Chapter 596: Peak of True Dao Fourth Layer

Just as Zhaang Ye expected, although the Medicinal Power of the Chong Mai True Pill was incredibly domineering, his Meridians and physical body were far tougher than those of an ordinary True Dao Expert. The pill’s fierce Medicinal Power could rupture a normal True Dao Expert’s Meridians, but it was helpless against Zhaang Ye. It could only obediently go about expanding his Meridians.

「One day later.」

Two flowers suddenly materialized above Zhaang Ye’s head. The black one among them turned an even deeper shade of black.

BOOM!

A vast aura erupted from Zhaang Ye, pulverizing the rocks within a hundred-zhang radius into dust. Amidst the flying debris, Zhaang Ye let out a long laugh and declared, “Excellent! I’ve finally reached the Peak of True Dao Fourth Layer!”

Seeing Zhaang Ye successfully refine the Chong Mai True Pill, the Fire Spirit relaxed and said, “Master, with your current strength, you can even put up a fight against the Flower King and Shui Daimai.”

Zhaang Ye nodded slightly, a faint smile touching his lips.

The Flower King and Shui Daimai’s Cultivation had already reached the True Dao Sixth Layer, and their bodies were exceptionally abundant with Innate True Qi. A casual strike from them held boundless power. With their abundant Innate True Qi, they could also seal the void at will to restrict Zhaang Ye’s speed. That was why whenever Zhaang Ye encountered them, his only option had been to flee for his life.

Now, Zhaang Ye’s Wind Realm was approaching Great Success, and his Cultivation had advanced to the Peak of True Dao Fourth Layer. His Celestial River Righteous Qi was also far more abundant. Even when facing experts like the Flower King, Shui Daimai, and Qi Qingle, Zhaang Ye was confident he could put up a fight.

The Fire Spirit said happily, “Master, of the Five Elements Origin, we only lack the Earth Origin! Let’s hurry to the Land of Earth, subdue the Earth Origin, and expand the Fire Spirit Realm!”

The Fire Spirit Realm had been created by the Fire Spirit and shared a mystical connection with it. One could say the Fire Spirit Realm was another of the Fire Spirit’s avatars. As the Fire Spirit Realm grew, the Fire Spirit’s strength would increase along with it. That was why the Fire Spirit was even more eager than Zhaang Ye, wishing it could immediately grab the Earth Origin and toss it into the Fire Spirit Realm.

Seeing the Fire Spirit’s impatience, Zhaang Ye chuckled and said, “Let’s go!”

Before the sound of his voice had faded, Zhaang Ye had already transformed into a streak of green light, heading toward the Land of Earth.

The Land of Earth was located right in the center of the Sword Monarch Ruins. This central region housed the most powerful Barbaric Beasts and the most terrifying remnant will of the Sword Monarch. However, the more dangerous a place, the more Celestial and Earthly Treasures it held. Zhaang Ye knew from a sliver of the Sword Monarch’s memories that all kinds of rare treasures and hidden troves could be found there.

After flying for tens of thousands of miles, Zhaang Ye suddenly noticed clouds of dust rising into the sky far ahead. With the dust came intense fluctuations of Primordial Qi and the thunderous roars of a Barbaric Beast.

The Fire Spirit’s Spiritual Sense was far sharper than Zhaang Ye’s. It sensed for a moment and said, “Someone is fighting a Barbaric Beast up ahead. Hmm, the auras are a bit familiar. They seem to be people from the Purple Spirit Domain.”

A thought stirred in Zhaang Ye’s mind, and he sped straight ahead. After flying for over a thousand miles, he saw a dozen or so youths besieging a Barbaric Beast that was over two thousand zhang long.

This Barbaric Beast was golden all over, its body segmented. Its tail was raised high, tipped with a long, glittering golden stinger. Hundreds of sharp claws grew from beneath its body. A casual swipe of its claws released a ray of golden light, and wherever the light passed, hills collapsed and the earth split open.

The golden Barbaric Beast’s combat power was comparable to an expert at the Late Stage of True Dao Sixth Layer, but the people besieging it were no simpletons either. Zhaang Ye looked at the youths, his eyes narrowing slightly as he muttered to himself, ‘Strange! Why have the experts from the Purple Spirit Domain gathered together? Did something happen inside the Sword Monarch Ruins?’

It turned out that the youths besieging the golden Barbaric Beast were all genius experts from the Purple Spirit Domain. They included Jade Fox, Yue Changsheng, Pingcang Mountain, Taishu Gang, Shui Cangmang, and Gu Hengshui.

Since entering the Sword Monarch Ruins, the strength of Jade Fox, Pingcang Mountain, and Taishu Gang had increased by a large margin. Yue Changsheng’s and Shui Cangmang’s combat power had also improved considerably. Yue Changsheng held several True Talismans tightly in his hand, and each one he threw unleashed earth-shattering power. Shui Cangmang was no slouch either; every palm strike he unleashed shot out a jet of black Innate True Qi, causing the golden Barbaric Beast to cry out repeatedly in pain.

BOOM!

Just as Zhaang Ye drew closer, a tremendous crash echoed out. The powerful golden Barbaric Beast, besieged by over a dozen youths, collapsed with a thud, kicking up a massive cloud of dust.

“Alright!”

The dozen or so youths cheered in unison.

The young titans—Jade Fox, Yue Changsheng, Pingcang Mountain, Taishu Gang, and Shui Cangmang—did not join the cheering. All five of them looked toward the void at the same time and shouted, “Who’s there?”

Zhaang Ye’s figure emerged from the void. “Quite a display of skill,” he said lightly.

Upon seeing Zhaang Ye, the expressions of Jade Fox, Yue Changsheng, Pingcang Mountain, Taishu Gang, and Shui Cangmang all changed. Zhaang Ye had come within a hundred zhang of them, yet none of them had noticed. If he had taken the opportunity to launch a sneak attack, they would have been severely injured, if not killed.

Zhaang Ye’s gaze swept over the crowd. “What exactly has happened in the Sword Monarch Ruins? Why are you all gathered together?”

The young experts present all showed a trace of fear. After a long moment, Gu Hengshui spoke up. “Zhaang Ye, don’t you know? The young powerhouses from the Black Cloud Domain have been ruthlessly slaughtering people from our Purple Spirit Domain. There are only thirteen of us young experts from the Purple Spirit Domain left now. The rest have all been killed.”

Zhaang Ye was startled. “No wonder you’re all gathered together,” he said with sudden realization. “You’ve teamed up to defend yourselves from the Black Cloud Domain’s pursuit.”

Gu Hengshui had been saved by Zhaang Ye once, so her attitude toward him was much better. She nodded and said, “That’s right. The Black Cloud Domain has many experts. Besides the most powerful ones like the Flower King, the Bloodline Marquis, the Iron Hand Marquis, and Zi Nuhou, there are also three newly advanced True Dao Sixth-Layer Experts. Zhaang Ye, you should join us. Otherwise, you’ll be hunted down by them sooner or later.”

Zhaang Ye gave a wry smile. “Join you? Travel with your group?”

Gu Hengshui nodded. “Exactly. The Sword Monarch Ruins have become extremely unsafe. After the experts from the Black Cloud Domain entered, they started rampaging everywhere and stirred up large numbers of powerful Barbaric Beasts. Now, we’re facing not only experts from the Black Cloud Domain, but also hordes of formidable Barbaric Beasts. Traveling alone is incredibly dangerous. Our only chance of survival is to stick together…”

“Hmph!”

Before Gu Hengshui could finish, Yue Changsheng suddenly stepped forward through the void and said coldly, “Absolutely not! I will never agree to let Zhaang Ye join us!”

Shui Cangmang also spoke up. “I disagree as well. I don’t think Zhaang Ye is qualified to join us.”

Jade Fox’s eyes flickered, and she said with a faint smile, “I agree to let Zhaang Ye join. Zhaang Ye, you can join us as long as you hand over your Spirit and Flesh Jujubes.”

Zhaang Ye found this rather amusing. “Shui Cangmang, Yue Changsheng, Jade Fox,” he said. “I don’t understand what the three of you are talking about. When did I ever say I wanted to join you?”

Shui Cangmang, Yue Changsheng, and Jade Fox were all taken aback, their faces flushing slightly. They had been terrified and left in a pathetic state by the constant attacks from the Black Cloud Domain experts. They had assumed that after hearing how powerful these enemies were, Zhaang Ye would be eager to join their group, which is why they had all moved to reject him. They never expected that he had no interest in joining in the first place.

Zhaang Ye gave the three of them a cool glance, flicked his sleeves, and was about to continue on his way. Suddenly, Yue Changsheng and Shui Cangmang both cried out, “Wait!”

Zhaang Ye’s pupils contracted slightly. “What is it?” he asked in a low voice.

Yue Changsheng remembered the humiliation Zhaang Ye had inflicted on him, and boundless hatred welled up in his heart. His figure flickered as he blocked Zhaang Ye’s path. “Zhaang Ye,” he said with a sinister smile, “I challenge you!”

‘When I entered the Sword Monarch Ruins, I had already planned to kill Yue Changsheng and the others here,’ Zhaang Ye thought, looking at him as a flicker of killing intent flashed through his mind. ‘But right now, I’m in a hurry to subdue the Earth Origin, so I was going to let him go for now. I can’t believe he’s jumping out on his own before I even made a move.’

Zhaang Ye said slowly, “Yue Changsheng, you’re courting death.”

Yue Changsheng roared with laughter as a vast aura erupted from his body. Judging from this aura, his Cultivation had actually reached the Realm of True Dao Sixth Layer.

Yue Changsheng’s aura locked onto Zhaang Ye. “Zhaang Ye, death is at your doorstep, and you still dare to talk tough!” he said arrogantly. “Let me tell you, my Cultivation has reached the True Dao Sixth Layer. You are a dead man today!”

Yue Changsheng looked at Zhaang Ye as if he were already a dead man. After entering the Sword Monarch Ruins, he had used information from his elders to quickly find seven Spirit Fruits, allowing his Cultivation to rapidly advance to the True Dao Sixth Layer. A True Dao Sixth-Layer Expert’s body was exceptionally abundant with Innate True Qi, making it easy to lock down the void. No matter how powerful Zhaang Ye’s Wind Realm was, Yue Changsheng was confident he could crush him.

The young experts present all looked on with pity. They felt that Zhaang Ye was doomed to lose this fight and would very likely not escape with his life.

However, Jade Fox, Pingcang Mountain, and Taishu Gang—who had all experienced Zhaang Ye’s power firsthand—wore grave expressions. They knew his combat strength was absolutely terrifying.

Jade Fox offered a warning, “Yue Changsheng, be careful. Zhaang Ye’s combat strength isn’t as simple as it appears.”

Yue Changsheng laughed. “Thank you for the warning, Jade Fox. But no matter how strong Zhaang Ye is, he’s no match for my Array. Just you wait and see!”

Yue Changsheng’s palm twitched as he prepared to strike. But before he could activate the Jade Talisman in his hand, he felt the void tremble violently—Zhaang Ye had vanished!

“Ah!”

Yue Changsheng’s pupils contracted violently. He saw a pale golden palm, its lines clearly visible, suddenly cross the void and appear right before his eyes!