Follow the path of Dao from infancy - Chapter 36

Chapter 36: Chapter 33: Inheriting the Soul
 

“That darn monkey…”

Li Hao opened up a crispy cookie, slowly savoring it as he began telling the rest of the story to the three eager little ones.

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

The young master must have read these storybooks somewhere; if only he could devote all his attention to Body Refinement, he would surely make something of himself in the future.

However, having watched Li Hao’s carefree approach for so long, they had come to accept many things, letting nature take its course, just as the second master said: The vast Li Family doesn’t lack a strong Cultivator, but that child might miss out on a happy childhood, especially without his parents around. This is probably the only happiness he has.

As the sunset and the story ended, Li Hao shooed the three little ones away, reminding Li Yun, the most mischievous among them:

“Be good when you get back, and don’t get beaten by your mother again.”

Earlier, this fellow had been so excited about the havoc in heaven story; despite his young age, he had defiantly argued with his own mother about changing from swordsmanship to using a staff. After being personally coached by his mother, he still felt the sword suited him better.

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

“Brother Hao, I will come to see you again tomorrow,” his sister, Li Zhining, said with a soft, gentle smile.

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

“Go on, get out of here.”

Li Hao waved them all away.

After the children had left the back yard, Li Hao calmed his mind and continued painting.

After gaining dozens of Painting Experience points, the moon had already risen in the sky.

Li Hao had dinner with Li Fu and Zhao, and when he returned to his room, he picked up a martial arts book he had taken from Listening Rain Tower and began to browse through it.

This book was not a Cultivation Technique but an introduction to the various realms of knowledge.

“Soul Succession Realm, as the name suggests, is to inherit the previous soul!”

“If one has no background, a common person in the Soul Succession Realm can join the martial temple; if favored by the Heroic Spirits, they can also inherit a soul.”

“Furthermore, joining the army allows one to worship the spirits of soldiers who died in battles of Dayu, receiving a sliver of soul essence from a Heroic Spirit!”

“Also, by joining a famous mountain, a master, or a sect, you can also receive the inheritance of ancestral Heroic Spirits…”

Li Hao quietly flipped through the pages, a flash of light dancing in his eyes.

He pulled up his panel and looked.

[Name: Li Hao]

[Age: 8]

[Cultivation Level: Tenth Layer of Circulation Realm]

[Sword Dao: third stage (Flying Phase) (Hidden Bow)]

[Sword Technique: Endless Sea·Tide (Ultimate Perfection) Falling Snow Sword Skill (True Form)]

[Physical Body Path: fifth stage (All Phenomena) (Tiger Press)]

[Body Skills: Stone Skin Hundred Refinements (True Form) Thousand Jiaos Holy Body Fourth Layer (Entry Level Thousand Jiao Body) Primordial Three Layers (Perfected Concealment Body) Dragon Cicada Void Body Fourth Layer (Entry Level Dragon Soul Body)…]

[Control Path: third stage]

[Control Skills: 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: fourth stage (28/10000)]

[Fishing Tao: second stage (97/1000)]

[Art of Painting: second stage (231/1000)]

[Culinary Dao: second stage (736/1000)]

[Chess Catalogue Collection: All Phenomena, Tiger Press, Flying Phase, Hidden Bow]

[Fishing Catalogue Collection: None]

[Famous Painting Catalogue Collection: Thousand Mountains Birds Flying Painting, Snow Mountain Spirit Fox Painting, Qilin Steed Painting]

[Culinary Recipe Collection: None]

[State of Mind: Chess Heart (embedded)]

[Artistic Skill Points: 0]

…

The panel now appeared significantly longer than before, and although Li Hao omitted dozens of Body Refining Techniques, it was still densely packed with entries.

With the 6 Skill Points he gained from Art of Painting, Cooking, and Fishing, he used them all to upgrade his Physical Body Path from the third to the fifth stage. During the transition between the third and fourth stages, there was a threshold similar to Chess Tao that required deep understanding to continue upgrading.

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

However, when the chess heart was embedded into the Physical Body Path and successfully pushed past the barrier, Li Hao’s fondness for chess did not diminish at all.

On the contrary, although he had surpassed the barrier of state of mind in the Physical Body Path, he did not feel any additional affection for it, remaining with his usual normal feelings.

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

When the Physical Body Path reached the fourth stage, all those numerous low-grade Body Refinement Techniques underwent a strange transformation, evolving into higher-level techniques on their existing basis.

Stone Skin Hundred Refinements evolved into Stone Skin Thousand Refinements, Barbaric Bull Force turned into Bull Demon Barbaric Force, enhancing the techniques and their effects, which greatly improved his physical body.

The other many low-grade techniques followed suit, causing new transformations and enhancements in various aspects of his organs, reaching a physical strength of 80,000 kilograms now!

However, while a few top-tier Body Refinement Techniques did not change in grade, they all progressed to the fourth layer.

Yet, at the fourth layer, he encountered some unique problems.

Mere natural energy was no longer sufficient to meet the practice requirements of these pinnacle Body Refinement Techniques, even if his Physical Body Path was advanced to the fifth stage, it could not eliminate the demands of external conditions.

For example, to practice the fourth layer of the Thousand Jiaos Holy Body, he must personally slay a Jiao dragon, capture its soul, refine his own body, and imprison its spirit to aid in breaking through to the Circulation Realm and stepping into the Soul Succession Realm.

Similarly, the fourth layer of Dragon Cicada Void Body required a drop of True Dragon’s blood for completion.

Without addressing the external conditions, no amount of physical insight, even knowing how to practice, could solve the problem, just as a clever woman cannot cook without rice.

Luckily, meeting these two practice conditions was not difficult for Li Hao.

As long as he asked, Li Muxiu could help him take care of it in minutes.

However, the methods of inheriting the soul in these two Body Refinement Techniques were considered unorthodox side paths. Even if successful, they were only mediocre within the Soul Succession Realm.

The strength in the Soul Succession Realm depended on the strength of the inherited heroic spirit’s legacy.

Therefore, major forces still maintained their advantage in this area, creating a huge gap with ordinary martial artists.

Famous mountain masters could allow their direct disciples to worship in front of the ancestral Heroic Spirit Hall. If lucky, they could receive the legacy of the ancestral heroic spirit and make a rapid ascent, which was considered top-notch.

After all, those capable of passing down heroic spirits were ancient monsters from distant eras, who could alter their fate and at least existed in the Four Stands Realm!

Such strength, in all of Dayu, was limited in number.

Their slightest soul thought’s legacy, like a key to a treasure trove, had endless benefits.

For martial artists lacking such heritage and background, unless exceptionally gifted, and apprenticed to a renowned master, their only choice was to inherit the soul in a martial temple.

The heroic spirits in the martial temples were all ancient heroes with varying strengths—good and bad, complete and incomplete—it all depended on the inheritor’s own qualifications and temperament, to see which heroic spirit within the temple would choose them.

The least desirable were those like the Jiao dragons or the spirits of mountain demons.

Such Great Demons were not stingy with bestowing their souls, but souls of mountain spirits and ghosts were too weak, offering limited inheritance.

Being born into the Li Family, Li Hao had countless options, the best of which was entering the Li Family Ancestral Hall.

There, the ancestors of the Li Family were worshipped, from the first generation who opened up the Dayu dynasty alongside Emperor Dayu, to more than ten generations later, among them were top-notch powerhouses.

And because of familial blood ties, inheriting the soul became easier, which was one reason why martial arts noble clans endured over the ages.

Heritage, what is heritage? It is an existence that can be passed down layer by layer.

Once he successfully inherits the soul in the Li Family Ancestral Hall and continues practicing the two pinnacle Body Refinement Techniques, capturing the souls of Jiao and the True Dragon, it would merely strengthen his own body, and not significantly close the gap in entering their realms.

However, before that, Li Hao plans to further enrich his own accumulation.

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

Qi Circulation Skill, opening meridians, future Soul Succession Realm’s controlling souls, and even the Divine Soul Realm would most likely rely on the existence of Control Path.

With the insight of Control Path third stage, he practiced both of the Li Family’s pinnacle Qi Circulation Skills and achieved perfection.

It should be noted, others, even with monstrous talent, would only dare to practice one skill because each practice was equivalent to redoing the tenfold of the Circulation Realm!

But with the insight from Control Path stage three, Li Hao completed them smoothly after several rehearsals.

While the two top-tier Qi Cultivation Skills and the Body Refinement Qi Cultivation Skill included in the Body Refinement Techniques had some differences, causing areas of overlap not as extensive as the two Body Refinement Qi Cultivation Skills, numerous intersections resulted in a very exaggerated situation.

Li Hao’s Qi circulation rounds, from 143 cycles, reached…

248 cycles!

Yes, an extremely exaggerated level, surpassing even the 168 cycles of the All Heavens Zhou Tian Skill of the imperial families by a full 80 cycles!