Follow the path of Dao from infancy

Chapter 36: Chapter 33: Continuing the Soul

“That cheeky monkey…”

Li Hao broke apart the crispy pancake, savoring it slowly while continuing the story for the three eagerly anticipating youngsters.

In the pavilion, Zhao and Li Fu watched from a distance, both wearing helpless smiles.

The young master had somehow come across these storybooks. If only he would devote all that effort to Body Refinement, surely he would achieve great things in the future.

However, having watched Li Hao be carefree for so long, they had come to accept many things and let nature take its course, just like Second Master had said—the vast Li Family didn’t lack a specialist in Body Refinement, but that child might lack a happy childhood without his parents around. Perhaps this was the only joy he had.

As the sun set into dusk and the story ended, Li Hao shooed away the three youngsters, particularly reminding the most mischievous among them, Li Yun:

“Go back and behave, don’t get beaten by your mother again.”

This little guy had become so excited when he heard the part about causing havoc in the heavenly palace, showing his rebellious streak by arguing with his own mother and wanting to switch from swordsmanship to using a staff. Afterwards, under his mother’s direct guidance, he still felt that the sword suited him better.

“Hmm.” Li Yun’s face turned red, and he ran off quickly.

“Brother Hao, I’ll come to see you again tomorrow.” His sister, Li Zhining, said with a gentle, timid smile.

“Brother Hao…” Li Yuanzhao, the little chubby boy, also hesitated to speak.

“Go on, go.”

Li Hao waved them all away with his hand.

After the children had all left the backyard, Li Hao calmed his mind and continued to paint.

After gaining dozens of skill points in the Art of Painting, the moon had already risen.

Li Hao had dinner with Li Fu and Zhao. After returning to his room, he picked up a book on martial arts taken from the Listening Rain Tower and flipped through it.

This book was not about cultivation techniques but rather served as an introduction to various realms.

“Soul Succession Realm, as the name implies, involves inheriting a prior soul!”

“For those without background, ordinary people can enter the Soul Succession by joining a martial temple. If favored by Heroic Spirits, they too can undergo soul succession.”

“Furthermore, by enlisting in the army, one can worship the souls of soldiers who died in past Dayu wars and possibly receive a legacy from a Heroic Spirit!”

“Moreover, joining famous mountains, great teachers, or sects also allows access to ancestral Heroic Spirits…”

Li Hao quietly read, his eyes flashing with light.

He pulled up his panel to check.

[Name: Li Hao]

[Age: 8]

[Cultivation Level: Tenth Layer of Circulation Realm]

[Sword Dao: Three Stages (Flying Phase) (Hidden Bow)]

[Sword Skill: Endless Sea·Tide (Perfected) Falling Snow Sword Skill (True Form)]

[Physical Body Path: Five Stages (Myriad Forms) (Tiger Press)]

[Body Techniques: Stone Skin Hundred Refinements (True Form) Thousand Jiaos Holy Body Fourth Layer (Thousand Jiaos Body Beginner) Primordial Third Layer (Enter the Ghost Body Perfection) Dragon Cicada Void Body Fourth Layer (Dragon Soul Body Beginner)…]

[Control Path: Three Stages]

[Control Techniques: Heavenly Gang Zhou Tian Skill (Perfection) Hundred Battles Cycle Heaven Skill (Perfection) Dragon River Divine Meridian (Perfection) Nine Revolutions Starry Sky Skill (Perfection)…]

[Chess Tao: Four Stages (28/10000)]

[Fishing Tao: Two Stages (97/1000)]

[Art of Painting: Two Stages (231/1000)]

[Culinary Dao: Two Stages (736/1000)]

[Chess Catalogue Collected: Myriad Forms, Tiger Press, Flying Phase, Hidden Bow]

[Fishing Catalogue Collected: None]

[Famous Paintings Collected: Thousand Mountains Birds Flying Painting, Snow Mountain Spirit Fox Painting, Kylin Steed Painting]

[Cooking Recipes Collected: None]

[State of Mind: Chess Heart (Embedded)]

[Artistic Skill Points: 0]

The panel now was visibly longer than before, even though Li Hao had omitted dozens of Body Refining Techniques, it was still a dense list.

From Fishing, he had received 6 points of Artistic Skill, which he had used up completely. His cultivation in the Body Path had risen from the third phase to the fifth phase. Crossing from three to four, there was a threshold similar to Chess Tao that required an inner connection to upgrade further.

At that moment, following a prompt on the panel, the previously condensed chess heart could actually be embedded like a chess manual.

Once the chess heart embedded into the Body Path cleared the hurdle, Li Hao’s affection for chess skills did not diminish at all.

On the contrary, although he had passed the mental barrier in the Body Path, he didn’t develop any extra affection for it, still feeling the usual about it.

The panel could transfer state of mind, but it seemed unable to transfer the power of emotions.

And when the Body Path reached phase four, the many low-grade Body Refinement Skills underwent a remarkable transformation, all evolving into higher-level techniques.

Stone Skin Hundred Refinements transformed into Stone Skin Thousand Refinements, and Barbarian Ox Strength into Bull Demon Barbarian Strength, enhancing the techniques and their effects, bringing significant improvements to the physical body.

The other numerous inferior grade techniques did the same, causing all organs throughout his body to undergo new transformations and enhancements. Now, just in terms of physical strength, he had reached eighty thousand catties!

While the several peak Body Refinement Arts, even though there was no grade transformation, they had all entered the fourth layer.

However, at the fourth layer, he encountered some peculiar issues.

Merely depending on the energy of heaven and earth was no longer sufficient to meet the practice conditions of these peak Body Refinement Arts. Even if his cultivation in the Body Path advanced to phase five, he couldn’t eliminate the external obligatory conditions.

For example, to practice the fourth layer of Thousand Jiaos Holy Body, one must personally slay a Jiao dragon, capture its soul, and refine oneself, subduing and imprisoning its soul to break through the Circulation Realm and step into the Soul Succession Realm.

The Dragon Cicada Void Body was the same; the fourth layer, the Dragon Soul Body, required a drop of true dragon blood to be completed.

Without resolving external conditions, no matter how much physical comprehension he had, even if he knew how to practice, it was like a skilled wife unable to cook without rice, with no solution at hand.

Luckily, these two practice conditions were not difficult to meet for Li Hao.

With just a word, Li Muxiu could resolve them in minutes.

However, the methods of inheriting the soul in these two Body Refinement techniques were both unorthodox, and even if successful, they were considered mid-tier in the Soul Succession Realm, not outstanding.

The strength of the Soul Succession Realm depends on the strength of the inherited Heroic Spirit’s legacy.

Thus, major powers still maintained their advantage in this regard, creating a vast gap from ordinary Martial Artists.

Famous mountain Grandmasters could let their Direct Disciples worship before the Heroic Spirit Hall of their ancestors, and if lucky, receive the legacy of a Heroic Spirit ancestor, ascending in one step, which is considered top-tier.

After all, those capable of passing down Heroic Spirits were ancient old monsters from ages past, at least possessing the Four Stands Realm existence that could defy the heavens and change fate!

Such strength in Dayu could be counted on fingers.

The inheritance from even a trace of their soul’s will, like a key to a treasure trove, was immensely beneficial.

Whereas for Martial Artists without this background and heritage, unless they had extraordinary talents and took oath under a famous mountain, their only choice would be to inherit a soul from a Martial Temple.

The Heroic Spirits in the Martial Temples were heroes of ancient times, of varying strength, uneven and not all complete, dependent on the inheritor’s own talents and disposition, to see which Heroic Spirit would choose them.

Lastly, there were the likes of Jiao dragons and mountain Demons of lesser kinds.

Such Great Demons were not stingy with their souls, but as their spirits were too weak, the inheritance they could offer was limited.

Being born into the Li Family, Li Hao had countless choices, among which the best option was to enter the Ancestral Hall of the Li Family.

There were the lineage’s ancestral spirits worshipped, from the first generation, that ancient Divine General who opened the Dayu lands with Emperor Dayu, to the many generations that followed, including many top-tier powerhouses.

Moreover, due to the connection by bloodline, inheriting the soul became easier, which was one of the reasons why Martial Arts Noble Clans remained powerful over ages.

Heritage, what is heritage? It’s the existence that can be passed down through layers.

After successfully inheriting a soul in the Li Family Ancestral Hall and continuing to practice the two peak Body Refinement Arts, capturing the Jiao soul and the True Dragon soul will merely strengthen himself, not allow him to ascend just by that—the difference is significant.

However, before that, Li Hao planned to let his own accumulation deepen further.

The Control Path, as he thought, corresponds to normal cultivation.

Qi Circulation Skill, channeling veins, future Soul Succession Realm’s control of souls and even the Divine Soul Realm, most likely all depend on the existence of the Control Path.

With the understanding from the third phase of the Control Path, he practiced both of the Li Family’s top Qi Circulation Skills to perfection.

You should know, others, even if naturally gifted, would only dare to practice one, since each practice was equivalent to redoing the ten layers of the Circulation Realm!

But with the insight from the third phase of the Control Path, Li Hao moved smoothly through several practices and easily completed them.

And the two top Qi Circulation Skills, compared to the inherent Qi Circulation Skills in the Body Refinement arts, had some differences, which resulted in fewer overlaps than the two Body Refinement Qi Skills, causing a multitude of intermixing, hence leading to a rather exaggerated situation.

Li Hao’s Qi Circulation reached, from 143 cycles, to a lineage…

248 cycles!

Yes, to an extremely exaggerated extent, surpassing even the All Heavens Zhou Tian Skill of the Imperial Family’s 168 cycles by a whole 80 cycles!