gasped, his expression turning serious. He said, ”That’s Lee Changfeng, ranked seventh among the top ten experts of the Younger Generation. It seems his strength has improved again. The name he carved into the Memorial Stone is a little deeper, and it’s also over ten feet higher than before.”

Another True Disciple, Zhaang Yang, also looked grave. ”The Lee Family is truly producing a generation of experts. They have three people among the top ten experts of the Younger Generation, and Lee Changfeng is the weakest of the three. I didn’t expect even the weakest one, Lee Changfeng, to have become so formidable.”

After Lee Changfeng landed, another person leaped into the air. This person’s jump was a bit lower than Lee Changfeng’s, but the characters he wrote were even larger than a tabletop. The strokes were chillingly powerful, sinking two-tenths of an inch into the stone. Even Zhaang Ye was slightly moved, while the Inner Sect Disciples beside him all gasped.

Zhaang Yizhi said with a calm expression, ”That’s Lee Yan of the Lee Family. He cultivates Body Refining Techniques. His Body Technique isn’t great, but his physical strength is astonishing. By the way, Zhaang Ye, watch closely. The next one to leave his name is Lee Lie. This Lee Lie is ranked third among the young experts, second only to my elder brother and Luo Yongsheng of the Luo Family. He specializes in Saber Techniques. You should watch him in action.”

Zhaang Yizhi’s voice had barely faded when another yellow shadow shot up. This one leaped a full three hundred and fifty feet into the air. He then suddenly extended his index and middle fingers, forming a finger-blade, and began carving into the Memorial Stone.

This person’s strength was clearly a cut above Lee Changfeng’s and Lee Yan’s. Under his fingers, the iron-hard Memorial Stone seemed like soft clay. A single light stroke carved three-tenths of an inch deep. As his fingers danced, large chunks of stone crumbled and fell with a RATTLE, like a shower of rock.

’Holy shit, isn’t that opening move the starting stance for the Gentle Wind Slash?’ Zhaang Ye’s eyes widened as he watched the man. He realized that the technique Lee Lie was using to carve into the Memorial Stone was none other than the Gentle Wind Slash. The very same Gentle Wind Slash recorded in the Nameless Saber Manual was now being used by Lee Lie!

Not only was he using it, but Lee Lie had clearly cultivated the Gentle Wind Slash to the Great Success Realm. With a lift of his hand, a gentle wind flowed out. In the blink of an eye, he had carved two characters into the hard Memorial Stone, each twice the size of a tabletop: Lee Lie!

’Incredible,’ Zhaang Ye thought, stunned. ’That Nameless Saber Manual only recorded one move: the Gentle Wind Slash. I thought the other two moves were lost to time. I can’t believe this Lee Lie actually knows the Gentle Wind Slash. Since he has cultivated it, he must be practicing the other two moves as well. I just wonder what the second and third moves of the Nameless Saber Manual are? And how do they compare to my self-created second slash, Reverse Flow Slash, and third slash, Mountain-Breaking Slash?’

After Lee Lie finished carving his name, the experts from the Luo Family also began to leap up and engrave their names on the Memorial Stone. A tall young man from the Luo Family performed even better than Lee Lie. He carved his name high up at the three-hundred-and-fifty-foot mark, and it was a fraction larger than Lee Lie’s.

Zhaang Ye didn’t even need to ask; the people next to him revealed the man’s name. It turned out this expert from the Luo Family was Luo Yongsheng, the second-ranked figure among the Younger Generation. His strength was second only to Zhaang Yijian.

Next to carve their names was the Zhou Family. Compared to the Lee and Luo Families, the Zhou Family’s performance was no less impressive. Their two experts—Zhou Chenshan and Zhou Yuhe—did quite well. Zhou Chenshan easily carved his name at the three-hundred-foot mark. Meanwhile, at the three-hundred-and-fifty-foot mark, Zhou Yuhe unleashed a Palm Technique, forcefully slapping his name onto the Memorial Stone. His performance was in no way inferior to Luo Yongsheng’s.

The Lee, Luo, and Zhou Families had all carved their names onto the Memorial Stone. Next, it was the Zhaang Family’s turn.

Among the Zhaang Family’s experts, the most outstanding was undoubtedly Zhaang Yijian. And Zhaang Yijian’s performance lived up to his title as the number one of the Younger Generation. His entire body moved like a sword as he shot a full three hundred and sixty feet into the air and carved his name in huge letters.

However, besides Zhaang Yijian, the other True Disciples’ performances were not very impressive. Dong Wanqiu and Zhaang Yang could only carve their names at the two-hundred-and-seventy-foot mark, while Zhaang Hanchi, Feng Lei, Zhaang Guanghe, and Zhaang Ying were even lower. With Zhaang Ying’s Body Technique, she could have flown up even five hundred feet, but the problem was that her Cultivation was only at the peak of the Martial Arts Fourth Layer. It was impossible for her to jump that high and still have the strength to carve her name.

”Haha!” Seeing the Zhaang Family’s performance, an Elder from the Zhou Family spoke up, gloating, ”Zhaang Tianlong, it looks like your Zhaang Family is on the decline. Look at your disciples. They can’t even jump three hundred feet. Did you forget to feed them?”

”Heh.” The Elder from the Lee Family said, ”Zhaang Yijian of the Zhaang Family is indeed impressive. However...” He didn’t finish his sentence, but the sneer on his face couldn’t have been more obvious.

The Luo Family’s Elder chimed in as well, laughing heartily. ”Elder Zhaang, it seems your training methods are lacking!”

Zhaang Tianlong snorted angrily but remained silent.

Among the top ten experts of Cyan Mulberry City, only Zhaang Yijian from the Zhaang Family had made the list. The Zhou and Luo Families each had two, while the Lee Family had three. The Elders from the Lee, Zhou, and Luo Families were using this very point to mock Zhaang Tianlong, making him furious.

By now, the Zhaang Family’s True Disciples had finished carving their names on the Memorial Stone. Next up were the Inner Sect Disciples, like Zhaang Ye.

Zhaang Yizhi’s performance was quite good. He leaped a full two hundred and ninety feet and left his name. However, because he cultivated a Finger Technique, the strokes of his name were a bit small, which diminished his overall display.

After Zhaang Yizhi came Zhaang Ye. Before Zhaang Ye could even move, a voice suddenly sounded in his ear: ”Kid, this is Zhaang Tianlong. I know you’ve been holding back. Now, I want you to show me your true strength and put them in their place! Otherwise, our morale will be completely crushed! Remember, show your true strength! If you dare to hold back, I’ll deal with you personally when we get back!”

Zhaang Ye had originally planned to hold back some of his strength, but Zhaang Tianlong’s vicious voice made his heart skip a beat. Looking at the thousand-foot-tall Memorial Stone before him, he cursed inwardly, executed the Cloud Stepping Technique, and soared into the air.