Supreme Perfection

Two hours passed.

Bian Ruxue's medicinal bath became completely clear, without a trace of medicinal liquid remaining.

The maids dressed her in clean clothes and dried her hair. She stood beside Li Hao's bath barrel, not understanding what any of this meant, and simply waited quietly for him to come out.

Li Hao, on the other hand, could only obediently remain soaking in his barrel at Lin Haixia's insistence.

The liquid inside was still a glaring purple.

The maid attending Bian Ruxue glanced at it and was dumbstruck.

As another two hours passed, the other servants and maids heard the news and came over to take a look. Every one of them was shocked.

Having spent years immersed in life at the Divine General Residence, they naturally understood what this meant.

They exchanged glances, each seeing the sky collapse in the others' eyes.

The son of the illustrious Marquis Xingwu actually could not practice martial arts?

He carried the Li Family's bloodline!

Such a thing was simply unbelievable.

Yet the evidence was right before their eyes.

The entire courtyard fell silent. Soon, one servant came to his senses and hurried off in a panic. Before long, a crowd of figures in colorful clothes poured into the Mountains and Rivers Courtyard.

The madams and ladies from every courtyard had arrived. They gathered around the bath barrel, and when the servants nearby told them how long Li Hao had been soaking, none of them could believe it.

Standing among the crowd, Liu Yuerong felt her heart lurch.

Could it be that drug?

But I never heard of it having such severe side effects!

Panic fluttered in her chest, but her expression remained composed. She immediately put on a look of urgency and grief.

Inside the barrel, Li Hao wore the expression of someone who had nothing left to live for. He, too, noticed his Second Madam's exceptional acting. He even caught a trace of genuine panic in her eyes.

Had his Second Madam gotten a fright?

Li Hao sneered inwardly.

As the courtyard grew increasingly noisy, the First Madam ordered the servants to leave, her face grim. Keeping only the madams from the various courtyards, she warned them that this matter must never spread outside. Not a word could be leaked!

Seeing that the Foundation Establishment Liquid had not diminished in the slightest, Lin Haixia's heart went utterly cold.

This could not even be described as "slow" anymore.

A certain terrifying physique came to mind, sending a chill through him. Could the marquis's Qilin Child truly be a wastrel utterly incapable of cultivating the martial dao?!

Without continuing any further, Lin Haixia lifted Li Hao out of the barrel.

Seeing that the prolonged soaking had left Li Hao's body pale from oxygen deprivation, his skin shriveled and wrinkled, the madams wore differing expressions.

They learned that Li Hao had already been soaking for six hours.

Yet the Foundation Establishment Liquid had not changed at all, clear proof of how serious this was.

When Liu Yuerong saw that even Li Hao's lips had turned white from soaking, she became certain this was no act.

Her heart rose into her throat. She had only wanted to cripple the child's divine blood, not ruin him completely!

After all, rendering him a complete cripple would be far too suspicious!

He carried the powerful Li Family bloodline, yet he could not cultivate?

If someone investigated the cause...

The First Madam was the first to recover. She immediately instructed Lin Haixia to take good care of Hao'er, then had her personal maid bring over some gently nourishing medicinal soup to restore Li Hao's weakened body.

The next day.

Lin Haixia prepared another two barrels of Foundation Establishment Liquid for Li Hao and Bian Ruxue to soak in separately.

Lin Haixia watched intently as Li Hao entered the bath.

Li Hao felt rather helpless. He knew this was futile, a waste of medicinal ingredients, but he could not win against the man's insistence and could only comply.

He would probably give up after a few more tries.

Just then, a notification appeared in the same lettering as yesterday.

[Unknown substance detected. Analyzing...]

[Analysis failed. Automatically isolated.]

Li Hao had expected this, so he was not particularly surprised. He stayed obediently in the medicinal bath, picking at his toes with his little hands, bored out of his mind.

As time passed without the slightest change in the medicinal liquid, the short military man beside him finally lost his composure and let out a low cry.

"How could this happen?!"

Lin Haixia was distraught, seemingly finding it even harder to believe than Li Hao did.

He paced in circles beside the barrel, knocking his own head. "There's nothing wrong with the medicinal liquid. There can't be. Could the marquis's child truly be unable to cultivate?!"

This was the Li Family's bloodline!

Li Hao was not particularly upset. After all, he had the panel and could grow stronger without relying on these medicinal liquids.

Seeing his teacher so grief-stricken and indignant, however, he felt a little guilty instead. He comforted him, saying, "Uncle Lin, it's all right. Don't be so upset."

At those words, Lin Haixia trembled.

He looked at the little child in the bath barrel and suddenly felt tears welling up.

Child, you have no idea what fate awaits you!

Looking into the child's bright, unclouded eyes, Lin Haixia felt as though his heart were being torn apart.

Was this the future awaiting his commander's only son?

Yet there was nothing he could do.

There was only one possibility he could think of to explain Li Hao's condition: congenitally blocked meridians.

This was a textbook martial dao wasteland physique!

Had it appeared in an ordinary family, it would have been perfectly normal. Eight or nine out of every ten commoners were like this. It was hardly unusual.

But this was the Li Family!

The Li Family, which produced true dragons generation after generation!

Even the least talented children of the Li Family were outstanding compared with others.

As for those true dragons of the Li Family, which of them was not renowned throughout the world?

Yet the child before him...

Lin Haixia choked up, unable to speak. Even he, who could face mountains of corpses and seas of blood on the battlefield without flinching, now dared not take another look at this child.

Those clear, innocent eyes were heartbreaking.

"It's all right, it's all right..." Seeing that the man was genuinely grieving for him rather than putting on an act, Li Hao felt a little warmth in his heart.

He stood up in the barrel and tugged at the man's trouser leg, trying to comfort him.

The second attempt with the Foundation Establishment Liquid ended in failure.

The news swept through the entire Divine General Residence like a hurricane. This time, Li Hao's inability to cultivate was conclusively confirmed.

The madams and servants of the Li Family's various courtyards were all shocked and incredulous when they heard.

Over the next few days, Li Hao no longer soaked in medicinal liquid. Instead, people came one after another to examine his body, but every one of them left shaking their head.

Li Hao listened along the way and learned that, in their eyes, his condition was a martial dao wasteland physique.

This physique did not quite make cultivation entirely impossible.

It simply made it exceptionally difficult.

He could not absorb medicinal pills or external energy. Only arduous training on his own could yield any accomplishment.

Moreover, he could only reach the second realm.

Breaking through required connecting with the energy of heaven and earth, so the second realm was his limit.

The news seemed to have reached the Yanbei Battlefield as well. Before long, a family letter was delivered back by urgent courier from a thousand miles away.

The information in that letter shook the Divine General Residence once again.

Marquis Xingwu had already reached the Three Immortalities Realm!

The letter instructed the First Madam not to give up on Hao'er just yet. However bitter or difficult it might be, she had to ensure that he embarked on the martial path.

Even if he only reached its threshold, once his divine blood awakened in the future, he could still accomplish something. Though he could never become a genius, he could at least secure a position in the army at the rank of centurion.

That way, he would not disgrace the name of a son of the Li Family.

The First Madam came from the He clan, and her given name was Jianlan.

Though over sixty, He Jianlan looked only in her forties. After reading the letter, she merely let out a long, quiet sigh.

"Hao'er has such a bitter lot in life. It's all that wretched woman's fault."

No one knew whom she meant by that wretched woman.

In the days that followed, Li Hao felt that life had returned to its usual rhythm.

There was no need to attempt Foundation Establishment again. He heard that they planned to wait until he was four and try Blood Fusion.

With nothing to do each day, Li Hao had even more time to sneak in games of chess, and his experience quietly soared.

Someone leaked the news of Li Hao's martial dao wasteland physique, and it spread beyond the residence.

Suddenly, the taverns and restaurants of Qingzhou City had a new topic of conversation. Most people, however, took it as nothing more than a storyteller's gimmick. No one truly believed it.

After all, he was a son of the Li Family.

Yet when the news reached some of the Li Family's rivals at court, it immediately caught their attention.

After sending people to investigate carefully and confirming the truth, many were both delighted and alarmed within their own residences.

They were delighted that the Li Family, whose glory had endured for a thousand years, had finally suffered a break in its bloodline!

What alarmed them, however, was how deeply Marquis Xingwu had concealed his strength. He had reached the Three Immortalities Realm long ago and only revealed it now.

Fortunately, his son had a martial dao wasteland physique. Otherwise, he would most likely have become another Li Junye in the future!

In the blink of an eye, Li Hao turned four.

After a year of secret effort, Li Hao's Chess Dao successfully advanced to the second stage.

He also gained another Art Skill Point.

Without the slightest hesitation, Li Hao used the Art Skill Point on his Sword Dao.

His Sword Dao consequently rose to the second stage as well.

The torrent of information was richer and more complex than when he had advanced to the first stage. Now four years old, however, Li Hao could barely withstand it, only feeling a slight swelling in his head.

As his Sword Dao improved, the skill on his panel changed as well.

[Name: Li Hao]

[Age: 4]

[Cultivation: Mortal]

[Sword Dao: Second stage]

[Skill: Boundless Sea - Tide (Supreme Perfection) [Restricted]]

[Arts mastered: Chess Dao]

[Chess Dao: Second stage (0/1000)]

[Chess manual catalog collection: 0]

[Art Skill Points: 0]

However, after his Chess Dao reached the second stage, Li Hao discovered that playing against himself no longer let him farm experience in single-player mode. He needed an opponent.

(End of chapter)