Eternal Heavenly Emperor

Chu Hao went to the Scripture Pavilion.

He was now an Inner Sect Disciple and could enter it without restriction, but only to the first and second floors. These housed Human Level Lower-Grade and Middle-Grade martial techniques and cultivation techniques. As for the third floor, it contained Human Level High-Grade techniques, which required special permission from the sect's top officials to access.

What about Earth Level Lower-Grade martial techniques and cultivation techniques?

These were stored in the treasure vault, and not even the nine elders had the authority to enter. Only the Sect Master could.

To obtain an Earth Level Lower-Grade inheritance, one had to fulfill two conditions—first, they couldn't belong to any family, and second, they had to exhibit exceptional talent and unwavering loyalty to the sect.

The sect had to maintain some degree of independence and couldn't be subservient to any family.

Chu Hao wandered around the second floor, quickly frowning, as his points were far from enough to borrow any of the martial techniques or cultivation techniques there.

He didn't care much for cultivation techniques since the Minor Formless Mysterious Skill was an Earth Level Middle-Grade technique, comparable to the inheritance of the three strongest sects in Tianhe County. What he needed was swordsmanship to fully unleash the power of the Grey Rock Sword.

What to do?

Go to Thousand Jun City and buy one.

Chu Hao promptly made up his mind. He still had quite a few Fourth Grade Star Stones on him. Purchasing an Earth Level martial technique was out of the question, but a Human Level Middle-Grade or High-Grade technique was possible.

The Yunliu Sect's martial competition was scheduled for a month after the New Year, so he had about half a month.

Enough time to make a round trip to Thousand Jun City.

Chu Hao took Flying Fire along and set out for Thousand Jun City.

The little guy had now advanced to the Martial Master Realm and could finally accompany him on his travels.

After traveling for a while, Chu Hao couldn't help but sigh. If he had a Fiery Flame Horse, the round trip to Thousand Jun City would only take a day at most. Rubbing Little Leopard's head, he said, "Little guy, why do you keep getting smaller? Otherwise, if you carried me, our speed wouldn't be slower than a Fiery Flame Horse."

—Fire Cloud Leopards were known for their speed. Now that Flying Fire had advanced to the Martial Master Realm, its speed was truly as fast as lightning.

Flying Fire, displeased by his words, let out a few indignant cries, then leaped to the ground. With a shake of its body, there was a rapid cracking sound, and its body swiftly expanded to the size of a regular wild wolf.

"Hey, are you Sun Wukong in disguise?" Chu Hao couldn't help but be amazed, never expecting the little guy to have such a trick up its sleeve.

Ferocious beasts generally sought to be larger in size, but this guy, despite being able to enlarge itself, preferred to stay small. Was its hidden attribute to be cute?

Chu Hao mounted it, and Flying Fire immediately began to run with astonishing speed. Chu Hao felt the wind whipping painfully against his face.

In terms of specific abilities, ferocious beasts indeed surpassed humans.

For speed, there were speed-oriented beasts like Flying Fire and Fiery Flame Horses. For strength, there were strength-oriented beasts like the Earth Violent Bear, Red-backed Iron Bull, and Coiled Mountain Python. Those that flew in the sky and swam in the water were even more impressive.

Humans' advantage lay in adaptability, developing comprehensively by maximizing their strengths and compensating for weaknesses.

Chu Hao felt enlightened, like he had grasped something critical, but couldn't quite put his finger on it.

Flying Fire's speed was astonishing, and its stamina wasn't weak either. Just three hours later, it carried Chu Hao to Thousand Jun City. The little guy was somewhat bewildered; it thought it was just being playful, yet it had run for three hours.

To avoid attracting too much attention, Chu Hao had Flying Fire shrink its body and tucked it into his arms, leaving only its head exposed.

Man and leopard entered the city smoothly. Having never been here before, Flying Fire kept its head out, sniffing curiously at everything. Driven by beastly instincts, it felt an urge to jump down and announce this as its territory with a few roars.

Just after the New Year, the younger generation's wallets were well-stocked and eager to spend, making the city very lively.

Unfortunately, the auction house would hold its next large-scale auction in half a month. Currently, only some worthless items were on display, which failed to interest Chu Hao.

Did he make this trip for nothing?

Chu Hao wandered around the city and soon arrived at a small market. Judging from the chatter around him, it was a market set up by Martial Artists, selling a variety of items, including cultivation techniques, martial techniques, and Spiritual Medicines.

He couldn't help but feel intrigued, thinking that while the chances of finding an advanced swordsmanship technique here were slim, it wouldn't hurt to look.

It was crowded and cramped, and Chu Hao moved with the flow. When he saw something interesting, he would resist the people's pushes behind him and squat at the stalls to examine the items.

Counterfeit items were rampant.

He didn't recognize Spiritual Medicines, but he had considerable expertise in Treasure Artifacts. Some claimed to be Eighth or even Seventh Grade Treasure Artifacts had fine cracks on the body, indicating that they were inferior quality and would break after a few uses, yet their asking prices were exorbitantly high.

Currently, there was no shortage of naive, wealthy buyers, especially among the young, who got dazzled by the term "Treasure Artifact." And since these items indeed demonstrated great power in initial use, everyone competed to buy them.

Chu Hao had no intention of issuing warnings. A willing buyer and seller made their own choices, based on their judgment.

However, alongside the numerous counterfeit items, there were many genuine pieces as well. After all, if everything were fake, anyone fooled this year wouldn't fall for it next year.

Items sold at these markets were always a mix of genuine and fake. If one's eye for quality wasn't good, they could only rely on luck.

"Dead old man, daring to ask for 5000 Star Stones for a Heavenly Book."

"Let's see which fool will buy it."

Hearing the curses, Chu Hao approached a stall where an old man was seated on the ground with a tattered cloth spread out before him, weighed down at the corners with stones. On the cloth rested a single dilapidated book.

Two young men were walking away, cursing as they left.

A Heavenly Book?

Chu Hao walked over and asked, "Sir, may I take a look?"

"Go ahead," the old man nodded.

Chu Hao picked up the book and saw its cover was tattered, but the pages inside were intact. As he flipped through it, he was taken aback, for he couldn't understand the writing at all.

Were these even words?

He thought to himself, the characters looked more like ghost doodles than hurried scrawls, and most people would likely mistake it for a child's scribble at first glance.

No wonder it was called a Heavenly Book, and no wonder the two youths had cursed earlier. This thing would struggle to find a taker even if it were free, let alone for 5000 Star Stones.

"Put it back if you're done," the old man said nonchalantly.

Chu Hao was about to put it down when he hesitated. Because of the book's new position, from his current angle, the characters formed a pattern.

This pattern was hidden within the text. Without his exceptional derivation skills, he wouldn't have noticed it.

The pattern depicted a person holding a sword in a deceptively simple stance, yet it exuded a powerful aura, as if it could break through the paper and slash across miles.

Unable to resist, Chu Hao flipped through the pages. One by one, more patterns appeared, showing the figure wielding the sword with extraordinary finesse.

After he turned the last page, Chu Hao's face was pale, and cold sweat dripped from his forehead. It felt like he had just fought a fierce battle. In his mental world, he indeed had.

He had treated the figure in the book as his imaginary opponent but couldn't dodge, block, or defend against any of the moves.

Each strike could instantly kill him.

The entire book consisted of only five pages. Despite the short time he spent, he had been "killed" five times, leaving him drenched in cold sweat.

"Young man, if you're not buying, put the book down and leave. You're holding up my business," the old man said impatiently, his eyes flashing with a strong sense of presence.

An Eight Meridians martial master.

Chu Hao didn't put the book down but asked, "Sir, where did you get this book?"

"From an ancient tomb. There was a Treasured Sword with it, but unfortunately, time had drained its inner core's power. Still, the materials of its Artifact Embryo were of the Fifth Grade. Otherwise, would I have the nerve to ask for 5000 Star Stones for this book? A few days ago, it was priced at 20,000. If someone had recognized its worth earlier, you'd have missed your chance," the old man replied.

Chu Hao nodded and said, "I only have 3000 Fifth Grade Star Stones and 150 Fourth Grade Star Stones. How about that?"

Normally, the exchange rate between Fifth Grade and Fourth Grade Star Stones was ten to one, but no one would willingly trade Fourth Grade Star Stones for Fifth Grade ones, making the real value of Fourth Grade Star Stones even higher.

The price Chu Hao offered was actually quite fair.

The old man hesitated for a moment but then nodded. Although he initially hoped for 20,000 Star Stones, three days at the stall made him realize the price was too high. Better to sell it cheap than let it rot in his hands.

Chu Hao took out 3000 Fifth Grade Star Stones and 150 Fourth Grade Star Stones from his Mustard Seed Ring. After paying, he took the worn-out book and left.

Now, he had only about 200 Fourth Grade Star Stones left, having exhausted his supply of Fifth Grade Star Stones.

Money was tight again.

He thought to himself, I'll have to craft a few Treasure Artifacts to auction off. Fortunately, there's an auction in half a month. If I rush, I should manage to make three or four pieces.

Chu Hao didn't intend to stay long in Thousand Jun City. Having acquired this mysterious Sword Manual, he decided to return to Yunliu Sect immediately to study it.

Leaving the city, Flying Fire transformed again and carried him away swiftly.

...

Shortly after Chu Hao left, the market in the city, the old man who had sold the tattered book was getting ready to leave when four people approached, each emanating a strong presence.

"Wait," one of them said, stopping the old man. "Old man, the book you sold—where is it?"

"I sold it," the old man replied.

The four were taken aback and asked in unison, "To whom?"

The old man rolled his eyes, unwilling to respond, but the four blocked his way. Humming simultaneously, they activated their Star Force, revealing eight lines of light on their bodies.

All of them were Eight Meridians martial masters.