The Three Holy Lands

Moreover, as his Sword Dao improved, Li Hao's mastery of "Boundless Sea - Tide" rose from (Perfect) to (Supreme Perfection)!

The wealth of Sword Dao memories made Li Hao feel as though he had wielded a sword for decades.

The Tidal Sword Art he had already mastered to the pinnacle of finesse now revealed a few flaws in his eyes.

These were flaws in the sword art itself.

Or rather, they were things this particular sword technique simply could not accomplish.

After all, no sword move could cover every possibility.

It was like an utterly perfect stick: it could chop and smash, but it could not cut anyone.

And now, through his own insights into the Sword Dao, Li Hao had made up for that tiny shortcoming in the sword art.

Li Hao recalled the military sword instructor who had taught Li Qianfeng. The man had said that beyond the three levels of mastery, every technique had a fourth.

Now, Li Hao had reached that fourth level: Supreme Perfection!

There was just one thing.

Although his Sword Dao had improved and his Tidal Sword Art had reached Supreme Perfection, Li Hao had never actually performed it.

He had only refined it to its utmost in his mind.

Still, Li Hao had a feeling that as long as he held a sword, he could execute it exactly as he envisioned.

But he could not predict what strain it would place on his body when the time came.

His current child's body was simply too fragile. Even once he grew into an adult, he feared an ordinary body would still struggle to bear that dazzling sword technique.

He needed an exceptionally powerful physique.

No matter how exquisite a sword art is, if I can't perform it, it's ultimately just the moon reflected in water.

Perhaps I should find a body-tempering cultivation method. I wonder if it can be recorded...

The Li Family possessed countless martial arts manuals of every kind.

They were all housed in the Listening Rain Pavilion within the Divine General Residence.

Qingzhou City had three world-renowned holy lands, places countless martial artists yearned to visit even in their dreams.

One was the Black White Hall of Tan Palace Academy, another was the Hundred Birds Garden of the Rouge Pavilion, and the last was the Listening Rain Pavilion of the Divine General Residence Li Family.

Li Hao planned to find an opportunity to take a look around there.

Before that, however, the strange blood painstakingly prepared for him by the residence had already been blended.

This year, he would still undergo blood fusion in the same year as Bian Ruxue.

And the strange blood used for the process was still of the finest quality: a top-tier sixth-grade precious medicine refined from the bones of a thousand-year-old Great Demon.

Moreover, he heard that Marquis Xingwu, his father by sheer happenstance, had specially slain a Great Demon with three thousand years of cultivation on the distant Northern Yan front lines and sent it back to the Divine General Residence, raising the quality of this blood fusion medicine to the absolute peak.

A three-thousand-year-old Great Demon—its lifespan had almost caught up with the age of the Great Yu Dynasty.

Amid his amazement, Li Hao also gained some sense of his father's strength.

With Lin Haixia's assistance, the blood fusion began.

A crimson slurry giving off an unusual fragrance covered Li Hao's body.

Li Hao felt uneasy.

Before long, the familiar text popped up before his eyes again.

Unknown substance detected. Beginning analysis...

Analysis failed. Automatically isolated.

"..."

Li Hao was utterly speechless.

This time, however, he felt a pang of heartache.

After all, that man had risked danger to prepare this for him, only for it to be wasted like this.

Lin Haixia was equally heartbroken.

When he saw that Li Hao's body showed no unusual reaction whatsoever, he trembled slightly, looking even more agitated than Li Hao.

But there seemed to have been signs all along. Having experienced the previous failed Foundation Establishment, he did not lose his composure again this time. He merely closed his eyes silently for a moment, holding his disappointment and sorrow in check.

"Uncle Lin, did it fail?"

"Yes..."

Lin Haixia opened his eyes slightly, a trace of weariness in his gaze. Looking at Li Hao's little face, he smiled bitterly to himself. The boy had clearly been born into a golden cradle like the Divine General Residence, yet he lacked the fortune to enjoy the countless first-rate martial resources the residence had prepared for him.

He did not know whether that counted as good fortune or bad.

"Uncle Lin, look, can this strange blood of mine still be used for that little girl?"

Li Hao asked.

Lin Haixia nodded slightly. At this point, since Li Hao lacked the fortune to benefit from it, they could only let the little girl reap the rewards.

"That's great." Seeing that it would not go to waste, Li Hao smiled.

Lin Haixia also offered a faint smile and said to Li Hao, "Young master, I'll scrape it off for you first. Then you can go and rest."

His smile was forced, sorrow lingering in the depths of his eyes.

"All right."

Li Hao nodded without pointing it out.

News of Li Hao's failed blood fusion soon reached the madams in every courtyard.

In the Water Flower Courtyard, Liu Yuerong raised her brows slightly at the whispered report from her maid. Yet there was little joy on her face; she merely shook her head.

She had secretly gone to Boundless Mountain to ask that person. The pill would not have caused such a side effect. In other words, this child had been born with a useless physique; he was merely fortunate enough to have been born into the Li Family, from Ji Qingqing's womb.

Had she known this earlier, she would not even have needed that pill.

What could a useless physique accomplish, even with divine blood?

It would only serve to make her own son, Qian Feng, stand out all the more.

After all, both would be third-generation descendants of the Li Family, and both would possess divine blood. Yet one would be a good-for-nothing, while the other would be a true dragon among men. Anyone would know what choice that old madam would make.

After Li Hao's failed blood fusion, the little girl's own blood fusion went exceptionally well.

Having absorbed the strange blood prepared for Li Hao, Bian Ruxue's martial aptitude improved even further.

In the days ahead, she only needed to nourish it gradually and wait for her Bone Measurement at five years old to see the exact results.

Li Hao was happy for the little girl when he heard the news. However, he now had a problem of his own: playing against himself no longer yielded Chess Dao experience. He could only turn to the maids around him and ask them to play with him.

Although these maids did not dare disobey the young master's usual requests, they all shrank back from this one, unwilling to agree.

These servants knew that Li Hao had failed his blood fusion and had no martial talent, yet now he still wanted to play chess...

Admittedly, they knew the young master had been sprawled over a chessboard playing since he was little, seemingly born with a talent for the Chess Dao.

But in an aristocratic military family, such talent was not worth mentioning...

It was even a case of losing one's ambition to idle amusements!

If the First Madam and the others found out that they were accompanying Li Hao in such "frivolous pursuits," they might well vent their anger over his inability to practice martial arts on them.

The servants in the Divine General Residence were all exceedingly shrewd. None dared invite that kind of trouble.

Thus, left with no alternative, Li Hao could only seek out Lin Haixia.

Learning that Li Hao wanted him to play chess with him, Lin Haixia was speechless too. He knew nothing about such things, and the young master's oblivious optimism left him feeling rather helpless.

Nevertheless, he did not refuse outright.

Perhaps this final year before his Bone Measurement will be the last happy days this child has... Lin Haixia thought.

He agreed to Li Hao's request. Once he had attended to Bian Ruxue, he would play chess with him.

From then on, the courtyard often saw the same scene: two figures, one large and one small, playing chess in the pavilion, with a little girl standing beside them on tiptoe to watch.

And from time to time, the child sprawled over the chess table could be heard shouting:

"That's wrong! You have to put it where the lines cross, not inside the squares!"

"That's not against the rules! It's called capturing!"

"That's already completely surrounded! You can't put another stone inside!"

"You're so silly! I've told you three times already."

After one game, Li Hao was utterly exhausted and had earned 1 experience point.

This was far more tiring than playing against himself.

The moment his opponent broke a rule, the game became invalid, so he had to teach as he played, explaining the rules to him.

Lin Haixia had thought he was merely humoring a child. He had not expected so many rules and restrictions, and he was beginning to struggle to keep a straight face.

After playing for several days in a row, Lin Haixia vanished without a trace. Li Hao stamped his little feet in fury, but with no other choice, he could only go take a look at the Listening Rain Pavilion first.

The Listening Rain Pavilion stood against a mountain on the northern side of the Divine General Residence.

The Divine General Residence covered an enormous area; one could even drive a carriage within its grounds.

Besides the various madams' courtyards, there were scenic mountains, lakes, gardens, and more.

Weathered by wind and frost, the Listening Rain Pavilion looked like nothing more than an old building halfway up the mountain, utterly unremarkable.

Yet countless people throughout the world longed to behold its true appearance.

Only none of those gazes dared overstep that towering golden wall.

Accompanied by Uncle Zhao, the old steward of the Mountains and Rivers Courtyard, Li Hao arrived before the building. Uncle Zhao set him down and earnestly tried to persuade him. "Young master, this is a restricted area of the Li Family. Even the madams of the various courtyards must seek the First Madam's permission before coming here. Let's go back."

Aside from the Li Family's direct second-generation descendants, only two madams could freely enter and leave the Listening Rain Pavilion. One was the First Madam.

"Didn't I ask you to send someone to notify her? I'm only here to take a look. Surely that's all right?" Li Hao said casually, his little hands clasped behind his back.

Uncle Zhao had long since grown accustomed to the young master's old-man mannerisms, though he could not fathom whom he had learned them from. He merely said with a woeful expression, "But we haven't received a reply yet, and the First Madam might not agree. Although you are entitled to enter, young master, you're still too young..."

"So what if I'm young? Are you looking down on me?" Li Hao asked, his little face stern.

"I wouldn't dare, young master," Uncle Zhao said hastily.

Finding this dull, Li Hao quietly studied the Listening Rain Pavilion before him. The old building had seven stories. He had heard that after Li Qianfeng underwent Bone Measurement and attained a ninth grade battle body, that woman had asked the First Madam's permission that very night to find a martial art for her child. Thus, she had found "Boundless Sea," kept on the top floor.

"Boundless Sea" had four forms in total.

Every form was extremely difficult. He had heard that only his Third Uncle had mastered the final form, nearly cleaving half of Jing Province apart with a single sword strike.

(End of chapter)