Eternal Heavenly Emperor

The old man felt a chill in his heart. Although he was also at the Eight Meridians level, he was not a genius and did not possess the strength to crush those of the same rank. Moreover, there were four opponents.

Naturally, an old fox like him wouldn't act rashly, or he would have died hundreds of times already. Suppressing the anger in his heart, the old man said, "It was sold to a young man."

"What is his name, and what does he look like?" the four men pressed.

The old man shook his head and said, "I don't know his name. He looks quite handsome and is no more than 20 years old. Oh, and he had a cat in his arms."

The four men looked at each other. One of them said, "Old man, you'd better not be lying."

"How could I lie?" The old man quickly waved his hand.

"You'd better not." The four men turned and left, soon arriving at an inn.

"Report to Elder Liu, the book you wanted has been bought by someone else." They stood respectfully before a tall old man, who was a Martial Sect and also a Four Meridians powerhouse.

"Hmm?" Elder Liu's eyes widened instantly, and he said, "Who was it?"

"A young man, just a moment ago."

"Then why are you not hurrying to find him?" Elder Liu snorted, secretly feeling regret in his heart.

Actually, he had seen that tattered book at the old man's stall yesterday. But after flipping through it, he naturally tossed it aside—though he was quite wealthy, spending 5000 Star Stones on rubbish was not something he would do. But not long after, for some reason, an image suddenly formed in his mind, a special pattern.

A man and a sword, as if they could cut through the heavens.

He immediately realized that he had missed out on a frighteningly powerful secret technique. But thinking that even he had almost overlooked such a "Heavenly Book," others likely wouldn't recognize it either. Thus, he sent four of his subordinates to buy it instead; if he went himself, it might have alerted other powerhouses of the same rank.

After sending people out, he couldn't shake a feeling of unease, which proved to be warranted.

That secret technique had indeed been bought by someone else.

"Yes, yes." The four men hurriedly nodded. Although they only had a rough idea of Chu Hao's appearance, finding him in such a large city was like finding a needle in a haystack. But since Elder Liu had given the order, they had no choice but to comply.

Elder Liu stood by the window, his eyes as sharp as knives, and murmured, "No matter who you are, you'd better hand over my secret technique, or I'll wipe out your entire family."

...

Of course, Elder Liu's men couldn't intercept Chu Hao. Flying Fire was extremely fast, and by this time, he had already returned to the Yunliu Sect.

In his room, Chu Hao lay down, while Flying Fire obediently curled up at his feet. Running twice in one day was quite a task for it, so it needed to recover its strength and Star Force.

—Its speed was fast, but its endurance was far less than that of a Fiery Flame Horse.

Chu Hao opened the tattered book, which had only five pages, making it very thin. As he turned the book at an angle, under his gaze, the text faded away, revealing a man wielding a sword, with sword Qi so fierce it seemed to cut through the heavens.

Hmm, this image is different from the one I saw before.

Chu Hao slowly rotated the book, and the man on the page began to move. Not only did the man and sword come to life, but even those nonsensical words seemed to come alive, connecting vertically and horizontally to form new, comprehensible text.

"Mad Thunder Sword Technique." Chu Hao read these four words aloud, paused, and continued, "My self-created Mad Thunder Sword Technique, its fundamental level is Earth Level High-Grade. If the Thunder Intent Realm is comprehended, the Mad Thunder Sword Technique can be promoted to Heaven Level."

Earth Level High-Grade!

Chu Hao was astonished. In fact, both Heaven-level cultivation techniques and martial techniques require a War Venerate to cultivate. What does Earth Level High-Grade mean? It means he wouldn't need to switch to a new sword technique until he reached War Venerate.

"This is really a stroke of luck; it's actually Earth Level High-Grade." Chu Hao's eyes lit up. This was the strongest martial technique he could learn at this stage.

Moreover, if the Mad Thunder Sword Technique was mastered along with the Thunder Intent Realm, it could be promoted to Heaven Level.

Chu Hao didn't yet know what Intent Realm was, but he believed it should be related to War Venerate.

Martial arts could be divided into three major stages, with a significant transformation at each stage. The first stage was Warrior, allowing martial artists to soar through the sky using flying treasure artifacts. The second stage was War Venerate, enabling one to fly through the sky directly and even transform their body into elements, rendering ordinary attacks ineffective.

The final stage was War God, which transcended the limits of human capacity.

Of course, this was just what Chu Hao currently understood. The abilities of Warriors, War Venerates, and War Gods must include much more than this.

"Let's not think about that now. The priority is to master the Mad Thunder Sword Technique. I only have ten days," Chu Hao said.

He was currently encountering a bottleneck in combining the Sky Wind Eight Styles and needed a new approach.

Continuously changing the book's position, Chu Hao turned it in a full circle, and the man on the page completely demonstrated the first style.

Thunderclap Miles.

This was the name of the first move of the Mad Thunder Sword Technique, Chu Hao muttered, as in his mind, that middle-aged man came to life, demonstrating the terrifying power of this sword technique.

"The Sword Manual states mastering the form is the first step."

"The second step is intent, to comprehend the rapid and domineering nature of a thundercloud's movement."

"The third step is momentum."

"But, what is momentum?"

Chu Hao could understand what intent meant, but what was momentum?

"I can only try understanding what momentum is after mastering the second step," Chu Hao murmured.

But first, he needed to complete the first step, mastering the form.

Form was supposed to be the easiest. Just imitating the moves. Yet when Chu Hao actually held his sword and moved, he found it incredibly difficult, as if he had lost control of his hands, feet, and body.

After a whole day, he hadn't even grasped the basics.

"As expected of Earth Level High-Grade, possibly advancing to Heaven Level martial techniques." Chu Hao couldn't help but admire. His comprehension was top-notch, with his powerful deductive abilities, he could usually master any ultimate move instantly.

But he hit a wall with the Mad Thunder Sword Technique.

Try again.

He smiled. The harder it was to learn, the more powerful it must be.

There were still nine days left.

Days passed, with Chu Hao devoting all his energy to practicing the Mad Thunder Sword Technique. Progress was slow, but by the seventh day, he experienced a pleasant surprise.

Inspired, he discovered the key to combining the first two styles of the Sky Wind Eight Styles.

Discarding the sword and training with his palms, he managed to form the rudiments of the eighth style, Return to One, by the end of the day.

In the dense forest, Chu Hao stood with a solemn expression, his right hand slightly raised. A terrifying aura surged from within him as if he could destroy everything in his path.

"Return to One." He softly cried, pushing his right palm forward.

Boom.

Ferocious power surged forth, demolishing one tree after another, creating an open area ten meters long and three meters wide.

Chu Hao was shocked.

Creating such an open space wasn't hard, but the difficulty lay in the fact that everything the palm force passed through turned to dust. This was the truly terrifying part.

"The power is immense, at least double that of the previous seven styles." Chu Hao analyzed the power of this move, "Moreover, this is merely the fusion of two styles. What would happen if all seven styles were combined into the true Return to One?"

"The final style of the Sky Wind Eight Styles must be at least Earth Level High-Grade."

Chu Hao concluded in his mind.

Two more days passed, and Chu Hao finally mastered the first move of the Mad Thunder Sword Technique.

He returned to the forest, holding the Grey Rock Sword, positioning his feet just right. After taking a slight breath, he suddenly swung his sword.

Instantly, it felt as though the world lost its color, leaving only a grey sword light streaking through the forest like a rampaging dragon.

Snap, snap, snap, snap.

The sword momentum swept through, shattering the surrounding trees as if struck by lightning.

"Unfortunately, my physique doesn't have the thunder attribute. Otherwise, combined with my physique, striking with actual thunder would make it even more powerful," Chu Hao muttered, "However, flames should also work. Let's give it a try."

This time, Chu Hao activated his physique and his treasure artifact. Three ferocious beast inner cores lit up, and the Grey Rock Sword ignited in flames.

"Indeed, when the physique and treasure artifact resonate, the power is greater," Chu Hao nodded secretly. If only the treasure artifact was activated, it would enhance his combat power by 30%, but now it could reach 40%.

Thunderclap Miles.

Chu Hao swung his sword, with sword Qi surging and flames dancing wildly.

Boom.

The entire forest seemed to undergo an earthquake. Countless trees fell, rocks split, and devastation was everywhere.

"A truly terrifying power." Although he had caused all this himself, Chu Hao still found it hard to believe that human strength could achieve such feats.

And he was merely at the Two Meridians Early Stage.

"Though I've only mastered one move of the Mad Thunder Sword Technique, and the Sky Wind Eight Styles are fused with two styles, with these two ultimate moves, I would stand a good chance even against Cao Jingwen." Chu Hao clenched his fist.

He returned to the River Down Courtyard. Tomorrow was the competition for the Inner Sect disciples.

The Outer Sect disciples' competition had already concluded, with Li Xiang taking first place. However, this first place couldn't compare to Chu Hao, as geniuses like Chu Hao, Mo Guxin, Fu Xue, and Zhou Yuan had already advanced to the Inner Sect.

Moreover, to prevent someone from the Lower World from winning the Outer Sect's first place twice in a row, the sect had armed Li Xiang to the teeth, not only giving him the strength of a Tenth Tier Peak Martial Pupil but also enhancing his combat power with a treasure artifact, leaving his opponent Lin Zhendong defeated with regret.

The key was tomorrow's competition.

Tomorrow, the Inner Sect disciples would determine the top ten, who would then have the chance to challenge the ten Core Disciples. Winning would mean replacing them, and losing... there was nothing more to say.