The two members of the Ji family were astonished, but they readily agreed to Li Hao's request and quickly fetched paper and brushes.
Li Hao took the brushes and ink, and with a wave of his hand, a sheet of paper floated in the air, held in place by his control power serving as an easel. He swiftly ground the ink.
As he brushed the ink across the paper, Li Hao depicted the gradually clearer figure of a woman from his memory.
The figure came to life with flowing silks and satin, and Li Hao immersed himself in the painting, soon completing the first portrait.
But he didn't stop there; he dipped his brush in the ink again and continued to paint.
Each subsequent painting became more intricate, from the woman to the courtyard, and then to the civil and military officials at the hundred-day banquet.
Li Hao poured his heart and soul into the paintings, creating a narrative that unfolded like a comic strip, until he reached the scene of the couple leading their troops on a campaign, stepping out of their home.
Li Hao's brush didn't pause; he continued to paint, bringing to life the blurred and sealed memories from his past.
A lone child gazed into the distance within the courtyard.
The child tilted his head back, gazing at the falling snow in the courtyard.
In the distance, under a pavilion, a stooped old butler watched with a pained yet affectionate gaze.
Servants and maids swept fallen leaves, occasionally glancing at the young master with smiles on their faces.
In the snow-covered courtyard, the short child played and chased the servants, engaging in a snowball fight.
A noble lady picked up the child and took him to another courtyard to watch a four or five-year-old child practicing swordplay.
Lying on a bed, the child gazed beyond the door, as if sensing two shadows lurking.
The noble lady lifted the child with a loving smile, but her curved eyes hid sharp blades of determination.
Li Hao continued to paint, his brushstrokes bringing the scenes to life.
The child now had a little tail, and together, they underwent foundation-building baths and blood fusion. In the courtyard, a middle-aged man in green appeared.
Under the night sky, the two, big and small, drank under the starry moon.
Finally, a scene emerged of a green-sleeved, severed hand lying in the hall.
Li Hao's brush paused, and two clear tears fell onto the brush handle.
"...Master," he whispered.
No one knew his master's name anymore, but Li Hao remembered—it was Lin Haixia, an iron-willed man with a delicate name.
Li Hao felt something bursting in his mind, and the painting experience that had already reached the sixth stage and was fully saturated now quietly triggered a prompt.
[Painting Experience +726…]
[Painting Experience +682…]
Lost in his memories, Li Hao didn't notice that his painting skill had entered the spiritual attunement realm.
Only those memories became increasingly vivid and clear.
But when Li Hao painted the severed hand, he stopped.
After a long while, his emotions gradually calmed, and he noticed the painting experience prompts. His eyes flickered, but he didn't feel overly delighted.
To long for something and not attain it was one state of mind; to attain something without seeking it was another.
Previously, when his cooking skill had reached spiritual attunement, Li Hao had realized that the more he craved a breakthrough, the more it became a shackle holding him back.
When his mindset completely changed, he no longer held such attachments, and even with rapid improvements, he wouldn't feel surprised.
It was like raising a hand to pluck a falling leaf—everything flowed naturally.
Li Hao paused briefly and noticed that the ink on his brush had long dried.
In that short moment of distraction, an unknown amount of time had passed outside.
Without stopping, Li Hao glanced at the lively portrait of the young girl and then lifted his brush again. He painted the woman who had now fully emerged in his memory with vivid clarity.
With his extraordinary seven-stage painting skill, Li Hao's brushstrokes were casual, but the figure on the paper seemed to leap off the surface, her eyes fixed on the young man beyond the paper, her gaze soft as if she were truly standing there.
This wasn't a realistic painting but a watercolor. The ink-stained sleeves hinted at the artistic style, yet the woman's expression was lively and vibrant, unlike the rest of the painting.
Li Hao put away his brushes and ink and looked at the scattered paintings on the ground. With a thought, his control power covered them, and the paintings floated up, arranging themselves neatly. Seeing that the ink on the scrolls had dried, he stacked them together.
The final image on top of this stack of memory scrolls was the lively and gentle woman.
After finishing this task, Li Hao covered the scrolls with his spiritual sense and checked outside the hall. In addition to the original attendants, many people were waiting outside.
He frowned slightly, guessing that they had come because of his Dao species identity.
He had no intention of entertaining them and instead brought up his panel, setting up a barrier around himself to prevent prying eyes.
Although others couldn't see the panel, he planned to add points, and his aura would likely intensify drastically.
Currently, Li Hao's panel showed:
Physical Body Dao: 7th Stage
Control Dao: 6th Stage (newly upgraded)
Sword Dao: 6th Stage
Fist Dao: 6th Stage
Body Movement Dao: 6th Stage
A total of 31 Art Technique points had been spent.
And the numerous art techniques he had mastered were:
Chess Dao: 5th Stage
Fishing: 6th Stage
Music: 4th Stage
Poetry and Calligraphy: 3rd Stage
Carving: 3rd Stage
Cooking: 7th Stage
Painting: 7th Stage!
That added up to 35 Art Technique points in total!
He still had 4 points remaining, which he couldn't use for now unless he mastered other martial arts like knife or spear techniques, but those held no interest for Li Hao.
After all, mastering parallel weapons wouldn't significantly increase his strength.
Moreover, there were countless types of weapons in the world, including the eighteen primary categories. It would be impractical to try to learn them all.
Now that he had obtained the second heart of spiritual attunement, Li Hao decided to use it for his Control Dao.
Although the Sword Dao was also crucial for enhancing his attack power and upgrading his sword techniques, Li Hao preferred to prioritize improving his cultivation first.
[State of Mind: Painting Dao Enters the Spiritual Attunement Realm (Available for Use)
]
Li Hao didn't hesitate and directly chose to add a point to the Control Dao.
As the prompt disappeared, the three words "available for use" appeared before the words "Painting Dao Enters the Spiritual Attunement."
At the same time, countless vast pieces of information surged into his mind.
The amount of information he received this time was still extremely complex. If Li Hao were still a two or three-year-old child, he would probably be directly washed away and become stupefied, unable to bear it.
Regarding the Control Dao, from mundane to extraordinary, countless intricacies were dissected and absorbed by Li Hao.
Li Hao slowly digested and merged these Dao realm epiphanies.
When he had absorbed them all and looked at his panel, he saw that his meridian techniques, spirit refining methods, and object control methods had all undergone tremendous transformations!
However, the most noticeable change was not the advancement in spirit refining and object control methods that Li Hao had hoped for, but the meridian techniques!
His original ultimate meridian technique, the Hundred Battles Sky Revolving Fist, transformed into the Stars Sky Revolving Fist!
The Dragon River Divine Meridian transformed into the Dragon Abyss Divine Meridian!
These transformations in meridian techniques brought his understanding to a whole new level.
With 108 meridians, plus the yin and yang dual meridians, he had reached the pinnacle of meridian cultivation.
But with the Control Dao at the seventh stage, transcending the ordinary and entering the saintly realm, Li Hao stepped into a new realm of comprehension.
Having reached the pinnacle of mundane meridians, why not transcend the ordinary?
Li Hao sat cross-legged, and the immortal energy within him circulated and flowed through his 108 meridians before escaping their confines.
The immortal energy coiled and condensed, and gradually, a phantom-like meridian was created by Li Hao within his body.
Qi Meridian!
This qi meridian connected all 108 meridians, allowing them to communicate with each other.
The qi meridian was thin and faint, yet it simulated a brand-new grand meridian!
As this qi meridian condensed, Li Hao instantly felt his vitality enhance. It was common knowledge that the opening of each grand meridian would bring about a significant increase in vitality.
Moreover, his qi cultivation technique had also improved, allowing him to circulate qi two thousand times through each meridian. With each additional meridian, his vitality increased by over 400,000 catties.
And this qi meridian's capacity was even greater than that of mundane meridians, and its circulation was faster!
"108 meridians are not the limit. Beyond mundane meridians lies the qi meridian..."
Li Hao's eyes glazed over as he combined the insights from various cultivation techniques and the seventh stage of the Control Dao, allowing him to glimpse this extraordinary path to the Sky Revolving Realm!
The pinnacle of mundane meridians was the Heaven and Earth Meridian, but Li Hao dared not imagine what the pinnacle of the qi meridian would be.
The Extreme Realm had already cut down countless proud geniuses, causing peerless talents to falter. This extraordinary realm of transcendence probably had no records even among the ancient sacred tribes.
Thinking of this, Li Hao felt he had an opportunity to go and investigate.
At this moment, he circulated his immortal energy within his body, consecutively condensing qi meridians.
One, two, three!
When he had condensed twelve qi meridians, Li Hao had already pushed the cultivation techniques and Dao realm insights he possessed to their limits, and he could condense no more.
These twelve qi meridians enhanced Li Hao's strength, and although it couldn't be considered a qualitative change, Li Hao understood that this was a brand-new beginning.
The path beyond the Extreme Realm.
Only when he truly cultivated to the perfect limit would the terrifying transformation manifest!
Aside from meridian techniques, Li Hao also probed into spirit refining and object control methods.
Time quietly slipped by.
The transformations in spirit refining and object control methods pushed Li Hao's Divine Travel Realm and Fifty-Li Realm to higher states, but the number of cultivation techniques he possessed in these two realms was not extensive. Originally, his Divine Travel Realm spanned fifty li, but now it had improved to ninety li.
The same was true for object control methods, which had improved to almost a hundred li.
However, he still hadn't reached the limit.
But Li Hao felt it wasn't far off.
If he could find a few more top-notch spirit refining and object control methods, he could use them to complement each other and break through the Extreme Realm.
While Li Hao was immersed in his cultivation and deductions, three knocks sounded on the door.
Without receiving a response from Li Hao, the area outside the door fell silent again.
Two more days passed, and Li Hao had fully absorbed and comprehended the insights brought about by the seventh stage of the Control Dao. He familiarized himself with the various cultivation techniques before dismissing the barrier.
"The limits of the Divine Travel Realm and the Fifty-Li Realm are not far off."
Li Hao thought, wondering what kind of abilities the extreme states of these two realms would bring.
He pushed open the door and saw the many figures of the Ji family standing outside.
Before Li Hao could speak, the elders outside, upon seeing the young man who had opened the door, were delighted and quickly said, "Young Master Ji, you're out."
Seeing their 180-degree change in attitude, Li Hao was somewhat surprised. He nodded slightly and asked, "What brings you here?"
"Earlier, the juniors below were disrespectful and offended you with their words. I've brought them here to apologize to you."
Standing beside these elders were several men and women with bruised and swollen faces, both young and old.
Li Hao frowned slightly and shook his head. He couldn't help but wonder if they had deliberately disfigured themselves to this extent to evoke sympathy.
However, sensing their sincere desire to apologize, Li Hao didn't want to pursue the matter further.
"It's all in the past. You may leave." Li Hao said.
"Young Master Ji, please vent your anger. If you wish to hit or scold them, these young ones are at your disposal." One of the elders quickly said.
Li Hao frowned and said, "Just don't disturb my secluded cultivation."
Seeing Li Hao's displeasure, the elder smiled awkwardly and didn't dare to say more. He waved his hand to indicate for everyone to leave.