Follow the path of Dao from infancy

He stood tall and straight, with star-like brows and sharp eyes. Beneath his fierce brows, there was a pair of cold and resolute eyes.

With a sword at his waist and an imposing presence, he resembled a proud dragon.

“Brother Song.”

Upon seeing the young monk, Li Qianfeng nodded slightly.

“Li Qianfeng, do you still remember me?”

The beautiful woman beside him spoke out, staring at the young man, her eyes lighting up.

Li Qianfeng glanced at her and frowned. “You are?”

“One year ago, Qingfeng Ridge!”

The woman’s eyes shimmered with hope, “Do you remember?”

“Qingfeng Ridge…” Li Qianfeng’s eyes revealed a hint of reminiscence as he pondered, “It seems the demon there has already been eliminated.”

“It’s me, Murong Qiulan. Back then, it was you who shielded me from that Yin Wind Serpent Demon’s attack. Without you, I would have already died!” Murong Qiulan said hastily.

Li Qianfeng frowned slightly and glanced at her. “You came here for?”

“I said at that time that I would definitely repay your kindness. I, Murong Qiulan, would not marry anyone but you in this lifetime!”

Blushing, Murong Qiulan summoned the courage, biting her teeth as she spoke.

“So, you are here to repay your debt with ingratitude?”

Li Qianfeng raised his eyebrows.

Murong Qiulan: “…”

The young monk beside them cast an astonished glance at Li Qianfeng, who could speak such harsh words to such a beautiful woman. Indeed, this junior brother truly deserved to be a direct disciple of the Buddha Lord.

“I just want to repay you…” Murong Qiulan bit her lip, speaking with a sense of grievance.

She had traveled thousands of miles, used connections to come up the mountain, only to encounter such a cold reception.

“What is your family background?”

Unmoved by the woman’s pitiful appearance, Li Qianfeng calmly asked.

Murong Qiulan was momentarily stunned, then quickly responded, “The Murong family is the foremost great clan in Bai Feng City. My father, the clan leader, already reached the Fifteen Li Realm in his youth, traveled widely, and made extensive connections. He has long since stepped into the Heavenly Human Realm and, given the chance, this life… might not be without hope of reaching the Three Immortal Realms.”

“Your father’s age?”

“He just turned fifty-four this year.”

“He’s already old.”

Li Qianfeng shook his head slightly, “With such talent, reaching the Immortal Realm is arduous, and even if he truly steps into the Immortal Realm, he would count for nothing in front of my Li family. Your family status is too humble!”

Murong Qiulan opened her mouth slightly, speechless.

How could she not be aware? Considering family background, how many in Dayu could compare to the young man before her?

She clenched her teeth and said, “But, my mother said, if two people truly love each other, why bother about family background? I don’t mind, I am willing to forego a dowry, I don’t want anything, I just want you!”

“Your words are very greedy in themselves!”

Li Qianfeng said indifferently, “I myself surpass countless dowries, marrying me is like gaining half a province! The matter of my marriage will be decided by my mother in the future, and she would only consider someone of equal social standing, such as a princess or the daughter of a duke. Your family’s status is probably not esteemed by her.”

Murong Qiulian’s face turned ashen, at a loss for words.

She hadn’t expected this to be the case, coming forth as a woman to confess her feelings, even inclining herself to pursue him, and yet to be spurned.

The young monk nearby was astounded by Li Qianfeng’s words; this junior brother was incredibly fierce!

“But what if the person you marry in the future is not to your liking?”

Murong Qiulan was biting her lip, feeling as if her heart were bleeding.

Li Qianfeng said impassively, “Matters of marriage are essentially transactions, not about liking. In this life, only the sword accompanies me, the rest are merely trivialities.”

Upon hearing this, both were stunned, and then silence ensued.

The stunning young man before them, like a proud dragon under the sun and moon, possessed exceptional talents, yet he seemed to have devoted all his heart to the sword in his hand.

Clearly, discussing love and affection with such a person was futile.

Murong Qiulan was silent for a long time before she said, “I understand, but… if I were willing to marry you as a concubine?”

As she said this, she raised her head again to look at the extraordinary young man.

The young monk beside her changed his expression slightly, glanced at the woman, and subtly turned his head away, somewhat unable to bear it.

Is this what the master spoke of as the world’s foolish passions?

“As a concubine…” Li Qianfeng pondered for a moment and said, “As a grandmaster’s daughter, you barely qualify, but it must wait until after I am first married.”

“I can wait!” Murong Qiulan immediately said.

“Very well.”

Li Qianfeng nodded his head once, not saying more, then turned to the young monk beside him and asked, “Brother Song, did you bring the registration book? I am about to leave the mountain for a while after coming out of seclusion.”

The young monk snapped back to reality, nodded, and pulled out a register from his kasaya, along with a brush and ink.

“Brother Qianfeng, you have been up the mountain for more than a decade; are you returning home this trip?”

“Indeed, it is time to visit home, but before that, I must also strive for some achievements.”

As Li Qianfeng spoke, he took the brush and ink to register.

The young monk asked in surprise, “Oh? Does Brother Qianfeng still need achievements?”

“Brother Song jests, we of the Li Family must each earn our own accolades. Moreover, this return is to compete for a True Dragon position; having some achievements surely helps,” Li Qianfeng replied, appearing very amiable as he made quick work of the registration before handing back the brush and ink to Brother Song.

The young monk blew the register dry, closed it, put away the brush and ink, and said with a smile, “Brother Qianfeng, you are too cautious. With your cultivation level, who can compete with you for the True Dragon position?”

Li Qianfeng smiled faintly, his gaze drifting to the distance.

In his mind, an image surfaced, that of the woman his mother had mentioned when she visited him on the mountain.

Li Wushuang.

A year ago, when he descended the mountain to slay demons, he also heard her name. She had already made it to the Qiankun List’s Qian Rank!

A ninth-grade battler, taught by a renowned master, a year and a half younger than him, she had already earned a reputation in Jianghu, one step ahead in making a name for herself.

This journey would see her as his greatest competitor.

Though they had not met, Li Qianfeng felt a premonitory sense that she was following closely behind his footsteps.

Thinking this, he slightly curled the corner of his mouth, determined to let his cousin know that not everyone could catch up to his shadow.

He believed in himself, as well as the sword in his hand.

“May I accompany you?” Beside him, Murong Qiulan seized the opportunity and asked cautiously.

She looked at Li Qianfeng with a pitiable expression, the image of his sword strike that crushed the Yin wind serpent demon still echoing in her mind.

“If you can keep up, then follow me.”

Li Qianfeng said indifferently, unfazed by her demure demeanor.

Inside Cangyu City.

After the demon calamity was resolved, Li Hao and others were also ready to make their way back home.

The business of the Monster Suppression Department had also slowed down, with no other tasks besides cleaning up the demon corpses outside the city.

Temporarily, hardly any demons dared to invade Cangyu City, unless it was some foolish little demon with a lack of spiritual intelligence who dared to commit offenses against the wind.

Meanwhile, Li Hao collected calligraphy, poetry, and books throughout the city, reaping significant rewards.

[Name: Li Hao]

[Age: 14]

[Cultivation Level: Peak of the Fifteen Li Realm]

[Sword Dao: Sixth Stage (Flying Phase) (Hidden Bow)]

[Sword Techniques: Endless Sea (True Form), Falling Snow Sword Skill – Avalanche (True Form)…]

[Physical Body Path: Sixth Stage (Myriad Forms) (Tiger Press)]

[Physical Techniques: Golden Skin Hundred Refinement – Vajra (True Form), Thousand Jiaos Holy Body – Transform into Jiao (True Form), Primordial Fifth Layer (True Primordial Body), Dragon Cicada Void Body – Dragon Ascent (True Form)…]

[Control Path: Sixth Stage]

[Control Techniques: Heavenly Gang Zhou Tian Skill – Heavenly Gang (True Form), Hundred Battles Cycle Heaven Skill – Unparalleled (True Form), Dragon River Divine Meridian – Dragon’s Breath (True Form), Nine Revolutions Starry Sky Skill – Nine Revolutions (True Form)…]

[Fist Technique: Sixth Stage]

[Fist Techniques: Half-Step Invincible Fist Sixth Layer (Perfected), Heaven and Earth Penetrating Fist (Perfected)]

[Body Technique Path: Second Stage]

[Movement Technique: Bai Fengxing (Perfected)]

[Chess Tao: Fifth Stage (18322/50000)]

[Art of Painting: Fifth Stage (8273/50000)]

[Poetry and Books: Third Stage (4999/5000)]

[Musical Rhythm: Third Stage (4999/5000)]

[Fishing Tao: Fifth Stage (21827/50000)]

[Culinary Dao: Sixth Stage (99999/100000)]

[Chess Catalogue Collection: Myriad Forms, Tiger Press, Flying Phase, Hidden Bow, Concealing Brilliance, Seven Phoenixes Lighting the Lamps]

[Masterpiece Painting Collection: Thousand Mountains Birds Flying Painting, Snow Mountain Spirit Fox Painting, Kylin Steed Painting, Blood Sea Fierce Jiao Painting, Mountain Landscape Painting, Qiongqi Mountains Painting]

[Poetry and Books Catalogue Collection: Zhao Xinhuan’s Poetry, Song Yuan’s Poetry]

[Musical Scores Collection: Phoenix Seeking Mate, Hidden Orchid, Moon Chime, Little Hu Xiao]

[Fishing Catalogue Collection: None]

[Cooking Recipes Collection: None]

[State of Mind: Chess Mind (Expended), Art Mind (Expended), Fishing Mind (Expended), Culinary Mind (Expended)]

[Artistic Skill Points: 1]

On this trip, he acquired two chess manuals, “Concealing Brilliance” and “Seven Phoenixes Lighting the Lamps.”

Li Hao chose to embed “Concealing Brilliance” into his Physical Body Path, and soon, its attributes became apparent.

Concealing Brilliance: In a relaxed state, the body rapidly heals itself, and severed limbs can slowly regenerate.

This effect was excellent, although he had hardly ever been injured.

“Seven Phoenixes Lighting the Lamps” was a chess manual for a trapping and killing formation.

Li Hao wanted to use it in both the Sword Dao and the Control Path, but after some thought, he chose the Control Path.

As the embedding occurred, its attributes also became evident.

Seven Phoenixes Lighting the Lamps: After seven cycles of cultivating, one can temporarily double the strength of their cultivation.

Seeing this effect, Li Hao was somewhat astonished.

This effect was too strong, wasn’t it? It implied that if he cycled his Meridian Opening Skill and Qi Circulation Skill seven times, the strength would be doubled?

It was known that as his Control Path reached the Sixth Stage, most of the cultivation techniques he commanded had also reached the True State.

Some lower-tier techniques, under profound insights into the Dao, could even evolve into high-grade techniques.

Also, when many techniques advanced, Li Hao’s number of meridians significantly increased, from 69 to 98!

The Qi circulation cycles increased from 248 to 369.

Just the Qi force of his inherent Zhou Tian Realm totaled over eight million jin.

With the instantaneous doubling effect of the Yin and Yang Dual Pulse, it could reach over seventeen million jin!

Even the Imperial Family only possessed about two million jin, nearly nine times more, and now with this attribute effect, it would be eighteen times!

The gap was as vast as the difference between the clouds and the mud.

However, Li Hao knew that such an increase, although it harmed the body, belonged to a short burst of aggressive attack.

Moreover, he had not yet fully opened all 108 major meridians in his body to reach the limit; there was still room for improvement.

The only aspect that had reached its limit was probably his soul, which had managed to condense the Heaven and Earth Law Manifestation.

This trip yielded tremendous gains, including two chess manuals, three masterpieces, two poetry collections, and four famous musical scores.

Li Hao had not chosen to embed any of them at the moment.

He believed that with his current strength, only the Heavenly Human Realm could possibly force him to exert his full power.

Then he would know which areas he was still lacking and could further compensate for them.