State of Mind Affects! (Seeking Collection)

Swish!

Zhou Hao flipped his left hand, retrieving the other Red Gold Copper Rod from his Mustard Stone Space.

Holding a rod in each hand, he looked at the three stunned men—Cao Rong and his companions—and said coldly, "If you want to fight, come at me all at once. I'll take you on. This has nothing to do with them."

With that, he signaled for Xiangcao to take Iron Pillar away first.

Since he had already struck, and against a Xiantian lifeform of the Green Flood Dragon Army no less, Zhou Hao was prepared for a full-scale brawl.

Relying on the remaining wisp of mist within his Sea of Consciousness Blue Flower, he was confident he could retreat unscathed even if faced with a Purple Mansion cultivator, let alone a few Xiantian lifeforms.

Although the baleful energy in his heart made him want to disregard everything and slaughter his way through, Zhou Hao's years of mental cultivation kept a shred of reason intact, preventing him from dealing a killing blow to the Xiantian lifeform earlier.

That Xiantian lifeform followed the Gods and Devils Body Refining Path; even though his body was split in two, as long as his head and vital points remained intact, he could recover by expending some divine power.

In this way, things would not escalate to an irreconcilable point with the Xiantian Battalion.

Of course, the pain of being bisected was unavoidable.

Yet, when he saw that Cao Rong and the other two, despite their astonishment, showed no sign of rage over their companion being struck, he couldn't help but feel puzzled.

"Brother," Cao Rong's gaze fell upon the pair of Red Gold Copper Rods in Zhou Hao's hands. "May I ask where you obtained these two copper rods?"

"Brother?" Zhou Hao was taken aback.

Shouldn't you Xiantian lifeforms be swarming me to avenge your fallen companion?

You lot are clearly not playing by the rules!

"Little brother," the man who looked refined and scholarly also cupped his hands. "Er Hu meant no harm; he just has a foul mouth. Surely the blow you dealt him just now was enough to vent your anger. If he gets up and starts spouting nonsense again, we won't say a word even if you smash him into meat paste."

"Exactly, exactly." The other man, who wore a white cloth tied around his forehead instead of a helmet, nodded repeatedly.

"My subordinate was offensive earlier; I apologize to you and your sister on his behalf," Cao Rong said, seeing that Zhou Hao was ignoring him. "Little brother has yet to say, where did these two copper rods come from?"

As they spoke, Iron Ox, Xiangcao, the Old Blind Man, and the others rushed in from outside the shop.

It turned out that after Xiangcao led Iron Pillar away, she felt uneasy, told Iron Ox, and turned back.

Iron Ox and the Old Blind Man had hurried in after her.

"Little Brother Zhou, don't worry about us. You've already offended the Black Hand Tribe for our sake; our Iron Ox Tribe isn't afraid of trouble. At worst, we'll all die here together."

Iron Ox held his twin axes, glaring at Cao Rong and his two companions.

Zhou Hao had left the blood letter earlier specifically so that if the Black Hand Tribe sought revenge, they would come for him.

Knowing that Little Brother Zhou had gained a powerful enemy solely because of their tribe, Iron Ox and the others already felt guilty; now that another conflict had arisen because of Xiangcao, they naturally refused to look out only for themselves.

"No need, Brother Iron Ox." Zhou Hao felt a warmth in his heart upon seeing them, and the rampant baleful energy within him began to subside.

Zhou Hao shook his head. "It's a misunderstanding."

He realized then that he had been influenced by the baleful energy of slaughter without even noticing.

Having transmigrated from a peaceful modern society to this Wilderness World, he had first encountered the senseless slaughter by Motai Jie, followed by the ambush of two Xiantian lifeforms from the Black Hand Tribe.

In two lifetimes, Zhou Hao had never encountered such circumstances.

Slaughter is a sin.

In just a few days, he had already taken over a hundred lives.

After breaking through to the Xiantian realm, he possessed power far beyond the mundane and had awakened a weapon of mass destruction like the Blue Flower Space, allowing him to decide the life or death of even his fellow Xiantian peers.

How immense was the impact of this on the values Zhou Hao had built since childhood?

The several bouts of killing and the tragic deaths of the Iron Ox Tribe members had ultimately taken a toll on his state of mind.

Unknowingly, his heart had become filled with baleful energy.

My Dao heart cultivation is still insufficient, Zhou Hao warned himself inwardly.

In his mind, the holy image of the Supreme Clarity Moral Heavenly Venerable appeared, draped in five-colored robes, standing as if he were eternal.

His gaze was peaceful, as if nothing in the world could cause the slightest ripple, calmly overlooking all living beings across the myriad worlds.

"A misunderstanding?" Iron Ox and the others looked at the two halves of the body on the ground, still struggling to knit back together under a shroud of green light.

If a misunderstanding resulted in this, what would happen if it weren't a misunderstanding? Would he mince them into meat sauce?

Cao Rong watched from the side as Zhou Hao conversed with Iron Ox and the others.

Suddenly, he keenly noticed that the young man before him seemed to have changed.

Compared to before, he seemed... more peaceful.

Cao Rong and his two companions came over to reintroduce themselves to Zhou Hao.

He already knew Cao Rong's name; the scholarly-looking man was named 'Yang Qiong', and the man with the white cloth around his forehead was 'Miao Ying'.

As for the one on the ground, his name was 'Zhao Hu', but because he was the second child in his family, those familiar with him called him Er Hu.

After they introduced themselves, Cao Rong asked again if the copper rods in his hands were obtained from the Ape Demon of the Fire Worship Sect, and only then did Zhou Hao understand why their attitude had shifted so drastically.

"I obtained these copper rods after killing an ape-man demon named Yuan Lie," Zhou Hao raised the Red Gold Copper Rods. "Whether he was the Ape Demon of the Fire Worship Sect, I do not know, but he looked like an ape and possessed immense strength in his arms."

"That must be it," Cao Rong nodded. "I previously led a team to the West Mountain Marsh to hunt down a great demon that had been devouring people within the territory of Jade Dragon City, and we happened to run into this Yuan Lie."

Since I didn't know his name, I just called him Ape Demon because he looked like an ape.

"We lost quite a few brothers to his pair of red-gold staves back then. I've been wanting to cross paths with him again, but I never expected he'd end up dying at the hands of Brother Zhou Hao."

"That Yuan Lie practiced a unique technique; his pair of arms were truly formidable when wielding those red-gold staves. Even Cao..."

At this point, Yang Qiong suddenly felt the temperature around him spike. Realizing he had made a slip of the tongue, he immediately clamped his mouth shut.

However, Zhou Hao already understood. It seemed Cao Rong must have suffered a loss when he faced Yuan Lie in the past.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to identify the weapon as Yuan Lie's with just a single glance.

Whoosh!

Zhao Hu, whose two halves had rejoined and healed, leaped up from the ground. His armor had been destroyed, so he now used True Origin to manifest a set of green robes.

"Er Hu, why haven't you come over to apologize to Brother Zhou Hao yet?" Cao Rong glared at him fiercely.

They had nearly ended up in a life-or-death struggle with a monster who had killed the Ape Demon, all because of a few jokes.

Even though Cao Rong was confident his strength had improved over these days, he wouldn't dare claim he was definitely superior to the Yuan Lie of the past.

If they had truly clashed with Zhou Hao, it was quite possible that several of the four of them would have met their end here today.

"B-Brother Zhou Hao, it was my foul mouth. I apologize to you." Zhao Hu hung his head and bowed deeply to Zhou Hao, then turned to Xiangcao. "Miss Zhou, I was in the wrong before. Please accept my apology."

Xiangcao hurriedly stepped aside, waving her hands. "Forget it, forget it. It was all just a misunderstanding."

After a brief pause, she emphasized, "My name is Xiangcao. I am not his younger sister."

"Yes, Miss Xiangcao. I, Zhao Hu, apologize to you." Zhao Hu bowed to Xiangcao as well before walking over to Cao Rong and the others, standing there with his head down, silent.

"Brother Zhou Hao, look, the misunderstanding is cleared up, so let's put this behind us, shall we?" Yang Qiong smiled, trying to smooth things over. "We can consider this a case of 'not knowing each other without a fight.' In the future, if your tribe needs anything in Jade Dragon City, just come to us."

"Exactly," Cao Rong nodded. "I have quite a bit of pull in Jade Dragon City. If Brother Zhou Hao needs anything, just say the word."

"Can you help if Brother Zhou wants to find a Qi-refining technique?" Tie Niu spoke up first.

He didn't want to give a pleasant look to these guys who had made jokes about his sister, even if they were Xiantian beings.

"A Qi-refining technique?" Cao Rong and the others laughed. "That's easy. If Brother Zhou Hao wants to get a few techniques for the tribe to help the clansmen develop internal energy, the markets in the East City have plenty. You can buy them for a few dozen pieces of Dog-Head Gold, or even a few pounds of Thunder Gold."

"That cheap?" Zhou Hao was surprised.

"Ordinary Qi-refining techniques only allow one to cultivate internal energy; how expensive could they be?" Yang Qiong laughed. "But those techniques can only take someone to the peak of the Post-Heaven realm at best. Reaching the Xiantian realm is difficult, and as for higher realms like the Purple Mansion or Myriad Phenomena, that's just wishful thinking."

"What about better techniques?" Zhou Hao pressed.

"Better ones are expensive. A technique that can reach the Xiantian realm starts at at least ten High-Grade Origin Stones, and that's just a simplified version—the speed at which it absorbs heaven and earth origin energy is agonizingly slow," Yang Qiong shook his head.

"After all, anything sold publicly is limited. Truly good techniques are the foundation of immortal-cultivating tribes or sects; how could they be allowed to circulate freely? To get better techniques, you have to join a faction."

"Why join another faction? Isn't our Green Flood Dragon Army's Xiantian Battalion the biggest power in Jade Dragon City!" Cao Rong laughed loudly.

"Brother Zhou Hao, our Xiantian Battalion has Qi-refining techniques that can reach the Purple Mansion realm—far better than anything traded in the markets outside.

You can also use military merits to exchange for Origin Stones and other cultivation resources.

With Brother Zhou Hao's strength, if you have the chance, becoming a squad leader like me wouldn't be difficult.

By then, not only will you get rewards for completing military missions, but you'll also receive an annual supply of High-Grade Origin Stones."

"Exactly," Yang Qiong echoed. "Joining the Xiantian Battalion is the most convenient path in Jade Dragon City. Not only does it benefit you personally, but your own tribe will also be under the city's protection and exempt from taxes."

"Not only protection for the tribe, but also tax exemption?" Zhou Hao's eyes lit up.

He had come to Jade Dragon City specifically to obtain a Qi-refining technique.

Now, not only could he achieve his goal, but the problem of settling the Iron Ox Tribe—which had been troubling him for days—was also resolved. Naturally, he was overjoyed.

The Iron Ox Tribe was the first to accept him, and they had braved life and death together on their journey.

With Jade Dragon City's protection in the future and himself nearby in the Xiantian Battalion, he would no longer have to worry about the Black Hand Tribe's pursuit and retaliation.

Thinking of this, Zhou Hao cupped his hands and bowed to Cao Rong and the others. "Then I will trouble you all to guide me. I wish to join the Green Flood Dragon Army's Xiantian Battalion."

"What trouble is there in that? Once Brother Zhou Hao joins our Xiantian Battalion, we'll all be brothers-in-arms, and we can look out for each other in battle," Cao Rong laughed.

"No time like the present. While the sun is still high, we'll take you to the military department to register. As for your tribesmen, let them settle here in the West Gate Market for now. Once you receive the Tribe Decree, we can find a plot of land to establish your tribal camp."

"Good," Zhou Hao nodded.

The four of them were local snakes in Jade Dragon City; having them handle the arrangements would save him a lot of trouble.

"Zhu Da! Zhu Da!" Zhao Hu, who had been quiet, saw that everyone had reached an agreement and shouted toward the kitchen, "Come out and settle the bill! Put today's expenses on my tab."

Seeing this, Zhou Hao shook his head and smiled.

Although his own state of mind had been affected earlier, Zhao Hu's foul mouth was one of the sources of the conflict.

It would have been better if he had acted this way from the start; it was a shame he only understood after getting a beating.

The previous chapter was written to vent because my own state of mind was affected.

Another reason is that, in my view, when people from a normal society go to a world that seems to lack legal constraints—where human life is as cheap as grass—their state of mind will be affected to some degree.

Zhou Hao is also an ordinary person. Just because his soul is powerful doesn't mean his Dao heart is equally strong. It only means he has an easier path to improvement, but he still has a long way to go in terms of tempering himself.

I had intended to post this in the afternoon, but since the schedule is already disrupted, I might as well post it now.

This is the second update for today; there won't be one tonight.

Tomorrow, Suifeng has a meeting to attend. The pre-written draft will be posted as one chapter at noon and one in the afternoon as usual.