Cultivation Begins from Infancy - Chapter 413

Volume 3 - Chapter 113: Seeking the Dao

As the imperial decree spread across the Nineteen Provinces of Great Yu, Li Hao returned to Tianmen Pass in Liang Province.

The familiar city walls and banners greeted him. News had yet to reach this place, and the stationed soldiers remained unaware of the unfolding events.

Without alarming anyone, Li Hao quietly made his way back to the small courtyard enclosed by a fence.

Inside, a young girl practicing swordsmanship sensed his presence. Startled from her cultivation, she raised her head to look at Li Hao, her face lighting up with joy.

"Young Master, you're back!"

Beside her, the Sword Demon Jiang Lichen glanced at Li Hao, his gaze sharpening immediately.

In the short time since they last met, Jiang Lichen noticed that Li Hao’s aura seemed to have become even more restrained, like the vast, unfathomable night sky. Yet, in his every gesture and movement, there appeared to be a power capable of shifting the stars themselves.

Li Hao turned his gaze to Ren Qianqian. The young girl was fifteen, a year younger than him, and yet she had already reached the Heaven and Man Realm.

"Did you teach her this?" he asked, looking at Jiang Lichen.

Jiang Lichen scoffed. "The heart of the Heaven and Man Realm isn't something I could teach. She comprehended it on her own. Probably from spending so much time around a monster like you, picking up inspiration from your presence."

Hearing this, Ren Qianqian's cheeks flushed slightly. Her original goal in following Li Hao was to surpass her father and become a grandmaster of the Heaven and Man Realm. To her surprise, she had achieved her life's ambition within just two years.

Her current talent and strength could rank her among the top five on the Qian Kun Ranking, though this was largely because she kept a low profile, focusing solely on cultivation without engaging in conflicts.

Li Hao nodded and smiled at Ren Qianqian. "Now that you've fulfilled your wish while following me, do you still wish to remain by my side? You're still young. You could take advantage of your youth to travel the world and see its many wonders."

Ren Qianqian quickly shook her head. "No, I want to continue cultivating. I wish to stay by your side, Young Master, and see the view from the mountain peak together."

Li Hao sighed. "But I have no desire to climb mountains. The view at the peak is singular, while the scenery at the foot of the mountain is diverse and vibrant."

Ren Qianqian was momentarily stunned but quickly responded, "Then I will stay with you at the foot of the mountain and watch the smoke from the chimneys rise into the sky."

"You even managed to rhyme," Li Hao chuckled.

Ren Qianqian's cheeks turned a deeper shade of red.

Li Hao chose not to persuade her further. Instead, he swept his divine sense across the area, but Feng Lao was nowhere to be found. Extending his perception to cover the entire city yielded the same result. Startled, he immediately asked, "Where is Feng Lao?"

By now, Ren Qianqian was well aware of Feng Boping’s true name and identity. Hearing Li Hao's question, she quickly replied, "Elder Feng regained his clarity not long after you left. It was as if he became a different person. He told us he was leaving and asked me to tell you upon your return that he would be waiting for you in the Land of Saints."

"Hmm?"

Li Hao froze, momentarily perplexed by the sudden turn of events.

But then, his thoughts turned to the happenings within the River of Death.

Had Feng Lao gone to the Land of Saints?

"That old friend of yours is likely the incarnation of a Saint undergoing reincarnation and cultivation," Jiang Lichen said to Li Hao. "Such cases are rare, but not unheard of. Over the millennia in the Great Yu Dynasty, there have been many such peerless geniuses. They quietly cultivated, rose to prominence, and then disappeared abruptly, like a meteor streaking across the sky before vanishing."

Li Hao fell into a brief silence. A Saint was a being beyond ordinary comprehension, capable of myriad abilities.

Still, the world was vast, and there remained opportunities for reunion. Yet, one more familiar figure was now absent from his mortal life.

Scanning the courtyard, Li Hao asked, "And the other two?"

He was referring to Ying Xiaoxiao and the elderly man at the tea stall.

"I heard they went to collect resentful auras from acts of slaughter," Jiang Lichen replied. "There must be another outbreak of war outside, right?"

Li Hao nodded. "The Imperial Palace was almost destroyed."

The cry for aid from the imperial city had not reached Tianmen Pass. The demonic assault had been swift, and the soldiers stationed at the distant border remained unaware of the disaster.

Though the Great Yu Dynasty’s information network was efficient, it could not overcome the sheer expanse of the territory.

Hearing this, Ren Qianqian’s face turned pale with shock. To her, the Imperial Palace was the highest and most sacred place imaginable, and it had nearly been destroyed.

In contrast, Jiang Lichen merely raised an eyebrow. "Since you're back, I assume the trouble there has been dealt with?"

"Yes," Li Hao replied. "But many members of the imperial clan were killed. Aren’t you going to check on things?"

Jiang Lichen’s eyes flickered briefly, but he responded indifferently, "I have no children or loved ones to worry about. There’s nothing for me to see."

Li Hao could sense that Jiang Lichen carried a heavy past, but he chose not to probe further. Some burdens were not so easily unraveled with words.

...

As Li Hao settled into life at the courtyard, the imperial decree spread throughout the provinces, sparking heated discussions across the land. Meanwhile, Li Hao took Ren Qianqian to a demon-infested lake several hundred miles beyond Tianmen Pass to fish.

To Li Hao’s disappointment, his prior slaughter in the area seemed to have instilled too much fear. The lake remained silent for an entire day, yielding no results aside from the five oranges he ate.

It seemed the demons had all fled...

Li Hao chuckled inwardly, noting that his previous actions had caused the absence of any prey.

He refrained from using his divine sense to probe the depths of the lake. As a fisherman, pride lay in one's skills and judgment of the waters. Employing divine sense would be akin to casting a net—an act devoid of satisfaction.

By dusk, Li Hao returned to the courtyard, carrying the carcass of a demon he had hunted in the wilderness.

"Tonight, we’re having roasted demon boar," he announced.

"Young Master, did you catch that while fishing?" Ren Qianqian asked.

"Yes."

"But it looks like it came from the mountains."

"It’s amphibious."

"Oh..."

After a simple meal, Li Hao replenished his collection of 180 chess pieces.

...

As night deepened, Li Hao ascended the mountain where he and Feng Lao often sat. Alone, he carried a small flask of wine, sipping as he gazed at the cold moonlight.

When the wine was finished, Li Hao opened his palm to reveal the golden page of the River of Death. Inscribed upon it were several records of his meritorious deeds within the river.

Immersing his consciousness into the golden page, he entered the Merit Treasury.

Within this treasury, numerous treasures hovered like golden orbs, ready to be exchanged for merit points.

Li Hao’s gaze fell on the power of reverse fate, a useful ability akin to a second life. However, it held little value now as he faced opponents at the Dao Seeker Realm, who could obscure the workings of fate itself, rendering the ability largely ineffective.

He continued browsing through the available treasures, noting that apart from divine power and the Earth and Heaven Meridian, there were few items of interest. The Earth and Heaven Meridian required thirty thousand merit points to exchange, while divine power only required ten thousand.

Certain other treasures, such as the Law Manifestation of Heaven and Earth and other extreme abilities, were notably absent, making the available options limited. For most, the items here would be priceless treasures capable of igniting passionate desire. But for Li Hao, they were merely choices to be scrutinized carefully.

Among the options, he noticed a fruit labeled "Dao Comprehension Fruit." This fruit could assist in comprehending the Dao, but success was not guaranteed—it merely increased the probability.

Li Hao decided he would exchange for one but did not intend to use it for cultivation. Instead, he planned to apply it to his path of culinary Dao.

Currently, his physical Dao was at the eighth stage. Attempting to further refine it required the foundational step of entering the Dao. Similarly, advancing his culinary Dao beyond the bottleneck at the eighth stage would necessitate a clearer Dao heart, making the Dao Comprehension Fruit an ideal tool.

However, before using it, he needed to first refine his culinary Dao to the eighth stage. If not, the probability of success with the fruit would diminish significantly.

As he continued to examine the treasure catalog, Li Hao noticed additional heart-states available for exchange, such as the Poetry Heart and Sculpting Heart, similar to the Sword Heart he already possessed. Each only required 100 merit points.

Without hesitation, Li Hao exchanged for both.

The instant he did, the bottleneck in his abilities related to poetry and sculpting was broken, raising them both to the fourth stage. They could now continue accumulating experience until they reached the sixth-stage bottleneck.

The surplus experience points allowed his artistic skills to grow further, leaving him with three additional technique points.

Recent battles had kept Li Hao preoccupied, leaving little time to settle down and focus on cultivation.

Rather than rushing to exchange for the Dao Comprehension Fruit, he decided to focus on accumulating culinary Dao experience first.

In the days that followed, Li Hao frequently ventured beyond the pass to hunt powerful demon kings, bringing their bodies back to cook extravagant meals for the entire city.

...

Months passed, and the consistent preparation of dishes using demon king-level ingredients transformed Tianmen Pass into a culinary capital. The exquisite flavors drew people from all over the land to visit the pass, eager to savor the famed delicacies.

With the major demonic forces beyond the Great Yu borders largely subdued, the land experienced an era of peace. The resumption of trade and travel brought prosperity to all provinces, encouraging a growing number of adventurers and travelers to explore the once war-torn regions.

During this time, Li Hao’s small courtyard saw visits from various acquaintances, including friends and disciples from Tangong Academy. Among them, Xiyan assumed the appearance of a red-dressed maiden and accompanied Li Hao.

Even Song Qiumo arrived, bearing the title of Divine Guardian Beast of Great Yu. Thanks to Li Hao’s earlier recommendation, she had been honored with a temple, allowing her unrestricted passage throughout the empire with a specialized waist token inscribed with magical formations.

Meanwhile, in Li Hao’s spatial realm, the Candlefire God and his wife, Yin Lady, absorbed the essence of a Buddha’s relic. This relic contained the unified power of Buddha and demon, perfectly suited to their dual-natured existence. Their bodies fused together into a sphere, slowly awaiting rebirth.

As for Li Qianfeng, whose cultivation had been stripped away and left abandoned in the same spatial realm, Li Hao eventually sent him back to the Li family, marking the end of an old grievance.

The frequency of Li Hao’s cooking expeditions increased. Having exhausted all demon king-level ingredients near Tianmen Pass, he ventured into the Great Wilderness Heaven to procure more.

...

In less than half a year, Li Hao’s culinary Dao finally reached the full experience threshold for the eighth stage.

He did not hesitate. Once the experience reached the bottleneck, Li Hao found a solitary peak and exchanged for the Dao Comprehension Fruit from the Merit Treasury.

The fruit was a vivid green, resembling a piece of translucent jade. Its surface was etched with intricate patterns, and it radiated a dazzling light while exuding an otherworldly fragrance.

After inspecting it briefly, Li Hao directly took a bite and swallowed it whole.

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