Chapter 44: Entry? True Form!

“Then persuade them more.”

Shen Yun smiled lightly, skipped past the joke, and said to the two: “You should also go and observe the stone tablet. Each class has limited slots; today is already the second day our academy is recruiting, meaning you have only one more day left to contemplate. Make good use of it.”

Li Yuanzhao hurriedly asked: “What if the Class A slots are full?”

“Then you’ll have to join Class B—but don’t worry. After a month, there will be an examination; if you’re confident, you can challenge Class A for a class swap.”

Shen Qingyun smiled: “No matter which class you’re in, it’s never a one-time fix. Cultivation is competition—with heaven, with demons, and most importantly, with other people!”

“To gain the most resources and the best treatment, you must stand above everyone else to earn the right.”

In the Divine General’s Mansion, as direct descendants, their parents would prepare cultivation resources for them—but in the Tan Palace Academy, everything must be earned through competition.

Hearing this, Li Yuanzhao immediately pulled Li Hao toward the stone tablet where Li Yun and his sister were observing.

Clearly, this was the tablet for top-tier cultivation techniques.

Only a dozen people were meditating before this tablet, while others had twenty or thirty before them; the tablets for mid-tier techniques had the most people, since most, though confident, still chose caution.

Li Hao glanced at the tablet—it recorded a fist technique.

Fist techniques were essential for warriors; mastering fists and feet made mastering other weapons far easier.

He carefully studied it, and characters appeared before his eyes:

{Has learned the basics. Record it?} Li Hao selected “Yes.”

Soon, the technique appeared on his panel—but its level was neither Entry nor Perfection or Ultimate.

【Top-Tier Technique: Zhan Feng Quan (True Form)】

One step—reached the limit!

Li Hao was not surprised.

During the past five years while fishing with Second Master, the old man learned he hadn’t inherited his soul in the ancestral hall. Though angry, he had still guided Li Hao in some fist techniques to ensure he could defend himself.

Thus, on his panel, besides Sword Dao, another path was recorded: Fist Dao.

It had been raised to… Level Six! Besides Fist Dao, his Body Dao, Sword Dao, and Control Dao had all been raised to Level Six! Over these five years, he had been constantly busy, and many skills had improved greatly.

Fishing: Level Five. Chess: Level Five. Cooking: Level Six. Painting: Level Five.

Poetry and Calligraphy: Level Three. Playing the Qin: Level Three.

Total skill points gained: 27.

Now he had used 24, leaving 3 in reserve for emergencies.

Li Hao had originally planned to raise one path to its limit first, but after experimenting, he found every path had a threshold at every three levels.

From Level Three to Four, one must enter the heart.

When his Cooking Dao reached Level Six and maxed out, the system prompted that he needed to comprehend the Spirit of Cooking to advance further.

If entering the heart meant focus and heartfelt love, then entering the spirit required talent—it required grasping the Dao’s rhythm.

Cooking meant creating dishes that broke tradition, infusing them with soul.

Chess was the same.

Placing a stone wasn’t just about winning or losing—it required one’s own wisdom and spiritual rhythm: the so-called “Divine Move,” the astonishing play, a move beyond worldly understanding and insight! Li Hao knew this wasn’t just the panel’s requirement; even without it, when practicing normally, reaching a certain level required entering the heart and spirit. As Second Master said, this was a necessary mental state for cultivating any technique.

Otherwise, one would remain no more than a second-rate expert, unable to reach the peak.

To become strong, first become obsessed! He’d heard that beyond entering the spirit, there was an even higher state: entering sainthood.

But even Second Master, known as the Fist Saint, had only reached entering the spirit in fist techniques—he had not entered sainthood.

The word “saint” in Great Yu was the highest, an inviolable title.

Whether Fist Saint, Sword Saint, or others, none were of the Saint Realm. These titles were more honorific praises, indicating they had reached the pinnacle of their path, nearing sainthood! Li Hao guessed that when he reached Level Nine, he might need to enter sainthood.

He couldn’t imagine what such a state would be like.

But for now, he hadn’t even achieved entering the spirit. Spirit meant essence—luminosity, soul! He had to perform something extraordinary and exquisitely refined to possess his own luminosity, like… a Heavenly Master who had his own Master Dao! As the panel successfully recorded it, a flood of information about Zhan Feng Quan surged into his mind. Li Hao merely closed his eyes briefly and absorbed it all.

He felt as if he had trained this fist technique for fifty years—he knew every move by heart, had surpassed Ultimate, not only fixed its flaws but deeply comprehended its true essence.

As its name suggested, the fist could sever wind, break wind—like a blade or sword, possessing destructive power beyond mere fists and feet!

With this top-tier technique in his hands, it could unleash power rivaling that of supreme techniques.

Li Hao’s gaze returned from the tablet and swept over the dozen others nearby. All were focused, staring intently at the tablet, contemplating deeply. Some lips moved, as if reciting the technique’s description, savoring and absorbing its meaning.

Some techniques were obscure and dense; merely understanding them was difficult. But those who came here mostly came from martial families, raised since childhood in a martial culture, and could decipher even obscure, abstract terms.

Li Hao saw Yuanzhao beside him, utterly absorbed, his small eyes darting back and forth line by line across the tablet’s characters.

He didn’t disturb them. He glanced again and saw Li Yun and his sister crouched before the tablet, faces serious, sometimes lost in thought, sometimes frowning, their wrists subtly turning—as if practicing in their minds, utterly focused, even unaware of Li Hao and Li Yuanzhao’s arrival.

Such diligent children… Li Hao sighed inwardly and turned away.

Nearby, two other tablets had even more people. Some, upon gaining insight, began practicing in open spaces—but their postures were awkward. After a few moments, they felt their movements didn’t match what they’d imagined in their minds, and returned to the tablet to contemplate again.

Li Hao didn’t push forward to record the techniques on those tablets. Below top-tier techniques, the Li family had no shortage.

As his gaze shifted, suddenly, Li Hao spotted Shen Yunqing in a corner of the square—the very man who had brought him here.

Before him was a chessboard.

Li Hao froze, his eyes brightening, and walked over.

…

“Now see how you escape!”

“Hey, didn’t expect that move, did you?”

Across from Shen Yunqing, the gray-robed elder burst into laughter. The board was overwhelmingly in his favor—no chance of reversal. This game was won.

Shen Yunqing sat cross-legged, ignoring his friend’s triumph, scratching his head in deep thought, then finally slumped and sighed: “Fine, you win.”

“What do you mean ‘you win’? I won outright!” the gray-robed elder grumbled.

He reached out, lazily saying: “Hand it over—the Zui Feng Niang. You promised!”

Shen Yunqing pouted reluctantly, pulled his wine gourd from his waist, and handed it over: “One sip. Don’t overdo it.”

“I’m not like you—I keep my word,” the gray-robed elder grumbled, then uncorked the gourd and tilted it back, gulping loudly.

Shen Yunqing panicked, snatched it back, and roared: “I said one sip!”

“That was one sip—I haven’t swallowed yet.”

“You’ve got a straight gut!” Shen Yunqing clutched his gourd, eyes filled with pain, peering inside—his heart sank halfway.

“I’m still keeping score on that last game.”

The gray-robed elder chuckled, then suddenly sensed something, turned his head—and saw a boy with rosy lips, white teeth, delicate and ethereal, dressed in exquisite brocade, radiating noble aura.

“Huh? The Divine General’s son?”

Recognizing the sleeve embroidery and jade pendant, the elder’s expression turned serious. The scolding on his lips changed course.

“You’re playing chess?” Li Hao smiled amiably.

Having lived two lives, as a mature mind, the first words were often obvious small talk—just a way to open the conversation.

“Why aren’t you contemplating techniques?” Shen Yunqing glanced at Li Hao in surprise.

Everyone else was racing against time at the tablets. This boy, instead, had time to wander over here?

Could it be… he wanted them to secretly guide him?

(End of Chapter)