Chapter 376 - 356: Martial Dao Level 9 Late Stage

Zhaang Ye flew for hundreds of miles, only to see the Purple-haired Wild Boar locked in a desperate struggle with the Two-winged Flying Crocodile. The Purple-haired Wild Boar was stronger, but the Two-winged Flying Crocodile had the terrain advantage, with an endless supply of Water Qi at its command. Under these conditions, the two Fierce Beasts were fighting to a stalemate, neither able to gain the upper hand.

RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE!

The two Fierce Beasts fought with all their might, the sound of their battle echoing without end. Powerful shockwaves blasted out in every direction, shredding the very clouds in the sky.

Zhaang Ye took out his Long Whip. The Ancient Dragon Power within him circulated silently, merging with the Water Qi above the lake as he stealthily approached the Two-winged Flying Crocodile.

Ten li. Five li. Three li. One li...

Zhaang Ye’s Ancient Dragon Power was one with the Water Qi. The Two-winged Flying Crocodile, completely focused on its life-or-death struggle with the Purple-haired Wild Boar, failed to notice him at all. Only when Zhaang Ye was directly behind it did the crocodile sense danger, but by then, it was too late.

SWOOSH!

With a wave of Zhaang Ye’s hand, the Long Whip transformed into a rainbow. Carrying an ancient and tyrannical aura, it lashed down onto the Two-winged Flying Crocodile’s back.

CRACK!

The Long Whip in Zhaang Ye’s hand was an Ancient True Artifact; the force of a single strike was truly earth-shattering. When the whip struck the Two-winged Flying Crocodile’s massive body, its scales were instantly pulverized. A huge wound, several zhang deep and over twenty zhang long, was torn open across its back!

SKREEE!

The Two-winged Flying Crocodile’s Life Power was astonishingly potent; it didn’t die even after such a vicious strike. It let out a great roar and its massive body trembled. Its giant scales transformed into sharp blades that slashed toward Zhaang Ye. Simultaneously, its enormous tail whipped toward him, like a mountain crashing down.

Zhaang Ye suppressed his internal injuries as his Dragon Elephant Power erupted. The Long Whip once again became a rainbow and lashed out viciously.

SNAP!

Zhaang Ye’s whip landed squarely on the Two-winged Flying Crocodile’s spine. Although its spine was incredibly sturdy, it couldn’t withstand the whip’s bombardment. With just a single strike, the Two-winged Flying Crocodile’s spine was instantly pulverized!

With its spine shattered, the Two-winged Flying Crocodile’s movements instantly slowed. The Purple-haired Wild Boar seized the opportunity, its two claws shooting out to viciously strike the crocodile’s head.

The Purple-haired Wild Boar was a Fierce Beast renowned for its strength. A full-power strike from it contained tens of millions of pounds of force. In the face of such terrifying power, nothing could stand in its way. Though the Two-winged Flying Crocodile had tough hide and thick flesh, it couldn’t possibly withstand such a devastating blow. With two loud, crisp CRACKS, the crocodile’s skull shattered piece by piece, and it plummeted from the sky.

HUUUFF—

Having killed the Two-winged Flying Crocodile, the Purple-haired Wild Boar opened its two mouths and tore off a large chunk of flesh from the crocodile’s body. The Two-winged Flying Crocodile had cultivated in the Little World for a very long time, so its flesh and blood contained faint traces of Innate True Qi. Consuming it would allow a Fierce Beast to rapidly increase its strength.

Zhaang Ye glanced at the Purple-haired Wild Boar. "The flesh of this Two-winged Flying Crocodile is yours, but the blood is mine," he said. "Take it to the island now. I’m going to use its blood for my Cultivation."

...

On the small island in the middle of the lake, Zhaang Ye submerged himself in the blood of the Two-winged Flying Crocodile, circulating his Dragon Elephant Power again and again. As it circulated, wisps of Dragon Power from the crocodile’s blood entered Zhaang Ye’s Meridians, and the seventh strand of Ancient Dragon Power slowly began to form within him.

The Two-winged Flying Crocodile’s blood contained not only Dragon Power but also a faint trace of Innate True Qi. As his Cultivation Technique circulated, this Innate True Qi also slowly entered Zhaang Ye’s Meridians. Innate True Qi had countless wondrous uses, one of which was its miraculous effect on healing. As it poured into him, Zhaang Ye’s internal injuries began to heal rapidly.

Two days later, Zhaang Ye’s internal injuries were seventy percent healed.

Sensing that his injuries were mostly healed, Zhaang Ye nodded in satisfaction. ’I wonder how many Celestial and Earthly Treasures this Two-winged Flying Crocodile devoured to reach such a level,’ he thought. ’Its blood contains not only Dragon Power and Innate True Qi, but also the essence of various Medicinal Herbs. It’s absolutely perfect for Healing.’

With his injuries mostly healed, Zhaang Ye began to focus all his efforts on absorbing the Dragon Power and Innate True Qi from the crocodile’s blood to advance his Cultivation.

WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH—

His Dragon Elephant Power circulated frantically within him. Like a prehistoric leviathan, Zhaang Ye greedily devoured the Dragon Power and Innate True Qi from the Two-winged Flying Crocodile’s blood.

After being refined by his Ancient Elephant Power, all impurities were purged from the Dragon Power in the crocodile’s blood, restoring it to pure Ancient Dragon Power. Wisps of this Ancient Dragon Power then merged into Zhaang Ye’s body, tempering his flesh and bone again and again, making them ever more resilient.

Meanwhile, the Innate True Qi from the crocodile’s blood entered Zhaang Ye’s Meridians. After being refined by his Ancient Elephant Power, these faint traces of Innate True Qi were slowly infused into his Dantian. Innate True Qi was far more potent than Postnatal True Qi, and as his reserves of it increased little by little, Zhaang Ye’s Cultivation rose in tandem.

BOOM!

Zhaang Ye’s Dantian suddenly trembled. With this tremor, the True Qi in his body began to circulate on its own, slowly seeping into his smaller Meridians and clearing them. As these minor Meridians were unblocked, the acupoints throughout his body began to fill with True Qi, and an inexplicable sensation washed over him.

’Late-stage Martial Arts Ninth Layer! By absorbing this Innate True Qi, the True Qi in my body has become purer and more powerful. I’m about to break through to the Late-stage Martial Arts Ninth Layer!’ Zhaang Ye rejoiced internally. At his urging, his True Qi circulated faster and faster, absorbing more and more Innate True Qi. A ceaseless torrent of it poured into every acupoint in his body!

BOOM! BOOM!

A tremor ran through Zhaang Ye’s entire body. In an instant, his Meridians and Dantian more than doubled in size, and all his True Qi rushed back into his Dantian. A powerful aura erupted from him, soaring toward the heavens. The True Qi in his body was exceptionally pure, and the aura it radiated was so focused that even the Purple-haired Wild Boar, silently devouring the crocodile’s flesh nearby, glanced over in astonishment.

"Hahahaha! The Late-stage Martial Arts Ninth Layer! I’ve finally reached the Late-stage Martial Arts Ninth Layer!" Zhaang Ye inspected the True Qi within him and couldn’t help but let out a long, hearty laugh.

The Cultivation Dao was a process of constantly refining one’s True Qi to make it ever purer. During this process, one would also use that True Qi to temper their Meridians and Dantian, strengthening the body so it could accommodate even more True Qi.

While Zhaang Ye was injured, the Innate True Qi had been silently tempering his body. It had not only made his physical form stronger but had also purified his True Qi, allowing him to break through to the Late-stage Martial Arts Ninth Layer in one fell swoop.

After inspecting the True Qi in his body, a satisfied expression appeared on Zhaang Ye’s face. ’The Two-winged Flying Crocodile had a tremendous amount of blood, filled with vast quantities of Innate True Qi and Dragon Power,’ he mused. ’Now that I’ve reached the Late-stage Martial Arts Ninth Layer, the next step is to absorb as much Dragon Power as possible. The wonders of Dragon Power are in no way inferior to Elephant Power. The more I absorb, the stronger I’ll become!’

For the next two days, Zhaang Ye dedicated himself completely to refining the Dragon Power. Thanks to his frenzied efforts, in just a few short days, he had formed over forty new strands of Ancient Dragon Power within his body. This Ancient Dragon Power merged into his flesh and bone, causing him to exude a faint Suppression, like that of an Ancient Giant Dragon.

The more Ancient Dragon Power Zhaang Ye refined, the more profound his Dragon Elephant Skill became. To his regret, however, no matter how he pushed his Cultivation, he was still unable to break through to the Late Stage of Sixth Level.

After trying and failing to break through to the Late Stage of Sixth Level several times, Zhaang Ye sighed softly. ’The Dragon Elephant Skill,’ he mused, ’cultivates the power of the dragon and the Power of the Elephant. I have Dragon Power now, but my Power of the Elephant is far from sufficient. It seems that to reach the Late Stage of Sixth Level, I’ll have to find a way to obtain more Ancient Elephant Power.’

Shaking his head slightly, Zhaang Ye ended his Cultivation session and headed toward the island’s interior.

Deep within the island grew a Hundred Foot Jade Bamboo. Zhaang Ye planned to harvest the fruit from this plant, then continue gathering Medicinal Herbs and Essence Stones.

As he approached the Hundred Foot Jade Bamboo, Zhaang Ye was stunned to find that the massive stalk had been snapped in two. Fragrant sap leaked from the break, and clusters of thumb-sized Jade Bamboo Fruit were scattered across the ground. Amidst the fruit, a small, pointed-headed Fierce Beast was holding a cluster in its paws, devouring it with great relish.

A pang of anguish struck Zhaang Ye as he saw the broken Hundred Foot Jade Bamboo and its fruit being greedily devoured. Who knew how many years that Jade Bamboo had grown to reach such a height? It was a terrible shame for it to be broken. And the Jade Bamboo Fruit was an extremely rare Celestial and Earthly Treasure; to see it consumed so wantonly by this little Fierce Beast was an even greater tragedy!

WHOOSH! With a great sweep of his hand, Zhaang Ye instantly collected all the Jade Bamboo Fruit scattered on the ground into his Small Space.

SQUEAK! SQUEAK! SQUEAK!

The small, pointed-headed Fierce Beast had just finished one cluster of Jade Bamboo Fruit when it noticed all the others on the ground had vanished. It immediately let out a strange shriek. Following its three cries, an immense aura suddenly erupted from the little beast’s body. This aura was majestic and vast, like a great mountain, and the sheer pressure it exerted caused Zhaang Ye’s expression to change!

Zhaang Ye stared at the small, pointed-headed Fierce Beast and cried out in shock, "What a terrifying aura! This creature has a pointed head and such astonishing strength... could it be the third most powerful being in this Little World, the Sharp-headed Mongoose?" (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian.com to vote with Recommendation Tickets and monthly passes. Your support is my greatest motivation.)