Furthermore, as his Sword Dao improved, Li Hao mastered the "Endless Sea·Tide," elevating it from (perfect) proficiency to (ultimate perfection)!
The rich memories of Sword Dao made Li Hao feel as if he had wielded a sword for decades.
The Tidal Sword Skill, which had already been mastered to the peak, now appeared to have some flaws in his eyes.
This was the flaw of the swordsmanship itself.
Or rather, it was something the sword move itself could not achieve.
After all, no sword move could be perfect in every aspect.
It's like an extremely perfect stick that can chop and smash, but cannot cut.
Now, the slight inadequacy in this swordsmanship was compensated by Li Hao through his own understanding of the Sword Dao.
Li Hao thought of the military swordsmanship instructor who taught Li Qianfeng and said that every skill had a fourth level beyond the three realms.
Now, Li Hao was at this fourth level, the ultimate perfection!
However.
Although his Sword Dao had advanced, and the Tidal Sword Skill had reached ultimate perfection, Li Hao had not yet performed it once.
He had only rehearsed it to perfection in his mind.
But, Li Hao had a feeling that as long as he had a sword in his hand, he could execute it exactly as it was.
Yet, what burden it might place on his body at that time, he could not foresee.
His current child's body was too fragile, and even if he matured, an ordinary body might still be unable to bear that brilliant sword move.
He needed an extremely strong physique.
"The most exquisite swordsmanship, if not performed, is ultimately like gazing at the moon in water."
"Maybe, I should look for a Body Refinement cultivation technique, but I don't know if I can find one..."
The Li Family's martial arts secret manuals were countless and covered all types.
All of these were stored in the Listening Rain Tower within the Divine General Mansion.
In Qingzhou City, there were three world-famous holy lands, places countless martial artists dream of aspiring to.
One is the Black and White Hall of Tan Palace Academy, another is the Hundred Birds Garden of Rouge Pavilion, and the last is the Listening Rain Tower of the Li Family's Divine General Mansion.
Li Hao planned to find an opportunity to take a look over there.
But before that, the exotic blood carefully prepared for him within the mansion was already ready.
This year, he still underwent Blood Melting, like Bian Ruxue, the same age.
The exotic blood used in Blood Melting was still of the highest quality, made from the demon bones of a millennia-old Great Demon, refined into a sixth-level top treasure medicine.
Additionally, it was said that far away on the battlefield of the Northern Yan front line, his cheap father, Xing Wuhou, specially killed a three-thousand-year-old Great Demon and brought it back to the Divine General Mansion to once again elevate the level of this Blood Melting treasure medicine to an extreme.
A three-thousand-year-old Great Demon, its lifespan almost catching up with the age of the Great Yu Dynasty.
In his amazement, Li Hao also felt a sense of his father's strength.
With Lin Haixia's assistance, the Blood Melting began.
Scarlet and fragrant liquid covered Li Hao's body.
Li Hao felt anxious.
Before long, familiar text jumped in front of his eyes again.
{Unknown substance detected, starting analysis...}
{Analysis failed, automatically isolated.}
"..."
Li Hao was speechless.
But this time, he felt a little heartache.
After all, this was something prepared for him by that man taking risks, and yet it was wasted like this.
Lin Haixia was equally heartbroken.
Seeing no abnormal reaction from Li Hao's body, Lin's body trembled slightly, looking even more emotional than Li Hao.
But everything seemed to follow a pattern; with the previous failure in Foundation Establishment, he didn't lose composure this time, just silently closed his eyes for a moment, suppressing the feelings of loss and sadness.
"Uncle Lin, did it fail?"
"Yes..."
Lin Haixia slightly opened his eyes, his gaze tinged with fatigue. He looked at Li Hao's little face and smiled wryly to himself. Although he was born into the Divine General Mansion, such a golden cradle, the countless top martial resources prepared for Li Hao by the Divine General Mansion were blessings this child could not enjoy.
One could only wonder whether this was considered good or bad luck.
"Uncle Lin, do you think this exotic blood can be used for that little girl?"
Li Hao asked.
Lin Haixia nodded slightly; with things at this point, since Li Hao couldn't have this fortune, it could only benefit that little girl.
"Great." Seeing that it wasn't wasted, Li Hao smiled.
Lin Haixia slightly smiled too, saying to Li Hao, "Young master, I'll help you clean it off first, then you can go rest."
His smile was feigned, with sorrow in his eyes.
"Okay."
Li Hao nodded, not revealing it.
...
The news of Li Hao's failure in Blood Melting quickly reached the ears of the mansion's madams.
In the Shuihua Courtyard, Liu Yue Rong, hearing her maidservant's whispering report, slightly raised her eyebrows but didn't show much joy on her face, merely shaking her head slightly.
She had secretly inquired from that person on Mount Wuliang, and found that the pill wouldn't have such side effects. This meant that the child was born with a naturally barren body, just fortunate enough to be reborn in the Li Family, born from Ji Qingqing.
Knowing this, she thought she might not need that pill after all.
A barren body, even with Divine Blood, what use was it?
Instead, it would only highlight her child, Qianfeng, as even more outstanding.
After all, both would be third-generation members of the Li Family, both would bear Divine Blood, but one would be a waste and the other a True Dragon among men. Everyone knew how the old matriarch would decide.
Following Li Hao's failure in Blood Melting, the little girl's Blood Melting, however, was extremely successful.
After absorbing the exotic blood prepared for Li Hao, Bian Ruxue's martial talent took another step forward.
In the upcoming days, all that was required was gradual nurturing, waiting for her bone measuring at five years old, to see the specific results.
Li Hao, upon hearing the news, was happy for the little girl. However, he himself faced a troubling issue: his own chess games no longer brought Chess Tao experience. He could only find maidservants around him to play chess with him.
These maidservants, while unable to disobey the young master's words on normal days, were all hesitant and reluctant to agree to this matter.
Knowing Li Hao's failure in Blood Melting and lack of martial arts talent, yet still wanting to play chess...
Although they knew the young master seemed to have a chess talent from childhood as he lay by the board,
In a family of generals, such talent was trivial...
It was even seen as a distraction from rightful pursuits!
If the head madam found out they accompanied Li Hao in such "idle activities," who knew if she'd take out her anger over Li Hao's inability in martial arts on them.
These servants were astute and wouldn't dare touch this issue.
Thus, with no other choice, Li Hao turned to Lin Haixia.
Learning that the young master wanted him as a chess partner, Lin Haixia was speechless. He didn't understand this stuff and was somewhat helpless about the young master's optimistic ignorance.
However, he did not refuse outright.
"Perhaps, this last year before measuring bones is the child's last happy days..." Lin Haixia thought.
He agreed to Li Hao and promised to accompany him in chess after handling Bian Ruxue's situation.
From then on, the courtyard often saw a scene with two figures, one large and one small, playing chess in the pavilion, with a little girl standing tiptoe on the side watching.
Occasionally, the child's voice, laying over the chessboard, was heard shouting:
"You're doing it wrong, you need to place it on the line's intersection, not in the box!"
"This isn't a foul, it's called capturing!"
"This piece is surrounded already, you can't place it inside!"
"You're so silly, I've said it three times."
After a game, Li Hao was exhausted, gaining 1 point of experience.
This was way more tiring than playing against himself.
Whenever the opponent made a foul, the game was void, so he had to teach and explain the rules while playing.
Lin Haixia initially thought he was just accompanying a child in play, but to his surprise, there were so many rules, and his face became somewhat tense.
After several days of games, Lin Haixia disappeared, leaving Li Hao to stomp his little feet in frustration. With no other choice, he decided to visit the Listening Rain Tower.
...
The Listening Rain Tower stood on the north side of the Divine General Mansion, built against the mountain.
The Divine General Mansion covered a vast area, large enough to drive a carriage inside.
Besides the various madams' courtyards, there were scenic spots like mountains, landcapes, and gardens.
Having weathered many storms, the Listening Rain Tower looked like an old building built on the mountainside, appearing unremarkable.
However, countless eyes from around the world longed to catch a glimpse of its true appearance.
These gazes dared not overstep that golden high wall.
Accompanied by the old steward of the Mountain and River Courtyard, Zhao, Li Hao arrived in front of the tower. Zhao put Li Hao down, advising earnestly, "Young master, this is a crucial place for the Li Family. Even the madams of each courtyard need to consult the head madam to come here. We should return."
Except for the direct descendants of the Li Family's second generation, only two madams could freely enter and exit the Listening Rain Tower, one being the head madam.
"Didn't I ask you to inform someone? I'm just here to take a look, shouldn't be a big deal, right?" Li Hao said casually with his hands behind his back.
Zhao was accustomed to the young master's precocious demeanor, wondering who he learned it from, replied with a bitter smile, "But there's no reply yet, and the head madam might not agree. Although you have the right to go in, you're still too young..."
"So what if I'm young, are you looking down on me?" Li Hao's little face turned stern.
"Young master, I dare not," Zhao quickly said.
Li Hao found it uninteresting and quietly observed the Listening Rain Tower before him. The old tower had seven floors, and he heard that after Li Qianfeng's bone measuring, which reached the ninth level War Body, that very night, that woman sought permission from the head madam to find a martial art for her child, eventually finding the "Endless Sea" placed at the top of the tower.
"Endless Sea" had four moves in total.
Each move was extremely difficult, and it was said that only the third uncle practiced the final move to the point of nearly slicing half of Jingzhou with one sword swing.
...