Nine Heavens Martial Emperor

At the Heaven-Stepping Sect, Lin Hao toured the sect, personally escorted by the Sect Leader and two Grand Elders.

At this time, word of what Lin Hao had done on the God-Proving Platform had not yet spread, so no one recognized him.

Seeing him being personally escorted by the Sect Leader and the elders, they couldn’t help but grow curious, all of them speculating about his incredible background.

With this in mind, many disciples secretly observed Lin Hao, their eyes filled with shock and admiration.

Lin Hao was aware of their gazes, but instead of feeling smug, his brow furrowed even tighter.

Because as he walked, the state of the Heaven-Stepping Sect’s development had truly left him deeply disappointed.

The Beast Taming Forest, meant for raising exotic beasts, had precious few of them;

The Divine Weapon Hall, for forging weapons, not only lacked Spiritual Artifacts, but even a single Divine Soldier was a rare sight;

And the Array Pattern Hall, for studying the art of Array Runes, was practically a mere formality.

This situation continued until they reached the Nurturing Spirit Field, where things finally took a turn for the better.

The Nurturing Spirit Field was where the sect cultivated Spirit Grass, and the primary use of Spirit Grass was for Alchemy.

The origin of the Heaven-Stepping Sect’s Nurturing Spirit Field was even more astonishing. Legend had it that the founding ancestor personally established it over ten thousand years ago.

The Nurturing Spirit Field was a vibrant tapestry of colors, with all kinds of Spirit Grass growing lush and verdant, emitting waves of herbal fragrance.

Seeing this field brimming with life, Lin Hao’s spirits lifted. But then his expression turned serious, and he sighed, "As one of the five great sects of the Southern Border Prefecture, I’m afraid the current Heaven-Stepping Sect doesn’t live up to its name."

Guilt appeared on the faces of Wu Taichu and the two Grand Elders, because what Lin Hao said was indeed the truth.

"To think that my Heaven-Stepping Sect, since its founding by our ancestor, has a legacy of ten thousand years and once awed the heavens. But now, we are confined to a corner, beset by internal and external troubles. I, Wu Taichu, have failed our ancestors." Wu Taichu was overcome with shame.

"Young Martial Uncle, you really can’t blame the Sect Leader for this. Ten thousand years is a long time, and the Ancestor’s Emperor’s Secret Skill was lost a thousand years ago. Twenty years ago, the sect’s secret realm withered and declined for some unknown reason. The Sect Leader wants to rebuild the sect, but he’s powerless to reverse the tide."

"That’s right. The Sect Leader has been trying his best all these years. To have led the sect through twenty years after the secret realm withered is a monumental achievement."

The two elders spoke up in Wu Taichu’s defense at the same time.

’Internal and external troubles... what are the external troubles?’ Lin Hao hadn’t expected such a strong reaction to his casual remark. He wisely chose not to dwell on the issue and changed the subject.

"The external threat comes from the Suo Demon Sect," one of the elders said.

Lin Hao’s heart skipped a beat. He still remembered that Wu Zhen was from the Suo Demon Sect.

Lin Hao’s status was transcendent. At this point, they didn’t intend to hide anything and told him everything.

Twenty years ago, the Heaven-Stepping Sect was indeed one of the five great sects of the Southern Border Prefecture. But ever since a sect secret realm declined, the sect’s development worsened day by day, and it has now been reduced to a third-rate power.

The Heaven-Stepping Sect’s fame was now only recognized in remote cities.

In order to develop the sect, they had been searching for a new secret realm all these years. But they didn’t find one and instead provoked another major nearby power, the Suo Demon Sect.

The Suo Demon Sect was originally a minor power, but a few years ago, they acquired a secret realm. After several years of development, the Suo Demon Sect now showed signs of overpowering the Heaven-Stepping Sect.

The Heaven-Stepping Sect has a powerful origin, and legend says it possesses an Emperor’s Secret Skill, which the Suo Demon Sect has been coveting.

But the Heaven-Stepping Sect has a legacy of over ten thousand years, and no one knows the true extent of its foundations. So, the Suo Demon Sect has never dared to act rashly.

Recently, however, disciples of the Suo Demon Sect have been frequently appearing on the outskirts of the Heaven-Stepping Sect’s territory, openly provoking them.

The Sect Leader and the elders guessed that they might have the backing of certain other sects.

After all, the other four great sects of the Southern Border Prefecture had coveted what the Heaven-Stepping Sect had for a long time.

Listening to their explanation, Lin Hao quickly grasped the key word—secret realm!

The rise and fall of the Heaven-Stepping Sect, as well as the rapid rise of the Suo Demon Sect, were all closely related to these secret realms.

Lin Hao had the memories of the Carefree Divine Monarch, but there was nothing in them about secret realms. Just as he was about to ask what a secret realm was, a series of urgent bells suddenly rang out from Heaven-Stepping Peak.

The expressions of the Sect Leader and the elders changed drastically.

"Martial Ancestor, it’s very likely that Suo Demon Sect disciples are attacking again! We’ll go take a look. Please wait here, I’ll find someone to guide you."

The matter was urgent. Before Wu Taichu’s voice had even faded, he was already a hundred zhang away.

Lin Hao sighed, then drew his gaze back and turned his attention to the medicinal field.

Whether it was a family or a sect, development was impossible without the support of medicinal pills. Lin Hao decided to see what kinds of Spirit Grass were in this medicinal field.

Now that he was a part of the Heaven-Stepping Sect, he had a responsibility to make it stronger.

He might not know about secret realms, but he was an expert when it came to Alchemy.

The medicinal field was vast, arranged in ascending terraces. Lin Hao couldn’t see to the end of it with a single glance.

Even so, with just one look, Lin Hao had already spotted many rare things, some Spirit Grass that couldn’t even be found in War Dragon City’s Treasure Hunting Pavilion.

He was especially ecstatic when he saw a plant, less than three inches tall, that was purple all over and had nine-colored petals.

In the Divine Demon Destruction Domain, this plant was called the Nine Dragon Flower. This was because, according to legend, the dragon has nine sons, and each of the nine colored petals resembled one of them.

The Nine Dragon Flower only appeared in ancient medicinal fields, absorbing the essence of ten thousand types of Spirit Grass, and took nine thousand years to sprout.

A rare flower that took nine thousand years to gestate was, naturally, priceless.

Even in the Divine Demon Destruction Domain, the Nine Dragon Flower was extremely hard to find. It was the main ingredient of a certain pill which, if consumed by a Martial Artist, could grant them the opportunity to witness the formation of the dragon’s nine sons.

Lin Hao was currently in the process of cultivating his Divine Soul. If he could observe their formation, returning his Divine Soul to its Origin would be no trouble at all.

However, just as Lin Hao knelt down, stroking the Nine Dragon Flower like a precious treasure, a hand suddenly appeared from the side.

Lin Hao’s attention was completely captivated by the Nine Dragon Flower, and he didn’t notice the hand at all. By the time he was alerted, the hand had already uprooted the Nine Dragon Flower and thrown it far away.

"My dear Chief Disciple, you have some truly unique tastes. You ignore all the Spirit Grass on the ground and instead show a special fondness for a single Nine-Loathing Flower."

Wu Kui tossed the Nine Dragon Flower, clapped the dust from his hands, and sneered.

Just now, his master had told him to keep Lin Hao company, and he had been extremely reluctant.

After all, Lin Hao was only at the Third Layer of the Blood Coagulation Realm. In his eyes, aside from being a little bold, the guy was useless.

Yet this very same guy had suddenly become the sect’s Chief Disciple. Wu Kui even had to address him as ’Senior Brother’ now. How could he possibly accept that?

Now, seeing Lin Hao treating a Nine-Loathing Flower like a treasure, Wu Kui immediately dismissed him as a country bumpkin who had never seen the world.

You see, on the Celestial Yang Continent, this Nine-Loathing Flower first appeared several hundred years ago.

At the time, countless Alchemy Masters tried to use it in medicine because of its peculiar shape, but none succeeded.

Not only that, but they also discovered that wherever this flower grew, the surrounding Spirit Grass would wither and die.

Not only was it useless, but it also reduced the yield of medicinal fields. The Alchemy Masters’ love turned to hate, and seeing the menacing-looking nine-colored petals, they named it the Nine-Loathing Flower.

The Nine-Loathing Flower was treated as a weed. Once it appeared, it was immediately cleared away.

"The disciples guarding the medicinal field are getting lazier and lazier! A weed pops up, and they don’t even know to clear it away!"

For this Nine-Loathing Flower to have grown this tall without being discovered... Wu Kui looked around, hoping to find the disciple in charge of the medicinal field so he could teach him a good lesson in front of Lin Hao.

However, he didn’t find any disciple. Instead, Wu Kui saw Lin Hao dash out like a madman, pick up the Nine-Loathing Flower as if it were a treasure, and carefully tuck it into his robes.

He was about to mock Lin Hao a bit more when his vision blurred, and in the next moment, Lin Hao had grabbed him by the collar.

"Speak! Where did you throw all the Nine Dragon Flowers?!" Lin Hao’s eyes were bloodshot as he questioned Wu Kui.

Back with the Lin family, Lin Hao had faced two Elemental Realm masters with calm composure. On the God-Proving Platform, facing eight Peak Masters, Lin Hao had debated them all with nonchalant ease. But now, he had lost his composure.

For no other reason than that the Nine Dragon Flower was simply too important.

Back with the Lin family, when Lin Tianxiao learned that Lin Hao had created a bloodline for Yi Mingcheng, his excitement was followed by a hopeful look in his eyes.

Of course, Lin Hao knew what he meant; Lin Tianxiao was hoping that he could also create bloodlines for his third and fourth brothers.

Yi Mingcheng’s bloodline creation had been a success due to the perfect alignment of timing, location, and people. But to ask Lin Hao to create bloodlines for them, who were also mere mortals—truthfully, Lin Hao had no confidence at all.

At the time, although he knew what Lin Tianxiao was thinking, he couldn’t make any promises, which left a bitter taste in Lin Hao’s heart.

But now things were different. As long as he had the Nine Dragon Flower, Lin Hao could refine that pill. If he could observe their formation, return his Divine Soul to its Origin, then creating bloodlines would not be difficult.

Of course, even with the Nine Dragon Flower, refining the pill didn’t guarantee he’d be able to observe the formation of the nine-colored petals.

But, as long as he had enough Nine Dragon Flowers, if one pill didn’t work, he’d use two. If two didn’t work, he’d use twenty. Eventually, he would succeed.

But now Wu Kui was telling him that this "Nine Dragon Flower" was a weed and had been eliminated. Of course Lin Hao would be furious.

Wu Kui was suddenly terrified. The aura emanating from the enraged Lin Hao made his heart pound with fear.

"Lin... Lin Hao, that Nine-Loathing Flower... it appeared once before, but that was many years ago." Facing this Lin Hao, Wu Kui found he couldn’t even think of resisting and answered truthfully.

Hearing this, Lin Hao calmed down.

’The Heaven-Stepping Sect was founded ten thousand years ago, and the Nine Dragon Flower takes nine thousand years to gestate. A rare flower that should have appeared a thousand years ago has only produced two stalks to this day...’

’The legacy of an Emperor Venerable has fallen this far!’

"Let’s go. Are there any other places in the sect I haven’t been to?" Lin Hao had regained his composed demeanor.

’If only two Nine Dragon Flowers have ever appeared in the Heaven-Stepping Sect, it’s impossible that there are any in the rest of the Southern Border Prefecture. None of the other major sects have a legacy as ancient as the Heaven-Stepping Sect’s.’

"Third Brother, Fourth Brother, don’t worry. Even if I have to scour this entire continent, I will find the Nine Dragon Flower for you, refine the pill, and create your bloodlines!"

Lin Hao swore an oath in his heart.

As Lin Hao returned to normal, Wu Kui immediately recovered as well.

Remembering how he had just meekly answered his questions, Wu Kui inwardly cursed himself for being spineless while his resentment for Lin Hao grew even stronger.

Now, hearing Lin Hao’s question, Wu Kui’s eyes darted, and he thought of a certain place.