Eternal Heavenly Emperor

The Qingmeng Beast's meat became their dinner.

Contrary to Chu Hao's expectations, the beast's meat was actually very delicious.

"Ferocious beasts at the Martial Disciple Realm typically produce meat that is tough and hard, difficult to swallow, but it's different at the Martial Master Realm; it's mostly very delicious. Moreover, the higher the realm of the ferocious beast, the more nourishing its meat is, capable of enhancing cultivation and increasing physical strength. The reverse is also true, which is why ferocious beasts view us as a meal," Zhang Yunshen noticed Chu Hao's confusion and took the initiative to explain.

Chu Hao nodded. Just like martial artists, ferocious beasts underwent tremendous changes upon entering the Martial Master Realm.

During the night rest, it was natural to have someone keep watch, but because of Chu Hao's special abilities, he was taken special care of and didn't need to stand guard, allowing his mind to stay in the best condition.

Chu Hao did not demur, for he indeed needed ample rest.

The night passed quite peacefully without any ferocious beasts emerging for a sneak attack. Since they needed to hurry during the day, they arranged their cultivation time for the evening, each of them starting to meditate and cultivate.

For disciples from the Lower World, Star Stones were indeed a luxury. Fortunately, they had just obtained some from Luo Ba, which he had acquired through many deals, sufficient for each of them for a month's use.

Now, everyone clutching a Star Stone in their hands for cultivation looked quite wealthy.

Chu Hao silently compared the situation; he had received three batches of Star Stones, the highest quality ones from Lin Cheng because these were stolen along with the "Flowing Water Jue."

These should be Fourth Grade Star Stones.

Then, there were the ones from Luo Ba and the dried-up old man; though there was a difference in quantity, the quality was about the same, so they should be Fifth Grade.

The difference between the two was significant.

With Fourth Grade Star Stones, using the same Earth Flame Jue, his cultivation speed was shockingly twice as fast.

That's why high-quality Star Stones were so precious and rare.

Three hours later, everyone stopped. Although this was a rough timeframe, some could only cultivate for two hours and fifty minutes before their meridians reached their limits, while others might last three hours and ten minutes, but the differences weren't too substantial.

Chu Hao's first Proper Vein had expanded by about 20 times, and theoretically, he had already embarked on one-fifth of the path to the First-Tier Martial Master.

This pace was not slow; if he could maintain such a pace, he would be able to reach the Eight Meridians and start challenging the Martial Sect within a year and a half.

Star Stones certainly played a crucial role, but on the other hand, it was also his strong physique that allowed such a rapid progression. Otherwise, why would there only be a few dozen people reaching the Eight Meridians among so many affluent sect disciples in the Inner Sect?

They continued their journey early the next morning.

Along the way, they encountered several powerful ferocious beasts, but under Chu Hao's planning, they all emerged victorious, collecting one inner core after another. That night, they were ambushed by a Sixth-Tier Martial Master level Black Iron Pig. Had it been before, they would not have been a match, and even if they could retreat, several would be severely injured.

But now, with Chu Hao's command, they managed to drive away the Black Iron Pig.

After this battle, Chu Hao's leadership was solidified, and even Zhao Huan could no longer look down on him, increasingly respecting Chu Hao's opinions.

Four days later, they finally arrived at the Black Jade Pool.

This was a large stone pool, oval in shape, with the longest diameter around ten meters and the shortest over three meters. Chu Hao and his teammates were not the first to arrive; there were already over a dozen people sitting around, but only three were cultivating inside.

— You could only cultivate for about three hours each day, any longer would strain the meridians.

As the area was crowded, it was relatively safer here; at least a ferocious beast would think twice before attacking, since it might end up becoming food itself, considering their high intelligence.

Because the site was large enough, their arrival didn't arouse any displeasure; however, caution in guarding against others was necessary, so Chu Hao's group of eight entered the pool in two shifts for cultivation.

Chu Hao was in the first batch. He took off his shoes, but not his clothes, and walked into the pool. A sense of warmth immediately surged in, feeling incredibly comfortable.

The pool appeared pitch-black like ink, and eyesight couldn't penetrate to the bottom. If not for the ripples, it resembled a piece of fine black jade, making the name 'Black Jade Pool' particularly apt.

The pool wasn't deep, and sitting was feasible with one's head above the water—unless one was exceptionally short.

After sitting cross-legged, Chu Hao took out a Star Stone. Since the pool was pitch-black, no one could see what he was holding. He operated the Earth Flame Jue and started cultivating.

He initially thought that water and fire would conflict, that his physique would be heavily affected in a water environment and the effect of the Earth Flame Jue would be greatly diminished. Indeed, this was somewhat the case.

The energy absorbed from the natural surroundings was indeed reduced significantly, but the Star Stone was not affected at all, continuously transmitting energy into his body, circulating through his meridians.

He immediately felt the difference.

His meridians had softened, becoming more elastic.

Under the impact of his Star Force, the first Proper Vein was expanding at least three times faster, which was extremely astonishing. If he could stay here and cultivate every day, he wouldn't need a year to reach the Eight Meridians.

Unfortunately, this was destined to be just a beautiful dream.

Although the Black Jade Pool was effective only for martial masters and Martial Sect, this type of liquid was said to be a favorite "drink" of several powerful ferocious beasts that would come to drink almost every day.

These ferocious beasts were at least of the Warrior level, and some were even War Generals or War Kings.

Against beings like War Generals and War Kings, even if the entire Yunliu Sect were to come out, they wouldn't stand a chance. Tianhe County was just one of the Middle Nine Counties, and the strongest sect there only had a War General stationed. Who would be foolish enough to start a war with War General and War King level beasts over a mere Black Jade Pool?

—Of course, if it were free, nobody would refuse it, after all, even War Gods started as martial masters and Martial Sect.

Three hours later, Chu Hao and his group gradually emerged from the pool. The men found a corner and casually began changing into clean clothes, while the women were much more reserved, walking far away before they started changing.

By this time, Chu Hao finally had the leisure to look around at the surrounding environment.

This Black Jade Pool was located under a hill, and Chu Hao saw that the source of the pool water was not underground, but flowed down from the mountain.

"Senior Brother Zhao, why don't we take some of this liquid back?" he asked. The Mustard Seed Ring could conveniently carry things; some even had incredibly large spaces, enough to move the entire pool.

"This special liquid loses its effect very soon once it leaves this environment," Zhao Huan shook his head.

"Why aren't there any people of the Martial Sect level here?" Chu Hao asked further, since the liquid here worked just as well for those cultivating the Reverse Eight Meridians.

"Oh, there are." Zhao Huan laughed, stretching out his hand to point to the top of the hill, "There's another pool up there, the effect is twice as strong as the one down here, but we just don't qualify to go up there."

The effect is even stronger by twice.

Chu Hao inwardly clicked his tongue in wonder, feeling a strong urge to rush up there, but that was merely a fleeting thought.

In the world of martial artists, the hierarchy was strict; how could a martial master be on equal footing with a Martial Sect?

After a while, Mu Xinyue and Zhan Yaqi, the two women, came back from afar, having changed their clothes. Now it was their turn to switch; those who were on guard duty now entered the pool to cultivate while Chu Hao and his four companions took over the guard duties.

They chatted while keeping watch, talking about the Lower World and inevitably expressing their homesickness. However, the sect had strict orders; they couldn't go back to visit their families until they reached the realm of Martial Sect, so they could only sigh in vain.

Yet Chu Hao knew that under normal circumstances, they would never be able to return to the Lower World again.

Thinking of the deadly poison planted inside each disciple from the Lower World, Chu Hao couldn't help but feel heavy-hearted and naturally spoke less.

The first step to resisting the Yunliu Sect was to detoxify themselves, then stay far away until they could increase their strength to that of a War General, at which point they could return and sweep through their enemies.

After the other four finished cultivating, they found a clearing in the nearby forest to rest. Other than Chu Hao, seven people took turns keeping watch through the night. Quickly, one night passed; they had hunted several ferocious beasts on their way here, so they temporarily had no worries about food.

Out of the fourteen people here, half were from the Ten Brocade Sect and the other half from the Rain Sect. Since the three great sects were quite close to each other, conflicts often erupted over interests, and naturally, the disciples bore no good feelings towards each other; as expected, they immediately started sparring.

Zhao Huan performed brilliantly, defeating the "top experts" from both sects, which made Bai Shengjin and others very happy and proud.

However, since there was no actual conflict of interest, it was merely a sparring session. Had there suddenly appeared an Earth Grade Technique, a bloody battle would surely erupt and it wouldn't be strange if everyone died.

Days passed by, and everyone cherished their time, for such good days wouldn't last indefinitely. Soon, the ferocious beasts that went into hibernation in the deep mountains would reappear, and by then, they would have no choice but to flee.

As more and more people came, although each person could only cultivate for three hours a day, the place still seemed overcrowded, and conflicts finally erupted.

Whoever was strong got a spot; otherwise, they had to leave.

Chu Hao's role once again became prominent. With him commanding in the middle, Zhao Huan's group of seven never lost a match, no matter how many times people came and went, they firmly held their ground.

And of course, the martial masters didn't participate in the fighting, nor would the Martial Sects, but they had their own battles to fight. From time to time, broken stones would fall from the sky, clearly indicating that the situation above was not peaceful.

Unnoticed, more than 20 days quietly passed; with the help of the Treasure Pool, Chu Hao finally expanded the first Proper Vein to its limit, and even a little more expansion would make him feel so uncomfortable that he wanted to vomit blood.

One hundred times.

First Tier martial master, now he could attempt to reach the Second Tier.