Overlord of the Wilderness

Great Rong City was near the Ten Thousand Volcanoes, so its temperature was a cut above that of ordinary mountain ranges. As a result, the nearby mountains were all bare and desolate. There was but one exception—a magnificent, towering mountain, lush and vibrant with life, where ancient, sky-piercing trees could be seen everywhere.

At the foot of this great mountain sat an exquisite courtyard. Flowers bloomed in profusion all around it, surrounded by lush grass. A small stream gurgled as it flowed past the front of the courtyard.

Jiang Pingchuan flew to the outside of the courtyard, then slowed and lightened his steps as he cautiously made his way inside.

Inside the courtyard, a tall young man stood like a statue before a stone table. He wore a fitted white robe, had a head of thick, black hair, and a pair of long, alluring eyes that glinted sharply from time to time. Merely by standing there silently, he exuded an indescribable aura that made him unforgettable at a single glance.

At this moment, the tall young man was staring at a tattered, incomplete map on the table. He didn’t even glance up as Jiang Pingchuan entered the courtyard.

Jiang Pingchuan stopped about thirty feet away and said respectfully, ”Jiang Pingchuan greets the Second Young Master.”

The tall young man’s voice was flat. ”Steward Jiang, what is it?”

Jiang Pingchuan said respectfully, ”It’s like this. I have discovered a young woman who possesses the bloodline of the Ancient Phoenix Clan. The Cultivation Technique she practices is called the Red Sun Heart Refining Technique. If you were to dual cultivate with her, Second Young Master, it would make your Cultivation even more profound. Second Young Master, shall I bring her to you?”

”Oh?” A glint flashed through the Second Young Master’s alluring eyes. He looked up from the map and said, ”Tell me about this woman.”

Seeing the Second Young Master’s obvious interest, Jiang Pingchuan felt a flicker of joy in his heart. He said, ”This woman is from the Wei Kingdom Feng Family and a disciple of the Wei Kingdom True Hall. Her Cultivation has reached the Seventh Layer Peak, just a hair’s breadth away from the Martial Arts Eighth Layer. She is exceptionally beautiful; few women can compare to her...”

The Second Young Master waved his hand dismissively. ”Where is she now?”

Jiang Pingchuan gave a sly chuckle. ”She happens to be in Great Rong City right now. She’s heading to the city’s Spiritual Spring to cultivate with a few other people.”

A flicker of light appeared in the Second Young Master’s eyes.

Jiang Pingchuan chuckled slyly again. ”Her family has long since declined and has no power to speak of. And while those old fogeys at the Wei Kingdom True Hall are formidable, they just bury their heads in their cultivation and can’t be bothered with outside affairs. She only has one Elder Level expert and three Martial Arts Ninth-Layer Experts with her. As long as we’re a little careful, there will be absolutely no problem.”

The Second Young Master nodded slightly. ”Very good. I happen to be in need of a maid. After I return from the Ten Thousand Volcanoes, I’ll take this woman as my maid. You will be rewarded for this.”

Jiang Pingchuan was overjoyed. The Second Young Master held a very high position in the family. If he could win his favor, his own standing within the clan would rise dramatically.

After a moment of contemplation, Jiang Pingchuan spoke again. ”Second Young Master, you’re entering the Ten Thousand Volcanoes this time to search for an Ancient Space Array, aren’t you?”

The Second Young Master shot Jiang Pingchuan a cold look. ”I am. What do you have to say?”

Jiang Pingchuan said respectfully, ”Reporting to the Second Young Master, I know the whereabouts of a map to an Ancient Space Array. Although this map is incomplete, it still records the location of one such array. If you were to obtain it, Second Young Master, you would save a great deal of time...”

”Hm?” The Second Young Master was visibly moved. ”A map to an Ancient Space Array? Is this true? Who has this map now?”

Jiang Pingchuan hurriedly explained, ”The map came from the Ping Mountain Black Market, so it’s definitely authentic. I offered a high price at the time, wanting to win the bid for it, but unfortunately, I didn’t have enough Essence Stones. In the end, it was bought by someone else. This person’s name is Zhaang Ye. He’s the Eighth Disciple of the Fourth Hall Master of the Wei Kingdom True Hall, and his combat strength is comparable to a Late-stage Martial Arts Ninth Layer expert.”

The Second Young Master’s gaze grew sharper than a blade. He asked in a low voice, ”This Zhaang Ye, where is he now?”

A smile touched Jiang Pingchuan’s lips. ”This Zhaang Ye is currently in Great Rong City. And by the way, the woman I mentioned earlier is with him right now. We can kill two birds with one stone. First, we kill this Zhaang Ye brat and search his body for the map. Then we capture Feng Tongming...”

The Second Young Master’s alluring eyes narrowed slightly as he nodded.

Jiang Pingchuan added, ”Although this Zhaang Ye’s Cultivation is only at the Early Stage of Martial Arts Ninth Layer, his Body Refining Technique is exceptionally powerful. In the recent Six Nations’ Newcomer Warm-up Competition, he crushed Chu Yuxiang to take first place. For this operation, we still need to be wary of him. It would be disastrous if he ruined our plans.”

The Second Young Master sneered and waved his hand. ”You don’t need to worry about that. A mere Early Stage of Martial Arts Ninth Layer practitioner? I could crush him with a single finger. Your job now is to get this Zhaang Ye to leave Great Rong City. As long as he’s outside the city, I can kill him with ease.”

Sensing the immense aura radiating from the Second Young Master, Jiang Pingchuan couldn’t help but feel a tremor in his heart. ’It seems the Second Young Master’s Cultivation is not far from the Half-step True Dao realm. With the Profound Ice Qi he cultivates, his combat strength is far greater than that of an ordinary expert at the Peak of Martial Arts Ninth Layer. No wonder he doesn’t see Zhaang Ye as a threat...’

...

Within Great Rong City, Zhaang Ye was sitting cross-legged on a jade bed, silently cultivating.

Zhaang Ye was deep inside a stone grotto. In the grotto’s depths was a spring no larger than a pinky finger, from which clear water bubbled forth. This was none other than the world-renowned Spiritual Spring.

The Spiritual Spring’s water flowed out slowly, pooling into a shallow basin below. Zhaang Ye’s jade bed was positioned directly over this pool, allowing him to sit on it and cultivate.

The Spiritual Spring of Great Rong City contained dense Heaven and Earth Essence Qi, and even a trace of Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi, making it a sacred land for Cultivation. Zhaang Ye was able to enter and cultivate here because after he defeated Chu Yuxiang, no one else dared to challenge him. As a result, he smoothly took first place in the Six Nations’ Youth Warm-up Competition and earned the right to cultivate in the Spiritual Spring.

By winning first place, not only did Zhaang Ye gain the right to cultivate, but Wei Jingtian, Xuli Long, Fang Caiying, and Feng Tongming also obtained permission to enter the Spiritual Spring. At this moment, the four of them were on other jade beds, desperately absorbing the Heaven and Earth Essence Qi from the Spiritual Spring and frantically increasing their Cultivation.

The better one’s aptitude, the faster they could absorb Heaven and Earth Essence Qi. Wei Jingtian, Xuli Long, Fang Caiying, and Feng Tongming all had better aptitude than Zhaang Ye, so their absorption speed was slightly faster than his. The dense Heaven and Earth Essence Qi continuously surged toward the four of them.

Comparing their cultivation speeds, the four of them—Wei Jingtian, Xuli Long, Fang Caiying, and Feng Tongming—were all secretly pleased. Zhaang Ye was younger than them, yet his Cultivation was boundlessly powerful. This had been a repeated blow to their egos, to the point where they had little confidence left. Now, seeing that Zhaang Ye’s speed of absorbing Heaven and Earth Essence Qi was slower than theirs, the four of them finally regained a sliver of self-assurance.

Half a day passed. Wei Jingtian, Xuli Long, Fang Caiying, and Feng Tongming successively slowed their absorption of the Heaven and Earth Essence Qi. After half a day of intake, their Dantians and Meridians were filled with Heaven and Earth Essence Qi, and they had to slowly refine it before they could continue absorbing more.

At this moment, the four of them suddenly noticed that Zhaang Ye’s speed of absorbing Heaven and Earth Essence Qi remained the same, neither accelerating nor decelerating. Zhaang Ye’s body was like a bottomless pit, unhurriedly absorbing the Heaven and Earth Essence Qi—taking in as much as there was to take.

Wei Jingtian shook his head slightly and said with envy, ”It seems Junior Brother Zhaang’s constitution is out of the ordinary. If a normal Martial Artist were to absorb Heaven and Earth Essence Qi as ceaselessly as him, they would soon explode and die. But Junior Brother Zhaang has been absorbing it for so long without any issue. No wonder his strength is so incredible.”

Fang Caiying nodded slightly. ”Junior Brother Zhaang has both Ancient Dragon Power and Ancient Phoenix Power in his body. After being tempered by these two forces, not only is his physical strength far beyond that of an ordinary person, but he can also contain much more True Qi, and his power is far greater than experts of the same rank. However, the more powerful the body, the harder it is to advance one’s Cultivation. For Junior Brother Zhaang to reach the Martial Arts Ninth Level Middle Stage, he will need far more Essence Stones than an ordinary Martial Artist.”

Xuli Long then said, ”Essence Stones are hard to come by. We should take this opportunity to absorb more Heaven and Earth Essence Qi. Once we leave the Spiritual Spring, we won’t have such dense Heaven and Earth Essence Qi to absorb.”

Wei Jingtian, Fang Caiying, and Feng Tongming nodded in unison, closed their eyes, and began to refine the Heaven and Earth Essence Qi within their bodies.

Zhaang Ye heard the conversation between Wei Jingtian, Xuli Long, Fang Caiying, and Feng Tongming clearly. However, he had no time to pay them any mind right now, focusing wholeheartedly on absorption. As his Cultivation Technique circulated, a steady stream of dense Heaven and Earth Essence Qi poured into his body, and the True Qi within him grew, sliver by sliver.

After a full day and night, the five of them—Zhaang Ye, Wei Jingtian, Xuli Long, Fang Caiying, and Feng Tongming—reluctantly left the Spiritual Spring. Once they were out on the main street, expressions of joy appeared on the faces of the other four.

In the Spiritual Spring, one day of Cultivation was equivalent to a year outside. In just one short day, the Cultivation of Wei Jingtian, Xuli Long, Fang Caiying, and Feng Tongming had all improved dramatically. Fang Caiying was now on the verge of breaking through to the Martial Arts Ninth Level Middle Stage, and Feng Tongming was on the cusp of reaching the Martial Arts Eighth Layer. The two of them just needed to find a quiet place to cultivate for a while to break through successfully.

The four of them thanked Zhaang Ye, then followed him as they slowly walked back toward their lodging. As they passed by the gates of Great Rong City, Feng Tongming’s expression suddenly changed. ”Oh no, my sword has been stolen!”

As she spoke, Feng Tongming took off after a tall, skinny figure.

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