As his consciousness stirred, a vast flood of information suddenly poured into his mind.
Li Hao clutched his head, feeling his brain swell as though it would burst.
Pain twisted his face.
"Hao'er, what's wrong?"
Liu Yuerong noticed something was wrong with Li Hao and, startled, hurriedly asked after him.
Li Hao gritted his teeth.
The chaotic torrent of thoughts in his mind gradually settled, and only then did Li Hao discover that his head held a wealth of knowledge about swords.
It was as though he had practiced swordsmanship day and night for two or three years.
Damn it, this headache feels just like when my Chess Dao advanced a rank...
Li Hao rubbed his head, panting heavily. He was still too young, his brain not yet fully developed. The immense amounts of information brought by Chess Dao and Sword Dao were a terrifying assault on his fragile mind.
He said nothing, doing his best to recover.
"Did you catch a chill in the snow?" Liu Yuerong stroked Li Hao's forehead, but finding no fever, she looked puzzled.
By then, Li Hao had fully recovered. Seeing Second Madam's startled, uncertain gaze, he pointed to his mouth and mumbled in his babyish voice, "Bit... bit my tongue."
Liu Yuerong paused, then breathed a sigh of relief and rolled her eyes, speechless.
Having bluffed his way through, Li Hao paid her no further attention and secretly checked his panel instead.
[Name: Li Hao] [Age: 1] [Cultivation: Mortal] [Sword Dao: Rank one] [Skill: Boundless Sea Tide (Perfect) [Restricted]] [Arts mastered: Chess Dao] [Chess Dao: Rank one (82/500)] [Chess manual collection: 0] [Art Skill Points: 0]
Li Hao was somewhat stunned. The Art Skill Point at the bottom was gone, but his Sword Dao had actually changed from "Uninitiated" to "Rank one"!
Moreover, the skill below it, Boundless Sea Tide, had also changed from uninitiated to perfect!
Li Hao had heard the military instructor teaching Li Qianfeng explain it before.
Every technique had three levels: beginner, proficient, and perfect!
Beginner meant being able to execute an entire set of moves fluently!
Proficient meant not merely executing them fluently, but applying them flexibly, with complete understanding and effortless command!
Whatever the situation, one could counter each move as it came rather than rigidly follow a set routine!
As for perfect...
It meant having thoroughly mastered the technique, wielding it as naturally as an arm commanded its fingers. Even performing it in reverse would be effortless, exposing no openings!
Unless the flaw lay in the technique itself!
He had heard that above perfect, there was an even higher realm.
At that realm, one could even remedy a technique's flaws, raising its power another level!
And now, after his Sword Dao advanced to rank one, Li Hao's mastery of the sword technique in Boundless Sea's first level had actually reached perfect outright!
That would take at least ten years of painstaking practice!
He had heard that Li Qianfeng, standing before him, had practiced Boundless Sea for only half a year before reaching beginner mastery of its first level, Tide. That already made him a Sword Dao genius.
Then what am I now? A monster?
Seeing that Second Madam was not watching him, Li Hao turned his gaze back to the courtyard.
At that moment...
The child in the courtyard was still practicing his swordplay, but to Li Hao, it no longer seemed as astonishing as before. Instead, he could spot the boy's immature technique and stiff posture at a glance!
Anyone who knew how to use a sword could knock the wooden sword from his hand with a light strike!
"Not bad." The burly middle-aged man was very pleased with Li Qianfeng's performance.
His root bone was superb, and his comprehension excellent. In another two years, he would reach proficient mastery of the first level.
After all, Li Qianfeng was still only a child, his brain not yet fully developed. Such an achievement was already exceptionally rare.
Time passed.
As Li Hao watched and ate the snacks Second Madam fed him, he gradually grew sleepy and bored.
He yawned, nestled into Second Madam's arms, and slowly closed his eyes.
Something seemed to flash before his eyes, but Li Hao was already asleep.
Hearing the faint breathing in her arms, Liu Yuerong lowered her head, a trace of complicated emotion flickering in her eyes.
But when she looked up at her son practicing his swordplay in the snow, that complicated look vanished, and her gaze became calm again.
She rose, carried Li Hao out of the small pavilion, and returned to the bedroom in her rear courtyard. Gently, she laid him on her bed and tucked the covers around him.
Her movements were tender, as though she were his own mother.
Drowsy in his sleep, Li Hao felt himself being set down and woke a little.
His chest felt warm, giving off a faint heat. That was where the Dragon Blood Jade Pendant bestowed by the Yu Emperor rested. He always wore it against his skin, and it was also why he could stand in the snow without feeling the slightest cold.
Just as Li Hao was about to roll over and go back to sleep, he suddenly heard a low voice outside the room.
"Did you really give that substance to this child?" It was an unfamiliar man's voice.
"Things have come to this. I have no other choice."
It was Second Madam's voice, but none of its gentle affection remained, only the coldness she might use toward a household servant.
"You've seen it yourself. My son works so hard, and he's a talent seen only once in a century! The people from Boundless Mountain have already come to inspect him. When Qian Feng turns six, they'll take him to cultivate on Boundless Mountain. Once his divine blood awakens and he inherits the power passed down by his father, his name will surely resound throughout the world!"
"I must pave the way for him!"
Li Hao opened his eyes a sliver, confusion stirring in his still-groggy mind.
Who is Second Madam talking to?
"We don't yet know what talent this child possesses. Isn't this a little too rash?" the man with the low voice sighed.
Outside the door, silence briefly fell.
Then Liu Yuerong spoke again, her voice colder still, with a hint of mockery:
"Parents who love their children must plan far ahead for them!"
"I didn't want to do this either, but those wooden-headed fools in the Li Family are utterly beyond reason!"
"If this child must blame someone, let him blame his father. Who told Marquis Xingwu to be such a monstrous talent? Others don't know, but I know perfectly well that he entered that realm at just twenty-three..."
"That means his child has a considerable chance of awakening divine blood too!"
"What?!"
The low-voiced man sounded stunned. "He entered the Three Immortalities at twenty-three?!"
"That's right. The Li Family's ancestor was Great Yu's Founding God General, with a powerful bloodline. Father carried on our ancestor's aspirations and achieved the same."
"In the previous generation, aside from Qian Feng's father, Marquis Xingwu was another monstrous talent, as were the third, sixth, and ninth! Especially the ninth-he was even more terrifying. Fortunately, he died young and left no children..."
"The third's wife keeps their child by her side, and the child is a girl who'll marry out sooner or later, so she poses little threat. Though the sixth also entered the Three Immortalities early, that was after his marriage..."
Liu Yuerong said coldly, "The only one who can compete with Qian Feng is this child. Otherwise, why do you think the Yu Emperor bestowed his blessing on him? Even if his Martial Dao aptitude proves mediocre, once his divine blood awakens, he'll still be able to contend with the greatest geniuses!"
Silence fell outside.
The low-voiced man sighed softly. "Since you've already made your decision, madam, I won't say any more."
"You needn't worry. I obtained this medicine from Boundless Mountain. Once swallowed, it disappears without a trace. No investigation can uncover it, and it causes no pain. I even coated it with sugar, so it won't taste strange. Though he's still young, it won't leave any lasting memory. Children eat far too much candy, after all."
"Even if they discover in the future that he can't awaken his divine blood, they can't conclude that we tampered with him. Anyone in this Divine General Residence could have done it!"
"Besides, even the bloodline of someone in that realm isn't guaranteed to awaken. Perhaps his child was never capable of it to begin with?"
At that, Liu Yuerong scoffed. "We have the war in Northern Yan to thank. Ji Qingqing loves Marquis Xingwu deeply and followed him to the battlefield, giving us this opportunity. Otherwise, once this child was a few years older and they returned, there would certainly be military officers guarding him in secret. It would have been difficult to act."
The man gave no further reply, only a quiet sigh.
Before long, their footsteps gradually faded into the distance.
Inside the room, Li Hao was now fully awake, his mind reeling in disbelief.
Second Madam actually wanted to harm me?
All that loving care, all that concern every day-was it all fake?
Li Hao did not want to believe it, but the truth lay before him.
Though he did not understand what divine blood was, Second Madam had decided he would obstruct her child's path, and so she had chosen to ruin him!
Li Hao's expression darkened, and his fists clenched slightly.
Those gentle smiles and words had lulled him into comfort. If Second Madam was like this, what about the others?
Who else is sincere?
Though he had been here for only a year and a half, these ladies had taken turns caring for him every day, and Li Hao had inevitably developed some affection for them.
But now, it felt as though it had all dissolved into bubbles.
Is this what infighting among ancient aristocratic clans is like?
His little hands felt over his body. Apart from the faint warmth in his chest, he felt nothing unusual, and that warmth came from the Dragon Blood Jade Pendant.
His mother had said he carried his father's power within him, but now... it was gone.
Li Hao silently clenched his little fists. One day, he would repay this grudge!
Spring passed, and autumn came.
In the blink of an eye, Li Hao was three years old.
Now, he spent most of his time in the Mountains and Rivers Courtyard. He had become far more cautious about the food the ladies from the various courtyards sent him. Sometimes, he simply pretended not to like it and refused, throwing a child's tantrum.
Gradually, all the servants in the courtyard learned that the young master was extremely picky about food and drink.
Three years old.
In the Divine General Residence, this was an exceptionally crucial age.
In ordinary families, children only began cultivating the Martial Dao at seven or eight, or even in their teens.
Some had already had their root bone set in its final form. Even with talent, great achievements were difficult; their family circumstances had cost them the best years for cultivation.
The Divine General Residence, however, was a Martial Dao aristocratic clan with the most rigorous cultivation methods. Its children built a solid foundation from an early age.
Foundation Establishment at three.
Blood Fusion at four.
Bone Measurement at five!
By six, they generally began formal cultivation, without a single moment wasted.
On the path of cultivation, countless people struggled to cross the river. Taking the lead by one step meant leading at every step!
Whether someone possessed the aptitude for cultivation could be determined during Bone Measurement at five.
If their bones were fully developed and their marrow abundant and dense, they could begin cultivation after Bone Measurement at five.
However, with its deep reserves, the Divine General Residence followed the principle that haste made waste. It stipulated that formal cultivation could begin only at six, allowing another year for the body to grow and strengthen so that future cultivation would proceed more smoothly.
Even the exceptionally gifted Li Qianfeng was no exception. He could have begun cultivating after Bone Measurement, but he still went to Boundless Mountain only at six.
His daily sword practice in the courtyard involved only basic sword moves to develop his martial instincts. It did not count as truly embarking on cultivation.
Those whose Bone Measurement revealed ordinary aptitude or slow development could not cultivate even at six. They needed several more years to develop, perhaps until seven, eight, or nine.
Still, the Divine General Residence had countless precious medicines and rare treasures to gently nourish the body and improve Martial Dao aptitude. In all its years, even its slowest child had begun cultivating at eight.
He had heard that child was born prematurely and had suffered an injury in the womb, which was why things had turned out that way.
(End of chapter)
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