Everyone in the Li Family Is a Cheater

The martial arts in the building were numerous and tangled. Though they had been sorted into categories, perhaps the Yin Meridian was simply too obscure; Li Hao searched for several hours, yet failed to find any related records in any cultivation art.

Instead, he did record two other mid-to-low-grade body-refining arts, and his body received another slight improvement.

That evening, Li Muxiu returned treading through the air, his expression somewhat weary.

Seeing Li Hao holding the "Dragon River Divine Meridian" manual, Li Muxiu shook his head with a smile and said, "What, you already want to open meridians? Have you stepped into the Circulation Realm? Don't aim for the stars before your feet leave the ground."

"I just stepped in," Li Hao said.

"?"

Li Muxiu froze, then could not help asking, "You've entered the Hundred Dragons Body?"

"Mm."

Li Hao nodded. Great accomplishment counted as entry, right? "Come, demonstrate it for me."

Li Muxiu wasted no more words and directly had Li Hao show him. As for the specifics, one glance would tell.

Li Hao did not hide his ability either, and openly began to demonstrate.

Though they had not known each other for long, the old man gave him an extremely frank and upright feeling. If the old man really wanted to harm him in some way, he would not be able to guard against it anyway.

Besides, it was only great accomplishment in the Hundred Dragons Body. That should not count as anything major, right?

As his fists swung and strength surged, in an instant, an aura like a flood dragon bursting from the sea radiated from Li Hao.

Li Muxiu's gaze sharpened as he watched, and then his expression abruptly froze.

""

Li Muxiu stared at Li Hao in astonishment. If it had merely been entry into the Hundred Dragons Body, that would not have counted for much, at most a rather outstanding genius. And the Li Family had never lacked geniuses; throw a stone at random and whoever it hit would either be a servant or a genius.

But entry, minor accomplishment, great accomplishment—this was the Hundred Dragons Body at the level of great accomplishment! Entry in one day, great accomplishment in one day?!

Good heavens, this kind of talent for body refining was not at all inferior even compared to Xiao Jiu's talent for cultivation, was it? Li Muxiu could not help sizing Li Hao up. Was this child's talent for body refining truly that good? But what a pity. Why was such outstanding talent only talent for body refining! When his thoughts reached this point, Li Muxiu could not help letting out a deep inward sigh.

Though he did not like chasing fame, profit, and rank, being able to cultivate was an absolute good thing for anyone.

After Li Hao finished his demonstration, he saw the old man standing there in a daze. With an innocent look in his eyes, he seized the chance to ask, "Old sir, I saw the words Profound Meridian in another Primordial Beginning art. What meridian is this Profound Meridian?"

"You flipped through that secret manual too? You didn't cultivate it, did you?"

Li Muxiu came back to himself, and his brows immediately furrowed, his face turning stern.

He stared at Li Hao's small face, and seeing the child's innocent appearance, immediately realized he had overthought it. This fellow was so young; if he had truly gone off and divided his attention to cultivate that, how would he have had the time today to train the Hundred Dragons Body to great accomplishment? Without waiting for Li Hao to answer, he continued solemnly, "You have exceptional talent for body refining. That is a good thing, but don't ruin it! How many geniuses have there been who, because they were young and hot-blooded, relied on a bit of cleverness, learned this and learned that, and in the end knew a little of everything, enough to be called all-rounders? But guess what happened? They were slapped to death by defeated foes their own age."

"Others only need to practice one move. As long as that one move is strong enough, enough to kill the enemy, they can run rampant without fear!"

Li Muxiu said, "Look at those people called Sword Saints, Saber Saints, and whatever Spear Gods, Arrow Kings. They're all famous figures. Do you think they don't understand developing in all directions? But they only specialize in their own fields and keep advancing! A person's lifespan is limited. Even across an entire life, one may not necessarily reach the end of a single road, let alone walk two roads. That is even more like destroying your own future!"

At this point, he said to Li Hao:

"For aristocratic families like ours, the good thing is that we have enough foundation. The process of growing up is relatively comfortable. But those wandering heroes of the jianghu without background have faced all kinds of complex situations since childhood, hardship in life, and so on. They're forced to learn whatever they can, and whatever lets them survive!"

"But we are different. We can choose!"

"They dabble in poisons, medicine, fists and feet, blades and swords. But so what? When they meet someone in the same realm, they will have a great advantage, but how much time do you have to spend learning all that? If it is ten years, then someone else spends the same ten years learning one thing. Their realm can't possibly be the same as yours. When the time comes, with a realm one or two levels higher, they will be enough to suppress and kill you with ease!"

"Therefore, only when you've cultivated to a bottleneck and have no hope in this lifetime can you consider expanding sideways. Otherwise, before that, there's no need."

He spoke with sincere earnestness, and Li Hao could understand the old man's thinking.

All-round development was certainly formidable, but time did not allow for it.

Only, that was for ordinary martial artists.

As for himself, he had a panel to cheat with.

However, before he had abundant Art Skill Points, Li Hao could only specialize in the sword and the physical body. Even now, he still treated the physical body as primary, and realm as first priority.

After solemnly warning Li Hao, Li Muxiu sighed, then returned to his casual manner and said, "The Profound Meridian you mentioned is from the Primordial Beginning Body Refining Art. This is also the reason that incomplete cultivation art can be placed on the sixth floor. But to learn to open the Profound Meridian, one has to cultivate step by step to the third layer. That takes far too much time. This cultivation art is even harder. Those with higher comprehension might need five or eight years; those with poor comprehension might find it difficult even after twenty or thirty years!"

"Therefore, though the Profound Meridian is precious, it can only be abandoned."

"Oh?"

Li Hao showed an expression of being willing to hear the details, hugging his little legs as he sat cross-legged.

"The Profound Meridian is also called the Yin Meridian. Aside from ordinary meridian opening, legend says there are a total of one hundred and eight meridians in the human body!"

Li Muxiu said, "Our Li Family's strongest Dragon River Divine Meridian can open fifty-four meridians, while the imperial clan's Eastern Wasteland Scripture can open sixty-two meridians. It is already the strongest meridian-opening cultivation art."

"But to reach one hundred and eight meridians, that is still far, far off. Therefore, whether there are truly one hundred and eight meridians has always been a matter of rumor."

"However, outside these one hundred and eight meridians, there are also two Great Meridians. Those are the Yin Meridian and the Yang Meridian!"

"If these two Great Meridians are opened, the cultivation arts practiced will carry some special powers, making attacks fiercer and more domineering. At the same time, the two Great Meridians can contain even more strength to circulate through the heavens!"

He glanced at Li Hao and said, "If you can perform one meridian, one hundred circuits, then in the Yin Meridian, you can achieve one meridian, one thousand circuits. That's a tenfold difference! You can stack and accumulate the strength of one hundred circuits in the Yin Meridian!"

"And one meridian, one thousand circuits is not merely an accumulation of quantity, but a qualitative change in explosive power. As for the specifics, they can be shown in battle. Therefore, those who can open these two special Great Meridians are geniuses among geniuses, the cream of the crop among top geniuses, rare in a hundred years!"

Li Hao understood. He had not expected that besides the Yin Meridian, there was also the Yang Meridian.

The two special Great Meridians were equivalent to an extra increase of twenty meridians.

One had to know that the imperial clan's strongest cultivation art only had sixty-four meridians. If one could open both special Great Meridians at the same time, it would be equivalent to improving by a third!

At that point, even if one cultivated the family's Dragon River Divine Meridian, one would be able to erupt with power surpassing the imperial clan!

"Opening these two special Great Meridians is extremely difficult. It requires opportunity, talent, and comprehension. External force can hardly push it along." Li Muxiu glanced at Li Hao and said, "Among the second generation of our Li Family, only three people opened one special Great Meridian. Only your Ninth Uncle possessed both Great Meridians at the same time, with peerless talent."

At this point, he could not help sighing.

Li Hao was somewhat dumbstruck.

After hearing him say so much, he had thought it was extremely rare. In the end, among the Li Family's second-generation Nine Sons, three people actually possessed one? And that Ninth Uncle possessed both? "Xiao Jiu was born with the Yang Meridian. The Yin Meridian was something he opened and comprehended himself later in life. Even this old man, back then, only had one special Great Meridian, about the same as your father."

Li Muxiu shook his head as he spoke.

Li Hao had no words in reply. This Ninth Uncle was the real cheater, wasn't he?

"All right. You should cultivate honestly and steadily."

Li Muxiu said to Li Hao, "Your talent is superb, but you were born with blocked meridians, making it even harder than for other body refiners. If your luck is bad, the Circulation Realm may be your limit. So don't be half-hearted. Train the Thousand Dragons Sacred Body well. If you cultivate to the fourth layer, you may have a chance to break through to the Soul Succession Realm."

"When that time comes, you'll count as a martial artist capable of holding your own. At the very least, you won't be killed casually by others."

Li Hao nodded.

Seeing Li Hao so obedient, Li Muxiu felt rather gratified and said, "When you have time, go look through the Dragon River Divine Meridian on your own. If there's anything you don't understand, come ask me. Back then, your father and the others all studied on their own too. Though there were people to teach them as well, how should I put it? Your grandfather had a rather bad temper and didn't teach them personally. He invited instructors from the army instead. Often, before the person teaching had even reacted, your father and the others had already learned it. Xiao Jiu could even infer three things from one, heh..."

As if recalling that period of time, a trace of a smile appeared on the old man's face.

Li Hao felt somewhat helpless.

There were truly too many monsters in the Li Family, to the point that even a cheater like him seemed slightly ordinary.

Of course, he had not yet searched for Art Skill Points with all his strength. Otherwise, he could go one step further.

But, well, living life. Aside from cultivation, there was still life to live, after all. Otherwise, what was the point of him living another lifetime?...

In the days that followed, aside from accompanying the old man to morning fishing for half the day, Li Hao spent every afternoon soaking in the building, flipping through qi circulation arts and meridian-opening secret manuals.

Half a month passed, and the three top-tier secret manuals were all recorded into the panel as he wished.

Li Hao felt that his comprehension should still count as pretty good. After all, to record something, he had to reach superficial understanding. One book every five days; that could be considered not embarrassing the Li Family too much.

He had heard that ordinary direct-line Li Family disciples cultivating supreme secret manuals took roughly half a month before they could grasp the surface.

However, with the mentality of having lived two lives, Li Hao did not grow proud. It could only be considered a normal performance.

Only, these three cultivation arts did not belong to body-refining arts. Therefore, his third-stage comprehension of the Path of the Physical Body did not affect them after the arts were recorded.

Instead, a new Great Dao attribute appeared in the panel.

Imperial Dao: not entered

Li Hao guessed that these three secret manuals belonged to the cultivation arts of normal martial artists, and this Imperial Dao was most likely the corresponding Great Dao of normal cultivation.

Only the name was slightly strange.

But Li Hao did not think much of it. As long as he could add points, that was enough.

And so he once again felt the scarcity of Art Skill Points.

"Besides fishing and playing chess, it's time to consider trying painting normally, and cooking too..."

These were all categories of art recorded in the game. Barring any surprises, they should all be able to increase Art Skill Points.