Zhang Hao flew over the desolate mountain. A Middle-aged man immediately came forward upon seeing him. He smiled at Zhang Hao and said, "Are you Zhang Hao, Young Master?"
Zhang Hao handed the token in his hand to the Middle-aged man and said, "Please verify it."
The Middle-aged man carefully checked the token. After confirming it was correct, he handed the token back to Zhang Hao and said, "Yes, that's right. Young Master, there's another Teleportation Array on the opposite side; it's a hidden setup. It's a sub-array. If Young Master wants to return, he just needs to show the token, and the Teleportation Array will automatically activate upon sensing him."
"Hehe, thank you, Uncle," Zhang Hao nodded.
Actually, with Zhang Hao's current cultivation as a seventh-tier Array Dao Master, setting up a Teleportation Array wasn't impossible. However, the Materials needed were astronomical to him; in fact, there were many Materials Zhang Hao had never even heard of. Otherwise, why would it be said that Teleportation Arrays were only controlled by large merchant associations? Even a large merchant association, like the Haitian Merchant Association, wouldn't use a Teleportation Array unless it was for something extremely important, as the cost was too great. This time, Miss Meng Qi was willing to let Zhang Hao use this Teleportation Array, which was giving him immense Face.
"Young Master, the Teleportation Array is ready. It can be activated at any time," the Middle-aged man said to Zhang Hao.
"Okay."
Zhang Hao entered the Teleportation Array according to the Middle-aged man's instructions. Immediately after, the Teleportation Array activated. There was a dizzying sensation. After about five or six breaths, he felt the Teleportation Array seemed to have stopped operating.
Zhang Hao looked around. He found it was a forest. Because the Teleportation Array was set to be hidden, it concealed itself after teleporting Zhang Hao to the destination.
After Zhang Hao discovered there was no danger around, he walked into the forest.
Suddenly, Zhang Hao heard shouts coming from ahead. He stopped and paused to look.
It turned out to be several young men and women hunting a Flame Tiger. That Flame Tiger was an eighth-tier Ferocious Beast, and its strength was considerable. However, the strength of these five young men and women was all above the seventh-tier Great Martial Master. Even if the Flame Tiger was stronger, it couldn't withstand the siege of the five young men and women; it was covered in wounds and was fighting like a cornered beast.
After the Flame Tiger repelled a youth, it turned and fled towards Zhang Hao. Upon seeing Zhang Hao standing in front of it, its eyes showed despair and a fierce look.
"Roar!"
That Flame Tiger swiped a claw towards Zhang Hao. Its speed was very fast.
"Be careful!"
A girl's exclamation rang out.
"Damn it, I'm just passing by and you won't even spare me, so don't blame me for being impolite!" Zhang Hao snorted coldly. He threw a punch.
This punch landed squarely on the Flame Tiger's head. The Flame Tiger let out a cry of agony and was sent flying over ten meters away. It lay on the ground, clearly on the verge of death.
The five young men and women immediately gathered around. Looking at the injured Flame Tiger, joy appeared in their eyes. After all, they had spent a great deal of effort to find this Flame Tiger. If it hadn't been for Zhang Hao, this Flame Tiger might have even escaped.
"Thank you. If it weren't for you, we would have wasted our effort today," a girl in red combat attire greeted Zhang Hao kindly.
"Hehe, if you hadn't injured the Flame Tiger, I wouldn't have been able to injure it either," Zhang Hao said humbly.
Originally, those young men and women were still somewhat wary of Zhang Hao, but upon hearing this, their gazes towards him softened considerably.
"Hmph, you certainly know your place," a youth in white combat attire with an arrogant expression sneered.
Zhang Hao felt that aside from the Red-clothed girl who had spoken to him earlier, who was relatively friendly, the other young men and women looked at him with obvious dislike.
Zhang Hao was slightly taken aback. He carefully examined himself and realized his clothes were tattered; he looked no different from a beggar.
After the previous battle outside the desolate mountain, Zhang Hao had come in a hurry, hadn't tidied himself up properly, and was disheveled. No wonder others had a bad impression of him. He shook his head and smiled, not minding it. However, meeting this group of people was quite fortunate. After all, Zhang Hao was new here; this was his first time in the Balong Empire. He still needed to rely on these people to get acquainted with the area.
Several youths began skillfully dismembering the Flame Tiger's body on the ground. The Red-clothed girl divided the Flame Tiger's Materials into six portions and handed one of them to Zhang Hao, smiling, "This portion is yours."
"Me?" Zhang Hao was slightly startled.
Zhang Hao had never thought about taking a share of the Materials. In his opinion, he hadn't exerted much effort and didn't deserve it. Moreover, he didn't really care about this portion of the Flame Tiger's Materials. With his strength, if he wanted these Materials, he had plenty of ways to get them. Therefore, Zhang Hao quickly refused. He said, "Hehe, I didn't put in much effort, so I won't take this portion of the Materials."
"Oh, how can you say that? If it weren't for you, we might have ended up with nothing from this Flame Tiger. So, this is what you deserve," the Red-clothed girl insisted.
Another girl in green clothes next to her also said, "Sister, he really didn't put in much effort, why should we give him a share?"
"Ruyi, what are you saying!" The Red-clothed girl also glared at her sister, somewhat annoyed.
Zhang Hao quickly said, "How about this? Let's consider these Flame Tiger Materials as payment for hiring you to take me out of this forest. I'm new here and got lost; I really need someone to guide me out!"
"This... We are acquainted with Ge Xia now. Guiding you out, Brother, is something we should do anyway, there's no need..."
As soon as the Red-clothed girl finished speaking, Zhang Hao waved his hand and said, "Alright, I don't need these Flame Tiger Materials either. Just consider them a gift from me to you all!"
Seeing Zhang Hao say this, the Red-clothed girl knew he was sincere. Furthermore, they really needed the Flame Tiger's Materials, so they accepted them.
Zhang Hao's action made the others, except for the White-robed Youth and the Red-clothed girl, develop some goodwill towards him.
"Hehe, you're quite sensible! Initially, I thought you would become greedy after getting something for free!" the White-robed Youth who spoke earlier glanced at Zhang Hao.
Zhang Hao calmly glanced at the White-robed Youth and didn't speak. This White-robed Youth was clearly annoying at first sight. However, as long as he didn't provoke him, he couldn't be bothered to pay attention to him.
After capturing this Flame Tiger, the five young men and women were very happy and prepared to leave the forest and return to Batian City. And Batian City was precisely the Emperor City of the Balong Empire.
After becoming familiar with the group, Zhang Hao finally learned the names and backgrounds of these people.