Chapter 447

"You have only just recovered a little; it is better not to walk around everywhere and to rest more quietly."

The white-bearded old man advised with kind concern.

"Mm."

Li Hao nodded.

He also felt his current physical condition; it was worse than ever before. Having stayed in the void for too long, his battle body was shattered and had suffered deep erosion from the void's power. These forces seemed to have congealed within his body, piercing through him like ferocious thorns, constantly destroying his flesh while remaining in a stalemate with his own self-healing.

He could only rely on the 'Biding Time' attribute to heal slowly.

The Dao power converted within his body had also dissipated quite a bit, and his cultivation base had fallen to the early stage of the True Person Realm; he needed to condense his Dao power once again.

This injury was severe, but the only thing to be thankful for was that he had at least saved his life.

Being able to escape from the hands of a Sage could be considered a miracle.

Thinking of that Void Sage and the Yang Sage, Li Hao could not help but feel killing intent manifest in his heart, but he quickly restrained it. He cast aside these thoughts, needing to heal his injuries first.

"Listening to your accent, you are not from our Canglan Realm, are you?"

The white-bearded old man asked in a gentle voice.

Canglan Realm? Li Hao's heart stirred, and he secretly breathed a sigh of relief; it was good that it was not the Yunxia Realm.

Otherwise, under the eyes of his enemies, it would still be too dangerous with his current strength.

"I was hunted by enemies and fled here from elsewhere. Many thanks to you, Senior, for taking me in."

Li Hao said with lowered eyes. These words were considered honest, only he did not reveal that those hunting him were Sages.

The white-bearded old man's eyes flickered slightly, and a smile appeared at the corners of his mouth as he said, "Once involved in the pugilistic world, how can one not be stained by right and wrong? I will not ask about your enemies. This is the Sword Ancestor Holy Land; you may stay here and heal your injuries in peace."

"Many thanks." Li Hao thanked him again.

The white-bearded old man did not say anything more, instead picking up the herbs nearby to crush and grind them into powder.

In the courtyard, there were gusts of clear breeze. The woman's sword momentum seemed to draw upon the energy in the air, and white Qi gathered at the tip of her sword like ribbons—graceful and beautiful, yet containing a sharp, biting offensive, combining hardness with softness and containing a profound Dao of extreme gentleness.

Li Hao sat on a straw mat, gazing out, and could see that this woman's sword technique was quite profound, not inferior to his own.

Currently, his Sword Dao was still at Level 6, and he had been slow to have any other artistic skills reach the 'Entering Spirit' stage to break through to Level 7.

Having fought consecutively before, although his realm kept rising, his sword techniques and fist techniques were slowly falling behind, and he felt a sense of powerlessness during combat. Now, taking advantage of this opportunity to recuperate, it was the perfect time to find a way to improve his Sword Dao.

With a thought, Li Hao pulled up his panel and looked at his current attributes: Flesh Dao Level 9, Imperial Dao Level 7, Movement Dao Level 6, Sword Dao Level 6, Fist Dao Level 6.

As for artistic skills: Chess Dao Level 6, Music Level 4, Poetry and Calligraphy Level 4, Carving Level 4, Cooking Dao Level 9, Painting Dao Level 7, Fishing Dao Level 5.

Remaining Artistic Skill Points: 5.

Heart-Mind State: Heart of Poetry and Calligraphy, Heart of Carving (Available for use).

The two Heart-Mind States he had spent only 200 merit points to exchange for in the Merit Treasury earlier had allowed Li Hao's Poetry and Calligraphy and Carving to successfully step into Level 4, allowing him to continue accumulating experience.

If he were to study and comprehend them himself, it would take at least two or three months of ignoring everything else and devoting himself completely to understand them, so this could be considered saving months of effort.

Looking at it now, for the third artistic skill, choosing the Level 6 Chess Dao was best.

Having finished a game of chess with Emperor Da Yu earlier, Li Hao had already vaguely touched upon Chess Dao Entering Spirit; now, he was just one step away.

At this moment, a bell chime suddenly came from far away.

The bell chime vibrated like an evening drum, giving people a feeling of comfort that shook the heart and spleen, as if the distracting thoughts in their minds were being swept away.

"Grandfather, I am going to the Holy Land to practice my morning exercises."

In the courtyard, the woman finished practicing her sword, turned to look toward the alchemy room, swept her gaze over Li Hao, and said to the white-bearded old man.

"Mm."

The white-bearded old man was focused on grinding the herb powder and only responded with a sound, not looking up.

Li Hao watched this life-saving benefactor fly away on her sword, disappearing into the horizon in the blink of an eye.

The courtyard became quiet again, leaving only the 'gugu' rolling sound of the stone pestle grinding the herb powder.

Li Hao was quite curious about the surrounding environment, but he knew that being too eager and exploring rashly would be counterproductive. He was not in a hurry, so he closed his eyes to rest and focused on healing his injuries in peace.

Time flew by.

In the blink of an eye, a month passed.

Through recuperation and the self-healing of 'Biding Time', the void erosion in Li Hao's body had been purified by one-third, and his complexion was improving.

At this moment in the courtyard, Li Hao sat in the corridor, his feet dangling in the air outside like a swing. He held a small knife and a piece of wood the length of a chopstick in his hands. The small knife moved nimbly at his fingertips, and he gradually carved the likeness of an old man on the wood, with a kind and benevolent expression.

Soon, as the final cut was finished, Li Hao finished his work, and seeing the experience prompt appear on the panel, a smile appeared at the corners of his mouth.

Over this month, he had intended to study Chess Dao and Fishing to let these two artistic skills reach 'Entering Spirit', but unfortunately, no one here liked to play chess, and he could not accumulate experience playing against himself. As for fishing, it went without saying that he would have to go outside the Holy Land to find a place.

With his injuries not yet healed, it was inconvenient for Li Hao to run around, lest an accident occur.

With nothing to do, he decided to improve his Carving Dao in this courtyard first.

In any case, it had to be improved sooner or later, and in this tranquility, it was perfectly suited for one person to carve slowly.

Besides accumulating carving experience, he would also ponder that final glimmer of inspiration for Chess Dao when he was free, though he had no leads for the time being.

"Your carving craft is quite impressive; you must have studied it."

The white-bearded old man's voice came from behind. He glanced at the old man in Li Hao's hand, and seeing it was his own likeness, his eyes softened a bit more as he said softly:

"I just received news that 300 portions of Spirit-Condensing Pills need to be refined today; you should come and help too."

"Alright."

Hearing this, Li Hao put away the small knife and placed the carved wooden old man on the wooden shelf beside him.

There, besides the old man, he had carved many other things, many of which were acquaintances of Li Hao from the mortal world, as well as the little white fox and the great demons he had impressions of.

After putting them away, Li Hao went into the alchemy room. After a month of getting along, Li Hao also knew this old man's identity; his name was Lin Shanhai, and he was a high-level alchemist of the Sword Ancestor Holy Land, with a very high status, second only to the Semi-Sage Elders.

There were also alchemists in the Great Yu Divine Dynasty, belonging to the imperial court, and there were also some in the pugilistic sects, but the pill formulas and techniques they mastered were limited, and their treatment could not be compared to the Imperial Alchemy Academy.

"Same as usual, you do the stir-frying first, and then I will refine them."

Lin Shanhai moved the herbs over and said to Li Hao, "This ancestral stir-frying specialty of yours is truly amazing. Ever since I had your help, not only has the finished product rate of my pills increased, but the quality has also greatly improved. However, these trivial matters have also increased..."

Speaking of this, he felt a bit helpless, but there was still a smile on his face.

After all, every time he refined pills, he could get a certain commission; more work meant more benefits.

"A small trick, not worth mentioning."

Li Hao smiled; he also did not expect that his Cooking Dao could actually intersect with alchemy.

Earlier, watching the old man refine pills and smelling that unusual pill fragrance, he had a sudden inspiration: he wondered if his Cooking Dao could cook herbs into delicacies comparable to pills.

After having this idea, he borrowed the low-grade herbs the old man had left over to try cooking. Under the core refining ability of his Level 9 Cooking Dao, the essence in the herbs was extracted and made into simple herbal dishes, and the effect was truly not inferior to pills.

Moreover, compared to pills, there was no fire poison, and it was pure absorption, which even Li Hao's special situation could absorb, and as it was treated as a dish, it was not blocked by the panel.

"This is no small trick; this is a refining technique that many alchemists dream of mastering. One of the cores of alchemy is refining, followed by proportioning and refining. Your refining technique is the best I have ever seen, and also the most unconventional; even I, an old man, feel inferior."

Lin Shanhai praised, "Your ancestors must have been extremely powerful alchemists who compiled this purification method into a cooking style to avoid being spied upon by outsiders, and it was passed down in such an obscure way."

"... Perhaps."

Li Hao felt a bit ashamed. The words he had casually made up when he first revealed his cooking refining had led this old man to imagine a background of grievances and grudges, even feeling that he was hunted by enemies because this secret was leaked and spied upon by those with ulterior motives.

Regarding this, Li Hao naturally did not go to explain... this was just as well.

At this moment, he stepped forward to help and prepared the herbs.

When Lin Shanhai started the furnace, he immediately activated the herbs with his palms, stir-frying and melting them in the void, using his Qi as a spatula to refine the herbs.

Soon, the herbs were cooked, and emerald-green juice emerged from within.

Lin Shanhai had experience and tacitly shook open the furnace lid.

Li Hao guided all the refined herbal juice into the alchemy furnace.

Firelight appeared in Lin Shanhai's palms, and he began to manipulate the drugs in the furnace to condense.

The two had a clear division of labor, and working together, soon pill after pill exuding fragrance was taken out of the medicine furnace.

"Done."

Two hours later, three hundred portions of Spirit-Condensing Pills were all refined.

A smile spread across Lin Shanhai's face as he pounded his old back and said:

"With your help, it's much easier. You are a stranger in the Canglan Realm with no relatives or friends; if you are willing, you can stay here and be my alchemy assistant from now on. Once you learn those few medium-grade pill formulas, you can be appointed as a medium-grade alchemist and enjoy an extraordinary status. In the future, the few high-grade pill formulas I have will also be passed on to you."

"Lin Lao, you are too kind. It's just a small matter of lending a hand; talking about pill formulas makes it seem like we are strangers."

Li Hao shook his head and said.

Lin Shanhai shook his head and smiled; this was not the first time he had mentioned this, but Li Hao had refused repeatedly, and he was used to it.

"Come, drink some tea."

Lin Shanhai brought tea and invited Li Hao to drink tea and rest.

Li Hao also sat at the tea table and slowly tasted the tea with him, his gaze falling on the woman practicing her sword in the courtyard.

The other party's name was Lin Qingying, and she was Lin Shanhai's granddaughter, as well as one of the ten Holy Maidens of the Sword Ancestor Holy Land. Her sword Dao talent was excellent, and she possessed Holy Bones, suspected to be a Sage reincarnated.

However, a reincarnated Sage cannot recover all their memories before becoming a Sage.

At this very moment, the other party was still Lin Shanhai's granddaughter.

"Miss Lin is truly hardworking..."

Li Hao watched the woman practicing her sword day after day without stopping, and he could not help but feel moved. Whenever he saw these people practicing diligently, he felt a sense of shame.

However, thinking that his carving could also be considered practice, he felt a little more at ease.

"Before long, it will be the Holy Land Sword God Battle. This time, the strongest Heaven's Pride in the Holy Land will be chosen to represent the Sword Ancestor Holy Land in the All-Sages Heaven's Pride Battle. The quota is extremely precious and concerns the path to becoming a Sage, so she naturally dares not stop."

Lin Shanhai held the teacup and said with a smile, but there was a hidden worry in his eyes.

Fighting with others leads to injuries, and even casualties.

But all things compete; if one does not advance, one retreats. This path is destined to be one of blood and tears.

During this period, Li Hao had also heard a lot about the Land of All Sages, and he was no longer as unfamiliar with this place as he was at the beginning.

In the Thirty-Three Realms, there were one hundred and eight Sages. Since a thousand years ago, many Sages had used incarnations or their true bodies to reincarnate and practice in the mortal world.

Also starting a thousand years ago, every hundred years, there would be a Heaven's Pride Battle that swept through the Thirty-Three Realms and covered numerous dynasties.

It was said that the person who won first place could receive the incense of ten thousand nations and become a Sage on the spot! This also led to the centennial All-Nations Heaven's Pride Battle being extremely intense, and many reincarnated Sages would also participate in the competition.

With a 'dong' sound, the morning bell rang.

Hearing the bell chime, Lin Qingying slowly put away her sword, turned her head to look at the alchemy room, swept her gaze over Li Hao, and said to the white-bearded old man.

After a month of getting along, she had also become accustomed to Li Hao's presence. From her grandfather's mouth, she also learned that this person she had picked up was from an alchemy family, only that something might have happened to his ancestors, the family had declined, and now he had become her grandfather's alchemy assistant.

She was not interested in alchemy, so naturally, she did not bother to pay much attention.

"Grandfather, I am going to the Holy Land to practice my morning exercises."

Lin Qingying said to Lin Shanhai.

Immediately after, she flew away on her sword.

(End of chapter)