Overlord of the Wilderness

RUMBLE!

Zhaang Ye faced a forest and slowly pushed out a palm. Immense power surged forward like a mighty, torrential river. Wherever it passed, trees hundreds of feet tall snapped and collapsed. The Barbaric Beasts in the forest let out low whimpers, desperately fleeing to the outside.

The Fire Spirit popped out, giggling. “Master, your combat strength has increased quite a bit. With the Cloud-Breaking Slash and your extremely condensed Spiritual Sense, killing an ordinary expert at the Peak of True Dao Sixth Layer is more than enough for you now. But you’ll need to be extremely careful if you run into Sixth-Layer Experts like the Flower King, Shui Daimai, or Qi Qingle, who have comprehended a Realm.”

Zhaang Ye nodded slowly.

If a True Dao Sixth Layer expert had comprehended a Realm, their combat strength was comparable to the True Dao Seventh Layer. Even if Zhaang Ye used his Cloud-Breaking Slash, he couldn’t kill them.

The main reason Zhaang Ye had managed to kill Ba Xiongfei, a Sixth-Layer Expert who had comprehended a Realm, was that Ba Xiongfei had only just broken through to the True Dao Sixth Layer. His Realm was somewhat unstable, and he had been overconfident and careless. If Ba Xiongfei had fought cautiously, Zhaang Ye probably couldn’t have killed him, even with the Cloud-Breaking Slash and Ba Xiongfei’s unstable Realm.

For the next two days, Zhaang Ye continued deeper into the Land of Wood under the Fire Spirit’s guidance.

The Land of Wood was rich with all kinds of Spirit Elixirs. Guided by the Fire Spirit’s vast Spiritual Sense, Zhaang Ye harvested over a dozen more, two of which were Eighth-Grade Spirit Elixirs. Although these elixirs weren’t fully mature yet, they were close. After being moved to the Fire Spirit Realm to mature for a while, they would be ready for use.

On the third day, Zhaang Ye finally reached the center of the Land of Wood. A stretch of verdant trees appeared before him. Upon seeing this lush forest, Zhaang Ye’s eyes widened, and he sucked in a sharp breath.

It turned out that every tree in this verdant forest was ten thousand zhang tall. The leafy Giant Trees were packed densely together, forming a strange formation. Wisps of visible green energy flowed within this peculiar formation—it was the vibrant aura of wood!

The Fire Spirit popped out of the Little World and exclaimed excitedly, “What a dense wood aura! Master, this wood aura is a type of life energy. If you collect it in the Little World, the Little World will become full of vitality and even more suitable for the Spirit Trees to grow!”

Zhaang Ye was stirred. He flashed over and snatched at the air, instantly grabbing a ball of green wood aura.

When the wood aura was in his hand, Zhaang Ye felt a cool, refreshing sensation spread through his entire body. Wisps of vitality flowed into him from the ball of energy, bringing an indescribable comfort.

‘This is good stuff!’ Zhaang Ye’s eyes lit up. He waved his hands repeatedly, and Tornados instantly appeared, sucking the wood aura from the forest into his Little World.

CREAK!

A strange sound suddenly came from above Zhaang Ye’s head. Slightly startled, he swept his Spiritual Sense over and discovered that the odd noise had come from a tree branch.

‘How can a tree branch make a sound?’

Just as Zhaang Ye was wondering about this, a sudden change occurred. The incredibly dense wood aura in the forest vanished completely, as if it had never been there.

CREAK! CREAK! CREAK!

While Zhaang Ye was still reeling in shock, a rapid series of creaks echoed from above. He sent out his Spiritual Sense, and his eyes suddenly widened.

It turned out the ten-thousand-zhang-tall Giant Trees in this forest had actually come to life. They were like towering giants, their branches like arms. Before Zhaang Ye’s astounded eyes, the branches of these Giant Trees reached out like arms and grabbed viciously toward him!

‘Huh? What’s going on?’

Alarmed, Zhaang Ye’s figure moved like a wisp of wind, flashing over a hundred zhang away.

CREAK! CREAK! CREAK! CREAK!

Zhaang Ye had just steadied himself when the creaking sounds appeared again. Following the noise, several branches, each a zhang thick, came crashing down toward him with a sharp whistle.

Zhaang Ye was about to dodge when a green light flashed. Several emerald-green vines shot out from the trees like nimble snakes. The vines formed a massive net, trapping Zhaang Ye securely inside.

The Fire Spirit’s warning came: “Master, be careful! These trees are strange. If you get trapped by them, it will be very difficult to escape!”

A glint flashed in Zhaang Ye’s eyes. He unleashed his Wind Realm again, his body transforming into a faint green light as he shot straight toward the massive net.

SWOOSH!

After activating the Wind Realm, Zhaang Ye’s body entered a semi-corporeal state. Though the giant net was formidable, it still couldn’t stop him, and he flew out of it in an instant.

SWOOSH! SWOOSH! SWOOSH! SWOOSH! SWOOSH!

The reaction speed of the green vines far exceeded Zhaang Ye’s expectations. He had just flown out of the net when the air before him suddenly turned emerald green. Hundreds of vines, like hundreds of snakes, shot rapidly toward him. As they moved, Zhaang Ye felt a sense of extreme danger!

“Slash!”

Zhaang Ye’s body came to an abrupt halt. Forming his palm into a blade, a golden Sword Gang tore through the air and struck the green vines squarely.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

The terrifying Sword Gang struck the vines, creating a series of strange noises and a shower of sparks. But the vines didn’t break. They trembled slightly and continued to reach for Zhaang Ye.

Zhaang Ye’s expression changed slightly.

The Sword Gang he had just unleashed was incredibly sharp; it could have easily sliced a small mountain in half. Yet these vines, only as thick as an arm, had taken his attack without breaking. They were unbelievably tough!

SWOOSH!

Zhaang Ye struck again. This time, he used fifty percent of his power. The golden Sword Gang he unleashed was so solid it looked tangible, and it was terrifying to the extreme!

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

This strike from Zhaang Ye finally had an effect. Dozens of green vines were severed by his Sword Gang. The broken vines writhed in the air like dying snakes, letting out piercing shrieks as they struggled.

SWOOSH! SWOOSH! SWOOSH! SWOOSH! SWOOSH!

Zhaang Ye’s expression remained impassive as he sent out several more slashes with his hand, severing all the surrounding vines. The severed pieces fell to the ground, bouncing and twitching like chopped-up snakes.

CREAK! CREAK! CREAK! CREAK! CREAK!

Just as Zhaang Ye finished clearing the vines, he heard strange creaking sounds again. The ten-thousand-zhang-tall Giant Trees had locked onto him once more, and their massive branches came crashing down. Each branch contained the force of a million jin, and with dozens of them smashing down at once, the momentum was simply terrifying.

‘This damned place is not somewhere I should linger. I’d better get out of here first!’ Zhaang Ye’s figure flickered, transforming into a faint green light as he flew toward the outskirts.

Zhaang Ye’s Wind Realm had already reached the Minor Achievement Realm. His flying speed and dodging speed were both astonishingly fast. After evading dozens of attacks, Zhaang Ye finally escaped the bizarre forest and flew outside.

Gazing at the forest from a distance, Zhaang Ye asked, “Fire Spirit, what’s the deal with this forest?”

The Fire Spirit chuckled. “I remember now. These trees are called Giant Trees. They’re a strange type of tree left over from Ancient Times that can attack just like Barbaric Beasts. And those green vines are called Ten Thousand Feet Snake Vines. They love the taste of flesh and blood, so they’ll attack anyone who enters.”

The Fire Spirit explained about the Giant Trees, then said excitedly, “Master, I just asked the Water Spirit. She told me that the Wood Origin is in the middle of this Giant Tree forest! Let’s set off immediately, break through this forest, and capture the Wood Origin!”

Hearing news of the Wood Origin, Zhaang Ye was instantly overjoyed. “Excellent! Finally, news about the Wood Origin! By the way, can we fly over this Giant Tree forest?”

The Fire Spirit said, “No! These trees form an extremely powerful Array. If you fly in the sky, you’ll be immediately trapped within the Array. At that point, every branch and every leaf will launch ferocious attacks. Not even a True Dao Seventh Layer expert could survive that onslaught!”

Zhaang Ye sucked in a sharp breath. After pondering for a moment, he asked, “Can we burn them with fire?”

The Fire Spirit said in horror, “Absolutely not! The thing these Giant Trees and Ten Thousand Feet Snake Vines hate most is fire. If you try to burn them, they’ll go into a frenzy and be even harder to deal with.”

Hearing the Fire Spirit’s answer, Zhaang Ye couldn’t help but shake his head slightly. Just as he was about to speak, the Fire Spirit suddenly cried out, “Huh? Something’s up! That guy, the Flower King, has actually come here!”

SWOOSH!

The Fire Spirit’s voice had barely faded when a fiery red shadow shot over from the distance. Zhaang Ye’s Spiritual Sense swept out, and he immediately recognized the approaching young man—it was the Flower King!

The Flower King’s Spiritual Sense was exceptionally powerful. With a single sweep, he locked onto Zhaang Ye and laughed heartily. “Brat, I didn’t expect to find you here! Let’s see you try to escape today!”

Zhaang Ye sneered, ignoring the Flower King completely, and headed directly into the depths of the forest.

The Flower King’s arrival meant another powerful competitor. To get his hands on the Wood Origin, Zhaang Ye had no choice but to pull out all the stops and force his way through the forest.

Seeing Zhaang Ye head deeper into the forest, the Flower King assumed he was trying to escape. He sneered and shouted, “Where do you think you’re going?!”

SWOOSH!

The Flower King transformed into a streak of red light, diving into the forest in pursuit of Zhaang Ye.

The Flower King was now merely a hundred zhang away from Zhaang Ye. For an expert like him, such a short distance was practically within arm’s reach. He only needed to flash forward once to capture Zhaang Ye.

CREAK! CREAK! CREAK!

Just as the Flower King was feeling secretly excited, strange creaking sounds erupted from the surrounding ten-thousand-zhang-tall Giant Trees. Before his astonished eyes, branches smashed down toward him, while incredibly nimble vines appeared silently at his feet.

‘Huh? What’s going on?’

The Flower King was momentarily stunned, but then he gave a savage grin. A ball of fire appeared in his hand and flew toward the branches.