Overlord of the Wilderness

A look of satisfaction appeared on Zhaang Ye’s face after he cut down the last young man from the Exotic Realm.

In the previous battle, if Zhaang Ye had used the Cloud-Breaking Slash, killing the three young men from the Exotic Realm would have been a simple matter. However, using the Cloud-Breaking Slash would have consumed a large amount of his Celestial River Righteous Qi. Killing them cleverly with just his Body Technique and the Mountain-Breaking Slash was the most ideal outcome.

The Fire Spirit flew out just then and praised him, ”Master, your combat power is growing stronger and stronger.”

Zhaang Ye smiled, casually collecting the Storage Bags from the young men and placing them in the Fire Spirit Realm. He then walked over to the small pool and examined it. The pool was about three feet in diameter.

The Fire Spirit flew to the edge of the pool and said excitedly, ”Among the Five Elements, Metal begets Water. This small pool is Innate Heavy Water, condensed from the essence of metal.

Every drop of Innate Heavy Water weighs ten thousand jin, and it’s a material for refining Top-Grade True Artifacts. Master, hurry and collect it! I’ve been researching Artifact Refining recently, so this is perfect.”

Zhaang Ye nodded and made a grasping motion in the air, trying to lift the Innate Heavy Water. But the pool of Innate Heavy Water was far heavier than he had anticipated. Even with his immense strength, he couldn’t lift it.

Seeing that even Zhaang Ye couldn’t collect the water, the Fire Spirit was stunned. After a closer look, it said dejectedly, ”This is terrible! This little pool of heavy water has over thirteen thousand drops. By my calculation, that’s a total weight of one hundred thirty million jin! Even with your strength, Master, it’s impossible to collect something so heavy.”

Zhaang Ye was taken aback. ”Why would it be impossible to collect? I can just take out some Jade Bottles and collect it bit by bit, one bottle at a time, into the Fire Spirit Realm.”

The Fire Spirit shook its head. ”Innate Heavy Water is condensed from metallic energy. It’s a single, indivisible whole. You can’t collect it separately. The only way to obtain it is to take the entire thing at once with brute force.”

Zhaang Ye understood. After a moment of contemplation, he said, ”I’ll try one more time! If I still can’t collect it, I’ll have to give up on this pool of Innate Heavy Water for now.”

Zhaang Ye took a deep breath, and a dense golden light erupted from his body. He reached his palm out over the pool and made another grasping motion. This time, Zhaang Ye used his full strength, unleashing a force of over one hundred million jin.

”BUZZZZZ.”

The Innate Heavy Water in the pool began to hum, its surface starting to ripple. It seemed like with just a little more effort, he could lift it, but Zhaang Ye had already reached his limit. If he pushed any harder, he would damage his own muscles and bones!

Just as Zhaang Ye was about to give up, a sudden thought flashed through his mind. His palm moved, slowly rotating in the air and tracing a perfect circle.

”RUMBLE!”

As Zhaang Ye’s palm moved, the Innate Heavy Water in the pool began to slowly rotate. With every drop weighing ten thousand jin, its movement instantly produced a rumbling sound, like thunder rolling across the sky.

Seeing the Innate Heavy Water begin to rotate, a hint of joy appeared in Zhaang Ye’s eyes. He rotated his palm once more, tracing a second circle.

”RUUUMMMBLE!!”

As he traced the second circle, the Innate Heavy Water began to spin a little faster. The sound it produced grew even louder, shaking the entire metal hill.

Zhaang Ye smiled faintly and proceeded to trace a third circle.

After the third circle, the speed of the Innate Heavy Water’s rotation increased again.

Zhaang Ye continuously traced circles with his palm. With each movement, the Innate Heavy Water in the pool spun faster and faster. The rapidly spinning water formed a vortex, whirling crazily within the three-foot-wide pool.

As the Innate Heavy Water spun, its water level began to slowly rise. Just as it was about to fly out of the pool, Zhaang Ye made a grasping motion in the air and shouted, ”Rise!”

Following Zhaang Ye’s shout, the Innate Heavy Water in the small pool was yanked up by an immense force. With a flick of his arm, Zhaang Ye sent the Innate Heavy Water into the Fire Spirit Realm.

The Innate Heavy Water was incredibly heavy, and there was no container in the Fire Spirit Realm that could hold it. Left with no other choice, Zhaang Ye had to place the pool of Innate Heavy Water into an Alchemy Furnace.

This was the very same Ancient Alchemy Furnace that Zhaang Ye had obtained from the Ancient Cave Mansion. This furnace was exceptionally thick, so he didn’t have to worry about it breaking from the weight of the Innate Heavy Water.

After stowing away the Innate Heavy Water, Zhaang Ye continued deeper.

After traveling for over five hundred li, a vast Metal Mountain Range appeared before Zhaang Ye. The range was a thousand zhang high and tens of thousands of zhang long, resembling a colossal dragon that had existed since time immemorial.

As he surveyed the mountain peak, the Fire Spirit suddenly grew excited and cried out, ”Master, I can feel the aura of the Gold Origin! Quick, hide your body and conceal your aura! We’ll sneak over and grab it!”

Zhaang Ye circulated his Cultivation Technique, retracting his aura until he seemed like a common piece of metal. Then, he pushed his Wind Realm to its absolute limit, transforming into a faint breeze and heading toward the Metal Mountain Range.

On the Metal Mountain Range, a three-zhang-long streak of white light was darting back and forth. This white light possessed intelligence; it flew about the mountain range like a playful child having the time of its life.

Zhaang Ye watched the white light from a distance, sensing a chilling aura contained within it. This cold, sharp aura was that of metal. Evidently, this three-zhang-long streak of white light was the Gold Origin.

At that moment, the Fire Spirit spoke excitedly in Zhaang Ye’s mind, ”Master, that white light is the manifestation of the Gold Origin! It actually managed to form a physical body—what a pleasant surprise! Master, watch how I’ll deal with it!”

”SWOOSH!”

The Fire Spirit transformed into a ball of fire and suddenly shot out.

The Gold Origin was playing joyfully when it saw the Fire Spirit suddenly fly out, and it froze for a moment. The Gold Origin already possessed a budding consciousness. Seeing the Fire Spirit speeding toward it, it quickly sensed danger. With a flicker, it tried to dive into the Metal Mountain Range.

The Gold Origin was the source of all metals. This Metal Mountain Range was practically its body. As long as it could get inside the mountain range, not even a Grandmaster Strong Person would be able to do anything to it.

The Gold Origin was fast, but it had run into the Fire Spirit. Fire is the natural bane of metal. Although the Gold Origin had some intelligence, its power and reaction speed were no match for the Fire Spirit’s.

With a ”WHOOSH,” the Fire Spirit expanded, covering the entire Metal Mountain Range in blazing flames.

The Gold Origin had an innate fear of fire. Seeing the raging flames, it was startled and hastily flew outward, preparing to flee the area.

But how could the Fire Spirit let it escape? With a single movement, the sea of flames converged on the Gold Origin, tightly enveloping the three-zhang-long entity.

”BUZZ!”

Finding itself surrounded, the Gold Origin suddenly transformed into a saber and slashed toward the Fire Spirit.

The Fire Spirit sneered and said, ”So you know how to use Transformation! But a little trick like that won’t work on me!”

”FWOOSH!”

The flames flared violently. The saber formed by the Gold Origin fell into the fire and instantly turned red-hot, looking as if it might melt into molten iron at any moment.

”BUZZ! BUZZ! BUZZ!”

Streaks of white light emanated from the saber, struggling to resist the flames. But this resistance was like drinking poison to quench a thirst—it couldn’t possibly last for long.

The Fire Spirit let out a triumphant laugh and threatened, ”Hahahahaha! Little guy, do you submit? If you don’t, I’ll burn you alive!”

Surrounded by flames, the Gold Origin shrank into a fist-sized sphere. Hearing the Fire Spirit’s threat, the sphere trembled slightly. Then, a delicate, childlike voice stammered, ”Don’t, please don’t! I submit, I submit.”

”Hahahahaha!”

The Fire Spirit laughed triumphantly. Its flames flared, wrapped around the Gold Origin, and flew back to Zhaang Ye. It said, ”Master, you should establish a Soul Contract with it!”

Zhaang Ye flicked his finger, sending a drop of fresh blood toward the Gold Origin. The Gold Origin’s body trembled slightly, but it didn’t dare to move, allowing the blood to land on it.

”With heaven and earth as my witness, the contract is made!”

Zhaang Ye muttered the incantation, using his blood as a medium to establish a Soul Contract with the Gold Origin. From this day forward, Zhaang Ye was the master of the Gold Origin.

Once the Soul Contract was established, Zhaang Ye’s Spiritual Sense could perceive a young consciousness. This was the soul of the Gold Origin. With the contract in place, Zhaang Ye could sense its every state.

Zhaang Ye sensed that the Gold Origin was terrified, so he chuckled and said, ”You don’t need to be afraid. My strength is still low right now, so I need your help. In the future, when my power has increased, I will release you from the contract and restore your freedom.”

The Gold Origin had just finished Transforming Illusion into Reality, and its intelligence was roughly equivalent to that of a seven or eight-year-old child. Hearing Zhaang Ye’s comforting words, it quickly calmed down and once again turned into a streak of white light, flying back and forth in front of him.

Zhaang Ye chuckled again and said to the Gold Origin, ”You are the manifestation of the Gold Origin. Since you have intelligence now, you should have a name. From now on, I’ll call you Gold Spirit.”

A feeling of joy emerged from the Gold Origin’s soul. It spoke in its delicate, childlike voice, ”Okay, okay!”

Zhaang Ye chuckled and stored the Gold Spirit in the Fire Spirit Realm.

The Fire Spirit giggled and said, ”After living for so long, I finally have a little brother. Master, let me help you train Gold Spirit and make it more obedient!”

With that, it also dived into the Fire Spirit Realm.

Zhaang Ye shook his head slightly, then used his Body Technique to head outside. The greatest treasure in the Land of Gold was the Gold Spirit. Now that he had subdued it, it was time for a trip to the Land of Wood.

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