Overlord of the Wilderness

SHING! Huaa Baida’s saber left its sheath. His saber was long and thin, with a peculiar curve to its body. The blade’s edge had a faint blue glint, a clear sign of its extreme sharpness.

Huaa Baida gently caressed the sharp blade in his hand and said lightly, ”Ever since I began my cultivation of the Saber Technique, I have never met a peer who could withstand a hundred of my moves. That is why I changed my name to Huaa Baida. Zhaang Ye, I hope you can take more than a few of my strikes. You may go first.”

Zhaang Ye raised an eyebrow and said, ”Then I won’t hold back!”

As soon as the words left his mouth, the Thick-Backed Saber in his hand transformed into a brilliant flash of light, slashing toward Huaa Baida without warning.

Fame is never unearned. Huaa Baida was renowned for his saber, and his own cultivation had reached the Peak of Martial Arts Third Layer, far surpassing Zhaang Ye. To hold back against such an opponent would be suicide.

Therefore, Zhaang Ye’s opening move was his specialty, the Reverse Flow Slash. He intended to put Huaa Baida on the defensive from the very first strike and seize control of the battle’s rhythm.

Seeing that brilliant flash of saber light, Zhu Nulang and Pan Shi both cried out inwardly, ’It’s that move again!’

Their eyes widened as they watched to see how Huaa Baida would handle Zhaang Ye’s overbearing saber technique.

”Hm?” Huaa Baida hadn’t expected Zhaang Ye to unleash such an overbearing saber technique. With no time for surprise, he flicked his wrist and his long saber struck out in three precise points. TING! TING! TING!

Huaa Baida’s three strikes were incredibly fast, too fast for the naked eye to follow. The three taps landed on Zhaang Ye’s Thick-Backed Saber. Each tap nullified a third of the force, and after all three, he had completely broken Zhaang Ye’s Reverse Flow Slash.

”Nice!” Zhaang Ye, Zhu Nulang, and Pan Shi all exclaimed at the same time. Though Huaa Baida was extremely arrogant, his Saber Technique was undeniably impressive.

SWISH!

Huaa Baida had broken Zhaang Ye’s saber move and was just about to launch a counterattack when Zhaang Ye’s second strike arrived!

It was the Reverse Flow Slash again—just as fast and just as overbearing!

Zhaang Ye had long since cultivated Reverse Flow Slash to the Great Success Realm. His execution was flawless and natural, leaving no openings. Huaa Baida couldn’t dodge such a fast and overbearing technique. If he did, Zhaang Ye’s next strike would be even faster and harder to block.

But he couldn’t block it head-on, either. His strength was greater than Zhaang Ye’s, but his weapon was a light, thin saber, while Zhaang Ye wielded a Thick-Backed Saber made for powerful cleaving strikes. If he tried to block Zhaang Ye’s technique directly, his own saber might be damaged.

For a saber expert at the Peak of Martial Arts Third Layer to be unable to even protect his own blade against a practitioner who was only at the Martial Arts Third Layer Middle Stage—that would be a massive loss of face!

Left with no choice, Huaa Baida could only repeat his previous trick, once again tapping out three times to neutralize Zhaang Ye’s technique. This time, Huaa Baida deliberately infused more True Power into his strikes. However, Zhaang Ye had also gathered more True Power for his own attack. Although Huaa Baida’s three taps sent a numbing shock up Zhaang Ye’s arm, Zhaang Ye’s Dragon Elephant Skill was nearly at the 3rd Layer, making his body far tougher than an ordinary person’s. He circulated his True Qi, and his arm instantly recovered. The initiative remained firmly in his hands.

Unwilling to relinquish his advantage, Zhaang Ye swung his Thick-Backed Saber like lightning. Amidst a flurry of SWISH-SWISH-SWISH-SWISH-SWISH sounds, he unleashed more than ten consecutive slashes in a single breath.

Each of Zhaang Ye’s ten slashes came from a different angle and at a different speed, but every single one was just as fast and overbearing, always striking at Huaa Baida’s weakest point. Despite his own level of cultivation and Saber Technique, Huaa Baida was completely suppressed by Zhaang Ye, unable to even mount a counterattack!

It was humiliating. Utterly, completely humiliating!

A dignified expert, one of the top seven of the Outer Sect, was being suppressed by some kid at the Martial Arts Third Layer Middle Stage, unable to even fight back!

’What’s even more frustrating is that this kid is also a saber user!’

’And what’s even *more* frustrating is that he’s just using the same, single technique over and over again!’

A furious fire ignited in Huaa Baida’s heart. His perpetually cold and expressionless face turned beet red, all the way to the tips of his ears.

”This...”

Zhu Nulang and Pan Shi were dumbfounded. They knew Zhaang Ye was formidable, but they never imagined he could use his saber to so thoroughly suppress Huaa Baida!

Who was Huaa Baida? He was a powerhouse who, even back at the Late-stage Martial Arts Third Layer, had found few worthy opponents in the Outer Sect, all thanks to his long saber. Now that he had advanced to the Peak of Martial Arts Third Layer, his strength had risen to another level. Even Zhu Nulang wasn’t confident he could defeat him. And yet, this formidable expert was being so thoroughly suppressed by Zhaang Ye that he couldn’t even counterattack!

Pan Shi drew a sharp breath. ”Zhaang Ye’s saber technique is constantly improving. It looks like he’s already cultivated it to the Great Success Realm. Someone at the same cultivation level would have no hope of breaking it. Many people practice Mid-Level Combat Skills, but as I recall, only Zhaang Yujing and Zhaang Tianming have managed to reach the Great Success Realm. Now, we have to add Zhaang Ye to that list.”

Zhu Nulang, his face a mask of astonishment, slowly nodded.

Mid-Level Combat Skills were nothing like Basic Combat Skills. They were far more complex, which made cultivating one to the Great Success Realm extremely difficult. Zhu Nulang himself, for example, had practiced his Anger Wave Palm for over a decade and still hadn’t reached the Great Success Realm. Pan Shi’s Defense Technique, Jin Yuzhu, was also a Mid-Level Technique, and after so many years of cultivation, he was still a long way from achieving Great Success.

That Zhaang Ye, who was only at the Martial Arts Third Layer Middle Stage, could actually cultivate a Mid-Level Technique to Great Success was simply unbelievable.

”Wait a minute!” Zhu Nulang said suddenly, a puzzled look on his face. ”Zhaang Ye’s cultivation is only at the Martial Arts Third Layer Middle Stage, far below Huaa Baida’s. Their sabers have clashed so many times—how is he still holding on?”

Having fought Zhaang Ye before, Pan Shi understood him better. He said, ”Well, one reason might be that Zhaang Ye’s True Qi is exceptionally condensed, allowing him to nullify a portion of the impact from Huaa Baida’s True Qi. Another reason is that Zhaang Ye has likely practiced one of the Body Refining Techniques; his body is far more resilient than an average person’s. So even though Huaa Baida’s cultivation is much higher, he still can’t overpower Zhaang Ye.”

Zhu Nulang then noticed the faint golden glow on Zhaang Ye’s palms. ”It seems you’re right,” he said. ”I never would have guessed. Zhaang Ye’s cultivation, Saber Technique, and Body Technique already far surpass his peers, and on top of that, he’s even trained in Body Refining Techniques. His performance isn’t at all what you’d expect from someone with Eighth-Grade Talent. He’s more like a legendary genius.”

Pan Shi nodded slightly. After watching for a moment longer, he suddenly added, ”Zhaang Ye’s cultivation is lower than Huaa Baida’s, after all. And while his saber technique is overbearing, it must also consume a great deal of True Qi. He’s already unleashed nearly thirty strikes. If he doesn’t change his tactics, he won’t be able to keep it up for much longer.”

Just as Pan Shi predicted, after unleashing nearly thirty strikes in a single burst, Zhaang Ye had already consumed over thirty percent of his True Qi. And although he currently had Huaa Baida on the defensive, Huaa Baida was a saber expert in his own right, with far superior cultivation. Even with his Great Success Realm Reverse Flow Slash, Zhaang Ye could suppress Huaa Baida, but he couldn’t defeat him quickly.

If he alternated between using Gentle Wind Slash and Reverse Flow Slash, his attacks would be even sharper, and he might be able to defeat Huaa Baida. But that would mean revealing his trump card.

Zhaang Ye was reluctant to reveal his trump card just for Huaa Baida.

Just as Zhaang Ye was considering how to conclude the fight, a bloodcurdling scream suddenly echoed from the distant forest. It was followed by a series of loud bangs. Amidst the chaos, a brightly-colored figure shot into the sky, rushing toward them at incredible speed.

Zhu Nulang and Pan Shi looked into the distance and saw clouds of dust rising from the forest. The roars of beasts echoed one after another, and the ground began to tremble. Just as they were processing this in shock, the figure cried out, ”Run! A beast riot has broken out!”

”What? A beast riot?!” Zhu Nulang and Pan Shi’s faces instantly paled. Zhaang Ye and Huaa Baida immediately stopped fighting, and all four of them wore grim expressions.

(A special thanks to ’Meng Meng Beast’ for the reward! Thank you all for the Recommendation Tickets, and please keep them coming!)