Overlord of the Wilderness

In the Land of Divine Abandonment, gravity was far lower than in the Barbaric World. Flying here was much faster, and in just three days, Zhaang Ye had crossed over twenty million li. He was no longer far from Python Marsh.

After passing its Celestial Tribulation, the Fire Spirit refused to return to the Small Space. It would sometimes fly close to Zhaang Ye, and other times dart between mountain peaks and clouds, eagerly taking in this novel world. Zhaang Ye’s soul was tightly connected to it, so he had no fear of it getting lost and simply let it roam and play freely.

ROAR!

One day, as Zhaang Ye arrived outside a large city, he suddenly heard an earth-shattering roar. With a single roar, the clouds scattered and the earth trembled!

Zhaang Ye felt a pang of confusion and muttered to himself, ”Hmm? That roar... it sounds like it came from that Thousand-foot Python. Strange. We’re still over a million li from Python Marsh. What would that Thousand-foot Python be doing here?”

Puzzled, Zhaang Ye picked up his pace and flew toward the city. While still more than three thousand li away, he saw an enormous Flood Dragon in the sky, swallowing clouds and spitting mist. Its huge, dark scales stirred up massive waves, which transformed into a boundless flood that inundated the city below!

RUMBLE! RUMBLE!

Beneath the torrential flood, the city’s buildings collapsed violently, crushing countless civilians alive. Those who managed to escape were met by the surging waters the moment they reached the streets. Before they could even cry out, they were swept away, vanishing quickly into the deluge.

In an instant, the entire city became a vast ocean. The death toll was incalculable.

’Damned beast! To come out and slaughter a city so wantonly!’ Zhaang Ye recognized it at a glance—this Flood Dragon was the very same Thousand-foot Python from Python Marsh. Seeing its frenzied massacre, murderous intent surged within Zhaang Ye. Without a second thought, he shot straight toward it.

SWOOSH!

Drawing upon his Wind Realm, Zhaang Ye silently closed to within ten li of the Flood Dragon. He then slowed his pace, concealed himself within a bank of clouds, and slowly drew closer.

Zhaang Ye kept his aura tightly suppressed. The Flood Dragon, meanwhile, was too busy unleashing the flood to notice a patch of dark cloud slowly drifting near, arriving just half a li away.

RUMBLE!

Once above the Flood Dragon, the Celestial River Righteous Qi within Zhaang Ye erupted, pouring into the Punishment Whip. Infused with the Celestial River Righteous Qi, the Punishment Whip instantly transformed into a long streak of golden light, lashing toward the Flood Dragon at an unbelievable speed!

CRACK!

Zhaang Ye poured all his might into this strike; it was as fast as lightning and as heavy as a mountain. Caught completely off guard, the Flood Dragon took the blow head-on. The whip shattered the clouds and waves around it, and after the strike landed on its massive body, its scales showered down like rain as it plummeted like a stone!

ROAR!

The Flood Dragon let out an earth-shattering roar of fury. Its enormous body struggled as its giant eyes locked onto Zhaang Ye. A terrifying wave of Suppression, accompanied by an overwhelming, malevolent aura, surged toward him! Under this dreadful Suppression, the very world seemed to lose its color, and all of creation trembled!

Dragon’s Might!

The Flood Dragon was a branch of the Dragon Race, and the Dragon Power within its body was already incredibly concentrated. With this potent Dragon Power, it could project its Dragon’s Might from a distance, killing invisibly from afar!

If it had been an ordinary Half-Step True Dao Expert on the receiving end of that glare, the Dragon’s Might would have likely terrified them so much their heart would give out, causing them to plummet from the sky. But Zhaang Ye’s will was resolute, and he was quite familiar with Dragon Power. The Flood Dragon’s remotely projected Dragon’s Might couldn’t affect him in the slightest.

’It dares use Dragon’s Might on me!’ A cold sneer touched Zhaang Ye’s lips. With a mere thought, the Punishment Whip transformed into a streak of golden light and lashed out toward the Flood Dragon once more!

RUMBLE!

The Flood Dragon never imagined that Zhaang Ye could still attack under its Dragon’s Might. Caught off guard again, its massive body took another lash and was slammed brutally into the ground!

Zhaang Ye knew the Flood Dragon had vast reserves of vitality and, after millennia of Cultivation, possessed all sorts of incredible abilities. After landing the second blow, Zhaang Ye’s long whip became a blur, striking a third, fourth, and fifth time without pause!

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Zhaang Ye’s first and second lashes had already severely injured the Flood Dragon, greatly impacting its speed and combat strength. Once it hit the ground, its mobility was even more restricted. Zhaang Ye’s third, fourth, and fifth strikes all found their mark, stripping away more of its scales and leaving the beast on the verge of death!

’This Flood Dragon... what formidable defenses, what incredible Life Power! I used my full strength for five strikes, and still couldn’t kill it. The Dragon Race is truly a race blessed by the heavens. Even a lesser Flood Dragon is this mighty!’

Zhaang Ye was inwardly astonished as he studied the beast. This Flood Dragon had only recently advanced, yet it already possessed such terrifying combat power. One could only imagine how powerful the legendary True Dragons must be.

WHOOSH!

Zhaang Ye descended, intending to finish off the Flood Dragon in one fell swoop and claim its Inner Core. Intelligent beasts like this Flood Dragon were known to self-destruct when facing an opponent they could not defeat. If it self-destructed, Zhaang Ye would gain nothing. He had to kill it with swift, decisive force.

Zhaang Ye moved quickly, but he had still underestimated this Flood Dragon.

ROAR!

As it saw Zhaang Ye descend, a vicious light flashed in the Flood Dragon’s dying gaze. Its mouth snapped open with lightning speed, and an egg-sized Inner Core shot out, hurtling straight for Zhaang Ye!

A Flood Dragon’s Inner Core was the equivalent of a human cultivator’s Three Flowers—a convergence of their entire body’s power. This egg-sized Inner Core contained enough power to easily flatten a thousand-zhang mountain or obliterate a hundred-li-wide lake. It was a massive bomb!

Seeing the Flood Dragon spit out its Inner Core, Zhaang Ye’s heart tightened. He was just about to make a move to bat the core away when the Fire Spirit’s voice suddenly echoed in his mind, ”Master, I can grab that Inner Core for you! Watch this!”

As the Fire Spirit’s voice rang out, a faint green light swept past, brushing against the Flood Dragon’s Inner Core. The core, which had been hurtling forward like a thunderbolt, instantly froze in mid-air and began to spin lazily!

”Excellent!”

Zhaang Ye was overjoyed to see how cleanly the Fire Spirit had seized the Inner Core. Intelligent Barbaric Beasts like the Flood Dragon would often resort to the tactic of Jade and Stone Burn Together when facing an enemy they could not defeat, self-detonating their Inner Core. Thus, unless one’s strength far surpassed the beast’s, obtaining its Inner Core was incredibly difficult.

Zhaang Ye had originally planned to just knock the dangerous Inner Core away with his whip. He never expected the Fire Spirit to intervene and so effortlessly seize the Flood Dragon’s Inner Core, robbing the beast of its chance to self-destruct!

ROAR!

The Flood Dragon felt its connection to its Inner Core suddenly get severed. Panicked, it let out a series of frantic roars, trying to detonate the core, but the Fire Spirit was of no ordinary origin and had cultivated for an unknown number of years. No matter how hard the Flood Dragon struggled, it couldn’t regain control of its Inner Core.

Seeing the Flood Dragon’s state, Zhaang Ye waved his arm without hesitation, and the Punishment Whip lashed out fiercely. Having spat out its Inner Core, the Flood Dragon had already expended most of its power. Zhaang Ye’s whip fell, snuffing out the last of its life force. Just like that, the once-imposing Flood Dragon was dead.

Having killed the Flood Dragon, Zhaang Ye casually retrieved the Inner Core. It was perfectly round, and when he swept his Spiritual Sense over it, he perceived it as having a pliant quality, filled with immense and pure Dragon Power.

Zhaang Ye sensed that if he absorbed all the Dragon Power within this Inner Core, his Celestial River Righteous Qi would be greatly enhanced. He might even be able to form his second petal and break through to the True Dao Second Layer.

Zhaang Ye stored the Inner Core, then took out his Blade Tip and began to section the Flood Dragon’s corpse, placing the pieces into his Small Space. There were already quite a few Phoenix Trees in Zhaang Ye’s Small Space, and with the addition of the Flood Dragon’s massive corpse, it instantly became crowded.

Looking at the crowded Small Space, Zhaang Ye sighed. ”It’s a shame! If only this Small Space could be expanded. Then I could collect any treasures I come across.”

The Fire Spirit replied instantly, ”The Small Space can be expanded. Master, as long as you can get a World Stone, I can expand it. With enough World Stones, I can even turn this Small Space into a Little World! I can act as this Little World’s sun, looking after the Spirit Elixirs and Spirit Trees inside. As long as you give me enough Essence Stones, I can make them grow rapidly.”

Zhaang Ye was ecstatic. ”You can make Spirit Trees and Spirit Elixirs grow quickly? Is that really true? If it is, my future Cultivation will be so much easier!”

The Fire Spirit said proudly, ”Of course it’s true. The experts of Ancient Times could create Little Worlds, but they couldn’t create a sun within them. Because of that, the Spirit Elixirs and Spirit Trees in their Little Worlds couldn’t grow quickly. But I can! I can not only help create a Little World using a Spatial Array, but I can also become its sun, making the Little World perfect and allowing the Spirit Elixirs to grow rapidly.”

Zhaang Ye felt a surge of joy, but he quickly calmed down and gave a wry smile. ”A World Stone... That kind of thing comes from beyond the heavens; it’s practically impossible to find. I was already incredibly lucky to get this one fragment. Finding another one would be nigh impossible. Unless I just happen to run into a collapsing Little World...”

As he said this, a thought suddenly struck Zhaang Ye. He remembered the Little World deep within Python Marsh. After it collapsed, its World Stone had vanished without a trace. No one knew where it had gone.

Zhaang Ye’s eyes lit up as he murmured, ”The World Stone... That World Stone is very likely lost somewhere deep within Python Marsh. I have to go there and search for it, no matter what!” (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote with Recommendation Tickets and monthly passes. Your support is my greatest motivation.)