Chapter 14

Xu Shijie was a large tiger skin, and with this tiger skin draped over her, she made a round in the outer sect, immediately drawing the attention of many. When these outer sect disciples saw Meng Hao, who was beside Xu Shijie, their expressions became peculiar, especially those who had witnessed Meng Hao selling medicine on Flathead Mountain during the day. Despite their intense hatred, they could only endure it.

As for those with slightly higher cultivation, even if they didn't know about the events on Flathead Mountain during the day, the image of Meng Hao in their minds became even clearer. They decided it was best not to provoke him easily.

Even Meng Hao himself was unaware that he had gained a bit of a reputation within the Mountain Rely Sect over the past two months.

Meng Hao thought it would be best to walk around for a whole day, but unfortunately, it was already late at night, and not many outer sect disciples were out. Only a small number of disciples saw this scene.

Thinking that this was a rare opportunity and should not be easily missed, Meng Hao, with a somewhat shy demeanor, took Xu Shijie, who was quiet and reserved, to the Pill Cultivation Hall. In the presence of the middle-aged man in the pill hall, who was both nervous and envious, Meng Hao bought out several types of miscellaneous pills, including the Blood-Stop Pill. The next batch of these pills would take a few months to be ready.

They even went to the Treasure Pavilion. In front of Xu Shijie, Meng Hao glared fiercely at the shrewd senior brother, scaring him pale. He secretly gave Meng Hao a spirit stone, indicating that Meng Hao could exchange the mirror for other treasures at any time. Meng Hao coldly snorted, showing his hatred, and told him that the broken mirror was useless and had been thrown away long ago.

The senior brother from the Treasure Pavilion smiled bitterly, apologized repeatedly, and didn't think much of it. In fact, the mirror had been lost several times over the years, but it always ended up being found and returned, sometimes after a few years.

When they reached the foot of East Peak, Meng Hao watched Xu Shijie walk away under the moonlight. For the first time, he felt that she was indeed very beautiful, with a fairy-like aura.

"Pity she's too cold. Otherwise, I could consider marrying her," Meng Hao fantasized, quickly dispelling the thought, coughed a few times, and returned to his cave dwelling.

The night passed without incident. The next morning, as the sky was just beginning to brighten, Meng Hao immediately walked out of his cave dwelling, full of energy, and headed straight for Flathead Mountain.

"Just a bit more, and I can reach the peak of the third stage of Qi Condensation. Unfortunately, there are no suitable pills, and demon cores are hard to come by unless I enter that black mountain, but it's quite dangerous," Meng Hao thought as he walked.

"Right now, the focus is on accumulating spirit stones. With enough spirit stones, I can get a good demon core, and then I can soar to new heights. If I reach the fifth stage of Qi Condensation..." Meng Hao's heart raced, and his eyes shone with intense anticipation.

"At the fifth stage, I would be a dominant force in the outer sect, and most importantly, I can perform the Wind Walking Technique." Meng Hao thought of Senior Brother Wang Tengfei, who could walk with his body seven inches off the ground, and became even more excited.

Before long, Flathead Mountain was in sight. Meng Hao ran a few steps, sat cross-legged on the large rock where he had been the previous day, and looked harmless and weak.

It didn't take long for more cultivators to gather on Flathead Mountain, including some unfamiliar faces. The sounds of fighting and screams gradually rose. Meng Hao scanned the crowd, trying to decide where to make his first sale of the day, but he didn't notice someone cautiously approaching from another direction in the public area.

This person walked cautiously, looking around carefully. Suddenly, he saw Meng Hao and immediately trembled, stopping in his tracks.

He was Meng Hao's first customer from the previous day, who had witnessed Meng Hao's shy demeanor after defeating his opponent. He thought Meng Hao wouldn't come today, but was surprised to see him again.

"How is he still here? This guy is too ruthless!" The cultivator was both angry and afraid, sighed, and was about to leave when his eyes suddenly lit up. He saw a large man approaching the public area from the mountain below.

"It's Cao Yang... He's at the peak of the second stage of Qi Condensation, almost at the third stage. His cousin, Lu Hong, is the top person in the low-level public area, making Cao Yang a bully here. Even though he often takes advantage of others when they are injured, people dare not speak out. If anyone else did this, they would have been attacked long ago.

"Yesterday he didn't come, and others were fine. Today, there might be some good entertainment." The cultivator quickly moved closer, hoping Cao Yang would provoke the guy from the Pill Cultivation Hall. Thinking of the two people he disliked, he felt a sense of schadenfreude.

As Cao Yang entered the public area, the faces of the cultivators fighting nearby changed, and they quickly backed away, afraid of provoking this bully.

Cao Yang snorted coldly. He was tall and muscular, with eyes like copper bells, and he treated the low-level public area as his backyard. Except for a few people he didn't want to provoke, he didn't care about the rest. He frowned, wondering where his friend Zhao Wu had gone missing recently. In a bad mood, he entered the area, scanned the surroundings, and was looking for someone to take some pills from.

Suddenly, his gaze fell on Meng Hao, drawn by the large flag in front of him.

This caught the attention of the cultivator who was feeling schadenfreude, who became excited and full of anticipation.

"Go up, go up, hurry up." The cultivator clenched his fists, realizing that watching from the sidelines was more exciting than killing and looting in the past.

Perhaps his thoughts had some power, for Cao Yang's eyes flickered, and he indeed strode straight toward Meng Hao, with people around him quickly making way.

Meng Hao, sitting on the large rock, had already locked onto a target and was about to start selling. However, as Cao Yang approached, his target stopped fighting, making Meng Hao quite disappointed. He looked up and saw the approaching large man, Cao Yang.

Meng Hao recognized him as the large man he had seen committing violence that day. Still looking weak and shy, he spoke with a hint of shyness and hope.

"Brother, my shop is open for the second day today. We have all kinds of pills, essential for fighting. Would you like to buy some?"

Cao Yang's eyes widened as he sized up Meng Hao, unsure of his cultivation level. Below the seventh stage of Qi Condensation, unless one released their spiritual aura, it was hard to tell the cultivation level of others in the same realm. Only at the seventh stage could one's cultivation be externally visible.

Thus, Meng Hao's cultivation level was not easily discernible.

"Your old man never pays for things. Hand over your pills and spirit stones. If you're slow, I'll break your neck," Cao Yang said, thinking he was in the low-level public area and remembering his cousin, Lu Hong. He became less concerned about Meng Hao and appeared intimidating and domineering.

This made the cultivator who was Meng Hao's first customer the previous day extremely excited.

"Beat him, beat him!" The cultivator muttered, not sure who he was hoping would beat whom.

"Brother, the sages say it's wrong to steal. Let's talk. I'm just a small vendor, and I haven't opened for business today," Meng Hao said, still looking weak and trying to reason.

"Sages? Here on Flathead Mountain, I am the sage. If I want to beat you, who dares to stop me? Even if I kill you, who would dare to say a word?" The large man laughed, feeling more confident, knowing Meng Hao was afraid. He took a step forward, closer to Meng Hao, with a look of arrogance.

"Brother, I haven't provoked you, and I'm not in the public area. Look, I'm outside," Meng Hao said, standing up and pointing to the large rock, trying to reason with the large man.

"Enough talk. I say you're inside, you're inside," the large man said, impatient, leaping over the flagpole and reaching out to grab Meng Hao.

"Too much!" As the large man's right hand was about to land, Meng Hao's face turned grim, and in an instant, he seemed to change. As the large man approached, Meng Hao took a step forward, raised his right hand, and slapped him.

With a loud thud, a piercing scream came from Cao Yang, who spat out blood and flew back, landing nearby, his face showing shock and disbelief.

His cultivation was slightly higher than the unfortunate cultivator from the previous day, and he didn't lose consciousness. As he tried to get up, Meng Hao approached, his face full of ferocity, and jumped on him, stomping hard.

"The sages say that not paying for things is asking for death."

"I told you, my small business hasn't opened today, and I don't have any spirit stones," Meng Hao said, stomping harder with each word, causing Cao Yang to scream even more. He rolled on the ground, his green robe covered in footprints.

"I told you I'm outside the public area, not inside," Meng Hao said, his face full of anger. Cao Yang, already injured, was now barely able to scream, as if he was about to suffocate. The scene left the surrounding cultivators in shock, their eyes wide with fear and horror. Some of them were the ones who had collapsed from exhaustion the previous day and now felt very lucky.

The cultivator who had bought medicine from Meng Hao the previous day watched Cao Yang's screams and Meng Hao's ferocious expression, breaking out in a cold sweat, trembling with fear. He found Meng Hao even more terrifying, thinking he was too ruthless.

As Cao Yang was about to be stomped to unconsciousness, he felt the shadow of death. In a moment of clarity, he raised his left hand, which was still intact, and held out a handful of spirit stones.

"I... I'll buy medicine!" Cao Yang shouted with all his strength, as if afraid Meng Hao wouldn't hear.

Meng Hao's foot, which was about to land, paused. After a moment of hesitation, his fierce expression disappeared, and he resumed his harmless, weak appearance, smiling and quickly grabbing the spirit stones.

"You should have said that earlier," Meng Hao said, helping Cao Yang up, patting the footprints off his body, and giving him a Bone-Loosening Pill, still looking shy.

The large man trembled, looking at Meng Hao with intense fear, especially at his current harmless appearance, which made Cao Yang want to leave immediately, far from this human-skinned prehistoric beast.

At this moment, he felt the same as the cultivator from the previous day.

"Brother, I see your injuries are quite severe. One pill might not be enough to heal you quickly. You have many enemies, don't you? Why don't you buy more?" Meng Hao put his arm around Cao Yang's shoulder, as if genuinely concerned.

The large man trembled, looking at Meng Hao with intense fear, especially at his current harmless appearance, which made Cao Yang want to leave immediately, far from this human-skinned prehistoric beast.