Eternal Heavenly Emperor

But just ten minutes later, Chu Hao could no longer hold on and slid down from the rock with a swish, falling into the lake.

He swam to the shore, huffing and puffing for breath, while Flying Fire had already failed many times, completely drenched with its originally fluffy fur all sticking to its body, making it look very scrawny.

"Hahaha!" Chu Hao couldn't help but burst into laughter, which infuriated Flying Fire as it opened its small mouth and began to nip at him.

After Chu Hao had recovered his strength, he once again walked under the waterfall to continue his cultivation.

It was definitely a painful affair, but the effect was also very significant!

When his cells reached their limit, Chu Hao discovered that his strength had increased by 200 catties!

"In about three days, I'll be able to reach the Great Mahayana realm," Chu Hao murmured. "However, the consumption of Star Stones has also increased greatly. I now need around three grams per day, and Flying Fire needs two grams! Thankfully, the five catties of Star Stones will be enough for 500 days!

But as the strength of Flying Fire and me continues to increase, the consumption of Star Stones will also get more and more. I really wonder how long it will last!"

"Let's not worry about that for now!"

Once his cells were saturated, Chu Hao lifted a boulder that weighed a hundred catties and began running through the wilderness.

His current extreme strength was approaching ten thousand catties, but having ten thousand catties of strength doesn't make a hundred catties inconsequential—in a short time period it might, but over the long term, a hundred catties feels as heavy as a thousand or ten thousand catties.

He started squeezing out his potential, allowing his cells to be fully energized to depleted, accelerating their growth.

At night, he hunted down a Third Tier Lesser Mahayana realm purple-furred marten, feasted heartily, and Little Leopard also started trying out meat. However, its small teeth couldn't break through the chunks of meat, so Chu Hao tore the meat into strips to feed it.

The little guy was destined to eat meat, but Chu Hao didn't want to raise a beast that ate human flesh, planning to get Flying Fire used to cooked meat from a young age so that, once accustomed, it wouldn't have an appetite upon seeing a human.

Overnight, Chu Hao threw himself back into arduous cultivation.

The next day, his strength increase was not as exaggerated, only 200 catties, unlike yesterday, where it leaped straight from 150 catties to 200 catties.

He started taking Fire Origin Pills.

This pill was probably the "watered-down version" of the Fire Spirit Pill. It gave Chu Hao a similar feeling to taking the Fire Spirit Pill, though the impact was much smaller and relatively gentle. Although it still caused a certain impact to the organs, he believed that in one day, at most two days, they would definitely be repaired.

In the wild without medicine, Chu Hao still opted to play it safe, taking one every two days, not to mention he only had four in total!

Three days later, Chu Hao's strength broke through ten thousand catties, stepping into the Great Mahayana realm!

There was no significant difference!

Chu Hao felt the power within his body. The strong derivation ability told him exactly how much strength he now possessed, but as to any qualitative difference between the Middle Mahayana realm, Lesser Mahayana realm... He didn't feel anything at all!

It was just a more potent strength, still a linear improvement, no leap.

No matter, continue cultivating.

Day by day, Chu Hao continued his cultivation. As his strength increased, his physique also strengthened. His muscles bulged more day by day, his body rapidly growing taller and more robust.

"Previously, I was increasing extreme strength, but through strenuous training, I am improving endurance. Others might only last half an hour before exhausting their strength, while I can reach an hour or even longer!"

Chu Hao, now carrying a three hundred catties stone, leaped like a nimble monkey and thought to himself, "Senior Sister Fu's endurance is very durable, allowing her to carry the five hundred catties Great Yuan Hammer by her side at all times! In fact, this too is a form of cultivation. Senior Sister Fu has incorporated it into her everyday life!"

"I cannot lose either!"

Half a month passed, and Chu Hao's strength surged, reaching a colossal ten thousand two hundred catties. An even more significant change was that his skin had become incredibly tough; even scraping against sharp rocks would only leave a white mark, hardly enough to draw blood.

"I now understand why the fourth realm of martial artists is called the Vajra Realm!"

"The skin becomes tough as Vajra, indestructible!"

"If I were now to face someone in the Vajra Realm, could the Red Shadow Sword even cut through the tough skin of the Vajra Realm if I struck with all my might?"

"Absolutely no chance!"

"Only inherently soft parts like the eyes, mouth, and ears could possibly be vital points! But as long as a warrior in the Vajra Realm is on guard, how could these areas be vulnerable to hits!"

"The gap between me and Chi Zhong is huge now!"

"But I will surely catch up!"

"Because I can absorb Star Stones, that's my biggest advantage!"

Chu Hao progressed rapidly and Flying Fire wasn't slow either. Although it hadn't caught up with Chu Hao, it was only slightly behind, revealing its great potential. The little guy also stepped into the Great Mahayana realm, leaving its mother far behind.

With appetites growing, in this half month, the ferocious beasts nearby already knew there were two hefty eaters here and many had moved away. Plus, a beast tide had just occurred not long ago, which greatly depleted the ferocious beasts in the area. Chu Hao suddenly found himself in an awkward position—he could no longer capture enough beasts to fill his stomach!

Ordinary wild beasts aren't inedible, but the energy within their flesh is simply too meager. With his current First Tier Great Mahayana realm strength, Chu Hao estimated that he would need to eat several dozen pounds a day to be sufficient, which would certainly turn him into a glutton.

Chu Hao had no choice but to expand his hunting grounds; how could he cultivate on an empty stomach?

Another month passed.

Chu Hao's strength soared to twenty thousand catties. The improvement of his strength was accelerating; he could now enhance his strength by 300 catties daily. Reaching the Vajra Realm by the New Year festival seemed within reach.

Flying Fire also reached a strength of eighteen thousand catties. The little guy's size had grown as well, his teeth were neatly aligned now, so he no longer needed Chu Hao to tear meat into strips for him. Moreover, Chu Hao had managed to cultivate the habit of eating cooked meat in the little fellow; it would only sniff raw meat and choose to wait for Chu Hao to roast it even if it was hungry.

The force of this waterfall no longer pressured Chu Hao, and since he and Flying Fire had cleaned out the nearby ferocious beasts, he planned to switch places and look for a bigger waterfall.

After searching for half a day, deeper in the mountains, he found another waterfall. This one was much larger, crashing down from over two hundred meters high, with the rebounding spray reaching more than thirty meters, creating a misty haze of water vapor, which was quite spectacular.

"This will do!" Chu Hao was very satisfied.

He practiced diligently, but Flying Fire was still a little guy, mischievous and active. And since ferocious beasts are territorial, aside from cultivating, it would patrol the vicinity daily, marking its territory by urinating around.

Two days later, Flying Fire suddenly bit Chu Hao's pant leg and tugged hard. Fearing that the little guy would tear his clothes, Chu Hao followed Flying Fire, and they found a very hidden cave entrance behind a small clump of trees at the back of the waterfall.

As soon as Chu Hao stood at the entrance of the cave, he immediately felt a blast of chilly air hit his face, making his blood seem to freeze.

He couldn't help but shiver; this cave was too strange. If a person really walked in, would all their blood be frozen?

Flying Fire kept circling Chu Hao's feet, seemingly urging him to explore inside.

Chu Hao quickly shook his head and said, "This is like an ice cave; if we go in, we might never come out! Let's just continue cultivating!" He grabbed Little Leopard by the scruff of its neck, lifting it up, while Little Leopard blinked its adorable large eyes as if pleading.

"No means no!" Chu Hao liked adventure, but he would definitely not do something that obviously spelled death.

After a few protests, Little Leopard had no choice but to give up.

Two more days passed, and late at night, while Chu Hao was soundly asleep, a sudden loud noise woke him abruptly, and Flying Fire also perked up its ears, showing a defensive posture.

Whoosh!

A shadow flitted across the sky, barely discernible under the moonlit night—it was a gaunt old man holding a vine staff in his right hand. But when Chu Hao's gaze fell upon the man's face, his body instinctively bristled.

Was this really a human? It was more like a mummy!

The entire head was merely skin stretched over a skull, and his eyeballs had even fallen out, dangling on his cheeks! Who wouldn't be creeped out seeing this in the dead of night?

—This old man was none other than the terrifying powerhouse who had caused a major slaughter on Grey Flat Mountain a few months ago, the instigator behind the beast tide leading to massive casualties in Eastern Cloud City, Yue City, and Yellow Dragon City!

Unfortunately, Chu Hao was unaware of this.

At the same time Chu Hao saw the old man, the cadaverous elder also noticed him. With a ghastly cackle, he swooped down towards Chu Hao, reaching out with his left hand.

An indescribable sense of danger rose in Chu Hao's heart. With a ring, the Red Shadow Sword was drawn from its sheath, but before the sword could be raised, the elder had seized Chu Hao by the neck!

He was powerless to fight back!

"Ga ga, perfect for replenishing this old man's expended energy!" The elder cackled strangely, opening his mouth to reveal two rows of gleaming white teeth, about to bite down on Chu Hao's neck.

"Lv Congwen, accept your death now!" A thunderous shout sounded as another figure rushed over.

The cadaverous old man abruptly stopped, not looking back as he grabbed Chu Hao and continued to flee, shouting, "I have no quarrel with the Ling Family; why do you persist in troubling me?"

"Chu Hao!" The figure chasing behind, upon recognizing the person held captive by the cadaverous elder to be Chu Hao, couldn't help but exclaim in shock.

The cadaverous elder first paused in surprise and then burst into a ghastly laugh, saying, "What a coincidence! Ha ha, since you Ling Family want to kill me, I'll suck his blood dry first as a warm-up.

And later, I'll wipe out the Ling Family completely!" With that, the cadaverous elder spat out a mouthful of blood, which instantly burst into flame before even hitting the ground and burnt out in a flash.

Uncle Yuan, after chasing for several minutes, stopped despondently, completely shaken off by the cadaverous elder.

Sweat streamed down his forehead. He had failed to accomplish Madam Yun's task and had to watch Chu Hao being kidnapped. How would he explain this when he returned?