Eternal Heavenly Emperor

The next morning, Madam Yun and another member of the Chu Family led Chu Hao and the other four to the Yunliu Sect, while Uncle Yuan left first to return to the Ling Family.

Of course, the Yunliu Sect was incomparably vast, with over ten thousand disciples. It was impossible for all these people to reside on the same peak, so they were distributed across different mountains based on their Cultivation Realm.

For example, those in the Vajra Realm—referred to here as Martial Disciples—resided at "Weird Claw Peak," while the martial master-level disciples lived at "Raising Hoof Peak," and the Martial Sect-level disciples at "Broken Blade Peak."

However, there were barely ten people at the warrior-level within the Yunliu Sect. These formidable individuals did not have a fixed residence and spent most of their time wandering in search of opportunities to become even stronger!

After all, being a Sixth Rank Sect, the Yunliu Sect prescribed the highest achievement one could attain within closed doors—to become a warrior!

But breaking through was extraordinarily difficult. The rank of the Yunliu Sect had remained unchanged for thousands of years—in fact, over two thousand years ago, it was still a Fifth Grade Sect. Sadly, after several war generals passed away, there was no one to follow in their footsteps, and naturally, the rank declined.

For now, these matters were still too distant for Chu Hao. At least until he became a warrior, he didn't need to concern himself with anything else.

There were many participants in today's assessment—not only the young people from the Lower World but also those from over a hundred various powers in the surrounding area! Because the levels of martial arts expertise varied greatly, the "locals" here appeared extremely arrogant, looking down on outsiders like Chu Hao with disdain.

To Chu Hao, it felt as if he had come from some countryside, dressed in rustic attire entering a big city, where he met with such looks from the local residents.

What's so great about that!

Chu Hao snorted inwardly. A good background was indeed very advantageous, but these "foreigners" had all emerged from the Lower World, where each person was a genius among geniuses, capable of greatly compensating for innate deficiencies!

Moreover, from the level of a martial master, background didn't confer too much of an advantage—if one couldn't sense Star Force, no amount of gold or silver could change that!

Just you wait—in the future, every one of you will only be able to look up to me!

Queueing, queueing, queueing—that was the main theme. Chu Hao and the other four had been queuing since morning until the afternoon before it was their turn for the assessment, all of them hungry and their vision blurring.

Thankfully, the test was quite simple. First, they had to lift a stone weighing ten thousand catties, and then pass through the Ten Heavy Gates. As long as they could pass seven stages, not to mention Chu Hao, even Tang Xin could do it with ease.

All five passed smoothly and received tokens representing their identities.

They reunited with Madam Yun, and from then on, Chu Hao and the other four would start their sect lives independently.

"This is Star Stone!" Madam Yun took out five fist-sized stones, explaining to Chu Hao and the others, "Star Stones are nurtured by the earth and contain an immensely pure elemental energy. After you become martial masters, you will be able to absorb their power, greatly increasing your cultivation speed!"

"Additionally, this is the universal currency of the entire Sky Martial Star! Ordinary food and weapons can be purchased with gold and silver, but precious Spiritual Medicine and materials have to be bought with Star Stones!"

"Each of you gets one, weighing about three catties. It should be enough for you to use for a while!"

"There's no such thing as a free lunch in this world! If you want more Star Stones in the future, you'll have to exchange them for your achievements! The faster you progress, the more Star Stones you'll receive. Otherwise—" She didn't continue, but Chu Hao and the others understood. Why would the Ling Family pay for the wastes who did not belong to their household?

After all, the Ling Family was just a Sixth Rank Noble Family, not even particularly strong in Tianhe County!

"From now on, you will have to rely on yourselves! I hope the five of you can support and help each other, and someday become top Martial Artists, not making our efforts to bring you out of the Lower World in vain," another member of the Ling Family said.

Chu Hao and the others nodded. Although the Ling Family wasn't purely helping them, it was undeniable that without the Ling Family's intervention, they would still be overconfident in Eastern Cloud City. This was a huge favor that they must remember!

"Alright, off you go. If you really encounter any difficulties, you can use the Blood Wolf Order to meet with Deacon Ling Yuanfeng from the sect. But make sure it's a real difficulty; Deacon Ling is a Martial Sect-level powerhouse!" Madam Yun continued.

"Yes!" The five of them respectfully answered, bowed to Madam Yun and the other, and then proceeded towards the gate of the Yunliu Sect once more.

They had passed the assessment and become Outer Sect Disciples of the Yunliu Sect—since this assessment was relatively easy, all the geniuses from the Lower World naturally passed without any trouble.

They had come out on top through an even more rigorous selection at the beginning!

The requirements for the Outer Sect Disciples of the Yunliu Sect were simple: under the age of 30, at least at the First Tier Vajra Realm, er, First Tier Martial Disciple strength, and then passing seven out of the Ten Heavy Gates.

However, after becoming an Outer Sect Disciple, one must reach the Tenth Tier Martial Disciple and sense Star Force within three years!

Or else, get lost!

The sect would not waste precious resources on failures!

Outer Sect Disciples had to pay a sizeable "tuition" every year, but that was nothing for Chu Hao and his companions to worry about; the Ling Family would naturally foot the bill! And once they became martial masters—that is, Inner Sect Disciples—they would no longer have to pay tuition!

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Because by this time, they had already acquired considerable strength, allowing them to carry out tasks for the sect and complete various missions.

The task of an Outer Sect Disciple was to cultivate—without even cultivating Star Force, there was no question of practical combat, so what would be the point of fighting with real swords and spears every day?

Once Star Force was cultivated, everything had to start anew!

Therefore, all an Outer Sect Disciple needed to do was to relentlessly engage in hard training.

The sect distributed one Searing Heart Pill each month—that was the same pill Tang Xin had taken before, which had directly propelled her to the First Tier Martial Disciple level! If one took such a pill every month, the body would naturally expel the residue, leaving no side effects.

Tang Xin was in a hurry to make rapid progress; otherwise, she would have to wait another three years before she could come back if she didn't reach the First Tier Martial Disciple level.

Theoretically, three years meant 36 Searing Heart Pills, which could enhance Ten Thousand Catties of Strength by 36 times; plus their own hard training, reaching a million catties of strength would not be difficult at all! After all, everyone was below 30 years of age, and this strength enhancement would accelerate with the improvement of their realm.

Becoming a martial master, the most direct benefit was the increase of life expectancy by about 50 years—each minor realm advancement corresponded with a slight increase in lifespan, with the limit being around 50 years.

In the martial arts, from the martial master forward, advancing one major realm could add about 50 years to one's life! Coupled with some Spiritual Medicines that could extend life, it's said that War Gods could even achieve a long life span of a thousand years!

Immortality, that should be the dream of every human. Although one can't truly achieve immortality here, life expectancy has increased tenfold!

Chu Hao and his four companions were each assigned a living space, which was just a small wooden hut, far inferior compared to the living conditions in Eastern Cloud City! But they were not there for comfort, so the harsh living conditions didn't matter at all.

The sect provided three meals a day, all consisting of high-tier ferocious beast meat, guaranteeing that every person could obtain excellent cultivation conditions!

In the Lower World, it's quite difficult to find a Tenth Tier ferocious beast, but here, those were the most inferior beasts! Missions specifically to hunt these beasts were available in the sect, carried out by martial master level disciples.

In front of a martial master, a Martial Disciple level ferocious beast was like chickens and ducks!

But Chu Hao had one more mouth to feed!

Flying Fire!

Little Leopard grew bigger and bigger, and its appetite increased day by day, surely not less than his own! Fortunately, because of the Searing Heart Pill, Tang Xin was unlikely to make any progress in strength for the next six months, so she gave a large portion of her share of the ferocious beast meat to feed Flying Fire.

However, this was only for six months. Afterward, Chu Hao would have to figure out how to feed two mouths himself.

Whether natives or strangers from the Lower World, since everyone had just arrived, they were all restraint. Moreover, there wasn't any competition to speak of at the moment, with everyone just diligently focusing on their training, thus no conflicts had arisen so far.

But once they broke through to become martial masters and became Inner Sect Disciples, the competition would become exceedingly fierce!

Martial masters could absorb Star Force, making Star Stones the best cultivation resource! But the quantity of Star Stones was limited, and there would be a bias in distribution—favoring those who stood out, of course!

...

Deciding to take up a part-time job, Chu Hao set out to find work.

This job was best suited for manual labor, allowing him to earn money while also training his physique, for now, he could absorb energy from Star Stones, and his Nameless Technique had long since reached the Nine Turns. Every day it took only a few minutes to saturate his cells to capacity; continuing to cultivate beyond that was more harmful than beneficial!

But gaining strength too quickly had its consequences; his physique couldn't keep up.

Throwing out a punch may inflict heavy damage on the enemy, but his own bones might also break from the impact!

Even after becoming a martial master and being able to wrap the fist with Star Force, that was merely like adding a shield, but the force of the impact itself was very real—only a portion of the force could be negated.

If his physique wasn't strong enough, he would be unable to withstand such impactful forces, and in intense combat, it could be fatal!

Chu Hao left Flying Fire on the mountain while he himself went down to the foothills where there was a small town. This town had sprung from nothing because of the establishment of the Yunliu Sect and had grown quite sizeable due to the sect's growth.

This small town serviced the disciples of the Yunliu Sect, with restaurants, gambling houses, medicine shops, and weaponry stores. Disciples of the Yunliu Sect often came in groups for leisure; after all, martial artists couldn't spend all their time cultivating; they needed to relax a bit.

The medicine shops and weaponry stores served as excellent places for supplies. When traveling, a handy weapon could add some combat power, while Pills could quickly heal wounds and restore Star Force, playing an even greater role.

Chu Hao arrived at the town and started asking store by store if they needed part-time workers.

There were plenty of job opportunities, but none were the manual labor he was looking for. Most were jobs like dishwashing in restaurants or sorting herbs in medicine shops.

As he walked, the words "Bingyuan Pavilion" suddenly caught his eye.

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