Inside the building, there were many types of martial arts. Although they were categorized, perhaps because the Yin meridian was too obscure, Li Hao searched for several hours but found no relevant records on any techniques.
Instead, he found two low-grade body refinement techniques, which slightly improved his physical abilities.
In the evening, Li Muxiu returned from his training, looking a bit tired.
Seeing Li Hao holding the "Dragon River Divine Meridian" technique, Li Muxiu shook his head and smiled, saying, "What’s this? You want to open your meridians already? Have you entered the Zhou Tian realm? Don’t aim too high."
"I just entered," Li Hao replied.
"Really?"
Li Muxiu was taken aback and couldn't help but ask, "Have you mastered the Hundred Flood Body?"
"Yeah."
Li Hao nodded, thinking that reaching great success could be considered mastering it, right?
"Show me," Li Muxiu said without further ado, wanting to see a demonstration.
Li Hao didn’t hold back and began to demonstrate confidently. Although he hadn’t practiced for long, he felt that Li Muxiu was very open-minded. If the old man wanted to harm him, he wouldn’t be able to defend himself anyway.
Besides, it was just the Hundred Flood Body at great success; it shouldn’t be a big deal, right?
As he swung his fists, a powerful aura burst forth from Li Hao, like a dragon rising from the sea.
Li Muxiu's gaze sharpened, and he was instantly stunned.
""
He looked at Li Hao in shock. If it was just mastering the Hundred Flood Body, it wouldn’t mean much—at most, he would be considered a talented genius. The Li family had no shortage of geniuses; anyone could throw a stone and hit either a servant or a genius.
But mastering it at the level of great success?
To master it in a day?
Wow, such talent in body refinement! Even compared to Xiao Jiu’s talent in cultivation, it was impressive!
Li Muxiu couldn’t help but scrutinize Li Hao. Did this kid really have such great talent in body refinement? It was a pity that such excellence was only in body refinement!
Thinking this, Li Muxiu couldn’t help but sigh inwardly.
Though he didn’t care much for fame and fortune, being able to cultivate was a good thing for anyone.
After Li Hao finished his demonstration, he noticed the old man was lost in thought, staring at him with innocent eyes, and took the chance to ask, "Old man, I saw the term 'Yin Meridian' in another technique book. What is that?"
"You were looking at that book too? You didn’t practice it, did you?"
Li Muxiu snapped back to reality, his brow furrowing, and his expression turned serious.
He stared at Li Hao's small face and, seeing the child’s innocent look, realized he was overthinking. At such a young age, if he were really distracted by cultivation, how could he have had time to master the Hundred Flood Body today?
Before Li Hao could respond, Li Muxiu continued seriously, "You have excellent talent in body refinement, which is great, but don’t waste it! How many geniuses have been lost because they were too young and arrogant, thinking they were clever? They learned a bit of everything and ended up being jack-of-all-trades but master of none, only to be easily defeated by their peers!"
"They only need to practice one technique, and if that technique is strong enough, they can dominate!"
Li Muxiu said, "You see people called Sword Saints, Blade Saints, Gun Gods, and Arrow Kings. They are famous figures. Don’t they understand the importance of specialization? But they focus on their own fields and keep improving! A person's lifespan is limited, and even in a lifetime, one may not reach the end of a single path, let alone two paths—doing so only ruins their future!"
At this point, he told Li Hao, "Families like ours are fortunate to have enough foundation and a relatively easy growth process. Those without backgrounds, like wandering heroes, face various complex situations from a young age, learning whatever they can to survive!"
"But we are different; we can choose!"
"They dabble in poison, medicine, martial arts, and weapons, but so what? When they meet someone of the same level, they might have an advantage, but how much time do you think it takes to learn all that? If it takes ten years, and someone else spends the same ten years mastering one thing, their level will never be the same as yours. At that point, having a higher level by one or two realms is enough to easily crush you!"
"Therefore, only when you reach a bottleneck and see no hope for the rest of your life can you consider branching out. Otherwise, there’s no need before that."
He spoke with great seriousness, and Li Hao understood the old man's intentions.
While being well-rounded is strong, time doesn’t allow for it.
But that’s for ordinary martial artists.
As for him, he had a panel to cheat with.
However, without sufficient skill points, Li Hao could only focus on swordsmanship and his physical body. Even now, he prioritized his physical body and realm above all.
After giving Li Hao this serious advice, Li Muxiu sighed and returned to a more casual demeanor, saying, "The Yin Meridian you mentioned is part of the Primordial Body Refinement Technique. That’s also why this incomplete technique is on the sixth floor. However, to learn how to open the Yin Meridian, you need to progress step by step to the third layer, which takes a lot of time. This technique is harder; those with high comprehension might take five to eight years, while those with poor comprehension could take twenty to thirty years!"
"Therefore, while the Yin Meridian is precious, it must be abandoned."
"Oh?"
Li Hao showed a curious expression, sitting cross-legged with his legs hugged.
"The Yin Meridian is also called the Taiyin Meridian. Besides the normal meridian openings, there are supposedly a total of one hundred and eight meridians in the human body!"
Li Muxiu said, "Our Li family's strongest Dragon River Divine Meridian can open fifty-four meridians, while the royal family's Eastern Huang Sutra can open sixty-two meridians, which is already the strongest meridian-opening technique."
"But to reach one hundred and eight meridians is still a long way off, so whether there really are one hundred and eight meridians has always been a rumor."
"However, outside of these one hundred and eight meridians, there are two major meridians: the Taiyin Meridian and the Sun Meridian!"
"If you can open these two major meridians, the techniques you practice will gain some special powers, making your attacks more fierce and domineering. At the same time, these two major meridians can accommodate more energy to circulate through the Zhou Tian!"
He glanced at Li Hao and said, "If you can achieve a hundred cycles with one meridian, then with the Taiyin Meridian, you could achieve a thousand cycles with one meridian, which is a tenfold difference! You could stack up a hundred cycles of energy in the Taiyin Meridian!"
"And achieving a thousand cycles with one meridian isn’t just about the quantity; it’s a qualitative change in explosive power, which will show in battle. Therefore, those who can open these two special major meridians are the geniuses among geniuses, the top talents that are rare in a century!"
Li Hao was astonished, not expecting there to be a Sun Meridian in addition to the Taiyin Meridian.
These two special major meridians essentially added twenty more meridians.
To think, the royal family's strongest technique only opens sixty-four meridians. If he could open both special major meridians, it would be like a one-third increase!
At that point, even practicing within the family’s Dragon River Divine Meridian could unleash power beyond that of the royal family!
"Opening these two special major meridians is extremely difficult and requires opportunity, talent, and comprehension. External forces can hardly help," Li Muxiu looked at Li Hao and said, "Among our Li family's second generation, only three people have opened one special major meridian, and only your Ninth Uncle has both major meridians, with extraordinary talent."
Saying this, he couldn’t help but sigh.
Li Hao was a bit dumbfounded.
Hearing him say so much, he thought it was extremely rare, but it turned out that among the nine sons of the Li family’s second generation, three had it?
And that Ninth Uncle had both?
"Xiao Jiu was born with the Sun Meridian, and he opened and comprehended the Taiyin Meridian later on. Even I, back in the day, only had one special major meridian, similar to your father."
Li Muxiu shook his head.
Li Hao was speechless. His Ninth Uncle was truly a wallflower.
"Alright, you should focus on your training," Li Muxiu told Li Hao. "You have exceptional talent, but your meridians are naturally blocked, making it harder than for other body refiners. If you’re not lucky, the Zhou Tian realm might be your limit, so don’t be distracted. Train well with the Thousand Flood Saint Body. If you reach the fourth layer, you might be able to break through to the Soul Continuation realm."
"At that point, you would be a capable martial artist, at least not easily killed by others."
Li Hao nodded.
Seeing Li Hao so obedient, Li Muxiu felt quite pleased and said, "When you have time, go check out the Dragon River Divine Meridian. If you don’t understand anything, come ask me. Your father and the others learned it on their own. Although some people taught them, your grandfather had a bad temper and didn’t teach them personally. They were taught by military instructors, and often, before the instructors even realized it, your father and the others had already learned it. Xiao Jiu could even apply it in different ways, haha..."
As if reminiscing about that time, a smile appeared on the old man's face.
Li Hao felt a bit helpless.
The Li family had so many prodigies that even he, a wallflower, seemed a bit ordinary.
Of course, he hadn’t fully searched for skill points yet; otherwise, he could have advanced further.
But life goes on. Besides cultivation, there’s still living to do. Otherwise, what’s the point of living another life?
...
In the following days, Li Hao spent his mornings fishing with the old man and his afternoons browsing through techniques and meridian-opening books.
Half a month passed, and he successfully recorded three top-tier techniques into his panel.
Li Hao felt that his comprehension was pretty good; after all, it took five days for him to record each one, which wasn’t too embarrassing for the Li family.
He heard that it usually took the direct descendants of the Li family about half a month to grasp the basics of top-tier techniques.
However, with the mindset of having lived two lives, Li Hao didn’t feel proud; it was just normal performance.
However, these three techniques didn’t belong to body refinement, so his understanding of the three stages of physical body didn’t affect them after recording.
Instead, a new attribute appeared on the panel.
【Way of Control: Not yet entered】
Li Hao guessed that these three techniques were regular martial arts cultivation techniques, and this Way of Control likely corresponded to normal cultivation paths.
The name was a bit strange, but Li Hao didn’t think too much about it; he was just glad to gain points.
So, he felt the scarcity of skill points again.
"Besides fishing and playing chess, it’s time to consider trying painting or cooking..."
These were all forms of art recorded in games, and they would likely increase skill points without a doubt.
(End of Chapter)