Follow the path of Dao from infancy

Fourteen years old and already in the Heavenly Human Realm?

Li Hongzhuang still remembered the year and month when Li Hao was born, which was also the year her ninth brother died in battle.

It had been fourteen years since then.

Li Hongzhuang also remembered that even a prodigy like Li Junye was seventeen before he stepped into the Celestial Master Realm.

And now, the youth before her had achieved it at just fourteen.

A full three years ahead!

"With such talent, you must be the True Dragon of the Li Family's generation, right?" Li Hongzhuang came back to her senses and couldn't help but ask.

Such a treasure, and they left him outside the Heavenly Gate Pass?

What was her seventh brother thinking?

True Dragon... Li Hao's lips curled slightly as he smiled and said,

"Talent is just that, nothing to be amazed by. The Li Family's True Dragon isn't anything remarkable. It's only when you have genuine and solid strength that you're truly noteworthy."

Li Hongzhuang spoke speechlessly, "That's easy for you to say when you're not lacking anything. What do you mean 'talent is just that'? It's easy to dismiss talent while standing on the sidelines. Reaching the Fifteen Li Realm might indeed be a result of talent and clan cultivation, but reaching the Heavenly Human Realm isn't something that can be easily explained by talent alone."

"It requires a one-in-ten-thousand kind of enlightenment and realization!"

"One in ten thousand isn't much," Li Hao said indifferently.

"Among the sons of the Li Family, having talent that is one in ten thousand isn't surprising, but your kind of unprecedented and peerless talent might be one in billions among the warriors of Dayu spanning a thousand years!" Li Hongzhuang couldn't help but say.

Li Hao slightly shook his head, no longer wishing to discuss this matter with her. He simply waved the simple banner in his hand and said,

"How does this look?"

"Not that great,"

Li Hongzhuang commented after a glance, speaking truthfully.

Li Hao laughed, acknowledging that it was indeed haphazardly made from tent fabric, and certainly not impressive or refined.

Yet, he hoped that even so, this banner would still deter the demons.

Li Hongzhuang looked at the meat roasting on the grill and said, "I've eaten Lion Hoof Demon before; it didn't use to taste this good."

"That's because it wasn't made by me."

Li Hao said with a smile, his eyes showing the earnestness and confidence of a chef.

Li Hongzhuang gave him a glance but didn't say anything. She just gazed at the flickering campfire, and in those numbed, indifferent eyes accustomed to battle, a glint of light seemed to emerge.

[Cooking Skill Experience +182]

[Cooking Skill Experience is full, please upgrade as soon as possible.]

The cooking ended, and two notifications flashed before Li Hao's eyes, a common occurrence for him now.

Cooking was his only artistic skill currently at the Sixth Stage.

But the experience was already full, and only with a spiritual awakening of the mind could he advance to the Seventh Stage.

However, he had yet to find the method to such an awakening.

This was different from the need for sufficient focus and passion to reach the Third Stage. Simply being willfully fond was enough then.

It also required a certain level of detachment, similar to establishing a core as a Grandmaster.

But in life, it's easy to talk about likes; detachment, however, is more difficult.

Li Hao was still exploring the path of transcending in the art of cooking.

He had previously checked the tents in each camp. As expected of a frontier outpost, there were no chessboards, no paper for painting, and even the few inkstones and brushes to be found seemed to be kept for recording military intelligence and sending messages.

At the moment, he possessed six different artistic skills:

Chess Tao at the Fifth Stage, Art of Painting at the Fifth Stage, and Fishing Tao at the Fifth Stage.

As well as Poetry and Books at the Third Stage, Musical Rhythm at the Third Stage, and Cooking at the Sixth Stage.

Without reaching a state of transcendence and spiritual awakening, his Physical Body Path and swordsmanship were also stuck at the Sixth Stage, unable to advance further.

The immediate task was to condense an art form to the point of transcendence and spiritual awakening to reach the Seventh Stage.

Li Hao thought it over, and given the rudimentary conditions here, Chess Tao and Art of Painting could only be put on hold for now. Aside from Cooking, Fishing was the most suitable skill to attempt a breakthrough.

After reaching the Fifteen Li Realm, Li Hao no longer depended on a fishing rod to fish.

With a rod, he could only catch small demons in the Power Passage Realm or Zhou Tian Realm.

Great Demons were very difficult to hook, unless it was truly an unexpected catch...

Without a fishing rod or line, Li Hao could, like Li Muxiu, condense his own energy into a line to fish in all directions.

It wasn't necessary to have a lake to be considered fishing.

Mountains, wilderness, anywhere where creatures could be caught could accumulate fishing experience.

Just as children might use hooks to catch frogs in the fields or entice eels from their burrows, it too is a form of fishing.

What is fishing?

To lie in wait and strike!

Li Hao also considered learning new artistic skills, like carving.

But he currently lacked not for skill points, and besides, carving until the Third Stage would still require a passion of the heart to advance further, which would take some time.

In this dangerous borderland, he had to quickly elevate himself to the Immortal Realm to ensure he had the strength to fight alone!

At that moment, the roasted meat was ready.

Li Hao's thoughts returned as he took off the cooked meat, first handing a portion to Li Hongzhuang.

He then sliced off pieces to give to Ren Qianqian and the little white fox before finally picking up a piece and starting to eat himself.

Li Hongzhuang took it, thanked him briefly, and proceeded to cut it up neatly with her own dagger, skewering a piece with the tip and putting it in her mouth.

"Hmm?"

There was a noticeable pause in Li Hongzhuang's chewing, followed by a faster pace.

"Not bad."

She nodded slightly, her expression mildly approving, but her eyes revealed satisfaction.

Li Hao smiled and, while eating, asked, "Do you really intend to stay and defend this place to the death?"

Perhaps due to many years in the military, Li Hongzhuang's behavior and posture were quite manly, and even her sitting position betrayed none of the genteel grace she'd displayed in childhood, aside from sword practice, when she would sit and stitch peonies with a graceful charm.

She tore off a piece of sinew casually and said, "Defending to the death is a stretch; I'm just accompanying these brothers a bit further on their journey, and incidentally, I'll slay some more demons. Without reinforcements, this place will eventually fall. It's just a matter of how many I can take down."

As she spoke, a sharp glint of harsh coldness inadvertently flashed in her eyes.

Li Hao nodded, said no more, and lowered his head to finish his own portion of meat.

After filling his stomach, he took another portion, wrapped it in leaves, and set it aside for Feng. He then got up, patted his behind, picked up the several rough banners he had made, and headed out of the camp.

Along the way, the war banners were planted at the edges of the campsite.

There were four in total, each placed in a broad angle.

The banners, though made from the camp's materials, bore strong and powerful characters, after all, he was of the "Poetry and Books" third stage.

Li Hao looked over at them and smiled, in comparison to the Bloodsha Army's banners planted here, they indeed seemed a bit desolate.

After the banners were in place, Li Hao returned to the campfire. He took out some papers he had collected from the various tents, as well as his pen, ink, and inkstone, and began recording them one by one.

"What are you doing?" Li Hongzhuang asked when she saw him, "Are you writing home?"

Li Hao shook his head slightly. To whom would he send a family letter? The world was his home, and at this moment, this place was his home.

"These are the cultivation techniques of Listening Rain Tower."

"You intend to record the cultivation techniques?"

"Mhm, record them, and then return them to the Li Family."

Li Hao said with a smile, his expression, however, remained very calm.

Li Hongzhuang thought of the matter between Li Hao and Li Tian Gang and her face slightly changed, "Do you really intend to completely sever ties with the family? Blood connections cannot be cut!"

"There is nothing that cannot be severed."

Li Hao's eyes narrowed, and his tone grew colder, "Perhaps it's just that your sword isn't sharp enough."

Li Hongzhuang picked up on the sting in Li Hao's words and raised her eyebrows, but she did not take issue with him.

She understood that this child had just run away from home and was likely harboring great resentment in his heart.

"But do you think that by recording the cultivation techniques, you will have returned them?" Li Hongzhuang said.

Li Hao responded indifferently, "The techniques I return are all the original advanced versions, more than sufficient as compensation."

Indeed, he intended to write down the deeper levels of understanding of the cultivation techniques he had realized and return them to the Li Family.

Even though by doing so the Li Family would profit immensely, he did not bother to quibble over the matter.

It was enough if he could sever the ties.

"Oh?"

Li Hongzhuang was astonished and asked, "How many have you cultivated?"

Advancing cultivation techniques requires tremendous energy and effort. If it were one or two techniques, it would be feasible, but if there were many, could he really enhance all of them to an advanced level?

How much energy and time would that take?

"Dozens, I suppose," said Li Hao offhandedly.

He had already started writing the first technique.

Stone Skin Hundred Refinements—Advanced version "Golden Skin Hundred Refinements"

The original low-grade technique, under the promotion of his sixth stage Physical Body Path, had evolved into a high-grade technique, strong enough to refine the body to be as tough as metal.

Although he was at the same Grandmaster Realm as others, Li Hao's body, through these body refining techniques, was more than ten times stronger than an ordinary grandmaster.

Moreover, Li Hao wrote down the profundity of the technique: Golden Skin Hundred Refinements • Vajra!

It could burst forth instantaneously, increasing the body's defensive power several times over.

If only for a short while, its effect could be considered a semi-Immortal "Indestructible Realm" defense.

Should he reach the Indestructible Realm and then use the Vajra profundity, the defense would be even more formidable.

This profundity was not included in Stone Skin Hundred Refinements, so he did not consider it breaking his word about using techniques from the Li Family.

As for the enhancements brought to his body by Stone Skin Hundred Refinements and many other body refining techniques, he could not discard them, so instead, he used this more generous gesture as compensation.

"Dozens?" When Li Hongzhuang heard Li Hao's words, she couldn't help but pause.

She looked at Li Hao's face, solemn and serious in the light of the campfire, not seeming to joke.

She was a bit dazed, at the age of fourteen he had cultivated to the Heavenly Human Realm and mastered dozens of techniques?

In the years she had been away from the family, what kind of monster had the Li Family cultivated!

Suddenly, Li Hongzhuang's face changed, and she abruptly turned her head to look outside the camp.

In the darkness of the night, there seemed to be clouds of darkness swaying, like shadows shaking in the woods.

"It looks like they know we have retreated."

Murder flashed in Li Hongzhuang's eyes, and she grasped the hilt of the sword beside her.

Li Hao also lifted his head and stopped writing.

The wind carried a foul smell, that of demons.

"Stay here, I'll be right back," Li Hongzhuang said as she got up and headed into the shadows.

But Li Hao did not truly intend to wait here. His divine soul flew out from behind him, and in its vision, the night was as clear as day.

He saw the figures of demons rushing toward the camp from the forests tens of miles away. The surging waves of the hidden current spread through the bushes and over the rocks, closing in silently.

There were not a few in number.

Li Hao immediately put away his pen and the papers recording the cultivation techniques, handing them to Ren Qianqian, "Take care of these for me."

Having already turned pale upon hearing Li Hongzhuang's words, Ren Qianqian said nervously, "Young master, are you going as well?"

"Stay here, Feng will watch over you in secret."

Li Hao glanced at the leaves wrapped up meat, "Besides, he hasn't had his dinner yet."

Smiling at the young girl, Li Hao then patted the little white fox's head and moved forward.

As he walked, he raised his hand slightly and broken short swords from all around began gathering towards him.

He grabbed one of the less damaged swords in his hand, and the rest followed his figure forward.

"Li Hongzhuang!!"

"The army has retreated, and you still dare to stay behind – do you want to be buried with your soldiers?"

"They are all in my stomach, come and get them!"

Outside the campsite, a roar, like a tiger's bellow, erupted, revealing ferocious delight and a vicious atmosphere.

Clearly, the chance to catch them was a delightful opportunity for it.

"Chi Hu Jun!"

Li Hongzhuang, clad in bright red armor and wielding a three-foot sword blade, stepped beyond the camp, her gorgeous face revealing an icy resolve:

"You escaped last time, but I've been waiting for you."

"Haha, did you think I would come alone? Feipeng, come out and meet this iron lady!"

From the darkness, a huge tiger demon wrapped in chains appeared, a ferocious expression on its face.