Eternal Heavenly Emperor

Chu Hao followed Xiaocao to the depths of the valley, where there was a cave.

Xiaocao walked in first, with Chu Hao following behind. He continually observed, noticing that the cave was very large, large enough to allow a plane to enter, and as they kept walking deeper into the cave, there was no sign of it getting any smaller.

They were slowly descending.

After walking for half the day, a huge space suddenly appeared in front of them.

The previous cave was already very large, but compared to this newly emerged space, it was like comparing a minor witch to a grand sorcerer, a vast difference.

Both the cave and this underground space were filled with flickering green lights. They weren't particularly bright, but they were sufficient to clearly see the contours of the space.

What shocked Chu Hao wasn't the enormity of the underground space, but that this huge space was filled with skeletons everywhere.

There were human bones, and animal bones, but some skeletons, although similar to humans, were much bigger… several times larger.

Chu Hao stopped in front of a gigantic skeleton. Judging from its shape, it was indistinguishable from a human, but it was a hundred meters long, and moreover, the bones were golden, shimmering with a gold-like luster.

He stretched out his hand and knocked on the skeleton. Thum. The bone emitted a dull sound, like thunder.

"I don't know how many years this place has existed," Xiaocao said. "When I was fourteen, I suddenly acquired a fragment of memory and found this place. It was here that I learned how to cultivate spirit grass with animals."

"The living being in front of you, while it was alive, was called the Golden Giant, naturally possessing astonishing strength."

Looking at this place, which resembled a graveyard, Chu Hao suddenly realized and said, "This place used to be a medicine field; these people, these ferocious beasts… they were all fertilizers for the medicine field."

"Yes," Xiaocao nodded. She must have awakened a part of her ancestral memories through a bloodline awakening.

Chu Hao clenched his right fist and ferociously smashed it towards the leg bone of the Golden Giant.

Bang!

A muffled sound. Chu Hao's face changed drastically. He lifted his right hand and saw an eerie twist at his wrist—a dislocation resulting from the strike.

The Golden leg bone was incredibly hard.

Chu Hao extended his left hand and reset his right hand back into place. However, he was no less amazed. How many years had the Golden Giant been dead, and yet his strength had reached the peak level of Seven Meridians—how formidable was that physique?

Yet one punch left him dislocated.

"The Golden Giant is one of the strongest Body Cultivation races in the world," Xiaocao stated casually, without making fun of Chu Hao.

Indeed.

Chu Hao nodded. That the bones were still so hard after so many years dead rightfully earned it the title of the strongest body cultivation.

"Follow me," Xiaocao said again.

She led Chu Hao to the middle of the underground area, where there was a small house, seemingly used for the caretakers of the medicine field to rest. The cottage had been severely damaged, now only three walls remained.

Inside the cottage was a stone slab with some scribbles on it, very sloppy, and some parts were blurred due to the passage of years, after all, this stone slab wasn't the remains of a Golden Man.

Chu Hao approached and saw the writing on the stone slab, "…If the Heavenly Emperor fails, it will bring disaster to Sky Martial Star, under the impact… All disciples and descendants of Earth Medicine Valley, leave Sky Martial Star quickly, letter from Changmen Hai."

What does this mean?

The message was incomplete, making interpretation prone to ambiguity.

Heavenly Emperor?

Chu Hao knew that under War God was War Emperor, could there be a War Emperor titled Heavenly Emperor? His failure in ascending to War God? But could a failure of a War Emperor impact so severely to threaten Sky Martial Star?

This medicine field naturally belonged to Earth Medicine Valley, but Changmen Hai actually wanted all people of Earth Medicine Valley to leave Sky Martial Star in response to the possible failure of the Heavenly Emperor, wasn't that an exaggeration?

Moreover, as Chu Hao knew, reaching Warrior would allow one to control the artifact to fly, reaching War Venerate enabled free soaring in the sky, and Skyships could even carry people in the air, fulfilling the dreams of flight for the commoners.

However, none of these exceeded the domain of Sky Martial Star.

Based on his knowledge, to leave Sky Martial Star, one first needed a speed great enough to escape the gravitational pull of Sky Martial Star. The problem was, how big was Sky Martial Star? At least hundreds of times larger than Earth.

The larger the celestial body, naturally the higher the speed needed to escape its gravitational pull.

Could the speed of a Skyship escape the gravity of Sky Martial Star and enter space? Even if one steps back, there's no air in space, how would the people aboard the Skyship breathe?

"This is a message stone slab, divided into primary and subsidiary parts, only one primary slab, but many subsidiary ones. Writing on the primary slab, the information can be immediately transmitted to all subsidiary slabs," Xiaocao explained.

Similar to a phone.

Chu Hao hypothesized about the events of the past: related to a certain Heavenly Emperor, primarily, some action of his could potentially trigger a catastrophe on Sky Martial Star, causing earthquakes, tsunamis, and the like. Thus, Changmen Hai from Earth Medicine Valley used the primary slab to inform everyone to first evacuate Sky Martial Star. However, Earth Medicine Valley has vanished today, indicating… a severe disaster indeed occurred back then, and the people of Earth Medicine Valley never returned.

The Ancient Era, that was a remarkably glorious age of martial arts, let's talk about the Ancient Training Ground for now—various unimaginable methods were beyond the reach of the people of today. Additionally, they had things like Dragon Tooth Rice, the daily food of the ancient ancestors.

That age may indeed have had space-faring ships like Skyships, capable of escaping the gravity of Sky Martial Star and providing oxygen, crossing the Star Universe.

Did the end of the Ancient Era also stem from this?

"Do you remember what happened that year?" Chu Hao asked Xiaocao.

"No," Xiaocao shook her head. "I merely followed the guidance of my memory to come here and inherited the usage rights of this Medicine Valley."

No wonder there was an invisible barrier at the entrance.

Chu Hao felt puzzled again. Supposedly, the Earth Medicine Valley should have been very powerful in the past. How then could that barrier be so weak that it was shattered by the concerted efforts of ten Martial Sects? He asked, "Did you intentionally weaken the seal at the entrance?"

"No, it's because the era has been too long, and the power source is nearly exhausted, hence the significantly reduced effect," Xiaocao explained.

Chu Hao nodded, which fit the girl's pure character; she would never engage in any schemes or tricks.

"Would you like to come outside with me?" he invited the girl, always feeling that staying here alone, her personality would only grow more solitary.

"I need to take care of them," the girl pointed above her head.

She was referring to the Spirit Grass in the valley.

Chu Hao did not persist. The girl seemed calm, never showing anger, but in fact, her personality was as firm and stubborn as his; once she made up her mind, not even eight oxen could pull her back.

"I'm going to leave," he said.

"Mhm," the girl nodded, showing no emotional expression, still calm.

"If possible, kill less," he told her. "You are so pure; your hands shouldn't be stained red with blood. I promise you, this time outside, I'll show no mercy to the wicked, I'll kill each one I see, and I won't let any escape," Chu Hao said.

The girl immediately showed a look of incomprehension, saying, "It would be a waste if you kill them; they are excellent fertilizer."

Well, reasoning with her was utterly futile.

Chu Hao shook his head. After staying in the valley for a day, he decided to set off and leave.

Xiaocao gave him many medicines, some for rapidly restoring Star Force, others for healing injuries, and the last three "Dragon Saliva Pills" were for life-saving. No matter how severe the injury, taking one would instantly restore him to normal, but once the pill's effect wore off, the injury would recur.

There were no medicines to enhance cultivation. According to Xiaocao, his cultivation had already increased too quickly; if he focused solely on advancing realms, it would be detrimental rather than beneficial, leaving him with regrets later.

What he needed to do now was solidify his foundation, stabilize his realm at the Five Meridians Peak, and then attempt to advance to the Six Meridians.

The final item was a "Concealment Jade."

This was a Jade Stone engraved with extremely intricate patterns, similar to those found in Treasure Artifacts. The function of this jade was to conceal the wearer's aura. When Chu Hao wore it, no matter how greatly his power increased, as long as he did not step into the Warrior tier, others would only see him as a Single-Meridian Martial Sect.

And once Chu Hao stepped into the Warrior tier, no matter what tier he achieved, his aura would appear as if he was a First Tier Warrior.

A pretty useful item, perfect for deceiving others.

The girl opened the valley's barrier to let Chu Hao depart.

In fact, with Chu Hao's current strength at Five Meridians Peak, he could have blasted open the barrier by himself, but since the owner had opened the door, why would he need to force his way through?

Coming out of Shangfang Mountain, Chu Hao returned to Red Maple City.

He visited Huiyuan Mountain again, attempting to practice the Fifth Form of the Heavenly Thunder Sword Technique, but after half a month, he still achieved nothing.

He couldn't delay any further, Chu Hao set off for Nine Clouds Mountain.

This was still within the boundaries of Huquan County, but the distance was considerable. Chu Hao traveled for ten days to finally arrive at the foot of Nine Clouds Mountain, in Qianping Town.

Oh?

Upon stepping onto the town streets, Chu Hao couldn't help but curse his luck, for he unexpectedly ran into a "nemesis"—Miao Yujun. However, they quickly passed by each other without the other giving him a second glance, seemingly not recognizing him at all.

It was indeed so.

Chu Hao suddenly recalled that Xiaocao had erased one year of memory from Miao Yujun, Zhuo Yunshan, and Mi Zerui. Since he, of course, didn't have any interaction with Miao Yujun a year prior, how could the latter possibly recognize him?

Good, it saved him some trouble.

Chu Hao wanted to find an inn to stay, but with the upcoming competition for the Fledgling Dragon List drawing near, it was extremely crowded everywhere; large and small inns had long been fully occupied. He wandered around for a while but couldn't find a place to stay.

"Chu Hao! Chu Hao!" Just as he was about to give up on finding an inn and planned to spend a few days outdoors on Nine Clouds Mountain—he wasn't afraid of wind and rain with his current cultivation— a familiar voice suddenly called out from behind him.

He turned around quickly, a sincere smile spreading across his face as he shouted, "Senior Sister Fu!"

Standing in front of him was none other than Fu Xue.

"You, after entering the Ancient Training Ground, I didn't hear any news from you. I thought you had died in there," Fu Xue said with a relieved look.

Chu Hao was initially stunned but then remembered that he had last entered the Copper Coffin with Bai Qi and Bian Yu. Whatever had happened inside, naturally, no one else would know.

Unless Bai Qi and Bian Yu spoke out, no one would know if Chu Hao was alive or dead.

"I'm fine," Chu Hao replied with a smile. As his eyes swept over Fu Xue, his face betrayed a hint of surprise, saying, "Senior Sister Fu, you've actually broken through to Martial Sect!"

"What, is that not allowed?" Fu Xue swung her fist playfully with a fierce look, aiming to tease. (The story continues. If you enjoy this work, please vote for it on Qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read on m.qidian.com.)