Chapter 5: Perfection

One hour.

Bian Ruxue’s medicinal tub had become completely clear, not a trace of medicinal liquid remaining.

The maids changed her into clean new clothes, dried her hair, and stood beside Li Hao’s medicinal tub, unaware of the significance of it all, merely waiting quietly for Li Hao to emerge.

In contrast, Li Hao’s medicinal tub—under Lin Haixia’s firm insistence—had him obediently soaking inside.

The color inside the tub remained an glaring purple.

The female attendant attending Bian Ruxue glanced over, stunned.

As another hour passed, the other retainers and maids heard the news and came to take a look, all shocked.

Having been immersed in it for years within the General’s mansion, they naturally understood what this meant.

At this moment, they exchanged glances, each seeing the sky falling in the others’ eyes.

The son of the Xing Wu Hou, unable to cultivate?

This is Li family bloodline!

This kind of thing was simply unbelievable.

But the truth was right before them.

The entire courtyard fell silent. Soon, a servant realized the gravity and ran off in panic; not long after, a flood of colorful figures surged into Shanhe Courtyard.

The ladies from every wing arrived, gathering around the medicinal tub, learning from the retainers beside them how long Li Hao had soaked—each found it impossible to believe.

Liu Yuerong stood among the crowd, her heart suddenly thudding.

Could it be the medicine?

But no one had ever said this medicine had such a severe side effect!

She felt a tightness in her chest, yet her face remained composed, immediately showing urgent sorrow.

Inside the tub, Li Hao, looking utterly resigned, spotted the superbly acting Second Lady; from her eyes, he even saw a flicker of genuine panic.

Could this Second Lady really be frightened? Li Hao sneered inwardly.

As the courtyard grew noisier, the First Lady sternly ordered all servants to leave, keeping only the ladies from each wing; she warned them firmly: this matter must not be leaked under any circumstances.

Seeing the Foundation Establishment medicinal liquid show no sign of depletion, Lin Haixia’s heart sank completely.

This couldn’t even be called “slow.”

He thought of a terrifying body type and shuddered—could it be that the Marquis’s prodigy was truly a complete waste, utterly incapable of cultivating martial arts?! Without further delay, Lin Haixia pulled Li Hao out of the tub.

Seeing Li Hao’s body pale from oxygen deprivation, his skin shriveled and wrinkled, the ladies’ expressions varied.

They learned Li Hao had soaked for six hours.

Yet the Foundation Establishment medicinal liquid showed no change whatsoever, underscoring the severity of this matter.

Liu Yuerong saw Li Hao’s lips turned white from soaking; she was certain this was no fraud.

Her heart tightened—she had only wanted to ruin this child’s divine blood, not destroy him entirely!

After all, if he became a complete invalid, this would be far too suspicious!

This was the mighty Li family bloodline—how could he not cultivate?

What if they later investigated the cause…

The First Lady was the first to recover her composure; she immediately instructed Lin Haixia to care for Hao-er properly and ordered her personal maid to bring warm, tonifying herbal decoctions to nourish Li Hao’s weakened body.

…

…

The next day.

Lin Haixia prepared two more tubs of Foundation Establishment medicinal liquid, having Li Hao and Bian Ruxue soak separately.

Lin Haixia stared intently as Li Hao entered the bath.

Li Hao felt helpless—he knew it was pointless, a waste of medicine—but he couldn’t refuse her, so he complied.

Probably, she’d give up after just a few more tries.

At this moment, the same text prompt appeared as yesterday.

[Detecting unknown substance, analyzing…][Analysis failed, automatically isolated.] Li Hao had expected this, so he wasn’t surprised; he sat obediently in the medicinal bath, picking at his toes, utterly bored.

As time passed, the medicinal liquid showed no change; the short Han soldier beside him finally snapped, letting out a low roar.

“How could this happen?!”

Lin Haixia was more emotionally agitated than Li Hao, seemingly even more incredulous.

He paced frantically around the tub, pounding his own head: “The medicine is correct, it can’t be wrong—could it be that the Marquis’s child truly cannot cultivate?!”

This is Li family bloodline!

Li Hao wasn’t overly distressed—he had his panel; he didn’t need these medicinal baths to grow stronger.

But seeing how heartbroken this teacher was, he felt a twinge of guilt and comforted: “Uncle Lin, it’s fine. Don’t be so sad.”

At these words, Lin Haixia trembled.

He looked at the child in the tub and felt tears welling up.

Child, you have no idea what fate awaits you! Looking at this child’s bright, pure eyes, Lin Haixia felt his heart tear open.

Could the commander’s only son really have such a future?

But he could do nothing.

For Li Hao’s condition, he could think of only one possibility: congenital meridian blockage.

This was the standard martial waste body. If it occurred in an ordinary family, it would be normal—nearly nine out of ten commoners were like this, nothing unusual.

But this was the Li family!

The Li family, generation after generation producing true dragons!

Even the least talented Li family child was superior to others.

Not to mention the Li family’s true dragons—each a renowned figure across the land. And this child…

Lin Haixia was speechless, choked. Even a man who could stare unflinchingly at mountains of corpses and seas of blood on the battlefield now dared not look at the child again.

That pure, innocent gaze broke one’s heart.

“It’s fine, it’s fine…” Li Hao saw this man truly grieved for him—not feigned—and felt a warmth in his chest.

He stood up from the tub, tugging at the man’s pant leg, trying to comfort him.

…

…

The second Foundation Establishment medicinal bath ended in failure.

The news spread like a hurricane through the entire General’s mansion; now, Li Hao’s inability to cultivate was confirmed beyond doubt.

Upon hearing the news, the ladies and servants of every Li family wing were stunned, unable to believe it.

In the following days, Li Hao no longer soaked in medicinal baths; instead, people came one after another to examine his body, only to leave shaking their heads.

Li Hao also listened in, learning that in their eyes, this condition was called a martial waste body.

This body type wasn’t entirely incapable of cultivation.

It was just exceptionally difficult.

He couldn’t absorb elixirs or external energy—only through relentless self-training could he achieve any progress.

And even then, he could reach only the Second Realm.

To break through, one needed to commune with heavenly and earthly energy; thus, the Second Realm was the absolute limit.

The news seemed to have reached Yanbei Battlefield; soon after, an urgent family letter arrived by swift courier.

The contents of the letter once again shook the General’s mansion.

The Xing Wu Hou had reached the Three Imperishable Realm! The letter urged the First Lady not to abandon Hao-er—no matter how hard or painful, she must make him walk the martial path.

Even if he only entered at the lowest level, once his divine blood awakened in the future, he could still accomplish something; though he’d never become a genius again, at least he could secure a position as a hundred-commander in the army.

That alone would be worthy of the Li family’s name.

The First Lady was He Shi, named Jianlan.

Though over sixty, He Jianlan looked no older than forty; after reading the letter, she sighed softly: “Hao-er’s fate is bitter—all because of that vile woman.”

No one knew who she meant by “that vile woman.”

…

…

In the days that followed, Li Hao felt things return to normal.

Foundation Establishment was no longer necessary; he heard they planned to wait until he turned four to try blood dissolution.

With that, Li Hao had nothing to do each day and more time to secretly play chess—his experience points surged quietly.

The news of Li Hao’s martial waste body, somehow leaked, spread beyond the mansion.

In Qingzhou City, taverns and restaurants suddenly buzzed with gossip—but most people dismissed it as a storyteller’s exaggeration, none truly believed it.

After all, this was a Li family son.

But when it reached the ears of the Li family’s political rivals, it immediately drew attention.

After sending agents to investigate thoroughly and confirming the truth, many within the court felt both joy and shock.

Joy: the Li family, which had shone for a thousand years, had finally suffered a bloodline collapse!

But shock: the Xing Wu Hou had hidden his strength so well—he’d reached the Three Imperishable Realm long ago and only now revealed it.

Fortunately, his son was a martial waste body; otherwise, he might have become another Li Junye!

…

…

In the blink of an eye, Li Hao turned four.

After a year of stealthy effort, Li Hao’s Go skill successfully entered the second stage.

He also gained a new Art Skill point.

Without hesitation, Li Hao spent the Art Skill point on Sword Art.

His Sword Art thus rose to the second stage.

Compared to the overwhelming flood of information when he first advanced to the first stage, the now four-year-old Li Hao could barely endure it, merely feeling a slight swelling in his head.

As his Sword Art improved, the skills on his panel changed.

【Name: Li Hao】

【Age: 4】

【Cultivation Base: Mortal】

【Sword Art: Second Stage】

【Skill: Sea Without Bounds · Tides (Perfected) [Locked]】

【Mastered Art: Go】

【Go: Second Stage (0/1000)】

【Go Manual Collection: 0】

【Art Skill Points: 0】

Yet, after reaching the second stage in Go, Li Hao found that playing alone no longer granted experience—he needed to compete against others.

(End of Chapter)