5. Perfection
Chapter 5: Perfection
An hour passed.
Bian Ruxue's barrel of potion had become completely clear, with no trace of the liquid left.
The maids dressed her in clean new clothes, dried her hair, and stood by Li Hao's barrel, unaware of the significance of it all, simply waiting quietly for Li Hao to emerge.
In contrast, Li Hao could only obediently soak inside his barrel under Lin Haixia's strong insistence.
The color of the liquid in the barrel remained a glaring purple.
The female attendant accompanying Bian Ruxue glanced over and was stunned.
As another hour went by, other servants and maids, having heard the news, came to take a look, all of them shocked.
Living in the General's Residence, they were well-versed in these matters and naturally understood what this meant.
At this moment, they exchanged glances, seeing in each other's eyes the sky falling down.
The son of the great Xingwu Marquis couldn't practice martial arts?
This was the bloodline of the Li family!
Such a thing was simply unbelievable.
Yet the evidence was right before them.
The entire courtyard was silent. Soon, a servant reacted, hurriedly running off, and before long, a large group of brightly dressed figures gathered in the Mountain and River Courtyard.
All the ladies and mistresses of the various courtyards came. Hearing from the nearby servants about how long Li Hao had been soaking, they were incredulous.
Liu Yue stood among the crowd, her heart skipping a beat.
Could it be that drug?
But she hadn't heard of the drug having such a strong side effect!
She felt a panic in her chest, but her face remained calm, quickly displaying an urgent and sorrowful expression.
Inside the barrel, Li Hao, with a face of resignation, also saw his highly skilled actress of a second mother. In her eyes, he even saw a hint of genuine panic.
Could Second Mother really be frightened?
Li Hao sneered inwardly.
As the courtyard grew noisier, the First Lady ordered the servants to leave, leaving only the ladies of the various courtyards. She instructed them that this matter must not be disclosed or leaked!
Lin Haixia, seeing that the foundation-building potion showed no signs of depletion, was also thoroughly disheartened.
This couldn't even be described as "slow" absorption.
He thought of a certain dreadful constitution and shivered. Could it be that the Marquis's young prodigy was truly a complete waste for martial arts?!
No longer continuing, Lin Haixia pulled Li Hao out of the barrel.
Seeing Li Hao's body soaked to a lack of oxygen, his skin shriveled and wrinkled, the expressions of the ladies varied.
They had learned that Li Hao had been soaking for six hours.
Yet the foundation potion showed no change, highlighting the severity of the situation.
Seeing Li Hao's lips turn white from soaking, Liu Yue was certain this wasn't a ruse.
Her heart leapt; she had only intended to waste the child's divine blood, not completely ruin him!
After all, if he became a total cripple, it would be too suspicious!
This was the powerful Li family bloodline, and it couldn't be cultivated?
If the reason was investigated...
The first to regain composure was the First Lady, who immediately instructed Lin Haixia to take good care of Hao'er and ordered her maid to bring some nourishing medicinal soup to restore Li Hao's weakened body.
...
...
The next day.
Lin Haixia prepared two more barrels of foundation potion for Li Hao and Bian Ruxue to soak in separately.
Lin Haixia watched intently as Li Hao entered the bath.
Li Hao felt helpless, knowing it was futile, a waste of materials, but he couldn't resist, so he complied.
He estimated they'd give up after a few more tries.
At that moment, the same text prompt as yesterday appeared.
[Unknown substance detected, analyzing...]
[Analysis failed, automatically isolated.]
Li Hao expected this, so he wasn't too surprised. He stayed obediently in the medicinal bath, idly picking at his toes.
As time passed and the potion showed no change, the short man from the military couldn't hold it in any longer, letting out a low roar.
"How could this happen?!"
Lin Haixia was agitated, seemingly more incredulous than Li Hao.
He paced around the barrel, knocking on his head, "The potion is correct, it can't be wrong. Could it be that the Marquis's child truly cannot cultivate?!"
This is the Li family bloodline!
Li Hao wasn't too upset. After all, with the panel, he could grow stronger without relying on these potions.
However, seeing his teacher so distraught made him feel a bit guilty, so he comforted him, "Uncle Lin, it's okay, don't be so sad."
Hearing this, Lin Haixia's body trembled.
Looking at the child in the barrel, he felt tears welling up.
Child, you don't know the fate you're about to face!
Looking into the child's optimistic, pure eyes, Lin Haixia felt as if his heart was being torn apart.
Could the commander's only son have such a future?
Yet he could do nothing.
With Li Hao's condition, he could only think of one possibility: congenital meridian obstruction.
This was the mark of a martial waste!
If it were an ordinary family, it would be normal, as nine out of ten common people were like this, not an unusual thing.
But this was the Li family!
A family that produced true dragons for generations!
Even the least talented Li family children were excellent compared to others.
Not to mention those Li family dragons, each a figure renowned across the land.
Yet the child before him...
Lin Haixia was speechless. Even on the battlefield, he could face seas of blood and mountains of corpses without changing expression, but now he couldn't bear to look at this child.
Those clean, innocent eyes were heartbreaking.
"It's okay, it's okay..." Seeing this man genuinely upset for him, Li Hao felt a bit warmed.
He stood up from the barrel, tugging on his pants, trying to console him.
...
...
The second attempt with the foundation potion was declared a failure.
The news spread like a storm throughout the General's Residence, confirming the fact that Li Hao could not cultivate.
Upon hearing the news, the ladies and servants of the Li family were shocked and incredulous.
In the following days, Li Hao no longer soaked in the potion but had various people come to check his body, all leaving shaking their heads.
Li Hao listened in and learned that in their eyes, his condition was a martial waste.
This constitution didn't mean he couldn't cultivate at all.
It just meant it would be extremely difficult.
Unable to absorb medicinal pills or external energy, he could only rely on arduous practice for some achievement.
And he could only reach the second realm.
To break through, he needed to communicate with the energy of the world, so the second realm was his limit.
The news seemed to reach the battlefield in the north of Yan. Before long, a family letter was sent back urgently.
The letter's contents once again shook the General's Residence.
The Xingwu Marquis had reached the Three Immortals realm!
The letter instructed the First Lady not to give up on Hao'er, no matter how hard it might be, and to ensure he took the martial path.
Even if he only reached the initial stage, with the awakening of divine blood, he could achieve something. Although he might not become a genius, he could at least secure a centurion position in the military.
Thus, he wouldn't disgrace the Li family name.
The First Lady, surnamed He, was named Jianlan.
Despite being over sixty, He Jianlan looked only in her forties. After reading the letter, she sighed:
"Hao'er is unlucky, all because of that wretched woman."
No one knew who she referred to as the wretched woman.
...
...
In the days that followed, Li Hao felt things had returned to normal.
Foundation building was no longer necessary. He heard they planned to try blood refining when he turned four.
With this, Li Hao, having nothing to do, had more time to play chess quietly, with his experience points silently growing rapidly.
The news of Li Hao's martial waste somehow leaked outside the residence.
In Qingzhou City, suddenly there were discussions in taverns and restaurants, but most people thought it was just a storyteller's gimmick, and no one really believed it.
After all, he was a Li family child.
However, to some of Li family's opponents in court, it quickly drew attention.
Sending people to investigate, they found it to be true, and many were both happy and shocked.
Happy that the glorious Li family, with its thousand-year legacy, had finally shown signs of decline!
But shocked that the Xingwu Marquis was so well hidden, having reached the Three Immortals realm long ago, only now revealing it.
Fortunately, his son was a martial waste; otherwise, he would likely be another Li Junye in the future!
...
...
In the blink of an eye, Li Hao turned four.
After a year of sneaky effort, Li Hao successfully reached the second dan in chess.
He also gained another art skill point.
Without hesitation, Li Hao used the skill point on swordsmanship.
His swordsmanship thus advanced to the second dan.
Compared to the massive information impact when advancing to the first dan, the now four-year-old Li Hao could barely handle it, only feeling his head swell slightly.
With the advancement in swordsmanship, the skills on his panel also changed.
[Name: Li Hao]
[Age: 4]
[Cultivation: Mortal]
[Swordsmanship: Second Dan]
[Skill: Tides of the Boundless Sea (Perfection) [Sealed]]
[Mastered Arts: Chess]
[Chess: Second Dan (0/1000)]
[Chess Manual Collection: 0]
[Art Skill Points: 0]
However, after reaching the second dan in chess, Li Hao found that playing against himself no longer provided experience, needing to find someone to compete with.