Arriving at Jade Dragon City! (Seeking Collections and Votes!)

The Earth Armor Dragon nest, which had been peaceful for two days, was suddenly disrupted today.

A massive Night Owl dove from high above, transforming into a middle-aged man in black robes before landing before the ruins of the mountain peak.

It was Night Shadow, the Great Demon who had come out to track the whereabouts of Ye Feng and Yuan Lie.

"This is..." Night Shadow stared in shock at the massive Qingshi standing amidst the mountain ruins.

The Qingshi, nearly twenty zhang tall, had one side smoothed over, with a line of large characters written upon it in blood.

"Zhou Hao slew a Xiantian lifeform of the Black Hand Tribe here!"

Beneath the Qingshi, there appeared to be traces of wild beasts having dug, but since that spot had originally been a solid piece of rock from the fractured mountain, and the weight of the Qingshi pressing down was immense, ordinary beasts could never have dug it out.

Seeing a pool of dark red blood at the base of the Qingshi that seemed to have seeped out from underneath, Night Shadow flipped his hand to produce a black vine whip and lashed it toward the blood-stained stone.

Whoosh!

The black vine whip elongated rapidly, wrapping directly around the Qingshi as Night Shadow channeled his demonic power.

Rumble~~~

The entire Qingshi was forcibly ripped out by the black vine whip.

"Commander Yuan!" Night Shadow exclaimed.

Beneath the Qingshi lay a corpse, already pressed somewhat flat.

Not only that, but his skull was mostly shattered and his upper body was twisted in a grotesque fashion; one could only barely distinguish the simian features of his face.

"Too arrogant! Are they afraid we wouldn't be able to find them?"

After the shock, Night Shadow lashed out with the black vine whip in his hand in a fit of rage.

Whoosh!

The whip, like the tail of a black snake, struck the blood-stained Qingshi.

Bang!

How could a mere piece of mountain rock withstand such immense force? It instantly shattered into a pile of rubble.

After venting his inner fury, Night Shadow looked at Yuan Lie—who had been so imposing that even his master, Motai Xiao, hadn't paid him much mind when they first arrived in Motai City—now not only dead but crushed beneath the stone. He couldn't help but grow suspicious of the identity of this Zhou Hao who had left the blood message.

This Zhou Hao, being able to kill a Xiantian peak Commander Yuan, is very likely a Purple Mansion cultivator. How have I never heard of him on the Great Wild Plains? Night Shadow thought to himself. Could he be a powerhouse sent by that Second Young Lady of the Liu Clan? That shouldn't be right, all for the sake of a mere maid?

The Second Young Lady of the Liu Clan was extremely famous among the top echelons of the major tribes on the Great Wild Plains, not for anything else, but because she had married into the absolute hegemon of the entire Great Wild Plains and even the entire Guangling Prefecture—the Ji Clan.

They were one of the eight hundred feudal lords enfeoffed when the Great Xia Dynasty first unified the world, and they were absolutely a top-tier clan even within the entire Great Xia Dynasty.

While hegemon tribes like the Hu Clan, Yang Clan, and Miao Clan might not know the details so clearly, Night Shadow's master was Motai Xiao, an ambitious man who aspired to establish a hegemon tribe on the Great Wild Plains.

He had not only established ties with the Fire Worship Sect early on but also paid close attention to intelligence regarding the other hegemon tribes.

As Motai Xiao's spirit beast, Night Shadow was privy to much of this secret intelligence.

"Master is right; better to let the Fire Worship Sect worry about this. I've heard that even the power behind the Fire Worship Sect is something the Marquis of Guangling, the Ji Clan, fears deeply."

Swish!

Night Shadow collected Yuan Lie's corpse into his storage treasure.

It was fortunate that it was a corpse; if it were a living being, it could not have been stored in a storage treasure.

As for Ye Feng's corpse, Night Shadow checked the area, found nothing, and ceased to care.

At the edge of a forest overgrown with weeds, a troop of nearly a hundred Black Cunning Beasts suddenly darted out.

"Halt." Tie Niu, who was in the lead, raised his hand. The group pulled on the leather ropes controlling the Black Cunning Beasts and came to a stop.

"Young Master." On the back of a Black Cunning Beast, Ren Liang pointed ahead and shouted, "That is Jade Dragon City. We have arrived."

"Jade Dragon City?" Zhou Hao looked up toward the distance.

He saw that at the end of his line of sight, a continuous mountain range stretched across the horizon of the plains.

In a flat area in the center of the mountains sat a massive city, as if it were suppressing a winding divine dragon.

Even though they were still nearly a hundred miles away from the city, Zhou Hao could faintly sense the ripples emanating from that massive city with his divine sense.

"Finally here." A longing look appeared in Zhou Hao's eyes.

"Jade Dragon City." Tie Niu, Xiangcao, Old Blind Man, and the people of the Iron Ox Tribe all had a glimmer in their eyes as well.

It was a longing for a peaceful life and an expectation for the future.

"Let's go, we're heading over." Zhou Hao kicked the belly of his Black Cunning Beast, and it immediately leaped forward, darting ahead.

Behind him, Xiangcao, Ren Liang, Tie Niu, and the tribespeople followed on their Black Cunning Beasts.

After traveling continuously for two days without a moment's rest, they had finally seen their destination, Jade Dragon City. Everyone felt their exhaustion vanish, and the hundred-mile journey was covered in an instant.

As they drew closer to Jade Dragon City, the surrounding population grew increasingly dense.

Along the roads, there were even markets, taverns, and inns appearing.

Even the pedestrians on the road were mostly dressed in cloth, with few wearing animal skins.

The long-lost scent of civilization made Zhou Hao sigh in relief.

Finally, it's not the primitive Wilderness World.

Previously, he had assumed the entire world was like the Great Wild Plains, filled only with tribal settlements and desolate lands teeming with savage beasts outside their borders.

Tie Zhu rode the same Black Cunning Beast as Xiangcao. Suddenly confronted with such a bustling market scene, his eyes couldn't take it all in.

In particular, a restaurant had set up three large cauldrons in front of its entrance. The aroma of beast meat stewing within was more than Tie Zhu, who had been eating hard rations for two days, could bear.

"Aunt, I'm hungry." Tie Zhu looked at Xiangcao with pleading eyes, saliva already pooling at the corners of his mouth, drawn out by the fragrance.

"Good boy, just hold on a little longer. Once we get into the city and settle down, Aunt will stew some meat for you." Xiangcao coaxed him, though her own stomach suddenly let out a loud, rumbling growl.

Seeing Xiangcao's face flush bright red, Zhou Hao smiled and spoke up, "No need to rush. My stomach is growling too; let's eat before we head into the city."

With Zhou Hao—who had implicitly become the leader of the group—having spoken, Iron Ox and the others had no objections. Having eaten cold, hard rations for two days, they were all famished at the smell of the meat.

Xiangcao's eyes shimmered. Seeing that Zhou Hao hadn't mocked her but instead covered for her, she felt as if she had just tasted honey.

"Honored warriors, our humble shop just received a batch of fresh Zhilong Meat today. Paired with our master's secret broth, even the Xiantian beings in the Green Flood Dragon Army praise it endlessly and visit often."

Just as they reached the restaurant entrance, a waiter dressed in blue cloth hurried out to greet them.

"Oh, so many people."

Only then did the waiter notice the crowd of over a hundred men, women, and children following behind Zhou Hao, along with nearly a hundred Black Cunning Beasts creating a dark, dense mass on the road.

"This, this... my shop has limited space. If you honored warriors don't mind, could you rest in the open space next door?" the waiter asked, somewhat hesitant.

Their restaurant had been at the West Gate Market outside Jade Dragon City for over a dozen years, and they had seen plenty of tribal warriors from the Great Wild Plains.

Those men in beast-hide clothing were used to being wild in their tribes and often had short tempers, frequently drawing blades at the slightest provocation.

Although this was outside Jade Dragon City and the West Gate Market had city guards, one only had one life to lose.

"That's fine." Zhou Hao swept a glance over the shop. There were only six or seven tables, and even if full, they could only seat thirty or forty people. He certainly wouldn't make things difficult for the waiter.

He had Old Blind Man and the other warriors take the group to the open space to rest, while only he, Iron Ox, Xiangcao, and Tie Zhu followed the waiter inside.

"Please serve our tribespeople as quickly as possible. We need to enter the city once we've eaten." Zhou Hao casually took out a piece of Dog-Head Gold and handed it to the waiter.

"No problem, no problem! There are three or four hundred pounds of Zhilong Meat in the pot; if that's not enough, I'll just cook more." The waiter was overjoyed at the sight of the gold.

Knowing he had encountered a generous customer, he became even more nimble in attending to them.

Clatter, clatter, clatter...

A sound like horseshoes striking the ground approached, stopping abruptly outside the restaurant.

Then, a boisterous voice rang out from outside, "So many people today? Zhu Da, Zhu Da! I heard a new batch of Zhilong Meat arrived? Our Commander Cao is here to support your business!"

"Coming, coming!" A response came from the back of the restaurant, and a stout, round-faced middle-aged man emerged.

The middle-aged man was likely the owner. He was stunned to see Zhou Hao and his group, but upon seeing the Dog-Head Gold in the waiter's hand, he urged him to attend to the guests before hurrying out of the shop.

As the waiter led Zhou Hao's group to a table in a secluded corner, he whispered, "Honored warriors, that is Commander Cao Rong of the Green Flood Dragon Army's Xiantian Battalion. He is a big shot in Jade Dragon City. Please keep your voices down and don't provoke them."

"A Xiantian Battalion Commander?" Zhou Hao mused. His goal in coming to Jade Dragon City was precisely to join the Green Flood Dragon Army's Xiantian Battalion.

No sooner had they sat down than a tall, sturdy young man in green armor with flaming red hair strode in.

He was followed by three men in similar green armor. The stout restaurant owner trailed behind, leading the four to the center table of the shop.

Perhaps due to the instinctive sensing between experts, the red-haired man's gaze swept over Iron Ox and the others, finally coming to rest on Zhou Hao.

"A Xiantian being?"

Seeing the red-haired man watching him, Zhou Hao gave a slight nod.

This is a master.

Attention! Attention! The next chapter contains a potential turn-off... I made a perspective error, assuming everyone knew the background and plot details that I, as the author, knew.

If you feel uncomfortable, feel free to read the next chapter immediately.

You will find that it was all just a misunderstanding.

Many readers have asked me to change it... I don't have the energy right now, so I can only warn you all to build up your immunity.

Apologies, apologies!