The wooden box opened. There was nothing out of the ordinary.

Through the eyes of his Primordial Body, Lin Hao gazed at the wooden box.

BOOM!

With that one glance, the Primordial Body was instantly reduced to ashes, and Lin Hao’s own body slammed hard against the stone door behind him.

CLATTER!

As the wooden box fell to the ground, Lin Hao dropped to one knee.

DRIP... DRIP...

Beads of sweat dripped, one by one, onto the floor.

After a long moment, Lin Hao finally looked up, his face deathly pale.

Exhaling sharply, Lin Hao forced out two words: "How terrifying."

A moment ago, he had only glanced at the box’s contents through the eyes of his Primordial Body. It was a fragmented great seal that looked simple and unadorned, but when Lin Hao used an imperial art to investigate it further, something terrifying occurred.

A wisp of terrifying aura had surged forth, instantly annihilating his Primordial Body!

Although Lin Hao reacted quickly, he was not entirely spared.

An Emperor’s might!

That was definitely an Emperor’s might!

The fragmented great seal in the wooden box was definitely an Emperor’s Soldier!

SSSS!

Lin Hao suddenly sucked in a sharp breath.

’Emperor’s Soldiers are the ultimate weapons, yet this one is damaged? What kind of heaven-defying existence could have possibly done this?!’

’To damage even an Emperor’s Soldier... one can only imagine the kind of battles Emperor Hongtian must have fought!’

"Even a Great Emperor has enemies. I still have a long road ahead of me,"

Lin Hao murmured to himself, then rose, picked up the wooden box, and solemnly placed it back.

’It’s not that he hadn’t considered taking it with him. But even though the great seal in the box was fragmented, it was an Emperor’s Soldier, after all. Forget him—even an expert at the Sealed Martial Realm likely couldn’t control it. Not only would it be useless to carry around, but if discovered, it would undoubtedly bring about a world-ending catastrophe.’

’Comparatively, leaving it here was the safest option.’

After one last glance at the wooden box, Lin Hao took a deep breath and strode away.

He returned the way he came. By the time Lin Hao reached the outside world, Wu Taichu was nowhere to be seen. Lin Hao had been about to start cultivating there, but the thought had barely crossed his mind before he was teleported away.

"Grand-Martial Uncle, you’re out already? It’s only been nine hours!" Outside, Wu Taichu seemed very surprised to see Lin Hao.

Only nine hours had passed, yet Lin Hao had emerged. Moreover, Wu Taichu noticed that Lin Hao’s aura had changed.

Lin Hao paused. He had clearly been in that underground palace for much longer than nine hours. But when he remembered the projection of Emperor Hongtian was there, it all made sense.

"Yes. Let’s go." Lin Hao didn’t elaborate, simply nodding and starting down the mountain peak first.

Wu Taichu opened his mouth to speak but ultimately said nothing.

’In such a short amount of time, he couldn’t possibly have obtained Emperor Hongtian’s Cultivation Technique.’ He had wanted to offer a few words of comfort, but Wu Taichu found he didn’t know where to begin, so he held his tongue.

"Go on and attend to your duties. I’m just going to take a walk." The grand master of a sect was acting so reserved in front of him. Lin Hao smiled and told Wu Taichu to go on ahead.

Lin Hao’s main reason for returning to the Heaven-Stepping Sect had been to find a Cultivation Technique for the Soul Gathering Realm. Now that his wish was granted, he was naturally in high spirits and feeling quite relaxed.

Wu Taichu nodded respectfully and departed.

Lin Hao glanced around before heading off in a specific direction.

The Heaven-Stepping Sect’s Pill Furnace Hall was a hive of activity.

"Hall Master, I’m having some trouble understanding the Alchemy Hand Seal for this pill formula," an Alchemy Master asked respectfully of a Heaven-Stepping Sect disciple who looked quite young.

From the man’s tone, it was clear this young disciple was actually a Hall Master.

"What’s the matter with you? I’ve already taught you this Alchemy Hand Seal three times. Fine, fine. I have a moment, so I’ll show you one more time. Pay close attention..." the young Hall Master said, looking thoroughly exasperated with him.

The Alchemy Master seeking guidance was significantly older than the Hall Master, yet he remained exceptionally respectful in his presence.

"Senior Brother Wu Kui is incredible. He became an Alchemy Master at such a young age. Now, even the Alchemy Masters who came over from the Danling Sect have to tread carefully around him and ask for his guidance," a young pill apprentice said from a corner, staring at the young Hall Master with adoration.

"Senior Brother Wu Kui is impressive, sure, but if you want to talk about the truly legendary figure of our sect, it has to be Senior Brother Lin Hao," an older pill apprentice next to him lectured. "The Heaven-Stepping Sect is what it is today entirely thanks to Senior Brother Lin Hao. Even Senior Brother Wu Kui’s Alchemy Skill was taught to him by Senior Brother Lin Hao."

"Senior Brother Lin Hao, I know about him! He’s my biggest idol! I came to the Heaven-Stepping Sect just because I heard his story. It’s a shame I’ve never gotten to see him." As he spoke of Lin Hao, the young apprentice’s eyes began to sparkle.

"Senior Brother Lin Hao went to the Imperial City. I heard he even got into the Imperial Saint Institute. I’m afraid he’ll never return to our sect," the older apprentice said, his expression dimming with a touch of sadness.

Now, Lin Hao was more of a legend, revered by every disciple of the Heaven-Stepping Sect.

"Sigh..." The two apprentices exchanged a glance and sighed in unison.

Just then, they heard Wu Kui speak. "S-Senior Brother..."

The older apprentice looked up toward the doorway, rubbed his eyes in disbelief, and then his lips began to tremble with excitement. "S-Senior Brother Lin... Lin Hao."

Standing at the entrance of the Pill Furnace Hall was a lone figure—who else could it be but Lin Hao?

At the sight of Lin Hao, everyone in the Pill Furnace Hall stopped what they were doing and bowed to him with utmost respect.

This included the many Alchemy Masters who had joined the Heaven-Stepping Sect from the Danling Sect.

They now revered Lin Hao as if he were a god. After all, Lin Hao had only given Wu Kui some casual pointers before he left, and now Wu Kui’s Alchemy Skill had already soared to a level they could only gaze at from afar.

If Wu Kui was already at that level, then Lin Hao’s own Alchemy Skill...

The Alchemy Masters didn’t dare to imagine.

"The greatest taboo for an Alchemy Master is a divided mind. Because of this little delay, many of your pills are about to be ruined," Lin Hao said with a smile as both of his hands began to move. And then, everyone witnessed a truly shocking scene.

The Fire Crystal Stones beneath every active Pill Furnace in the Pill Furnace Hall began to shift, moving at a speed so fast it blurred the eye.

When the Fire Crystal Stones came to a halt, pills leaped out from every single Pill Furnace.

With a single effort, Lin Hao had caused all the pills in every furnace to successfully form and emerge!

"T-Top-grade pills!" The next moment, those words were uttered again and again by the astonished Alchemy Masters.

Some of those Pill Furnaces had only just been loaded with Spirit Grass, while others contained batches the Alchemy Masters had already written off as failures. Yet under Lin Hao’s control, all of them yielded top-grade pills, and all at the exact same moment. It was nothing short of a miracle!

The crowd stared at Lin Hao with wide eyes, completely stupefied.

With such Alchemy Mastery, you wouldn’t find his equal in the entire Cangnan Empire, let alone the whole continent!

"Is Senior Brother Lin Hao the reincarnation of a god?" the new apprentice in the corner asked dumbly, his eyes glued to Lin Hao.

"I’ve never seen a god," the older apprentice answered, almost mechanically, "but I know this: even if one were to appear before us now, they could do no better."