Chapter 67: Ouyang Qiang
When Chu Hao returned home, he saw Uncle Yuan standing solemnly at the entrance waiting, which immediately told him that Madam Yun had arrived.
Indeed, as he approached the entrance, he heard Uncle Yuan say, "Chu Hao, you're finally back! Come quickly with me; the lady has been waiting for you for quite a while!"
There it was, he became an outsider in his own home, led by Uncle Yuan to the main hall.
Madam Yun was dressed in a creamy yellow long gown today, her black hair neatly coiled up, her full bust extremely impressive, displaying the elegance and luxury of a mature noblewoman. Upon seeing Chu Hao, she beamed a bright smile and said, "Chu Hao, it's been half a year, how substantial was your harvest?"
Chu Hao couldn't help comparing Madam Yun with that mysterious lady in white in his mind. Although Madam Yun was also extremely beautiful, she was more than a step behind the lady in white in terms of beauty! However, her advantage lay in her maturity, a glamorous allure that a young girl could not match.
However, this thought merely flashed through his mind. He bowed slightly and said, "The harvest has been great, I have now reached the Eighth Tier Great Mahayana realm!"
Madam Yun nodded with satisfaction, but then she sighed, and said, "Unfortunately, there's less than two months left until the New Year's ceremony, otherwise, giving you another year, you would have qualified for the top ten of Eastern Cloud City!"
Chu Hao smiled lightly and said, "Not hiding from you, my lady, I have obtained two Earth Origin Pills!"
"What!" Uncle Yuan immediately exclaimed, his face filled with shock.
Madam Yun was more composed but still somewhat surprised, and said, "Where did you get these Earth Origin Pills?"
Chu Hao shared this secret because he wanted to know the origins of the lady in white. Promptly, he said, "Before returning, I annihilated the Seven Wolf Stockade and encountered a lady in white. Without even a chance to speak, she knocked me out, took a mysterious jade box, but left me two Earth Origin Pills!"
"A mysterious jade box? What did it look like?" Madam Yun asked quickly, turning somewhat nervous.
Chu Hao described the appearance of the jade box.
Madam Yun nodded and said, "That must be the Snow Jade Box!" Seeing Chu Hao looking confused, she explained, "The Snow Jade Box is the best preservative material in the world. If you place a fresh fruit within, it will still be fresh after tens of thousands of years!"
But this only indicated that the contents inside the jade box must be precious, yet what exactly it was still completely eluded them.
"Chu Hao, you should have guessed that I and the latecomer from the Chi Family are not from here!" Madam Yun suddenly said.
Chu Hao nodded, he had guessed this much earlier, just not knowing how powerful the Ling Family or their forces truly were.
"While Earth Origin Pills are not high in level, they are very difficult to refine, and several ingredients far exceed the value of the pills themselves! Basically, no one would refine such pills, it's absolutely a waste! However, if someone did refine Earth Origin Pills, it can only mean one thing!"
Madam Yun paused then continued, "This force must have resources so abundant that it resorted to such extravagance!"
Nine Earth Origin Pills could advance a First Tier Vajra Realm practitioner to the pinnacle; this was hardly a waste!
Unless!
Chu Hao said, "My lady, above the Vajra Realm, is there a higher realm?"
"You guessed right!" Madam Yun nodded, and said, "Certainly, the Vajra Realm is not the pinnacle of martial arts!"
Chu Hao's expression turned solemn, and he asked, "Then how many realms are there above the Vajra Realm?"
Madam Yun hesitated then answered, "Your current cultivation is too weak, telling you too soon will do more harm than good! Wait for a few more days, when you, Fu Xue, and Tang Xin have all stepped into the Vajra Realm, I will tell you everything! And if you are willing, I will take you to my homeland!"
"That is the true world of Martial Artists!"
Chu Hao couldn't help but be deeply stirred; though he was not yet the strongest in Eastern Cloud City, that day was not far off! Once he reached the peak, what else could there be to pursue?
The initial motivation for practicing martial arts was for survival, for a breath of dignity! But now, martial arts had become his passion, making him want to continuously grow stronger!
If the Tenth Tier Vajra Realm was the end, then he would be invincibly uninterested!
Seeing the fighting spirit ignite in Chu Hao's eyes, Uncle Yuan couldn't help but nod secretly; not only did the young man have astonishing comprehension and an exceptional talent, but he also possessed a heart that was never satisfied and always striving for strength—this made Chu Hao's future brim with endless possibilities!
"The person was willing to exchange two Earth Origin Pills for that jade box; the contents inside must be extraordinarily precious!" Madam Yun said with an envious tone, then smiled and added, "However, the person was quite fair. Most people would never leave you two Earth Origin Pills; if you encountered someone with a cruel nature, you would have lost your life there!"
Chu Hao nodded, the lady in white could have easily killed him without him even realizing!
"Today, besides checking on your cultivation progress, I have another favor to ask!" Madam Yun suddenly said.
"Please speak, my lady, I will do my utmost!" Chu Hao replied.
"Fluttering Wind Academy has a person named Ouyang Qiang!" Madam Yun started.
Chu Hao was stunned; Ouyang Qiang, why was it this guy again? He did not ask but continued to listen intently.
"Ouyang Qiang, he also comes from my place! I have a younger sister who was betrothed to him since childhood, but this man... this man..." Madam Yun suddenly became very angry, slammed the table, and said, "Due to status, I cannot take action directly, you give him a good beating for me!"
Could it be that this Ouyang Qiang was a flirtatious womanizer, having disappointed the young lady from the Ling Family?
This might have touched upon privacy issues, so Chu Hao didn't ask further. After all, he was going to fight against Fluttering Wind Academy, so he would just need to focus on battling Ouyang Qiang then!
"However, you must not be careless. Those who come from our place... their strength improves very quickly. That boy had only started cultivating two years ago, but his power certainly won't be less than yours now!
If it weren't for the risk that using Pills for quick progress might destabilize the foundation, it wouldn't be surprising if he had reached the fifth-tier or even the Vajra Realm of the eighth-tier!" Madam Yun reminded.
Chu Hao nodded, as the presence of Fire Spirit Pills and Earth Origin Pills meant that advancements in realm were no longer solely determined by one's talent and efforts.
"Give it your all, but if you truly cannot match your opponent, there's no need to force yourself!" Madam Yun added.
"I understand!" Chu Hao didn't act rashly, as it was completely pointless, and he was long past that age already.
...
For the next three days, Chu Hao spent his time playing with Flying Fire.
This wasn't really considered playing, as ferocious beasts are born hunters; this is written in their blood. Even though Flying Fire had been with Chu Hao since birth, the instinct to kill was gradually emerging within him.
During the two days since Chu Hao's return, not a single living chicken, duck, or dog remained within three miles of the Chu Mansion, all had fallen by the hands of this seemingly adorable Fire Cloud Leopard.
Curbing a ferocious beast's ferocity is impossible; otherwise, they wouldn't have earned that fierce reputation! However, Chu Hao could at least guide the young beast to prevent it from harming humans.
—At least not to harm without a reason! As for places like Seven Wolf Stockade... it was fine to go on a slaughter spree!
Little Leopard's intelligence is truly high, far surpassing that of human infants of the same age. It considered all living things around Chu Mansion as targets for honing its killing skills, but it never attacked humans.
This made Chu Hao very satisfied, and he consciously played with Flying Fire, further tapping into the young leopard's potential.
Flying Fire would definitely continue traveling with him in this vast and strange world, inevitably having to confront martial artists, so it was essential for Little Leopard to adapt to the rhythm of battling martial artists beforehand.
Tang Xin also came over once, but influenced by Chu Hao, she sparred with Flying Fire and then scolded Chu Hao while running out of the Chu Mansion.
"Flying Fire, you were too harsh!" Chu Hao said with restrained laughter as he petted the young leopard's head, "How could you scratch his butt like that, making the young master of the Tang Family cover his butt all the way home? That's very embarrassing!"
"But speaking of which, this guy doesn't seem to have much sense, not knowing to take an article of clothing to drape over himself first!"
...
Three days passed in a flash, and although it was just three days, with every day Chu Hao absorbing Star Stones to increase his strength by 300 jin, plus an additional 100 jin from Fire Origin Pills, his strength had increased by over one thousand jin in three days!
However, he was already at the Vajra Realm of the eighth-tier, so an increase of one thousand jin in strength wasn't very noticeable.
That morning, he went directly to the Beast Fighting Arena.
The battle between Thousand Winds Academy and Fluttering Wind Academy would take place in the Beast Fighting Arena.
This kind of sparring between academies was very common. Martial artists were combative and fame-conscious, always concerned about their reputations, so each time such a spar occurred, both sides would send their strongest students.
Because the progression through the Lesser Mahayana realm was too quick, there would be no spars at the Earthly Institute level; this was the stage for Heavenly Court students.
Where there was battle, naturally, there would be betting!
The teachers from both academies jointly announced the rules of the spar—quite simple: five from each side enter the field, and the side whose all members fall first loses.
Five on five, a melee!
Once the rules were set, betting could begin.
Ending the battle within ten minutes, within twenty minutes, within thirty minutes, and after thirty minutes were the time limits, plus guessing who would win, there were eight possible outcomes, ensuring that the betting house always made a profit.
Fluttering Wind Academy brought over fifty people, including a few leading teachers and five competitors, while others were there to cheer and support. But even more than fifty people in such a vast Beast Fighting Arena seemed sparse and rather pitiful.
Chu Hao and Fu Xue along with three others entered the preparation room, changing into special clothing—strongly elastic, so as not to burst from the body failing to disperse powerful forces; otherwise, running naked in the Beast Fighting Arena would be quite embarrassing for both sides!
But there actually was a female combat special event in the Beast Fighting Arena, where they fought in ordinary clothes. As the battle went on, accidental exposures were very likely, which was very popular among men.
After changing, they filed into the battle area. Immediately, cheers erupted all around them; these were students from Thousand Winds Academy cheering for them. At the other entrance, the five members of Fluttering Wind Academy also made their appearance, also receiving cheers, although the volume of fifty people's cheers couldn't compare to that of four thousand.
"Ouyang Qiang is mine, the rest are up to you!" Chi Zhong stared at one of the five opposite and said, his eyes brimming with burning intent to fight.
That person was Ouyang Qiang?
Chu Hao was surprised, as Chi Zhong was staring at a woman wearing a fiery red dress!
What was going on!
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