Little Piglet

Ma Hongyun was ordering the stockade residents to carry Xu Shan's corpse away when a voice suddenly rang out.

"Yo~ What a lively scene!"

Ma Hongyun looked up at the figure floating in the air and blurted out, "Damn, why are there so many Spirit Profound experts today?"

"Haha, Spirit Profound hardly counts as powerful," the man descending from the sky said with a light laugh.

Ma Hongyun's eyes suddenly widened. Only then did he realize that he knew this man.

He pointed at the man in shock and stammered, "Y-you're Wang Yue, chief of Tiger Fiend Stockade? You're a Spirit Profound expert?"

This was the first time he had learned that Wang Yue was a Spirit Profound expert.

"I already said Spirit Profound doesn't count as powerful." Wang Yue waved a hand. "Forget it. I heard Shi Po died, so I came specifically to pay my respects."

"Shouldn't you have gotten wind of it long ago? Why are you only coming now?" Ma Hongyun clearly did not believe he had come merely to mourn Shi Po.

Wang Yue laughed heartily. "Fine! I actually saw a Spirit Profound battle happening here, so I came to take a look. But... it seems it wasn't as simple as Spirit Profound."

As he spoke, his gaze remained fixed on Zhou Hao.

Zhou Hao sensed his stare, turned to meet his eyes, and asked softly, "Something wrong?"

Wang Yue smiled and shook his head. "Nothing. I'm just a little surprised. Why would an expert like you appear in such a remote place?"

"We don't know each other, do we?" Zhou Hao shut down the conversation with a single sentence.

But Wang Yue had a rather thick skin. Even though he knew Zhou Hao did not want to speak with him, he insisted on pestering him.

"We can become friends right now, actually."

Zhou Hao looked at him speechlessly and asked, "Are you insane?"

Wang Yue smiled without getting angry, then changed the subject and invited him, "If you have time, you can come sit at Tiger Fiend Stockade. You're welcome anytime."

Zhou Hao did not respond. He generally could not be bothered with people like this. If Wang Yue kept crowding him, he might have to make a move.

He realized that lately, he really liked solving problems with violence. Had he developed some strange trait?

Seeing Zhou Hao leave, Wang Yue merely smiled. Then he said to Ma Hongyun and the others, "Since I'm here this time, I might as well tell you. Although Shi Po is dead, our agreement remains in effect. So don't go doing any banditry, or don't blame me for being rude."

"Understood. This was Big Brother's wish. Of course we won't defy it," Ma Hongyun said sincerely.

Even if he did not agree, there was nothing he could do. The man before him was a Spirit Profound expert.

Wang Yue nodded in satisfaction. He then glanced at Zhou Hao, who had already left, before turning and flying away through the air.

"What cultivation was that man at?" Zhou Hao asked as he watched Wang Yue's departing figure.

Those at higher realms could only see the cultivation of those two realms below them. In other words, he could currently only discern Mystic Body Realm cultivation, while Wang Yue had clearly surpassed the Mystic Body Realm.

Zhou Yuanbao said disdainfully, "Spirit Profound Seventh Stage. But his cultivation is a little strange. It seems like it fell."

"What does 'fell' mean?" Zhou Hao asked.

Mu Jinyin cut in, "It means his cultivation used to be higher than Spirit Profound Seventh Stage, and he fell down from a higher level."

Zhou Hao nodded in realization and asked, "Can you tell what realm he used to be at?"

Mu Jinyin shook his head. "Can't tell. But at most, Spiritual Consciousness Fifth Stage. Dad is still stronger."

Zhou Hao was quite pleased by that last sentence and praised it, "I'll give you a divine crystal tomorrow."

"Thank you, Dad." Mu Jinyin flapped its wings and flew in a circle.

"Bootlicker," Zhou Yuanbao muttered unhappily.

Mu Jinyin did not react at all to its muttering, which only made it angrier.

The stockade residents had already grown accustomed to seeing the two beasts talk. They had been wandering everywhere these past few days, and everyone knew they could speak.

Zhou Hao did not restrict them either. Apparently, there were quite a few spirit beasts in this world that could speak. As long as one had money, one could buy a Beast Speech Pill, or a spirit beast could refine its transverse bone itself. Thus, spirit beasts at any realm could possibly speak.

Naturally, the stockade residents did not think Zhou Yuanbao and Mu Jinyin were ordinary spirit beasts. But they would not imagine them to be high-grade spirit beasts, much less guess that these two were divine beasts.

As Zhou Hao walked, his gaze suddenly fell upon the penned black pigs.

He suddenly remembered that he had yet to test his Metamorphosis Power. Whenever he got busy, he always forgot about it.

Since he happened to have time now, Zhou Hao decided to test it right away.

"Whose pigpen is this?" Zhou Hao asked loudly as he stood beside it.

Hearing Zhou Hao's voice, someone among the stockade residents immediately answered, "It belongs to Binzai's family."

"Binzai, Binzai, where are you? Come quickly! My lord wants to look at your pigpen," a helpful stockade resident called out for him.

Before long, Binzai, having heard the shout, hurried over.

"My lord, what is it?" Binzai asked.

Zhou Hao sized Binzai up. He was a young man who looked to be in his twenties.

He looked at the little black pig at the very back of the pen and asked, "Can you sell me that piglet?"

"No need to buy it. I'll give it to you," Binzai hurriedly said.

How could he dare take Zhou Hao's money? This was the man who had knocked Xu Shan down with a single punch.

Zhou Hao thought about it. He had no money on him either, so he said, "Go ask Ma Hongyun for the money. Tell him I told you to go. Everyone here can testify."

"No, there's no need, really," Binzai said anxiously.

He did not dare ask Ma Hongyun for it either!

Zhou Hao said with a stern face, "If I tell you to go, then go. Fine, it's settled. Ma Hongyun won't dare make things difficult for you."

As he spoke, his spiritual consciousness stirred slightly, and he carried the piglet away.

The piglet suddenly took flight. After freezing for a moment, it immediately flailed its four limbs in terror.

After a while, seeing that nothing happened, it finally breathed a sigh of relief and stopped struggling.

Binzai watched Zhou Hao's departing back, hesitated for a moment, and ultimately decided to seek reimbursement from Ma Hongyun.

Zhou Hao did not take the piglet back to his room. Instead, he found a place with water and washed it. It had stayed in the pigpen too long and reeked all over.

After bathing the piglet, Zhou Hao looked at it and nodded in satisfaction. "It actually looks pretty cute like this."

Its chubby body, two large ears, and adorable little features indeed made it a cute pet.

After drying the piglet off, Zhou Hao brought it back to his room.

The moment the piglet landed, it immediately stared warily at Zhou Hao and the two beasts, as though facing a great enemy.

"Pfft~"

Zhou Hao could not help laughing. The piglet's movements were truly a little adorable.

But he was in no hurry to test his Metamorphosis Power. He would wait until the piglet lowered its guard against them first.

Thus, he and the piglet locked eyes, beginning a contest of patience.

Zhou Yuanbao and Mu Jinyin also watched from the side. But the more they stared, the more vigilant the piglet became. It began to snort, as though it might attack at any moment.

In the end, Zhou Hao realized where the problem lay. He told Zhou Yuanbao and Mu Jinyin to go do whatever they wanted, while he too found something to occupy himself with.

Without their attention on it, the piglet finally slowly lowered its guard...