Eternal Heavenly Emperor

Time had moved from morning to afternoon, and from afternoon to evening. The bright moon rose, and the aura of blood surged, as if even the moon had turned blood red, emitting a chilling red light.

Chu Hao had only one thought left, and that was to fight! The bone chain on his wrist had long been useless, and then, one by one, the rings could no longer provide him with power.

He was forced to use his last resort, replenishing his strength with the Spring Flower Wooden Sword.

This caused his combat power to plummet instantly!

But the ferocious beasts continued relentlessly, as if they could never be completely killed!

Chu Hao had no choice but to retreat; although his strength was temporarily replenished, it definitely wouldn't last long. If he fought until he was utterly exhausted, his life would probably be in great danger.

He headed back to the Chu Family, uncertain whether Flying Fire could protect Uncle Yu.

However, the Chu Family also had their own underground shelter. Although it wasn't large, it was hidden well; as long as Eastern Cloud City wasn't occupied by ferocious beasts, causing people to be trapped and starve to death inside, it was absolutely safe for a short period.

"Roar—" "Howl—"

Far in the distance, several beastly roars and bird cries almost simultaneously erupted, causing the ferocious beasts fighting ferocally in the streets to pause and then, disregarding everything, turn tail and run.

Everyone was initially stunned, then burst into cheers.

"The ferocious beasts are retreating!"

"We won!"

"The experts have defeated the leader of the ferocious beasts, forcing them to withdraw!"

Surviving the disaster, everyone just sat down on the ground, not caring that it was a ruin or even that blood was flowing! Having fought between life and death for so long, everyone was dead tired, wishing they could just fall asleep immediately.

Chu Hao also relaxed his spirit and immediately felt as if his entire body had melted, immensely heavy.

The Spring Flower Wooden Sword could only replenish physical strength and not drive away fatigue!

Dragging his extremely weary body, Chu Hao returned to the Chu Family. Uncle Yu and Flying Fire had already come out from the underground shelter; when they saw Chu Hao, Uncle Yu hurriedly came over to support him, while Flying Fire leaped into his arms and started acting coquettishly.

Once at home, Chu Hao's last bit of willpower relaxed, and the moment his buttocks touched the chair, he fell asleep.

This made Flying Fire quite dissatisfied, who opened its mouth and bit Chu Hao repeatedly. However, since it hadn't grown its teeth yet, it only covered Chu Hao's face with drool.

...

Madam Yun's secluded courtyard.

"Have you found out how this ferocious beast tide erupted?" Madam Yun asked indifferently.

"My lady, it seems someone extensively slaughtered in Grey Flat Mountain, triggering the beast rampage. Not only was Eastern Cloud City affected, but also the surrounding areas of Grey Flat Mountain!" Uncle Yuan hurriedly reported.

"Do you know who that person is?" Madam Yun showed a hint of anger.

"There is an eighty percent chance it was Five Fiend Ghost Lv Congwen! It is said that the Yang Family obtained a high-rank Martial Technique in an ancient mansion, but Lv Congwen intercepted it en route, drawing out Yang Yuanhong, the top expert of the Yang Family, who pursued him in a chase but he still managed to escape, and might have fled here!" Uncle Yuan said.

Madam Yun pondered for a moment and said, "Yang Yuanhong's Fiery Flame Palm should have reached the eleventh tier. If hit by him, even if one does not die on the spot, their blood will gradually be incinerated! Lv Congwen must be slaughtering ferocious beasts to take their blood, barely clinging to life!"

"My lady is right!" Uncle Yuan quickly responded, pausing before adding, "Should we inform the Yang Family?"

"No need!" Madam Yun shook her head, "Our Ling Family has no relations with the Yang Family; there's no need to provide them with this favor! Moreover, I am somewhat interested in the Martial Technique they acquired!"

"I understand what to do now!"

...

When Chu Hao woke up, it was already bright outside, and the sun was quite high.

Gurgle, a thunderous rumbling came from his stomach!

Starving!

He had only eaten breakfast the previous day and then had been fighting continuously until he collapsed from exhaustion in the middle of the night. Martial Artists naturally have a huge appetite, and combined with the intense battle exhaustion, he was now exceptionally hungry.

He hurried to the kitchen, where Uncle Yu had already prepared breakfast. He immediately devoured it ravenously.

Flying Fire imitated him and ate a few pieces of meat, but clearly it wasn't suited to eating meat yet, as it immediately spat them out with a look of disgust and glanced at Chu Hao as if to say, "How can you eat this nasty stuff?"

After a hearty meal, Chu Hao still felt very tired because of the previous day's physical exhaustion, so he asked Uncle Yu to request a day off from the academy for him, and then he went back to sleep.

When he woke up again, it was already past three in the afternoon. Uncle Yu informed him that the academy had issued a notice, giving a three-day vacation!

That's more like it!

Chu Hao asked about the situation in the city, only to receive bad news.

All four city gates were lost yesterday, and during the massive invasion of the ferocious beasts, two underground shelters were overcome, and almost everyone inside died!

There were a million people in Eastern Cloud City, with only eight enormous bunkers. The death of people in two shelters was an enormous loss!

In the city, there was an outcry of mourning!

Those who died were mostly from poor families. Large households like the Chu Family, with enough wealth, had excavated their own robust and hidden underground shelters. Unlike the large shelters, which were like guiding lights to the ferocious beasts due to the large number of people emitting scents.

Once the entrance was breached, what followed was a slaughter!

—Most of the humans had not reached the First Tier Lesser Mahayana realm!

Although these individuals were neither relatives nor friends of Chu Hao, the sudden news that nearly 250,000 people died at the mouths of ferocious beasts still made his expression turn grim, feeling like he was suffocating.

Uncle Yu said that although there had been incidents of ferocious beasts attacking the city before, this time the casualties were the most severe in a hundred years. Most of the time, the ferocious beasts were killed by the experts in the city before they could even breach the city gates, resolving the beast tide.

Even on the few occasions when the beasts broke into the city, they generally weren't able to reach the underground shelters, causing such severe casualties.

However, the human recovery ability is also astonishingly strong. The past is gone, but the living must go on. The reconstruction of Eastern Cloud City is underway, and the shortest interval for a beast tide is five years, giving humans enough time to rebuild and defend.

After resting for three days, Chu Hao went to the academy.

There were losses among the students, but the survival ability of Martial Artists is certainly stronger than that of ordinary people. A dozen died and nearly a hundred were injured, but overall, this was still acceptable.

The young people recovered quickly. Not long after entering the academy, the atmosphere gradually lightened up. People were talking and laughing, especially those who had never experienced a bloodbath before, each of them was incredibly excited.

The only good thing about slaughter might just be that it allows people to grow.

"Chu Hao!" Tang Xin came over, looked Chu Hao up and down, then smiled, "Seeing you're not missing any arms or legs, you must be fine!"

Chu Hao smiled and nodded, "You also look well!"

"I wonder who will get the first place in the Earthly Institute this time!" Tang Xin changed the subject, not wanting to dwell on something too heavy.

Chu Hao was also curious. The city had been so chaotic, how could the City Lord's Mansion still have managed to count how many ferocious beasts each person had killed?

"Look, the Slaughter Value from the Heavenly Court has come out!" suddenly, someone shouted.

At this shout, everyone's attention was instantly captured, and they ran following that person.

"Let's go check it out too!" Tang Xin hurriedly said to Chu Hao.

Chu Hao followed her, and they quickly arrived at the entrance of the academy. They saw a huge piece of white paper pinned to the normally closed main gate, with names written in black ink, each followed by a string of numbers.

He knew that this was customary. Each time the ferocious beasts attacked the city, the academy's combat force was not to be overlooked, and after each battle, a Slaughter Value would be assigned to measure everyone's contribution.

Slaughter Value was not merely a body count, as killing a beast from the Lesser Mahayana realm and one from the Middle Mahayana realm undoubtedly presented different challenges and contributions. Chu Hao did not know how the City Lord's Mansion calculated the Slaughter Values, only that it was relatively fair.

However, there were only ten names on the paper, indicating the ten students from the Thousand Winds Academy with the highest Slaughter Values.

As expected, all ten were from the Heavenly Court!

Fu Xue was the first!

Chu Hao was surprised. He had thought that the number of beasts he had slain was high enough to make competing for first place with a monster like Fu Xue difficult, but entering the top five or even top three should not have been hard.

But his name was completely absent from the top ten!

After all, the Heavenly Court was the Heavenly Court, and he had underestimated it!

Indeed, the basic requirement to enter the Heavenly Court was to reach the Middle Mahayana realm, but it didn't mean you had to leave the academy once you reached the Great Mahayana realm! Only most people were mediocre and hadn't reached the Great Mahayana realm by the age of 20.

Given this, there must not be few people in the Heavenly Court who have reached the Great Mahayana realm, otherwise their slaughtering efficiency could absolutely not surpass his!

"Eh, how come Senior Sister Fu is ranked first, Senior Brother Cheng and Senior Brother Zhao are pushed to second and third!" someone immediately exclaimed.

This sparked a resonance among most people, considering last year Fu Xue could only rank 22nd in the Western Faction! Just half a year had passed, and she skyrocketed to first?

"Fighting with ferocious beasts, strength is important indeed, but being strong doesn't mean you will definitely kill more beasts!" someone said.

Many people nodded. If one encounters a beast of equal strength and fights without conclusion for a long time, this is bound to affect the score! Thus, strength plus luck is most critical.

Chu Hao shook his head inwardly; these people were skeptical of Fu Xue securing the first place because they had never seen Fu Xue in action! Just imagine the monster swinging the Great Yuan Hammer rampaging through, how many beasts could survive a hammering without turning into minced meat?

That Female Tyrannosaurus had incredibly gifted talents, strong as a real Tyrannosaurus, persistent strength, it would be odd if she didn't secure the first!

Her Slaughter Value was 12487, while the second place, Cheng Peiyun, only had 8749, and the third, Zhao Fang, had 8590. The difference between the second and third was not large, but compared to Fu Xue, they were far behind.

Chu Hao knew, Cheng Peiyun was currently the top Expert of the Eastern Sect of the Heavenly Court, and Zhao Fang was the first of the Western Faction, both top ranks were thoroughly trounced by Fu Xue, and not by a slight margin.

From the third downward, the Slaughter Values dropped to 7000, but the difference between them was quite minimal, with the tenth place scoring 5893!

"Senior Sister Fu is truly terrifying!" Tang Xin exclaimed, shuddering involuntarily.

Chu Hao deeply agreed; that Female Tyrannosaurus was indeed dreadful!

"Let's go, the scores for the Earthly Institute are about to be announced too!" Tang Xin said, "Chu Hao, how many beasts did you kill?"

"I can't remember, at least a hundred!" Chu Hao didn't know whether he had killed one hundred or two hundred beasts; at that time, all he thought about was wielding his sword.

"I killed one hundred and thirty-seven!" Tang Xin, however, remembered clearly.

"You actually managed to count while killing!"

"It was just boredom!"

Tang Xin paused then said, "Let's go, it's almost time for class, our achievements will be announced soon!"

Chu Hao nodded, he was also very interested, after all, the first place was to receive a Fire Spirit Pill!

After everyone had checked out the top ten ranks and achievements of the Heavenly Court, they all returned to the Earthly Institute's practice field; it was almost time for class to start in less than five minutes.

"All personnel, assemble!" a teacher called out loudly, and over two thousand people quickly formed a formation, "Follow me, we are about to announce the rankings and rewards for this East-West Faction competition!"

Upon hearing this, everyone was very excited. Although it had nothing to do with the majority, anything involving rankings grabbed everyone's keen attention.

They made their way to the entrance of the practice field, where there was no high wall separating them, and the students from both factions stood together.

Chu Hao instantly spotted Zhu Donghui; the fellow also immediately noticed Chu Hao, his face suddenly showing an expression of embarrassed anger.