Overlord of the Wilderness

”The Dao that can be spoken is not the eternal Dao. The name that can be named is not the eternal name. The nameless is the beginning of heaven and earth; the named is the mother of all things. Therefore, let there be non-being, so we may see their subtlety, and let there be being, so we may see their outcome. The two are the same, but after they are produced, they have different names. They are both called ’mystery.’ Mystery upon mystery—the gateway to all wonders.”

”The highest virtue is like water. Water is good; it benefits all things and does not compete. It dwells in places that people despise, so it is close to the Dao. In dwelling, be close to the land. In meditation, be close to the abyss. In giving, be close to benevolence. In speech, be close to good faith. In governing, be close to order. In handling affairs, be close to competence. In action, be close to timeliness. It is because it does not compete that it is without blame.”

In the mountains behind Chaoyang Hall, Zhaang Ye watched a small, slowly flowing stream, reciting scriptures from the Tao Te Ching. He felt a gentle breeze wash over him, and his understanding deepened.

For the past two or three years, Zhaang Ye had been weathering constant storms, racking his brain to increase his combat power. He simply couldn’t quiet his mind enough to comprehend the scriptures of the Tao Te Ching. Now that his Cultivation had finally reached the True Dao and he had a rare moment of leisure, Zhaang Ye could at last peacefully contemplate the profound scriptures of the Tao Te Ching.

Zhaang Ye strolled leisurely by the stream. With his profound Spiritual Sense, no movement within a radius of several miles could escape his notice.

He could clearly sense the tiny channels within the tall, flourishing trees, transporting water to the leaves and fruits.

He could clearly sense a small, light-blue fish under the water. Having stayed submerged for a long time, it was about to leap up for a breath of air.

He could clearly sense that of the sounds he made, a portion miraculously reflected back after hitting the stones. Another portion was absorbed by the flowers, grass, and trees. The last portion traveled straight into the distance, growing fainter and fainter until it vanished completely.

To see the essence through the phenomenon, to sense the most subtle things—this was the power of the True Dao. Having just entered the True Dao, Zhaang Ye felt that the world was full of novelty; every blade of grass and every tree contained profound mysteries. This wondrous feeling, combined with the Tao Te Ching, helped Zhaang Ye resolve many of his questions about Cultivation.

Night.

Zhaang Ye sat cross-legged in Chaoyang Hall, the Celestial River Righteous Qi within him slowly circulating. Zhaang Ye’s Celestial River Righteous Qi was far more solid and dense than Innate True Qi. As it moved, it produced the sound of a flowing river, as if an enormous river was surging endlessly through his body.

Zhaang Ye let the Celestial River Righteous Qi circulate on its own, while his Heart Spirit silently worked on deducing the next layer of his Cultivation Technique.

The Celestial River Righteous Qi in Zhaang Ye’s body was a power gained from cultivating the True Transformation Technique, created by the first Hall Master of the Wei Kingdom True Hall, the Great Wilderness Ascendant. The True Transformation Technique was an incomplete Cultivation Technique; the Great Wilderness Ascendant had only created the Martial Arts Chapter and the first layer of the True Dao Chapter.

In other words, Zhaang Ye no longer had a Cultivation Technique to practice. To continue his Cultivation, he had no choice but to rely on his own Comprehension to deduce the subsequent Cultivation Method.

Zhaang Ye now planned to spend half a year or even a year to slowly deduce the subsequent technique and make the Celestial River Righteous Qi in his body even more powerful.

Deducing a Cultivation Technique was no easy task. However, Zhaang Ye had experience from deducing the Dragon Elephant Skill, and his own Comprehension was exceptionally high. More importantly, through the wondrous Tao Te Ching, he had comprehended many of the Supreme Truths of Heaven and Earth. It was precisely because he possessed all these advantages that Zhaang Ye was confident he could deduce the subsequent Cultivation Technique.

Time flew by, and more than ten days passed in a flash. During this time, Zhaang Ye neither ate, drank, nor slept, silently dedicating himself to his deductions. Finally, he had made some progress.

Seeing that he was making headway with the subsequent Cultivation Method, Zhaang Ye breathed a sigh of relief. He temporarily stopped his deductions and began to walk leisurely through Chaoyang Hall to relax his mind.

After arriving at Chaoyang Peak, Zhaang Ye had been busy with Healing and arduous Cultivation, with no time to properly survey his surroundings. Now that he had dealt with a few Evil Slaves and made some progress in deducing his technique, he could finally take a breath and have a good look at Chaoyang Hall.

Chaoyang Hall was several miles across and included a main hall and eight sub-halls. It was fully equipped with a Martial Arts Training Room, a Seclusion Chamber, an Alchemy Room, and a Living Room. What surprised Zhaang Ye even more was that it also had a sizable Library.

This Library housed many precious books, including several hundred Martial Arts Secret Manuals that Inner Sect Disciples could read freely. Even more wonderfully, a small Communication Array had been set up inside the Library. If one encountered any problems in their Cultivation, they could ask a question at any time, and someone would help answer it.

In the Living Room, what interested Zhaang Ye the most was a huge jade bed. The bed was exquisite and white, with a profound Array surprisingly carved onto its surface. This profound Array operated slowly, continuously drawing Heaven and Earth Essence into the jade bed. Just by lying on it, one could rapidly increase their Cultivation.

Zhaang Ye was secretly curious. He walked to the side of the jade bed, just about to lie down on it. At that exact moment, his Spiritual Sense suddenly detected a slight stir in the Heaven and Earth Essence Qi outside Chaoyang Hall. A streak of black light abruptly shot down from the sky, landing inside the Living Room in less than the blink of an eye.

”WHOOSH!”

The streak of light stopped, transforming into a woman dressed in black.

Zhaang Ye’s heart jumped. ’This is Chaoyang Peak, my personal place of Cultivation, yet an unidentified woman in black has managed to barge in? This is completely unexpected.’ Alarmed, Zhaang Ye secretly circulated his Celestial River Righteous Qi and shouted in a deep voice, ”Who are you?”

The black-clothed woman’s gaze was ice-cold, and her voice was just as frigid. ”Get out!”

Zhaang Ye was taken aback for a moment, then laughed in anger. ”Chaoyang Peak was assigned to me by the Sect for my Cultivation. Who are you to come here and order me around? You get out!”

Judging from the woman’s flight speed and the aura she exuded, her power was simply unfathomable. Zhaang Ye usually wouldn’t provoke someone so unfathomable, but if they provoked him first, he wouldn’t be polite either.

”Make me get out? You don’t have the ability.” A trace of mockery appeared on the black-clothed woman’s face. She suddenly raised a snow-white palm and pushed it toward Zhaang Ye.

”CRACKLE!”

With a casual push from the woman, dozens of strange and unpredictable streams of Innate True Qi suddenly coiled toward Zhaang Ye. Some of these streams were like slippery snakes. Some were like ferocious tigers. Others were like sharp arrows. A normal True Dao First Layer expert would have been thrown out the door in an instant by these dozens of bizarre forces!

Zhaang Ye snorted, abruptly taking a step back. His palm, like a sharp blade, chopped straight down into the empty air.

”PUFF PUFF PUFF PUFF PUFF—”

Amidst a series of rapid Qi Force impacts, the dozens of Innate True Qi streams sent out by the woman were all shattered one by one by Zhaang Ye’s fiercely powerful Celestial River Righteous Qi, dissipating into the void.

Overwhelming skill with brute force!

Having cultivated his Celestial River Righteous Qi to its current state, it had become increasingly solid and fierce. With a casual chop, his Celestial River Righteous Qi could linger in the void for a long time, dispersing any and all attacks.

”Hmm?”

Seeing Zhaang Ye’s move, the woman was slightly surprised. His casual chop had looked both profound and natural, as if it contained the Supreme Truth of Heaven and Earth, executed with effortless grace. Judging from his move, Zhaang Ye didn’t seem like someone who had just reached the True Dao, but rather like an old monster who had been cultivating for hundreds of years.

After her slight surprise, the woman noticed Zhaang Ye’s body brushing against the jade bed, and her expression changed drastically. She shrieked, ”Get away from that bed! Don’t let your stench taint it! Get out! And never set foot in Chaoyang Hall again!”

As she spoke, the woman lunged forward like a phantom. Her five fingers clawed through the air in a move like a Cloud Dragon’s Claw, the sharp wind from her attack locking down every possible escape route.

What chilled Zhaang Ye even more was that the Innate True Qi the woman released was unbelievably pure. This exceptionally pure Innate True Qi was both incredibly sharp and extremely flexible, capable of countless transformations. It was as if a thousand strange, unpredictable snakes were simultaneously coiling and biting at him!

’Such a vicious woman! Her Innate True Qi is so bizarre; even a single touch would be huge trouble. What grudge does she have against me to use such a malicious attack?!’

With a thought, a golden tornado formed around Zhaang Ye’s body. He transformed his palms into sharp blades and swung them to block the woman’s fierce assault.

”PUFF PUFF PUFF PUFF PUFF PUFF!”

Zhaang Ye had always won with strength, his movements wide and sweeping. In this cramped Living Room, he couldn’t unleash his power at all. In contrast, the woman’s attacks were soft, strange, and subtly suppressed him. After exchanging dozens of blows, Zhaang Ye was actually forced onto the defensive by the woman’s bizarre and sinister techniques.

Being suppressed by an unknown woman, Zhaang Ye’s anger grew. He said coldly, ”Who are you? If you don’t reveal your identity, don’t blame me for getting rough!”

The woman, relying on her soft and strange techniques, kept Zhaang Ye firmly suppressed. She paid his words no mind and sneered, ”Get rough? You’re no match for me; you have no right to say that. I’m going to subdue you right now, throw you out of Chaoyang Hall, and forbid you from ever entering again!”

Zhaang Ye laughed in extreme anger. He had been painstakingly suppressing his power, afraid of damaging things in the hall. But hearing the woman’s taunts, he no longer cared about causing damage. The Celestial River Righteous Qi in his body began to circulate wildly, and a terrifying aura erupted, pressing down directly on the black-clothed woman!

”You crazy woman! You keep saying you’ll throw me out. Let’s see who throws who out! Take this!” Zhaang Ye roared, unleashing the power in his body without restraint. A brilliant golden Sword Gang slashed straight toward the black-clothed woman.

-------

This is the second update for today. The third will be around 12 o’clock. The fourth will be after 12 o’clock. I’m truly sorry. But there will be no shortage of updates, so you all can rest first. Thank you for your subscriptions, monthly tickets, and recommendations.

-------(To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote with Recommendation Tickets and Monthly Tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)