Eternal Heavenly Emperor-Chapter 396 - 386 Preparation Work

The next day, the selection process continued.

On the first day, a total of 128 people had entered the second round, but overnight, more than a hundred people voluntarily gave up, leaving only a mere 12 people still competing for the position of Family Head.

This was naturally because of Chu Hao’s unexpected involvement.

Although He Shilong was the Family Head’s own son, most people understood that this weak-charactered young master was completely a puppet of the Mansion Master’s Wife, who was, after all, an outsider.

Moreover, the young master’s martial arts talent was not great, and it was estimated that he would never break through to War Venerate in his lifetime. A War King serving as Family Head, that just didn’t seem quite right.

Though no rule stipulated that the Family Head had to be the highest in cultivation, there were certain situations that could only be handled by the Family Head. When facing the families of other War Emperors, War Emperors, and War Venerates, they would already be at a disadvantage in terms of aura.

However, if Chu Hao were to succeed, then there would be no problem at all.

Indeed, Chu Hao’s current cultivation was low, but He Lingtian was not about to die immediately, he could still hold on for a few more years. And with Chu Hao’s demonic talent, cleansed by the Ancestral Pool and fully supported by the He Family, he could likely reach War Venerate in a few years, right?

By then, if the family stayed low-profile for a few decades, Chu Hao would surely advance to War Emperor or even War Emperor, leading the family to thrive for nearly a thousand years.

For a behemoth like the He Family, the stability of the family outweighed everything else; otherwise, spending enormous resources and time on power struggles would inevitably lead to the family’s decline.

This was also why the He Family had many in the Pro-emperor faction, who would rather support a weaker but purely-blooded rightful Crown Prince, than see the family shattered.

—As long as the bloodline was pure enough, a strong descendant would always arise.

Chu Hao’s victory suddenly became incredibly smooth.

The Pro-emperor faction stood firm, and he himself had a pure bloodline and outstanding talent. As for loyalty to the He Family... he was the Family Head’s own grandson, who would dare to doubt it? Even the Mansion Master’s Wife, who was most likely to oppose, suddenly seemed to have become mute and dumb. Then, who else would seek trouble?

In the end, one more bloodline test was to be performed. Since there were only 12 people, they employed the He Family’s most ancient Test Stone, passed down from Ancient Times, which could measure the concentration of the bloodline with extreme precision.

Because it actually had a scale.

A drop of blood from the ancient ancestor of the He Family, sealed within the stone, had survived a million years without degradation. It was said to be an equally invaluable treasure with unimaginable power, yet the He Family had never faced a crisis that required this artifact, thus no one knew what power it truly possessed.

By dropping one’s own blood onto the stone, and comparing it to the ancient ancestor’s, one could determine the exact degree of bloodline purity.

The full value was ten thousand, but from ancient times till now, the highest recorded value was only 707, and that too after cleansing in the Ancestral Pool.

Today was the final test. The 12 participants were ranked based on their bloodline purity, with the first place becoming the primary successor, followed by the second and third successors, since no one could guarantee safe passage on the path of martial arts, thus there was a discussion of successive rights to avoid the need to select another successor should one die.

One by one, the participants were tested, and Chu Hao was the last.

"24."

"12."

"11."

After cleansing in the Ancestral Pool, everyone’s blood concentration exceeded one thousandth, but that too was because they were one in ten thousand. Looking at the entire He Family, most people were definitely single digits.

"22." He Shilong completed his test as well. He was the second to last, and with a value of 22, he was currently ranked third. So even if Chu Hao emerged on top, he could still be the fourth successor in line.

"The last one, Chu Hao!"

Hearing his name called, Chu Hao stepped forward and painfully bit his finger, dripping a drop of blood.

The scale immediately began to skyrocket.

"40, 50, 60, oh my goodness!"

"2, 248!"

The final value appeared—248!

The whole place fell silent, no one could believe the result.

Knowing that historically the purest bloodline, even after cleansing in the Ancestral Pool, only reached 70. But Chu Hao, without even undergoing the Ancestral Pool’s cleansing, reached 248, over four times the highest record.

What height would this value reach after coming out of the Ancestral Pool?

"Could the Test Stone be broken?"

"Nonsense; this isn’t just any Test Stone. It itself is an Ancestral Artifact, even sealed with a drop of the ancient ancestor’s blood. It’s one of the three strongest Ancestral Artifacts of the family; how could it be broken?"

"Then are my eyes deceiving me?" he questioned. "Otherwise, how could I see such numbers?"

"My eyes must be deceiving me too."

"I have also spent."

The crowd shook their heads; it was impossible for everyone to be seeing things. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

That meant the test stone was not defective, they hadn’t seen incorrectly, it was truly Chu Hao defying the heavens.

The crowd looked at Chu Hao with shocked gazes. Was this guy really born to his parents, or was he born from bathing in the Ancestral Blood?

Soon, He Lingtian made the final decision, confirming the test results, Chu Hao as the primary successor for the next Family Head.

No one was surprised by this decision, nor did anyone object.

Chu Hao indeed had such qualifications.

The only incomprehensible thing was Gao Zhen’s behavior. Although there was no evidence, everyone could guess that over the years, numerous children of the Family Head had been killed by her hand, all to clear the obstacles for Master Shilong’s ascent. But why was she so easily manipulated now?

This was truly unbearable.

Chu Hao knew, however, that until he took over as Family Head, he would always just be the primary successor. If the primary successor died, there would be a second, and a third.

He Shilong ranked fourth, meaning that if the first three were gone, he could step up and become the primary successor.

But Chu Hao was not afraid. When he decided to return to the He Family, he was already prepared to contest with Gao Zhen. Moreover, Gao Zhen would dare not make a move openly—Chu Hao was now the primary successor, and as long as he did nothing to betray the family, who in the He Family would dare target him openly?

After that day, Chu Hao finally got the chance to partake in the Ancestral Pool baptism.

The baptism only worked the first time; thus, there are generally two practices: one, undergo the baptism upon birth to fully unlock the bloodline for maximal benefits or, two, use it when faced with a cultivation bottleneck, utilizing the mystical effect triggered by the bloodline surge to break through.

He Shilong chose the second method, using it to break free from the shackles of the War King.

For Chu Hao, since he had missed the chance at birth, it was best to wait until reaching the peak of War King and then enter the Ancestral Pool; he might quickly achieve the leap from the Middle Three Realms to the Upper Three Realms.

This step, for a genius like He Lingtian, took fifty to sixty years to cross, illustrating its difficulty.

But Chu Hao did not intend to wait that long.

The end of the year was the Nine States Heaven Talented Assembly, and at this grand meeting, the Heaven Talented of the Nine States would appear, he might even see Su Wanyue!

He absolutely had to attend and wanted to make a stunning impression.

The cultivation of a Warrior was utterly insufficient, even that of a War General was not enough; he must break through to War King!

"Have you really decided?" He Luo asked, as one of He Lingtian’s twelve attendants, he could represent He Lingtian to a certain extent. Since Chu Hao’s arrival on the island, it had been He Luo taking care of Chu Hao’s daily needs.

"Yes, I want to complete the Ancestral Pool baptism as quickly as possible," Chu Hao nodded, very resolutely.

"Alright, give me three days, and I will arrange it for you," He Luo nodded and left.

Opening the Ancestral Pool was a very solemn matter, as for every ancient clan, the Ancestral Pool was an invaluable resource, the work of the War God. But limited by the bloodline, it was impossible for the Gu Clan to produce a second War God. Therefore, if the Ancestral Pool were destroyed, it could never be rebuilt.

But Chu Hao felt maybe if the Ancestral Pool was destroyed, the Gu Clan might find its own path instead of being limited by the frameworks of its predecessors.

The idea is to break and then establish—this was the principle.

Yet right now, he couldn’t manage that much, desiring to quickly improve his cultivation, not only to participate in the Nine States Heaven Talented Assembly but also to cope with the impending catastrophe as Fat Cat spoke mysteriously and Gu Qingcheng also had similar remarks, giving Chu Hao a strong sense of urgency.

Over the next three days, He Luo busied himself with preparations for opening the Ancestral Pool, and Chu Hao was also occupied with receiving congratulatory visitors.

With the situation now clear, Chu Hao the primary successor of the next Family Head, despite whether people still feared the Mansion Master’s Wife, they had to congratulate Chu Hao, as it was courtesy.

After all, should Chu Hao successfully ascend in the future, would you not fear his reckoning if you did not come today?

Chu Hao didn’t coldly turn away the guests, as he would have to confront Gao Zhen directly. Thus, he needed to unite every person in the He Family, who could become his support in the future, denouncing this ruthless old woman.

Just when he could hardly sustain himself, He Luo finally came to tell him that the Ancestral Pool was opened.

Under the escort, or perhaps supervision, of twelve family elders, Chu Hao entered the Ancestral Pool alone.

The Ancestral Pool was located halfway up the mountain on the island, where there was a cave, constantly guarded by a War Emperor.

A War Emperor acting as a doorkeeper showed the importance of the Ancestral Pool to an ancient clan, and also highlighted the profound depth of resources of the He Family, who could casually assign a War Emperor.

This War Emperor with white hair and eyebrows, unkempt, even his large bushy white hair covering his face, making it unclear with two holes in his shoes, each revealing three toes. His sitting posture even resembled a beggar.

Without any hint of aura flowing about him, if not told, Chu Hao would never have believed that he was actually a War Emperor.

What was even more astonishing was that his hands and feet each were bound by iron chains. (To be continued. If you like this work, we welcome you to come to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation tickets, monthly tickets, your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please go to m.qidian.com to read.)