However, aside from the Ancient Holy Clan, were there other powers?
Li Hao was curious. Perhaps he would have to ask His Majesty to know more, as his current knowledge was only limited to some intelligence controlled by the Divine General Mansion and it did not include the secret affairs that only the True Dragons of the family could manage.
“Master, the grilled fish will be ready soon. Shall we eat before continuing with the painting?”
Ren Qianqian came over and asked.
Li Hao nodded, finished the painting in front of him and then called over the old man and the young girl to dine together.
Ying Xiaoxiao readily agreed before the old man could stop her, and could only transmit his message secretly: “Miss, we are really not that acquainted yet.”
“Don’t worry, I have an iron stomach; I can digest even poison.”
Ying Xiaoxiao’s response almost made the old man from the tea stall spit out blood; he chuckled bitterly in his heart, and could only comply with the miss.
Nevertheless, when it came to dining, the old man was quicker than Ying Xiaoxiao, quickly grabbing the pieces of fish Li Hao handed to him and swallowing them speedily.
After confirming they were not poisoned and wanting to let the miss know it was safe to eat, he saw Ying Xiaoxiao already devouring her meal, her mouth greasy. It wasn’t that she completely lacked ladylike qualities; it’s just that they were scarce.
The tea stall old man secretly chuckled bitterly, seeing Li Hao eating carefreely, he felt he was perhaps being overly anxious.
If he was by himself, he wouldn’t care much, but having the miss with him always made him overly tense.
Following a meal of grilled fish, the group chatted idly, transitioning from food and drink to cultivation.
The conversation about cultivation was started by Jiang Lichen, quickly moving from Dao Domain to Tao Comprehension Realm, and the existence of the Saint Realm.
Li Hao was just listening, while Jiang Lichen began discussing the path to becoming a Saint with Ying Xiaoxiao.
Having personally witnessed the Buddha Lord trying to leapfrog the Tao Comprehension Realm and become a Saint in one step from the Grand Tao of Peace Realm, Jiang Lichen harbored the same thought.
“There are three paths to becoming a Saint, one is through Incense Sainthood, one is through Sacrificial Dao, and the other is through Extreme Path to Saint Ascension!”
Ying Xiaoxiao, thinking of Jiang Lichen as someone from Li Hao’s side, explained to him, “The path you choose, the Sacrificial Dao to become a Saint, is the most difficult and heavily reliant on perception.”
Jiang Lichen hummed while eating, “I like challenging the most difficult; once my Sword Dao is cultivated to its peak, to ascend through a sword ritual, I will definitely slay everything in the world!”
“…”
Ying Xiaoxiao talked a bit more, feeling that the old man’s mind wasn’t quite there, and stopped paying him any attention, instead turning to Li Hao:
“Which path do you plan to take?”
Li Hao had already understood the differences between these three paths while listening to their conversation.
Incense Sainthood, the most mainstream way of becoming a Saint, was chosen by nearly 99% of all Saints.
Next was the toughest path, Sacrificial Dao to become a Saint—the path Jiang Lichen knew of.
By cultivating one’s Dao to the extreme and using the Sacrificial Dao to ascend, transcending through Dao.
Without relying on Incense Fire, but by using the Sacrificial Dao to overcome the Saint’s Three Disasters!
This path places significant importance on perception!
And the required perception is terrifying, extraordinarily so; after all, what level of perception can equate to the power of billions of incense fires?
It’s the most challenging path, one that no one chooses; rather than wracking brains over this path, it’s more efficient to ponder how to gather some Incense Fire.
It’s akin to the difference between getting into Qingbei and earning a million.
Earning a million, with some effort and luck, can be accumulated over decades.
If insufficient, seeking connections or borrowing from parents would almost suffice.
But getting into Qingbei… it’s not something achievable just by hard work.
Without the brains, no amount of studying helps.
Unless one is reborn with a new mind.
As such, Incense Sainthood was generally chosen beyond reaching the Tao Comprehension Realm, as all were considered prodigies of heaven, and no one would admit to poor perception; but throughout history, countless have failed on the path of Sacrificial Dao to become a Saint.
Thus, gradually, the path was less chosen, with only those exceptionally stubborn trying it but ending up wasting their time without achieving anything notable.
Therefore, Incense Sainthood gradually became the main path; after all, those existing within the Tao Comprehension Realm had some connections—to borrow, to amass, and to patch up, just about making it.
If still not enough, then only time could grind it out.
Although Incense Fire was perpetually scarce, much like money, making an effort still held some hope.
Besides these two paths to becoming a Saint, the third path, as Ying Xiaoxiao had mentioned, the Extreme Path to Saint Ascension, was somewhat unorthodox. Enjoy more content from My Virtual Library Empire
Similar to the Incense Sainthood, the difference lay in that the Extreme Path to Saint Ascension gathered not the Incense Fire Power but grudges, killings, and other negative forces.
Compared to being praised, instilling fear seemed simpler, especially with power at one’s disposal.
This path would have suited Jiang Lichen, who behaved without restraint, but unfortunately, he was too single-minded, insisting on sticking to the Sword Dao.
However, according to Ying Xiaoxiao, this Secret Technique was exclusive to their clan, how it was controlled was not disclosed, and outsiders, even if they learned it, couldn’t use it as their bodies weren’t conditioned for it.
“I… will see when the time comes.”
Faced with Ying Xiaoxiao’s inquiry, Li Hao thought for a moment and said.
According to her, he could choose between the Incense Fire and the Sacrificial Dao.
Li Hao had not yet reached the Tao Comprehension Realm, so exactly how, he would have to wait until his panel points increased before he could see.
He felt, considering the way of adding points to his panel, he might choose the Ritual Path to Saint Ascension.
Physical Body Sainthood!
In their casual conversation, the relationships among them had also grown significantly closer. Although Jiang Lichen appeared crazy, after talking with Ying Xiaoxiao, he secretly transmitted a message to Li Hao:
“They might be from the Demon Race, be careful.”
“Demon Race?”
“Yes, the Extreme Path to Saint Ascension is a long-lost method and also the most evil one. Once detected by a Saint, it will certainly bring great disaster.”
Li Hao was somewhat surprised, not expecting Jiang Lichen, who indeed hailed from the Royal Family, to know quite a lot.
“However, whether they are from the Demon Race or the Divine Clan, it doesn’t really matter; at least they bear no malice towards us,” Li Hao transmitted back to him.
Jiang Lichen thought for a moment and replied, “That might be true.”
Then, he continued to look for Ren Qianqian to teach her swordsmanship.
Li Hao, having eaten, continued painting for Ying Xiaoxiao and the others, his Artistic Path Experience growing significantly.
Time passed quickly.
There were now an old man and a young girl in the small courtyard.
The yard was not large, but everyone seemed to have their own amusements.
Two days later, news arrived from the Imperial City about the Wang Family having information on Feng!
After reading the message, Li Hao became somewhat excited; Feng’s missing soul was indeed in the Mo River.
“Qianqian, practice your sword well in the yard. Ninth Prince, I’m going to the Wang Family; do you want to come along?”
“The Wang Family? No, no.”
Jiang Lichen impatiently waved his hand, saying, “Go quickly and come back quickly, I’ll properly teach your little disciple here.”
“She’s not my disciple.”
“What’s the difference, just go.”
“…”
Really, how to curse someone properly.
Li Hao then looked towards Ying Xiaoxiao and the old man at the tea stall, now also knowing the old man’s name, although unsure if it was real or fake, named Ying Lizhong.
“Do the two of you still want to follow me?”
Ying Lizhong looked at the eager Ying Xiaoxiao, shook his head, and said, “Miss, the area around the Wang Family is surrounded by the Mo River, let’s not join that fray.”
Ying Xiaoxiao thought for a moment and said, “Alright, then we’ll wait here for you to come back.”
“Good, then I’ll trouble the two of you and the Ninth Prince to take good care of Feng.”
Li Hao nodded. Although they hadn’t known each other for long, a friend with a shared drink doesn’t require long to recognize.
Trusting them with Feng, Li Hao felt quite reassured.