One hour.
Bian Ruxue's medicinal bath was completely clear, without a trace of medicinal liquid left.
The maids dressed her in clean new clothes, dried her hair, and stood by Li Hao's tub, unaware of the significance of it all, just quietly waiting for Li Hao to emerge.
In contrast, Li Hao's tub, at the strong insistence of Lin Haixia, could only obediently soak in it.
The color inside the tub remained a glaring purple.
The maid accompanying Bian Ruxue glanced over, dumbfounded.
As another hour passed, other house servants and maids heard the news, came to take a look, and were all shocked.
Having spent so much time in the Divine General Mansion, they naturally understood what this meant.
At this moment, they exchanged glances, seeing the sky falling down in each other's eyes.
The dignified son of Lord Xing Wu, unable to practice martial arts?
This was the bloodline of the Li Family!
This was simply unbelievable.
But the truth was right before their eyes.
The courtyard quickly became silent; soon, a house servant realized what was happening, and hurriedly ran out. It wasn't long before a motley crowd gathered in the Mountain and River Courtyard.
The ladies and mistresses from various courtyards came; they surrounded the tub, learning from the nearby house servants about Li Hao's soaking time, and were incredulous.
Liu Yue Rong stood among the crowd, her heart sinking.
Could it be the medicine?
But she never heard of such strong side effects from the medicine!
She felt flustered in her chest, but her face remained calm, then quickly showed urgency and sorrow.
Inside the tub, the despairing Li Hao also saw the superbly acting second mother, and in her eyes, Li Hao even saw a trace of genuine panic.
Could this second mother be frightened?
Li Hao scoffed inwardly.
As the courtyard grew noisier, the main wife ordered with a stern face, sending the servants away, leaving only the ladies of the various courtyards. She instructed that this matter must not be spread, not to be leaked!
Lin Haixia saw the Foundation Establishment medicinal liquid showing no reduction and felt her heart turn cold.
It couldn't even be described as "slow."
Thinking of a certain terrible constitution, she was suddenly chilled, wondering if this Marquis's Qilin, was truly an utter waste incapable of cultivating martial arts?!
No longer continuing, Lin Haixia pulled Li Hao out of the tub.
Seeing Li Hao's body pruned and oxygen-deprived, his skin wrinkled, the ladies' expressions varied.
They learned that Li Hao had been soaking for six hours.
Yet the Foundation Establishment medicinal liquid hadn't changed at all, clearly demonstrating the seriousness of the matter.
Liu Yue Rong saw Li Hao's lips turn white from soaking, and was convinced that this wasn't a fake.
Her heart tightened; she only wanted to ruin this child's Divine Blood, not completely ruin him!
After all, turning him into a total waste would be too suspicious!
This was the powerful bloodline of the Li Family, unable to cultivate?
If investigated at that time...
The first to come to her senses was the main wife, who immediately instructed Lin Haixia to take good care of Hao Er, and asked a maid from her side to bring nourishing medicinal soup for Li Hao to recover his weakened body.
...
...
The next day.
Lin Haixia prepared two more tubs of Foundation Establishment medicinal liquid, having Li Hao and Bian Ruxue soak separately.
Lin Haixia kept a close watch on Li Hao's bath.
Li Hao was somewhat helpless, knowing it was futile and a waste of materials, but couldn't argue against the other, so he had to comply.
Probably, it wouldn't take many times for them to give up.
At that moment, similar script to yesterday's emerged.
[Unknown substance detected, analyzing...]
[Analysis failed, automatically isolating.]
Li Hao wasn't too surprised as he had expected it, obediently staying in the bath, idly picking at his toes.
As time passed, with the medicinal liquid showing no change, a short soldier standing nearby couldn't hold back, letting out a low roar.
"How could this be?!"
Lin Haixia was emotional, seemingly more incredulous than Li Hao.
He kept pacing around the tub, knocking on his own head: "The medicinal liquid is correct, it couldn't be wrong, could it be that the Marquis's child truly can't cultivate?!"
This was the bloodline of the Li Family!
Li Hao didn't feel too upset, after all with the panel, he could grow stronger without relying on the medicinal liquid.
Seeing the teacher so distraught, he felt a bit embarrassed, reassuring: "Uncle Lin, it's okay, don't be so sad."
Hearing this, Lin Haixia's body trembled.
He stared at the child in the tub, suddenly feeling like tears might come.
Child, you don't know the fate you are about to face!
Looking at the child's optimistic and clear eyes, Lin Haixia felt as if his heart was being torn apart.
The only son of the commander, would this be his future?
But, he could do nothing.
With Li Hao's situation, he could only think of one possibility, congenital meridian obstruction.
This was the standard waste body for martial arts!
If it were a common family, it would be normal, as nine out of ten people in the world are so, not considered an unusual matter.
But this was the Li Family!
A family that for generations produced True Dragons!
Even the least talented children of the Li Family were outstanding compared to others.
Not to mention those True Dragons of the Li Family, who among them wasn't a figure renowned in the world?
And the child before him…
Lin Haixia was at a loss for words. Even on a battlefield surrounded by corpses and blood, he could maintain his composure, yet at this moment, he couldn't bring himself to look at the child again.
That pure and innocent gaze, it broke one's heart.
"It's alright, it's alright…" Li Hao, seeing that this man was truly feeling sorry for him, and not pretending, felt somewhat warmed.
He stood up from the medicinal barrel, tugged at his pant leg, trying to comfort him.
...
...
The second attempt with the Foundation Establishment potion ended in failure.
The news spread through the Divine General Mansion like a hurricane, solidifying the fact that Li Hao could not cultivate.
The madams and servants of the various courtyards of the Li Family were shocked and unbelieving upon hearing the news.
In the following days, Li Hao no longer soaked in the potion. Instead, various people came to examine his body, but in the end, all left shaking their heads.
Li Hao also listened in and learned that in their eyes, this condition was considered a martial arts wasted body.
This physique couldn't be said to be completely unable to cultivate.
It would just be extraordinarily difficult.
Unable to absorb elixirs or external energy, one could only rely on self-discipline to achieve some success.
Moreover, he could only train up to the Second Realm.
To breakthrough, it required communicating with the energy of heaven and earth, thus the Second Realm was the limit.
News also seemed to reach the Northern Yan battlefield, and soon, a family letter was urgently sent back over a thousand miles.
The information in the letter once again shook the Divine General Mansion.
Marshal Xingwu had already reached the Three Immortal Realms!
The family letter stated that the First Madame must not give up on Hao Er; no matter how bitter or difficult, he must be made to step onto the martial path.
Even if it was just the beginning, with the awakening of the Divine Blood in the future, he could still make something of himself. Although he might never become a genius, at least he could secure the position of a centurion in the military.
Thus, he would not disgrace the name of a Li family son.
The First Madame was Ms. He, named Jianlan.
Even in her sixties, He Jianlan appeared to be only in her forties. After reading the family letter, she only sighed softly:
"Hao Er is ill-fated, blame that wretched woman."
No one knew whom she referred to as the wretched woman.
...
...
In the days that followed, Li Hao felt as if things had returned to normal.
There was no longer any need to attempt Foundation Establishment. They planned to try blood melting when he turned four.
As such, with nothing to do every day, Li Hao had more time to secretly play chess, and his experience value was quietly increasing rapidly.
And the news of Li Hao's martial arts wasted body, somehow leaked, spread outside the mansion.
In Qingzhou City, in taverns and restaurants, discussions suddenly became abundant, but most people took them as storytellers' fabrications, without truly believing.
After all, this was a son of the Li Family.
However, for some enemies of the Li Family in the court, this news immediately drew attention.
After sending people to investigate carefully and discovering the truth, many were both pleased and astonished within the mansion.
They were pleased that the millennium-long flourishing of the Li Family finally saw the decline in their bloodline!
But astonished that Marshal Xingwu had hidden so deeply, having already reached the Three Immortal Realms, only now revealed.
Fortunately, his son was a martial arts wasted body; otherwise, he might become another Li Junye!
...
...
In the blink of an eye, Li Hao turned four.
After a year of secret effort, Li Hao's Chess Tao had successfully entered the second segment.
He also earned a new skill point.
Without hesitation, Li Hao applied the skill point to the Sword Dao.
As a result, his Sword Dao advanced to the second segment.
Compared to the richer and more complex information impact when advancing from the first segment, the now four-year-old Li Hao could barely withstand it, only feeling his mind slightly swollen.
As the Sword Dao improved, the skills on the panel also changed.
[Name: Li Hao]
[Age: 4]
[Cultivation: Mortal]
[Sword Dao: Second Segment]
[Skill: Endless Sea·Tide (Ultimate Perfection) [Disabled]]
[Mastered Art: Chess Tao]
[Chess Tao: Second Segment (0/1000)]
[Chess Manual Collection: 0]
[Skill Points: 0]
However, after entering the second segment of Chess Tao, Li Hao found that continuing to play by himself no longer allowed him to easily gain experience, he needed to find someone to compete with.