Overlord of the Wilderness

After killing the two men who were tailing him, Zhaang Ye suppressed his aura completely, traveled for hundreds of miles, and then stealthily changed his attire.

He swapped his cyan robes for an unremarkable gray set and wrapped his Heavy Saber in a Beast Hide. To complete the disguise, he messed up his hair, smeared dirt on his face, and transformed himself into a rather forlorn-looking youth.

After changing his clothes, Zhaang Ye took out the two Martial Arts Secret Manuals he had looted. He wanted to see which faction the men who had tracked him belonged to.

One of the two Martial Arts Secret Manuals was called *Gale Iron Wire Fist*, a Mid-Level Martial Arts Secret Manual that emphasized horizontal blocks and straight, wind-fast punches. The other manual was called *Deceitful Step*, a Mid-Level Stepping Technique. When executed, it made the user seem to appear and disappear like a phantom, allowing them to vanish from an enemy’s line of sight at any moment.

The reason Zhaang Ye hadn’t been able to spot the two men despite checking his surroundings multiple times was because they were proficient in the Deceitful Step, which allowed them to constantly remain outside his line of sight.

Zhaang Ye briefly glanced at the two Martial Arts Secret Manuals and finally found a character at the bottom of the covers: ”Jiang.”

’The Jiang Family?’ Zhaang Ye was taken aback for a moment. He thought, ’I’ve spent all my time cultivating in Three Rivers Town and Cyan Mulberry City. Since I entered the True Hall, I’ve been in cultivation for two years and have rarely made enemies. I’ve never even heard of this Jiang Family, so why would they be causing trouble for me?’

Zhaang Ye’s thoughts raced, and suddenly, he remembered Jiang Ailiang’s sinister face.

’That brat Jiang Ailiang is so gloomy and has always been hostile toward me. If he’s the one who arranged for people to hunt me down, I’ll have to find a chance to kill him once I get back to the True Hall. I must eliminate this future threat.’ A murderous glint flashed in Zhaang Ye’s eyes before vanishing. He then executed his Cloud Stepping Technique and continued on his way at full speed.

...

SWOOSH!

A black-robed old man suddenly came to a stop at the top of a tall tree. His gaze was fixed on a small bloodstain and some torn fabric on the ground below, his face betraying a hint of anger.

’I never thought that kid would be so cunning, not to mention so strong. Old Fifth and Old Sixth were both at the Early-stage Sixth Layer of the Martial Dao, and they had both cultivated the Deceitful Step to the Great Success Realm. To think that brat not only discovered they were tailing him but even managed to kill them and feed them to the beasts!’

The anger on the old man’s face vanished in a flash. His body suddenly shot downward, and he began sniffing the air carefully within the patch of woods.

When a Martial Artist’s cultivation reaches a certain level, their senses become hundreds, even thousands of times more sensitive than an ordinary person’s. The black-robed old man’s cultivation was extremely high. His sense of smell was far more acute than a normal person’s—even a dog’s nose couldn’t compare.

After sniffing the air, a sinister smile crept onto the old man’s icy face. ’This kid is quite vigilant, keeping his aura completely suppressed. But his cultivation isn’t high enough, after all. No matter how hard he tries to hide it, a trace of his aura still leaks out. Now that I have his scent, I’ll definitely be able to find him by following this trail!’

With that, the black-robed old man’s figure silently vanished into the forest.

...

Having changed his attire, Zhaang Ye stuck to remote paths. The rest of his journey went smoothly, and after a day, he had covered a distance of over twenty thousand miles.

”CAW CAW—”

Suddenly, he heard two high-pitched cries from overhead. Zhaang Ye looked up at the sky and saw two giant birds with five-colored feathers and extremely long tails flying swiftly across the sky. For some reason, one of the giant birds was going crazy, its body wobbling in the air as if it might plummet at any moment.

”Damned beast! AHHHH—”

Zhaang Ye strained his eyes and saw that there were several people and a large pile of cargo on the back of the wobbling bird. As the giant bird flew erratically, the people lost their balance and fell from the sky like stones!

CRASH—

The people fell, and the cargo on the giant bird’s back came tumbling down with them, scattering over an area several miles wide.

”Insolence!” came a bellow like a dragon’s roar from a person on the other giant bird. ”You stupid bird, settle down! If you don’t behave, I’ll kill you! Get down there!”

Hearing this command, the giant bird gave a low cry and obediently landed on a gentle hillside.

’What a beautiful bird!’ Zhaang Ye thought, his eyes lighting up as he watched from a distance. The giant bird stood forty to fifty feet tall. Its entire body was covered in brilliantly colored five-hued feathers. The long plumes of its tail caught the sunlight, radiating concentric circles of rainbow light, a sight of extreme beauty.

Zhaang Ye thought to himself, ’I’ve heard that some experts can tame massive birds, gradually turning them into Pseudo Spirit Beasts. These Flying Pseudo Spirit Beasts can cover three to four hundred thousand miles in a single day. Even a journey of a million miles would only take them a few days. This bird looks like one of those Pseudo Spirit Beasts. It’s so enormous, it could probably fly with tens of thousands of pounds of cargo without any issue...’

”CAW!”

Just then, the other giant bird also landed on the hillside. This one, however, was a size smaller than the first.

SWOOSH! SWOOSH! SWOOSH!

A middle-aged man with a profound and steady aura, a long-haired young man radiating a sharp presence, and a veiled woman in colorful robes leaped down from the bird’s back.

”This damned Five-Colored Long-Tailed Pigeon! It actually dropped all the cargo!” the long-haired young man roared at the enormous bird, looking at the goods scattered across the ground. ”These are gifts from my big brother for Fairy Xu Li! How dare you drop them! I’ll kill you with a single palm strike!”

”CAW! CAW!” the Five-Colored Long-Tailed Pigeon cried out, sounding wronged.

”That’s enough,” the middle-aged man said in a deep voice. ”The cargo and the people combined weighed over thirty thousand pounds. It seems the load was too heavy, and the Five-Colored Long-Tailed Pigeon couldn’t bear it any longer, so it dropped everything. We should hurry and collect our things so we can get going.”

The long-haired young man frowned. ”These things are scattered over several miles. Finding it all will be a huge pain! Now that our servants have all fallen to their deaths, it’ll take the two of us until after dark just to gather everything, if we can even manage that!”

The long-haired young man glanced around. Suddenly, his eyes lit up as he spotted Zhaang Ye passing in the distance. He raised his voice and shouted, ”Hey, you! Get over here!”

Hearing the young man’s shout, Zhaang Ye frowned slightly.

’These three people own two Flying Pseudo Spirit Beasts; their backgrounds must be extraordinary,’ Zhaang Ye thought. ’And all three of them—two men and one woman—have profound, steady auras. They’re clearly Martial Arts Experts.’

’The middle-aged man’s aura is even more terrifying than Situ Houtu’s. He’s obviously a Martial Arts Seventh Layer expert. And the long-haired young man has an incredibly sharp aura. I’d guess he’s not only a sword master but has also reached the Late Stage of the Martial Arts Sixth Layer, maybe even the Sixth Layer Peak.’

Zhaang Ye had no desire to get involved with two experts like them. Besides, he knew experts from the Jiang Family were probably still hunting for him, and he didn’t want any more trouble right now.

He had tried to give the trio a wide berth, but even though he moved quickly, the long-haired man’s gaze was sharper, and he had spotted him instantly.

Zhaang Ye didn’t slow his pace in the slightest, continuing on his way in silence as if he hadn’t heard a thing.

Seeing Zhaang Ye completely ignore his call, the long-haired young man’s face turned to ice. He shouted, ”Kid, didn’t you hear what I said? Get over here! Now!”

Zhaang Ye executed his Cloud Stepping Technique, ignoring the other’s shouts and focusing on his journey.

”Well, well, you actually dare to ignore me!” A hint of anger crossed the long-haired youth’s face. With a SWOOSH, his body shot into the air, landing on the smaller Five-Colored Long-Tailed Pigeon. He gave it a light pat.

At the youth’s touch, the Five-Colored Long-Tailed Pigeon instantly shot into the sky, transforming into a rainbow streak of light that hurtled toward Zhaang Ye. In just a dozen breaths, it was hovering above his head.

The long-haired youth gave the Five-Colored Long-Tailed Pigeon another light pat, and the bird immediately landed in front of Zhaang Ye. This Pigeon stood over thirty feet tall, with a wingspan of more than two hundred feet. The powerful gust of wind generated as it landed sent the trees within a thousand-foot radius creaking and groaning. Some of the smaller trees were even ripped right out of the ground by the gale.

The young man blurred, appearing in front of Zhaang Ye. His gaze was like a sharp sword, fixed on Zhaang Ye as he sneered, ”Kid, your cultivation isn’t high, but you’ve got some nerve! I, Mei the Seventh, called out to you twice, and you just ignored me. It seems you don’t think I’m worth your time!”

Zhaang Ye’s brow twitched. ”I have business to attend to and I’m in a hurry,” he said coolly. ”Besides, I don’t know you. I have no reason to respond to you.”

”Don’t know me?” The long-haired youth laughed. ”We’ll get acquainted soon enough. My servants just fell to their deaths, so you can take their place. Kid, becoming my servant this easily is a bargain for you. You should know, in a million-mile radius, there are tens of thousands of experts who would beg for the chance to serve me.”

The long-haired youth’s expression was imperious, as if it were a matter of course that Zhaang Ye would become his servant.

Zhaang Ye’s brow furrowed slightly. He said slowly, ”I have no interest in being a servant.”

After saying this, Zhaang Ye moved to walk around the long-haired youth and continue on his way.

”Not interested? Heh heh. When I tell you to be my servant, you’ll do it whether you’re interested or not!” After saying this, the long-haired youth stretched out a hand toward Zhaang Ye. A blade-sharp aura instantly crossed the dozens of feet between them, enveloping Zhaang Ye. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote with Recommendation Tickets and monthly passes. Your support is my greatest motivation.)