On a sunny day, a strong warrior from the Divine General's Mansion arrived at the Mountain River Courtyard to help Li Hao with his foundation building.
This was a short, sturdy middle-aged man with dark skin, dressed in a flowing blue robe. His name was Lin Haixia, which sounded a bit like a girl's name, so Li Hao later called him Uncle Lin.
Along with Lin Haixia was a little girl. She was about the same age as Li Hao, just two months younger. It was said that she was the orphan of a comrade of the Marquis of Punishment, who was fighting far away on the battlefield in Yanbei. Before her father passed away, he entrusted her to the Marquis, and they arranged a marriage for her.
Li Hao found this unexpected marriage arrangement quite ridiculous. It was one thing to fight in a war, but to not come back and just decide such a big matter without asking for his opinion?
Despite his frustration, Li Hao didn’t take it out on the little girl.
So, in the large Mountain River Courtyard, besides Li Hao, there was now another small figure. The little girl was named Bian Ruxue. She was delicate and pretty, like a porcelain doll.
Being new and in an unfamiliar place, she was timid and kept asking everyone, "Where's my daddy? Where did he go?"
The little girl wanted to find her father. But no one in the courtyard dared to answer her. Some of the soft-hearted maids, upon hearing her, could only wipe their tears in secret.
The little girl lost her appetite and grew thinner each day. Li Hao noticed that none of the servants knew how to comfort a child, and he felt a bit annoyed. It seemed he had done too well, and they hadn’t learned how to handle such situations.
He decided to step in himself, half threatening and half coaxing, and told the little girl, “Your daddy is hiding in a place. You need to behave and eat well, then he will come out.”
With innocent tear-filled eyes, the little girl asked, “Is it because Ruxue is not good? Why does daddy want to hide from me? Where is he hiding?”
Where was he hiding?
Seeing the little girl’s pitiful expression, Li Hao’s heart softened a bit. He ended up saying something cliché, pointing at the sky, “Your daddy is up there, on one of those stars.”
From then on, every night in the courtyard, a small figure could be seen looking up at the sky. The countless stars shone down, illuminating her lonely little back.
Meanwhile, another little one in the house, who was lying on a chessboard, ordered the servants to fan the little girl and keep the mosquitoes away from her.
Half a month passed, and the warrior Lin Haixia prepared the foundation building medicine for both Li Hao and Bian Ruxue. They were both going to build their foundations at the same time.
Foundation building is the very basis of martial arts!
The foundation building medicine was made from countless precious herbs. By soaking in it daily, they would bathe in the medicine and forge their martial bodies!
The Divine General's Mansion was one of the top noble families, rich in resources. Ever since Li Hao started his foundation building, countless precious herbs and rare treasures were sent to the Mountain River Courtyard, enough to last a lifetime.
The foundation building medicine came in three grades: ordinary, rare, and top-tier!
Li Hao was using the top-tier foundation building medicine, made with thousand-year-old herbs and many other precious ingredients. It could nurture a seventh-grade battle body.
Once he started his training, he could break through to the first realm in just two to three years!
Martial arts require a lot of money. This top-tier foundation building medicine costs a lot, and using it daily for six months to a year is something only a top family like the Divine General's Mansion could afford.
In the courtyard, Li Hao and Bian Ruxue were soaking in two large barrels of medicine.
However, around the little girl’s barrel, there were curtains for privacy, and a female attendant was watching over her. The female attendant was different from the maids; she had some training and was like a personal guard for the ladies of the house.
On Li Hao’s side, it was Lin Haixia who was personally supervising him.
At this moment, the dark purple medicine, symbolizing its high quality, was washing over Li Hao's body, even covering his chin, leaving only his nose above the surface to breathe.
The strange smell of the medicine filled his nose, like swallowing bitter herbs, keeping Li Hao alert.
Li Hao asked, “Can I drink it?”
Lin Haixia replied, “It’s best not to.”
The medicine was too powerful, and a child’s stomach couldn’t handle it; it would only harm her.
Moreover, this was for external use.
Just as Li Hao was focusing, a line of text suddenly appeared in front of him:
[Detected unknown substance, analyzing...]
[Analysis failed, automatically isolated.]
Li Hao: ???
What’s going on?
No way! This can’t be what I think it is, right?
Li Hao felt uncertain.
Beside the barrel, Lin Haixia’s calm expression was gradually turning serious. As time passed, his brows furrowed deeply.
Noticing his expression, Li Hao's heart skipped a beat and he asked, “Uncle Lin, is there... something wrong?”
Lin Haixia was not surprised by Li Hao’s attentiveness. He had already noticed that this young master was more perceptive than his peers, quite intelligent for a child of five or six.
But at this moment, he wasn’t in the mood to chat with Li Hao. He quickly lifted the curtain to check on the situation on the other side. Soon, he returned to Li Hao, but his face looked particularly grim.
“Uncle Lin?”
Lin Haixia reached into the edge of the medicine barrel, feeling carefully. His expression became complicated as he looked at the child in the barrel, wanting to say something but stopping short.
“Uncle Lin, just say what you want to say,” Li Hao couldn’t help but urge.
Lin Haixia was a bit surprised and glanced at him. Although Li Hao was perceptive, he was still just a three-year-old child. How could he tell that he wanted to say something but held back?
However, feeling troubled, he didn’t think much of it. Whether Li Hao understood or not, he said directly, “Martial talent can be seen when measuring bones at five years old, but it actually starts to show during foundation building.”
“The faster the medicine is absorbed, the higher the martial talent. But young master, your absorption speed is too slow!”
He glanced at Li Hao in the barrel, his eyes revealing confusion and pity.
Then, thinking for a moment, he muttered to himself, “Maybe today is just an accident, a mistake in my preparation. I’ll take a closer look tomorrow.”
Li Hao felt a chill in his heart.
The thing that the text just hinted at was indeed referring to the foundation building medicine, right?
What do you mean absorption is too slow? It’s already isolated, how can I absorb anything!
Li Hao felt speechless. Was this panel really going to stick to the game’s settings?
Over the past year, while exploring the panel, he had discovered that there was no combat system in the game. Therefore, it seemed he was also disconnected from martial arts.
Or rather, disconnected from practicing martial arts.
Training combat skills didn’t give experience; only the artistic skills set in the game had experience points.
Although he could improve through hard work, it would be better to go back and focus on art, where he could gain experience points and level up.
In a short time, he could surpass decades of hard training.
But now, it was a pity that all the resources piled around him could have been used to cultivate a top martial artist.
Speaking of which, since this extraordinary medicine could not be absorbed, why did the poison from before work?
Or did it not work? Did he just pass out and not notice the text prompt?
Maybe in the future, when he awakens his divine blood, he would be able to tell.
But that woman said that awakening divine blood was a matter of chance, not a certainty.
Forget it, no matter what, if it didn't work out, it was his own ability. He definitely couldn’t let this go.
“Don’t be discouraged. I’ll try again tomorrow. If it doesn’t work, I’ll inform the Marquis. He will definitely find a way for you.”
While Li Hao was deep in thought, Lin Haixia comforted him, though he wasn’t sure if Li Hao could understand.
“No need.”
Li Hao waved his hand slightly and was about to climb out of the medicine barrel.
Since the foundation building medicine was isolated by the panel, soaking any longer would be pointless.
“Don’t get up yet. Try again, soak a bit more,” Lin Haixia quickly said as he saw Li Hao getting out.
Li Hao shook his head, “It’s useless.”
“Be obedient!” Lin Haixia’s expression turned serious.
Li Hao was left speechless and could only say, “I’ll go check on the little girl first.”
Saying this, he lifted the curtain and went to the little girl’s medicine barrel. He immediately saw that the foundation building medicine, which had been the same as his, had now turned from purple to nearly transparent water, with only wisps of light purple medicine still floating like smoke.
“Brother Hao?”
Bian Ruxue looked at Li Hao with confusion from inside the barrel. She was too young to understand how to hide her feelings, her face full of puzzlement.
“Uncle Lin, how’s the little girl’s absorption speed? How is her talent?”
Li Hao didn’t turn around but asked Lin Haixia, who was standing behind him.
Lin Haixia was feeling troubled and confused, and upon hearing this, he couldn’t help but chuckle. Although they were the same age, this little guy always seemed so mature in front of Ruxue.
“Her absorption speed is actually quite good.”
Lin Haixia had already seen it before, and now he felt a bit emotional, “If she successfully purges her blood at four, by the time she measures her bones at five, with the top resources from the Divine General's Mansion, her battle body could very likely jump to the eighth or even ninth level, ranking among the top talents!”
“Ninth level?”
Li Hao was puzzled.
Lin Haixia had some patience with this young master. Regardless of whether he understood, since the child asked, he, as a temporary teacher, had to answer.
After hearing Lin Haixia’s detailed explanation, Li Hao finally understood.
So, foundation building, blood purging, and bone measuring had a collective term: the three, six, nine levels!
The foundation building medicine had three grades.
Blood purging had six grades!
And the bone measuring talent had nine grades!
Levels one to three were considered common talent, which was low grade.
Levels four to six were elite, among the best, which was mid-grade.
Level seven could be called a genius.
Level eight was enough to be famous in a state.
Level nine was the most top-tier martial talent, belonging to the level of extraordinary geniuses.
With such top-tier talent, breaking through to higher realms would be as easy as eating and drinking, generally allowing them to enter the fourth and fifth realms!
As for higher realms, besides talent, other factors like comprehension, willpower, luck, and opportunities were also needed.
Li Hao turned to look at the little girl in the barrel, feeling a bit amazed.
Could this little girl become a genius known throughout the world in the future?
He imagined a scene of the little girl, with bubbles coming from her nose, standing proudly among a crowd... and couldn’t help but laugh.
Lin Haixia glanced at Li Hao, but his eyes were filled with worry.
Indeed, he looked like a smart child, but he was still just three years old.
He didn’t understand how significant today’s events were.
The chances of the foundation building medicine being faulty were extremely slim.
And this meant... he might be unable to cultivate and could be a martial arts waste!
In a family of warriors, especially as a member of the Li family, not being able to train was something he couldn’t even imagine. It would be a cruel fate.
(End of Chapter)