Chapter 431 - 407: Forcing Zhaang Ye Out

Thank you for your monthly ticket support! I had a stomach bug, so this Chapter took a long time. Sorry about that. The third update will be a little late, but it’s definitely coming.

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More than ten miles from Newcomer Peak stood a tall, massive mountain. Atop this enormous peak, a young man in black with two swords strapped to his back stood silently. Fierce winds howled and clouds drifted past, yet his figure remained perfectly still, unswayed in the slightest.

This black-clad, twin-sword-wielding young man was none other than Shi Shuanglong.

Watching Jiang Heaven Sword hastily depart, Shi Shuanglong cursed under his breath, "Damn that Mountain Patrol Envoy. If it weren’t for him, Zhaang Ye and Jiang Heaven Sword would have fought to the death."

Back in the Land of Divine Abandonment, Zhaang Ye had utterly humiliated Shi Shuanglong. Enraged, Shi Shuanglong used his status as an Elder Disciple to have Zhaang Ye assigned to a location near the Jiang Family, intending for them to teach Zhaang Ye a harsh lesson. But Zhaang Ye’s strength was astonishingly high, and with the Mountain Patrol Envoy happening to pass by, Shi Shuanglong’s plan fell apart.

After cursing, a glint appeared in Shi Shuanglong’s eyes as he muttered to himself, "Back in the Land of Divine Abandonment, Zhaang Ye killed Jiang Dijian. That Jiang Dijian is Jiang Heaven Sword’s younger brother. I’ll leak this information to Jiang Heaven Sword in a bit. Once he finds out, he’ll definitely try to kill Zhaang Ye. Heh heh, and above Jiang Heaven Sword, there’s the even more formidable Jiang Spirit Sword. Once they start fighting, Zhaang Ye is a dead man."

With this scheme in mind, a vicious smile touched Shi Shuanglong’s lips as he executed a Body Technique and descended the mountain.

「Newcomer Peak.」

Sensing that the Mountain Patrol Envoy was long gone, Zhaang Ye slowly emerged from his cave residence. He went straight to the Spiritual Spring, drew a full basin of its water, and washed up. Zhaang Ye had just demonstrated his incredible power, severely injuring Jiang Tu and Jiang Song, then fighting Jiang Heaven Sword to a standstill. Everyone knew how formidable he was. Seeing him take over the Spiritual Spring, not a single person dared to utter a complaint.

After washing up and returning to his cave, he saw a giant ball of flesh come rolling in from outside. It was none other than Tu Feiyuan, whom Zhaang Ye had recently met. Sticking out his big belly, Tu Feiyuan boomed with laughter, "Amazing! Truly amazing! Brother, I never thought you’d be so formidable that even Jiang Heaven Sword couldn’t handle you. You’re going to be famous, Brother!"

Zhaang Ye, seeing that Tu Feiyuan seemed quite knowledgeable about the Sect, asked, "Is this Jiang Heaven Sword very famous?"

Tu Feiyuan nodded. "Of course he is! Jiang Heaven Sword is one of the most powerful young men of his generation in the Chaotic Cloud Icefield’s Jiang Family. He cultivated his Profound Ice Qi to the 5th Layer at just fifteen and reached the 9th Layer by twenty-four. Now, in his thirties, his Profound Ice Qi has already reached the Great Success Realm.

"His cultivation progressed by leaps and bounds, and his combat record is incredibly impressive. By twenty-two, he was capable of killing Martial Arts Ninth-Layer Experts. In the year he turned twenty-four, he killed two Half-step True Dao Strongmen. In the years since, the number of Half-step True Dao Strongmen who have died at his hands has exceeded twenty."

Zhaang Ye was inwardly surprised as he listened to Tu Feiyuan’s explanation.

Tu Feiyuan continued, "It’s because of this impressive record that the Sect considers him a seeded contender. Among this batch of Apprentices Under Examination, he’s ranked forty-third."

Zhaang Ye was taken aback. "The entrance competition hasn’t even started. How can there be rankings already?"

Tu Feiyuan chuckled. "Within the Green Cloud Sect, there’s an information-gathering department. This department manages all sorts of top-secret materials and is incredibly resourceful. They use all the data and intelligence at their disposal to rank the various geniuses and experts based on their cultivation, Combat Skills, and battle records. They then compile these rankings into a book, which is the Apprentice Under Examination Power Ranking List."

Zhaang Ye said, "So, according to you, this Apprentice Under Examination Power Ranking List is considered quite authoritative."

Tu Feiyuan nodded. "That’s right. Anyone in the top one hundred is a publicly recognized expert. And those in the top fifty are geniuses among geniuses, the best of the best. These people are often seeded contenders. Although unknown talents emerge every time, the ranking list is generally quite accurate."

Zhaang Ye’s interest was piqued.

Seeing Zhaang Ye’s interest, Tu Feiyuan fished a Beast Skin Book out of his pocket with a fat hand and tossed it to him. "Here, this is it. It records the top one hundred geniuses. Take a good look, Brother. Get to know your competition."

Zhaang Ye accepted it readily, catching the book. "Thanks, Brother. I’ll borrow this for a while and return it after I’m done reading."

Tu Feiyuan waved his fat hand dismissively. "No need to return it. The power rankings are updated every three days. I’ll just buy a new one when I need it."

...

After Tu Feiyuan left, Zhaang Ye turned his attention to the book in his hands. On the cover of the Beast Skin Book, the title was written in large characters: "Apprentice Under Examination Power Ranking List." Zhaang Ye opened the book and began to slowly flip through it.

"Mo Luo, ranked first on the Apprentice Under Examination Power Ranking List. Cultivation unknown. Proficient in the Combat Skill *Senluo Hell*. When executed, his killing intent is so dense it becomes tangible, and those with weak wills are defeated in an instant. Since his debut, Mo Luo has slain forty-one Half-Step True Dao Experts and three Low-level Barbaric Beasts..."

"Ye Cangtian, ranked second. Cultivation unknown. Proficient in the Ancient Combat Skill *Heaven-Overturning Sun-Concealing Sword Technique*. When this Sword Skill is used, the very heavens and earth seem to change color, and its power is boundless. He has slain thirty-nine Half-Step True Dao Experts since his debut and once escaped after killing his assailants while under siege by four of them..."

"Red Cliff Celestial Ape, ranked third. Cultivation unknown. Possesses the Ancient Celestial Ape Bloodline. His movements are as swift as lightning, his strength as immense as a mountain. For him, taking a life is effortless. Since his debut, he has killed over a dozen Barbaric Beasts and slain more than twenty Half-Step True Dao Experts. To this day, no one knows his true identity..."

"Netherworld Green Blood, ranked fourth. His Innate True Qi is ninety-eight percent formed..."

Zhaang Ye slowly flipped through the book, growing more alarmed with each entry. Every person recorded within was a genius among geniuses, each possessing incredibly formidable combat strength. The top ten, in particular, were the strongest of the strong. Just reading their battle records was enough to leave Zhaang Ye astounded.

He silently made some comparisons in his mind. ’The Green Cloud Sect selects disciples based entirely on their battle records,’ he thought. ’Only the top ten can enter the Inner Sect and become Inner Sect Disciples. But judging from this ranking list, breaking into the top ten in the competition will be an exceptionally difficult task.’

At this thought, a sense of urgency washed over him. Zhaang Ye lost interest in reading any further. He sealed his cave residence, determined to use the remaining time to increase his strength.

To raise his combat power in a short time, he first needed to acclimate to the gravity of the Barbaric World. The gravity here was a full fifty times stronger than in the Land of Divine Abandonment. Even with Zhaang Ye’s incredibly tough physique, he couldn’t adapt to it immediately.

Therefore, Zhaang Ye’s first step was to use his Celestial River Righteous Qi to constantly temper his body and make it even more resilient. At the same time, he practiced his Basic Saber Technique over and over within his cave, pushing his limits day and night.

As his body slowly adapted to the gravity, Zhaang Ye focused all his effort on fusing the three types of Ancient Power within him. He had already fused sixty percent of them, leaving forty percent remaining. However, fusing this final forty percent was becoming increasingly difficult, and the rate of fusion was slowing down.

Although Zhaang Ye’s fusion speed was slow, he was making progress every day. The Ancient Elephant Power, Ancient Phoenix Power, and Ancient Dragon Power gradually merged to become Celestial River Righteous Qi, causing the Celestial River Righteous Qi inside his body to slowly grow stronger.

As his Celestial River Righteous Qi grew stronger, Zhaang Ye’s True Qi also gradually strengthened. He had already cultivated to the Peak of Martial Arts Ninth Layer. Upon arriving in the Barbaric World, the incredibly rich Heaven and Earth Essence Qi continuously flowed into his Dantian, and the Innate True Qi within his body slowly became more abundant.

「One month later.」

Zhaang Ye suddenly felt a tremor in his Dantian. He was slightly startled, then immediately realized that his Innate True Qi had reached fifty percent, allowing him to naturally break through to the Half-step True Dao realm.

After entering the Half-step True Dao realm, Zhaang Ye felt the circulation of True Qi in his body become much smoother. To his pleasant surprise, as his cultivation advanced, his Spiritual Power also grew considerably stronger. With this enhanced Spiritual Power, Zhaang Ye’s speed at fusing the Ancient Powers increased significantly.

Sixty-four percent.

Sixty-five percent.

Sixty-nine percent...

As time passed, Zhaang Ye fused more and more of the Ancient Powers. After more than two months, he had fused sixty-nine percent of the Ancient Powers in his body, approaching the seventy percent mark.

As more and more Ancient Power fused into Celestial River Righteous Qi, the Celestial River Righteous Qi inside Zhaang Ye grew increasingly vast. This immense energy circulated like a great river, rumbling as it flowed. Silently observing the Celestial River Righteous Qi within his body through Introspection, a faint smile appeared on Zhaang Ye’s lips. He closed his eyes and continued the fusion process.

Just as Zhaang Ye was cultivating in silence, two young men suddenly arrived outside his cave residence. One of them, bare-headed, was the genius from the Chaotic Cloud Icefield’s Jiang Family, Jiang Heaven Sword. The other young man had a tall and sturdy build, bore a slight resemblance to Jiang Heaven Sword, and exuded an aura that was even more powerful.

The sturdy young man surveyed Zhaang Ye’s cave residence and said slowly, "So this is Zhaang Ye’s cave? It looks like he’s in secluded cultivation."

A cold sneer appeared on Jiang Heaven Sword’s face. "So what if he’s in secluded cultivation? Just watch, Big Brother. I’ll show you how I’m going to force him out!"

As he spoke, Jiang Heaven Sword strode to the front of the cave residence and slammed both of his palms fiercely against the stone door.

BOOM! BOOM!

As Jiang Heaven Sword’s palms struck, the entire cave residence began to shake violently. (To be continued. If you like this work, please come to Qidian.com and vote with Recommendation Tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)