Eternal Heavenly Emperor

Qin Yulian, like a fairy in the rain, was ethereally beautiful.

Even though the young people here were accustomed to beauty, they couldn't help but have their hearts beat faster in front of Qin Yulian's unparalleled elegance. Her beauty transcended the ordinary, embodying a special aura that made her stand out as truly unique.

Standing among the crowd, she was like a crane standing among chickens, or the bright moon supported by the surrounding stars, so dazzling.

Three Meridians.

Her progress was also astonishing, on par with Jiang Qixuan, and a realm above Feng Buping.

Feng Buping couldn't help but sigh. Just over half a year ago, everyone was at the Nine Meridians, but now, he was painfully aware that he had one less meridian than the other two. Glancing at Chu Hao, he felt a slight comfort, knowing at least there was someone with a lower cultivation than his own.

—Poor fellow, if he knew that Chu Hao was actually at the Five Meridians Peak, how wonderful the expression on his face would be?

Qin Yulian also saw the three of them, especially when she noticed Chu Hao, her beautiful eyes brightened, and she walked over with delicate steps, her white dress fluttering as if she was about to take flight.

"Brother Chu, Brother Feng, Brother Jiang, it has been a long time," she said, stopping before the three and smiling sweetly.

"Miss Qin," Chu Hao and the others responded in turn.

"Brother Chu, are you really only at Single-Meridian?" Qin Yulian took a closer look at Chu Hao and her pretty face immediately showed a hint of disappointment.

In the Ancient Training Ground, she had joined forces with Chu Hao several times, slaying the Gloomy Wind Vine, acquiring the "Crescent Slash". During that time, Chu Hao fought against the experts on the Fledgling Dragon List with such elegance, like a Divine Dragon, invoking in her a silent admiration.

Unfortunately, Chu Hao ignored her affectionate gazes, otherwise they might have ended up together.

It was unexpected that half a year later, Chu Hao was merely at Single-Meridian!

Advancing from martial master to Martial Sect was indeed difficult; achieving it within half a year was commendable. Think about Cao Jingwen and the other former Three Talented—stuck at this barrier for more than a year.

But the problem was, Chu Hao had entered the Ancient Training Ground, and he had acquired considerable benefits from it.

Look, both she and Jiang Qixuan had reached Three Meridians, Feng Buping had reached Two Meridians, and even those they once considered "weaker" had achieved such feats. How could he only have Single-Meridian? Could that be justified?

On further thought, it seemed normal; there were many who momentarily dazzled the world but soon faded into obscurity.

Chu Hao was likely one of them.

Qin Yulian sighed inwardly. In the future, the gap between her and Chu Hao would only widen. In ten years, Chu Hao would likely only be able to look up to her; they were simply not on the same level anymore.

Thinking this, she felt an indescribable relief.

Although she had never explicitly shown it before, being rejected by Chu Hao had left a thorn in her heart, making her feel discontented—was she not pretty enough? Was her martial talent lacking? Why was she rejected?

Now she felt secretly glad. If they really had gotten together before, she would surely have regretted it by now.

The ideal husband in her mind was a dragon above the nine heavens, not a meteor, only dazzling for a moment.

Chu Hao had no idea that so many thoughts crossed her mind in an instant. It was even less convenient for him to put away the Concealment Jade now, as it would seem like a joke. He could only nod and say, "Yes, I can't compare to the three of you."

Qin Yulian's mind returned to a state of undisturbed calmness. Having erased Chu Hao from her thoughts, she now regarded him as no different from Feng Buping and Jiang Qixuan.

She subtly conversed with the three of them, mainly about the events that occurred in the Ancient Training Ground, as they had mostly acted on their own at the time.

While they were talking, Chai Kang's gaze suddenly swept over, and when he saw Chu Hao, his eyes unwittingly flashed with fury. He strode over quickly, his terrifying presence flowing out, causing the people around him to retreat in shock or lose their balance entirely, kneeling or sitting down with a thud.

It was too obvious, so everyone's eyes immediately turned to Chai Kang, and then followed his approach toward Chu Hao and the others.

Feng Buping and the other two showed an alert expression. This was an existence that ranked 28th on the Fledgling Dragon List. Moreover, his aura was stronger than all three of them, which meant he had at least Four Meridians cultivation.

"Chu Hao, you dare to show your face before me, haha, I must say, you've got guts!" Chai Kang, staring at Chu Hao, had eyes filled with a murderous intent.

This guy had killed his brother and had forced him to use his ultimate move, causing his cultivation to stagnate for three whole months. And to top it off, he hadn't managed to kill this guy.

Wait, this guy's cultivation... Why has it dropped back to Single-Meridian?

He remembered clearly, Chu Hao had turned the tide against all odds because he had a mysterious Jade Seal, and another very important reason was that the opponent had broken through to Two Meridians, otherwise he could have easily snatched away Chu Hao's Jade Seal.

Could it be that the opponent had used some secret technique to forcefully enhance his cultivation? Otherwise, there's no explaining this odd regression.

Indeed, that would make sense. They had chased each other for two days and nights; every time Chu Hao got heavily injured, he quickly recovered as good as new, which would be explainable if he had used some secret technique. And such techniques come at a great cost—just like he had.

With this in mind, he finally felt somewhat comforted—suffering three months without progress because of Chu Hao, yet Chu Hao was even worse off, still at Single-Meridian after almost half a year.

Chu Hao smiled faintly and said, "You're thinking of attacking here?"

Chai Kang felt a chill. Before the rankings on the Fledgling Dragon List began, fighting was strictly forbidden in the arena—otherwise—death!

Three years ago, during his first participation in the Fledgling Dragon List, Chu Hao witnessed a clueless fellow strut his stuff, only to be turned to flying ashes in an instant by a beam of light from nowhere, not even the War King could save him.

He naturally didn't dare to act recklessly.

"After the ranking battle is over, you'll be a dead man," Chai Kang said coldly and then, with a snort, flicked his sleeves and strode away.

Long after he had gone, Jiang Qixuan furrowed his brows and said, "Chu Hao, how did you end up making an enemy of him?"

"Oh, I accidentally slaughtered his brother, and he's had it in for me ever since," Chu Hao said casually.

Qin Yulian and the others immediately felt a twitch on their faces, thinking to themselves that while Chu Hao's strength was indeed not that great, his trouble-making ability was still sharp as ever, to have offended an expert ranked 28th on the Fledgling Dragon List to this extent.

"Brother Chu, why not drop out early? Better to leave the green hills unburnt, where there's no worry of running out of firewood. There's no need to vie for fleeting superiority," Qin Yulian persuaded. Although her infatuation with Chu Hao had completely extinguished, they came from the same Tianhe County, and she couldn't stand by and do nothing.

"Indeed!" Feng Buping and Jiang Qixuan both nodded.

Though they were all supremely arrogant individuals, they were at a disadvantage due to their age, and there was indeed a gap between them and "older" geniuses like Chai Kang, requiring more time to catch up.

Chu Hao smiled and said, "No worries, if it really comes down to a fight, it'll be his turn to cry."

These words of his contained not a shred of exaggeration. When he was still at the Single-Meridian level, he had managed to hold his own against Chai Kang, who was at the Three Meridians level, and even scared him off with the Jade Seal in the end.

Now, just in terms of Realm, he was a full minor level above Chai Kang. Considering the Proper Veins, that meant he was up by two Meridians, not to mention his Body Cultivation had caught up with Star Force. If he still couldn't crush Chai Kang, Chu Hao truly might as well find a block of tofu to kill himself with.

However, to Qin Yulian and the others, his words sounded like the sort of bravado that invites thunderbolts, and they exchanged looks, each heaving a sigh.

One Meridian against Four Meridians wouldn't even be feasible for Yuan Tiangang to reverse such a disadvantage.

Although they were all full of confidence, they despised the arrogance of those without real strength even more, and Chu Hao's attitude and tone had already begun to provoke their irritation.

"Words fail when minds do not meet." After a few more exchanges, the three of them went their separate ways, having no desire to remain in Chu Hao's company.

Chu Hao didn't take it to heart but just waited for the fight to begin.

"Zhu Zetian is here!"

Someone suddenly cried out, immediately capturing everyone's attention as they looked towards the entrance.

Zhu Zetian, ranked ninth on the Fledgling Dragon List.

The top ten were an absolutely different concept. In front of him, Chai Kang was completely inconsequential.

A very slender young man appeared at the entrance, his eyes sharp as a hawk's, making one feel like a mouse spotted by an eagle, involuntarily giving rise to a sense of resistance.

Five Meridians.

After all, the top ten were the top ten. This was the highest level of Cultivation Chu Hao had seen here so far.

"Liu Chengfeng is also here."

Liu Chengfeng, ranked fifth on the Fledgling Dragon List!

By name, Liu Chengfeng should be a suave and elegant young man, whereas in reality, he was a burly and sturdy man of great maturity. Had everyone not known that only individuals under the age of 25 were eligible for the Fledgling Dragon List, they would surely have thought he was over 30.

"Ling Dongliu! My God, Ling Dongliu!"

Ranked second on the Fledgling Dragon List, Ling Dongliu.

The moment Ling Dongliu appeared at the entrance, the whole world seemed to fade away, leaving only his presence, overshadowing everyone else's glory. He walked with his hands behind his back, parting the crowd like a tide as he passed by, emperor-like.

And his title was indeed the "Blood King."

Chu Hao's gaze involuntarily tightened; he couldn't fathom Ling Dongliu's strength.

Six Meridians? Seven Meridians? Eight Meridians? Or even Nine Meridians, Ten Meridians?

"It should be Six Meridians," Chu Hao said to himself as the other's aura was indeed stronger than his, but not more than five times stronger, so it should be Six Meridians.

"Has Yuan Tiangang not arrived yet?" Ling Dongliu stood in the center of the arena, casually speaking as his gaze swept around, with no one daring to contend, all bowing their heads. Only the top ten like Liu Chengfeng and Zhu Zetian were qualified to meet his gaze.

When his eyes met Chu Hao's, he paused for a moment and looked back again, giving Chu Hao a second look, but then he moved on.

In that moment of eye contact, he unexpectedly felt a strong urge to battle, but upon a closer look, Chu Hao was only at Single-Meridian Cultivation. How could someone at one Meridian be a worthy opponent? Naturally, Ling Dongliu looked away again.

"There's not a single worthy opponent," he muttered to himself, then casually sat down and closed his eyes as if he had fallen asleep. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please come to Qidian (qidian.com) to cast your recommendation votes and monthly votes; your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please go to m.qidian.com to read.)