Myriad Manifestations Attributes

Myriad Manifestations Attributes

Li Hao wondered what the result would be if he underwent Bone Measurement again.

But there was only one chance, and no one believed the old Daoist of Green Hill Mountain could have made a mistake.

Since the Bone Measurement ended that day, he could clearly sense that Mountains and Rivers Courtyard had grown quieter. In the past, the madams from the various courtyards would often bring their children over to play, or invite him over for little pastries and fresh specialty fruits offered as tribute from the borderlands or vassal states. Then they would have their children play with Li Hao, trying to build a close relationship from childhood.

But two months had now passed, and only First Madam, Fifth Madam, and the young Ninth Madam had come to visit him.

They had merely seen that he was unharmed, then did not come again.

Still, fruit pears and pastries would occasionally be delivered from Evergreen Courtyard.

Now that winter had arrived, he had also received two sets of small padded trousers and jackets sewn from fine beast fur, along with a scarf.

Li Hao hung the scarf around the little girl's neck.

The next day.

The sky had only just begun to brighten when Lin Haixia was already practicing swordsmanship with Bian Ruxue in the courtyard.

Earlier, Lin Haixia had had the child select from the various weapons on the weapon rack and demonstrate them one by one, testing her talent with weapons. In the end, Bian Ruxue chose the sword.

After training with her, Lin Haixia discovered that she truly did possess talent in the Sword Dao. He thus taught her with care, though he was occasionally strict.

It was not until noon that Li Hao slowly woke up. He was not yet six and did not need to follow the family rules requiring him to visit Evergreen Courtyard every morning to pay respects and greet First Madam. Thus, he could comfortably sleep in.

Seeing the little figure diligently practicing in the courtyard, Li Hao slightly shook his head and silently sighed, Poor thing. Then, attended by his personal maid, he accepted the washing water, finished breakfast, and as usual summoned the two servants who knew how to play chess, having them set up the board in the pavilion.

Before long, a game ended, but Li Hao found that he had not received a notification of increased experience. He could not help but freeze.

Then words appeared before his eyes:

{Chess Dao Level Three requires a Chess Heart before it can continue to improve.} A Chess Heart?

Li Hao was puzzled.

As though sensing his thoughts, the words gradually vanished, only for another line to emerge: [To cultivate a Chess Heart, one must hold nothing but chess in one's heart, and be devoted only to chess.] Very good. A blunt and straightforward explanation.

Li Hao was somewhat surprised. He could actually interact with these words.

Hello?

The words vanished.

Li Hao tried calling out several more times, but received no response. He immediately stopped dwelling on it and began pondering instead. Be devoted only to chess?

Did he have to condense a Chess Heart first before he could gain experience?

Within the Divine General Residence, Li Hao had heard of Sword Hearts, Spear Hearts, and Knife Mouth Tofu Hearts.

But he had never heard of a Chess Heart.

That made sense. A minor path like chess was nothing more than a lowly juggling trick beneath notice in the Divine General Residence.

Still, a Chess Heart should be something like a Sword Heart, right? From the idle conversations he overheard whenever the madams held him, there were tales of certain young men who practiced swordsmanship every day from childhood, held a sword even while eating, and slept clutching one. After condensing a Sword Heart, their Sword Dao cultivation advanced a thousand miles in a single day, and so on.

So, did he need to do the same to condense a Chess Heart?

But did Li Hao even like the Chess Dao?

In his previous life, he had understood a little about it, but only a little.

Chess... what decent person liked playing chess? Even playing cards was more fun.

Work was tiring enough. Who had the time to do something so brain-burning?

Unless it was for novelty's sake, to occasionally switch up the entertainment experience.

Even with the panel able to increase his Chess Dao experience, Li Hao had merely regarded it as a tool for farming Art Skill Points. To make himself truly love it, to become devoted to it...

That was difficult.

Li Hao was somewhat unconvinced and had a servant play another game with him.

Then he became convinced.

This gave Li Hao a headache. His little face scrunched together. He had only just tasted the sweetness of cultivation, and now it was telling him he could no longer gain experience from chess. How could that work? Did he really have to hug a chessboard every day? But without experience, why would he hug it? Should he switch to practicing some other art first?

Still, he did not know what use this Chess Heart had. He would think it over first.

Over the next few days, Li Hao moved the chessboard onto his bed, spread a blanket over it, and simply used it as a pillow.

When he ate, he also placed the chessboard beside him, worshipping it like a Buddha statue.

But this kind of empty formalism seemed to have no effect.

Li Hao no longer had the servants play chess with him. Whenever he had nothing to do, he watched the little girl practice swordsmanship or went to Listening Rain Pavilion to browse through various books.

One day, while flipping through books in Listening Rain Pavilion, Li Hao found several pages of chess notation in one of them and could not help but be surprised.

The book recorded anecdotes about a famous figure from several hundred years ago. That great man had been humiliated in his youth, but when he later went to seek revenge, his enemy had abandoned martial arts for chess.

The great man had once said that when he came for vengeance, he would utterly crush his opponent in every aspect and make him fall into complete despair before killing him.

Yet his opponent had already studied chess for many years.

He brought out a chessboard on the spot and challenged him to a contest of chess skill.

The great man suffered a crushing defeat. And yet, this man was stubborn to the bone—he truly did not kill his enemy on the spot.

However, he slaughtered his enemy's entire family, sparing neither women, children, nor infants. He left only his enemy alive, saying that he would return another day.

But afterward, until the day he died, he was never able to solve that chess game.

After reading it, Li Hao could not help but laugh.

That enemy must have known the great man extremely well. Though his martial talent could not compare, he was clever enough to learn such a move to escape death.

He suddenly felt that chess seemed somewhat interesting after all.

It was no wonder the Li Family thought so. Even he, in this world of martial arts, had believed from the depths of his heart that chess was merely entertainment and a pastime, nothing meaningful.

But now, that view had changed slightly.

{Chess notation "Myriad Manifestations" detected. Would you like to record it?} Words suddenly appeared before his eyes.

Li Hao was surprised, suddenly recalling that the panel had a chess notation catalogue.

This also showed that he truly had no interest in the Chess Dao and had only regarded it as a tool to farm experience. Over five years, he had never once recorded a single chess notation.

He felt a little ashamed.

Li Hao immediately chose yes.

Very soon, an additional chess notation called "Myriad Manifestations" appeared in the panel's chess notation collection.

At the same time, there was a prompt after it: Can be embedded.

Li Hao was puzzled and tried selecting embed.

A line of words popped up: {Please select embedding target: Path of the Physical Body, Sword Dao.} Li Hao was surprised. What did that mean? After thinking it over, he chose the Path of the Physical Body.

Having just embarked on cultivation and experienced the sensation of his strength surging throughout his body, he had also gained greater expectations for the Path of the Physical Body.

[Embedding successful.] At that moment, Li Hao suddenly felt a flood of chaotic information crash into him.

He was extremely familiar with this feeling. A moment later, he had digested it all, and Li Hao saw the following on his panel:

Path of the Physical Body: Level One (Myriad Manifestations)

The fragmented information in his mind told him exactly what had happened.

Myriad Manifestations: Places the target amid the myriad manifestations of heaven and earth, making them impossible to discern and concealing all aura.

Li Hao tried activating it slightly, and the aura around his entire body immediately drew inward. The surging power and qi within him seemed to contract into countless pores and cells, becoming impossible to observe.

"Special attribute?"

Li Hao was shocked. He had never expected chess notation to have such an effect. It was simply unimaginable.

With his Level Two Chess Dao, he could more or less understand this chess notation. Great maze within great maze, small maze within small maze; every step was a trap and a deadlock. No wonder that great man had failed to solve it his entire life.

Yet after this chess notation was embedded into the Path of the Physical Body, it actually brought a similar attribute.

If he had chosen to embed it into the Sword Dao, would his swordsmanship have gained deceptive effects, making it impossible for others to discern the true killing move? If that were paired with the dazzling sword moves of the Tidal Sword Art, it would probably leave opponents even more bewildered.

Li Hao glanced at the panel. The words "can be embedded" behind the Myriad Manifestations chess notation had disappeared, which meant he could only choose one.

Still, this opened the door to a new world for him. So chess notation was the King's Path!

If he could collect all sorts of other chess notations, would he not be able to add all kinds of special buffs to his attacks?

At that thought, Li Hao was brimming with interest as he searched all around the pavilion.

But Listening Rain Pavilion was a holy land for martial artists, not a holy land for chess players. For several days in a row, Li Hao remained in Listening Rain Pavilion, yet found only three chess notations in total. One of them had even been used to prop up a bookshelf.

"Flying Section," "Hidden Bow," "Tiger Pressure."

After obtaining the three chess notations, Li Hao studied them for a while, deducing their attributes from their characteristics. He embedded "Flying Section" and "Hidden Bow" into the Sword Dao.

"Tiger Pressure," meanwhile, was embedded into the Path of the Physical Body.

Flying Section: Attack range doubled, possessing an over-distance strike effect.

Hidden Bow: A killing move concealed in the dark, one step to execution.

Tiger Pressure: Strength slightly increased, possessing intimidation.

The three chess notations brought Li Hao an enormous improvement.

Unfortunately, while the Divine General Residence had everything one could want, as a martial arts family, it had no habit of collecting chess notations.

After returning to the courtyard, Li Hao could only have the servants around him search outside for chess notations. But the servants made every excuse imaginable. None dared help the young master travel farther and farther down the road of "neglecting proper pursuits."

With no choice, Li Hao could only lure them with generous rewards.

In the days that followed, besides waiting for chess notations, Li Hao also began slowly studying chess skill.

He removed the blanket from the chessboard beside his bed and put the board away. He also cleared the chessboard from the dining table. Aside from occasionally strolling around the courtyard, he mostly watched the little girl practice swordsmanship.

Perhaps because she had lost both parents young and drifted from place to place, the little girl was extraordinarily hardworking. Under Lin Haixia's instruction, her swordsmanship improved by the day.

"No, this move is wrong."

That day, while teaching swordsmanship, Lin Haixia displayed the stern side of a military officer. Though he was deeply satisfied with Bian Ruxue's talent in the Sword Dao, whenever she made a mistake in practice, he still harshly rebuked her.

The little girl held back her tears and stubbornly practiced again and again.

Li Hao watched helplessly and shook his head. Uncle Lin was a decent man, but that did not necessarily mean he knew how to teach according to aptitude.

After being scolded a few times, the little girl's sword moves were nearly deforming.

That evening, Li Hao saw the little fellow still repeatedly practicing on her own in the courtyard and called her over.

"This posture is wrong. Bend your arm a little more—yes, like that. Don't keep your waist too stiff..."

With no one around, Li Hao gave the little girl some private instruction, guiding her hand in hand.

Bian Ruxue was not foolish, and she truly possessed talent in the Sword Dao. Under Li Hao's guidance, her posture quickly became precise, carrying a distinct sword rhythm.

"Brother Hao, do you know swordsmanship too?" After finishing her practice, the little girl looked at Li Hao excitedly. "Then can we practice together tomorrow?"

"Don't talk nonsense. I refuse to get up early."

Li Hao jumped in fright and hurriedly said.

"If Uncle Lin knew you could use swordsmanship too, he would definitely be very happy." Bian Ruxue spoke hopefully. Though there were many things she still did not understand, she could see that the elders around them seemed somewhat disappointed in Li Hao.

The little girl trained so diligently because deep in her heart, she had been holding back a breath of defiance. Everyone said Brother Hao was no good, but she thought Brother Hao was clearly very clever.

"I don't know swordsmanship. Don't go talking nonsense." Li Hao hurriedly said. Little girl, do not repay kindness with enmity and ruin his wonderful chance to sleep in. He would truly cry himself to death.

Bian Ruxue was puzzled. "But you obviously..."

"Go, go. Sleep, sleep." Li Hao rolled his eyes, chased the little girl away, and warned her not to speak carelessly.

The next day.

In the courtyard, Lin Haixia slowly widened his eyes as he watched Bian Ruxue perform her sword moves.