Chapter 9: Tai Chu

Strength like that of lions and elephants surged through his body; Li Hao clenched his fist slightly, feeling his small hand could easily crush large rocks!

Just moments ago he had been an ordinary mortal, yet in this brief span, he had become a cultivator!

Tongli Realm is the first stage of martial cultivation, primarily training strength.

When strength flows through the entire body, it is called Tongli.

After countless years, each level of Tongli Realm has been clearly defined: Level One means lifting one tripod, or 200 jin of arm strength.

Ordinary families, through regular food and exercise, can barely match Level One of Tongli Realm.

But to go higher, unless one is born with extraordinary strength, cultivation is required.

Each level up adds one more tripod.

Level Seven means seven tripods—meaning Li Hao, at just five years old, can now lift 1,400 jin.

And this is merely arm strength; his full-body explosive power allows him to leap effortlessly over a hundred meters, move like lightning, and easily slay hundreds of ordinary strong men.

“Finally, I can cultivate—at least now I have some means of self-defense.”

Li Hao’s heart surged with excitement; he felt just a slight exertion, his body tensing, his skin thickening immensely—though still soft, it no longer tore easily when pinched, but stretched like taut oxhide, unyielding even when twisted!

“But this should be the limit of Stone Skin Hundred Refinements; if I cultivate those two secret texts, my cultivation base should rise further!”

Li Hao thought to himself.

He took a deep breath, adjusted his physical state, waited until the crimson hue on his skin faded and returned to normal, then left the room.

Afterwards, Li Hao summoned Zhao Bo and told him to send someone to inform Auntie.

Soon, a reply came from Auntie’s side—again, the maid named Xuejian came to accompany him.

This time they went straight to the sixth floor; Li Hao picked up the two secret texts and began flipping through them one by one.

With his understanding and insight from the first stage of Body Dao, as he read these texts again, Li Hao suddenly understood many passages that had previously been incomprehensible.

“Learned the basics. Add to inventory?”

Yes! He added both secret texts to his interface in less than half a moment, then told Xuejian to take him downstairs.

Though Xuejian felt helpless inside, her face showed nothing—children, after all, were just playing; as for reading secret texts, ha, even if she watched for days, no one could possibly understand them in such a short time.

Even the first-floor texts, if left outside, were considered mid-tier—without three to five days of contemplation, one could barely grasp the basics.

And these were sixth-floor texts.

The more powerful the technique, the harder it was, and the higher the cultivation threshold.

Li Hao had no idea what the girl was thinking, but even if he did, he wouldn’t care—after all, he was a child; who would take a child’s thoughts seriously? Back in Shanhe Courtyard, before cultivating, Li Hao ordered the maids to prepare some food and drink.

Earlier, while cultivating Stone Skin Hundred Refinements, he had felt his body consumed heavily; now, after just a moment, he already felt ravenously hungry.

“Is this enough for anyone to eat?”

“Bring another plate—no, one more of each dish. I’m still growing! Do you think I can’t finish it?”

Under the stunned stares of the maids, Li Hao devoured the entire table of meat, wiped his greasy little mouth, and still felt only about sixty percent full.

But fearing he might frighten them, he stopped there, strode confidently back to his room, and began cultivating.

The previously obscure “Thousand Serpent Sacred Body” had four levels; when added to his interface, only the first two showed as mastered.

Level One: Serpent Demon Body—after cultivation, all bones harden, skin becomes like dragon scales, impervious to blades and swords.

Level Two: Serpent Dragon Body—contains half-dragon power, further enhancing all bodily attributes.

Huh! Li Hao assumed his stance, his body crouching like a ferocious tiger, his spine arched like a drawn bow, his bones softly cracking.

Through his understanding of Body Dao, he was opening the hidden gates of his body.

Every cell in his body seemed ignited; his blood flow accelerated again—and this time, Li Hao felt faint, cool energy seeping from outside, flowing into his body.

This was the Taiyin energy of heaven and earth.

As Taiyin energy entered his body, his previously crimson skin gradually returned to normal, while his flesh and blood rapidly transformed.

The hidden gates opened, his body refined by heaven and earth.

As more Taiyin energy flooded in, Li Hao’s skin turned pale, then faintly bluish, like a corpse; faint protrusions appeared on his skin, resembling dragon scales.

After three incense sticks burned, Level One cultivation ended.

Li Hao checked his cultivation base—his level had risen again, from Tongli Realm Level Seven to Level Ten, the Perfect Stage!

The first nine levels of Tongli Realm differed little, each increasing by 200 jin; but between Level Nine and Level Ten lay a threshold—power doubled! Level Ten meant complete Tongli: strength fully integrated throughout the body, unified as one. His double-handed lifting capacity now reached 3,600 jin! Li Hao was delighted, yet as he examined his body closely, he felt a pang of regret—his divine blood had not awakened.

Those with divine blood could awaken it at the Perfect Stage of Tongli Realm, gaining another power boost to 7,200 jin! Such a gap allowed divine-blooded cultivators in Tongli Realm to effortlessly dominate their peers, even overcoming technique deficiencies through sheer brute force alone!

Like a pay-to-win veteran versus a casual player in a game.

It seemed grossly unfair, yet it was normal—divine blood lineage required one’s parent to have reached the Three Imperishable Realm; across all nineteen provinces of the Great Yu Dynasty, only a handful had achieved this.

Without divine blood’s boost, Li Hao did not lose heart; he adjusted slightly and continued cultivating the second level.

Half an hour later, he slowly finished, opened his eyes, and a flash of divine lightning seemed to shoot forth—his pupils had grown darker, deeper.

He felt his body—his strength was clearly far greater than before; he now wanted to find someone to spar with, to test his exact power.

He pulled up his interface and stared in surprise—his realm had not advanced; his cultivation base remained Tongli Realm Level Ten.

His strength had surged, yet he hadn’t reached Zhoutian Realm?

Li Hao paused, then suddenly realized—he didn’t yet know how to circulate Qi.

After reaching the Perfect Stage of Tongli Realm, a new substance called “Qi” had formed within him—strength fills, Qi arises.

The sensation of Qi was like the bulging power of the biceps.

But Qi wandered freely through his body, and he could not control it.

Li Hao suddenly remembered—the second level of Thousand Serpent Sacred Body didn’t explain how to circulate Qi.

And the third level, with his current Body Dao, he still couldn’t comprehend. “Serpent Dragon Body—possesses half-dragon power. How strong am I now?” Li Hao thought inwardly; he could feel his strength had increased greatly, at least doubled, perhaps more.

Li Hao did not rush to test it; instead, he turned to another body cultivation technique:

“Tai Chu” Fragment.

With the support of his Body Dao insight, Li Hao quickly grasped many concepts and immediately began cultivating.

According to the general outline of the Tai Chu Fragment, this body cultivation method had five stages.

But the fragment in his possession contained only the first two stages; the latter three were lost.

Merely the first section required opening the body’s hidden gates, sensing the Taiyang and Taiyin energies of heaven and earth, and achieving simultaneous entry of both Yin and Yang forces to refine the body.

Without Body Dao’s aid, ordinary people would find completing the first step as difficult as climbing to heaven.

But now Li Hao moved as if familiar with the path, effortlessly mastering it.

As Yin and Yang energies converged within him, his body continuously transformed.

The second section involved using the Yin-Yang energy within to attract celestial forces into the body, cultivating the Star Battle Body.

This was a physique even more formidable than the Serpent Dragon Body—containing both Taiyin and Taiyang energies, the body like a celestial core furnace, brimming with intense heat and power.

When Li Hao opened his eyes again, it was midnight.

Unconsciously, he had cultivated for seven or eight hours.

His gaze was inwardly subdued and calm; he slowly opened his eyes, his breath as deep and prolonged as a coiled dragon.

His hearing and vision had both improved dramatically.

Li Hao even heard the faint whooshing wind in the courtyard—not the sound of wind, but of swords.

Someone was practicing swordplay.

With Li Hao’s sword realm, he could reconstruct the entire posture and form of the swordsman from the sound alone.

It was that little girl.

Is she also working so hard? Li Hao’s lips curled into a faint smile; then he pulled up his interface to check.

【Name: Li Hao】

【Age: 5】

【Cultivation Base: Tongli Realm Level Ten】

【Sword Dao: Second Stage】

【Skill: Sea Without Shore · Tides (Supreme) [Locked]】

【Body Dao: First Stage】

【Skills: Stone Skin Hundred Refinements (Mastery), Thousand Serpent Sacred Body (Serpent Dragon Body Minor Mastery), Tai Chu (Star Body Entry)】

【Chess Dao: Third Stage (0/5000)】

【Chess Manuscript Collection: 0】

【Art Points: 0】

“Still Tongli Realm?”

Li Hao was surprised—he could feel his body had changed immensely, far stronger than when he first reached Level Ten; he believed his current physique could unleash the Supreme-level Tides Sword Art without strain, yet he still hadn’t advanced.

But so far, he still didn’t know how to circulate Qi through the meridians.

These first two sections of Tai Chu body cultivation seemed meant only for Tongli Realm.

Yet the power they granted already far surpassed Tongli Realm.

The only problem? The cultivation was excruciatingly difficult!

Even with his current first-stage Body Dao insight, he had barely entered the threshold; an ordinary person would likely need ten to twenty years to reach this point.

By then, they would have long since entered Zhoutian Realm.

After all, compared to entering Zhoutian Realm, this seemed even harder.

Li Hao stood up, adjusted to his body, then opened the window—sure enough, a small figure was practicing swordplay under the starlight in the courtyard.

But to Li Hao’s surprise, compared to the clumsy, crooked swings of the morning, her movements now had form and grace.

This little girl had some talent indeed.

Li Hao smiled, then pushed off with his palm, flipping out the window and landing lightly on the ground.

He walked to a rockery in another part of the courtyard; according to Zhao Boyi, this rockery had been carried back single-handedly by his father as a teenager, weighing a hundred ding!

Li Hao crouched slightly; the retainers and maids were resting, and the few on duty were patrolling elsewhere.

While no one was around, he ran to the rockery, glanced at it twice, reached out, and found a recessed stone cavity, then tried to push it.

Gulu!

To Li Hao’s shock, when he unleashed all his brute strength, the rockery—weighing over ten tons—was lifted clean off the ground! As the rockery shifted, the nearby pond water surged and flooded into the space beneath it.

Realm of Tongli, Tenth Layer, no divine blood, strength to lift twenty thousand jin!

Li Hao panicked and quickly released his grip, lowering the rockery back down.

(End of Chapter)