When consciousness began to float, a surge of information suddenly flooded into his mind.
Li Hao clutched his head, feeling a swelling in his brain, as if it were about to burst open.
This caused him to show a look of pain on his face.
"Hao Er, what's wrong with you?"
Liu Yue Rong noticed something was amiss with Li Hao and was startled. She quickly showed concern.
Li Hao clenched his teeth tightly.
The tumultuous thoughts in his mind gradually calmed down, and Li Hao then realized that his mind was filled with many pieces of knowledge about swords.
It was as if he had been practicing swordsmanship day and night for two or three years.
Damn, this headache, it's just like when Chess Tao leveled up...
Li Hao rubbed his head, panting heavily. He was still too young; his brain was not yet fully developed, and the vast information from Chess Tao and swordsmanship was a terrifying shock to his fragile brain.
Without speaking, Li Hao was trying to calm himself down.
"Is Lin Xue sick?" Liu Yue Rong stroked Li Hao's forehead but felt no fever, and she couldn't help being puzzled.
By this time, Li Hao had fully recovered. He looked at his second mother's astonished expression, pointed to his mouth, and mumbled in his baby voice, "B-bit, bit my tongue."
Liu Yue Rong was taken aback and immediately breathed a sigh of relief and rolled her eyes speechlessly.
Li Hao got away with it and didn't pay her any more mind; instead, he secretly started checking his own panel.
[Name: Li Hao]
[Age: 1 year old]
[Cultivation Level: Mortal]
[Swordsmanship: Level 1]
[Skills: Endless Sea ・ Tide (Perfect) [Forbidden]]
[Mastered Arts: Chess Tao]
[Chess Tao: Level 1 (82/500)]
[Chess Manual Collection: 0]
[Skill Points: 0]
Li Hao was somewhat shocked; the skill points at the end were gone, but his swordsmanship had really started at 'uninitiated' and become 'Level 1'!
And the skill below, Endless Sea・Tide, had changed from uninitiated to perfect!
Li Hao had heard the military teacher who taught Li Qianfeng say.
Every skill is divided into three levels: initiation, dexterity, and perfection!
Initiation means being able to proficiently perform a whole set!
Dexterity means that in addition to proficiency, one can also apply it flexibly, having fully understood it, at one's fingertips!
When facing different situations, one can counter moves spontaneously, rather than mechanically repeating set moves!
As for perfection.
It means the skill has been completely mastered, able to be used as naturally as moving an arm, even if performed in reverse, effortlessly without any flaws exposed!
Unless, there are inherent flaws in the skill itself!
It is said that above perfection, there is an even higher realm.
Such a realm could even compensate for the flaws in skills, increasing their power even further!
And now, after his swordsmanship had advanced to Level 1, Li Hao had reached perfection immediately with the first layer of Endless Sea sword technique!
This would require at least a decade of hard training to achieve!
The current Li Qianfeng, it was said that he had practiced Endless Sea for half a year and had already initiated the first layer of Tide, considered a swordsmanship genius.
So, what did that make him now? A monster?
Seeing that his second mother wasn't paying attention to him, Li Hao's gaze returned to the courtyard.
At this moment.
The children in the yard were still practicing swordsmanship, but through Li Hao's eyes, it no longer appeared as impressive as before. Instead, at a glance, he could tell the other's techniques were immature and their postures stiff!
If it were someone who knew how to use a sword, they would only need a light tap to knock the wooden sword out of their hands!
"Not bad," said the burly middle-aged man, quite satisfied with Li Qianfeng's performance.
Excellent foundation and very good comprehension. In two more years, he should be able to reach dexterity with this first layer.
You should know, Li Qianfeng is still only a child right now, his brain not yet fully developed, so this was already quite remarkable.
Time passed.
Li Hao watched while eating snacks fed to him by his second mother. Gradually, he began to feel a hint of fatigue and boredom.
He yawned, nestled into his second mother's arms, and slowly closed his eyes.
Something seemed to pass by in front of his eyes, but Li Hao had already fallen asleep.
Hearing the faint breathing in her arms, Liu Yue Rong looked down, a hint of complexity flashing in her eyes.
But when she raised her head to look at her son practicing swordsmanship in the snowy yard, the complexity in her eyes vanished, and her gaze returned to calm.
She stood up carrying Li Hao out of the pavilion, back to her own rear courtyard's bedroom. She gently placed Li Hao on her own bed, tucking him in carefully.
Her movements were gentle, as if she were his birth mother.
Li Hao, half-asleep, felt his body being laid down and became slightly more alert.
He felt warmth in his chest, a slight heat emanating from there. It was the Dragon Blood Jade Pendant given by Emperor Yu, which he wore at all times. This was also the reason why he could stand in the snowy yard without feeling the slightest cold.
Just as Li Hao was about to turn over and continue sleeping soundly, he suddenly heard a low voice coming from outside the room.
"Did you really feed that thing to the child?" a voice of an unfamiliar man.
"It has come to this; I had no other choice,"
That was his second mother's voice, but it wasn't soft and affectionate, only as cold as one would be to a house servant.
"You saw it too, how hard my son is striving and that he is a once-in-a-century talent! The people from Mount Wuliang have already come to see, and when Qianfeng turns six, they will take him to Mount Wuliang to cultivate. When his Divine Blood awakens in the future, inheriting the power passed from his father, he will certainly become famous throughout the world!"
"I must pave the way for him!"
Li Hao slightly opened a sliver of his eyes, the drowsy fog in his mind filled with confusion.
Who was Second Mother talking to?
"We still don't know the child's talent; this action is too reckless," the deep-voiced man sighed.
Outside the door, a brief silence ensued.
Then, Liu Yue Rong's voice rose, colder than before, with a hint of mockery, "As parents cherish their child, they plan far ahead for them!"
"I wouldn't have wanted to do this, but the wooden heads of the Li Family are beyond help!"
"Blame the child's father, if you must. How exceptional was that Marquis of Xingwu. Others may not know, but I am well aware that he had stepped into that realm by the age of twenty-three..."
"Which means, there's a not insignificant chance that his child might also awaken the Divine Blood!"
"What?!"
The deep-voiced man responded with shock, "Twenty-three years old, and he stepped into the 'Three Immortal' realms?!"
"That's right, the Li Family ancestor was a founding Divine General of Dayu, with a powerful bloodline. Father succeeded in the ancestor's will, and he was the same," she confirmed.
"In the previous generation, apart from Qianfeng's father, the Marquis of Xingwu was a monster, as were the third, sixth, and ninth brothers! Especially the ninth, who was even more terrifying. Fortunately, he died early and left no descendants..."
"The third brother's wife is always by her side, and being a girl, she will marry off eventually, so it doesn't pose a problem. The sixth brother also entered the Three Immortal realms early, but that was after his marriage..."
Liu Yue Rong said coldly, "The only one who can compete with Qianfeng is this child. Otherwise, why do you think Emperor Yu bestowed his blessing on him? Even if his martial arts talent turns out to be mediocre in the future, with the awakening of the Divine Blood, he can contend with the top geniuses!"
Outside, silence fell again.
The deep-voiced man sighed lightly, "Since the Lady has made such a decision, I shall say no more."
"You needn't worry; this medicine comes from Mount Wuliang. After being taken, it leaves no trace to be tracked, nor does it cause any pain. I've even coated it with sugar; it won't taste odd. Although he is still young, it won't leave any deep memories since children have too many sweets as it is."
"Besides, if it turns out he cannot awaken the Divine Blood in the future, it can't be determined that we were behind any interference. Anyone in the Divine General Mansion could be a suspect!"
"Moreover, the bloodline of that realm isn't guaranteed to awaken one hundred percent of the time. Maybe the child simply didn't have it in him?"
At this, Liu Yue Rong chuckled scornfully, "Thank the Northern Yan wars for this. Ji Qingqing, so deeply loyal to the Marquis of Xingwu, followed him to the battlefield, providing us this opportunity. Otherwise, if we waited till the child grew a few years older and they returned, martial guards would be secretly watching over him, making it difficult to act."
The man did not respond but sighed softly.
Before long, their footsteps gradually faded away.
Inside the room, Li Hao was now fully awake, his mind reeling, disbelieving.
Second Mother was going to harm him?
The seemingly protective and caring attitude of every day—was it all false?
Li Hao was reluctant to believe it, but reality lay stark before him.
Although he didn't understand what Divine Blood was, Second Mother, wishing to clear a path for her own child, perceived him as an obstacle and thus chose to destroy him!
Li Hao's expression was grim, his fists clenched tightly.
The tender smiles had lulled him into a false sense of security. If this was how Second Mother behaved, what about the others?
Who else was sincere?
He had been here for only a year and a half, but being cared for in turn by these ladies, Li Hao had developed some emotional attachment.
Now, however, it all felt like an illusion.
Was this the internal strife of an ancient noble family?
He touched his body with his small hand. Besides a slight warmth in his chest, he felt nothing else, and even this warmth was from the Dragon Blood Jade Pendant.
His mother had said that he had his father's strength within him, but now... it was gone.
Li Hao clenched his small hand tightly in the dark, vowing to exact revenge in the future!
...
...
Spring turned to autumn.
In the blink of an eye, Li Hao turned three.
Nowadays, he spent most of his time in the Mountain and River Courtyard. Being careful with the food delivered by the ladies from various courtyards, he sometimes pretended to be picky and refused it, acting like a capricious child.
Gradually, the house servants in the courtyard came to understand that the young master was extremely fussy about his food and drink.
Three years old.
In the Divine General Mansion, this was a crucial age.
Ordinary families start their martial arts training at seven or eight years old, or even in their teens.
Some, already set in their physical development, could have latent talents yet might not achieve great success due to missed opportunities during the best training period because of their family circumstances.
As a martial arts household, the Divine General Mansion had the most rigorous training methods, with children of the clan laying their foundation from a young age.
Foundation Establishment at three.
Blood Melting at four.
Bone Testing at five!
By six, it was time to formally train, not a moment wasted.
On the path of cultivation, thousands strive to cross, and an early lead often means leading at every step!
Cultivation aptitude was to be tested at the age of five.
If the bones were well-developed and the marrow rich and solid, one could begin training after Bone Testing at five.
But with the profound depth of the Divine General Mansion and their belief in not rushing, they prescribed formal training to begin at six, allowing the body another year to grow and solidify for smoother future cultivation.
Even someone with exceptional talents like Li Qianfeng followed this, able to train after Bone Testing but still only ascending Mount Wuliang at six.
Even if practicing swordsmanship daily, it was still just the basics to develop a sense of martial arts, not considered real cultivation.
And for those with average talent or delayed development, they couldn't start training, even at six, needing more years of growth, which could be at seven, eight, or nine.
However, with countless precious medicines in the Divine General Mansion to enhance martial arts qualifications, the mansion's worst case still began cultivation at eight.
I heard that this case was due to premature birth and prenatal injury, leading to such a result.