Although the Ji family members were surprised, they met Li Hao’s requests immediately and quickly brought him paper and ink.
Li Hao took the ink and paper, which floated in the air. Using his Control Force as a supporting board, he quickly ground the ink.
As the ink and brush flowed, Li Hao gradually refined the contours of the woman in his memory onto the board.
Fine silk and damask draped down, and a beautiful figure stood firm; Li Hao devoted himself entirely and soon completed a painting.
However, Li Hao did not stop, but dipped into the ink again and continued to paint.
One painting after another, becoming more and more detailed, from the woman to the courtyard, to the civil and military officials at the hundred-day banquet.
The scroll carried his mind, like a comic strip, until it reached the parents leading the army, stepping out of the house.
Li Hao’s hand did not stop, and he continued to depict those blurry, sealed memories.
A child stood alone in the courtyard, gazing outward.
The child looked up at the snow in the courtyard.
The stooped old housekeeper in the distant pavilion, with a smiling face, watched with tender eyes.
House servants and maids swept the fallen leaves nearby, occasionally glancing at the young master, eyes also filled with smiles.
In the snow-covered courtyard, the young child, along with the house servants and maids, played snowball fights.
A noblewoman lifted the child, taking him to another courtyard to watch a four or five-year-old child practice swordsmanship.
Lying on the couch, looking towards the door, there seemed to be two shadows.
The noblewoman lifted the child with a loving smile, but her curled up eyes were like two hidden sharp blades…
The strokes of the paintings were sprawling.
A small tail appeared next to the child, sharing foundation establishment medicinal baths and blood melting, and a middle-aged man in blue joined the courtyard.
Under the night sky, both young and old admired the heavenly bodies while drinking.
Finally, a cut-off blue sleeve lay displayed in the hall.
Li Hao’s brush paused slightly, and two clear tears fell onto the grip of his brush.
Master…
No one knew his name anymore, but Li Hao remembered, it was his first master, Lin Haixia.
A tender name, yet belonging to a man of unwavering resolve.
Li Hao felt as if something had shattered in his mind, his abundant Artistic Path experience at Sixth Stage, at this moment, quietly brought forth a notification.
[Artistic Path Experience +726…]
[Artistic Path Experience +682…]
He became engrossed in past memories, unconsciously attaining Spirit Entry in his Artistic Path.
Only those times became clearer and clearer.
But when Li Hao reached the severed hand, he could not continue to paint any longer.
After a long while, Li Hao’s thoughts gradually calmed. He then noticed the Artistic Path experience notifications. His gaze shifted subtly, but he did not feel particularly joyful.
The mindset of seeking and not finding differs from not seeking, yet receiving.
Previously, when he achieved Spirit Entry in the Cooking Dao, Li Hao realized that the more one craves a breakthrough, the more it became a shackle.
Once the state of mind wholly changes, one is free from such obsessions, so even with a swift improvement, he would not feel surprised.
It was like reaching out to pick a fallen leaf, everything just falling into place naturally.
Li Hao paused for a moment, then noticed the dried ink on the brush tip.
His brief lapse had, without him realizing, spanned an unknown amount of time.
Li Hao didn’t stop but glanced at the lively girl’s painting and lifted his brush again, drawing the vividly clear woman from his memory.
With Seventh Stage transcendent Artistic Skill, Li Hao’s strokes were casual, but the figure on the paper seemed to leap off the page, her eyes gazing tenderly at the boy beyond the paper, as if a real person stood before him.
This was not realism, but ink painting, where traces of ink spreading were visible on the sleeve, but the lady’s expression was not like that of a painting, but vivid and lively.
Li Hao put away his ink and brush, glanced at the scattered paintings on the ground. With a thought, his Object Control power covered them, neatly arraying and then packing them up once the ink was dry.
The last to cover these stacks of memory paintings was the vivid, tender woman.
After finishing, Li Hao spread his Divine Thought, sensing the area outside the hall. He saw, aside from the initial retainers, many people waiting outside.
He slightly furrowed his brows, guessing it was likely due to his Dao Seed identity.
He had no intention of hosting, instead, he accessed his panel, setting up barriers around him to avoid prying eyes.
Although others couldn’t see his panel, he planned to upgrade, which would likely cause his aura to surge dramatically.
Currently, Li Hao’s panel showed:
Physical Body Dao Seventh Stage, Control Dao Sixth Stage, Sword Dao Sixth Stage, Fist Skill Sixth Stage, Body Path Sixth Stage.
A total of 31 Skill Points spent.
And the numerous skills he mastered:
Chess Tao Fifth Stage, Fishing Sixth Stage, Musical Rhythm Fourth Stage, Poetry and Books Third Stage, Carving Third Stage, Cooking Seventh Stage, Artistic Path Seventh Stage!
A total of 35 Skill Points!
Now with 4 points remaining, unused unless Li Hao mastered other Martial Arts like knife or spear, but this seemed pointless to him.
After all, mastering other parallel weapons would not significantly increase his strength.
Moreover, given the variety in weapons worldwide, roughly constituting eighteen types, it was impractical to learn them all.
Now, having attained his second Spirit-Entering state of mind, Li Hao planned to apply it to the Control Dao.
Sword Dao was also crucial, greatly enhancing his offensive power and increasing many Sword Skill Cultivation Method levels, but comparatively, Li Hao favored furthering his cultivation first.
Higher cultivation made overpowering with strength easier.
Moreover, the Control Dao involved techniques like the Meridian Opening Skill and the Soul Refining Skill.
“State of Mind: Artistic Path Spirit-Entering (Available)”
Li Hao didn’t hesitate and chose to allocate points to Control Dao.
As the prompt disappeared, the words “Available” after Artistic Path Spirit-Entering were prefixed with ‘un’.
Simultaneously, vast amounts of information surged into his mind.
The amount of information he received this time was still exceedingly complex; if Li Hao were still a toddler of two or three years old, he probably would have been washed into idiocy by the onslaught, unable to bear it.
Regarding Control Dao, the transformation from mortal to transcendent, numerous subtleties were all broken down before Li Hao’s eyes, absorbed by him.
Li Hao slowly digested, merging these insights of the Dao Realms.
When he had absorbed everything, he saw many of his Meridian Opening Skills, Soul Refining Skills, and Object Control Circulation Skills on the painting board, all having undergone tremendous transformations!
Yet, among them, the most noticeable change was not, as Li Hao had hoped, the advancement of the Soul Refining or Object Control Skills, but the Meridian Opening Skill!
The original top-grade Cultivation Technique Hundred Battles Cycle Heaven Skill had transformed into the Stellar Skill!
Dragon River Divine Meridian altered to Dragon Abyss Divine Meridian!
The transformations of these Cultivation Techniques raised his understanding of the Meridian Opening Skills to a new height.
108 meridians, plus the dual Yin and Yang meridians, were the ultimate of all major meridians.
But the Seventh Stage of Control Dao, transcending the ordinary and entering sainthood, brought Li Hao into a new enlightenment.
If the Mortal Pulse had reached its summit, why not transcend?
Li Hao sat cross-legged while the immortal qi within him spiraled and circulated, traveling throughout the major meridians and then, leaping outside the 108 major meridians.
The immortal qi whirled and gathered, gradually, an ethereal meridian pathway was opened by Li Hao within his body.
A Qi Meridian!
This Qi Meridian connected among the 108 major meridians, interlinking with each other.
The Qi Meridian was sparse but resembled a newly forged major meridian!
As this Qi Meridian coalesced, Li Hao immediately felt a boost in his Qi Force, knowing that each meridian brought significant enhancements.
Moreover, as the Qi Circulation Method also improved, each meridian could circulate two thousand times, each newly opened meridian representing an uplift of over 400,000 catties in Qi Force.
And this Qi Meridian’s capacity was greater, and its circulation faster, than the Mortal Pulse!
“108 major meridians are not the limit, above the Mortal Pulse, there exists the Qi Meridian…”
Li Hao’s eyes were unfocused, combining many Cultivation Techniques and the insights from the Seventh Stage of Control Dao, he just glimpsed the transcendent pathway of the Zhou Tian Realm!
The peak of the Mortal Pulse is the Heaven and Earth Vein, but what could the peak of this Qi Meridian be?
Li Hao dared not imagine; the Extreme Realm had already brought down numerous geniuses, making even unparalleled talents stop in their tracks. This transcendent Extreme Realm was probably unrecorded even among the Ancient Holy Clan.
Thinking of this, Li Hao felt it might be possible to inquire further.
At this moment, his immortal power operated, consecutively condensing Qi Meridians within his body.
One, two, three!
When he had condensed 12 Qi Meridians, the Cultivation Techniques and Dao Realms Li Hao mastered had been pushed to their limits, unable to condense further.
The power uplift from these 12 Qi Meridians, although not transformative, Li Hao understood that this was a new beginning.
The path beyond the Extreme Realm.
Only when truly cultivated to full completion, would its terrifying transformation manifest!
Additionally, Li Hao explored the Soul Refining Method and Object Control Method.
Time subtly flew by.
The transformations in the Soul Refining and Object Control Methods propelled Li Hao into higher states both in the Divine Travel Realm and the Fifteen Li Realm, but he didn’t have many Cultivation Techniques in these two realms; originally at 50 Li in the Divine Travel Realm, he now advanced to 90 Li.
Similarly for the Object Control Method, which improved to nearly a hundred Li.
But still, he hadn’t reached the limit.
However, Li Hao felt he was close.
With a few more top-tier Soul Refining and Object Control Methods, reflecting each other, he should be able to break through the Extreme Realm.
While Li Hao was immersed in deducing his cultivation, the door of the hall was knocked three times.
Not receiving a response from Li Hao, silence reigned outside again.
Two more days passed; Li Hao implemented all the insights from the Seventh Stage of Control Dao, familiarizing himself with numerous Cultivation Techniques, and then he lifted the barrier.
“The limits of the Divine Travel Realm and Fifteen Li Realm are near.”
Li Hao thought, wondering what capabilities these ultimate states of the two realms would bring.
He pushed open the door and saw many figures of the Ji Family standing at the doorway.
Before Li Hao could speak, seeing the youth pushing out the door, many Ji Family elders outside instantly showed joyful expressions, hurriedly saying,
“Young Master Ji, you have come out.”
Seeing the complete turnaround in these people’s attitudes, Li Hao was somewhat surprised; he nodded slightly, saying,
“What is it?”
“Earlier, the younger generation was ignorant and spoke out of turn. I have brought them here to apologize to you.”
Beside these elders, there stood several men and women, young and old, battered and bruised.
Li Hao slightly furrowed his brow, shaking his head in disbelief; had they deliberately battered their faces to garner sympathy?
However, feeling their intention to apologize, Li Hao didn’t bother to pursue it further.
“It’s all in the past now, you may leave.”
Li Hao said.
“Young Master Ji, if you have any anger, feel free to vent it, whether through reprimands or punishment, these youngsters are at your disposal,” one elder quickly said.
Li Hao frowned, “Just don’t disturb my cultivation.”
Seeing Li Hao’s displeasure, the elder gave an awkward smile, daring not to say more, and immediately waved a hand signaling everyone to leave.