Chapter 541 515: Enormous Gains

Zhaang Ye flew nonstop for two million miles until exhaustion finally forced him to slow down. He glanced around and saw that he had entered the Green Cloud Sect's sphere of influence. Breathing a sigh of relief, he flopped down onto a thick, white cloud, letting it carry him as it drifted along.

After catching his breath, Zhaang Ye began to inspect his injuries. Only then did he discover that dozens of his bones and Meridians were broken. If not for his formidable physique, he would have lost the ability to fly altogether.

A portion of Zhaang Ye's injuries had been caused by Ximen Lieyan, but the vast majority were from Wan Dapeng. To kill Wan Dapeng quickly, Zhaang Ye had relied on his Treasure Armor to take a punch head-on. Wan Dapeng's fist was astonishingly powerful. Even with Zhaang Ye's formidable physique, he was nearly beaten to a pulp, his bones shattered and his Meridians torn apart.

After examining his injuries, Zhaang Ye took stock of his spoils.

Within a single day, Zhaang Ye had killed four great experts—Water Monster, Ximen Lie Fire, Ximen Lieyan, and Wan Dapeng—plus more than thirty ordinary True Dao Experts. After killing this group, Zhaang Ye had seized over forty Spatial Storage Pouches. They hung in a full circle around his waist, creating a spectacular sight.

Zhaang Ye took down the Spatial Storage Pouches one by one, erased the Spiritual Brands on them, and moved all their contents into the Fire Spirit Realm.

The largest of these Spatial Storage Pouches was thirty-five zhang across, and even the smallest was over two zhang. Wan Dapeng's was the biggest, with a space of thirty-five zhang in diameter. The pouches belonging to Water Monster, Ximen Lie Fire, and Ximen Lieyan were not small either, each measuring over thirty zhang and stuffed full of items.

Zhaang Ye emptied all the contents of the Spatial Storage Pouches, and a small mountain of items immediately piled up in the Fire Spirit Realm. The Fire Spirit's eyes lit up as it gazed at the small mountain. It ran up and down the pile, quickly taking inventory of the haul.

"Nine hundred twelve Top-grade Essence Stones, three thousand five hundred sixty-five Mid-grade Essence Stones, and nineteen million, six hundred fifty-seven thousand, two hundred Low-grade Essence Stones."

"Thirty-seven bottles of Top-grade Yuan Gathering Pills, two hundred seventeen bottles of Mid-grade Yuan Gathering Pills, and one thousand seven hundred twenty-five bottles of low-grade Yuan Gathering Pills. Two thousand one hundred sixty bottles of other Elixirs."

"A large batch of Barbaric Beast Materials, estimated to be worth over seven million Low-grade Essence Stones. Fifty-seven types of various ores, value unknown. Fifteen stalks of Thousand-Year Spirit Elixirs, one hundred ninety-five stalks of Ordinary Spirit Elixirs. The quantity of Ordinary Medicinal Herbs is unknown, estimated at over thirty thousand stalks."

"Thirty-one True Dao Secret Manuals. Fifty-one True Artifacts, including three Sixth-Grade True Artifacts, ten Seventh-Grade True Artifacts, fifteen Eighth-Grade True Artifacts, and twenty-eight Ninth-Grade True Artifacts."

...

After the inventory was complete, Zhaang Ye trembled with excitement, his eyes shining. He murmured, "Excellent, excellent! This haul is just too bountiful, far too bountiful!"

Zhaang Ye estimated that these spoils would be enough to support his cultivation all the way to the True Dao Fifth Layer. With this stash, Zhaang Ye wouldn't have to worry about Essence Stones or Elixirs for the next two or three years.

Now that he had tallied his spoils, it was time to heal.

Zhaang Ye wasn't too worried about his injuries. His body was tough, and he rarely got hurt in battle. Even when he did, he could recover quickly. After comprehending the Water Realm, Zhaang Ye's healing speed had become even faster. As long as he was still breathing, he could make a swift recovery.

Seeing Zhaang Ye begin to heal, the Fire Spirit spoke up to remind him, "Master, among your spoils are many Healing Elixirs and Spirit Elixirs. If you use them to heal, your recovery will be even faster!"

Zhaang Ye nodded, and with a flip of his hand, he produced three bottles of elixirs. These three bottles all contained Mid-grade True Pills. One was called "Spirit Blood Pill," which could rapidly replenish blood and accelerate healing. Another was the "Continuing Tendon Spirit Pill," which could quickly repair Meridians and sinews. The last bottle contained "Muscle Regeneration Pill," which could rapidly heal muscle trauma.

Zhaang Ye took one pill of each type, tossed the three pills into his mouth, and began circulating his Cultivation Technique to heal.

Zhaang Ye's recovery rate was already extremely fast. With the help of the elixirs, it became even faster. In just five short days, Zhaang Ye had already healed seventy percent of his physical injuries.

The remaining thirty percent consisted of damage to his Meridians and other fragile areas, which would take more time to recover. By now, the deadline for turning in his mission was fast approaching. Zhaang Ye didn't have time to recover slowly. He temporarily stopped his healing, planning to rush back to the Sect first, turn in the mission, and deal with the rest later.

Two days later, Zhaang Ye returned to the Sect.

Just as Zhaang Ye appeared in the Inner Sect, he suddenly heard someone exclaim in a low voice, "Huh, isn't that Zhaang Ye? Hahahaha, Zhaang Ye is finally back!"

This quiet exclamation immediately drew the attention of numerous Inner Sect Disciples. Dozens of them turned to look, sizing Zhaang Ye up with expressions of pity.

"Hahaha, Zhaang Ye's finally back. Now we've got a good show to watch!"

"Yeah, yeah! Senior Brother Galaxy is waiting for him! Heh heh, Zhaang Ye injured Lan Heying and took over Rising Sun Peak. Galaxy will never let him off the hook."

"I heard Senior Brother Galaxy's cultivation has already reached the Early Stage of the True Dao Fourth Layer! Senior Brother Galaxy comprehended the Golden Realm long ago. With his cultivation, even an expert at the Early Stage of the True Dao Fifth Layer wouldn't be his match. Although Zhaang Ye has also comprehended the Wind Realm, his cultivation is far inferior to Senior Brother Galaxy's. Zhaang Ye is screwed this time!"

"Heh! That's right. The power gap between them is just too wide. Zhaang Ye might be a genius, but even geniuses need time to grow. After offending Senior Brother Galaxy, his life is bound to be miserable."

"Heh heh, the way I see it, Zhaang Ye is no match for Senior Brother Galaxy at all. They're not even in the same league. Did you know? Senior Brother Galaxy came back to the Sect this time to participate in the Young Master Evaluation Assembly. He's planning to break into the top ten of the Second-Grade Young Master List in one go!"

"The top ten of the Second-Grade Young Master List! Senior Brother Galaxy is too ambitious. His combat strength is formidable, but breaking into the top ten is probably impossible. Still, with his power, he can definitely crush Zhaang Ye with ease."

...

Seeing Zhaang Ye's figure, these Inner Sect Disciples all had excited looks on their faces and began to gossip amongst themselves. The Inner Sect Disciples who had been defeated by Zhaang Ye before, like Badam, Jian Zhongxing, and Xue Piaohong, all stared at him with undisguised schadenfreude. They wished nothing more than for Zhaang Ye to be defeated by Galaxy in a single move, which would vent the bitter resentment in their hearts.

Hearing the unbridled gossip of these Inner Sect Disciples, Zhaang Ye's gaze turned cold as he swept it across the crowd. Faced with his tangible, murderous glare, the dozens of Inner Sect Disciples felt their breath catch in their throats, and one by one, they fell silent.

Zhaang Ye glanced at the crowd, then leaped into the air and flew straight toward the Steward Hall.

Only when Zhaang Ye had flown far away did the crowd let out a collective sigh of relief. One Inner Sect Disciple muttered, "Strange, so strange! Zhaang Ye's cultivation is only at the True Dao Third Layer. How can his aura be so terrifying?"

"Yeah, you're right! That one glance from him just now was like a sharp blade stabbing straight into my soul. That kind of gaze is just too frightening."

"Could Zhaang Ye's cultivation have broken through again? That should be impossible. It was already a miracle for him to break through to the True Dao Third Layer in just a few short years. If he broke through again, he'd be something other than human."

"Hmph, so what if he did break through? Galaxy's combat strength is on a whole other level. No matter how strong Zhaang Ye gets, he can't beat Galaxy. Let's just wait for the show."

While the crowd was busy gossiping, Zhaang Ye arrived at the Inner Sect Steward Hall. Seeing him appear, the few Stewards in the hall revealed looks of astonishment.

The Steward in charge of registration sized Zhaang Ye up and said with a chuckle, "Zhaang Ye, the Sect received news that you were being hunted by an extremely powerful expert while on your mission. You were gone for a whole month. We thought you'd met with misfortune."

Another Steward laughed and said, "Yes, yes. Zhaang Ye, tell us, how did you escape from that expert's pursuit?"

Zhaang Ye smiled and said, "There's not much to tell. I don't have many skills, but my ability to flee is first-class. When I saw that expert, I immediately fled at full speed and managed to escape with my life."

The Stewards all laughed. They knew that escaping the pursuit of a True Dao Fifth Layer expert was no simple matter, so they didn't quite believe Zhaang Ye's answer. However, Zhaang Ye was an Inner Sect Disciple, and the Inner Sect Senior Brother at that. Since he was unwilling to elaborate, the Stewards felt it would be inappropriate to press him.

As Zhaang Ye was turning in his mission, a ghostly figure appeared in a corner of the Steward Hall. This person who had appeared like a phantom was precisely the Second Steward of the Steward Hall.

The Second Steward glanced at Zhaang Ye, his expression changing slightly as he was filled with shock and suspicion. 'The Tornado Thieves were secretly founded by the True Dao Fifth Layer expert, Ximen Lie Fire. After this kid wiped out the Tornado Thieves, he actually managed to escape from Ximen Lie Fire. It's truly unbelievable.'

The Second Steward had an extraordinary status and wielded great power. Besides this, he had another identity: he was a disciple of the Green Cloud Sect's Third Elder.

For this Sect assessment mission, he had followed his master's orders and rigged the drawing to assign an extremely dangerous task to Zhaang Ye. The Second Steward had thought that Zhaang Ye was a dead man under Ximen Lie Fire's pursuit. He never expected that after a month, Zhaang Ye would return to the Sect completely unscathed.

Watching Zhaang Ye turn in the mission, a sinister look flashed in the Second Steward's eyes. Then, he vanished from the Steward Hall like a phantom.

After Zhaang Ye finished turning in his mission, he flew off toward Rising Sun Peak. One of the Stewards sighed and said, "That Zhaang Ye is truly a genius, but against Galaxy, he is destined to suffer a defeat."

Another Steward chuckled and said, "He's a young man. A little setback is a good thing. I just hope Galaxy shows some mercy and doesn't make his defeat too crushing."

-(To be continued. If you enjoy this novel, please come to Qidian.com and vote with Recommendation Tickets and monthly passes. Your support is my greatest motivation.)