Chapter 27: Skill True Form

Hearing Li Hao’s words, Li Muxiu froze.

He stared fixedly at Li Hao, then suddenly laughed—but his eyes betrayed a hint of sorrow.

“Through the ages, how many events have faded into idle chatter? How laughable that so many in this world are less enlightened than a child.”

Saying this, he turned away.

Li Hao suddenly noticed the old man secretly wiping away a tear.

This was a powerhouse rivaling a Sword Saint—and yet he wept. What had he remembered? Li Hao wisely stayed silent. After a moment, Li Muxiu seemed to have regained his composure, turned back, and smiled at Li Hao:

“Just now I mentioned two methods to break through to the Zhou Tian Realm. The Hundred Serpents Chapter is one; the other is the Zhou Tian Qi Circulation Scripture.”

“The Listening Rain Tower holds both, both supreme. One, perfected, achieves one hundred and eight Zhou Tian meridians; the other reaches one hundred and twenty-eight. Throughout Great Yu, they rank among the pinnacle. Only the imperial palace’s royal scripture, the All-Heavens Zhou Tian Scripture, surpasses this Hundred Battles Zhou Tian Scripture.”

“One hundred and sixty-eight Zhou Tian meridians—unparalleled in the world.”

“So powerful?”

Li Hao was stunned. Reaching seventy-two Zhou Tian meridians was already top-tier—yet the royal scripture doubled that and more. Did this mean the imperial family was invincible within the Zhou Tian Realm? “Of course. Otherwise, how could the imperial family hold the world in check?”

Li Muxiu said: “This is called exclusive doctrine. Only the imperial family may cultivate or learn it. Others are forbidden. Why do mighty clans endure? Precisely because they monopolize their own arts.”

Li Hao nodded. Wasn’t the Listening Rain Tower the same?

Just this tower alone is enough to ensure the Shenjiang Mansion’s prosperity for generations.

Yet the more supreme the scripture, the harder it is to cultivate—and the greater the demand on comprehension. It cannot be mastered casually. Though many in our Li family cultivate the Hundred Battles Zhou Tian Scripture, most still choose the Heavenly Gang Zhou Tian Scripture instead.

The reason is simple: if it takes you five years to master the Hundred Battles Zhou Tian Scripture, but only three to master the Heavenly Gang Zhou Tian Scripture, then after three years, the one who learned the Heavenly Gang Scripture will win!

“You might think, ‘In two more years, I’ll surpass him.’ But never underestimate those two years. By the time your Hundred Battles Zhou Tian Scripture reaches perfection, he may already be in the Soul Succession Realm. One step ahead means always ahead!” Li Muxiu said.

Li Hao nodded.

Match your talent to your scripture. It matters.

Otherwise, it’s like a child in elementary school trying to study high school texts—nothing sticks, and you’re overtaken by those who progress step by step, wasting precious time.

“Since your body cultivation talent is exceptional, I suggest you use the Hundred Serpents Chapter to break through to the Zhou Tian Realm. With your comprehension, you should achieve it within three years.”

Li Muxiu said: “Then at age ten, a Zhou Tian Realm cultivator with one hundred meridians—barely inferior to your father.”

“He’s that strong?”

Li Hao was astonished.

For an ordinary person, reaching the peak of the Qi Circulation Realm at age ten is already impressive.

The Shenjiang Mansion breeds geniuses, so expectations are higher—but even so, a Zhou Tian Realm at age ten is still a genius, right? “If I recall correctly, Little Seven’s talent was slightly inferior to Little Nine’s. At seven, he reached the peak of Qi Circulation—your current age. At nine, he perfected Zhou Tian. At twelve, he perfected Soul Succession. At sixteen, he perfected Spirit Travel… Then the boy joined the army. After that, I lost track.” Li Muxiu shook his head.

Li Hao inwardly gasped. This was a monster.

Lin Shu was considered average talent—and at forty, he was still in Spirit Travel.

Yet geniuses… perfected it by sixteen.

And even that was still inferior to that Ninth Uncle?

Li Hao had no reply. But remembering the Ninth Uncle’s talent—among the billions of warriors across Great Yu’s nineteen provinces, he stood among the absolute apex—he finally understood.

“When you enter the Zhou Tian Realm, while cultivating qi circulation, you must also learn the meridian-opening scripture. Your father mastered both the Hundred Battles Zhou Tian Scripture and the Dragon River Divine Meridian Scripture—two of the most difficult pinnacle arts—in just two years, achieving Zhou Tian perfection. Excluding the imperial family, he stood supreme among prodigies.”

Li Muxiu said: “Beyond differences in qi circulation methods, meridian-opening scriptures differ too. Ordinary scriptures open one meridian per level; at Zhou Tian’s tenth level, you have ten meridians!”

“Medium-grade meridian-opening scriptures reach eighteen meridians when perfected.”

“High-grade ones reach thirty-six meridians!”

“Pinnacle scriptures reach fifty-four meridians!”

“The Dragon River Divine Meridian Scripture is the best meridian-opening scripture in our Li family. The first nine levels each open five meridians; the tenth level, perfected, opens nine!”

Li Muxiu looked at Li Hao and smiled: “Now do you understand the vast gap between pinnacle meridian-opening and qi circulation scriptures versus ordinary ones?”

Li Hao counted on his fingers, then drew a sharp breath, stunned.

Even at Zhou Tian perfection, the difference between pinnacle and ordinary could exceed fiftyfold—truly heaven and earth apart! If both qi circulation and meridian-opening were ordinary, ten meridians and ten Zhou Tian would barely surpass a pinnacle qi circulation scripture’s first-level Zhou Tian.

The gap was unimaginable!

This made Li Hao realize how precious and vital resources were on the martial path.

Ordinary warriors without background could only learn common scriptures, doomed to become cannon fodder in their own realm.

This disparity would drive countless warriors to climb at any cost—whether through flattery, connections, or sheer struggle—along a bloody road that ruined families.

Hence, pinnacle martial artists hoarded everything and became famed across the land.

"If your meridians are naturally blocked, opening them will be harder, slowing your progress—but with our top-tier cultivation art, you’ll at most fall out of the elite prodigy tier, yet still remain a genius beyond reach in the eyes of ordinary warriors," Li Mu said.

“If your meridians are naturally blocked, opening them will be harder, slowing your progress. But with our pinnacle scriptures, you’ll merely fall out of the top prodigy tier—in the eyes of ordinary warriors, you’ll still be an unreachable genius.” Li Muxiu said.

In the Li family, geniuses were born too often.

Having held high positions for so long, they’d seen countless minor clans rise like comets with prodigies.

Here, only titans like Li Tiangang or Li Junye drew the attention of elders like themselves. The rest were like the numerous Shu -born youths on the training grounds—merely Hege members of the clan. Li Hao nodded slightly, saying nothing.

“The fish is done.”

Li Muxiu lifted the clay lid, releasing the aroma of cooked fish.

He extinguished the fire, rolled it away, and told Li Hao: “Eat first. Then practice here on your own. I’ll be out this afternoon. If you have questions, ask me tonight.”

“Alright.” Li Hao replied.

The “chopsticks” peeled yesterday hadn’t been discarded; the old man handed them to Li Hao again.

Li Hao copied his manner, wiped them on his clothes, then reached into the pot to pick up meat and eat.

This time, Li Hao no longer found it fishy—only sweet, tender, delicious.

After eating, Li Muxiu collected pot and chopsticks, gave Li Hao a final instruction, then swept his sleeve and stepped forward, vanishing into the horizon.

Li Hao stretched, walked over to the scripture shelves, and quickly found the few texts the old man mentioned—all stored in the seventh-floor glass cabinets, which greatly slowed their decay.

Of course, Li Hao believed the Li family kept hidden copies of these scriptures.

Perhaps even these displayed ones were copies.

Li Hao flipped through the Hundred Battles Zhou Tian Scripture and the Dragon River Divine Meridian Scripture, but couldn’t yet record them into his panel—no surprise, they were pinnacle arts.

He called up his panel, stared at his two accumulated Art Points, and without hesitation, allocated them all to Body Cultivation.

Instantly, a flood of complex information surged into his mind. When the first wave ended, a second surged in.

It took a full quarter-hour before Li Hao fully absorbed it, his eyes gleaming with sudden understanding.

He opened his panel and saw the transformations in his mastered arts.

【Name: Li Hao】

【Age: 7】

【Cultivation: Qi Circulation Realm, Level 10】

【Sword Dao: Stage 2 (Flying Segment) (Hidden Bow)】

【Skills: Sea Without Shore · Tides (Perfected) Falling Snow Sword Art (Perfected)】

【Body Cultivation: Stage 3 (Myriad Forms) (Tiger Press)】

【Skills: Stone Skin Hundred Refinements (True Form) Hundred Serpents Sacred Body, Level 3 (Mature) Tai Chu, Level 3 (Penetrating Void Body Mature) Dragon Cicada Void Body, Level 3 (Shedding Shell Body Mature)…】

【Chess Dao: Stage 4 (5/10000)】

【Fishing Dao: Stage 1 (112/500)】

【Chess Manual Collection: Myriad Forms, Tiger Press, Flying Segment, Hidden Bow】

【Fishing Manual Collection: None】

【Mindset: Chess Mind】

【Art Points: 0】

His physical Dao advanced to Stage Three, the Thousand Serpents Sacred Body instantly reaching its third-layer peak; simultaneously, both the Tai Chu and the Dragon Cicada Void Body also entered their third layer—both at peak!

Body Cultivation advanced to Stage 3; Hundred Serpents Sacred Body instantly reached Level 3, Mature. Simultaneously, Tai Chu and Dragon Cicada Void Body also reached Level 3—both Mature!

Yet what startled Li Hao most was the low-grade body art: Stone Skin Hundred Refinements.

Its rank had become (True Form)!

Body cultivation levels, like technique mastery, were: Entry, Minor Mastery, Full Mastery, Perfection.

Corresponding to technique levels: Entry, Nimble, Perfect, Perfected.

But what was this “True Form”?

A level beyond Perfection and Perfected?!

Besides Stone Skin Hundred Refinements, all other low-grade body arts now bore (True Form) too!

Bull Strength (True Form)—Li Hao felt it. The original flaws of this art vanished. Unconsciously, he followed the insights in his mind and activated it.

Power surged through his entire body, gathering like ox tendons, converging at his fist at his will.

With a whoosh, his punch sent wind blasting over ten meters away—rippling the curtains on the pavilion! Bull Strength in True Form boosted his power by four to five times over before!

And there was a sense of returning to simplicity—his movements transcended Bull Strength’s original rhythm, carrying a subtle, ineffable circular momentum.

As if this was Bull Strength’s true face!

Then Li Hao began practicing Hundred Serpents Sacred Body.

Instantly, the vast power in his dantian stirred, spinning like a windmill.

(End of Chapter)