Overlord of the Wilderness

When he heard the masked woman scream, Zhaang Ye knew this was bad.

Sure enough, just as the masked woman’s voice faded, a sweet voice rang out from below the mountainside of Beetle Mountain: ”Xiaobi, don’t be afraid. I’m on my way.”

When the owner of that sweet voice spoke the first word, she was still halfway up the mountain. By the time she uttered the last, she had already arrived a li away from the hot spring!

WHOOSH!

The moment the masked woman screamed, Zhaang Ye reacted. He tossed aside the red silk ribbon in his hand, executed the Cloud Stepping Technique, and shot down the mountain like an arrow.

Zhaang Ye had just dashed a few hundred yards when he heard that sweet voice ring out. A shiver ran down his spine. ’This woman’s voice is focused, not dispersing over a distance, and can travel ten li in an instant. Her Cultivation is far more terrifying than Seventh Senior Sister’s. If she’s convinced I was peeping while they were bathing, I’m in big trouble!’

With this thought, Zhaang Ye pushed his speed to the limit, quickly covering more than a mile and arriving beneath a large boulder.

Beneath this boulder, the Five-Colored Long-Tailed Pigeon was fast asleep. Zhaang Ye shot forward and gave the bird’s rump a hard smack, jolting it awake.

”SQUAWK?”

The Five-Colored Long-Tailed Pigeon, just roused from its sleep, looked at Zhaang Ye in confusion.

”Hmph!” A snort laced with anger came from the hot spring on the mountaintop. The sound wasn’t loud, yet it crossed a distance of several li, reaching Zhaang Ye’s ears with perfect clarity.

Hearing that furious sound, Zhaang Ye grabbed the Five-Colored Long-Tailed Pigeon by the head and gave it two hard shakes. ”Get flying, now!” he roared. ”I need to get out of here!”

”SQUAWK SQUAWK SQUAWK!” Roughly shaken by the demonic-looking Zhaang Ye, the Five-Colored Long-Tailed Pigeon was now wide awake. Squawking indignantly, it spread its wings with a WHOOSH and wobbled into the air, carrying Zhaang Ye on its back.

The moment the man and bird took to the sky, Zhaang Ye felt a Spiritual Power, fluid like water, sweep over him. It locked onto him tightly, and a voice tinged with mild anger sounded by his ear, ”Hmph. So young, and you’ve already learned to be a peeping tom! It seems I’ll have to teach you a lesson!”

Locked by this Spiritual Power, Zhaang Ye felt an uncomfortable sensation wash over him, as if the woman could see right through to his underwear. Aghast, he forced a bitter smile. ”You’ve got it all wrong, Ma’am! I was cultivating below the hot spring long before you arrived. You’re the ones who came here to bathe! Besides, I stayed down there the whole time. I didn’t see a thing...”

Before Zhaang Ye could finish speaking, a pale blue shadow shot into the sky, flying toward him from afar at a speed that seemed faster than sound itself.

Zhaang Ye focused his gaze and saw it was a long-haired woman. Her dress and hair billowed in the wind, her figure one of exceptional grace.

But Zhaang Ye was in no mood to admire the view. He realized the long-haired woman was flying even faster than his Five-Colored Long-Tailed Pigeon! At this rate, it wouldn’t be long before she caught up!

’Good heavens! This woman is terrifyingly powerful!’ Zhaang Ye’s scalp went numb with fear. He roared at the Five-Colored Long-Tailed Pigeon beneath him, ”Faster! Fly for your life!”

Spurred on by Zhaang Ye, the Five-Colored Long-Tailed Pigeon began to flap its wings for all it was worth, its speed increasing dramatically. It shot toward the heavens like a five-colored rainbow.

Although the long-haired woman was powerful, she had not yet entered the True Dao, so her flying speed ultimately couldn’t compare to the Five-Colored Long-Tailed Pigeon. Watching Zhaang Ye fly further and further away, a glint flashed in her eyes. A single strand of her hair suddenly lifted, streaking toward Zhaang Ye from afar like a barely visible black shadow!

Zhaang Ye knew his opponent was a grand expert of at least the Martial Arts Ninth Layer, and experts of that caliber always had trump cards. So, even as the Five-Colored Long-Tailed Pigeon flew further away, Zhaang Ye kept his Heavy Saber at the ready, carefully on guard.

Sure enough, by focusing all his attention, Zhaang Ye soon sensed a faint fluctuation of True Qi. This trace of True Qi carried the subtle aura of water. If Zhaang Ye hadn’t just spent six hours underwater, becoming exceptionally sensitive to water’s aura, he would have never been able to detect it.

WHOOSH!

Disregarding his unhealed injuries, Zhaang Ye instantly circulated his Dragon Elephant Skill and slashed out with his Heavy Saber. As he did, a jet-black Sword Qi tore through the void, striking from afar at the trace of water-aspected True Qi.

CLANG!

Zhaang Ye’s Sword Qi struck its target, producing the sharp clang of metal on metal.

Only then did Zhaang Ye finally see it clearly. The object flying toward him was a nearly invisible strand of hair. It was about seven feet long, carried a faint water aura, and even after being struck by his Sword Qi, it continued to shoot straight for him!

With no time to think, Zhaang Ye swung his Heavy Saber again, positioning it to block directly in front of him.

DONG!

The long strand of hair struck Zhaang Ye’s Heavy Saber like an arrow.

The seemingly weightless strand of hair contained an immense force. The impact sent a jarring shock through Zhaang Ye, tightening his chest and almost making him spit out a mouthful of blood.

The Five-Colored Long-Tailed Pigeon beneath him was rocked by the force of the impact; its whole body shuddered, and it nearly plummeted from the sky.

’Such incredible power!’ Zhaang Ye gasped inwardly. He knew the long-haired woman was immensely powerful, but he never expected she could nearly injure him with a single strand of hair.

’What a formidable woman. A single strand of hair, shot from hundreds of yards away, still has such incredible power. She’s much stronger than Seventh Senior Sister! Thank goodness for this Five-Colored Long-Tailed Pigeon, otherwise I never would have escaped!’ Zhaang Ye sheathed his Heavy Saber, feeling secretly relieved.

”Hm?”

A hint of surprise flashed in the long-haired woman’s eyes when she saw that Zhaang Ye had actually blocked her hair. That strand had been nourished by her Soft Water Power; with their auras connected, it was ten times more powerful than an ordinary arrow.

Moreover, the strand was tiny. While flying at high speed, even a Martial Artist at the Martial Arts Seventh Layer or above would be unable to see it with the naked eye. She had expected the attack to teach Zhaang Ye a lesson, but he had blocked it with just two strikes of his saber. He hadn’t even coughed up blood.

Since there was nothing more she could do to Zhaang Ye, the long-haired woman didn’t linger. With a turn, she descended back to the ground.

The long-haired woman had just landed when the masked woman ran over, fuming. ”Miss, Miss, did you teach that kid a lesson? This is so infuriating! I can’t believe there was someone under the hot spring. We unknowingly drank his bathwater...”

Seeing the masked woman’s exasperated expression, the long-haired woman chuckled. ”I wanted to teach him a lesson, too. But the boy is quite strong. I couldn’t do anything to him.”

”How is that possible!” the masked woman exclaimed in astonishment. ”With your strength, Miss, how could you fail to handle a boy like him?”

The long-haired woman explained, ”The man is extremely alert. The moment you screamed, he immediately fled on that Five-Colored Long-Tailed Pigeon. His own strength is quite impressive, too. Just now, he managed to block my hair strand with that saber of his. His power is comparable to an expert at the Early-stage Seventh Layer. Since I haven’t entered the True Dao yet, I couldn’t close the distance and could only let him escape.”

At this point, the long-haired woman said, ”Last time you returned, you said someone killed two experts from the Mei Family. The person you were talking about... that was him, wasn’t it?”

The masked woman nodded. ”That’s him! He looks like he only has the Cultivation of the Martial Arts Fifth Layer, but his combat strength is incredible. The two Mei Family experts were killed by him in just a few exchanges. Huh, I didn’t expect that he not only killed the Mei Family’s people, but he even took their Five-Colored Long-Tailed Pigeon for himself.”

A thoughtful look appeared in the long-haired woman’s eyes. ”The first time I scanned the area with my Spiritual Power, I sensed a trace of a primordial aura. Thinking about it now, that aura must have come from him. It seems there’s more to that boy than meets the eye...”

The masked woman stomped her foot. ”Miss! I don’t care if he’s simple or not! The next time you see him, you have to teach him a lesson for me!”

The long-haired woman chuckled. ”Alright, alright. We’ll be traveling all over to gather medicinal herbs for the next year or two, so we’ll probably see him again. When we do, I’ll be sure to teach him a harsh lesson for you.”

...

「High in the sky.」

Zhaang Ye sat cross-legged on the back of the Five-Colored Long-Tailed Pigeon, fiddling with a long strand of hair.

This was the same strand of hair the long-haired woman had shot at him like an arrow. It was seven feet long, jet-black with a faint bluish-green sheen. It felt cool to the touch and emanated a faint, suppressive aura.

Zhaang Ye gave the strand a pull and discovered it was exceptionally tough. Even using forty percent of his True Qi, he was unable to snap it.

’What a resilient strand of hair! This woman has cultivated her power to the point that it infuses her very hair! Judging from the Suppression it emits, even if she isn’t a True Dao Expert, she can’t be far from it!’ Zhaang Ye was secretly astonished as he sensed the aura on the strand.

Flicking the hair, Zhaang Ye suddenly had an idea. A look of joy appeared on his face as he swiftly took the Purple Great Bow from his back.

’This strand of hair is so resilient. I wonder if it can be used as a bowstring for the Purple Great Bow!’ Zhaang Ye thought, his hands already moving quickly to string the hair onto the Purple Great Bow.