After Li Zhengzhi and his companion left, Huo Yuhao first wrote a letter and sent it to the Knight Temple at Imperial Dragon Pass.
The letter was not long. It mainly explained what he had done and his agreement with Li Zhengzhi, so the Knight Temple would know the reason in advance.
Because of the letter's importance, he ultimately sent it back to Imperial Dragon Pass through the messaging channel of the Knight Temple branch in Haoyue City.
Only after the letter had been sent did he shut himself in and get to work on his research.
The first thing he needed to study was still the Sealed Milk Bottle, the key to their cooperation five months later.
As for improving the Godly Zhuge Crossbow Cannon, he would do that after he had made the Sealed Milk Bottle.
For the next three months, Huo Yuhao devoted himself to developing the spiritual energy Milk Bottle, combining it with the alchemical equipment of the Holy Demon Continent.
During those three months, he tried more than a dozen combinations of materials, hoping to develop a Sealed Milk Bottle at the lowest possible cost.
After repeated experiments, it took him three months to successfully develop a grade-three Sealed Milk Bottle. However, because the materials were not high-grade, its service life was short, lasting only around thirty uses.
He also made a grade-four Milk Bottle during that time, but again because of the materials, it did not achieve a sealed effect. The spiritual energy stored inside was halved after twenty-four hours and gone after forty-eight.
Even so, that was barely enough to meet the terms of his agreement with Li Zhengzhi.
After solving the problem of the Sealed Milk Bottle, Huo Yuhao began upgrading the Godly Zhuge Crossbow Cannon.
He upgraded the barrel, the mounting, and the shells, especially the shells. He replaced the ordinary iron shells with magic shells, raising their power by several levels.
After a month of upgrades and modifications, the Godly Zhuge Crossbow Cannon's shells were considerably smaller, but their power had risen enough to severely wound a Fifth Tier demon and threaten a Sixth Tier demon.
Even Huo Yuhao himself was very satisfied with the result.
By now, four months of the time Huo Yuhao and Li Zhengzhi had agreed upon had passed. So, after finishing those things,
Huo Yuhao packed his luggage and dismantled the Godly Zhuge Crossbow Cannon, putting its parts into his spatial ring.
If he did not dismantle it, the Godly Zhuge Crossbow Cannon alone would occupy more than a cubic meter, exceeding the capacity of his spatial ring.
Even dismantled, however, it was easy to put back together.
And so, after making all his preparations, Huo Yuhao hired a carriage and set off for the Holy City.
Haoyue City was near the border, a great distance from the Holy City.
Even on horseback, he would need nearly a month to get there.
By carriage, it would take a full month, and he could not afford any delays on the road.
Huo Yuhao paid it no mind, instead spending more of his time cultivating.
He had been in Haoyue City for so long, yet he had never had time to cultivate properly. His internal spiritual power had also grown rather slowly, increasing by only two or three points a day.
Those months without much cultivation had made his foundation exceptionally solid, with no sense of instability at all.
And so, after a month on the road, when Huo Yuhao arrived in the Holy City once more, his internal spiritual power had reached two thousand points, bringing him to the bottleneck of the Fifth Tier.
If he wanted to break through, he had to liquefy his spiritual energy.
Liquefying spiritual energy took a certain amount of time, however. He was pressed for time now and had none to go into seclusion.
So he could only wait until after meeting the leaders of the Six Great Temples to consider going into seclusion.
Upon entering the Holy City, Huo Yuhao made his way to the Knight Temple with practiced ease.
And at that moment, Yang Haohan, the master of the Knight Temple, was waiting for him there.
"This junior, Huo Yuhao, greets the Temple Master."
In the Knight Temple's main hall, Huo Yuhao gave the leader of the Temple Alliance a deep bow.
As Yang Haoyu's younger brother and the leader of the Temple Alliance, Yang Haohan had quite a few affairs to handle, so he spent most of his time in the Holy City. Unless a major battle broke out at Imperial Dragon Pass, he would not return there.
As a result, Imperial Dragon Pass was basically left to Long Tianyin to guard alone.
"Yuhao, it's been a long time. You've grown taller too!"
In the hall, Yang Haohan, dressed in ordinary clothes, looked at Huo Yuhao with a gratified smile.
"Your grandfather has already told me about you. I didn't expect you to be so gifted, with such a talent for alchemy. Even Li Zhengzhi has come to see me several times, wanting to take you as his disciple."
"Temple Master Li?"
Huo Yuhao had not expected Li Zhengzhi to be so eager that he had already approached Yang Haohan. Unfortunately, he would not be joining the Magic Temple now.
"That's right. Li Zhengzhi praised your talent highly and said that if you joined the Magic Temple, he would raise you as his own son."
Yang Haohan shook his head and spoke helplessly.
Hearing this, Huo Yuhao said without hesitation, "Temple Master, I do not wish to join the Magic Temple."
Seeing Huo Yuhao's reaction, Yang Haohan could not help laughing.
"Don't worry, Yuhao. You've done nothing wrong, and you have the right to choose. Just as you told Li Zhengzhi, whether you're in the Knight Temple or the Magic Temple, you can protect and contribute to humanity.
"If you change your mind in the future, we'll support you too."
Huo Yuhao was about to say something, but Yang Haohan cut him off with a wave of his hand.
"All right, Yuhao, you're weary from the journey. Go and rest for now. You'll have plenty to keep you busy tomorrow."
"Also, you should be on the verge of breaking through to the Fifth Tier. Your aura is fluctuating far too strongly, so you need to go rest and adjust it."
As he spoke, Yang Haohan's face also showed a trace of shock. After all, a Fifth Tier under the age of ten had never appeared before in the entire history of the Knight Temple.
"Yes, Temple Master."
Huo Yuhao had long since felt his aura fluctuating, so after Yang Haohan spoke, he did not linger. He left at once, found a room, and began adjusting the aura throughout his body.
After Huo Yuhao left, Yang Haohan sent people to notify the other five temples of the meeting time.
"Yuhao, I just heard in the Holy City that the assessment for the newly recruited Demon Hunt Squads has recently ended, so there are a lot of people in the city."
Within the Sea of Consciousness, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm shared what he had heard.
"Newly recruited Demon Hunt Squads?"
A thoughtful expression appeared on Huo Yuhao's face.
Every selection and assessment for the Demon Hunt Squads took a long time. That meant it would be a little over four years until the next round of Demon Hunt Squads.
Only four more years? I wonder if I can break through to the Sixth Tier in that time.
Ah, I still hope the research center for alchemical equipment is established soon. That way, I won't have to spend so much time on it, and I can devote myself wholeheartedly to cultivation in the future.
And I'm about to reach the Fifth Tier, but I still haven't chosen a magical beast. Once this meeting is over, I'll go into seclusion and break through to the Fifth Tier, then go to the Knight Sacred Mountain to choose a magical beast.
After making his plans for the near future, Huo Yuhao began to meditate and adjust his aura.