Outsiders

From hundreds of miles away, one could see the fissure stretching dozens of miles across the distant rock wall.

Rolling magma flowed endlessly from the fissure, while the great river crossed the basin and plunged into the abyss, crashing violently into the magma below.

A fierce wind rose, howling as it rushed head-on, bringing with it surging heat and dense vapor.

Wu Tie stood atop a small hillock, spear in hand, gazing toward that dazzling crimson glow.

Behind him, a tiny venomous funnel-web spider no bigger than a mung bean drifted lightly down from the sky. A thread of gossamer trailed from its bloated abdomen as it slowly descended toward the back of Wu Tie's neck.

Wu Tie narrowed his eyes. An invisible force field enveloped the space within a hundred meters. While the little funnel-web spider was still more than ten meters from him, he suddenly raised his left hand and clenched it hard. The tiny spider burst apart with a pop.

Control Heaven and Earth!

That was the name Old Tie had given Wu Tie's innate divine ability.

It was an immensely powerful innate divine ability with terrifying potential. At the outset, it manifested as it did with Wu Tie now: he could perceive every rustle and stir within a hundred meters of his body, and directly influence objects within a dozen meters around him.

As Wu Tie continued to grow stronger, Control Heaven and Earth would truly be able to command every tangible and intangible force in the outside world.

A Gray Rock Lizard suddenly darted out from a huge patch of mushrooms and charged mindlessly toward Wu Tie. It ran at full tilt, thick, foul-smelling drool spraying from the corners of its mouth.

Wu Tie turned around and looked at the adult Gray Rock Lizard, which was about five meters long.

When the Gray Rock Lizard was still more than ten meters away, Wu Tie waved his left hand. A boulder the size of a human head flew up from the ground with a whoosh, carrying a shriek of wind as it smashed heavily into the lizard's head.

With a dull thud, the Gray Rock Lizard staggered and fell, rolling several times across the ground.

Before it could climb back up, Wu Tie repeatedly waved his left hand. The stone kept flying high into the air before crashing down again and again, every blow striking the Gray Rock Lizard viciously on the head.

In just a few breaths, the Gray Rock Lizard's skull had been smashed to pieces. Its body twitched, but it could no longer move.

Laughing loudly, Wu Tie ran forward a few steps with his heart soaring. Borrowing the momentum of his charge, he leaped into the air. The invisible force field wrapped around his body, and he glided down from the hillock dozens of meters high, floating lightly for over a hundred meters.

Just as he was about to hit the ground, Wu Tie widened his eyes. A violent wind sprang up from the flat ground, and his body folded back as lightly as a fallen leaf in the wind, gliding along the same route back to the hillock.

His feet struck the ground heavily. Wu Tie staggered back two steps and panted hard.

He grinned in excitement, raised his spear with both hands, and thrust it rapidly toward the sky dozens of times.

Gliding like this was hardly any different from flying.

As long as his innate divine ability grew a little stronger, short-distance flight would absolutely not be difficult for him.

After laughing a few more times, Wu Tie whistled. A Metal Spider hopped over happily, its back splitting open as a mass of gray metallic liquid poured out and swiftly formed into a saber over a meter long.

Wu Tie chopped the Gray Rock Lizard into more than a dozen pieces. More than a dozen Metal Spiders swarmed forward, dragging the prey back toward the Ancient Divine Weapon Camp.

After awakening his innate divine ability, Wu Tie's hunting and survival abilities soared.

He could constantly monitor every movement within a hundred meters around him, making all ambushes impossible.

Those venomous little spiders and lizards would have their bodies crushed before they came within a dozen meters of Wu Tie. Even the largest creatures, Black Ring Snakes several meters long, could at most approach within a few meters before being frozen in midair by the invisible force field and crushed directly at the vital seven inches.

Wu Tie's hunting efficiency soared. In just two months, he drank several dozen more Foundation Establishment Potions in succession.

That day, within the Ancient Divine Weapon Camp, Wu Tie's Foundation Establishment Form finally broke through to the three hundred and sixtieth form. Just as Old Tie had said, it was an invisible valve. When he correctly assumed the posture of the three hundred and sixtieth form, Wu Tie clearly heard crisp cracking sounds coming from all over his body.

Blocked meridians opened one after another, invisible valves flew open one after another, and countless large and small hot spots across his body simultaneously spewed white vapor.

Foundation Establishment Potions were rapidly consumed as streams of heat raced through his body.

Instinctively, he began from the first form of the Foundation Establishment Form and performed it again and again until the three hundred and sixtieth form, repeating the sequence over and over.

The heat that had emerged from nowhere within his body gradually grew stronger. With Wu Tie's movements, those currents of heat flowed joyfully through him. Wherever they passed, his entire body felt incomparably comfortable, and Wu Tie could clearly feel his strength constantly increasing.

The unbearable part was that every bone in his body itched and tingled. As he swallowed Foundation Establishment Potions one after another, his joints rapidly grew.

Amid a series of crack crack sounds, when Wu Tie completed the sequence from the first Foundation Establishment Form to the three hundred and sixtieth for the twentieth time, he grew another half foot or so taller. The sleek muscles all over his body writhed rapidly, sweat constantly seeping out as every pore exhaled hot vapor.

A vortex of electric current appeared on the ceiling, and a massive metal ingot dropped heavily down.

Wu Tie stopped practicing the Foundation Establishment Form. He strode over, wrapped both arms around the metal ingot, and with only a slight exertion, easily lifted it above his head.

"Perfect Foundation Establishment. Physical strength exceeding ten thousand jin!" Old Tie gave a satisfied snort. "Very good... it's all thanks to Grandpa!"

Old Tie suddenly split his mouth in laughter. "Hahaha, it's all thanks to Grandpa... Who said Grandpa only knew how to hack and kill like a butcher? Isn't Grandpa quite good at being a mentor too?"

Big Iron swayed beside Old Tie and let out a few muffled grunts.

Old Tie's voice immediately dropped several notches. "That's right... there were a few tiny mistakes, and the boy nearly died several times... But it was Grandpa's first time being a mentor... Who doesn't have a first time? What's there to fear about a few mistakes?"

Old Tie's voice dropped several more notches. "The boy didn't die, did he? Fine... fine, you deserve some credit too... some credit too... But first, learn to speak human language... With all that grunting and mumbling, only Grandpa can understand you!"

Wu Tie slammed the metal ingot heavily onto the floor with a tremendous boom.

He flexed and stretched his arms, staring at them in disbelief and wild delight.

He remembered clearly what Wu Zhan had said when his three elder brothers, Wu Jin, Wu Yin, and Wu Tong, had broken through the first level of the Foundation Establishment realm. Their family's inherited Sky-Breaking Fist could allow a person to possess physical strength of more than a thousand jin when condensing Origin Power.

Yet the Foundation Establishment Form he cultivated had allowed him to achieve perfect Foundation Establishment and gain physical strength of over ten thousand jin!

The metal ingot was marked as weighing ten thousand jin, yet Wu Tie had lifted it without the slightest strain. Instead, it had felt quite light. His physical strength had definitely surpassed ten thousand jin; by Wu Tie's own estimate, it was probably between twenty and thirty thousand.

"Old Tie! Big Iron!" Wu Tie turned around and stared straight at Old Tie and Big Iron.

"You're still far from it... little rookie!" Old Tie laughed broadly. "Now, you can count as a qualified little rookie... But no matter how strong a rookie is, a rookie is still a rookie—a little rookie who'll be swallowed by the enemy in one bite as a side dish!"

"Keep hunting... keep cultivating!" Bloodlight suddenly blazed fiercely in Old Tie's eyes, forcing Wu Tie to turn away rather than look directly into them. "Wu Tie, don't become complacent over such a tiny, insignificant achievement. With that little bit of strength of yours... back then, you wouldn't even have been qualified to set foot on the battlefield!"

A fierce wind blew down the broad river channel as dozens of enormous Giant Hippopotamuses slowly emerged from the waterway. They reached the lushest patch of fern forest, opened their mouths, and tore away mouthful after mouthful of its dense, juicy branches and leaves.

Wu Tie stood atop a small mound several hundred meters away, looking excitedly at the Giant Hippopotamuses.

After watching those huge creatures for a while, Wu Tie looked toward the lava fissure in the distance.

Old Tie had sternly warned Wu Tie—before he possessed sufficient strength and gained Old Tie's permission, he was forbidden from approaching that magma fissure again.

The temperature there was high, the vapor abundant, and the vapor and fierce winds carried up enough nutrients from the depths of the abyss. The vegetation there was much denser than on the half of the basin where the Ancient Divine Weapon Camp stood. Its animal populations were larger and more complex, and giant creatures of tremendous size and power were even more dangerous.

As for the half of the basin where the Ancient Divine Weapon Camp stood, it was closer to the underground river waterfall outlet through which Wu Tie had arrived in this strange realm. The river water was bitterly cold, making the temperature here lower. The vegetation and animal populations were sparse, and some of the larger creatures did not like wandering around on this side.

With Wu Tie's current strength, it was safe for him to move around on this half of the basin.

If he dared approach farther in the direction of the lava fissure, no one could guarantee what he might encounter.

"Hunt... more Foundation Establishment Potions... cultivate without cease, then grow stronger still!" Wu Tie raised his spear and strode toward the herd of Giant Hippopotamuses.

The invisible force field flowed around him. Wu Tie could cover seven or eight meters in a single step. Sometimes, he would leap into the air and lightly touch down with his toes on the fern forest or mushroom patches, then glide lightly for more than ten meters.

In only a few breaths, he crossed three or four hundred meters. Wu Tie waved his left hand, and a stone the size of a fist abruptly flew up from the ground, arcing through the air before smashing heavily into the snout of a Giant Hippopotamus twelve meters long, a hundred meters away.

The blow was extremely heavy, directly splitting its skin and drawing blood.

The Giant Hippopotamus, which had been chewing a huge clump of fern branches, roared in pain. Its eyes instantly turned bloodshot, and it charged toward Wu Tie with heavy breaths.

Wu Tie let out a loud howl and rushed forward. While still dozens of meters from the Giant Hippopotamus, he hurled his spear fiercely with his right hand.

The spear spun violently, carving an arc through the air as it pierced savagely through the Giant Hippopotamus's back and buried itself deep in its enormous body, accurately penetrating its heart.

The Giant Hippopotamus staggered forward for dozens of meters, then crashed headfirst onto the ground, letting out weak, low moans.

Wu Tie raised Chi You's Fang and walked over to the Giant Hippopotamus. Chi You's Fang shattered its thick skull, ending its suffering completely.

The Giant Hippopotamus was twelve meters long and weighed nearly a hundred thousand jin.

This place was already beyond the range where the Metal Spiders could operate from the Ancient Divine Weapon Camp.

Wu Tie pulled out his spear and slung it across his back. He grasped the Giant Hippopotamus's two protruding tusks with both hands and summoned all the strength in his body.

All his physical power erupted, and currents of heat surged within him. With the reinforcement of Origin Power, Wu Tie's strength suddenly more than doubled.

The ground was rich, thick soil covered in moss, incredibly slick and slippery.

Wu Tie gave low shouts as he dragged the colossal beast backward one step at a time.

The ground trembled faintly as the giant beast slid inch by inch under Wu Tie's pull. His skin flushed slightly red, hot vapor constantly pouring from his body.

Only after dragging the Giant Hippopotamus into the Metal Spiders' operating range did Wu Tie let out a heavy breath and collapse onto the ground, panting deeply.

He used the saber to carve the giant beast into chunks. The Metal Spiders scurried back and forth, swiftly carrying the flesh and blood back to the Ancient Divine Weapon Camp.

This giant beast was so heavy that the yield from this single hunt could probably produce more than a hundred Foundation Establishment Potions.

Wu Tie gained a deeper understanding of Old Tie's words.

"Intelligent beings are actually no different from wild beasts. Greater strength lets one seize greater territory and become a greater lord."

"A strong lord holds the power of life and death over everything in his territory."

"As long as you possess sufficient strength!"

Lord!

As he chopped at the Giant Hippopotamus with his saber, Wu Tie looked toward the distant lava fissure.

In this basin roughly a thousand miles across, he should count as the lord of half its territory already. The other half was waiting for him to conquer!

"Work hard!" Wu Tie raised the sharp saber and split the Giant Hippopotamus's thick spine in two with a single strike.

Another month passed.

Wu Tie stood on a small hillock, looking toward the nearby riverbank.

Two Water Pythons were rolling about in the shallows, one around fifteen or sixteen meters long and the other twenty meters long. According to the knowledge Old Tie had taught him, this was breeding season, and Water Pythons could not avoid doing their part in the natural order.

"Once you lay your eggs, you'll be mine." Wu Tie watched the two huge creatures with a cheerful smile.

Old Tie had lectured Wu Tie that hunting was a necessary path to strength, but it needed limits; one could not drain the pond to catch every fish. Take these two Water Pythons, for instance. If he waited for them to produce offspring before hunting them, he could ensure a steady stream of prey for Wu Tie to consume.

The first level of the Foundation Establishment realm was not yet difficult, but the further one advanced, the greater the resources consumed. He had to ensure the sustainable development of those resources.

Wu Tie stared fixedly at the two rolling Water Pythons for a while. Suddenly, his whole body tensed and every hair stood on end.

Several miles away on the river, a black spindle-shaped object suddenly surfaced. Several cracks opened along its surface, and several tall Ox Tribe warriors stuck out half their bodies, panting loudly. They took out wooden paddles and rowed frantically toward the riverbank where Wu Tie stood.

In just over half an hour, the Ox Tribe warriors paddled the black object, which was more than ten meters long, onto the riverbank.

Just as they landed, another identical black object surfaced on the river.

Two cracks opened on it, and a blood-covered young man thrust his head out. Across the river more than twenty miles wide, he screamed hoarsely, "You can't escape... you're all going to die! I'll kill you with my own hands!"

Two more young men stuck out their bodies. They grabbed wooden paddles and likewise rowed after them toward the riverbank.

Wu Tie stared blankly at these people.

It appeared they too had entered this strange realm through that enormous waterfall.

Moreover, the two groups were clearly mortal enemies.

His hands tightened around the shaft of his spear. Wu Tie instinctively felt unease and anger.

This basin was Wu Tie's territory. These outsiders had invaded his land.

More importantly, there was the Ancient Divine Weapon Camp, and Old Tie and Big Iron.