Eternal Heavenly Emperor

Chu Hao continued his seclusion, trying to integrate the Return to One technique into the fourth form, enhancing its power further.

But after five days, he was unexpectedly repelled from the house.

No more training allowed?

Chu Hao shook his head and had to continue forward.

Calculating the time, he had entered the Ancient Training Ground for over a month and still hadn't been expelled to the outside world, indicating that the appearance of the underground area had indeed changed the rules here.

After half a month, his foot injury had long healed, and most of the lost blood had been replenished—Martial Artists had abundant vitality, as long as their life force wasn't severely damaged, replenishing blood was an easy task, just by eating large quantities of meat daily and taking some ginseng and other tonics.

Over this time, his Cultivation had also reached the Ten Meridians Peak. This meant the only factor binding his breakthrough to the Martial Sect now was Yunliu Sect.

Once he left Yunliu Sect, he would start his breakthrough.

Chu Hao had long decided that even though from now on, his Realm couldn't progress further, he could temper his Star Force, making it stronger and more solid.

Just like Luo Ping, who was clearly not at the Nine Meridians, but could easily defeat ordinary Eight Meridians martial masters, relying on what? It was because he had condensed his Star Force, thus indirectly enhancing his power.

Since he wasn't breaking through to the Martial Sect for now, he naturally wouldn't waste time and would begin tempering his Star Force whenever he had spare time. However, unlike the expansion of Meridians, Star Force tempering wasn't restricted by a specific Realm; it could be done even when he reached the Martial Sect without any difference.

As Chu Hao walked forward, he finally saw other people one after another, likely also repelled from the houses on the mountain.

Some people didn't cause trouble, but some became arrogant, thinking they had achieved a breakthrough and greatly increased their strength, stirring up trouble. Chu Hao dealt with them based on the seriousness of their actions, showing no mercy to those with murderous intent and merely punishing those who just wanted to spar, to remind them not to waste his time.

Sweeping all the way, Chu Hao arrived at the end of this second level after half a day.

Some people were already gathered at the exit, seemingly hesitant to proceed.

Chu Hao walked over and saw a stone tablet standing at the exit of the second level and the entrance to the third level, with a few lines of words indicating that upon entering from here, one would face a trial and if they failed, they would be directly transported out of this Trial Ground.

No wonder so many people were gathered here; clearly, no one wanted to fail and be expelled from the Trial Ground.

The first level had precious herbs, while the second level had high-grade Earth Level secret techniques like the Crescent Slash only for the first few to reach the entrance, but the Spirit Chamber was available to everyone, with some differences in its benefits.

So, what benefits would the third level offer?

It must be better than the Spirit Chamber on the second level.

Therefore, naturally, no one wanted to fail, causing hesitation.

Chu Hao couldn't help but think to himself, what use is there in hesitating? Would the difficulty of the challenge decrease if one hesitated longer? Martial Artists without a heart to forge ahead would have limited prospects.

The people here were likely ordinary Eight Meridians Peak; even if there were Martial Sect members, they must have come from the Eight Meridians, thus lacking enough confidence and being hesitant.

Sweeping his gaze around, Chu Hao couldn't help but show a slight surprise, as many people's auras were completely different from before, making them hard to see through.

They had broken through to the Martial Sect.

The Spirit Chamber truly lived up to its name; in just ten days, it had helped so many break through to the Martial Sect.

This was understandable, as people like Cao Jingwen had been stuck at the Martial Master Peak for ages, only lacking an opportunity. Now, with the help of the Spirit Chamber, it was a simple matter to break through to the Martial Sect at once.

Chu Hao came out of the crowd and arrived at the entrance.

"A mere martial master dares to challenge, truly courting humiliation!" Someone said coldly.

Chu Hao turned to look, it was a young man in golden clothes. Seeing Chu Hao's gaze, he snorted, his face full of disdain. Chu Hao smiled faintly, "Are you provoking me?"

"Haha, you must be a disciple of Yunliu Sect?" The young man sneered, "I know your sect has a Cao Jingwen, his strength is barely noteworthy, and what are you? How about I provoke you?"

Chu Hao strode over and punched out.

"Such audacity, daring to strike at me!" The young man raised his eyebrows. Before entering the Ancient Training Ground, he was indeed a martial master, but recently had a big realization and directly broke through to the Martial Sect in the Spirit Chamber.

This greatly boosted his confidence, making him feel he could fight experts on the Fledgling Dragon List, let alone someone like Chu Hao, who hadn't yet entered the Martial Sect.

—You say, isn't that laughable?

He also sent a punch to break Chu Hao's arm and give him a deep lesson.

Bang!

The two clashed, and the young man's confident face suddenly filled with fear. Bang, he was shockingly sent flying, his clothes instantly torn apart, and he crashed heavily to the ground, feeling his whole body paralyzed, unable to get up for a moment.

Defeated in one move.

"Hmm?"

The surrounding people exclaimed in shock.

The young man wasn't a top expert, but he was a genuine Martial Sect, yet he couldn't take a single punch from a martial master, how was this possible?

Could it be?

A thought rose in everyone's mind, collectively shaking their heads, joking, how could anyone reach the Ten Meridians? Even a War God might not achieve that, let alone others.

It must be that the young man's Star Force wasn't condensed enough, while Chu Hao, though not breaking through, had condensed his Star Force to an extreme, thus a Nine Meridians against a Nine Meridians result.

That must be it.

Chu Hao didn't kill him. He wasn't to the point of killing someone just for being disrespectful. But a minor punishment was necessary, teaching the person a lesson to not be so arrogant again.

In the world of Martial Artists, reality was paramount. Although Chu Hao was still a martial master, defeating a Martial Sect with one punch—no matter how weak the opponent was, a Martial Sect was a Martial Sect, naturally earning deserved respect. Seeing Chu Hao stride over, everyone made way for him.

Chu Hao walked into the entrance, a long corridor, ending with ten doors.

"Nine lives, one death?" Chu Hao read the words on the wall. According to this, among the ten doors, nine led to life and one to death?

"I wonder if I'd be so unlucky to pick the death door." He chose the third door and pushed it open.

Inside was pitch black, Chu Hao extended his right hand, bang, his body activated, and a flame ignited in his hand, lighting the dark space.

This was a passage; the flame's limited light couldn't show how long it was.

He walked forward, reaching the end after about 50 meters, finding another door with a huge "death" word and small words: Turn back for safety.

Chu Hao paused, pondering.

Was he really unlucky to pick the death door?

Or perhaps, the previous "nine lives, one death" was a trap, all doors being "death" doors meant to scare off trial participants.

This wasn't Chu Hao's wild guess because this was a Trial Ground, testing strength, not luck.

He turned back to the third door he entered, seeing words saying: Open this door to be transported out of the Trial Ground.

Sure enough, fake!

Chu Hao confirmed inwardly, if it were really a death route, why so much nonsense?

Of course, Chu Hao could be wrong, and the designer of this Trial Ground might be excessively verbose.

He returned to the "death" door.

Go in!

He thought, pushing the door open, crack, a gap appeared, letting in a shaft of light, starkly contrasting the darkness.

Crack, he used all his strength to open the door fully.

Ahead lay a vast area, but specifics were obscured by thick fog severely limiting vision.

If this were a death route, he should have already been dead.

Chu Hao walked forward slowly, finding the ground sandy, feet sinking slightly with each step, making a low noise. But the footfalls grew louder.

He stopped, listening.

Rustle, rustle, other sounds matched his steps, much louder.

In the distance loomed a huge shadow, a giant puppet!

Larger than those he'd encountered in the tower, towering like a three-story building, similarly constructed but vastly bigger, with a face painted like a terrifying ghost from hell.

Boom, boom, its steps grew louder, its shadow could cover Chu Hao entirely if backlit by the sun.

Whoosh!

It swung at Chu Hao, its power immense.

Equivalent to Three Meridians, even Four Meridians Martial Sect.

Chu Hao dodged, avoiding direct confrontation.

Based on earlier experience, the puppet's material was extremely hard, unaffected by blunt force or sharp weapons, so fighting it head-on was foolish.

Chu Hao leaped ahead, seeking to escape this area and shake off the cumbersome opponent.

The place was vast, and after a long run, a narrow valley came into view, the mountain's shadow visible from afar. Reaching it, he found more giant puppets.

These puppets were also fighting, attacking humans like Chu Hao.

—Other trial participants who had entered before Chu Hao.