Iron Ox Tribe! (Seeking Collection!)

Dazed and confused, Zhou Hao felt as if he were submerged in a state of chaos.

There was no time here, no space; there was only an endless, boundless darkness.

"Pain!"

A searing, scorching agony radiating from his left arm pulled Zhou Hao's consciousness back from the dark void.

He wiped the sweat from his forehead and immediately checked the nine Cloud Seal tattoos on his left arm.

Sure enough, the color was deeper than before, as if someone had traced over them with fresh ink.

"The three-year deadline is approaching again..." Zhou Hao lay on the bed, his eyes staring blankly at the ceiling, unfocused.

Come to think of it, this was already his second life.

He recalled his previous life, when he was born with the nine Cloud Seal patterns on his left arm. His parents had been overjoyed, believing it to be a sign of greatness, but they never expected him to be frail from childhood. Every three years, as the color of the patterns deepened, his health would deteriorate further, and even the most renowned physicians could find no cause.

In the end, Zhou Hao concluded it was a terminal illness. He exhausted his family's modest savings on various tonics, yet he still didn't make it to eighteen.

Then came this life.

As for why he retained the memories of his past life, Zhou Hao couldn't explain it himself.

Perhaps living again was a blessing.

But the Cloud Seal patterns on his arm followed him like a curse, filling Zhou Hao with despair.

Was he destined to watch himself die again, unable to change a single thing?

Fortunately!

Fortunately, when he was six, he met his master, True Person Daoyi, an old Daoist whose lifelong wish was to cultivate the Dao and become an immortal.

It was precisely because his master taught him Daoist techniques from a young age—using the breathing and meditation methods of internal martial arts—that Zhou Hao was able to grow up healthy, unlike in his previous life where he could only lie in bed waiting for death.

As for his physical condition, his master had been researching it all along.

True Person Daoyi believed that the nine Cloud Seal patterns were innate Dao marks that required true Daoist essence to be properly activated.

But how could a mortal body possess Daoist essence?

Naturally, the marks could only devour the life force within his body, eventually leading to his death when that energy was exhausted.

"Right."

The scene from before he lost consciousness flashed through his mind, and Zhou Hao's eyes suddenly lit up.

"This is a different world—a world with Great Demons!"

Rolling off the bed, Zhou Hao surveyed his unfamiliar surroundings.

It was a yurt, constructed with a wooden frame covered in various animal hides.

The space inside was quite spacious, covering forty or fifty square meters, though the tables, stools, and even the bed he had been sitting on were all carved from stone.

The floor was covered in thick furs that felt soft and comfortable to the touch.

Is this the home of that young woman? Zhou Hao wondered. Living in a yurt—could they be a nomadic tribe? The furniture is made of stone, and she wears animal skins; it seems the level of civilization here isn't very high.

His own clothes had been changed as well; he was now wearing a soft animal-skin garment, with the lining treated in such a way that it felt perfectly comfortable against his skin.

"You're awake?"

The two pieces of hide hanging at the tent entrance were suddenly pushed aside.

A boy dressed in white fur, carrying a stone basin in his hands, walked in.

"Aunt Xiangcao said to drink this once you woke up."

The boy was about six or seven years old, looking spirited and sturdy.

Aunt Xiangcao? Was that the young woman?

Zhou Hao walked over and took the stone basin from the boy; it was surprisingly heavy.

The basin was filled to the brim with a milky-white liquid that emitted a rich, creamy fragrance.

"What kind of milk is this?" Zhou Hao asked. "Mare's milk? Goat's milk?"

He remembered that the nomadic tribes on Earth drank goat or mare milk.

"This is Wild Ox Milk," the boy said. "Aunt Xiangcao said you were too weak, fainting after being chased by a few Gray Wolves. Drinking this will give you strength; I drink it every day, which is why I'm so strong."

He was indeed strong.

This basin of Wild Ox Milk, combined with the weight of the stone vessel, was at least thirty pounds, yet the boy carried it without the slightest effort.

How could an ordinary six or seven-year-old on Earth have such strength?

Inhaling the rich, milky aroma, Zhou Hao felt his body stir, and a sense of hunger hit him with overwhelming intensity.

He didn't stand on ceremony; he sat on a stone stool, lifted the basin, and began to drink in large gulps.

Delicious!

As the sweet, creamy liquid slid down his throat, a wave of heat radiated from his stomach throughout his entire body.

Zhou Hao felt his spirits lift, and the lingering fatigue from his long slumber vanished completely.

Zhou Hao downed nearly twenty catties of Wild Ox Milk in one breath, draining more than half the basin before setting it down and letting out a long, deep exhale.

Refreshing!

"Gurgle~~"

Hm?

Only then did Zhou Hao notice the little boy perched on the stone table, chin resting in his hands, staring at him with wide, obsidian eyes.

"Want some?"

"Mm."

"Tell Uncle your name first..."

Under the temptation of the Wild Ox Milk, the little boy answered every question.

His name was Iron Pillar, though the adults all called him Zhuzi. He was only four years old, not the six or seven Zhou Hao had assumed.

The young woman who had rescued him was named Xiangcao, the boy's paternal aunt.

Their tribe was the Iron Ox Tribe, and the chieftain was Iron Pillar's father, Iron Ox.

As for this wilderness, it was called the Great Wild Plains.

"Zhuzi," Zhou Hao looked at Iron Pillar, "your Aunt Xiangcao said there are Great Demons and immortal cultivators in the Great Wild Plains. Is that true?"

Zhuzi was only four, after all, and couldn't answer many questions.

But since Zhou Hao was most concerned about matters of cultivation, he still wanted to learn as much as he could from the boy.

"It's true! Dad killed a Great Demon."

Iron Pillar didn't even look up as he lowered his head to drink the Wild Ox Milk.

"Dad and Uncle Zhamu left the tribe this time to trade the Great Demon's carcass for millet and cultivation techniques, so I can become an immortal cultivator too."

"When I grow up, I'll kill Great Demons just like Dad and protect Aunt Xiangcao..."

Immortal cultivation really exists!!

Zhou Hao stood up abruptly. "Zhuzi, where is your father? I want to see him."

"Dad isn't back yet." Iron Pillar set down the empty stone basin, looking at the agitated Zhou Hao with confusion. "Aunt went to meet Dad and the others. You can see him when he gets back."

"Zhuzi, tell me more about the Great Demon. Your father must be incredibly strong to have killed one..."

"Of course! Dad is the strongest warrior in the tribe!"

The endless wilderness stretched out before them.

A team of Black Cunning Beasts, shaped like leopards with horns sprouting from their heads, darted forward at high speed.

Among these Black Cunning Beasts, nine carried animal-hide bags strapped to their backs, while the other eleven were mounted by riders.

Leading them was a burly man clad in black animal hides, followed by nine men dressed in similar fashion and a young woman carrying a bow and arrows.

That girl was none other than Xiangcao, the aunt Zhuzi had spoken of.

"Brother, did that Great Demon An Beast really only trade for these twenty Black Cunning Beasts and a thousand catties of millet?" Xiangcao looked at her brother, Iron Ox, who had remained silent on the lead beast, feeling a sense of injustice.

"The Black Hand Tribe is too ruthless. They insisted that the An Beast had escaped from their hunting party, and had the nerve to say that giving us this much was already showing Iron Ox respect."

"What respect? If they really respected us, would they have demanded an extra hundred wild oxen on top of the taxes?"

"The most hateful thing is that we didn't even want the beasts or the millet; we only begged for a Qi Refining technique, and they still refused..."

Before Iron Ox could speak, several other tribal warriors chimed in, some angrily cursing the Black Hand Tribe.

"Enough!" Iron Ox barked, silencing them. "What good does cursing do? It was already a stroke of immense luck to stumble upon a dying Great Demon; otherwise, we wouldn't have even gotten these beasts and millet. With this, we have enough to sustain the entire tribe's migration."

Migration?

Everyone looked toward Iron Ox.

"You've decided?"

Zhamu, the warrior whose strength was second only to the chieftain, Iron Ox, was the first to ask.

"The Black Hand Tribe has grown increasingly aggressive this year. I've heard they've already wiped out over a dozen small tribes." Iron Ox nodded, his gaze fixed on the horizon as if trying to see the end of the plains.

"Our tribe doesn't even have a single Innate Lifeform. If the Black Hand Tribe truly wanted to deal with us, two Innate Lifeforms could easily slaughter us all..."

The group fell silent.

It was true.

Compared to the Black Hand Tribe, which could build cities on the Great Wild Plains, the Iron Ox Tribe was far too weak.

The Black Hand Tribe possessed several Innate Lifeforms, and their strongest chieftain was rumored to be among the most powerful even within that rank.

If not for the fact that they were all veterans from the Liu Clan—one of the hegemons of the Great Wild Plains—and that Iron Ox had served as a Nine-Fang Warrior in the Liu Clan West Mansion Guard Army, far surpassing ordinary post-innate warriors...

If any other small tribe had obtained a Great Demon carcass, the Black Hand Tribe would have simply seized it by force.

"Have you decided where we're migrating to?" Zhamu asked again. "If we want to escape the exploitation of the Black Hand Tribe, we must reach the territory of one of the five hegemons of the Great Wild Plains. The closest one to us is the Liu Clan."

Hearing Zhamu mention the Liu Clan, Xiangcao raised her eyebrows, ready to speak.

"We aren't going to the Liu Clan." Iron Ox glanced at his sister, giving her a reassuring look, before turning to Zhamu beside him. "We are going to Jade Dragon City."

Jade Dragon City was the only city the East Sea Sect held in the Great Wild Plains, and its status was transcendent; even the other major hegemon clans dared not provoke the East Sea Sect.

"Besides, they are a cultivation sect. It will be easier to obtain cultivation techniques there."

"Jade Dragon City of the East Sea Sect?" Zhamu nodded slightly, but the other warriors looked at one another in confusion.

The ordinary warriors of the tribe had limited experience; most lived their entire lives within the confines of their own territory.

To them, a hegemon clan like the Liu Clan was already an unimaginably massive power. Was this Jade Dragon City even stronger than that?

"Will they bully us like the Black Hand Tribe did?"

"Yeah, with such a massive influence, the taxes must be heavy, right?"

The other warriors voiced their doubts one after another. Even Zhamu had only heard passing merchants speak of it and knew no details.

"They won't." Xiangcao took over the conversation.

"I once heard Second Young Lady say that Jade Dragon City is backed by a true cultivation sect, and the surrounding ten thousand miles fall under their sphere of influence.

Tribes within their territory only need to pay standard taxes to receive the protection of Jade Dragon City, and even great demons dare not..."

Amidst their conversation, the Black Cunning Beasts galloped across the wilderness.

In the distance, a small tribe consisting of thirty-some felt tents and herds of Wild Ox appeared before them.

"Finally back."

"Pack everything up in a bit; we leave tomorrow."

After hearing Xiangcao's introduction, Zhamu and the others began to yearn for the paradise-like Jade Dragon City and the true cultivation sect behind it.

To survive, the people of the tribe had to fight against the heavens, the earth, and the demonic beasts!

Life was already bitter, and now that they had to endure the oppression of the Black Hand Tribe, they had long since had enough.

"They're back! They're back!"

"Iron Ox and the others brought back the Millet!"

From the watchtower in front of the tribal camp, the warrior on guard duty spotted Iron Ox and his party from afar and immediately shouted excitedly toward the interior of the tribe.

The entire Iron Ox Tribe instantly erupted into a frenzy.

People rushed out of their felt tents, and when they saw the animal-hide sacks carried by the Black Cunning Beasts, they let out waves of cheers.

Within the crowd, Xiangcao caught sight of a young man pulling Zhuzi along, looking just as jubilant.

"It's him? Why does he look even more excited than the people from our tribe..."