Eternal Heavenly Emperor

The toxins hidden within his body were a grave concern.

In the territory of the Yunliu Sect, Chu Hao didn't dare seek out a physician to diagnose the poison within him, as it would be akin to informing the Yunliu Sect that he was aware of the lethal poison in his body.

Those with motives could easily connect this to Lin Cheng.

——The Yunliu Sect lost a middle-grade Earth Level cultivation technique because of this, causing the sect's status to drop from Fifth Grade to Sixth Grade. The higher-ups would be desperate to retrieve this cultivation technique, even in their dreams.

What awaited him would undoubtedly be brutal torture.

Under Guo Zhen's guidance, Chu Hao arrived at a medical clinic in the city.

Thanks to Feng Yezi's reputation, Physician Liu, the most seasoned practitioner in the clinic, personally diagnosed Chu Hao.

It was somewhat reminiscent of an era on Earth. He ingested an unknown substance and had some blood drawn. After examining it for a while, Physician Liu said, "This is Ten Insect Powder."

"Fatal?" Guo Zhen asked hastily, as this was a genius in the art of forging, and absolutely nothing could happen to him.

Physician Liu nodded gravely, "The toxins are suppressed, but if they erupt, they will instantly corrode the heart, making it extremely lethal."

"Physician Liu, you can concoct an antidote, can't you?" Guo Zhen asked, even more anxiously than Chu Hao.

"I can, and I can't," Physician Liu replied enigmatically.

"What does that mean? Either you can or you can't, why talk in riddles? You're not a Zen master," Guo Zhen pressed on.

"Why is that?" Guo Zhen asked, trying to stay patient. With his fiery temper, had it not been about Chu Hao's life, he might have already grabbed the physician by the throat and demanded answers.

"The Ten Insect Powder is composed of the toxins of ten different poisonous insects. To neutralize it, we must first identify which ten insects were used. However, there are over thirty different poisonous insects that could be used to make Ten Insect Powder. If we get even one wrong, not only will it fail to detoxify, but it will also cause the toxins to erupt, which would be instantly fatal," Physician Liu explained.

"Not even Physician Liu can determine which ten toxins were used?" Guo Zhen asked, unwilling to give up.

Physician Liu rolled his eyes, "With ten toxins mixed together, how do you expect me to distinguish them? Clearly, you have no understanding of this field, asking such a foolish question."

Guo Zhen, deeply anxious, didn't bother to retort, merely pacing endlessly. It was as if he were the one poisoned, with cold sweat forming on his forehead.

Chu Hao smiled lightly, "Master Guo, don't worry, I'm not in immediate danger."

As long as he returned to the Yunliu Sect before the end of the year and took the antidote, he could hold on for another year. The fact that Physician Liu couldn't identify the ten toxins didn't mean that other physicians couldn't.

Moreover, he could seek answers within the Yunliu Sect.

"You're not anxious at all," Guo Zhen looked at Chu Hao. If not for Physician Liu's confirmation, he would have thought Chu Hao was joking about being poisoned.

"If worrying helps, I would worry," Chu Hao chuckled, "Let's go back. I want to see the process of Master Feng forging the Treasure Artifact."

Guo Zhen sighed in distress, but he had no choice and returned to Bingyuan Pavilion with Chu Hao.

By this time, Feng Yezi and Wang Hong had already begun forging weapons. The first step was casting, which took a long time, as Mysterious Yin True Gold was not only inherently tough but had also been hammered into 128 layers.

After casting, the second step was embedding the ferocious beast's inner core. This step was quick, but the success rate was relatively low. If it failed, the inner core would explode, and the resulting destructive impact would generally shatter the casting, rendering it useless.

——Despite the Third Rank materials' inherent sturdiness, embedding the inner core of a ferocious beast of the same rank would create an impact that could cause significant damage to the materials instantaneously.

To say nothing of additional cracks, who would dare use it?

And who would want to embed a low-level ferocious beast's inner core in high-grade materials? It would be a waste of materials.

For Martial Artists, striving to become stronger, the pursuit never ends.

Since it was just casting, they could be disturbed at this stage. But once they reached the point of embedding the inner core, they couldn't afford any distractions, or the loss would be colossal.

"What?" Feng Yezi put down his hammer and looked at Guo Zhen, "Physician Liu couldn't cure the poison in Chu Hao?"

"Yes," Guo Zhen nodded.

"That quack," Wang Hong snorted, frustration evident. Such difficulty in finding a genius in forging, and the physician couldn't even cure a simple poison. Useless.

"Ten Insect Powder?" Feng Yezi pondered, "There's actually a second way to cure it."

"Master, you know medicine too?" Guo Zhen was both thrilled and astounded.

"How could I know medicine," Feng Yezi shook his head. He had devoted his life to the art of forging, with no time for anything else.

"Then——" Guo Zhen stammered.

Feng Yezi shook his head; this apprentice was too straightforward, never grasping the critical step in mastering the art of forging, the technique of embedding the inner core. But precisely because of that, this apprentice had reached unparalleled heights in the craftsmanship of Thousand-layer Iron.

Wait.

He looked at Chu Hao. This prodigy had easily surpassed Guo Zhen's proudest forging skills, proving that geniuses in this world could achieve what others couldn't in a lifetime with minimal effort.

It's enviable.

Feng Yezi gathered his thoughts, smiling, "All toxins have an upper limit. As long as Little Friend Chu's cultivation reaches a certain level, his Star Force can neutralize the toxins."

"Yes, of course." Guo Zhen clapped his hands, a look of realization dawning.

Chu Hao nodded, thinking that Yunliu Sect was a Sixth Grade sect, with the strongest members being Warriors. Thus, the toxins they could harvest wouldn't surpass the Warrior level.

Once his cultivation reached the War General level, he could neutralize the toxins himself, and furthermore, his strength would be sufficient to overpower Yunliu Sect and force them to hand over the antidote to detoxify those from the Lower World.

"But, this carries considerable risk." Feng Yezi continued, pausing before clapping his hands, "I have it. Little Friend Chu, the person commissioning this Treasure Artifact will arrive in a few days. She might have a solution."

Guo Zhen immediately looked excited, "Exactly, anyone able to provide Third Rank precious materials must have ties to a War Venerate. They could easily neutralize Ten Insect Powder with just one pill."

Chu Hao nodded but hesitated, "Master Feng, wouldn't it be too much to ask?"

Why would they help him?

"It's not too much; you're a genius in forging, a future Divine Craftsman. It's only fitting to give you the most precious Spiritual Medicine in the world," Feng Yezi said decisively.

"Indeed," Guo Zhen and Wang Hong nodded in agreement.

Chu Hao felt grateful. He would owe a huge debt of gratitude again.

Luckily, there was still time before the year's end, and he could stay a few more days. He only worried about whether the River Down Courtyard would be challenged by the Native Faction again after he left. Although Zhao Huan should have returned by now, with his abilities… it was worrisome.

Chu Hao set aside his concerns, training and starting to forge weapons under Guo Zhen's guidance every day.

Treasure Artifacts and weapons looked similar in appearance, but internally they were vastly different.

Treasure Artifacts were not only sharp but could also produce additional effects, such as emitting flames, frost, poison, or lightning. But how were these effects achieved? The energy source was the inner core, but that alone wasn't enough.

Inside a Treasure Artifact, there were tiny channels resembling human meridians. When the ferocious beast's inner core was activated, it could simulate the human operation of Star Force, converting its energy into Star Force.

This naturally demanded an extremely high level of craftsmanship. Chu Hao practiced relentlessly, his derivation and analytical abilities playing a crucial role, and he progressed rapidly. In just five days, he had completed the casting of an artifact embryo.

But this wasn't the final step; the next step was embedding the inner core.

Every Treasure Artifact was unique and couldn't be mass-produced because the sizes and shapes of the inner cores were different, requiring specific embedding slots. This embedding technique was the most challenging part. Although the embedding process only took a few seconds, it was extraordinarily difficult, which is why, despite many blacksmiths in Tianhe County, very few could be called Tool-Forging Masters.

Treasure Artifacts were expensive, not just because of the materials but also due to the difficulty of crafting.

When it came to embedding, Guo Zhen couldn't guide him anymore, so Wang Hong provided advice whenever he had some spare time. Meanwhile, the new Treasure Artifact was nearing completion, waiting for the client's inner core to proceed.

Chu Hao learned the embedding technique under Wang Hong.

Keen eyesight and quick hands were the first requirements, followed by precise control of heat.

During the embedding process, the casting had to remain at a high temperature, and immediately after embedding the inner core, it needed to be submerged in cold water. The contraction would fix the inner core in place.

But if the heat control was incorrect, it could cause the inner core to explode. Moreover, if the inner core wasn't positioned correctly, the energy it released wouldn't flow through the pre-made channels, failing to exhibit additional attributes. Instead, it would accumulate and either damage the inner core or the artifact itself.

Chu Hao now had about a dozen of the lowest-grade ferocious beast inner cores, repeatedly embedding them into his self-forged fine iron artifact embryos. Since it was only for practice, they used fine iron, not employing Thousand-layer Iron techniques.

Failure, failure, failure.

He continually tried and continually failed, progressing far slower than he expected.

The art of tool-forging was truly a money pit, he realized.

Even the lowest-grade inner cores were worth at least around a hundred pounds of Fifth Grade Star Stones each.

On the seventh day, Feng Yezi suddenly summoned him.

The client had arrived.