Overlord of the Wilderness

RUMBLE... A vast amount of True Qi spun ceaselessly within Zhaang Ye’s body, emitting a low roar. It was like a great river, coursing endlessly inside him.

With every cycle, the True Qi condensed slightly. What was once like a gas slowly became a mist, and finally, it condensed further into a liquid. When one-third of the True Qi within his Meridians had liquefied, Zhaang Ye’s body trembled slightly as he broke through to the Martial Arts Eighth Layer Middle Stage.

He continued cultivating for an unknown amount of time until two-thirds of the True Qi in his body had liquefied. This meant Zhaang Ye had now reached the Martial Arts Eighth Layer Late Stage. The True Qi at this stage was incredibly vigorous; in battle, a single strike could unleash a great river of True Qi to engulf an opponent.

After reaching the Martial Arts Eighth Layer Late Stage, it became extremely difficult to compress his True Qi any further. Zhaang Ye cultivated for several more days to stabilize his Realm, then stood up and went outside to clear his head.

After returning to the secret chamber, Zhaang Ye’s gaze fell upon a box.

This box contained two Dragon Blood Fruits. Zhaang Ye planned to consume one to raise his Cultivation to the Martial Arts Eighth Layer Peak. Reaching the peak of the Eighth Layer required one’s entire reserves of True Qi to become liquid. The Dragon Blood Fruit was a Ninth Grade Spirit Fruit that contained Heaven and Earth Essence Qi, along with an incredibly faint trace of Spiritual Qi. If he could refine this trace of Spiritual Qi, his own True Qi would become even more condensed and pure, allowing him to reach the Martial Arts Eighth Layer Peak.

WHOOSH!

Zhaang Ye opened the box, tossed a Dragon Blood Fruit into his mouth, and began circulating his True Qi to refine it.

The Dragon Blood Fruit contained Heaven and Earth Essence and Spiritual Power. The moment it entered Zhaang Ye’s mouth, it dissolved into pure Heaven and Earth Essence and Spiritual Qi, surging directly into his Meridians. Zhaang Ye felt his Meridians instantly become engorged with the essence. His entire body swelled, looking as if it were about to explode.

Spirit Fruits contained Heaven and Earth Essence and Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi. Generally speaking, only True Dao experts could consume them directly. With his Cultivation only at the Martial Arts Eighth Layer Late Stage, Zhaang Ye was in agony from the swelling after swallowing the Spirit Fruit. Fortunately, his body and Meridians had been tempered by the Dragon Elephant Power; otherwise, he would have absolutely exploded from the influx of Heaven and Earth Essence.

Even so, a large amount of blood seeped from Zhaang Ye’s skin, making him look like a man drenched in blood—a gruesome sight.

RUMBLE—

Zhaang Ye had no time to worry about his body’s condition. He focused all his effort on circulating his True Qi, frantically refining the Heaven and Earth Essence Qi provided by the Dragon Blood Fruit.

After an unknown amount of time, all the Meridians in Zhaang Ye’s body trembled faintly. The True Qi within every last one of them had completely liquefied. As it circulated, a rumbling sound emanated from his entire body, like the sound of distant thunder.

Martial Arts Eighth Layer Peak!

Aided by the essence and the trace of Spiritual Qi from the Dragon Blood Fruit, Zhaang Ye had finally reached the Martial Arts Eighth Layer Peak, putting him just a hair’s breadth away from the Martial Arts Ninth Layer.

"Excellent! Excellent! Excellent!" Zhaang Ye couldn’t help but exclaim as he sensed the True Qi inside him. He now possessed Spiritual Power. Having reached the Martial Arts Eighth Layer Peak, he only needed a period of training to merge his essence, spirit, and qi into one, and he would naturally ascend to the Martial Arts Ninth Layer.

There was still a year until the Wei Kingdom’s Newcomer King Tournament, and Zhaang Ye was fully confident he could raise his Cultivation to the Early Stage of Martial Arts Ninth Layer in that time.

Recalling the True Qi to his Dantian, Zhaang Ye rose to his feet, his face alight with joy. The purpose of his journey had been to find Ancient Dragon Power and cultivate his Dragon Elephant Skill to the 6th Layer. Now, not only had he accomplished his goal, but his Martial Dao Cultivation had also progressed by leaps and bounds, soaring all the way to the Martial Arts Eighth Layer Peak.

This was truly a joyous occasion worth celebrating.

He glanced at the Essence Stones in the secret chamber and saw that the Top-grade Essence Qi Stones he had extorted were almost gone. Zhaang Ye shook his head slightly, thinking, ’Now that I’ve reached the Martial Arts Eighth Layer Peak, I need to consider how to improve my aptitude. Otherwise, no amount of Essence Stones will be enough for me.’

Aptitude was paramount in the Cultivation Dao. The Essence Stones and various Elixirs Zhaang Ye had extorted from the Mei and Jiang Families were enough to establish a small clan. In the hands of someone with outstanding aptitude, those resources could have pushed them all the way to the Martial Arts Ninth Layer. But Zhaang Ye’s aptitude was exceptionally poor; he had used up nearly that entire batch of Elixirs and Top-grade Essence Qi Stones just to reach the Martial Arts Eighth Layer Peak.

And that was only possible because he had also used a Top-grade Essence Qi Stone and a Dragon Blood Fruit. Otherwise, even after using up all the extorted Elixirs and the other Top-grade Essence Qi Stones, he would have never reached the Martial Arts Eighth Layer Peak. It was safe to say his aptitude had reached a point where it absolutely had to be improved. Otherwise, no amount of Elixirs and Essence Stones would ever be enough.

’The best way to improve aptitude is to find a Top-grade Marrow Cleansing Pill. However, Bone Marrow Cleansing Pills are extremely difficult to refine, and a Top-grade one is even more so. They are exceptionally rare; you can’t buy a Top-grade Marrow Cleansing Pill in all of Python City. If I want to get my hands on one, I’ll have to find another way...’ Zhaang Ye mused, his gaze falling upon a black invitation card in the chamber.

’Looks like I’ll have to take a trip to the Ping Mountain Black Market. The day after tomorrow is the night of the full moon. I need to get to Ping Mountain and take a look. Hopefully, I can find a Top-grade Marrow Cleansing Pill there.’ Having made his decision, Zhaang Ye quickly gathered his things and slipped out.

Ping Mountain was a large mountain east of the Python Marsh, separated from the Barbaric Beast Mountain Range by only the Boundary River. The entire mountain was desolate and uninhabited, with various Fierce Beasts roaming its slopes.

Zhaang Ye executed his Tornado Body Technique. In just one day, he covered a distance of over one hundred thousand li, and Ping Mountain was already in sight. It was then that he noticed numerous figures in the sky, converging on Ping Mountain from all directions. Clearly, they were all rushing to attend the Ping Mountain Black Market.

Most of the people rushing to the black market were experts of the Martial Arts Seventh and Eighth Layers, and there were even some great experts of the Martial Arts Ninth Layer. The Seventh and Eighth-Layer experts mostly traveled on the ground, while the Ninth-Layer great experts flew swiftly through the air.

WHOOSH! Just as Zhaang Ye was observing these various experts, a massive Pseudo-Flying Spirit Beast suddenly flew over his head. It had a red crown and pale green wings, resembling a crane but not quite. Its flight speed was far greater than that of a Martial Arts Ninth-Layer Expert.

Atop the back of this Red Crowned Pseudo Spirit Beast sat a luxurious cabin. This opulent structure, built from bird feathers, was iridescent and incredibly eye-catching. Inside, Zhaang Ye could vaguely discern a man with waist-length hair seated leisurely. Opposite him sat a woman in purple robes. Her figure was exquisite, and her attire and every movement were beautiful, leaving a lasting impression at first glance.

’I wonder which power they belong to? Judging by this display, they’re definitely wealthy.’ Zhaang Ye gave them a passing glance before executing his Body Technique, heading straight for the summit of Ping Mountain.

RUMBLE—

Zhaang Ye’s Tornado Body Technique was astonishingly fast, but it was also astonishingly loud. Everywhere he passed, Martial Artists of the Seventh and Eighth Layers turned to stare. Even the Ninth-Layer Experts looked at him in surprise.

Zhaang Ye’s Cultivation was at the Martial Arts Eighth Layer Peak. While an Eighth-Layer expert could hover in the air for a time, they were incapable of high-speed flight. Zhaang Ye hadn’t reached the Ninth Layer, yet he could fly rapidly thanks to his marvelous Body Technique. This astonished the assembled Ninth-Layer Experts.

Aboard the Pseudo-Flying Spirit Beast, the woman in purple heard the rumbling outside. Her brow furrowed as she complained, "That person’s Body Technique is so crude. The lovely scenery is being completely ruined by all that noise!"

Hearing his companion’s complaint, the long-haired man raised an eyebrow. "That person’s Cultivation is only at the Martial Arts Eighth Layer, but his Body Technique is quite good. The speed he’s achieving is almost on par with a Pseudo-Flying Spirit Beast. Hmm. Well, if Qing’er doesn’t want to hear him, I’ll just drive him away."

With that, the long-haired man flickered out of the feather cabin and shouted at Zhaang Ye, "Listen up, boy! Get lost and stop disturbing me! Otherwise, I, Xuli Long, will slap you straight to the ground!"

Zhaang Ye’s brow furrowed. ’Xuli? Could he be from the Wei Kingdom’s royal Xuli Family? He’s certainly arrogant enough!’ He had briefly met Xuli Qiqi and had a rather good impression of her. He never expected that this Xuli Long, also from the Xuli Family, would be so tyrannical, telling him to get lost at their first interaction.

Since he began cultivating, Zhaang Ye had witnessed many great things and had even personally slain several Martial Arts Ninth-Layer Experts. Though this Xuli Long was a Ninth-Layer Expert, Zhaang Ye was not the least bit afraid. He certainly wasn’t going to obey meekly and fly off to the side just because of a threat.

RUMBLE! Zhaang Ye sneered internally. Ignoring Xuli Long’s warning completely, he continued his booming flight, and the noise seemed to grow even louder.

"Fine, boy! You dare ignore the words of Xuli Long!" Xuli Long’s long hair flew up, and he resembled an enraged lion.

WHOOSH!

Xuli Long suddenly leaped from the Pseudo-Flying Spirit Beast, shooting straight for Zhaang Ye. While still several hundred zhang away, his palm transformed into a gigantic claw that lunged straight for him! (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian (qidian.com) and vote with recommendation and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)