"It seemed to be tired." Zhou Yuanbao looked at the little piglet, which was gradually slowing down, and said.
Zhou Hao nodded. The next moment, he saw the little piglet stop and stick out its tongue to rest.
"It seemed like it couldn't walk anymore," Mu Jinyin said.
After thinking for a moment, Zhou Hao walked over and asked, "Tell me which direction to go, and I'll take you there."
He did not know whether the little piglet could understand him.
The little piglet kept its mouth open, panting heavily. It raised its head and glanced at Zhou Hao, as if it were thinking.
After a while, it pointed straight ahead. "Oink oink~"
Zhou Hao looked at it in surprise. He had not expected an ordinary, untrained pig to truly understand his words and even point out a direction for him.
Could this be the power of Metamorphosis Power?
Zhou Hao was certain that before it had been infused with Metamorphosis Power, the little piglet could not have understood human speech. Yet now it understood him. It was clearly the effect of Metamorphosis Power.
He did not dwell on it. He would first send the little piglet where it wanted to go.
Zhou Hao's spiritual consciousness stirred, immediately carrying the little piglet as he flew straight ahead.
Under the little piglet's guidance, they arrived before a stockade.
Zhou Hao was slightly taken aback when he saw it. There were only two stockades around here. If it was not Shilpo Mountain Stronghold, then it had to be Tiger Fiend Stockade.
"Oink oink~" The little piglet struggled in midair, wanting to go inside.
It seemed its target was within Tiger Fiend Stockade.
Without giving it much thought, Zhou Hao flew in with it.
The moment the villagers of Tiger Fiend Stockade saw Zhou Hao, they immediately sounded the alarm, notifying everyone that an enemy was attacking.
But upon seeing Zhou Hao floating in the air, they instantly lost any thought of resisting.
Small fry like them would only be marching to their deaths if they went up against him.
Zhou Hao had no intention of clashing with them either. Following the little piglet's guidance, he found Wang Yue's room, then located the entrance to the basement.
Wang Yue, who had been guarding the Fire Core Flower, was startled when he heard the alarm. After hesitating for a moment and glancing at the Fire Core Flower, he still decided to go out and see what was happening.
The moment he reached the secret chamber, he ran straight into Zhou Hao, who was coming down.
Both of them froze, staring at each other with wide eyes.
Wang Yue came back to his senses and immediately roared, "So you really have been coveting my Fire Core Flower!"
Since Zhou Hao had found this place, his objective was already obvious.
Zhou Hao was slightly stunned. Before he could say anything, he saw Wang Yue, his entire body ablaze, charge at him.
He looked at his own fists, then at the flames on Wang Yue's body, and ordered, "Jinyin, he's yours."
He did not want his hands to get burned by fire.
Mu Jinyin smiled faintly, let out a cry, then gently flapped her wings once.
A gust of wind swept through, and the flames on Wang Yue's body were instantly extinguished.
Wang Yue halted his charge. He stood rooted to the spot, his mind completely blank.
He had never encountered anyone who could snuff out his flames with a single flap of a wing.
Zhou Hao gave Mu Jinyin a manual thumbs-up. "Nicely done."
With Mu Jinyin's Gold God Third Order strength, if she got serious, Wang Yue would be left without a burial place even if she merely blew on him.
Slap~
Wang Yue suddenly dropped to his knees, bowed low, and said, "Senior, this junior was wrong. Please give this junior another chance."
He had been mistaken. Earlier, he had thought Zhou Hao was in the Spiritual Consciousness Realm, but now it seemed Zhou Hao was far beyond anything he could imagine.
If Zhou Hao knew what he was thinking, he would very much like to tell him, "I really am only in the Spiritual Consciousness Realm."
Unfortunately, Zhou Hao did not know. Seeing Wang Yue suddenly kneel, he was left a little confused. "I'm not some senior. You don't need to bow to me."
It was mainly because it felt rather inauspicious.
"No, please forgive this junior's offense, Senior." Wang Yue knocked his head against the floor tiles again.
Zhou Hao looked at him speechlessly and waved his hand. "Alright, alright. I forgive you. Get up!"
Only then did Wang Yue dare to rise, a fawning smile plastered across his face.
"Oink oink~"
Seeing that they were not continuing onward, the little piglet immediately became unhappy. It wriggled its body, but Zhou Hao's spiritual consciousness had it restrained, so it could not move.
Seeing how agitated it was, Zhou Hao set it down and let it move on its own.
The moment it regained its freedom, the little piglet immediately leaped down and burrowed into the entrance Wang Yue had emerged from earlier.
Zhou Hao led Zhou Yuanbao and Mu Jinyin after it.
Wang Yue stood there dumbly, hesitating over whether he should follow them.
After wavering again and again, he still went down after them. After all, the Fire Core Flower below was something he had guarded for seven years, though it might no longer belong to him shortly.
When Zhou Hao arrived below, he found the little piglet circling a fiery red flower and squealing, "Oink oink."
He walked over and examined it closely. The flower was wrapped in six fiery red petals, while flames burned atop the stamen in the center.
One look was enough to tell that this flower was no ordinary treasure.
Zhou Hao turned to glance at Wang Yue and asked, "What kind of flower is this?"
Wang Yue replied with a smile, "The Fire Core Flower, a Mysterious-grade High-grade Spirit Medicine."
Though he was smiling, tears had long since been streaming down his heart like rain.
Zhou Hao nodded slightly. Looking thoughtfully at the little piglet, he thought, Could this little piglet be a treasure-seeking pig?
Judging by all the little piglet's behavior, it really was possible.
But he clearly carried the most treasures on him, so why had it sought out a Fire Core Flower from so far away? Could it be because the Ring of Holding blocked their aura?
With that thought in mind, Zhou Hao immediately took out a crystal stone and placed it before the little piglet.
Yet the little piglet remained unmoved, nowhere near as excited as it had been upon seeing the Fire Core Flower.
It seemed it wasn't an issue of the treasure's grade, Zhou Hao thought.
He shook his head. He would study that question after returning. Turning to Wang Yue, he asked, "Did you plant this flower?"
When Wang Yue saw the crystal stone in Zhou Hao's hand, he froze again. If he had not seen wrong, it should have been a Top-grade Crystal Stone.
Damn, he had really encountered a big-shot senior.
"Hey." Seeing him stand there blankly, Zhou Hao prompted him.
"Oh... oh~" Wang Yue came back to his senses and nodded repeatedly. "N-no, I didn't plant it, but I raised it."
Zhou Hao nodded lightly, then asked, "Do you have any jade on you?"
He guessed that Wang Yue, as a Spirit Profound cultivator, should have some jade of decent quality.
Wang Yue did not understand why, but he reacted quickly and immediately nodded. "I do, I do."
He immediately laid out every piece of jade from his Ring of Holding.
Zhou Hao swept his gaze over them, his eyes lighting up as he immediately locked onto a piece of dark green jadeite.
He reached out, picked up the palm-sized piece of jadeite, and asked, "How much for this?"
"No need. I'll give it to you, Senior," Wang Yue said at once.
Zhou Hao shook his head and tossed him a Top-grade Crystal Stone. "This should be enough."
Wang Yue held the Top-grade Crystal Stone in his hands, stunned where he stood. Th-this was far too generous, wasn't it?
Zhou Hao paid him no further mind. Now that he knew the little piglet's target and had obtained a piece of higher-quality jadeite, this trip had already yielded enough.
Only after Zhou Hao left with the little piglet in his arms did Wang Yue slowly come back to his senses.
Wang Yue looked at the Fire Core Flower, then at the Top-grade Crystal Stone in his hand, before turning his gaze toward the exit Zhou Hao had left through.
For a time, he did not know what to say.
Before you continue