The Air of Malice Soars! (Seeking votes for the new week!)

Inside the restaurant.

Zhu Da, the burly owner, was personally attending to the table where the red-haired man sat.

A nimble waiter in green robes brought over three basins of stewed meat and a jar of rice wine before heading off to serve the Iron Ox Tribe members outside.

Zhou Hao and his group were hungry, so they began eating as soon as the food and drink arrived.

"Delicious." Iron Pillar's eyes lit up after his first bite. "It's even tastier than what Auntie stews."

"You brat, where do you get all this chatter?" Xiangcao tapped Iron Pillar on his small head. "Can't all this meat plug your mouth? I won't stew any more for you in the future."

After scolding Iron Pillar, Xiangcao pushed a basin of stewed meat toward Zhou Hao and pulled two bamboo chopsticks from a holder on the table to hand to him.

Zhou Hao smiled, took the chopsticks, plucked a piece of snow-white Zhilong Meat from the basin, and popped it into his mouth.

It was indeed delicious.

This "Zhilong" was a type of beast that lived deep underground.

Because it never surfaced its entire life, it lacked the scales and armor of the Earth Armor Dragon he had killed previously, surviving instead by consuming various spirit herbs and roots found deep in the earth.

The texture of the Zhilong meat wasn't as tough as Wild Ox; after being cooked with the restaurant's various seasonings, it became tender, succulent, and melted in the mouth.

At the other table, the red-haired man and his companions were also served the stewed Zhilong meat by the owner himself.

One man, lean and wiry with a boisterous voice, spoke while eating: "Zhu Da, your place is the only one in all of Jade Dragon City that consistently has Zhilong meat. How do you catch them? Is there a trick to it? Teach me, or I'll have to go another month without Zhilong once I'm stationed on some island again."

"That's right, teach us," another man nodded repeatedly. "As long as you're willing to tell, I'll give you ten catties of Thunder Gold."

"You lords are joking. I rely on this craft to feed my family; I can't pass it on for any amount of money." Zhu Da smiled apologetically.

"You generals are all Post-Heaven beings, great figures destined to cultivate into saints. Just come to my shop whenever you want to eat Zhilong. If it's inconvenient, just send someone to tell me, and I'll have it delivered—it's a small matter."

"Honestly, do you think we'd steal your business?" The lean man muttered, though he didn't press the owner further and waved for him to return to the kitchen.

This made Zhou Hao, who was watching from the shadows, nod slightly. A Post-Heaven being who had shed their mortal coil was not bullying or oppressing a mere mortal shopkeeper; it seemed Ren Liang was right about the Green Flood Dragon Army's strict discipline.

On the way to Jade Dragon City, Zhou Hao had learned from Ren Liang that because the city was located at the far east of the continent, bordering the vast East Sea, it was a gathering place for overseas cultivators, with the East City housing a specialized market for them.

Consequently, many top-tier tribes from the Great Wild Plains would send people over from time to time, primarily to sell the furs of Great Demons accumulated by their tribes and various rare materials gathered from the plains' mountains, exchanging them for the Origin Stones and resources needed for cultivation.

Such a prosperous trading hub naturally required powerful military deterrence.

The Green Flood Dragon Army was the most formidable guard force in Jade Dragon City, consisting of fifty thousand soldiers.

The minimum threshold for an ordinary soldier was the peak of the Post-Heaven stage, and there was even a "Xiantian Battalion" composed entirely of six hundred powerful Xiantian beings, which intimidated the countless tribal forces surrounding Jade Dragon City.

Ren Liang had previously followed Motai Jie to Jade Dragon City to conduct business for the Black Hand Tribe, but Motai Jie was so unscrupulous that he never returned after that one visit.

Thus, Ren Liang only knew bits and pieces about the Green Flood Dragon Army, knowing that joining them granted access to cultivation techniques, but nothing more specific.

Having encountered several experts from the Xiantian Battalion in this restaurant—one of whom was a commander—Zhou Hao naturally wanted to glean more information about the army from their conversation.

However, after the four Xiantian beings exchanged a few guesses about how to catch Zhilong, they drifted into idle chatter. Zhou Hao listened for a long time without hearing anything useful, so he stopped paying attention.

In any case, he had already arrived at Jade Dragon City; he could naturally find out what he wanted to know once he entered the city.

"Do you think that man is a spy from the Fire Worship Sect? He's been listening to our conversation the whole time."

"I doubt it. What kind of spy brings over a hundred tribesmen and walks into the city so brazenly?"

"Maybe it's a deliberate cover? You, Miao Ying, don't think he's a spy, do you?"

The four Xiantian beings at the red-haired man's table were ostensibly drinking and chatting, but they were secretly communicating via true essence, discussing Zhou Hao.

"Enough. Regardless of whether he's a Fire Worship Sect spy, Yang Qiong, go probe him in a moment." The red-haired man scanned the three, finally sending a telepathic message to the man with the most gentle temperament.

If that man weren't wearing green armor and instead wore a soft cloth robe, he would look more like a well-read scholar.

The lean man who had first asked the shopkeeper for the secret to catching Zhilong glanced at Xiangcao and teased the gentle-mannered man: "Yang Qiong, go ahead, but don't go hitting on the young woman beside him."

"Er Hu, do I look like such a vulgar person?" Yang Qiong shook his head with a smile. "A young girl is still ignorant of the ways of the world; how can she compare to a mature woman who knows how to be warm and understanding?"

"I forgot you're like Boss Cao—you don't like young girls, only mature women." The lean man called Er Hu chuckled softly. "How about this: wait until I make her a mature woman first, then you go hit on her? Then we'd truly be colleagues."

The joke made all four of them laugh.

Even Xiantian beings, who were high and mighty in the eyes of ordinary people, were not immune to the seven emotions and six desires.

The four of them were all men, and being in the military, it was perfectly normal for them to trade crude jokes.

By now, Zhou Hao's table had finished eating. Iron Ox went to check if the tribesmen had enough to eat, Iron Pillar was dozing off in Xiangcao's arms after his fill, and Zhou Hao was fiddling with a small, deep-green crystal in his hand.

It was another Mustard Stone he had obtained after killing Yuan Lie, containing three times the internal space of the one he had taken from Motai Jie.

He had been traveling the whole time and hadn't had a chance to examine it carefully. Now that he had reached Jade Dragon City, he prepared to take out the useless items inside to sell, exchanging them for cultivation resources that would be useful to him.

"Hm?" Just as Zhou Hao finished flipping through the black book in his hand, he heard a burst of laughter from the other side.

Beside him, Xiangcao kept her head down, seemingly coaxing Iron Pillar to sleep.

But just by looking at her reddened ears and the way her shoulders heaved from rapid breathing, it was clear she was suppressing her anger.

When a few men gathered together, what else could they be excitedly discussing?

Although Xiangcao didn't know exactly why they were laughing, the lean man had glanced at her first, followed by the others bursting into laughter.

She didn't need to guess to know they certainly weren't saying anything kind.

If this were the Great Wild Plains and she encountered men whispering and laughing about her, Xiangcao's temper would have seen an arrow flying their way regardless of their status.

But here outside Jade Dragon City, with the four of them being Xiantian lifeforms and experts from the Green Flood Dragon Army's Xiantian Battalion, she did not want to cause trouble for Zhou Hao.

Zhou Hao gently patted Xiangcao on the shoulder, then turned to look at the table where the red-haired man sat.

"Do the four of you have some happy news? Why not share it so we can all enjoy it?"

The sudden voice caused the red-haired man and his three companions to freeze.

After all, the person they had been teasing was the very girl sitting right beside him.

Even without knowing the relationship between Zhou Hao and Xiangcao, being confronted directly by Zhou Hao left them momentarily speechless.

They would naturally ignore ordinary mortals, but the leader, the red-haired man, had noticed Zhou Hao's peculiarity the moment he stepped inside.

Especially upon their first meeting, an instinct honed through countless life-and-death battles had given him a faint sense of threat—a truly terrifying realization.

One had to know that he, Cao Rong, was the second-ranked commander of the Green Flood Dragon Army's Xiantian Battalion; how could an ordinary Xiantian lifeform make him feel threatened?

"Brother, my name is Cao Rong, commander of the second team of the Green Flood Dragon Army's Xiantian Battalion, and these three are my subordinates. We were just chatting and joking; we meant no offense," the red-haired man, Cao Rong, said.

"I was actually just about to ask which tribe you hail from, and what brings you to Jade Dragon City?"

"Joking?" Zhou Hao smiled. "If I were to make jokes about you with my companion, would you be willing to accept it?"

Trying to brush it off as a joke while probing for his background—that was the real joke!

Cao Rong's face darkened as he looked at Zhou Hao. "Then what do you want?"

As soon as he finished speaking, red light surged across his body, and his red hair stood on end as if ignited by flames, causing the temperature in the shop to soar instantly.

"You will have him apologize to my younger sister." Zhou Hao sat calmly in his seat, the Lunar Divine Pattern on his back glowing, and the rising heat immediately dissipated.

When the lean man, Er Hu, heard that he was expected to apologize—and to an ordinary mortal girl at that—he could not contain his rage. He stood up with a whoosh and strode toward Zhou Hao.

"Commander, I think he's a spy from the Fire Worship Sect trying to infiltrate our Jade Dragon City. Let me take him down first," Er Hu said as he walked. "Kid, if you're smart, you'll surrender obediently, otherwise don't blame your Grandpa Er Hu..."

Whoosh!

Zhou Hao's figure moved like a thunderbolt, appearing before the lean man in an instant. He clenched his right hand into a fist and swung his arm. Bang! The right arm sent the lean man flying, crashing heavily onto the street outside the shop, startling many passersby who scrambled to get out of the way.

"If your mouth stays dirty, next time it won't be your body I hit, but your face," Zhou Hao said coldly.

This move was the 'Sea Floor Hammering Punch' from the Innate Taiji Fist he had practiced since childhood.

Having integrated the Water-Fire Taiji Grindstone he had comprehended during his battle with Yuan Lie, Zhou Hao channeled his divine power into a spiral force of water and fire, yin and yang. A single punch naturally carried the momentum of a massive stone grindstone in rotation.

In particular, Zhou Hao practiced the Chiming Nine Heavens Map, and his Innate God and Devil Body was perfect; his clenched fist was as heavy as a true hammer.

Combined with the force generated by the Taiji Grindstone within him, the strike was incredibly fierce. Even a Xiantian peak body-refining expert like Yuan Lie, wielding a 13,500-jin Red Gold Copper Rod, had his arm broken and his weapon sent flying by this move—a testament to its ferocity.

Although the mysterious Blue Flower Mist had played a major role at the time, it was undeniable that this fist technique alone was enough to sweep through peers of the same Xiantian rank.

Because this technique followed the most violent path, Zhou Hao had given it a name: 'Fantian Seal'.

It implied that one punch was like the legendary supreme treasure, the Fantian Seal—a single strike meant death.

"Er Hu!"

The other two men stood up with a start.

"Don't worry, he won't die. At most, a few broken ribs," Zhou Hao laughed, sitting back down in his seat.

Though he was laughing, Zhou Hao did not notice that the baleful energy growing in his heart had already begun to make him lose control.

"Ah!"

A roar came from outside the shop, and the lean man known as Er Hu rushed back in, wielding two four-sided Mixed Iron Hammers. A large indentation on his left ribcage was slowly recovering under the glow of green light.

Red-eyed, Er Hu charged at Zhou Hao while swinging his hammers, shouting, "Damn you, I'll kill you!"

Hearing the filth still coming from the man's mouth, Zhou Hao was truly enraged this time.

In this life, he had been raised by his master, 'True Person Daoyi'. Though he called him master, he held True Person Daoyi as dear as his own flesh and blood, as his own grandfather.

The constant slaughter since his transmigration, combined with the inner baleful energy and his current fury, made Zhou Hao feel increasingly violent.

"If you want to die, I'll grant your wish!" Zhou Hao's eyes were cold and vicious as a Red Gold Copper Rod appeared in his hand.

It was the weapon Yuan Lie had used, left behind for Zhou Hao to use after he had killed him.

The moment the Red Gold Copper Rod appeared, the wooden chair Zhou Hao sat upon shattered with a crack.

A 13,500-jin copper rod—let alone a wooden chair, even a stone chair would be crushed by such terrifying weight.

When Cao Rong saw the Red Gold Copper Rod suddenly appear in Zhou Hao's hand, his expression changed.

"This is..." He shouted immediately: "Stop! It's all a misunderstanding!"

To hell with your misunderstanding!

At this moment, Zhou Hao felt as if he had been possessed by a demon; his heart craved only slaughter.

Whoosh!

Using the same Fantian Seal force, but this time with the 13,500-jin Red Gold Copper Rod, the divine power of the Innate God and Devil Body combined with the weight of the rod itself...

The entire shop seemed as if it would be split in two by the rod, which whistled through the air with a sharp, piercing sound like blades cutting through the wind.

Zhou Hao swung his Red Gold Copper Rod upward in a hard strike, meeting the Mixed Iron Hammer brought down by the lean man, Er Hu, head-on.

The moment the Mixed Iron Hammer made contact with the Red Gold Copper Rod, it flattened instantly; unable to withstand the savage force contained within the rod, it burst apart from the center, and the Red Gold Copper Rod, its momentum unchecked, slammed straight into the man's shoulder.

Splutch!

In Zhou Hao's hands, the Red Gold Copper Rod acted as if it were a sharp blade, cleaving Er Hu entirely from the shoulder and splitting his body diagonally in two.

"Keep flapping your gums, and this rod of mine will be greeting your head next!"