"Sir, that Li Hao seemed to have used Stars Shift to send Duan Yanqing reeling just now. His surname is Li—could he be Consort Li's...?"
On a small hill not far from Li Hao and the others stood two masked figures. Their appearances and ages were unknown.
"Look into it. If he really is the child of my long-lost younger brother, then we must bring him back to the Murong Clan. Fu'er is too much of a gentleman to shoulder the burden of restoring our kingdom. This kid is bold, careful, and shameless. He's far more reliable than Fu'er. Besides, with so many women, he'll help the Murong Family flourish and carry on the family line." The masked figure in the lead spoke.
"But the young master is your own..." The attendant sounded conflicted.
"Compared to the great cause of restoring our kingdom, what does having a biological son matter? I'll support whoever in the Murong Family is capable."
The two chatted away on the hill, not suspecting for a moment that Li Hao might not belong to the Murong Family.
Stars Shift was the Murong Family's unique skill. It focused on using an opponent's own technique against him, and was considered the highest form of redirecting force.
Stars Shift was a miraculous art. No one outside the Murong bloodline could master it, and even then, only the male descendants of the Murong Family could learn it.
Simply put, this cultivation art came with a built-in safeguard: outsiders couldn't learn it, and within the family, it was passed down to sons, not daughters.
Heh, too bad they didn't know about this thing called a system.
"Everyone, gather around. I have something to announce." Once the group had finished setting up camp, Li Hao called everyone over.
"What are your orders, young master?" Yan Shun asked quietly.
He was especially envious of Li Hei now, because he wanted the surname Li too.
"Do you all have your own cultivation methods?" Li Hao asked curiously.
"We do, but they're all low-grade. I doubt we'll ever break through to the Xiantian realm in this lifetime," Yan Shun said gloomily.
They had no talent, no resources, no backing, and no fortuitous encounters. They had clawed their way to where they were through sheer effort, and that was already quite an achievement.
"Mm. Since you all have your own methods, I won't pry. Changing cultivation methods can cause all sorts of problems, and it's not like I have any to offer anyway. But I can still raise your cultivation." As soon as Li Hao finished speaking, an uproar broke out among them.
Since ancient times, there had been no undisputed champion in literature, but in martial arts, there was always a clear winner. Who in the martial world didn't dream of becoming a grandmaster and making a name for himself through the ages?
But Li Hao's words made Yi Lin, Ning Zhongze, and Lin Shiyin turn deathly pale.
They all knew Li Hao could raise someone's cultivation, and they had all experienced it themselves. Their cultivation had improved quite a bit, but the method was far too intimate to speak of.
Now Li Hao had suddenly announced that he could raise people's strength, and there were more than thirty men standing right there. The thought of what that might entail...
"Ugh!" At the thought, Ning Zhongze couldn't stop herself from running off to the side to vomit.
Lin Shiyin followed right after her, throwing up just as violently. The two women exchanged a look, both sensing a strange taste in their mouths.
"What's wrong with you two?" Li Hao asked, baffled as he watched them crouch together and vomit nonstop.
Sister Ning might be throwing up because she was pregnant. After all, they'd been together for so long, and they'd never stopped exercising together.
But Lin Shiyin... Shit, had he really become a dad without knowing it? Could she still be carrying Long Xiaoyun's child?
"Leave me alone. Ugh..." Ning Zhongze and Lin Shiyin replied in unison.
"Young master, hurry up and tell us how to raise our strength," Yan Shun asked impatiently.
If anyone else had said such a thing, Yan Shun would never have believed it. But since it came from Li Hao, he had complete faith.
"Ugh..." Hearing Yan Shun's question, Yi Lin finally caught on and joined the others in throwing up.
It seemed her little cherry mouth had been through something too.
"Here's a basin full of Bodhi Snake Galls, a miraculous medicine that can boost your inner strength. These are hard to come by, so make sure you treasure them." A wooden basin suddenly appeared in Li Bai's hands, filled with snake galls the size of soybeans.
The snake galls were fresh, and the smell of blood still clung to them.
"Young master, how are we supposed to eat these?" Yan Shun asked, pinching his nose.
He knew snake gall was good for the eyes, but the claim that it could boost inner strength sounded pretty far-fetched.
"What, you don't believe me? These are worth their weight in gold. The first one you take will add ten years of inner strength; the second gives half that, five years. The third gives half again, and so on. Got it?" After speaking, Li Bai pinched up a gall and brought it to his lips. He hesitated, then put it back in the basin. It was too precious to waste on himself.
System: You're just a coward. You don't dare eat it.
"What's the matter? None of you dare try?" Li Hao asked, looking at the knights, who were all standing there nervously.
"I'll do it. I trust the young master." Li Hei strode forward, picked up a gall, and popped it into his mouth.
Boom! As soon as the gall entered his mouth, it dissolved into a few drops of green liquid and quickly flowed into his stomach.
"It's so bitter!" Li Hei said, sticking out his tongue.
But the moment he finished speaking, he felt a tremendous force surge up from his abdomen.
Li Hei hurriedly circulated his cultivation method, absorbing and refining the sudden surge of power.
Not bad, this kid Li Hei. He was practicing a genuine Daoist cultivation method. Very impressive. Looks like the beggar who took him in as a child had an interesting story too.
"Young master, I broke through! I've reached the late Houtian stage!" A moment later, Li Hei leaped to his feet and practiced a set of boxing moves on the spot before excitedly shouting the news.
"Now do you believe your young master? See? I wasn't lying!" Li Hao said smugly as Yan Shun and the others rushed over to grab the snake galls.
"So when you said you could raise our strength, you meant eating heavenly treasures!" Seeing the knights sitting down to absorb and refine the snake galls as soon as they had eaten them, the three women were so upset they could have cried.
The three of them had thrown up so badly that they'd brought up bile, only to find they'd completely misunderstood. What Li Hao meant wasn't what they'd thought at all!
"What's wrong with you? Are you sick? You're so close that you're even getting sick together. Want me to feel your pulses? I'm a grandmaster physician, after all," Li Hao said with a cheeky grin.
As it happened, the system had actually awarded him Grandmaster Medical Skills earlier, but he couldn't be bothered to use them.
"What about ours?" Ning Zhongze held out her hand in front of Li Hao.
"What about yours?" Li Hao asked.
"The Bodhi Snake Galls, obviously. We want to improve our strength too!" Ning Zhongze said as if it were only natural. After all, what belonged to Li Hao belonged to them too.
"These can boost your inner strength, but the gains are limited, and they taste awful. We could use a different method instead. It's not only safe and fast; most importantly, everyone will enjoy it." Li Hao gave the three women a lecherous look.
Before you continue