The cheat could level up

"You held back for three years before asking. Your temperament is far steadier than I expected."

Yue Buqun stroked his beard and laughed heartily. He had long expected Tian Hao to ask this, but had never imagined he would wait until today.

"Since you and Mistress didn't mention it back then, Master, either there was no way, or it was harder than climbing to heaven. Asking wouldn't have helped. But I still want to know whether there's a way to improve innate aptitude."

Tian Hao scratched his head with a sheepish chuckle. He knew the couple's temperaments very well. Whatever old Yue had been like in the original story, at this stage, he unquestionably deserved the title Gentleman Sword.

Since they had said nothing about it back then, there must have been a reason. They hadn't wanted him distracted from his cultivation.

"Father, can innate aptitude actually be improved?"

Yue Lingshan couldn't help asking. She was intensely curious about this too.

Everything she had been taught said that innate aptitude could not be changed, and that it was the foundation of martial training.

Generally speaking, using an ordinary person's aptitude as the baseline, one needed three times that innate aptitude to barely qualify for martial training.

Otherwise, even with an internal cultivation method, an ordinary person would need a dozen years, or even decades, to condense internal energy.

What was more, innate qi diminished with age, so ordinary people had almost no chance of cultivating internal energy.

"Innate aptitude can be changed, but it's extremely difficult. According to records left by our predecessors, Innate Realm experts can strengthen their own innate qi with innate true qi. Certain supreme Innate Realm internal arts can also slowly improve a martial artist's innate aptitude.

"For example, Shaolin Temple's Muscle-Tendon Change Classic and the Wudang Sect's Pure Yang Wuji Gong. Although the legacies held by Shaolin and Wudang here in the Southern Ming Kingdom are limited, and both supreme arts are incomplete, they still count as half-step Innate Realm arts. They merely lack the methods for cultivation in the Innate Realm."

By the end, Yue Buqun was filled with envy.

Although the Mount Hua Sect's strength had once been second only to Shaolin and Wudang, he knew full well that the gap remained enormous. It wasn't merely a difference in the sects' accumulated foundations; their finest martial arts were far apart too.

The supreme arts those two sects cultivated could improve innate aptitude, while their Violet Mist Divine Skill could not. The difference might not show in the short term, but over time, it would gradually become apparent.

That was also the main reason he lagged behind Fangzheng and Chongxu.

"Can't your Violet Mist Divine Skill improve aptitude either, Father?"

Recovering from her surprise, Yue Lingshan asked hopefully.

The Violet Mist Divine Skill was the Mount Hua Sect's strongest supreme art. Even in its heyday, the sect had proclaimed, "Of the Mount Hua Nine Arts, Violet Mist ranks first."

"The Violet Mist Divine Skill can only take someone to the perfection of the Houtian Realm. It falls considerably short of Shaolin's Muscle-Tendon Change Classic and Wudang's Pure Yang Wuji Gong."

Sighing, Yue Buqun couldn't help recalling the words on the final page of the Violet Mist Manual.

The Violet Mist Divine Skill had not been particularly powerful in itself, but their ancestor Yue Su had used the Sunflower Manual as a reference to refine and strengthen the original Violet Mist Skill, turning it into a top-tier Houtian Realm art.

Their ancestor had intended to continue studying the Sunflower Manual and incorporate its essence into the Violet Mist Divine Skill, elevating it into an Innate Realm art.

Unfortunately, word had leaked out and reached the Demon Cult. They had launched a surprise attack and seized the Sunflower Manual. Their ancestor Yue Su had also died in that assault, leaving behind only the revised Violet Mist Divine Skill.

To turn the Violet Mist Divine Skill into an Innate Realm art, they would have to obtain the Sunflower Manual and complete their ancestor's unfinished undertaking.

But whenever he thought of the Sun-Moon Demon Cult's might, and Dongfang Bubai, who held the title of the world's strongest, Yue Buqun felt utterly hopeless.

There wasn't the slightest chance!

Beside him, however, Tian Hao looked thoughtful. He wasn't particularly worried about obtaining a supreme Innate Realm art. Shaolin's Muscle-Tendon Change Classic and Wudang's Pure Yang Wuji Gong would indeed be difficult to acquire, but the Lin family's Bixie Sword Manual would be easy enough to get his hands on.

The Sunflower Manual was certainly a supreme Xiantian Realm art. Even if the Evil-Warding Sword Manual fell short of it, it would at least qualify as a half-step Xiantian art. Acquiring it would definitely bring tremendous benefits.

Compared with those matters, however, what interested him more was that innate aptitude really could be improved-not just his own, but other people's as well.

Breaking through to the Innate Realm can improve innate aptitude!

He instinctively looked toward his mistress Ning Zhongze and his little senior sister Yue Lingshan, the mother and daughter beside him.

The Heaven-Defying Mirror could stack the effects of another woman's innate attributes onto his own. If Yue Lingshan's innate aptitude improved, the boost he received through the Heaven-Defying Mirror would surely grow too.

In other words, his cheat could level up. But...

Little Senior Sister doesn't slack off in her cultivation, but she can hardly be called hardworking either. She's nowhere near bringing her talent to its limits. Someone needs to push her.

At that thought, Tian Hao hesitated no longer and spoke. "Master, I sparred with Little Senior Sister this morning and discovered that her practical combat experience is very poor. Her mental fortitude is utterly lacking too. She has no experience with life-and-death combat, and she doesn't take her training seriously. She's nowhere near bringing out her full potential.

"I believe her instruction should be intensified. Her physical conditioning is also quite average. It would be best for her to practice Embrace Origin Force and the Horizontal Crab Iron Shirt as supplementary arts to improve her physique. Combined with her internal cultivation, that would surely multiply her fighting strength.

"Also, I've worked out a method of self-hypnosis that lets me enter deep sleep and improves my sleep quality. Now I only need four hours of sleep a day to stay energetic all day long.

"That would free up another four to six hours for cultivation..."

"You little rat!"

Before Tian Hao could finish, Yue Lingshan furiously kicked at him. This fellow was absolutely hateful.

All I did was spar with you once, and you were the one who won! I even lost a piece of century-old notoginseng. After all that, you still won't let it go?

How can a grown man be so petty?

And to think I actually felt sorry for you earlier.

"Stop fooling around. As your junior brother, I'm doing this for your own good. Jianghu isn't a children's game of house. It's dangerous.

"To name just one danger, there are plenty of rapists roaming Jianghu. Take Tian Boguang, the Lone Traveler of Ten Thousand Miles. He's committed countless crimes and violated who knows how many women."

"If you ever fall into the hands of someone like that, you'll wish you were dead. Besides, Master has said that the Sun-Moon Demon Cult has been making plenty of moves lately. I'm afraid war between the orthodox and demonic factions will break out before long.

"When that happens, Master and Mistress won't be able to keep looking after you. You don't have to be able to help them, but you should at least have enough strength to protect yourself and avoid holding them back."

Tian Hao delivered his advice with righteous conviction. He would never allow this little-senior-sister-shaped cheat of his to languish. It had to keep leveling up.

First, a modest goal: get Little Senior Sister to cultivate into an Innate Realm expert!

His thoroughly righteous words left even Ning Zhongze, who had been about to speak, at a loss. Yue Buqun grew thoughtful too, finding some agreement with his disciple's views.

After all, these were troubled times!

"Lingshan, starting tomorrow, you'll practice Embrace Origin Force with Hao'er."

After a little consideration, old Yue settled the matter before his daughter could object, ordering her to learn Embrace Origin Force.

Nor did he stop there. Knowing his daughter's temperament well, Yue Buqun gave Tian Hao further instructions.

"Hao'er, I'm leaving Lingshan's training to you. If she dares slack off, discipline her severely. Don't hold back on my account."

He knew very well that his daughter's aptitude was no worse than his wife's. Yet because she lacked a serious attitude, her accomplishments fell far short of what his wife had achieved at the same age.

It was time to give her a proper push.

"Rest assured, Master. I'll do everything I can to assist Little Senior Sister in her cultivation."

Flexing his fingers amid a series of cracking knuckles, Tian Hao spoke with a savage grin.

"Just have Lingshan practice Embrace Origin Force. Leave out the Horizontal Crab Iron Shirt."

The sight of Tian Hao's savage grin made the corner of Ning Zhongze's eye twitch. She hurriedly added that instruction, afraid this disciple, who treated men and women exactly alike, would tie up her daughter and whip her through her Horizontal Crab Iron Shirt training.