Eternal Heavenly Emperor

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Chu Hao set out on his journey back to Eastern Cloud City.

With the sun out during the day, he could naturally distinguish east from west, south from north, and would not lose his way again.

This time, his mind was free from distractions, solely focused on hastening home. The journey of over a hundred miles took him just over three hours to complete, and up ahead, the towering walls of Eastern Cloud City appeared, stretching endlessly, resembling a slumbering behemoth.

He walked briskly and soon arrived at the city gates.

Whether entering or leaving the city, one must undergo strict scrutiny. However, Chu Hao was a native of Eastern Cloud City, and his departure had been recorded. Now all he needed was a quick verification of his identity to be allowed through.

—Little Leopard didn't cause any trouble, though of course, if it had been its mother, the guards would definitely have been on high alert, thrown into chaos.

When Chu Hao returned home, Uncle Yu was naturally overjoyed. Ever since Chu Hao had left, he had been worried sick; the area outside the city was fraught with danger. If something had happened to the young master, how could he ever face the lord again?

Fortunately, the young master had finally returned safely!

After comforting the old man with a few smiles, Chu Hao took out the snake meat, which would be their dinner for tonight.

Such a precious item was something Uncle Yu hesitated to eat, but after Chu Hao urged him again and again, he eventually partook of some.

Uncle Yu did not practice cultivation, so even if he ate the flesh of a Middle Mahayana realm ferocious beast, he could not gain any increase in strength. But this kind of ferocious beast flesh was a great tonic, and the elder's body was growing weaker by the year, in dire need of nourishment!

Besides, the taste of snake meat was unbelievably delicious—feasting on it was worth it just for the sheer pleasure!

When it came to his own people, Chu Hao was never stingy!

The next day, Chu Hao went to the city square, where task assignments and collections were carried out.

Of course, the City Lord's Mansion acted as a middleman. To post a task, one had to pay a service fee up front, then pre-pay the reward, which the City Lord's Mansion would hold in safekeeping. If the task was completed, the City Lord's Mansion would then direct the payment of the reward; if not, they would refund the prize within the time limit.

In this way, payment security was guaranteed.

The notice board in the square was plastered with notices, all various tasks with differing levels of difficulty. With different difficulties, naturally, came different rewards—most tasks offered monetary compensation, but some exceptions were made with valuable materials or medicines in lieu of money.

Chu Hao arrived in the center of the square, where there was a large building used for posting and completing tasks, aptly named the "Mission Hall." The interior was similar to that of a bank, with staff members sitting behind barriers made of iron rods.

There were many people, and Chu Hao waited in line for a while, taking roughly half an hour before it was his turn.

"I want this kind of stone, and will pay 20 taels of silver per gram," Chu Hao said, as he took out a nearly depleted Cloud Mist Stone and handed it over; without a reference, others would not know if they had found the right one.

All the operatives here were young women, beauties that were a feast for the eyes, which made even waiting in line less intolerable! This was quite necessary since martial artists were generally short-tempered, with many ready to draw their swords at the slightest provocation.

The beauty was astonished as she took the Cloud Mist Stone, seemingly unable to understand how such a seemingly ordinary stone could be so valuable! But her job was only to record, not to question.

She paused for a moment before asking, "How much of this kind of stone do you wish to purchase?"

"This is called Cloud Mist Stone, and it can be found in the mines of Blackwood Forest. I want to buy … 10 pounds of it," Chu Hao said as he pulled out all the silver notes he had and handed them over once more.

The silver notes were genuinely valuable!

Seeing the silver notes, the beauty's gaze at Chu Hao changed drastically. At first, she thought Chu Hao was a bit foolish, collecting stones as a hobby. But which fool could casually produce Fifty Thousand Taels in silver notes? Who would then regard him as a fool?

The caprices of the wealthy!

She couldn't help but glisten with admiration, softening her voice, and said, "Yes, I'll register it for you! Buying Cloud Mist Stone at ten taels per gram, which can be found in the mines of Blackwood Forest."

"Here is your token, which you can use to check the completion status of the tasks you have posted."

"Also, my name is Liu Yujuan."

The beauty handed over a token, black and unimpressive, blank on one side and stamped with a string of numbers on the other, her eyes filled with affection.

Chu Hao smiled, took the token, and stood up to leave, seemingly not noticing the expectant look on the beauty's face.

—He had no time or mood to entertain love and courtship at the moment.

Arriving back home, Little Leopard came swaying over, making soft sounds, showing deep affection.

Chu Hao picked up the little creature and went out to the courtyard to bask in the sun. Gently massaging Little Leopard's head, he said, "I need to give you a name. But what should I call you? Naming has never been my strong suit!"

"Little Red or Little Fire is too unimpressive. You are a Fire Cloud Leopard, and you run as quick as flying. Let's call you Flying Fire!"

He casually decided on the name Flying Fire for Little Leopard and played with him for a while before taking Strong Muscle Powder inside to start his medicinal bath.

To his frustration, he discovered one annoying fact—the powder conflicted with the Star Stone.

Chu Hao thought it over. Although the absorption process of the two was different, their essence was the same; both allowed the cells to absorb a certain power, speeding up their growth. Using the Cloud Mist Stone, however, the process was much faster and milder, unlike the Strong Muscle Powder, which was quite aggressive and, in fact, quite damaging to the body.

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He had suffered in vain, but how would he know without trying?

After resting for a day, Chu Hao returned to the academy.

His act of making a decision without consulting anyone naturally infuriated Teacher Hu, who scolded him severely and then singled him out for additional training exercises. However, Teacher Hu thought he only had the strength of a few hundred pounds and assigned tasks accordingly, but now Chu Hao's strength had reached the Third Tier of the Lesser Mahayana Realm, so the increased training was actually trivial for him.

Just before school was about to let out, Teacher Hu gave them some news.

"In half a month, our Eastern Sect of Earthly Institute will compete against the Western Faction! Each side will have eight participants, to see which can take first place! Which side will have more students in the top eight and the top four! So, listen up and go sign up immediately!"

Hearing this, no one was surprised.

The Eastern and Western Factions were like fire and water, rivals through and through—fights and sparring were all too common. On the contrary, it would be odd if they got along peacefully!

However—

"The number one from the Western Faction's Earthly Institute should be Chen Lu, right?"

"Peak of the Fourth Tier Lesser Mahayana Realm, nearing 5,000 pounds of strength! It's said that his actual strength has already exceeded 5,000 pounds, and he has long reached the Middle Mahayana Realm! The reason he hasn't moved up to the Heavenly Court is that he wants to win in this competition between the Eastern and Western Factions. The prize is very substantial!"

"Yes, with such an existence, it's impossible for us to beat them. Going there is just a waste of time!"

"Besides, our Eastern Sect has Huang Yaping, whose strength is certainly not inferior to Chen Lu. Having him is enough!"

Everyone was unmotivated, as the difference in strength was too obvious. Even with the allure of generous rewards, they stood no chance of winning, so what was there to look forward to?

Yet Chu Hao's eyes lit up, and he said, "Teacher Hu, what is the prize for taking first place?"

Pfft!

Immediately, many people burst out laughing. Although Chu Hao's 'foolishness' had been cured recently and he had enlightened, even being called exceedingly intelligent, could strength be achieved so easily?

Even if your family is wealthy, and you have astonishing perseverance, using Strong Muscle Powder once a day and fully converting its medicinal power into an increase in strength, on average, you could only improve your strength by 20 to 25 pounds per day.

Let's say an increase of 25 pounds a day is possible. In less than two months, at the most, you could reach a strength of 1,500 pounds, not even entering the Second Tier of the Lesser Mahayana Realm! How could you compete with Huang Yaping or Chen Lu? Your strength isn't on the same level at all!

This guy made a little money and learned to cultivate, achieving some minor progress, so now he's getting ahead of himself, so conceited!

Ptui!

Teacher Hu glanced at Chu Hao and smiled, "The prize is the Fire Spirit Pill, which can increase one's strength by two thousand pounds!"

"Hiss, Fire Spirit Pill!"

"Two thousand pounds of strength!"

"Isn't that directly a boost of two tiers in strength?"

"If I could get one, I could immediately step into the Third Tier of the Lesser Mahayana Realm!"

"Haha, keep dreaming, you won't get a chance! And besides, the minimum requirement to use the Fire Spirit Pill is the First Tier of the Middle Mahayana Realm, only a few with exceptional constitutions can use it at a lower strength! Even if it were given to you, would you dare to eat it? After taking it, your stomach would probably explode!"

People whispered among themselves, enticed by the tremendous effects of the Fire Spirit Pill, yet unfortunately, it wasn't something they could obtain just by wishing for it, and there were also realm requirements for its use. They could only dream and drool over it.

"Just because you may not win first place, does it mean you lack even the courage to try?" Teacher Hu said displeasedly, "Just for representing the Eastern Sect alone, there is a reward, and moreover, this is an honor in itself! You've been trained by me, don't you even have that courage and realization? Hmph, looks like tomorrow's training volume will double!"

"No, please no!"

"Teacher Hu, we know what to do now!"

"I'll go sign up right now!"

The students screamed miserably, as their usual training volume was already massive, doubled it would be unbearable.

Chu Hao secretly calculated that now he had just reached the Third Tier of the Lesser Mahayana Realm, he could improve his strength by more than 100 pounds a day, so by half a month later, his strength could at least reach 4,500 pounds, enough to fight any opponent from the Lesser Mahayana Realm!

With roughly the same strength, he was confident he would not lose to anyone.

When Tang Xin and Xu Sheng heard of his return, they all came to see him, even urging a celebration at the Fortune Full Building with a banquet costing a thousand taels of silver per table. Chu Hao regarded Tang Xin as a friend, while he merely treated Xu Sheng and the other two with polite civility—some opportunities don't come a second time.

Days passed by, and Chu Hao's strength increased by over a hundred pounds each day. His pet, Little Leopard, was no less impressive. It was able to expel snake venom on its own, showing a remarkably strong innate gift, and its appetite for Cloud Mist Stones was growing larger every day.

Chu Hao started to worry; with such a voracious appetite, the mere ounce or so of Cloud Mist Stone he had would not last a month!

He could only hope the mission he posted would be completed soon!