Eternal Heavenly Emperor

One mouthful after another, Chu Hao wolfed down the Dragon Tooth Rice the size of a corn kernel.

Before long, an indescribable sensation flowed through his body, and he felt an all-over comfort, as if he were floating to the sky.

He dared not waste any moment and immediately operated his Star Force to maximize the benefits.

Boom!

After being absorbed by his body, the Dragon Tooth Rice transformed into an incredibly pure energy, circulating within him. With each cycle, his flesh, muscles, and bones were nourished, advancing to a higher level.

Of course, this process was extremely slow; it was impossible to become strong overnight. However, with enough Dragon Tooth Rice, consuming it day after day, year after year, one could truly transform.

Chu Hao couldn't help but be amazed, wondering just how powerful martial artists from ancient times could become.

Boom, the surging energy began to impact the first Reverse Meridian.

Damn it, no!

Chu Hao hurriedly forced the energy to stop. He couldn't break through to Martial Sect now—once he did, Yunliu Sect would definitely take him back, and he'd never gain his freedom again.

He would break through, but it would never be in this Ancient Training Ground.

Under his forceful suppression, the energy finally halted its charge at the first Reverse Meridian and continued to nourish his muscles, bones, and flesh, easily pushing his physical limits further.

—If people knew he was forcefully preventing his breakthrough, they would surely be insanely jealous. Who didn't strive with great difficulty to break through to Martial Sect? But he, not only without any effort, was still forcibly suppressing it. Wouldn't this drive countless people stuck at Martial Master Peak to madness?

Originally, Chu Hao's physical strength was around 1.2 million catties, but with this energy nourishing him repeatedly, his brute strength increased by at least 200,000 catties.

Gasp, he had only eaten one grain of rice, even though this grain was incredibly large.

Chu Hao thought about the martial artists from ancient times. Surely, there wouldn't have been a shortage of War Gods then. Living for a millennium and eating Dragon Tooth Rice every day, how much physical strength could they end up with?

Their physical strength shouldn't be any less than their Star Force cultivation, right?

For most martial artists, only in the Martial Disciple Realm do they practice Body Refinement. From Martial Master onward, they focus on Star Force cultivation, known as "Internal Cultivation". A very few individuals, however, continue to cultivate their physique, relying on brute strength to counter "Internal Cultivation," calling it "External Cultivation" or "Body Cultivation."

Because Body Cultivation was so rare, the term Internal Cultivation was used sparingly, and martial artist generally referred to those practicing Internal Cultivation.

There was a saying: human strength has its limits, describing Body Cultivation perfectly. After reaching a million catties of strength, attempting to rise higher becomes exponentially more difficult, which explains the scarcity of Body Cultivators.

Yet, the benefit of Body Cultivation was the ability to train the physique to an exceptionally terrifying degree without the need to operate Star Force. The body remained in its optimal defensive state at all times.

In this era, Chu Hao hadn't heard of any Body Cultivation experts. But with Dragon Tooth Rice, he believed he could master both internal and external cultivation, enhancing his physical strength to the level of his Star Force, and his defensive power... that would naturally be terrifying.

Anyone could understand this. In a normal fight, a punch might hurt but rarely caused broken bones or death. But in a fight between First Tier Martial Sects, if one didn't block, the impact could result in severe injury or even death.

This was due to martial artists relying heavily on Star Force for both attack and defense. Without Star Force, they were quite fragile.

However, Dragon Tooth Rice could easily break the limits of the physique, increasing brute strength and bodily resilience, without requiring martial artists to do anything other than eat.

During the Ancient Times, how prosperous had martial arts become?

Chu Hao sighed repeatedly. After digesting the grain of Dragon Tooth Rice, he felt an incredible rejuvenation, as if he had just had a long, refreshing sleep, leaving him full of energy.

He descended to the 29th layer from the 30th.

This layer was much larger than the 30th, at least the size of two football fields, but there were fewer Dragon Tooth Rice grains due to numerous green plants, making them harder to harvest.

Also... Chu Hao picked a Dragon Tooth Rice and shook his head; it was smaller than those on the 30th layer.

The further down the layers, the smaller and finer the Dragon Tooth Rice became, eventually being as thin and long as a pinky finger.

The effectiveness surely decreased as well.

Chu Hao didn't believe that a dragon's tooth would be as small as a pinky finger. Even the size of a corn cob couldn't be called a dragon's tooth. The actual Divine Dragon's Tooth must be larger and longer.

Maybe the creators of this place weren't qualified to obtain that level of Dragon Tooth Rice, or perhaps they couldn't cultivate it to the true "Dragon Tooth" level.

Who cares!

Chu Hao grinned and began his frenzied harvesting.

I harvest, harvest, and harvest.

By the end of the day, he had finally reaped all of the 29th layer, missing hardly a single grain. With such large grains, they weren't hard to find and impossible to miss.

Despite the 29th layer being larger, the harvested Dragon Tooth Rice was only half the amount of that from the 30th layer.

After a short rest, he moved to the 28th layer.

This layer was naturally even bigger, perhaps slightly larger than a golf course.

Chu Hao practiced his movement technique, resuming his farm work.

In less than a day and a half, he had once again harvested everything here, but the quantity was halved again. Following this trend, the Dragon Tooth Rice he gleaned just from the 28th layer exceeded everyone else's total amount. Moreover, the Dragon Tooth Rice from the 27th layer below would be divided among so many people, making its effectiveness far weaker.

Looking at the entrance, he saw that the sand in the hourglass was nearly gone, with at most half an hour remaining.

He decided not to go down further but to wait here.

Chu Hao sat down. After these three days of harvesting Dragon Tooth Rice, he was quite tired and needed a rest.

Laying on the grass with his hands behind his head, Chu Hao began to ponder.

This time, he made such a substantial profit that countless people would covet his Dragon Tooth Rice alone, let alone other gains.

If he were to leave the Ancient Training Ground openly, the elders of the Great Sects would all be green with envy.

Such terrifying wealth could incite a war.

His plan must change. Once he left the Ancient Training Ground, he had to slip away quietly. With his current strength, he couldn't possibly guard all the Dragon Tooth Rice on him.

To make him give it up? That was impossible.

Hope wasn't absent. Upon exiting the Ancient Training Ground, like upon entering, everyone would be randomly teleported out. Though the distance from the entrance wouldn't be far, it still offered him a glimmer of hope.

He had to seize this chance to leave.

Hum, just as he was thinking, a beam of light enveloped him. Chu Hao felt his body tremble and found himself standing in a plaza at the lowest level. Those who had gone up before him were there as well, all smiling and evidently having reaped gains.

You Zhiyuan's gaze flickered between Chu Hao, Bai Qi, and Bian Yu, knowing two of them had reached higher layers than him, so their Dragon Tooth Rice must surpass his.

Damn, these three were all strong. Even if he made a move, he wouldn't be able to rob them.

Click, click, click, click, the "Telescopic Rod" on the 30th layer retracted section by section, quickly disappearing into the ground, replaced by a swirling portal emitting mystical light.

Is this the path to the fourth layer?

A signboard appeared next to the portal, reading: "When the bell rings three times, you may not enter."

What does it mean?

Everyone moved towards the portal, as staying here no longer made sense, and they naturally wanted to proceed.

After obtaining the Dragon Tooth Rice, their expectations soared, filling them with courage.

Hum, they felt a light tremor, and after a jolt, they found themselves in a new place.

It was a primeval forest.

Scanning his surroundings, Chu Hao saw that those around him had disappeared once more. This teleportation had scattered them again. He scrutinized the area and fixed his gaze on a distant structure emitting golden light from within the forest.

Should he head there?

With no specific direction in mind, it didn't matter.

Chu Hao began to move, entering the vast forest.

Whoosh!

A gust of wind blew by as a gray shadow suddenly lunged at Chu Hao with incredible speed.

Chu Hao didn't have time to see clearly. His right hand shook, and his sword appeared, blazing with flames, stabbing towards the gray shadow.

The gray shadow struck with its claws, hitting the sword with a clinking sound, and was sent flying back.

What kind of creature was this?

Chu Hao stared curiously at the gray shadow in front of him. It seemed to blend with the ground's shadows, almost impossible to notice unless closely observed, with no detectable aura.

This creature was entirely gray, with six short claws. It was unimaginable that such short claws could produce such immense speed.

It wasn't quite a marten, nor was it a cat.

What mattered to Chu Hao was its strength, not its appearance.

Judging by the impact strength from earlier, it was a First Tier Martial Sect—an average one.

Swish, the creature attacked Chu Hao again.

Chu Hao wasn't afraid. His sword glowed as he charged at the creature.

The thing's claws were pitch-black, likely venomous. Chu Hao dared not use his hands to fight it directly. As his sword swung out, he pushed with his left hand, releasing a Crescent Slash.

An average First Tier Martial Sect was no match for Chu Hao, even with Starlight.

In less than ten moves, the creature was slain by Chu Hao.

Chu Hao dug out the inner core and stored it in his Mustard Seed Ring. Though he was now quite wealthy, it still wouldn't be wise to waste.

Continuing forward.

Along the way, Chu Hao encountered many attacks, all sorts and varieties.

Sometimes, a piece of dry wood turned out to be a venomous butterfly. Grass underfoot hid a poisonous snake, not to mention tiny insects with immense toxicity.

Clang!

Suddenly, a long bell tolled, echoing through the forest.

"When the bell rings three times, you may not enter."

Chu Hao recalled the sign by the portal before entering. He understood that if three bells rang before reaching the building, entry would be impossible.

He had to hurry.