Eternal Heavenly Emperor

Fourteen days later, Chu Hao finally had a breakthrough!

So that's how it is!

Hum!

He threw a punch, and this time, the iron plate did not clang loudly or swing like a swing, but trembled with a buzzing sound!

He did it!

He couldn't help but burst into laughter, feeling exhilarated as if he had drunk a cup of fine liquor, his entire body feeling incredibly comfortable!

However, succeeding once was not enough; just like Guo Zhen could hit the Shocking Force two or three times out of ten, he had to similarly increase his efficiency to twenty or thirty percent!

He punched at the still trembling iron plate again, clang, this time the iron plate didn't just tremble but immediately swung back.

Indeed, the second strike didn't work!

Chu Hao was not discouraged; he had successfully taken the first step, and what followed was a matter of improving efficiency.

Clang clang clang clang!

He threw punches continuously, and the iron plate swayed back and forth, but at the same time kept vibrating constantly; about every thirty punches, he could produce a Shocking Force.

Compared to Guo Zhen, he was far behind!

No matter, slowly but surely!

He was full of interest, and energetically sparred with the iron plate.

At a distance, Guo Zhen planned to check on Chu Hao's progress and give the boy some encouragement, but as soon as he arrived, he saw Chu Hao successfully produce the Shocking Force for the first time, his face involuntarily twitching as he gaped, losing all composure.

He had mastered it! He really had mastered it!

Just fourteen days!

Even geniuses need at least a month to grasp it!

—Guo Zhen had forgotten one thing, that which Chu Hao was still only a Martial Disciple and actually couldn't use Star Force! The standard of one month was for martial masters!

If Chu Hao were a martial master, perhaps he could have mastered it in ten or even eight days!

Chu Hao was completely immersed in joy, feeling an indescribable elation as he kept punching. His physique had now caught up to the task, making it no problem for his fists to strike such hard material.

Twenty-nine punches to produce one! Twenty-eight punches to produce one! Twenty-seven punches to produce one!

His derivation ability was fully utilized as he continuously corrected his mistakes, which significantly elevated his success rate.

Bang!

He didn't know how many punches later when the iron plate suddenly shattered under his punches, breaking into countless small pieces.

Though not a Precious Material like Red Iron, but having been forged and hammered, it had turned into Fine Iron, which was both hard and tough; even slashing it with the Red Shadow Sword would only leave a shallow mark!

Yet it was smashed to pieces!

The destructive power of the Shocking Force was indeed tremendous!

Chu Hao nodded to himself; his strength had not increased qualitatively, but he was able to smash this fine iron plate to pieces, naturally all thanks to the Shocking Force — it broke the structure of the iron plate from the inside, ultimately causing it to burst!

Using this in combat... would make any opponent tremble!

"Master Guo!" Chu Hao finally noticed Guo Zhen, he smiled and said, "I've learned the Shocking Force!"

Guo Zhen quickly managed to hide his shock, pretending to be stern, he placed his hands behind his back and said, "It took you half a month to barely master the Shocking Force. Although it's not stupid, it's not very impressive either!"

As he spoke, his heart was twitching!

Mastering the Shocking Force in half a month, how many can achieve that? Probably not a single person across the entire Tianhe County! But he couldn't very well tell the truth. At Chu Hao's age, people are naturally proud, and praising him greatly would only make the boy even more conceited!

He wondered if speaking such a big lie would cause him to be struck by lightning!

Chu Hao nodded, unaware of the difficulty of mastering the Shocking Force, even less so of the difficulty for a Martial Disciple to grasp it, simply believing what Guo Zhen had said was true. If geniuses could master it within a month, then it didn't seem too extraordinary for him to have done so two weeks sooner.

"You can try to forge the Thousand-layer Iron now!" Guo Zhen said, his eyes involuntarily shining as he spoke.

Such a prodigy, in the craft of forging, would surely leave him far behind! His limit was thirty-two layers; what about Chu Hao? Sixty-four? One hundred twenty-eight? Two hundred fifty-six? Or...

the real Thousand-layer Iron?

He was eager, so very eager!

Guo Zhen thought to himself that as long as Chu Hao could produce sixteen layers, he would immediately recommend Chu Hao to his own master, the true Tool-Forging Master Feng Yezi — such a prodigy was beyond his qualifications to teach!

He was just a blacksmith who could forge sharp weapons, but Feng Yezi was a Tool-Forging Master who could craft Treasure Artifacts!

"Understood!" Chu Hao returned to his forging station, picked up a piece of Fine Iron, heated it in the forge until it glowed red, then clamped it on the anvil.

Ding! Ding! Ding!

He swung the hammer and began to strike.

Mad Demon Hammer Technique, unfold!

Instantly, the sound of forging became as dense as raindrops, yet there was no disorderly noise but rather a melody that was incredibly beautiful.

Chu Hao had been practicing the Shocking Force all this time, and the Mad Demon Hammer Technique had only been roughly learned before being set aside. Moreover, he had not yet developed Star Force, so he actually couldn't master the essence of this martial technique combined with forging skill.

At that time, he began to slowly integrate his understanding of the Shocking Force.

The Mad Demon Hammer Technique required the Shocking Force to achieve its ultimate effects. Back then he could only execute the Shocking Force once every 26 strikes. Although it improved his forging, the effect was not significant.

Chu Hao's heart was not in forging.

"No wonder it is a High-Grade Human-Level Martial Technique!"

"After every strike, nearly twenty percent of the force remains, inherited by the next hammer blow, making each strike more powerful than the last!"

"Theoretically, the last strike could unleash nearly four times the force!"

"Unfortunately, it's not cumulative, otherwise, it would be terrifying!"

"Hehe, I'm thinking too much. If I could really unleash thirty times the force, my arms would dislocate first!"

"But four times the force combined with the destructive power of the Shocking Force is terrifying enough!"

Chu Hao immediately applied the Mad Demon Hammer Technique against imagined foes. In his eyes, the iron blocks below turned into fierce enemies. Clang, clang, clang, clang. He hammered furiously as if possessed.

By the end of the first day, he had shaped the iron block into an odd shape, hardly resembling Thousand-layer Iron.

After Chu Hao left, Guo Zhen held the iron with a curious expression on his face. Was this boy a genius in strength but an idiot in aesthetics? He had been forging half his life, but he had never seen such an ugly piece of Thousand-layer Iron!

On the second day, the third day, and the fourth day, Chu Hao's improvement grew significantly—19 strikes for one Shocking Force! 18 strikes! Under his hammer, the iron block finally started behaving, turning into an ultrathin sheet. This first step was crucial; the thinner the iron was hammered, the more layers could be added.

The foundation determines the superstructure!

He decided to pursue perfection from the start, not moving on to the second layer just yet. He put in the hard work on the first layer, aiming to build a foundation where a thousand layers could be stacked!

But this was difficult!

After all, he had just started in this trade, and he lacked far too much experience and skill. However, Chu Hao always aimed to do his best or not do it at all. He wasn't satisfied with merely producing Eight-layer Iron or Sixteen-Layer Iron.

His goal was Thousand-layer Iron!

Seventeen strikes for one! Sixteen strikes for one!

His rapid progress made Guo Zhen almost worship him. In front of such a prodigy, what are challenges and thresholds? They were like paper, easily pierced!

Ten strikes for one! Eight strikes for one!

By then, Chu Hao had mastered the Shocking Force as well as Guo Zhen! But his progress did not slow down. Six strikes for one! Four strikes for one! Two strikes for one! Six out of ten strikes!

Seven out of ten strikes! Eight out of ten strikes! Nine out of ten strikes!

Another month later, Chu Hao achieved perfection; every strike was a Shocking Force! By then, he had finally completed the first layer of the iron block, confident that it could be forged into Thousand-layer Iron!

So, he started on the second layer, then the fourth layer, and the eighth layer!

By this point, Guo Zhen was utterly speechless. If someone told him that Chu Hao was actually the reincarnation of a crafting god, he might even believe it!

When Chu Hao arrived at Bingyuan Pavilion for the fifth month, he finally completed Sixteen-Layered Iron. But the next day, just as he was about to start on Thirty-two-Layered Iron, he found that his iron block was missing!

On inquiry, he discovered that Guo Zhen had taken it to the main store of Bingyuan Pavilion.

Chu Hao couldn't help but scratch his head. What was Master Guo doing with a semi-finished product at the main store?

Well, since that was the case, he'd just forge another block. With his accumulated experience, forging a second block would be much quicker.

Chu Hao picked up another piece of Fine Iron and started clinking away again.

Now, his strength had reached 500,000 catties. With his increased strength, forging became even more adept, and his speed increased even more. By his estimates, the first layer's foundational forging would take at most three days, then even faster! Faster! Faster!

After a day's work, Chu Hao returned to Yunliu Sect.

Only as an Outer Sect Disciple did he have so much leisure time. As an Inner Sect Disciple, he would have to split his time between cultivation and completing tasks for the sect, leaving no time for forging.

But after becoming a martial master, he would be able to cultivate Star Force and would no longer need to forge to refine his physique.

"Chu Hao, it's terrible! Terrible!" Tang Xin banged on Chu Hao's door, calling out before he even opened it.

Chu Hao went to open the door and asked, "What happened?"

"Senior Sister Fu was beaten by someone!" Tang Xin said breathlessly.

Chu Hao frowned. As the trio from Eastern Cloud City, and having formed a deep friendship, he had long considered Fu Xue a 'buddy'. He asked, "Who beat her?"

"Mo Guxin!" Tang Xin said.

Mo Guxin, the recognized Newcomer King among the Outside Realm Door disciples!

"What started the conflict?" Chu Hao asked again.

"Mo Guxin has a brother called Mo Gufeng. He fancied Senior Sister Fu and tried to make her like him. You know how fiery Senior Sister Fu's temper is. After being pestered by Mo Gufeng desperately for a while, she beat him up!" Tang Xin explained.

Chu Hao understood and said, "So Mo Guxin was taking revenge for his brother and beat Senior Sister Fu."

Tang Xin nodded, "Senior Sister Fu is too combative. Knowing full well that Mo Guxin had reached the Eighth Tier as a Martial Disciple, she still accepted his challenge and ended up with three broken bones!"

Theoretically, Mo Guxin did nothing wrong. See, he challenged Fu Xue according to the rules of the sect, and he didn't coerce her. On the contrary, Fu Xue was at fault first; she beat up Mo Gufeng!

Chu Hao immediately stood up with a whoosh, saying, "I'm going to find Mo Guxin!"

(Dear reader friends, seek recommendations, seek collections, thanks for yesterday's rewards from the guardian tomb. old man, Meng Meng Da)