Eternal Heavenly Emperor

Chu Hao decided to wait until the news of Mo Guxin becoming a martial master spread, before reporting to the sect that he had also entered the Martial Master Realm.

In this way, although the speed of advancement was still swift, it wouldn't be overly monstrous.

To him now, the Yunliu Sect seemed like a sinister snake, stealthily baring its fangs, ready to strike at any moment with its deadly venom.

He gathered his strength in secret, and figured out his next move.

The next day, Chu Hao switched to cultivating the Seven Star Jue.

Since the Seven Star Jue was only of Human-Level Lower Grade, it wasn't difficult to master. The major difference was in the route of circulation compared to the Nameless Technique, which made him somewhat uncomfortable at the beginning. However, he quickly got the hang of it and mastered the cultivation technique in just one day.

Each morning, Chu Hao practiced the Seven Star Jue for three hours. Being in Yunliu Sect, it was better for him to cultivate this technique, which, anyhow, wasn't much different from the Nameless Technique. In the afternoons, he would go to the dense forest to practice the Sky Wind Eight Styles.

It took him a full nine days to barely master the first style, managing to unleash about ten percent of its power.

As he channeled the spell, the ground beneath him stirred: countless pebbles were drawn up by an odd force, swirling around him at high speed like a grey dragon. When he pushed out with a palm strike, the "grey dragon" roared along with the palm wind, knocking down a swath of trees in front of him with loud crashes.

Chu Hao couldn't help but inhale sharply. Judging from the destructive power of this palm strike, it wasn't anything outrageous; he could have achieved the same effect with brute force. However, how many days had he been cultivating? He hadn't even fully expanded the first Proper Vein yet, and his Star Force was extremely limited.

In just ten days, he had expanded the first Proper Vein by about five times. With such a small amount of Star Force, he could generate such terrifying power with the Sky Wind Eight Styles. What sort of power would he reach when he fully expanded the first Proper Vein?

—Meridians could be expanded by about a hundredfold.

At his current rate of advancement, he could fully expand this meridian in five months, reaching the peak of the first tier Martial Master.

However, the power of the Sky Wind Eight Styles came with significant drawbacks.

First, the energy consumption was huge. This was normal, as stronger power surely required more consumption of Star Force. The second aspect was even more deadly; after executing this style, the meridians in his body would tremble, causing the flow of Star Force to become disordered, making it impossible to strike a second time shortly after.

Chu Hao smiled in spite of the flaws. Compared to the terrifying power of the Sky Wind Eight Styles, these drawbacks were negligible.

What made him happier was that since Martial Masters primarily used Star Force, the consumption of physical energy was greatly reduced. Even though he had advanced to a higher realm, his food intake had decreased.

He only needed to eat two pounds of ferocious beast meat a day. Of course, if the physical exertion was too great, his appetite would still skyrocket.

This also resolved one of his doubts—if one's appetite kept increasing, how much would a War God need to eat every day? Probably enough to deplete the entire Sky Martial Star.

Fu Xue and Zhou Yuan would visit him every few days to find out when he could sense Star Force and when he could break through the first Proper Vein. Chu Hao naturally reported a "normal" progress to them: he sensed the Star Force in eight days, then started to work on the first Proper Vein.

Two days later, the news spread that Mo Guxin had successfully broken through the first Proper Vein, becoming a First Tier Martial Master.

He had reported to the sect five days ahead of Chu Hao, which meant it took him a total of 17 days to break through to the Martial Master, nearly twice as fast as an ordinary person who would generally take a month, truly deserving the title of genius.

But compared to Chu Hao, that time was much longer.

However, Chu Hao was far from complacent, for he had sensed the Star Force early and could control its circulation, saving a lot of time. So strictly speaking, he shouldn't be just a few days faster than Mo Guxin.

A few days later, Fu Xue and Zhou Yuan almost simultaneously reached the Tenth Tier Martial Disciple and reported to the sect, then began their attempt to advance to the Martial Master Realm.

Chu Hao calculated that the time was about right, so he went to find Yang Luoren.

"You've broken through to the Martial Master?" Yang Luoren appeared quite surprised. Just a few days after Mo Guxin's breakthrough, here came another, making this generation truly remarkable.

"Yes," Chu Hao nodded.

"Then channel your Star Force," Yang Luoren said.

Checking the strength of a Martial Master was very simple: just channel the Star Force, and the number of light patterns that appeared corresponded to the tier.

Chu Hao did as instructed, and a fire-red light pattern immediately appeared, resembling a blazing flame.

"Hmm, you really have broken through the first Proper Vein," Yang Luoren nodded. After calculating, he looked puzzled and said, "You took... 16 days."

Because Mo Guxin took 17 days.

Neither more nor less, just a one day advantage, which was incredibly coincidental.

—Of course, such coincidences don't really happen; Chu Hao did it on purpose. He didn't want to be too conspicuous, but as a young man, he had his pride and couldn't stand losing to Mo Guxin.

"Since you have now broken through to the Martial Master Realm, you are an Inner Sect Disciple from now on," Yang Haoren extended his hand. "Give me your identity token, and I'll get you a new one."

"Yes." Chu Hao took out his identity token, and Yang Luoren drew a silver token from a drawer in his desk, engraved Chu Hao's name on it, and handed it over.

"You must keep the identity token safe. Each month, you can use it to collect three Purple Jade Pills from the Heavenly Treasure Building, each of which doubles your cultivation speed for the day,"

"Additionally, after completing sect missions, you will also need to use your identity token to log them, recording points. Points are very important, as they can be exchanged for Star Stones, various pills, and borrowed cultivation techniques,"

Yang Luoren explained.

"I understand," Chu Hao nodded.

"Then go ahead," Yang Luoren waved his hand.

Chu Hao turned to leave. By rights, he could go to Raising Hoof Peak to claim a residence and enjoy the treatment of an Inner Sect Disciple. However, before that, he decided to first visit the Scripture Pavilion.

—He had defeated Mo Guxin in the final battle of the Outer Sect Disciples, earning a reward of 10 jin of Star Stones, in addition to borrowing a Cultivation Technique and a Martial Technique from the Scripture Pavilion. The Star Stone reward had long been issued, but he had not visited the Scripture Pavilion till now.

What he had been waiting for was to become an Inner Sect Disciple.

The Scripture Pavilion was also located at Broken Blade Peak, and he only needed to walk a bit further up the road to reach it.

Soon, he arrived at the place — a three-story wooden building.

He walked in, and at the entrance sat an old man who appeared to be in his sixties or seventies, with snow-white hair and eyes squinted as if dozing off.

Once one broke into the Martial Master Realm, the lifespan of Martial Artists began to increase, achieving an additional 50 years of life upon reaching the Eight Meridians. In significant places like the Scripture Pavilion, the experts in residence were at least Martial Sects, or even Warriors.

Thus, the old man's age was really hard to ascertain. He might indeed be in his sixties or seventies, but it was also possible that he was over a hundred years, or even two hundred years old.

"Who is it?" The old man did not open his eyes, but as Chu Hao approached, he asked.

"Disciple Chu Hao, the champion of the recent Outer Sect disciples' contest, specially here to borrow a Cultivation Technique and a Martial Technique," Chu Hao respectfully said.

"Identity Token." The old man still did not open his eyes.

Chu Hao took out his Identity Token and passed it over, but the old man did not reach out to take it. Chu Hao could only place the token on the table.

The old man still did not open his eyes, merely waving his hand over the Identity Token. Suddenly, he uttered in surprise, "You have become an Inner Sect Disciple."

"Yes."

The old man tapped his finger on the floor and said, "Keep the Identity Token safe. You may choose any Cultivation Technique and Martial Technique from either the first or second floor. However, the first floor contains Human Level Lower-Grade Techniques and Martial Techniques, while the second floor contains Human Level Middle-Grade. You are not yet qualified for the third floor."

"Understood." Chu Hao nodded, pocketed the Identity Token, and naturally headed straight for the second floor.

On the second floor, there were nine rows of bookshelves, each with several people standing in front of them. Hearing the sound of Chu Hao coming upstairs, they all turned to look.

"Huh, this kid looks unfamiliar. Doesn't seem like he's an Inner Sect Disciple. How does he have the right to be on the second floor?"

"Chu Hao."

Someone recognized Chu Hao and whispered.

"The champion of the recent Outer Sect contest?"

"Right, otherwise how would he, being an Outer Sect Disciple, have the rights to be on the second floor? Even we had to spend a large number of points."

"Hmph, it's a disgrace that even an Outer Sect Disciple can stand equal to us."

"Get lost from here."

Slap.

Someone picked up a book and threw it at Chu Hao, overflowing with scorn.

This sound?

Chu Hao looked over. It wasn't a book, but just a cover page that had been infused with Star Force enabling it to be thrown. He looked at the person who had thrown the book cover, his face showing anger.

Overt humiliation.

"Pang Yi, you've gone too far." A young man walked over, standing in front of Chu Hao.

"Tsk, Zhao Huan, do you have a problem with that?" the person who threw the book cover said.

"Bullying people from the Lower World right in front of me, do you think I'm blind or dead?" Zhao Huan coldly said.

"Haha," Pang Yi chuckled coldly, "So what if I bully him?"

Chu Hao immediately realized that Pang Yi was from the Native Faction, while Zhao Huan, like him, was from the Lower World.

"Then let's fight." Zhao Huan said.

"Not so fast," Pang Yi raised a hand to stop him, saying, "Wait another five months, and we can compete in the annual grand competition. But you better put in some more effort because my Nine Flames Clearing Clouds Palm is just a little short of reaching the Seventh Layer."

"Haha, you better complete that before the annual grand competition, my Stone Bursting Leg Technique is also about to reach the Fifth Layer," Zhao Huan was not intimidated.

"Let's go," Pang Yi waved his hand, "There are a few pests from the Lower World here spoiling the mood. We'll come back later."

He led the way, and seven young people from the building snorted and promptly left.

"Wait," Chu Hao suddenly spoke up.