Skill True State

Hearing Li Hao's words, Li Muxiu froze.

He stared fixedly at Li Hao, then suddenly laughed, though a trace of sorrow showed in his eyes.

"So many affairs, ancient and modern, all consigned to laughter and idle talk. How laughable that so many people in this world are less clear-sighted than a child."

As he spoke, he actually turned away.

Li Hao suddenly saw the old man secretly wipe away a tear.

This was a powerhouse comparable to the likes of the Sword Saint, yet he could actually shed tears too. What had he thought of? Li Hao wisely chose not to make a sound. A moment later, Li Muxiu seemed to have adjusted his emotions and turned back again, smiling at Li Hao.

"We were just talking about the two ways to break through to the Circulation Realm. The Hundred Dragons Chapter is one. The other is a Heavenly Circulation Art."

"There are two in the Listening Rain Pavilion, both supreme. When one is cultivated to completion, it can achieve one hundred and eight circulations in a single meridian. The other can reach one hundred and twenty-eight circulations. Looking across all of Great Yu, they both belong to the top tier, and the only thing that can surpass this Hundred Battles Heavenly Circulation Art is probably the All Heavens Heavenly Circulation Art cultivated by the imperial clan in the palace."

"One hundred and sixty-eight circulations. It can be called unmatched and peerless."

"It's that powerful?"

Li Hao was shocked. Reaching seventy-two circulations was already considered superior grade, yet what the imperial clan cultivated was more than double that. Did that not mean that in the Circulation Realm, the imperial clan could be called invincible? "Of course. Otherwise, how could the imperial clan suppress the world?"

Li Muxiu said, "This is called monopolizing cultivation arts. Apart from the imperial clan, no one else may cultivate it or learn it. Otherwise, why do powerful families endure without decline? They rely on monopolizing one side."

Li Hao nodded. Was the Listening Rain Pavilion not the same?

With this building alone, it was enough to ensure the Divine General Residence flourished for generations.

"However, the more top-tier a cultivation art is, the harder it is to cultivate, so the test of comprehension is also extremely high. It isn't something one can master casually. Like our Li Family, though quite a few people cultivate the Hundred Battles Heavenly Circulation Art, even more choose the other Tian Gang Heavenly Circulation Art."

"The reason is simple. If you spend five years before you learn the Hundred Battles Heavenly Circulation Art, but you spend three years and learn the Tian Gang Heavenly Circulation Art, then in a contest three years later, the one who learned the Tian Gang Heavenly Circulation Art will definitely win!"

"You might think that as long as another two years pass, you'll be able to surpass them, but never underestimate those two years. By the time your Hundred Battles Heavenly Circulation Art reaches completion two years later, the other person may already be in the Soul Succession Realm. One step ahead means every step ahead!" Li Muxiu said.

Li Hao nodded.

Whatever aptitude one had, one cultivated the corresponding art. There was a certain finesse to it.

Otherwise it would be like an elementary school student studying high school material, unable to learn anything, and instead being overtaken by those children advancing step by step, wasting time for nothing.

"Since your talent for body refinement is excellent, I suggest you use the Hundred Dragons Chapter to break through to the Circulation Realm. With your comprehension, you should have a chance to master it within three years."

Li Muxiu said, "At that time, a ten-year-old in the Circulation Realm with one hundred circulations in a single meridian—compared to your old man, you'd only be slightly inferior."

"He was that amazing?"

Li Hao was surprised.

For ordinary people, being at Power Through Realm Completion at ten years old was already pretty good.

Everyone inside the Divine General Residence was a genius monster, so naturally the requirements were higher, but reaching Circulation Realm at ten years old still counted as genius, right? "If I remember correctly, Xiao Qi's talent was slightly inferior to Xiao Jiu's. At seven, he reached Power Through Realm Completion, which is your current age. At nine, he reached Circulation Completion. At twelve, Soul Succession Completion. At sixteen, Spirit Wandering Completion... after that, the boy went to join the army, so I'm not clear about what came later," Li Muxiu said, shaking his head.

Li Hao secretly clicked his tongue. This was practically a monster.

One had to know that Uncle Lin's talent counted as middling, yet in his forties, he was still in the Spirit Wandering Realm.

And the geniuses... had already reached completion at sixteen.

And even this was inferior to that Ninth Uncle?

Li Hao was somewhat at a loss for words, but when he thought of that Ninth Uncle's talent, which, looking across the entire Great Yu and the Nineteen Provinces, among billions of martial artists, belonged to the very peak, he felt relieved.

"When you step into the Circulation Realm, while cultivating qi circulation, you must also learn the meridian-opening cultivation arts of the Circulation Realm. Your father cultivated the two extremely difficult top martial arts, Hundred Battles Heavenly Circulation Art and Dragon River Divine Meridian, within two years, reaching Circulation Completion and surpassing all prodigies apart from the imperial clan."

Li Muxiu said, "Aside from the difference in qi circulation methods, meridian-opening cultivation arts are also like this. Ordinary cultivation arts open one meridian per level. When you reach the tenth level of the Circulation Realm, you have ten meridians!"

"With a medium-grade meridian-opening cultivation art, you can have eighteen meridians at completion. With a superior-grade cultivation art, you can have thirty-six meridians!"

"With a supreme cultivation art, it is fifty-four meridians!"

"The Dragon River Divine Meridian is our Li Family's best meridian-opening cultivation art. In each of the first nine levels, five meridians are opened, and at completion in the tenth level, nine meridians are opened!"

Li Muxiu looked at Li Hao and smiled. "Now do you understand how great a gap top-tier meridian-opening cultivation arts and qi circulation arts can create compared to ordinary cultivation arts?"

Li Hao counted back and forth on his fingers, then immediately drew in a light breath, somewhat shaken.

Both were at Circulation Realm Completion, yet between top-tier and ordinary, the difference could even exceed fiftyfold. It truly was the gulf between clouds and mud! If both qi circulation and meridian-opening were ordinary grade, ten meridians and ten circulations, the power erupted would only be slightly stronger than the first level of the Circulation Realm using a top-tier qi circulation art.

This gap was simply unimaginably huge!

This also let Li Hao see clearly how precious and important resources were on the path of the martial dao.

If ordinary martial artists had no background, they could only cultivate those common cultivation arts and become cannon fodder within the same realm.

And this kind of gap would most likely also spur countless martial artists to climb upward by any means necessary. Whether by currying favor and building connections, or by struggling on their own, it was a bloody road of competition that could ruin a family and bankrupt a fortune.

It was precisely because of this that top martial artists could sit in possession of everything and become famous throughout the world.

This road was not easy to walk.

"If your meridians are blocked by nature, the difficulty of opening meridians will increase, and this will drag down your steps. However, with our top cultivation arts here, at most, you will fall out of the top monstrous prodigy echelon. In the eyes of those ordinary martial artists, you will still be an unreachable genius," Li Muxiu said.

In the Li Family, too many geniuses had been born.

Having long occupied a high position, they had also seen countless monsters from other small forces and families rise like comets.

Therefore, here, only top monsters like Li Tiangang and Li Junye would attract the attention of these old fellows. The rest were just like the many concubine-born disciples in the Martial Arts Arena, merely qualified members of the family.

Li Hao nodded slightly and did not speak.

"The fish is cooked."

Li Muxiu removed the pottery lid, and a fragrance of fish wafted out.

He extinguished the firewood and swept it away, then said to Li Hao, "Eat first. After you're done, practice here by yourself. I'm going out this afternoon. If there's anything you don't understand, ask me again tonight."

"Okay," Li Hao agreed.

The "chopsticks" they had stripped yesterday had not yet been thrown away, and the old man handed them to Li Hao again.

Li Hao also copied the other man, wiping them against his clothes, then reached into the pot and began picking up meat to eat.

This time, Li Hao no longer found it fishy, only enjoying the sweet and tender delicacy.

After they finished eating, Li Muxiu collected the pot and chopsticks together, gave Li Hao one instruction, then flicked his sleeve, stepped out, and vanished into the horizon.

Li Hao stretched lazily and went to stroll around the cultivation arts nearby. Very soon, he found the several cultivation arts the old man had mentioned. They were all placed inside the glass cabinets on this seventh floor, which could greatly slow the decay of the books.

Of course, Li Hao believed the Li Family definitely had transcribed copies of these cultivation arts stored somewhere hidden.

It was even possible that the ones displayed here were the transcribed copies.

Li Hao flipped through the two cultivation arts, Hundred Battles Heavenly Circulation Art and Dragon River Divine Meridian, but he could not record them into the panel for the time being. As expected of top-tier cultivation arts.

He called up the panel and looked at the two accumulated Art Skill Points. Without hesitation, he chose to add them all to the Path of the Physical Body.

In an instant, a mass of complex information surged into his mind. When the first wave ended, the second wave came again.

It took a full quarter of an hour before Li Hao gradually finished digesting it, and a look of understanding appeared in his eyes.

He opened the panel and saw that the cultivation arts he had mastered had already undergone an earth-shaking transformation.

Name: Li Hao

Age: 7

Cultivation: Power Through Realm, tenth level

Sword Dao: second stage (Flying Section) (Hidden Bow)

Skills: Boundless Sea Tide (Supreme Perfection) Falling Snow Sword Art (Supreme Perfection)

Path of the Physical Body: third stage (Myriad Manifestations) (Tiger Pressure)

Skills: Stone Skin Hundred Refinements (True State) Thousand Dragons Sacred Body third layer (Hundred Dragons Body, great completion) Primordial Beginning third layer (Profound Passage Body, great completion) Dragon Cicada Vacuum Body third layer (Leaping Shell Body, great completion)...

Chess Dao: fourth stage (5/10000)

Fishing Dao: first stage (112/500)

Chess Manual Illustration Collection: Myriad Manifestations, Tiger Pressure, Flying Section, Hidden Bow

Fishing Illustration Collection: none

State of Mind: Chess Heart

Art Skill Points: 0

After the Path of the Physical Body rose to the third stage, Thousand Dragons Sacred Body directly reached great completion of the third layer. At the same time, Primordial Beginning and Dragon Cicada Vacuum Body also entered the third layer, both at great completion!

However, what surprised Li Hao the most was that low-grade body-refining art, Stone Skin Hundred Refinements.

The realm behind it had actually reached True State!

Countless pieces of information about the cultivation art Stone Skin Hundred Refinements automatically gathered in Li Hao's mind. If he were to use it now, it had already surpassed the level of completion.

The levels of body refinement were more or less the same as skills: entry, minor completion, great completion, completion.

They corresponded to a technique's entry, dexterous, perfect, and Supreme Perfection.

Only, what the hell was this True State?

A higher level above completion and Supreme Perfection?!

Aside from Stone Skin Hundred Refinements, many other low-grade body-refining arts were also like this, all with True State hanging behind them!

Wild Bull Strength (True State). Li Hao could sense the flaws this body-refining art originally had, and he subconsciously began to perform it according to the insights in his mind.

Power ran through his whole body, strength erupted, and the meridians all over him bulged like ox tendons, gathering onto his fist as his will turned.

With a whoosh, he threw a punch. The veils and curtains on the pavilion more than ten meters away were actually shaken into dancing by the fist wind! After this Wild Bull Strength reached True State, the increase in strength it brought him far surpassed before, increasing the effect by a full four or five times!

Moreover, there was a feeling of returning to simplicity and truth. In his movements, there was a charm that exceeded Wild Bull Strength itself, containing a trace of a wondrously indescribable, perfectly rounded momentum.

As if this were the true face of Wild Bull Strength!

After that, Li Hao began to practice Thousand Dragons Sacred Body.

In an instant, the vast strength within his dantian was mobilized, spinning like a windmill.