Across the vast wilderness, a giant Night Owl soared through the clouds, beating its wings.
Two figures sat cross-legged on the Night Owl's back. The one in front was Motai Xiao.
"Qianxue, with your Taiyin Body, you're sure to have a promising path to immortality once you enter a true cultivation sect. Then I'll have done right by Brother Ling."
Motai Xiao sat in front, his gaze fixed on the endless wilderness in the distance.
His voice was gentle, nothing like the stern, cold way he had spoken to his son, Motai Jie.
"Father raised me for sixteen years and allowed me to bear the Motai surname. I'll remember all of that. If I succeed in cultivating immortality someday, I'll make the Motai Clan the strongest power on the Great Wild Plains." A cool, clear voice came from behind him.
Even without seeing her, just hearing her voice was enough to conjure the image of an peerlessly beautiful woman in one's mind.
Especially here, high among the clouds. The cool quality in her voice made her seem like an immortal descended from the heavens, and even Motai Xiao couldn't help but lose himself in the moment.
But Motai Xiao was a seasoned schemer. A moment later, his eyes cleared.
The Taiyin Body really is remarkable. Even her innate charm makes people want to draw near to her, even if it kills them... Motai Xiao sighed inwardly.
As Qianxue grew older, even he rarely dared to see her, for fear he might lose control and ruin years of careful planning.
"Hmm?" Motai Xiao's heart stirred. His soul connection with his spirit beast, Black Wind, had suddenly been severed.
A spirit beast had a soul contract with its master. At close range, they could even communicate directly through their minds.
Since the Night Owl was carrying him on this trip, Motai Xiao hadn't brought Black Wind along.
Now that their soul connection had been severed, there was only one possibility.
"Who killed Black Wind? It went out with Motai Jie today. Could they both be dead?" Motai Xiao's gaze sharpened. "The Liu Clan? The Miao Clan? The Yang Clan?"
Only the ruling clans of the Great Wild Plains would dare disregard the Black Hand Tribe and show no fear of him, Motai Xiao.
Feeling the sudden chill radiating from Motai Xiao, Motai Qianxue spoke softly. "Father?"
"My spirit beast, Black Wind, is dead," Motai Xiao said in a trembling voice. "It went out of the city with your brother today. Now that Black Wind is dead, your brother may have..."
"Motai Jie is dead?" Motai Qianxue froze.
She didn't like Motai Jie. In fact, she found him rather repulsive.
The first time she had met him, when she was thirteen, she'd seen the boundless desire in his eyes.
Fortunately, her father, Motai Xiao, had always protected her afterward, so Motai Jie hadn't dared to go too far.
Still, Motai Jie had continued to bother her from time to time, until she gave him a cultivation method and told him outright, "If you want to see me again, first cultivate the Chiming Nine Heavens Map to the Xiantian Lifeform realm."
Only then had she enjoyed some peace over the past two years.
But no matter how much she disliked Motai Jie, he was still her father's son.
Her eldest brother was dead, her third brother had a nature like that, and now even Motai Jie—the only one who could inherit the position of chief of the Black Hand Tribe—was dead...
"Father, should we turn back?" Motai Qianxue asked.
"No." Motai Xiao seemed to be doing his best to suppress his grief. "Qianxue, this is your best chance. I have to see you there myself. As for avenging your second brother... we'll do it later."
"Father." Motai Qianxue was moved.
"Qianxue, remember this. Once you get there, don't reveal the treasure I gave you until you've entered the Purple Mansion realm. There are many greedy, deceitful people in this world. People killing for treasure is all too common..."
Seeing that even after losing a son, her father still took the time to teach her carefully, Motai Qianxue felt a warmth spread through her heart.
But she didn't see Motai Xiao, who never turned around. His voice was gentle, but his eyes held not the slightest trace of emotion.
The Iron Ox Tribe.
"Quick!"
"Get everything ready!"
"Leave all the Wild Oxen behind. Once we're packed, let them head off in another direction."
Everyone in the Iron Ox Tribe was busy, and the women and children had come out to help, too.
Several families had lost their men, but death was an inevitable part of battle. The tribespeople had seen and experienced it too many times.
"Get some people over here! Strip the leather armor off these corpses and pile the bodies together. We'll burn them all in a little while."
The armor worn by a major tribe's guards was valuable. The Black Armor Army's black leather armor was tanned from Great Demon hides, making it both light and sturdy.
The coins and gold nuggets scavenged from the corpses excited the people even more. They usually bartered for goods and rarely saw money.
With money, they could buy more Wild Oxen, even if they'd lost the ones they had.
With money, even if the men of the family were gone, at least their wives and children could survive.
The sorrow of losing loved ones and abandoning their Wild Oxen had been eased somewhat by the wealth.
Iron Ox, Zhamu, and Qingshi were all swept up in excitement.
They stared at the Black Leopard Great Demon's corpse on the ground, at a loss as to what to do.
"I'll cut off some hide with the Cold Iron Dagger and take some leopard meat for us to eat on the road. We'll leave the rest," Zhou Hao said.
The Black Leopard was simply too huge. Even lying flat, it stood as tall as a three- or four-story building, and one of its sharp claws was longer than a man.
Good thing I stabbed it in the eye with the Cold Iron Dagger. Even with telekinetic control, I might not have been able to kill it otherwise, Zhou Hao thought. At the very least, if the Black Leopard had tried to escape, there'd have been nothing I could do.
The Cold Iron Dagger was a damaged flying blade treasure. It probably hadn't been very high-grade even when it was intact; otherwise, it wouldn't have ended up in Zhamu's hands, and Zhou Hao wouldn't have traded a dozen or so Wild Oxen for it.
"My lord, my lord!"
Renzha came running over from the distance, holding a deep green, cylindrical crystal in both hands.
The crystal was about the size of an ordinary person's finger and had been beautifully cut.
"Is this the Mustard Stone?" Zhou Hao's eyes lit up.
He continued cutting into the Black Leopard's corpse with the Cold Iron Dagger, while using his other hand to take the Mustard Stone.
Iron Ox and the others looked over, too. They'd heard of such a rare object, but had never seen one before.
"That's right, that's right." Renzha nodded repeatedly. "This is a naturally formed crystal that contains a tiny space, which can be used for storage.
"Direct descendants of large tribes usually have a treasure like this before they become Xiantian Lifeforms.
"All you need to do is put a drop of blood on it, and the Mustard Stone will belong to you. Everything Motai Jie owned is inside."
"Mm." Zhou Hao smiled at Iron Ox and the others. "Let's see what good things the young master of the Black Hand Tribe had."
Taking the short sword Xiangcao handed him, Zhou Hao lightly drew its edge across his finger. A drop of blood rolled onto the Mustard Stone and quickly seeped inside.
The deep green stone took on a tinge of red, and Zhou Hao immediately sensed the space within.
It was a small space, only about half a zhang in diameter, filled almost to the brim with all sorts of items.
"Come out." Zhou Hao's hand grew heavy as a piece of gold shaped like a dog's head appeared out of thin air.
This was Dog-Head Gold. Each nugget weighed ten jin. Zhou Hao had heard Iron Ox and the others say that one nugget could buy ten Wild Oxen.
"Go back." The Dog-Head Gold that had just appeared vanished again.
"How amazing."
Zhou Hao grinned from ear to ear, making the Dog-Head Gold appear and disappear several times before finally stopping.
Since coming to this unfamiliar world, aside from the Great Demons, this was the first treasure he'd seen that seemed to belong in the hands of immortals.
After satisfying his curiosity, Zhou Hao took all the Dog-Head Gold from the Mustard Stone Space and laid it out on the ground.
"The young master of the Black Hand Tribe has only this much Dog-Head Gold?"
There were only four nuggets of Dog-Head Gold inside Motai Jie's Mustard Stone Space, which left Zhou Hao puzzled.
The young master of such a large tribe, and this was all the money he had on him?
"My lord, there's something you should know." Renzha explained, "These naturally formed Mustard Stones with spaces inside them are nothing like the storage treasures made by cultivators. The spaces in Mustard Stones are very small.
"Since there's so little room, they can only hold more precious treasures. Those four nuggets of Dog-Head Gold were just for Motai Jie to hand out as tips."
"I see." Zhou Hao nodded.
Good thing I didn't kill this middle-aged man.
He'd only just arrived in this world, and there were many things he didn't know. Iron Ox and the others had only been exposed to so much.
Keeping a man like this around would make it easier to get answers to all kinds of questions.
"Take everything out and let's see what's in there." With a thought, Zhou Hao made a large pile of objects appear in front of him.
Renzha had figured it out, too. This mysterious young man who could slay a Great Demon was powerful, but didn't know much about common knowledge.
For Renzha, who'd just pledged his allegiance, this was the perfect chance to prove his worth and keep himself alive.
"This is Thunder Gold. It's much denser than ordinary gold. A piece the size of a fingernail weighs one jin. One jin of Thunder Gold can be exchanged for ten nuggets of Dog-Head Gold."
Renzha picked up a small bag of gold wrapped in animal hide and gleaming with a greenish sheen.
"This bag contains fifty jin, which is worth five hundred nuggets of Dog-Head Gold."
Five hundred nuggets of Dog-Head Gold?
Iron Ox and the others drew excited breaths.
If they used it all to buy Wild Oxen, they could get five thousand.
Their entire tribe only had a few hundred Wild Oxen. Wasn't this one small bag of Thunder Gold worth more than ten times the wealth of their whole tribe?
"This is an Origin Stone." Renzha pointed to a dozen or so jade stones with what looked like water vapor swirling inside them. "Origin Stones contain the energy of heaven and earth. If they're High-Grade Origin Stones, Qi-refining cultivators can use them to practice. One day's cultivation can equal ten days of hard work.
"These are all Low-Grade Origin Stones. They can only be used to set up formations or power puppets, but a single Low-Grade Origin Stone is worth more than ten jin of Thunder Gold."
One Origin Stone was worth more than ten jin of Thunder Gold?
Wouldn't that mean one Origin Stone could buy a thousand Wild Oxen?
God!
Iron Ox and the others felt like their hearts were about to leap out of their chests.
Zhou Hao watched them closely.
Though Iron Ox, Zhamu, and the others were shocked by the immense wealth before them, there wasn't a trace of greed in their eyes.
Xiangcao merely picked up an Origin Stone out of curiosity, more interested in the water vapor constantly swirling inside it.
Zhou Hao nodded slightly.
If people who'd just risked their lives together started harboring other thoughts over a few possessions, that would be truly disappointing.
Besides the Thunder Gold, Origin Stones, and assorted odds and ends, there were also some swords, daggers, and other weapons on the ground.
Maybe Motai Jie liked collecting weapons, or maybe he'd planned to trade them for something else.
Whatever the case, every one of them looked like a treasured weapon to Iron Ox and the others.
Among them were six pitch-black flying blades. They were even higher quality than the Cold Iron Dagger. With these newly acquired blades, Zhou Hao cut through the Black Leopard's corpse dozens of times faster.
Of course.
The thing that attracted Zhou Hao most was a thick book with a reddish sheen.
It was none other than the Chiming Nine Heavens Map, reputed to be the supreme method of God-Devil Body Refining.
Though it gave him a faint sense of familiarity, they were about to move out, so this wasn't the time to investigate further.
He stored the book, Dog-Head Gold, Thunder Gold, Origin Stones, and the other items in the Mustard Stone Space, then said, "Big Brother Iron Ox, I'll hold on to this Dog-Head Gold and Thunder Gold for now. Once we reach Jade Dragon City, I'll trade them for Wild Oxen or whatever else the tribe needs."
Then Zhou Hao pointed to the weapons. "Pick out the weapons you can use and divide them among yourselves."
"How can we do that?" Iron Ox and the others all shook their heads.
"You killed Motai Jie. His things should all belong to you."
"We didn't take the leopard meat and hide because you can't carry all of it. That's one thing, but we can't take these."
"Big Brother Iron Ox, when I first came to the tribe, you gave me Wild Oxen. No one stopped to argue over whose they were." Zhou Hao looked at Iron Ox. "Now that we've made an enemy of the Black Hand Tribe, are you trying to draw a line between us? If they come for revenge later, will you leave yourselves out of it first?"
"How could we!" Iron Ox glared. "If it weren't for you, Zhou, the Iron Ox Tribe would've been wiped out today. We'd never do something so beastly!"
"Exactly!"
"The men of our tribe would never abandon their own brothers."
Zhamu and Qingshi flushed red with agitation, eagerly chiming in.
"Then there you have it." Zhou Hao smiled. "I can't use so many weapons myself. What am I supposed to do, leave them lying around? Divide them among yourselves. Whether you're fighting enemies or run into demons and bandits on the road, they'll help protect the tribe."
Everyone fell silent for a moment.
"Brother, just listen to Zhou Hao," Xiangcao urged. "It's tens of thousands of li to Jade Dragon City. We don't know how many dangers we'll meet along the way. You can always return the weapons to Zhou Hao once we reach Jade Dragon City."
"...All right." Iron Ox and the others thought it over, then finally stopped refusing.
Iron Ox and the others took up their swords and strapped on their sabers, then happily went to help the tribespeople divide the leopard hide and meat. A smile spread across Zhou Hao's face.
Compared to the cold, indifferent modern world, he preferred these simple, down-to-earth tribesmen.
"My lord, are you going to Jade Dragon City?" Renzha stood to one side, bowing slightly. "I went there with Motai Jie a few years ago, so I know the place fairly well. I can lead you there."
"That's convenient." Zhou Hao looked at the middle-aged man, who was doing his best to prove his usefulness. "What's your name again?"
"My name is Renzha."
"Renzha?" Zhou Hao couldn't help laughing. That was quite a name.
"You can follow me for now. As for your name... Renzha doesn't sound very good. From now on, you'll be called Ren Liang."
That's the first update. Another chapter will be posted at 6 p.m.
Before you continue