In the Changchun Courtyard, He Jianlan sat gracefully in a polished golden silk nanmu armchair. She listened to the young servant’s nervous report and felt a stir in her heart. She had heard that the boy was quite clever but unfortunately lacked talent in martial arts, which seemed like a waste of his intelligence. Remembering the family letter from the border, He Jianlan sighed softly and said, “Xuejian, keep an eye on that boy. Just make sure he doesn’t tear up any books.”
“Yes,” replied a girl with almond-shaped eyes, red lips, and fair skin, her voice soft.
…
The message from Changchun Courtyard reached outside the Tingyu Tower. Li Hao looked at the little girl sent to supervise him with some surprise but didn’t think much of it. After all, he was still very young, so it was normal for the madam to be worried about letting him enter the building alone.
Though they were both servants, Zhao Bo’s status was clearly lower than that of the girl named Xuejian, who stopped him from entering the building.
Inside the ancient tower, the light was dim, and a layer of dust covered the floor. Tall bookshelves lined the room, and as Li Hao walked and looked around, he noticed wooden signs on the sides of the shelves, categorizing the books. There were books on sword techniques, knife techniques, spear techniques, as well as weapons, poisons, and more. The variety of books was vast, almost everything you could think of was there.
Li Hao couldn’t help but marvel. This little tower seemed to hold half of the martial world.
Before long, he found the section on body refining techniques, where the shelves were filled with various hard training methods. Titles like “Diamond Technique,” “Nine Transformations of the Divine Turtle,” and “Seven Star Seal” caught his eye. He casually picked up a book called “Hundred Refinements of Stone Skin” and leaned against the shelf to read.
The room was very quiet, with only the sounds of breathing from him and the little girl behind him. Xuejian followed Li Hao like a shadow, her demeanor graceful, and her presence even more impressive than that of ordinary noble girls. She watched the little master, who had been the center of attention since birth, with a hint of curiosity in her eyes. He really seemed quite clever; it looked like he could read. And he was so focused—could he really understand it?
Time passed. Li Hao repeatedly read the introduction of the book, understanding it word by word. After what felt like a long time, he finally saw a message that made him happy: “You have learned the basics. Would you like to record it?”
Li Hao immediately selected “Yes.” Soon, a panel appeared before him.
[Name: Li Hao]
[Age: 4]
[Cultivation: Ordinary]
[Sword Path: Level 2]
[Skill: Sea of No End · Tide (Perfect) [Restricted]]
[Path of the Flesh: Not Started]
[Skill: Hundred Refinements of Stone Skin (Not Started) {Restricted}]
[Chess Path: Level 2 (18/1000)]
[Chess Manual Collection: 0]
[Skill Points: 0]
Seeing that the recording was successful, Li Hao felt a bit surprised. His guess was correct; this meant he could officially begin his training. But before that, he needed to gather new skill points.
Thinking of this, Li Hao’s expression turned sour. He could gain experience quickly when practicing alone, but it took much longer when playing against others. It took him three days to accumulate 18 points, and his practice partner had already run away. He needed to find a stable practice partner…
Li Hao muttered to himself, putting the book back on the shelf. He then turned to the little girl behind him and asked, “Which floor has the best body refining techniques?”
Xuejian was a bit surprised. Did this child really understand body refining? Who taught him? Could it be that officer who helped him build his foundation? Since his meridians were blocked, did he want to take the pure path of body refining? A hint of realization flashed in Xuejian’s eyes as she softly replied, “Young Master, the strongest body refining techniques in Tingyu Tower are on the sixth floor. I’ll take you there.”
“Isn’t it on the seventh floor?” Li Hao felt a bit disappointed. “The strongest should mean the only one, right?”
“One is complete and can be practiced, while the other is incomplete, which can also be practiced but won’t reach the peak,” Xuejian explained.
Li Hao was a bit surprised. An incomplete version could still be on the sixth floor? Soon, under the little girl’s guidance, Li Hao was carried to the sixth floor. Climbing up by himself had already tired him out by the third floor.
The higher he went, the fewer books there were. By the time they reached the sixth floor, there were only a few short shelves left. A quick glance showed that the total number of books was probably only twenty or thirty.
However, Li Hao didn’t underestimate this number. The Li family’s thousand-year accumulation meant that even these twenty or thirty books were likely worth a fortune.
Quickly, Xuejian brought back the two body refining books she mentioned. One was called “Sacred Body of the Thousand Dragons.” The other was titled “Primordial Beginning.” The covers were worn and old; in a common household, they would likely just be used as table coasters.
Li Hao took them and began to flip through each one. Just the introductions of these books made him feel a huge gap compared to the first floor. He… couldn’t understand anything.
The words were incredibly obscure, like reading classical Chinese, or rather, like reading oracle bone script. He could barely recognize a few characters, but when they were put together, he couldn’t make sense of them at all. Li Hao’s little face scrunched up in confusion.
He gritted his teeth and continued to read for a while, but ultimately decided to give up decisively. It was already hard enough to grasp the basics.
“Watching that little brat practice swordsmanship took several days before I could record ‘Sea of No End,’ and that was just watching someone else perform it. This is self-study…”
Li Hao shook his head, deciding to wait until he accumulated enough skill points to improve his Path of the Flesh before trying again. He asked Xuejian to carry him down the stairs.
Although Li Hao wanted to learn other types of techniques, he clearly didn’t have the energy for it at the moment. Without skill points, everything would be in vain, and the problem returned to… needing a practice partner.
After leaving the Tingyu Tower, Li Hao said goodbye to the little girl, who had a good sense of how to interact with others, and then returned to the Shanhua Courtyard with Zhao Bo.
“Brother Hao.”
Seeing Li Hao return, Bian Ruxue ran over, almost tripping over her own feet.
“Don’t rush, don’t rush,” Li Hao said quickly.
“Where did you go, Brother Hao? Can you take me with you next time?” Bian Ruxue pouted, looking at him with big eyes.
Over the past year, the little girl had become attached to Li Hao. At night, she would hug her pillow and sneak into Li Hao’s room, only willing to sleep if she did so.
At first, Li Hao sent her away a few times, but after she woke up crying in the middle of the night and ran to find him, her tearful face made it hard for him to be harsh. Fortunately, the bed was big, and he was small; having one more person didn’t matter. The little girl was also quiet while sleeping, so he let it be.
“You have to be good and listen. As long as you stay here, I’ll always come back no matter where I go,” Li Hao said, patting her little head.
The other servants had long gotten used to this scene and were not surprised.
“Let’s make a pinky promise.”
Bian Ruxue extended her little hand.
Li Hao helplessly obliged and hooked his pinky with hers.
“No changing the promise. You said that whoever changes is a little dog,” Bian Ruxue said with a slight pout.
“Alright, alright,” Li Hao replied, feeling helpless.
…
In the days that followed, Li Hao was determined to show off his talent in chess and began to demand that the servants play chess with him. Anyone who refused would face three hard slaps from Zhao Bo.
After three slaps, while it wouldn’t leave them seriously hurt, it was enough to make them hesitate to sit down for a while.
Under the little master’s pressure, the servants had no choice but to take turns playing with him.
As the days went by, two scenes appeared in the courtyard. On one side, Lin Haixia was teaching Bian Ruxue some simple sword techniques and martial arts. This wasn’t formal training; it was just practicing stances and getting familiar with martial senses. Sometimes it could be a bit painful, but the little girl was quite stubborn and had never cried over such things.
On the other side, it was bustling with activity. A group of servants gathered in a pavilion, where Li Hao was playing chess against one of them, while the others were ordered to study nearby. Among these servants, some knew nothing about chess, while others had picked up a few skills from somewhere. Li Hao discovered that when he played against those who were skilled, if he won, he gained not just one point of experience but sometimes two or even three!
On the other hand, if he played against those who didn’t understand chess, even if he won, he only got one point of experience. If the opponent made a mistake, the whole game would be void.
Gradually, the servants stopped taking turns, and Li Hao found two of the best chess players among them to play with him every day to gain experience.
Before long, Li Hao turned five years old.
(End of Chapter)