As consciousness stirred, a flood of information suddenly surged into Li Hao's mind. He clutched his head, feeling as if his brain was swelling, almost ready to burst. Pain crossed his face.
"Hao'er, what's wrong?" Liu Yu Rong noticed something was off with Li Hao and jumped in surprise, quickly expressing her concern.
Li Hao gritted his teeth. The chaotic thoughts in his mind gradually calmed down, and he realized he had gained a lot of knowledge about swords. It was as if he had practiced swordsmanship day and night for two or three years.
Damn, this headache feels just like when I leveled up in chess...
Rubbing his head and panting heavily, Li Hao thought he was still too young. His brain hadn't fully developed, and the overwhelming information from both chess and swordsmanship was a terrifying shock to his fragile mind.
He didn't say anything and focused on calming himself down.
"Is it that the snow is sick?" Liu Yu Rong gently touched Li Hao's forehead but found no fever, leaving her puzzled.
At that moment, Li Hao had completely recovered. Seeing his second mother’s confused expression, he pointed to his mouth and mumbled, "Bit, bit my tongue."
Liu Yu Rong was taken aback, then sighed in relief and rolled her eyes in exasperation.
Li Hao brushed it off and secretly looked at his status panel.
[Name: Li Hao]
[Age: 1 year]
[Cultivation: Mortal]
[Swordsmanship: Level 1]
[Skill: Endless Sea Tides (Perfect) [Forbidden]]
[Mastered Art: Chess]
[Chess: Level 1 (82/500)]
[Chess Manual Collection: 0]
[Art Points: 0]
Li Hao was a bit shocked. The art points were gone, but his swordsmanship had actually gone from 'not started' to 'level 1'! Moreover, the skill, Endless Sea Tides, had also gone from not started to perfect!
He had heard from the military teacher who taught Li Qianfeng that any skill has three levels: entry, adept, and perfect!
Entry means being able to skillfully perform a complete set.
Adept means not only being skilled but also being able to apply it flexibly, fully understanding it, and handling it with ease!
In different situations, one can adapt instead of sticking to rigid moves!
As for perfect, it means completely mastering the technique, executing it effortlessly even in reverse, without exposing any flaws!
Unless there’s a flaw in the technique itself!
Heard that above perfect, there are even higher realms. Those realms can even fix the flaws in techniques, making them even more powerful!
At this moment, after Li Hao's swordsmanship reached level 1, he found that his first layer of sword skills in Endless Sea Tides had directly reached perfection!
This would normally take at least ten years of hard work to achieve!
Li Qianfeng, who was practicing in front of him, was said to have only practiced Endless Sea for half a year and had already reached the first layer of Tides, making him a swordsmanship genius.
So, what does that make me? A monster?
Seeing that his second mother wasn’t paying attention to him, Li Hao turned his gaze back to the courtyard.
At this time, the children in the yard were still practicing their swords, but to Li Hao, they no longer seemed impressive. Instead, he could see at a glance that their techniques were clumsy and their postures stiff!
If someone who knew how to use a sword faced them, a light strike would easily knock the wooden sword from their hands!
"Not bad." The burly middle-aged man was very pleased with Li Qianfeng's performance.
With excellent bone structure and great comprehension, in another two years, he would be able to reach adept level in the first layer.
It’s important to know that Li Qianfeng was still just a child, his mind not fully developed, and yet he was already quite remarkable.
Time passed.
Li Hao watched while munching on the snacks his second mother had given him, gradually feeling a bit tired and bored.
He yawned, lay down in Liu Yu Rong's arms, and slowly closed his eyes.
It seemed something flashed by in front of him, but Li Hao had already fallen asleep.
Hearing the soft breathing from her arms, Liu Yu Rong looked down, a complex expression flashing in her eyes.
But when she raised her head to look at her son practicing swordplay in the snow, the complexity vanished, and her gaze returned to calm.
She got up, carrying Li Hao away from the small pavilion and back to her bedroom in the backyard, gently placing him on her bed and covering him with a quilt.
Her movements were gentle, as if she were his real mother.
Li Hao, still in a daze, felt his body being laid down and woke up a little.
He felt warmth in his chest, slightly heating up. That was the dragon blood jade pendant given to him by the Emperor Yu, which he always kept close. It was also why he could stand in the snow without feeling cold at all.
Just as Li Hao was about to turn over and continue sleeping, he suddenly heard a low voice from outside the room.
"Did you really give this child that thing?" A strange man's voice.
"There's no other choice now," Liu Yu Rong's voice replied, but it lacked warmth and affection, sounding cold as if speaking to a servant.
"You also saw how hard my son works; he is a rare talent! People from Wuliang Mountain have already come to see him. When Qianfeng turns six, they will take him to Wuliang Mountain for training. Once his divine blood awakens and he inherits his father's power, he will surely be famous throughout the world!"
"I must pave the way for him!"
Li Hao slightly opened his eyes, feeling confused in his drowsy mind.
Who is his second mother talking to?
"We still don’t know what talent this child has; this move seems too reckless," the low voice sighed.
Outside, there was a brief silence.
Then Liu Yu Rong's voice sounded again, colder and tinged with mockery:
"A parent's love for their child is to plan for the future!"
"I didn’t want to do this, but the Li family is full of stubborn fools!"
"This child, if he’s to blame, should blame his father. Who told that X刑武侯 to be such a monster? Others may not know, but I do. He stepped into that realm at just twenty-three..."
"In other words, his child has a good chance of awakening divine blood!"
"What?!"
The low voice was shocked: "Twenty-three, and he stepped into 'Three Immortals'?!"
"That's right. The ancestors of the Li family were great generals under Emperor Yu, with a strong bloodline. His father inherited that ambition, so he is the same."
"In the last generation, aside from Qianfeng's father, that X刑武侯 was also a monster, along with the third, sixth, and ninth! Especially the ninth, who was even more terrifying. Luckily, he died early and left no offspring..."
"The third's wife is watching over him, and since she’s a woman, she’ll eventually marry, so it won’t matter much. The sixth also stepped into Three Immortals early, but that was after marriage..."
Liu Yu Rong coldly said, "The only one who can compete with Qianfeng is this child. Otherwise, do you think Emperor Yu would bless him? Even if he has mediocre martial arts talent in the future, if his divine blood awakens, he can still compete with top geniuses!"
There was a moment of silence outside.
The low voice sighed softly, "Since the lady has made such a decision, I won’t say more."
"You don’t need to worry. This medicine was obtained from Wuliang Mountain. After taking it, it will leave no trace, and there won’t be any pain. I even wrapped it in a sugar coating, so it won’t taste strange. Though he’s still young, it won’t leave any deep memories; after all, children eat too many candies."
"Even if, in the future, it turns out he cannot awaken divine blood, it cannot be definitively traced back to us. Anyone in the Divine General’s Mansion could have done it!"
"Besides, the bloodline of that realm may not awaken one hundred percent. Perhaps the child simply can’t do it?"
At this point, Liu Yu Rong sneered, "Thanks to the chaos in Yanbei, Ji Qingqing is deeply attached to X刑武侯, following him to the battlefield, which gave us this opportunity. Otherwise, if this child grew a few more years, when they returned, there would surely be martial generals secretly watching over him, and it would be difficult to act."
The man did not respond but sighed softly.
Before long, the footsteps of the two gradually faded away.
Inside the room, Li Hao had completely woken up, his head spinning, unable to believe what he had just heard.
His second mother actually wanted to harm him?
The care and concern he received daily were all fake?
Li Hao didn’t want to believe it, but the facts were right in front of him.
Though he didn’t understand what divine blood was, he realized that his second mother, in order to pave the way for her own child, thought he would be an obstacle and chose to destroy him!
Li Hao's expression darkened, and he clenched his fists slightly.
The gentle words and smiles he had grown comfortable with now felt like a lie. His second mother was like this; what about the others?
Who else was sincere?
Though he had only been here for a year and a half, being cared for by these ladies daily had made him develop some feelings.
But now, it all felt like a bubble about to burst.
Is this the infighting of ancient noble families?
He touched his body. Aside from the slight warmth in his chest, he felt nothing else, and that warmth came from the dragon blood jade pendant.
His mother had said that he had his father’s power within him, but now... it was gone.
Li Hao secretly tightened his small hands. He would definitely take revenge for this in the future!
...
...
Spring passed and autumn came.
In the blink of an eye, Li Hao was three years old.
Now, he mostly stayed in the Shanhe Courtyard, carefully eating the food sent by the ladies from various courtyards. Sometimes he pretended not to like certain dishes and refused them, throwing tantrums like a child.
Gradually, the household staff understood that the young master was extremely picky about food.
At three years old, this was a crucial age in the Divine General’s Mansion.
Ordinary families usually started their martial arts training at seven or eight, or even in their teens.
Some might have already had their bone structure set, and even with talent, it would be hard to achieve great success, as their family background would waste the best time for training.
The Divine General’s Mansion, being a martial arts family, had the strictest training methods, and the children within the clan laid a solid foundation from a young age.
Three years to establish the foundation.
Four years to refine the blood.
Five years to measure the bones!
By the time they turned six, it was basically the start of formal training, with no time wasted.
In the path of cultivation, countless people strive to cross, and being one step ahead means being ahead in every step!
Whether one has the aptitude for cultivation can be tested at five years old.
If the bone development is healthy and the marrow is rich and solid, they can start training after measuring their bones at five.
However, the Divine General’s Mansion has deep roots and follows the principle that haste makes waste, mandating that formal training begins at six to allow the body to grow and solidify for another year, making future training smoother.
Even the exceptionally talented Li Qianfeng followed this rule; he could have started training right after measuring his bones, but he still went to Wuliang Mountain at six.
Practicing in the courtyard was just basic sword moves to develop his martial sense, not true training yet.
For those with average bone quality or slow development, even at six, they might not be able to train and would need a few more years, possibly seven, eight, or nine.
However, in the Divine General’s Mansion, there are countless famous medicines and treasures to nourish and enhance martial arts aptitude. Over the years, the worst-case scenario has been starting training at eight.
It is said that one child was a premature birth and suffered an injury in the womb, which led to this delay.
(End of Chapter)