A God Realm cultivator was invincible in this world, and for him to fight a God Realm cultivator to a standstill with only his Heavenly Venerate Realm cultivation was even more earth-shattering.
Of course, that was all in the past, for Chu Hao was now merely a third-stage Qi Refining Realm cultivator, nothing more.
"Though I have reincarnated, too many years have passed."
"What has truly transpired in this world? Are my old acquaintances still alive, or have they vanished into the dust of ages?"
Chu Hao sighed, yet fortunately, he was not one given to excessive melancholy, and swiftly stabilized his emotions.
To seek answers to all these questions, he possessed but a single path: to grow stronger.
"In Jade City, to gain a foothold, one must at least be a Great Grandmaster Realm cultivator, or command a force with a Great Grandmaster Realm cultivator to secure its position."
"The social structure remains as it was in my previous era, a rigid hierarchy where the strong dictate the law, and the weak must yield, endure invasion, and suffer humiliation."
"If I were a Grandmaster Realm cultivator, how could Zhao Feng have forced me to cripple my own arm? If I were a Great Grandmaster Realm cultivator, Zhao Feng would not only dare not act so arrogantly but would kneel before me. If I were a Spirit Realm cultivator, I could transcend all limitations in Jade City; after all, I have never heard of a Spirit Realm cultivator existing in this place."
Upon this thought, Chu Hao suddenly let out a faint chuckle. What if he were a Spirit Realm cultivator? Having once been a Heavenly Venerate Realm cultivator like himself, a mere breath could annihilate a nation like Yunmeng.
"This body was originally at the Grandmaster Realm, but it was afflicted by poison and no longer remains in that realm."
This potent toxin had rooted itself deep within his bones, absorbing the energy in his body to grow, continuously hollowing out his form until death.
The former Chu Hao was a fifth-stage Grandmaster Realm cultivator, fully deserving the title of a young prodigy of the Chu clan.
Currently, he was but a third-stage Qi Refining Realm cultivator, and his energy was nearing depletion, about to drop to the second stage of the Qi Refining Realm.
The so-called 'energy' is what cultivators absorb and refine from natural energy into their bodies when cultivating techniques; the initial form of this energy is 'Qi'. Hence, the starting realm of the cultivation path is the Qi Refining Realm.
Therefore, the urgent task at hand was detoxification.
With Chu Hao's vast knowledge, he naturally possessed numerous methods to neutralize the poison. However, most of them involved the use of elixirs.
"Many types of elixirs can dispel the toxins within me, but the medicinal herbs required to refine them pose a significant problem. To acquire these herbs, I would need a vast amount of primordial stones."
Primordial stones were the most common currency in this world, due to being the crystallization of natural energy. The natural energy condensed within primordial stones not only made them a valuable cultivation material but also a common medium of exchange without losing their intrinsic value.
"I shall abandon the option of using elixirs, then. Thus, I can only cultivate a special technique to detoxify myself."
Chu Hao mused. He, of course, possessed countless cultivation techniques.
Cultivation techniques were divided into the following tiers: Mortal, Profound, Spirit, Creation, World, and Divine. Each tier of technique was further categorized into four smaller grades: Low-grade, Mid-grade, High-grade, and Peerless-grade.
Mortal-tier techniques were the most common; the vast majority of cultivators at the lowest levels practiced these. Only from the family level upwards might one find a few Profound-tier techniques.
As for Spirit-tier techniques, they could allow a Great Grandmaster Realm cultivator to advance to the Spirit Realm. Their appearance alone was enough to incite wars of contention among clans.
Regarding the choice of cultivation technique, Chu Hao displayed a rare moment of hesitation.
He should, by rights, have immediately chosen the technique he cultivated in his previous life, for it was the very foundation that allowed him, at the Heavenly Venerate Realm, to fight against a God without defeat. However, during his journey to uncover the forbidden mystery, Chu Hao had acquired another enigmatic technique.
Although this technique was incomplete, extending only to the World-tier and lacking the final Divine-tier portion, the sheer power of this nameless technique surpassed even the one Chu Hao had cultivated before.
"I choose the Nameless technique. As for the missing part… I myself will seek it out."
Chu Hao made his decision.
He delved into his memories and began cultivating the Nameless technique.
The first part of the technique was, of course, a Peerless-grade Mortal-tier technique. After cultivating to the tenth stage of the Qi Refining Realm, one could switch to cultivating the second part of the technique, a Peerless-grade Profound-tier technique. The Profound-tier technique could allow him to cultivate all the way to the end of the Great Grandmaster Realm.
As for the third part of the technique, a Peerless-grade Spirit-tier technique, it required one to be a Spirit Realm cultivator to use.
Chu Hao cultivated and circulated the energy within his body, drawing in the pervasive natural energy from the air, which he absorbed in a flash.
The natural energy was guided and entered his body.
His body began to undergo significant changes.
All cultivation techniques, even Chu Hao's previous technique, were no exception; they could only condense a single energy bubble. But the Nameless technique that Chu Hao was cultivating now could actually condense three energy bubbles!
Time passed, and Chu Hao opened his eyes.
"Three energy bubbles truly shatter my understanding, and it was by no means easy to accomplish. Fortunately, I still succeeded."
Even Chu Hao, upon condensing three energy bubbles, could not help but feel a surge of tension. If he had failed, he surely would have died.
An energy bubble was a storage place for energy. But this energy source was not still water; it was something that continuously circulated. This is why cultivators needed to learn techniques to control this energy source.
For this reason, there could only be one energy bubble, for one symbolized stability. If there were two energy bubbles, the two differing energy flows would clash and explode.