Eternal Heavenly Emperor

No one could have expected that the first place in this Ling Family festival was neither the universally acknowledged number one expert, Ling Tianhe, nor the suddenly returned Ling Tianyun or Ling Yuerong, but an outsider who had just come from the lower world.

This became the Ling Family's shame. Everyone was too embarrassed to mention it, but how could paper wrap fire? The news was still leaked by the servants, and not long after, the entire Ling City knew about it, turning it into a laughingstock for a while.

Chu Hao, however, paid no attention to these matters. He had also sustained significant injuries in his final clash with Ling Tianhe and had been nursing these wounds for the past few days.

Although he was the first place, the Ling Family did not treat him kindly. Except for delivering his deserved reward, everyone else kept their distance. His courtyard was cold and deserted, with not a single person coming to congratulate him.

It took a full seven days for his injuries to heal completely, and Chu Hao finally could get out of bed and walk.

During these seven days, he had not been idle, managing to unblock his sixth proper vein.

Two Meridians Early Stage.

This was within his expectations and didn't excite him. What made him happy was the progress he made in understanding the eighth technique of the Sky Wind Eight Styles.

The eighth technique had no specific move, only some very abstract descriptions. Compressing and integrating the first seven techniques based on these descriptions was simply directionless.

Additionally, using the Sky Wind Eight Styles once consumed a vast amount of Star Force and caused significant shock to the meridians, making it impossible to practice frequently. Hence, the eighth technique, Return to One, had been long delayed.

During his battle with Ling Tianhe and the others, Chu Hao used the Sky Wind Eight Styles several times, finally forming a strong insight.

Integrating two techniques is Return to One, integrating three techniques is also Return to One, and integrating seven techniques is likewise Return to One.

In other words, the eighth technique had six realms, with greater power as more techniques were integrated.

Chu Hao began to integrate Gathering Wind and Breaking Wave.

In fact, the first seven techniques of the Sky Wind Eight Styles were all preparations for the final integration. The real ultimate move could decide the outcome in one strike; why need dozens or hundreds of moves?

In terms of difficulty of integration, it was simple at first and difficult later.

Of course, simplicity and difficulty were relative to the Sky Wind Eight Styles itself. Otherwise, how could Chu Hao, with his comprehension, practice for three days without success?

He was not in a hurry; he had spent a long time mastering the first seven techniques of the Sky Wind Eight Styles, so integrating two techniques naturally posed a higher difficulty.

The path of martial arts is long, requiring patience and calmness.

However, before Chu Hao could continue his study, they were expelled from the Ling Family.

The word 'expelled' was a bit exaggerated, but the Ling Family's New Year festival had ended, and all young disciples certainly had to return to the Yunliu Sect. Moreover, having slapped the entire Ling Family in the face, no one in the family was pleased to see him loitering around, so naturally, they'd want to send him off sooner rather than later.

Ling Yuanfeng still led the team back to the Yunliu Sect.

Chu Hao was not worried about how the Ling Family would treat him. After all, bringing them from the lower world was to find geniuses to strengthen the family and to value their bloodlines.

In the world of martial artists, the offspring of geniuses were highly likely to inherit such talent.

Chu Hao and his companions' loyalty would never reassure the Ling Family, but their offspring would be different. With Ling Family blood running through their veins, they'd be true members.

As long as they were indoctrinated from a young age, they would naturally have no connection with the lower world.

Before revealing their kilij, the Ling Family would be very cautious in hiding their claws. The prejudices between the two worlds were deep-rooted, and they couldn't be easily resolved even if tried.

Returning to the Yunliu Sect, Chu Hao continued his daily cultivation while dedicating the rest of his time to integrating the Sky Wind Eight Styles.

Flying Fire finally woke up.

The little guy had previously entered into another long slumber. When Chu Hao left for the Ling Family, it still hadn't woken up, forcing him to prepare plenty of food in the River Down Courtyard house and placing it around Flying Fire, so it wouldn't starve after waking up with no one to care for it.

Fortunately, he worried too much, as Flying Fire finally woke up on the third day after his return.

What puzzled Chu Hao was that this little guy had "shrunk" significantly.

Originally as big as a wolf, Flying Fire was now back to cat size, barely a foot long, turning into a cute little guy again.

"Plop."

The little guy immediately pounced and began licking Chu Hao's face with its tongue.

"Hey, you haven't even married and had children yet, and you're already reversing in growth. How will you carry on the ancestral line in the future?" Chu Hao laughed, but soon noticed the changes in Flying Fire.

Its aura had strengthened.

It wasn't just a slight improvement but a fundamental change.

Martial Master.

The little guy had finally stepped into the Martial Master Realm.

Chu Hao had expected this, though it seemed to have taken longer. However, after calculating, he realized he himself had only entered the Martial Master Realm a little over four months ago. Comparatively, the little guy's progress wasn't slow at all.

Having not seen Chu Hao for so long, Flying Fire stuck to him incessantly. Luckily, the urge for strength was ingrained in the blood of ferocious beasts, and soon it went off with a Star Stone in its mouth to cultivate.

Four days later, Chu Hao set aside his study of Return to One and headed to the Bingyuan Pavilion.

He had encountered another bottleneck. Persisting stubbornly often yielded no progress, so he decided to change his approach — he planned to forge a Treasure Artifact for both himself and Fu Xue.

Currently, he only needed eighth-rank Treasure Artifacts, and both the materials and ferocious beast meat core required were relatively easy to obtain.

Upon arriving at the Bingyuan Pavilion, he saw Guo Zhen had already returned, but it was Guo Yushuang who first greeted him.

"Brother Chu—" The young girl flew over like a swallow. If not for Guo Zhen's quick eyes and hands to grab her, she would have landed in Chu Hao's embrace.

Guo Zhen couldn't help but roll his eyes, thinking how his only beloved daughter could have so little restraint.

"Master Guo." Chu Hao cupped his fists in greeting.

"Chu Hao, are you here to practice forging again?" Guo Zhen asked enthusiastically.

Practice more?

Chu Hao shook his head and said, "With my current cultivation, I can't improve further on Thousand-layer Iron, at least until I reach the Martial Sect to attempt 256 layers. Today, I've come to forge a Treasure Artifact for myself."

"Oh, what weapon will you use?" Guo Zhen asked.

"A sword, I think," Chu Hao replied after some thought. He still preferred using a sword.

"You're in luck," Guo Zhen smiled. "I recently received a piece of Greyrock Iron, weighing only three pounds, just enough to forge a sword."

Chu Hao was overjoyed; Greyrock Iron was eighth-rank material. Although it shared the same rank as Red Iron, like how lower-grade techniques varied from level 1 to level 9, Greyrock Iron was top-tier among eighth-rank materials.

The resulting eighth-rank Treasure Artifact would be fantastic.

"How much silver — how many Star Stones do you need for it?" Chu Hao initially wanted to use silver but thought better. Firstly, he had already spent all his silver, and secondly, eighth-rank materials might not be purchasable with silver.

"What are you talking about?" Guo Zhen rolled his eyes, displeased. "Though you're not part of the Bingyuan Pavilion, given how much my master adores you, wouldn't you even accept a piece of Greyrock Iron?"

Seeing Guo Zhen's annoyed expression, Chu Hao smiled, "Master Guo, I'll take it, alright?"

"That's more like it." Guo Zhen's face lit up.

Without further delay, Chu Hao got to work immediately.

After the New Year, once all disciples returned, Yunliu Sect would hold two major competitions — one for the Outer Sect Disciples and one for the Inner Sect Disciples, both with rich rewards.

Winning first place in the Outer Sect previously, Chu Hao had obtained a human-level middle-grade cultivation technique and a human-level middle-grade Martial Technique. If he won the Inner Sect's first place, the rewards could reach human-level high-grade, at least.

Although he possessed earth-level Martial Techniques and cultivation techniques, who would disdain having more ultimate skills?

With his breakthrough to Two Meridians Early Stage, Chu Hao believed he could easily defeat Ling Tianhe if they fought again. However, against stronger opponents like Luo Ping and Jin Wuxiang, he wasn't as confident.

Not to mention, among the Core Disciples, one exceeded his peers significantly — Cao Jingwen.

With his current strength, he was no match for Cao Jingwen, so he had to use this time to enhance his abilities as much as possible. Treasure Artifact, Sky Wind Eight Styles, cultivation realm — he lacked time desperately now.

Ting ting ting, the sound of forging immediately filled the workshop.

After only two days, the basic process of tempering the material was completed. Chu Hao had tempered the Greyrock Iron to 128 layers; its hardness and toughness were nearing that of inferior seventh-rank materials.

The second step was to shape the Treasure Artifact.

This step was much faster, and the sword was completed in just one day, with three sockets embedded in it.

Three sockets were the limit for an eighth-rank Treasure Artifact.

Chu Hao set high standards for himself, doing the best or not doing it at all.

He purchased three inner cores from fire-attributed ferocious beasts, all of Martial Master level. Higher-level ones were useless; even if successfully embedded, initiation would only destroy the Treasure Artifact.

He began embedding the inner cores.

During his time in Guangyuan City, Chu Hao had tried many times and failed as often. However, for Chu Hao, if successful once, he wouldn't fail a second time.

The three inner cores were smoothly embedded.

He gripped the sword hilt and infused Star Force into it. Immediately, flames danced along the blade, emanating a powerful aura.

"Perfect, this will elevate my combat power by thirty percent! Hmm, I'll call you Grey Rock Sword." Chu Hao smiled but then frowned. "Only problem is, the Izumo Sword Technique is too low in rank and lacks a method to channel Star Force, making it less than a human-level lower-grade technique."

"Now I have a Treasure Artifact but lack the skills to unleash its power. Isn't that awkward?"

"Right, I should have some points by now. Maybe I could borrow a Sword Manual from the Scripture Pavilion."

He gave the Red Shadow Sword to Guo Zhen. It could still be reforged into a short sword or dagger after being melted down again. He then sheathed the Grey Rock Sword in his old scabbard and returned to the sect.