Bab 4: Chapter 4 Levels Three, Six, and Nine
On a sunny day.
The strong military men arranged by the Divine General Mansion arrived at Mountain and River Courtyard to help Li Hao with his Foundation Establishment.
This was a short and stocky middle-aged man with dark skin, yet he wore an elegant green gown. His name was Lin Haixia, which sounded like a girl's name. Li Hao would later call him Uncle Lin.
Accompanying Lin Haixia on his return was a little girl.
The little girl was about the same age as Li Hao, just two months younger.
It was said she was the orphan of a comrade-in-arms of Li Hao's father, who had died on the Northern Yan battlefield.
Before her father's demise, he entrusted the young girl to the Marquis of Martial Valor, and the two fathers arranged a childhood betrothal for their children.
Li Hao had no words for this marriage that fell from the sky.
Good lord, you fight your battles, and it's fine if you don't return.
Was his opinion on such a major matter ever sought?
Though resentful, Li Hao didn't vent his pent-up anger on the little girl.
And so,
Within the vast Mountain and River Courtyard, aside from Li Hao, there was now another small figure.
The little girl was named Bian Ruxue. She was beautifully delicate, pink and tender, like a porcelain doll.
New to this strange place, the little girl was timid. Everyday, clinging to anyone she saw, she would ask, "Where's my daddy, where did my daddy go?"
The little girl wanted to find her daddy.
But no one in the courtyard dared to answer, and some softhearted servant girls would secretly wipe their tears in corners upon hearing her.
The young girl lost her appetite and grew thinner by the day. Li Hao, seeing that none of the household servants there had a knack for soothing children, was annoyed. It seemed he had been performing too well, having failed to train these folks adequately.
He decided to take matters into his own hands, half threatening and half coaxing he told the young girl,
"Your daddy is hiding somewhere. If you behave yourself and eat your meals, your daddy will come out."
With innocent tearful eyes, the little girl asked, "Is Xue'er being naughty? Why does daddy want to hide from Xue'er, and where is he hiding?"
Hide where?
Looking at the little girl's pitiful appearance, Li Hao softened and said a cliché phrase, pointing at the sky:
"Your daddy is up there, on one of those stars."
From then on, every night in the courtyard, there was a small figure looking up at the sky.
The galaxy's silver radiance shone down, illuminating the lonely small silhouette.
Meanwhile, another little guy in the house, hunched over a chessboard, instructed the house servants to fan the little girl with a fan to keep mosquitoes at bay, so she wouldn't get covered in bites.
Half a month passed in a flash, and the strong military man Lin Haixia had prepared the Foundation Establishment medicinal liquid for both Li Hao and Bian Ruxue.
The two underwent Foundation Establishment in the same year.
Foundation Establishment is the establishment of a Martial Arts foundation!
It involves soaking the body in medicinal liquid made from countless precious medicinal herbs daily, a medicated bath to forge a martial practitioner's young body!
The Divine General Mansion was one of Dayu's top noble houses with abundant resources, and since Li Hao began his Foundation Establishment, countless precious medicinal ingredients and rare treasures were delivered to Mountain and River Courtyard like a snowfall, inexhaustible.
Foundation Establishment medicinal liquid is divided into three ranks.
Common, rare, supreme!
Naturally, the medicinal liquid used by Li Hao was of the highest rank, led by millennium treasure medicines and supplemented with numerous other precious ingredients, capable of nurturing an Eighth Layer War Body.
Once one embarks on the path of cultivation, it would be possible to break through the First Realm in just two or three short years!
Martial Arts is a bottomless pit of expenses; this top-grade Foundation Establishment medicinal liquid, consuming one portion daily, would last half a year to a year, and only a top noble house like the Divine General Mansion could afford to use it as they pleased.
In the courtyard, within two giant medicine barrels.
Li Hao and Bian Ruxue were soaking separately inside.
Only, around the little girl's barrel were curtains for privacy, with female attendants inside to watch over her.
Female attendants, unlike maids, were individuals with some level of cultivation, equivalent to a female trusted aide within the mansion.
On Li Hao's side, Lin Haixia personally oversaw the process.
At this moment, the liquid, indicative of nobility with its dark purple hue, battered against Li Hao's body. Even his chin was submerged, leaving only the tip of his nose exposed for breathing.
The indescribable odd smell of the medicinal concoction filled his nose, like swallowing a bitter lotus, keeping Li Hao's mind razor sharp.
Li Hao asked, "Can it be drunken?"
Lin Haixia replied, "It's better not to."
The potency of the medicinal liquid was too strong, and a child's stomach and intestines would not be able to absorb it; instead, it would ravage them.
Moreover,
This was for external application.
As Li Hao held his breath and focused, suddenly a string of text appeared before his eyes:
[Unknown substance detected, analyzing…]
[Analysis failed, auto-isolation initiated.]
Li Hao: ???
What's going on?
Damn!
It can't be what I'm thinking, can it?
Li Hao was filled with doubt.
Next to the medicinal barrel, the usually calm expression on Lin Haixia's face had slowly turned grave, and with time, his brows furrowed deeply.
Li Hao, noticing his expression, felt a sudden thump in his heart and asked,
"Uncle Lin, is there…some kind of problem?"
Lin Haixia wasn't surprised by Li Hao's attentiveness; he had long noticed that this young master was wiser than his peers, very clever, equivalent to a child of five or six years old.
However, at this moment, he wasn't in the mood to chat with Li Hao. Suddenly, he rapidly lifted the curtains to check on the other side, and quickly, he returned to where Li Hao was, with an especially ugly expression on his face.
"Uncle Lin?"
Lin Haixia reached his hand out to feel around the edge of the medicinal barrel, his gaze complex as he looked at the child in the barrel. He seemed to have something to say but stopped short as the words reached his lips.
"Uncle Lin, just say what you want to say," Li Hao couldn't help but speak.
To Lin Haixia's surprise, he gave Li Hao a look. Although Li Hao was quite precocious, he was still a child of only three years old, yet he seemed to detect his own hesitation to speak?
However, feeling upset at the moment, he didn't think too much of it. Whether Li Hao could understand or not, he said directly, "Martial talents can be seen not just during the bone measurement at the age of five, but actually begin to reveal themselves during Foundation Establishment."
"The faster one absorbs the Foundation Establishment Medicine, the higher their martial arts potential, and you, Young Master... your absorption rate is too slow!"
He looked at Li Hao in the medicine barrel, his eyes filled with incomprehensible doubt and pity.
Then, after thinking for a moment, he muttered to himself, "Maybe it's just an accident today, perhaps my refining was flawed. I'll take a closer look tomorrow."
Li Hao felt a chill in his heart.
Was that text prompt just now really referring to the Foundation Establishment Medicine?
What slow absorption? It's completely blocked, there's nothing to absorb!
Li Hao was speechless in his mind. Was this panel really going to adhere strictly to the game's settings?
In this past year, as he explored the panel, he had noticed something.
There was no combat system in the game, so it seemed he was also incompatible with Martial Arts.
Or rather, incompatible with martial training.
Cultivating combat skills didn't grant Experience, only the arts designated in the game provided an experience bar.
Although he could improve through hard training, it was still better to go back and focus on the arts.
At least the experience soared, points were added upon entering the Dao, and Cultivation Techniques developed on their own.
Overnight success trumped decades of arduous training.
However, it was a shame for all the resources piled around him now; fully utilized, they could have nurtured a top-tier Martial Artist.
And speaking of which, if these extraordinary medicines with components beyond modern understanding couldn't be absorbed, why did the poison from before take effect?
Or didn't it take effect? Was it just that he fell asleep and missed the text prompt?
Maybe, he would be able to judge in the future whether he would awaken the Divine Blood or not.
But that woman had said awakening Divine Blood was a matter of probability, and not a certainty.
Forget it, no matter how it turns out, the credit goes to you for the failed harm, and this account definitely cannot be dismissed.
"Don't lose heart. I'll try again tomorrow, and if it really doesn't work, I'll let Lord Marquis know, and he will certainly find a way for you," Lin Haixia consoled him while Li Hao was pondering and wasn't sure if Li Hao could understand.
"There's no need," Li Hao replied with a slight wave of his hand, preparing to climb out of the medicine barrel.
Since the Foundation Establishment Medicine was blocked by the panel, soaking longer was useless.
"Don't get up yet, try a little longer, soak for a while longer," Lin Haixia said anxiously upon seeing Li Hao's intention to get up.
"It's no use," Li Hao shook his head.
"You need to listen!" Lin Haixia's expression grew stern, becoming serious.
Li Hao was speechless and could only say, "I want to check on the little miss first."
With that, he lifted the curtain and stepped in front of the little miss's medicine barrel. At once, he saw that the identical Foundation Establishment Medicine poured in earlier had already changed from purple to almost transparent clear water in the little miss's barrel, with only whisps of light purple liquid floating like clouds of mist.
"Brother Hao?" Bian Ruxue in the medicine barrel looked at Li Hao inquisitively, she was too young to understand disguise and just looked perplexed.
"Uncle Lin, considering the absorption rate of the little miss, what would you rate her talent?" Li Hao did not turn around, asking Lin Haixia who stood behind him.
Lin Haixia was feeling troubled and puzzled but couldn't help laughing at Li Hao's question, realizing that although he was the same age as Xue'er, the little fellow always acted beyond his years in front of her.
"Her absorption rate is quite remarkable," Lin Haixia had already noticed this and now spoke with some emotion, "If her Blood Melting at four is successful, by the bone measurement at the age of five, with the top resources of the Divine General Mansion, her War Body could leap to the Eighth Layer, or even the Ninth Layer, ranking her among the top prodigies!"
"Ninth Layer?" Li Hao was puzzled.
Lin Haixia had patience for the young Master of the main family and, regardless of whether he understood or not, as a child who posed a question, it was her duty as a temporary teacher to provide an answer.
After listening to Lin Haixia's detailed explanation, Li Hao finally understood.
It turned out that Foundation Establishment, Blood Melting, and Bone Measurement had a collective term: the Three-Six-Nine Layers!
Foundation Establishment Medicine was divided into three ranks.
Blood Melting into six ranks!
And the aptitude measured by Bone Measurement was divided into nine ranks!
War Bodies of the first to third ranks had common aptitudes and were considered Low Rank.
War Bodies of the fourth to sixth ranks were elite and exceptional, belonging to the Middle Rank.
A seventh-rank War Body could be called a genius.
An Eighth Layer was enough to gain fame throughout a state.
Ninth Layer War Bodies were already the pinnacle of cultivating physiques, belonging to the level of peerless talent.
With such a top-tier physique, Breakthroughs were as routine as eating and drinking, and they could typically step into the Fourth or Fifth Realm!
As for even higher Realms, apart from talent, one also needed other qualities, such as Perception, willpower, destiny, opportunities, and more.
Li Hao turned to look at the little girl in the medicine barrel, feeling quite amazed.
Would this little miss become a famous genius that would shake the world?
A picture flashed in his mind of the little miss standing proudly amongst crowds with a snot bubble... he couldn't help but burst into laughter.
Lin Haixia glanced at Li Hao, but her eyes carried concern.
Indeed, he was still a child. Even though he seemed bright, he was only three years old after all.
He didn't understand the magnitude of what had happened today.
The possibility of the Foundation Establishment Medicine being wrong was minuscule.
And this also meant... he might be a Martial Arts invalid, incapable of cultivation!
In this warrior family, especially being a son of the Li Family, unable to cultivate was unimaginable; it was an incredibly cruel fate.
Hadiah
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