Overlord of the Wilderness

Zhaang Tianlong’s gaze first fell on Zhaang Yizhi. He said, ”Zhaang Yizhi, your Body Technique has already reached the Great Success Realm, and your cultivation of the Long Sky Finger Technique is also approaching the Great Success Realm. You could pierce gold and shatter stone with ease. Overall, you are quite powerful. Even compared to the True Disciples, you wouldn’t be much inferior.

”However, your Long Sky Finger Technique is a rather unique Mid-Level Combat Skill with an exceptionally domineering Finger Power. To cultivate this Finger Technique to Great Success, you must expand and reshape your Meridians. This process lasts for a full nine days and is agonizingly painful. Those with a weak will would find it impossible to endure. Your Finger Technique is about to reach Great Success. Are you prepared for the pain that is to come?”

A look of determination appeared on Zhaang Yizhi’s face as he nodded slightly. ”It shouldn’t be a problem.”

Seeing Zhaang Yizhi’s confidence, Zhaang Tianlong didn’t press the issue, instead beginning his critique of Zhaang Yizhi’s earlier performance. ”To be able to withstand three of my strikes is quite good. However, you still made several mistakes. First, your Finger Technique and Body Technique were poorly coordinated. You were unable to properly read and counter my force, so you could only clash head-on with me time and again. Second, my aura affected you to some degree, causing your True Qi circulation to become sluggish. You need to learn how to handle an expert’s aura. Third, on the final strike, you formed your five fingers into five swords to clash with me directly. That was an unwise move...”

Zhaang Tianlong was truly worthy of his title as a great master of the Martial Arts Eighth Layer. His insight was incredibly sharp, and his experience far surpassed that of the others. After just a few simple exchanges, he had seen right through Zhaang Yizhi. He pointed out a whole host of mistakes, even for someone as formidable as Zhaang Yizhi, leaving him sweating with shame.

After critiquing Zhaang Yizhi, Zhaang Tianlong moved on to evaluate the other Inner Sect experts one by one. Zhaang Tianlong’s critiques were direct and hit the nail on the head every time, allowing even an observer like Zhaang Ye to benefit greatly. The solutions Zhaang Tianlong proposed were particularly brilliant, opening Zhaang Ye’s eyes and leaving him greatly inspired.

After finishing his critique of Zhaang Quyuan, Zhaang Tianlong’s gaze fell upon Zhaang Ye. ”Your Cultivation is only at the Martial Arts Fourth Layer Early Stage, but your response just now was better than all of theirs. I can’t find any mistakes in what you did...”

The moment Zhaang Tianlong spoke, the disciples all let out a low gasp of amazement. After all, even the most powerful among them, Zhaang Yizhi, had had a mountain of mistakes pointed out by Zhaang Tianlong, to say nothing of the others. They never expected that Zhaang Ye, the youngest and with the lowest Cultivation, would actually receive Zhaang Tianlong’s praise. It was truly a surprise.

Zhaang Tianlong ignored the disciples’ murmurs, his gaze fixed on Zhaang Ye. ”You are only fourteen, yet you have already cultivated to the Martial Arts Fourth Layer. If I’m not mistaken, your Cultivation level was likely boosted by elixirs. Zhaang Ye, you may not realize this, but relying too much on elixirs is not beneficial for your cultivation.”

Zhaang Ye said respectfully, ”I ask for the Elder’s guidance.”

Zhaang Tianlong nodded slightly. ”We all know that elixirs contain dense Heaven and Earth Essence Qi. After consuming one, you just need to refine this Essence Qi to rapidly increase the True Qi in your body. But Zhaang Ye, what you might not know is that all elixirs contain impurities. High-Level elixirs simply have fewer impurities, while Mid- and Low-Level elixirs have more.

”The amount of impurities in an elixir might be minuscule, but if you take too many, they will slowly accumulate in your body. Once they reach a certain point, you will no longer be able to break through in your Cultivation. Zhaang Ye, you probably can’t feel this effect yet, but as the impurities increase, you will begin to notice more and more how they hinder your cultivation.”

’Since the Fifth Elder brought this up, he must also have a solution,’ Zhaang Ye thought. He maintained a calm expression and asked, ”Fifth Elder, how can I remove the impurities left behind by the elixirs?”

Seeing Zhaang Ye’s calm demeanor, Zhaang Tianlong nodded slightly. ”There are several ways to purge the impurities from your body. The fastest way is to have a master at the Martial Arts Ninth Layer use their Cultivation Technique to dissolve them for you. The second method is to consume certain Celestial and Earthly Treasures that can expel impurities. Apart from those, there is one more method, which is to cultivate the Qi Refining Technique. As long as you can cultivate the Qi Refining Technique to the Great Success Realm of the 7th Layer, you will be able to dissolve the impurities in your body. Zhaang Ye, you’ve heard of the Qi Refining Technique, haven’t you?”

Zhaang Ye nodded slightly. ”I’ve heard the Qi Refining Technique is an auxiliary Cultivation Method. Cultivating it serves to purify one’s True Qi. A Martial Artist who cultivates it can refine their True Qi, gradually transforming it from an impure state to a pure one, bringing its nature closer to that of Innate True Qi and increasing their chances of entering the True Dao.”

Zhaang Tianlong nodded. ”Since you know of the Qi Refining Technique, then you must also be aware of its drawbacks.”

”I do. Cultivating the Qi Refining Technique is excruciatingly painful. Not only that, but it requires the cultivator to maintain absolute mental clarity while enduring the agony, or the cultivation will be ineffective,” Zhaang Ye said slowly. ”However, as long as it is useful to me, I can bear even greater pain. I will cultivate the Qi Refining Technique from now on. Thank you for your guidance, Elder.”

”Er.” The Fifth Elder was slightly taken aback. After learning that Zhaang Ye had likely obtained an ancient inheritance, the Fifth Elder had begun to hold him in high regard. He had originally intended to use some of the clan’s Celestial and Earthly Treasures to help Zhaang Ye dissolve his impurities and to focus all their resources on cultivating him. He never thought Zhaang Ye would make up his mind so quickly.

The Fifth Elder paused to reflect for a moment, then said, ”Zhaang Ye, you only know that cultivating this technique is painful. But do you have any idea just how painful it is?”

Zhaang Ye shook his head slightly.

The Fifth Elder’s expression turned grave. ”Since you don’t know, I will tell you. Countless people in Cyan Mulberry City have attempted to cultivate the Qi Refining Technique, but only a mere twenty or so have ever reached the Great Success of the 7th Layer. As for those who have failed, their numbers are in the thousands. Nearly every year, hundreds of people are literally driven insane by the pain of cultivating this technique. In other words, not even one in ten thousand cultivators may be able to cultivate the Qi Refining Technique to Great Success.”

Having said all this, the Fifth Elder gazed at Zhaang Ye and asked, ”Now, do you still intend to cultivate it?”

Zhaang Ye nodded without the slightest hesitation. ”Of course.”

After saying this, Zhaang Ye gave a wry smile. ”My innate talent is poor. I can only raise my Cultivation quickly by continuously consuming elixirs. Cultivating this Qi Refining Technique will allow me to purge the impurities from my body. Nothing could be better. For the sake of the Martial Dao, I must do it, no matter how painful it is.”

The Fifth Elder studied Zhaang Ye for a long moment before saying slowly, ”Since you have made your decision, I will say no more. When we exchanged blows earlier, I discovered that my aura had no effect on you whatsoever. This is proof enough that you possess an extremely resolute will. With willpower like that, you should be able to cultivate the Qi Refining Technique to the Great Success Realm.”

After finishing his conversation with Zhaang Ye, the Fifth Elder stood up. ”Alright, that concludes today’s evaluation. Now, let’s discuss the next stage of your cultivation.”

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