Follow the path of Dao from infancy

Shen Yunqing smiled, skipping the joke and said to the two of them,

“You two should also take a look in front of the stele. There are limited spots for each class, and today is already the second day of recruitment at our academy. That is to say, excluding today, there’s only one more day left for comprehension, so you two better hurry up.”

Li Yuanzhao hastily asked, “What if the spots for Class A are filled up?”

“Then you’ll have to go to Class B, but don’t worry, there’s a challenge in a month. If you’re confident, you can challenge Class A and switch classes.”

Shen Qingyun laughed and said, “Regardless of which class you’re in, it’s not a permanent situation. Cultivation is a competition, a struggle against heaven, demons, and most importantly, against other people!”

“To obtain the most resources and the best treatment, you must stand above everyone else to be qualified.”

Within the Divine General Mansion, as descendants of the main bloodline, their parents would provide them with cultivation resources, but at Tan Palace Academy, everything had to be earned through competition.

Hearing this, Li Yuanzhao quickly pulled Li Hao towards the stele where Li Yun and his sister were studying.

Clearly, that was the stele for a superior cultivation technique.

In front of this particular stele, there were only about a dozen people. In front of the other steles, there were twenty to thirty people, with the greatest number studying the intermediate cultivation techniques. After all, most people, although confident, still opted for the safer choice.

Li Hao glanced over and saw that the stele recorded a fist technique.

Fist techniques are almost a requisite cultivation technique for martial artists; when one masters punching and kicking, the cultivation of other weapons becomes much more effective and efficient.

He took a careful look and the words appeared before him:

{Fringe comprehension achieved, would you like to record it?}

Li Hao chose yes.

Soon, the record of this fist technique appeared on his panel, but it was not at the beginner level, nor was it at perfection or perfection.

[Superior Cultivation Technique: Wind-Slashing Fist (True Form)]

One step, push to the limit!

Li Hao was not surprised by this.

During these five years spent fishing with Second Grandpa, even though the old man was angry upon learning he hadn’t carried on the soul in the family shrine, he still taught him some fist techniques for self-defense.

Therefore, on the panel, besides the Sword Path, another Path had been recorded:

Fist Technique.

Upgraded to… Sixth Stage!

Aside from Fist Technique, other paths like the Physical Body Path, the Sword Path, and the Control Path, had all been upgraded to Sixth Stage by Li Hao!

Over these five years, he had been busy daily, and many of his artistic skills had greatly improved.

Fishing 5 Stages, Chess 5 Stages, Cooking 6 Stages, Art of Painting 5 Stages.

Poetry and Books 3 Stages, Playing the Zither 3 Stages.

The total artistic skill points earned were 27.

After using 24 points, 3 points remained, kept for any unexpected needs.

Li Hao had intended to push a single path to its extreme before doing anything else, but after exploring, he found that every Tao Realm had thresholds every three stages.

To move from the third to the fourth stage, one needed a Spiritual Awakening.

When the Cooking Path upgraded to 6 stages full experience, there was a prompt saying that understanding the spirit of cooking was necessary to continue improving.

If focusing intently and loving something passionately were enough to achieve a State of Mind, then a Spiritual Awakening required insight and grasping the essence of the Path.

Cooking isn’t just about making food—it’s about creating dishes that break the mold and infusing them with soul.

The same goes for playing chess.

Playing isn’t just about winning or losing—it also requires one’s own wisdom and charm, that so-called divine move, a remarkable play transcending conventional understanding and perception!

Li Hao knew that this wasn’t just a requirement of the panel, but if he were to practice normally without the panel, to reach certain realms in cultivation, he too would need to experience States of Mind and Spiritual Awakening. According to Second Grandpa, these were stages that any Cultivation Technique must reach.

Otherwise, one would at most be a second-rate expert, struggling to reach the pinnacle.

To be strong, one must first enter the realm of madness!

It is said that beyond Spiritual Awakening lies an even higher realm, the realm of Saints.

But even Second Grandpa, known as a Sword Saint, had only reached a State of Mind with a Spiritual Awakening in his fist technique, never attaining sainthood.

The word “saint” in Dayu is regarded as the supreme term, an untouchable existence.

Be it a Fist Saint or a Sword Saint, they are not actually in the Saint Realm. Such titles are more of a commendatory appellation, indicating that they have reached an extremely high pinnacle in their respective paths, approaching the realm of saints!

Li Hao speculated that when he reached the ninth stage in the future, he might need the state of mind to enter sainthood.

It was hard to imagine what kind of state that would be.

However, at present, he had yet to achieve spiritual awakening.

Spirit, just like the word itself, implies spirituality, brilliance, soul!

He must undertake an exceedingly subtle and exceptional task to possess his own brilliance, just like a Grandmaster such as those from Tianren Sect, who have their unique grandmaster’s path!

As the panel successfully recorded, a multitude of messages about the Wind-Slashing Fist Technique flooded into his mind. Li Hao merely closed his eyes briefly and quickly digested the information.

He seemed as if he had practiced this fist technique for fifty years; he was familiar with all its moves as if they were at his fingertips. He had not only rectified the shortcomings of the Fist Technique but had also deeply understood the true essence of its core.

Just as its name suggests, the fist could slash the wind, break it, as if it were like a knife or sword, possessing destructive power beyond that of mere fists and feet!

This superior cultivation technique, in his hands, was enough to unleash a power comparable to that of the most exceptional techniques.

Li Hao’s gaze moved away from the stone stele and turned to the dozen or so people around him. He saw that they were all absorbed in concentration, earnestly staring at the stele, comprehending. Some were mouthing the words, seemingly following the descriptions of the techniques inscribed on the stele, delving into their meanings.

Some of the descriptions on the steles were obscure and hard to understand. Just comprehending them was difficult, but most of those who could come here had the support of Martial Arts families and had been immersed in the Martial Arts from a young age. Even the cold and rare words in some summaries were understandable to them.

Li Hao saw that Yuan Zhao was also engrossed in reading beside them, eyes moving back and forth across the stele line by line.

He did not disturb him but glanced again and saw Li Yun, the siblings, squatting in front of another stele, with serious expressions, occasionally pondering or frowning and gently rotating their wrists as if they were practicing in their minds, extremely focused, not even noticing his and Li Yuanzhao’s arrival.

Such hardworking children… Li Hao sighed inwardly and turned to leave.

There were even more people in front of the other two stone steles nearby. Some of them understood something and started to practice their swings in the open area, but their postures were awkward. After practicing for a moment, they felt that it was somewhat different from what they had conceptualized in their brains, so they returned to the steles to continue their comprehension.

Li Hao didn’t squeeze past to record the techniques on those steles. The Li Family wasn’t short of any techniques inferior to superior ones.

As his gaze shifted, suddenly, Li Hao saw Shen Yunqing, who had brought him here, in a corner on the edge of the square.

In front of him was a chessboard.

Li Hao was momentarily taken aback, his eyes immediately lighting up as he walked over.

“Let’s see how you get away this time!”

“Hey, bet you didn’t see that move coming!”

In front of Shen Yunqing, the grey-robed elder couldn’t help but burst into laughter. He already had the upper hand on the chessboard, with no chance of overturning the situation, this game was as good as won.

Shen Yunqing sat cross-legged, not minding his old friend’s pride and scratched his ears and cheeks in deep thought. Finally, he relaxed, helplessly conceding, “Alright, you win.”

“What do you mean I win; I clearly won!” the grey-robed elder retorted without good humor.

Then he reached out, leisurely saying, “Hand it over, the Drunk Wind Brew, you promised!”

Reluctantly, Shen Yunqing pulled out the wine gourd tied to his waist and handed it to his old friend, “Just a sip, as agreed. Take it easy on it.”

“Unlike you, I keep my word,” said the grey-robed elder irritably, immediately opening the gourd and tilting his head back to take a big gulp.

Shen Yunqing hurriedly snatched it back, angrily exclaiming, “You agreed to one sip!”

“That was one sip for me, I haven’t swallowed yet,” he replied.

“You might as well pour it straight down your throat!” Shen Yunqing said, holding his gourd tightly and peering into it, feeling his heart turn cold by half.

“I’ll remember that last game of chess for you,” he added.

The grey-robed elder chuckled, then suddenly aware of something, he turned his head to see a young man with bright lips and white teeth, elegant and refined standing nearby. Dressed in brocaded garments, he looked opulent and distinguished.

“Hmm? A young master from the Divine General Mansion?”

Recognizing the sleeve pattern and the Jade Pendant, the elder’s expression became serious and he was about to scold, but the words on his lips changed at the last moment.

“You’re playing chess,” said Li Hao with a cheerful smile.

For someone who had lived two lifetimes as a mentally mature person, the first sentence of a conversation was often a superfluous question knowingly asked, merely a pretext to initiate a conversation.

“Why aren’t you comprehending the cultivation techniques?” asked Shen Yunqing, looking at Li Hao with surprise.

Others were racing against the clock, comprehending in front of the stone steles, but this young man had leisurely sauntered over here.

Could it be that this lad wanted them to quietly give him some pointers?