Eternal Heavenly Emperor

However, the passage on the right isn't somewhere you can simply enter if you wish, you must first prove that you possess sufficient strength.

There is a stone slab next to the entrance. To gain access to the passage is simple: hit it with a punch, a kick, or a sword. If the stone slab glows, you will be allowed to enter; if not... you will be thrown out of the arena.

—If you haven't even reached the most basic level of strength, why come here to embarrass yourself?

Thump, thump, thump, thump, one person after another struck the stone slab, some lighting it up, others not. Those who lit up the stone were then asked to write their names on it.

There's no rule that says you must use your real name, but when the final rankings for the Fledgling Dragon List are made, they will be based on the name left at this time.

Therefore, unless one has a particularly quirky personality or must hide their name, most people will use their real names.

Chu Hao was not in a rush; after all, being a bit early or late made no difference.

"Chu Hao!" came an unfriendly voice. Golden Cloud had already appeared in front of him.

Chu Hao casually waved his hand, now no longer considering Golden Cloud a rival he needed to outpace. On the contrary, his own strength had far surpassed Golden Cloud's, making it the latter who needed to try to catch up.

"Hmph, we didn't get the chance to clash in the Ancient Training Ground; I hope you can be more impressive this time and not lack even the qualifications to fight me!" Golden Cloud said arrogantly.

"Hmm!" Yun Cai, who had been standing by Chu Hao, was enjoying the "fragrance" emanating from him with her eyes closed. Hearing Golden Cloud provoke Chu Hao, she suddenly became furious and pointed sternly at him.

She was a Body Cultivator who, to be precise, resembled a ferocious beast more than a human. This fierce pointing gesture seemed as if an ancient behemoth had come back to life, emitting a terrifying ferocity.

Even Golden Cloud was taken aback. He had heard of the fearsome Barbaric Girl, who could send a Furious Crocodile of the Eight Meridians Martial Sect level flying with a single punch, and he definitely wasn't her match.

Jealousy glinted in his eyes. A stunningly beautiful War General woman had almost swept across the Sky Heart Sect for Chu Hao, and now here was an extremely formidable barbaric girl; why was this fellow so lucky with women?

"Chu Hao, relying on women is pathetic!" he spat the bitter remark and quickly left through the passage on the left.

Chu Hao touched his chin, feeling it was a pity. He hadn't had the chance to fight Golden Cloud in the Ancient Training Ground before You Zhiyuan easily pinned him down. Then Golden Cloud had run off to the Qinghua Sect; could it be that his strength had greatly increased, making him think he could rank first on Fledgling Dragon List?

Well, when they met later, he would just have to give him another beating.

"Chu Hao, so you're not dead!" Golden Cloud had just left when Luo Ping and Fu Xue arrived shortly after him.

Chu Hao smiled and said, "I am not that easy to kill."

"Cao Jingwen died in the Ancient Training Ground; we thought you were dead too. The Sect would be left without two super geniuses, and it seemed there would be no one to follow. Thankfully, Fu Xue stepped forward, and now that you're alive as well, there's hope once more," Luo Ping spoke with a sense of relief.

Chu Hao and Fu Xue looked at each other and couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

If the Yunliu Sect had fulfilled its responsibilities as a Sect, they wouldn't have minded fighting for it. But the Yunliu Sect never treated disciples from the Lower World as humans, only as dogs to be kept; how could they possibly remain loyal to the Sect?

Luo Ping was still unaware of the ultimate fate destined for disciples from the Lower World, finding himself caught in the middle.

"Everyone's almost here; let's just go in," said Chu Hao, not wanting to dwell on this topic any longer.

"Okay."

Those who could enter had already gone in, and those who couldn't had been thrown out of the arena. There were only about a dozen people left in line.

The Barbaric Girl followed closely as if she were tethered by a string to Chu Hao. She wouldn't even lose him with her eyes closed, causing Luo Ping and Fu Xue to marvel at the sight.

Luo Ping was the first to step in front of the Strength Testing Stone Slab.

He took a deep breath then unleashed a punch with all his might.

Whir, the stone slab glowed faintly, although the brightness was pitifully low, it did light up.

Passed.

"Phew!" Luo Ping let out a breath and smiled, saying, "That was lucky." He left his name on the stone slab and walked through the passage first.

Next was Fu Xue.

The Female Tyrannosaurus was much more composed. Without any apparent preparation, she simply threw a punch, and thud, the stone slab lit up again, but the brightness was two to three times more intense than Luo Ping's.

"Alas, if you're not among the Nine Meridians, you're not part of the Martial Sect; the difference is really huge," Luo Ping looked back and couldn't help but lament.

He was just at the Eight Meridians Peak, while Fu Xue was a Martial Sect who had broken through the Nine Meridians Martial Master barrier. In terms of strength levels, she was a whole nine times stronger than him—this didn't even take into account different qualities of Star Force due to differences in cultivation techniques and innate physical constitution; strictly speaking, the disparity in their strength would definitely be more than tenfold.

The division between Nine Meridians and Eight Meridians delineated the real geniuses from the pseudo geniuses.

Luo Ping could indeed be called a genius within the Yunliu Sect, but placed in the larger environment of Cang State, he had no such qualification.

—The Nine Meridians is the starting point.

Chu Hao stepped forward and casually flicked his finger. With a muted pop, the stone slab burst into brilliant light.

The people around were shocked, their eyes wide open. It was just a flick of the finger; how could it release such terrifying power? The slab shone so brightly it could be used as a torch.

Could it be a Martial Technique?

"I think it's the 'One-Finger Zen' from the Tan Family."

"No, no, no, it must be the 'Crossing Star Finger' from the Lin Family."

"No, it is definitely the 'Fingertip String' from Xiaoyuan Valley."

The crowd began to speculate.

Fu Xue and Luo Ping were also very surprised. Chu Hao was just a Single-Meridian Martial Sect, after all. How could someone with just a single meridian be so fierce?

Chu Hao couldn't help but twitch the corners of his mouth slightly; his strength had soared recently, and he found it somewhat difficult to control his own power.

He quickly left his name and then walked into the passage.

The Barbaric Girl naturally followed, but while Chu Hao could enter the passage, she was blocked by an invisible barrier. The girl pouted in dissatisfaction, then turned around and blew a breath of air onto the stone slab.

Puff, the stone slab lit up brightly.

Smack, smack, smack, smack—people around instantly fell back in shock.

Is this even possible?

Just a breath of air could make the stone slab light up; how terrifying was this power? And if this breath were to be blown onto a person, it might even break the limbs of a martial master from the Eight Meridians.

No wonder she was the freak who could send a Furious Crocodile flying with a single punch.

The girl casually pressed a palm print on the stone slab and hurriedly followed behind Chu Hao, sniffing forcefully with her little nose as if she were a puppy following Chu Hao.

Chu Hao was also amazed. He had begun Body Cultivation himself and knew that Body Cultivators had vigorous vitality. Even a single drop of their blood could wield tremendous power, which was completely different from Star Force Cultivators.

But to have such terrifying power from just a breath, this girl was truly formidable.

"Let's go!" The four of them continued along the passage.

About an hour after Chu Hao and his companions had gone in, a woman suddenly appeared in the arena. She had a dignified aura, stunningly beautiful, and there was confidence in her that she had everything under control.

——If Chu Hao were still here, he could certainly recognize at a glance that this woman was none other than Nangong Rou!

Since arriving at the Sky Martial Star, the only time Chu Hao had been tricked was at the hands of Nangong Rou, who had nearly caused his death in the treasury of the Eternal Spirit Sect.

She had now astonishingly reached the Two Meridians Martial Sect, her strength having increased tremendously.

With such strength, she naturally passed through the strength test with ease and entered the passage.

...

It did not take long for Chu Hao and his companions to emerge from the passage. In front of them was a river, and beside it stood a sign that read, "Enter the water and cross the river, reaching the end within three hours to pass."

Looking ahead, many people were already swimming upstream, with the fastest ones out of sight.

It was easy to get swept away without anything to push against in the river. Look, some had just made a bit of progress but were quickly sent back by the fierce waves, effectively marking time or even moving backward.

"Let's get into the river too."

Chu Hao, Luo Ping, and Fu Xue all jumped into the river and soon floated up, but the Barbaric Girl sank like a weight as soon as she dived in and never came back up. Chu Hao thought she couldn't swim and quickly dived down, but he saw the girl standing on the riverbed.

Seeing Chu Hao dive down, the girl immediately smiled at him. Then she started walking step by step forward.

She was too heavy to float.

The stronger the Body Cultivator, the more cells they split within their bodies, naturally increasing in weight significantly. According to legend, those races born for Body Cultivation during Ancient Times were as heavy as mountains at birth and became unimaginably heavier as they commenced their Body Cultivation.

Chu Hao, having started Body Cultivation later in life with the aid of Dragon Tooth Rice, was merely ten times heavier than his original weight. As long as he used his Star Force, he could function no differently than a normal person.

This Barbaric Girl, however, was surely a natural-born Body Cultivator!

Since Martial Sects had incredibly strong breath-holding abilities, Chu Hao simply let go of controlling his Star Force and his formidable weight immediately sank him to the bottom of the river.

The girl came over, and the two advanced side by side.

The torrents were fierce, but they were mere trifles to Chu Hao and the Barbaric Girl; the currents could not affect their steps in the slightest.

But others weren't so lucky.

Swish, swish, swish—standing on the riverbed, they could occasionally see people being swept away by the rapid flow, causing the Barbaric Girl to laugh heartily. However, underwater, no sound could be heard, only bubbles emerged.

Soon, Fu Xue too sank to the riverbed, advancing alongside Chu Hao.

The Female Tyrannosaurus, with her tremendous combat talent, took the turbulent flow as her adversary, constantly swaying, diverting wave after wave.

Chu Hao nodded silently to himself. The torrent actually had a pattern; if grasped properly, one could greatly alleviate the burden.

Luo Ping, however, couldn't manage that.

He struggled forward and backward, quickly being left behind by the others.

This place did not allow mutual assistance, progress had to be made individually, so Chu Hao could only watch helplessly, unable to offer a hand.

As strength was greatly depleted, Fu Xue began to falter, her pace slowing down. She gestured to Chu Hao not to wait for her, meaning he should go on without her. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please visit qidian.com to cast your recommendation votes and monthly tickets; your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to continue reading.)