"That mischievous monkey..."
Li Hao broke open a crispy cake, slowly savoring it while telling a story to the three little ones who were eagerly listening.
In the pavilion, Uncle Zhao and Li Fu watched from a distance, both smiling wryly.
The young master didn't know where he got these storybooks. If he could put all this effort into his physical training, he would surely achieve something great in the future.
However, after watching Li Hao be so carefree for a while, they had come to accept many things. Let it be, just like that second master said, the large Li family didn’t lack a strong practitioner, but that child might lack a happy childhood. After all, without parents around, this might be the only happiness he had.
As the sun set, the story came to an end, and Li Hao sent the three little ones away, reminding the most energetic one, Li Yun:
"Be good when you go back, don’t let your mom hit you again."
Earlier, when this kid heard the part about the havoc in Heaven, he got so excited that he argued with his mother, wanting to switch from sword practice to using a staff. But under his mother's guidance, he still felt that the sword suited him better.
"Okay." Li Yun's face turned red, and he quickly ran off.
"Brother Hao, I’ll come see you again tomorrow." His little sister, Li Zhi Ning, said with a soft smile.
"Brother Hao..." The chubby Li Yuan Zhao hesitated, wanting to say something.
"Go on, go on." Li Hao waved them off.
Once the kids left the backyard, Li Hao settled down to continue painting.
After gaining several points of experience in painting, the moonlight appeared in the sky.
Li Hao had dinner with Li Fu and Uncle Zhao, then returned to his room. He picked up a martial arts book he had taken from the Listening Rain Pavilion and began to read.
This book wasn’t about techniques but rather a general introduction to different realms.
"Inheriting the Soul, as the name suggests, is about inheriting the souls of our ancestors!"
"If one has no background, an ordinary person can inherit a soul by entering a martial temple. If they can gain the favor of a heroic soul, they can also inherit."
"Additionally, by joining the army, one can pay respects to the military souls of the fallen warriors from the time of Da Yu, and if lucky, receive a fragment of a heroic soul’s inheritance!"
"Furthermore, by visiting famous mountains, renowned teachers, or sects, one can also find ancestral heroic souls..."
Li Hao quietly flipped through the pages, his eyes shining with excitement.
He opened his status panel to take a look.
[Name: Li Hao]
[Age: 8]
[Cultivation: Zhou Tian Realm Level 10]
[Sword Path: Level 3 (Flying Stage) (Hidden Bow)]
[Sword Technique: Sea of No End · Tides (Perfect) Falling Snow Sword Technique (True State)]
[Body Path: Level 5 (Myriad Forms) (Tiger Press)]
[Body Technique: Stone Skin Thousand Refinements (True State) Thousand Floods Sacred Body Level 4 (Entry) Primordial Level 3 (Perfect) Dragon Cicada Vacuum Body Level 4 (Entry) ...]
[Control Path: Level 3]
[Control Technique: Heavenly Gang Zhou Tian Formula (Perfect) Hundred Battles Zhou Tian Formula (Perfect) Dragon River Divine Pulse (Perfect) Nine Turns Star Formula (Perfect) ...]
[Chess Path: Level 4 (28/10000)]
[Fishing Path: Level 2 (97/1000)]
[Painting Path: Level 2 (231/1000)]
[Culinary Path: Level 2 (736/1000)]
[Chess Collection: Myriad Forms, Tiger Press, Flying Stage, Hidden Bow]
[Fishing Collection: None]
[Painting Collection: Thousand Mountains Bird Flying, Snow Mountain Spirit Fox, Qilin Galloping Horse]
[Culinary Recipe Collection: None]
[Mental State: Chess Heart (Embedded)]
[Art Points: 0]
...
Now, the panel was clearly longer than before. Even though Li Hao skipped dozens of body refining techniques, it was still filled with a long list.
He used all 6 art points gained from painting, cooking, and fishing, raising his Body Path from Level 3 to Level 5. When crossing from Level 3 to 4, he encountered a similar threshold as in the Chess Path, needing to embed his heart to continue leveling up.
At that moment, he noticed that the condensed Chess Heart could be embedded like a chess score.
After embedding the Chess Heart into the Body Path and successfully passing the threshold, Li Hao's love for chess remained unchanged.
On the other hand, even though he passed the mental state threshold in the Body Path, his feelings for it did not increase; it was still just a normal feeling.
While the panel could shift his mental state, it seemed it couldn't change the power of his emotions.
When the Body Path reached Level 4, many of the lower-grade body refining techniques underwent strange changes, transforming into higher-level techniques based on their original forms.
Stone Skin Hundred Refinements evolved into Stone Skin Thousand Refinements, and Barbarian Bull Strength became Bull Demon Strength. The techniques were enhanced, and so were their effects, bringing great improvements to his body.
Other lower-grade techniques also experienced similar changes, leading to a new transformation and enhancement of all his body’s organs. Now, just his physical strength reached 80,000 pounds!
Although several top-tier body refining techniques didn’t change in grade, they all advanced to Level 4.
However, at Level 4, he encountered some unique challenges.
Relying solely on the energy of heaven and earth was no longer enough to meet the training conditions for these top-tier body refining techniques. Even if his Body Path continued to improve to Level 5, it wouldn't erase the external requirements.
For example, to practice the fourth level of the Thousand Floods Sacred Body, he must personally slay a flood dragon, capture its soul, and refine it to subdue and imprison the flood dragon's soul to help him break through Zhou Tian and enter the Inheriting Soul realm.
The same goes for the Dragon Cicada Vacuum Body; to reach the fourth level of the Dragon Soul Body, he needed a drop of true dragon blood.
Without meeting these external conditions, no matter how much he understood about physical training, it would be like a skilled cook without rice—helpless.
Fortunately, these two training conditions were not hard for Li Hao to fulfill.
As long as he spoke up, Li Mu Xiu could handle it in no time.
However, the methods of inheriting the soul for these two body refining techniques were considered alternative paths. Even if successful, they would only place him in the middle tier of the Inheriting Soul realm, not outstanding.
The strength of the Inheriting Soul realm depends on the strength of the heroic soul inherited.
Therefore, major powers still maintained their advantages in this aspect, creating a huge gap with ordinary warriors.
For instance, a master from a famous mountain could allow their direct disciples to pay respects at the ancestral heroic soul hall. If lucky, they might receive the inheritance of an ancestral heroic soul, which would be a huge leap—this is considered top-tier.
After all, those who could pass on heroic souls were ancient monsters, and being able to leave behind a legacy meant they were at least powerful enough to change their fate!
Such strength could be counted among the greats of Da Yu.
A fragment of soul inheritance is like a key to a treasure trove, with endless benefits.
For warriors without such background or foundation, unless they had extraordinary talent and could find a master from a famous mountain, they could only choose to inherit a soul from the martial temple.
The heroic souls in the martial temple are all ancient heroes, some strong, some weak, and their quality varies. It depends on the qualifications and character of the inheritor to see which heroic soul they attract.
Lastly, there are the flood dragons and mountain spirits, the likes of which are considered monsters.
These great monsters are generous with their soul gifts, but the souls of mountain spirits and ghosts are too weak, so what can be inherited is limited.
Born into the Li family, Li Hao had countless choices, with the best option being to enter the Li family ancestral hall.
There, the ancestors of the Li family were worshipped, from the first generation, the founding general who helped Da Yu establish the kingdom, to more than ten generations later, which included many top-tier experts.
Moreover, due to the family bloodline, inheriting souls was easier, which is one reason why martial arts families endure through the ages.
What is a foundation? It is the ability to pass down through generations.
Once he successfully inherits a soul in the Li family ancestral hall, he can continue practicing the two top-tier body refining techniques, capturing the flood dragon soul and true dragon soul, only to strengthen himself further—this wouldn’t change the realm he entered, but the gap would be significant.
However, before that, Li Hao planned to enrich his own accumulation a bit more.
The Control Path, as he thought, corresponded to normal training.
Fortune methods and opening meridians would likely rely on the Control Path for the future Inheriting Soul realm and even the Divine Travel realm.
With the Control Path at Level 3, he mastered both of the Li family's top fortune methods completely.
It’s important to note that even if others had extraordinary talent, they would only dare to practice one, as each method is equivalent to redoing the Zhou Tian realm at Level 10!
But with the understanding of Control Path at Level 3, Li Hao found it easy to complete the practice after several attempts.
The two top fortune techniques had some differences from the body refining techniques’ built-in fortune techniques, leading to less overlap. This resulted in an exaggerated situation.
Li Hao's fortune Zhou Tian increased from 143 cycles to...
248 cycles!
Yes, it was indeed an exaggerated level, surpassing the royal family's 168 cycles of the Heavenly Zhou Tian technique by a full 80 cycles!
(End of Chapter)