Overlord of the Wilderness

The middle-aged man had been slammed to death, but Zhaang Ye had no time to feel relieved.

In their final clash, a force so tangible it felt solid crashed down from the phantom of the purple bow. The power was incredible, and Zhaang Ye was instantly slammed into the ground.

What was even more terrifying was that this power contained a dreadful Ice Qi.

The Ice Qi traveled up his Heavy Saber and onto his arm. The moment this frigid aura touched the skin on his arm, it began to crack, inch by inch. These fissures then spread across Zhaang Ye’s body at a visible speed, the crisp sound of his skin splitting—CRACK! CRACK!—ringing in the air.

RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE!

The Dragon Elephant Power within Zhaang Ye’s body circulated frantically. Driven at full force, it actually created a rumbling sound within him, like muffled thunder rolling across the sky.

The Jiang Family’s Chief Steward was a great expert at the Martial Arts Seventh Layer Late Stage, and the Ice Qi he unleashed had already seeped deep into Zhaang Ye’s Meridians. If it were an ordinary expert, their Meridians would have frozen solid by now, leaving them to do nothing but wait for death’s arrival.

Fortunately, Zhaang Ye possessed Ancient Elephant Power. This power had a unique characteristic: the ability to devour any True Qi that entered his body. It had once devoured the Innate True Qi of the four Hall Masters of the True Hall, so of course it could also devour this Ice Qi, piece by piece.

It was only thanks to the devouring ability of his Ancient Elephant Power that Zhaang Ye hadn’t been frozen solid by the Ice Qi. However, his situation was still extremely perilous, as the amount of Ice Qi that had invaded his body was simply far too great! Faced with so much Ice Qi, even the formidable Ancient Elephant Power could not devour it all at once.

RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE—

After an unknown amount of time, Zhaang Ye finally managed to force the Ice Qi from his Meridians and heart into a single area, temporarily escaping mortal danger.

He struggled to pull his body free. Zhaang Ye glanced at himself and saw that the skin all over his body was cracked. His arms were split open like a turtle’s shell, with chunks of muscle visible through the fissures.

Though his skin was cracked everywhere, Zhaang Ye felt no pain. His body was filled with so much Ice Qi that his nerves had been completely numbed by the cold.

’My Meridians are frostbitten, my organs are frostbitten, and even my skin is shattered into countless frozen pieces. It looks like it will take at least one or two months to recover from this!’ Zhaang Ye sucked in a sharp breath as he assessed his injuries.

SKREEE SKREEE SKREEE—

The clash between Zhaang Ye and the middle-aged man had been enormous. Startled by the battle, the insects on Beetle Mountain swarmed out in waves, their incessant chirping filling the air.

Seeing so many insects, the Five-Colored Long-Tailed Pigeon let out a happy cry and began to gobble them up by the mouthful. Once its belly was round and it couldn’t swallow another bite, it lazily trotted off to a dark corner to sleep.

Watching the gluttonous Five-Colored Long-Tailed Pigeon, Zhaang Ye shook his head slightly before walking over to the middle-aged man and slowly beginning to search his body.

The middle-aged man had been carrying quite a few items, but for Zhaang Ye, the most useful were several Essence Stones. Besides the Essence Stones, the Purple Great Bow the man had been holding was also a fine item.

This Purple Great Bow weighed over three hundred pounds. A faint black line connected the bow’s back to its tips. What Zhaang Ye found strange was that the Purple Great Bow had a riser and limbs, but no bowstring.

After a moment of contemplation, Zhaang Ye slung the Purple Great Bow onto his back. The bow was made of a rather peculiar material; even Zhaang Ye couldn’t identify the metal. It had clashed with his Heavy Saber dozens of times earlier, yet its body didn’t have a single scratch. Zhaang Ye knew with a single glance that this Purple Great Bow was no ordinary item.

After stowing the items, Zhaang Ye surveyed his surroundings and thought, ’This Beetle Mountain has a ridiculous number of insects. I need to find a more secluded place for my Healing.’

Zhaang Ye began to search slowly across Beetle Mountain. After four hours, his eyes suddenly lit up, a look of pleasant surprise appearing on his face.

It turned out that a few hundred yards ahead of him, there was a hot spring. The spring looked to be several acres in size, and the rising steam from its waters shrouded the surrounding area.

WHOOSH!

Zhaang Ye’s entire body was frozen stiff. Upon seeing such a large hot spring, he ran over without a second thought. After a brief check to confirm there were no powerful Fierce Beasts inside, Zhaang Ye jumped in with a SPLASH.

As his body submerged into the hot spring, a wave of warmth instantly spread through him, dispersing a small amount of the Ice Qi within.

”Excellent!”

Zhaang Ye was overjoyed. ’With this hot spring,’ he thought, ’my recovery speed will be much faster!’

After swimming around for a bit, Zhaang Ye moved to the deepest part of the spring, submerged his entire body in the warm water, and silently began circulating the Dragon Elephant Skill to mend his injuries.

While Zhaang Ye silently focused on his recovery, the insects on Beetle Mountain grew increasingly chaotic. Hundreds of millions of them flowed like a river, covering every inch of the mountain.

WHOOSH!

Two enormous birds suddenly flew into the sky above Beetle Mountain. One of them, with its five-colored feathers and long tail, was the Five-Colored Long-Tailed Pigeon. The other bird was slightly smaller and pure white, its two vermilion claws particularly eye-catching.

On the back of the white bird stood two women. One of them, her face veiled with a silk scarf, was the very same masked woman Zhaang Ye had previously tried to kill.

Beside the masked woman stood a long-haired young woman in a pale blue gauze dress. Her face seemed to be shrouded in a thin layer of mist, making it impossible to see her features clearly. Her hair flowed all the way down to her feet, its blackness tinged with a faint cyan sheen, exuding an air of nobility and mystery.

”Hm? Why are there so many insects on Beetle Mountain? Well, more insects just means a good meal for Little White,” the masked young woman murmured to herself as she looked down at the bugs swarming all over the mountain.

”CAW! CAW!”

Upon hearing the masked woman’s words, the giant white bird immediately let out a happy cry.

Just then, the mist shrouding the long-haired young woman’s face thinned slightly, revealing a pair of clear, serene eyes. She watched the insects below without a word, and after a moment, she suddenly spoke. ”The insects on Beetle Mountain seem to have been startled, which explains this situation. Let’s go down.”

As the long-haired young woman spoke, the large white bird gave a clear cry, folded its wings, and descended to the ground like a streak of white light.

”CAW! CAW! CAW!”

Once the two giant birds landed on the ground, they immediately began to rapidly peck at the insects.

”GAAAAK! GAAAAK! GAAAAK!” Just as the two giant birds were devouring the insects, several extremely unpleasant screeches suddenly echoed from the peak of Beetle Mountain. Hearing these calls, the two birds, who had been pecking away, immediately stopped eating and stared fearfully toward the summit.

The masked woman was slightly startled. ”Miss, that sound most likely came from the Beetle King! This Beetle King is incredibly powerful. Not even an expert at the Peak of the Martial Arts Ninth Layer could defeat it!”

The long-haired young woman nodded slightly. ”I know,” she said. Her tone suggested she didn’t give the Beetle King a second thought.

”GAAAAK GAAAAK GAAAAK—” As the two women were speaking, the grating sound suddenly drew closer. Hearing it, the two giant birds shrank their necks in terror and huddled tightly against the women, as if afraid of something.

BOOM!

A beetle over ten feet tall suddenly dropped from the sky, landing heavily in front of the two women. It was covered in thick, black insectoid armor, and its six legs gleamed with the metallic luster of blades. More terrifyingly, the beetle was crunching on a human body, the sound of bones being crushed—CRUNCH! CRUNCH!—causing the masked woman’s expression to change.

The long-haired young woman looked at the beetle, a hint of understanding in her eyes. ”This Beetle King loves to devour human corpses,” she said. ”The higher the corpse’s Cultivation, the more it enjoys them. It seems a powerful expert died on Beetle Mountain just now, which is why this Beetle King came out to feast.”

”GAAAK!”

The Beetle King swallowed the corpse in its mouth, its fist-sized eyes staring straight at the two women. Its gaze was so full of greed and savagery that the masked woman nearly screamed aloud.

SWOOSH!

The Beetle King’s enormous body suddenly transformed into a terrifying black shadow, kicking up a cloud of dust as it charged straight for the two women. As it rushed forward, it raised its two front legs high, like a pair of massive, gleaming cleavers!

HSSS!

The two legs sliced through the air, chopping straight down at the two women. Its massive maw was already open, ready to devour them after it cut them down.

A glint flashed in the long-haired young woman’s eyes. She gently lifted one of her snow-white hands and pushed it forward into the empty air.

BOOM!

The Beetle King, which weighed tens of thousands of pounds, slammed into an invisible, unyielding wall. Its two front legs instantly shattered into several pieces. Its entire body was sent flying as if struck by a meteor, landing over a thousand feet away.

This incredibly powerful Beetle King died without so much as a cry, its belly turned to the sky.

The masked woman stared at the dead Beetle King in awe. ”Miss, you’re getting more and more powerful! You killed such a formidable Beetle King in a single blow!”

The long-haired young woman just smiled faintly, not saying a word.

The masked woman brushed the dust from her clothes. ”Miss, we’re covered in dust. Why don’t we go for a soak in the hot spring? The one on Beetle Mountain is very pleasant!”

The long-haired young woman pondered for a moment before saying, ”Very well.”

The two of them then transformed into two streaks of blue light and shot straight toward the summit.

——————————

PS: I’d like to recommend two books: *Heaven-Reaching Official Path* and *Prison Blood Demon God*. If you’re interested, please go check them out. (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.)