Overlord of the Wilderness

”Brother, you have to help me get my revenge!” In a rather luxurious courtyard, Wu Guanghai sat on the ground in a pathetic state, recounting his ordeal to a young man of about eighteen or nineteen.

This young man was none other than Wu Guanghai’s older brother—Wu Guangyue. Wu Guangyue was tall, with deep-set eyes, an aquiline nose, thin lips, and thick eyebrows. Just by sitting there quietly, he exuded an immense pressure.

When Wu Guanghai finished speaking, Wu Guangyue finally spoke up. ”Zhaang Ye, is it? I’ll deal with him. However, I’m currently trying to break through to the Peak of the Martial Arts Third Layer, so I can’t be distracted. Once I’ve successfully broken through, I’ll naturally help you get justice.”

”The Peak of the Martial Arts Third Layer!” Wu Guanghai was overjoyed to hear this. If his brother successfully broke through, it meant he could reach the Martial Arts Fourth Layer at any moment and become an Inner Sect Disciple. ’With a brother in the Inner Sect, won’t I be able to do whatever I want in the Outer Sect?’

Wu Guanghai scrambled to his feet. ”Brother, how confident are you?”

Wu Guangyue didn’t answer. He just waved his hand and said, ”You don’t need to know. I’ll be in seclusion for a while, so you’d better be careful. Don’t go provoking that guy again. Otherwise, you’ll be the one to suffer.”

A flash of resentment crossed Wu Guanghai’s eyes, but the thought of Zhaang Ye’s power made him shudder, and he quickly nodded. After losing to him twice, he knew that even though Zhaang Ye’s Cultivation was only at the Martial Arts Third Layer Middle Stage, his actual combat strength was far greater. Looking for trouble with Zhaang Ye again would just be asking for it.

”However, we can’t just let that Zhaang Ye relax during this time,” Wu Guangyue said, a slight smile on his face. ”I want you to spread a rumor. Say that Zhaang Ye, a newly admitted Outer Disciple, possesses the combat strength of a Late-stage Martial Arts Third Layer expert and is challenging all the other Outer Disciples. That should get plenty of people interested in him.”

Hearing his brother’s words, Wu Guanghai’s eyes lit up. ”Brilliant! That way, Zhaang Ye will be bogged down with challenges every day. He probably won’t even have time for Cultivation. If this blows up and attracts the attention of some of the real experts, he’ll be finished...”

The more he spoke, the more excited Wu Guanghai became. He jumped to his feet, unable to wait to go and make the arrangements.

Not long after Zhaang Qing and Zhaang Que left, the Zhaang Family’s fourth young miss, Zhaang Yumei, arrived at his door.

Zhaang Yumei was as beautiful as ever, but Zhaang Ye didn’t dare spare her more than a glance. Behind her, Granny Mei was staring coldly at him, as if he owed her a massive debt.

”Huh?” Granny Mei’s gaze suddenly sharpened. Staring at Zhaang Ye, she said, ”Impossible! This is impossible! How could you have advanced to the Martial Arts Third Layer Middle Stage in just over ten days?”

Sensing the aura coming from Zhaang Ye, Granny Mei couldn’t believe her own eyes. Just over ten days ago, she had declared that Zhaang Ye would likely never be able to make any more progress on the Martial Dao in his entire life. But she never would have imagined that after a little more than a week, he had actually advanced again, becoming a Martial Artist at the Martial Arts Third Layer Middle Stage!

This was a complete slap in the face!

Zhaang Ye’s Cultivation was now higher than Zhaang Yumei’s, so she couldn’t perceive his level. Hearing Granny Mei’s words, she was startled. ”Granny Mei, you’re not mistaken, are you? Did Zhaang Ye really advance to the Martial Arts Third Layer Middle Stage?”

Granny Mei snorted. ”Whether it’s true or not, we’ll know once I test him!”

As she spoke, she slowly raised her palm.

Zhaang Yumei cried out in alarm, ”Granny Mei, what are you doing?”

Granny Mei chuckled. ”Fourth Young Miss, I just want to test this boy’s strength. Don’t worry, I’ll hold back. I won’t kill him.”

With that, she swung her raised palm, which cut through the air with a sharp WHAP.

As her palm struck, Zhaang Ye felt the air around him tremble. In the next instant, a large, formless, and intangible mass of air shot out from the old woman’s palm and came hurtling toward him!

This ability to use air as a weapon was a skill exclusive to masters of the Martial Arts Fifth Layer. Those at the Martial Arts Fifth Layer could use their True Qi to compress the formless air into a tangible mass to strike their enemies—an incredibly powerful technique.

With this strike, Granny Mei had used her own powerful True Qi to compress the air into a sphere, which she then hurled at Zhaang Ye. Though the sphere was formless and intangible, it was infused with the True Qi of a Martial Arts Fifth Layer master. Getting hit by it would be no different from being smashed by a huge boulder.

Zhaang Ye couldn’t see the invisible sphere, but an inexplicable sense of danger welled up inside him. With no time to think, the Thick-Backed Saber on his back appeared in his hand with a WHOOSH. With a flick of his powerful wrist, he slashed out at the empty air.

This was his very own Saber Technique, the Reverse Flow Slash.

CRACKLE! CRACKLE! CRACKLE! The sound of the clashing Powerful Qi was like beans popping in a hot pan. Zhaang Ye felt as if the invisible sphere hurtling toward him was a giant Mammoth, charging with brute, unstoppable force. As his Thick-Backed Saber bit into the sphere, every inch of progress was an immense struggle, ten times more strenuous than practicing his saber under the waterfall!

BOOM!

Gritting his teeth, Zhaang Ye sent a jolt through his arm and instantly shattered the formless sphere. The ball of air erupted into a wild gale, sending nearby debris flying into the air. Even stones as large as buckets were blown far away by the blast.

’So this is the power of a Martial Arts Fifth Layer master? Incredible!’ Zhaang Ye’s arm was numb, and he was secretly stunned. ’It’s a good thing my Reverse Flow Slash excels at breaking through tough defenses. Otherwise, I never would’ve been able to take that old woman’s strike!’

Zhaang Ye was shocked, but he had no idea that Granny Mei was even more astounded. Her strike had seemed casual, but in reality, she had used twenty percent of her True Qi. Having cultivated for decades, an aerial strike with twenty percent of her True Qi was no small matter. An ordinary person at the Late-stage of the Martial Arts Third Layer would have been left vomiting blood and seriously injured after taking that blow.

She had struck with twenty percent of her True Qi for two reasons: one was to test Zhaang Ye’s true strength, and the other was to teach him a lesson, to make him suffer a setback so he wouldn’t dare see the Fourth Young Miss again.

But she had never imagined that Zhaang Ye’s strength would be so astonishing. A strike containing twenty percent of her power had been cleaved in two by a single, domineering slash from his saber!

’The strength this boy’s showing is far beyond the Martial Arts Third Layer Middle Stage, even stronger than a Late-stage Martial Arts Third Layer Martial Artist. How can someone who was at the Early Stage of Martial Arts Third Layer just ten days ago possess such formidable combat power? There’s something strange about this boy!’ As the thought crossed her mind, Granny Mei raised her palm again, intending to test Zhaang Ye’s true limits. But just then, she saw his expression change slightly as a trickle of blood flowed from the corner of his mouth.

’So the boy was injured after all. I knew it. How could someone at the Martial Arts Third Layer possibly withstand a strike powered by twenty percent of my True Qi!’ Granny Mei felt a wave of relief, and she slowly lowered her raised hand.