Three, Six, and Nine Grades

Three, Six, and Nine Grades, on a bright and sunny day.

The military expert arranged by the Divine General Residence arrived at the Mountains and Rivers Courtyard to establish Li Hao's foundation.

He was a short, lean, capable middle-aged man with dark skin, yet he wore a flowing green robe. His name was Lin Haixia, like a girl's name; later, Li Hao called him Uncle Lin.

Returning together with Lin Haixia was a little girl.

The little girl was the same age as Li Hao, only two months younger than him.

He heard she was the orphaned daughter of a comrade-in-arms of his father, the Xingwu Marquis, far away on the Yanbei Battlefield.

Before the little girl's father met with trouble, he entrusted his young daughter to the Xingwu Marquis, and before his death, the two men arranged a childhood betrothal.

Faced with this marriage that had dropped from the sky, Li Hao was speechless.

Good grief, if you're going to fight a war, then fight your war. If you don't come back, so be it.

But for something this big, did you ask my opinion?

Anger was anger, but Li Hao did not vent the resentment he had built up on this little girl.

And so.

In the vast Mountains and Rivers Courtyard, besides Li Hao, there was now another small figure from then on.

The little girl was called Bian Ruxue. She looked as if she had been carved from jade, pink and tender, like a porcelain doll.

Newly arrived in a strange place, the little girl was timid and shy. Every day, whenever she caught hold of someone, she asked, where is my daddy, where did my daddy go?

The little girl wanted to find her daddy.

But no one in the courtyard dared answer. Some softhearted maids, hearing it, could only hide in corners and secretly wipe away their tears.

The little girl lost all appetite for tea and rice and grew thinner by the day. Seeing that not a single servant in the courtyard knew how to coax a child, Li Hao was also annoyed. It seemed he had behaved too well and had failed to train these fellows properly.

He had no choice but to take the field himself, half-threatening and half-coaxing as he told the little girl:

"Your daddy is hiding in a place. You have to be obedient and eat properly, and only then will your daddy come out."

The little girl opened her innocent, tear-filled eyes and asked, was Xue'er not good? Why did Daddy have to hide from Xue'er? Where was he hiding?

Where was he hiding?

Looking at the little girl's pitiful, delicate appearance, Li Hao's heart softened a little too. So he said something terribly clichéd, pointing at the sky:

"Your daddy is right there, on one of those stars."

From then on, every night in the courtyard, there was a small figure looking up at the sky.

The silver glow of the star-filled heavens shone down, illuminating that lonely little back.

And inside the room, another little fellow lying over a chessboard instructed the house servants every day to fan the area around that little girl and drive away mosquitoes and insects for her, lest she be bitten all over in bumps.

In the blink of an eye, half a month passed, and the military expert Lin Haixia also finished preparing the Foundation Establishment Liquid for Li Hao and Bian Ruxue.

The two established their foundations in the same year.

So-called foundation establishment was the root of the martial path!

Foundation Establishment Liquid refined from countless precious medicinal herbs was used to soak the body every day, bathing in medicine to forge a child's martial body! The Divine General Residence was one of Great Yu's top prestigious houses, with deep resources. From the moment Li Hao began foundation establishment, countless precious medicinal herbs, rare treasures, and exotic valuables were delivered to the Mountains and Rivers Courtyard like falling snowflakes, inexhaustible in supply.

Foundation Establishment Liquid was divided into three grades.

Ordinary, rare, and supreme!

What Li Hao used was naturally the top Foundation Establishment Liquid, using thousand-year Precious Medicine as the primer and supplemented by countless other precious medicinal herbs. It could nurture a Seventh Grade Battle Body.

Once he stepped onto the path of cultivation, he could break through the first realm in a mere two or three years! Martial arts was a gold-burning pit. This top-grade Foundation Establishment Liquid consumed one portion every day for half a year to a year, and only a top noble house like the Divine General Residence could use it at will.

In the courtyard, inside two enormous medicinal tubs.

Li Hao and Bian Ruxue soaked inside them separately.

Only, around the little girl's medicinal tub, curtains blocked the view, and female attendants looked after her inside.

Female attendants were different from maids; they had some cultivation, equivalent to the female personal guards of the residence.

As for Li Hao's side, Lin Haixia personally watched over him.

At this moment, the dark purple medicinal liquid that symbolized nobility battered Li Hao's body. Even his chin was buried in the liquid, with only the tip of his nose exposed to breathe.

An indescribable strange medicinal smell filled his nose, like swallowing bitter lotus, keeping Li Hao's mind constantly awake.

Li Hao asked, "Can I drink it?"

Lin Haixia said, "Best not to."

The medicinal liquid's effects were fierce, and a child's stomach and intestines could not absorb it. Instead, they would be ravaged.

Besides.

This was for external application.

Just as Li Hao held his breath and focused his mind, a line of text abruptly appeared before his eyes: [Unknown substance detected. Analyzing...][Analysis failed. Automatically isolated.] Li Hao: ??? What was going on? Damn! It couldn't be the kind of situation he was thinking of, could it?

Li Hao was alarmed and uncertain.

Beside the medicinal tub, Lin Haixia's calm expression gradually turned grave. As time passed, his brows slowly furrowed into three deep lines.

Li Hao noticed his expression, and his heart gave a thump. He asked:

"Uncle Lin, is there... some situation?"

Lin Haixia was not surprised by Li Hao's attentiveness. During this period, he had long since seen that this young master was more precocious than children his age, very clever, about equivalent to a five- or six-year-old child.

Only, at this moment, he was in no mood to converse with Li Hao. He suddenly lifted the curtain quickly and looked at the situation on the other side. Very soon, he returned to Li Hao's side, but his face looked especially ugly.

"Uncle Lin?"

Lin Haixia reached his hand into the edge of the medicinal tub and carefully sensed it. His gaze became complicated. He looked at the child in the tub, wanting to speak, but when the words reached his lips, he stopped again.

"Uncle Lin, just say whatever you want to say." Li Hao could not help saying.

Lin Haixia felt slightly surprised and glanced at him. Though Li Hao was relatively precocious, he was ultimately only a three-year-old child. He could actually tell that Lin Haixia wanted to speak but was holding back?

However, his mood was terrible at the moment, and he did not think much about it. Regardless of whether Li Hao understood or not, he said directly, "Martial talent, aside from being seen directly during Bone Measurement at five years old, actually already faintly reveals itself during foundation establishment."

"The faster one absorbs Foundation Establishment Liquid, the higher one's martial aptitude. As for you, young master... your absorption speed is too slow!"

He looked at Li Hao in the medicinal tub, his eyes revealing puzzlement he could not understand, as well as pity.

Then, after thinking for a moment, he muttered to himself, "Maybe today is just an accident. Maybe I made a mistake while refining it. Tomorrow, I'll take a closer look."

Li Hao's heart went cold.

The thing indicated by that text prompt just now really was referring to the Foundation Establishment Liquid?

What absorption was too slow? It had all been isolated, so what was there to absorb!

Li Hao was speechless. Was this panel determined to completely uphold the settings from the game? Over the past year, when he explored the panel, he had already discovered it.

There was no combat system setting in the game, so he seemed to be cut off from the martial path as well.

Or rather, cut off from martial training.

Training combat skills gave him no experience. Only the arts set in the game had experience bars.

Although he could also improve through bitter practice, in that case, he might as well go back to doing art, which had far better prospects.

At least experience would soar, points could be added to Enter the Dao, and cultivation methods would form by themselves.

In a single morning, he could surpass decades of bitter training.

Only, now it was a pity about all these resources piled around him. If he could enjoy them all, they should at least be able to nurture a first-rate martial artist.

Speaking of which, since this extraordinary medicinal liquid that exceeded modern components could not be absorbed, then why had the poison before taken effect?

Or perhaps it had not taken effect? He had simply fallen asleep and had not noticed the text prompt?

Perhaps, when he found out in the future whether he awakened divine blood, he would be able to judge.

However, that woman had said awakening divine blood was a matter of probability, not something that would definitely happen.

Forget it. No matter what, whether you succeeded in harming me or not was your ability, but this debt definitely could not be written off.

"Don't lose heart. I'll try again tomorrow. If it really won't work, I'll notify the Marquis. He will definitely think of a way for you."

As Li Hao was thinking, Lin Haixia comforted him, though he did not know whether Li Hao could understand.

"No need."

Li Hao waved his hand slightly and was about to climb out of the medicinal tub.

Since the Foundation Establishment Liquid had been isolated by the panel, soaking any longer was useless.

"Don't get up yet. Try again. Soak a little longer and see." Seeing Li Hao get down, Lin Haixia immediately said.

Li Hao shook his head and said, "It's useless."

"Be obedient!" Lin Haixia's face stiffened, becoming serious.

Li Hao was at a loss and could only say, "I'll go look at the little girl first."

As he spoke, he lifted the curtain and came before the little girl's medicinal tub. At once, he saw that the Foundation Establishment Liquid poured in exactly the same as before had already changed on the little girl's side from purple into nearly transparent clear water. Only strands of pale purple medicinal liquid still drifted like cloud and smoke.

"Brother Hao?"

In the medicinal tub, Bian Ruxue looked at Li Hao in confusion. The little girl was too young and did not yet understand covering herself, only wearing a face full of puzzlement.

"Uncle Lin, with this little girl's absorption speed, how would her talent be considered?"

Li Hao did not turn his head as he asked Lin Haixia, who stood behind him.

Lin Haixia's heart was gloomy and puzzled, and hearing this, he could not help finding it funny. They were clearly the same age, yet this little fellow was always old-fashioned and solemn in front of Xue'er.

"Her absorption speed can be considered very good."

Lin Haixia had already looked before. At this moment, there was some emotion in his eyes. "If Blood Fusion at four years old goes smoothly, then by the time Bone Measurement happens at five, with the Divine General Residence's top resources, her Battle Body may very likely leap up to the eighth grade, or even the Ninth Grade Battle Body level, ranking among the top class of heavenly prodigies!"

"Ninth grade?"

Li Hao was puzzled.

Lin Haixia could be considered patient with this young master from the commander's family. Whether he understood or not, since the child had asked, Lin Haixia, temporarily acting as a teacher, had to answer.

After listening to Lin Haixia's detailed explanation, Li Hao finally understood.

It turned out that Foundation Establishment, Blood Fusion, and Bone Measurement had a collective term, called Three, Six, and Nine Grades!

Foundation Establishment Liquid was divided into three grades.

Strange Blood for Blood Fusion was divided into six grades! And Bone Measurement aptitude was divided into nine grades! First to third grade Battle Bodies were common aptitude, belonging to the lower grade.

Fourth to sixth grade Battle Bodies were elites, dragons and phoenixes among men, belonging to the middle grade.

Seventh grade could be called genius.

Eighth grade was enough to make one's name resound through a province.

A Ninth Grade Battle Body was already the very peak of martial physique, belonging to the Peerless Prodigy level.

With this kind of top physique, breaking realms was like eating and drinking water. Most could step into the fourth realm, even the fifth realm!

As for higher realms, aside from talent, they also required other things, such as one's own comprehension, perseverance, fortune, opportunities, and so on.

Li Hao turned his head to look at the little girl in the medicinal tub, clicking his tongue somewhat in amazement.

This little girl would become a genius whose name shook the world in the future?

An image surfaced in his mind: the little girl with a snot bubble standing proudly amid a crowd... He could not help laughing aloud.

Lin Haixia glanced at Li Hao, but his eyes carried worry.

He was a child after all. He looked quite smart, but in the end, he was only three years old.

He still did not understand just how serious what had happened today was.

The possibility that there was something wrong with that portion of Foundation Establishment Liquid was extremely tiny.

And that meant... he was very likely a martial cripple who could not cultivate! In this Military Family, especially as a son of the Li Family, to be unable to cultivate—Lin Haixia himself could not imagine how cruel a thing that would be.