One hour.
Bian Ruxue's medicine barrel became completely clear, with not a single drop of medicine left.
The maids helped her change into clean new clothes, dried her hair, and she stood next to Li Hao's medicine barrel, unaware of the meaning of all these, simply waiting quietly for Li Hao to come out.
In contrast, Li Hao could only obediently soak in his medicine barrel under Lin Haixia's strong insistence.
The color inside the barrel remained a glaring purple.
The maid accompanying Bian Ruxue glanced over, dumbfounded.
As another hour passed, other house servants and maids came after hearing the news, taking a look and being shocked.
They had been in the Divine General Mansion for years, naturally understanding what this signified.
At this moment, they looked at each other, seeing the sky falling in each other's eyes.
The esteemed son of the Marquis of Xingwu, unable to practice martial arts?
This was the Li Family's bloodline!
Such a thing was simply unbelievable.
Yet the truth was right before their eyes.
The entire courtyard fell silently, and soon, a house servant realized and ran off in panic. It wasn't long before a colorful crowd flooded into the Mountain and River Courtyard.
The ladies from each courtyard had arrived, gathering around the medicine barrel, hearing from the servants about Li Hao's soaking time, all finding it inconceivable.
Liu Yue Rong stood in the crowd, her heart skipping a beat.
Could it be the medicine?
But it was unheard of for the medicine to have such strong side effects!
She felt a panic in her chest, but on her face, she maintained calmness, immediately showing eagerness and sorrow.
Inside the medicine barrel, Li Hao, with a look of despair, saw the superb acting of his second mother. From her eyes, he even noticed a hint of genuine panic.
Could this second mother be frightened?
Li Hao laughed to himself.
As the courtyard grew noisier, the first wife ordered the servants to leave, leaving only the ladies of each courtyard. She instructed that this matter must not be revealed, to keep it secret!
Lin Haixia saw that the Foundation Establishment medicine liquid showed no reduction, and she too felt her heart freeze.
This could not even be described as "slow."
He thought of a terrifying constitution, shuddered, wondering if this marquis's Qilin child was truly a complete martial arts wastrel?!
No longer continuing, Lin Haixia pulled Li Hao out of the medicine barrel.
Seeing Li Hao's body soaked to the point of oxygen deprivation and turned pale, his skin wrinkled, the eyes of the ladies varied.
They learned that Li Hao had been soaking for six hours.
Yet there was no change in the Foundation Establishment medicine liquid at all, a testament to the gravity of the situation.
Liu Yue Rong saw Li Hao's lips turn pale from soaking and was convinced that this wasn't fake.
Her heart lifted, as she only wanted to destroy this child's Divine Blood, but not utterly ruin him!
After all, to be completely crippled would be too suspicious!
This was the mighty Li Family bloodline, yet it couldn't cultivate?
If they were to investigate the cause...
The first wife was the first to come back to her senses, immediately instructing Lin Haixia to take good care of Hao Er, and then had her maid bring some nourishing herbal soup to help Li Hao recover.
...
...
The next day.
Lin Haixia prepared two barrels of Foundation Establishment medicine liquid again, having Li Hao and Bian Ruxue soak separately.
Lin Haixia watched Li Hao closely as he entered the bath.
Li Hao felt somewhat helpless, knowing it was useless, a waste of material, but couldn't go against them and could only comply.
Probably, it wouldn't take many more times before they gave up.
At that moment, the same font as yesterday appeared.
[Detected an unknown substance, analyzing...]
[Analysis failed, has been automatically isolated.]
Li Hao anticipated this, not too surprised, obediently staying in the medicinal bath, picking at his toes, utterly bored.
As time passed, with no change in the medicine liquid, the short man from the military couldn't hold it in any longer, letting out a low growl.
"How could this be?!"
Lin Haixia, more emotional than Li Hao, appeared even more incredulous.
He paced in circles around the medicine barrel, hitting his own head: "There's nothing wrong with the medicine liquid, impossible to be wrong, can it be that the marquis's child truly can't practice cultivation?!"
This was the Li Family bloodline!
Li Hao wasn't too upset; with the control panel, he could become stronger without relying on the medicine liquid.
Seeing the teacher so distressed, he felt a bit sorry, comforting, "Uncle Lin, it's okay, don't be so upset."
Hearing this, Lin Haixia's body trembled.
He looked at the young boy in the medicine barrel, suddenly feeling tears well up.
Child, you do not yet comprehend the fate you are about to face!
Looking at this child's optimistic and pure eyes, Lin Haixia felt his heart tearing apart.
Could it be, the only son of the commander was destined for such a future?
Yet, he could do nothing.
Li Hao's situation only reminded him of one possibility, an innate blockage of the meridians.
This is a classic martial arts waste body!
If this was in an ordinary family, it wouldn't be unusual; nine out of ten people in the world might be like this, it's not particularly rare.
But this was the Li Family!
The Li Family that, generation after generation, produced True Dragons!
Even the least talented children of the Li Family were, compared to others, exceptional.
Not to mention those True Dragons of the Li Family, who were all famous throughout the world.
And the child in front of him...
Lin Haixia was at a loss for words; even though he had faced mountains of corpses and seas of blood on the battlefield without flinching, at this moment, he dared not look at the child again.
Those innocent and pure eyes broke his heart.
"It's okay, it's okay..." Li Hao saw that this man was genuinely upset for him, not pretending, and felt somewhat warmed.
He stood up out of the medicine barrel, pulled at his pant leg, trying to comfort him.
...
...
The second Foundation Establishment potion ended in failure.
The news spread like a hurricane throughout the Divine General Mansion, confirming the fact that Li Hao could not cultivate.
The ladies and servants of various Li Family courtyards were all shocked, finding it hard to believe.
In the following days, Li Hao did not soak in the medicine anymore; instead, people came in succession to examine his body, but all ended up leaving, shaking their heads.
Li Hao also listened in, learning that in their eyes, this situation was akin to a wasteland physique.
This physique could not be considered entirely incapable of cultivation.
It would just be particularly challenging.
Unable to absorb pills or external energy, only through tough self-practice would there be some achievement.
And it could only be trained up to the Second Realm.
To break through, one needed to communicate with the energy of heaven and earth, thus the Second Realm was the limit.
The news seemed to have reached the Northern Yan battlefield, and soon, a family letter was expedited back.
The information in the letter once again shook the Divine General Mansion.
The Martial Marquis had already achieved the Three Immortal Realms!
The family letter stated, urging the eldest lady not to give up on Hao Er, no matter how bitter or difficult, making sure he took the Martial Path.
Even if it's just a beginner, in the future, with the awakening of Divine Blood, he could still achieve something, although he might never become a genius again; at least he could secure a position as a centurion in the army.
In this way, he wouldn't disgrace the name of the Li Family's scion.
The eldest lady was Ms. He, named Jianlan.
Ms. He Jianlan, over sixty years old, looked to be only in her forties. After reading the family letter, she sighed softly:
"Hao Er's life is bitter, it's all because of that vile woman."
Nobody knew who she referred to as the vile woman.
...
...
In the days that followed, Li Hao felt he had returned to the usual.
No more Foundation Establishment would be done; he heard that they planned to try Blood Melting when he turned four.
In this way, Li Hao had no business every day and thus had more time to sneak and play chess, rapidly increasing his experience value.
And the news of Li Hao's wasteland physique, unknown who leaked it, spread beyond the mansion.
In Qingzhou City, suddenly, discussions emerged in taverns and restaurants, but most people considered it just a storyteller's hype, no one truly believed it.
After all, it was a Li Family scion.
However, it drew immediate attention when it reached the ears of some in the court opposing the Li Family.
Sending people to investigate thoroughly found the situation was indeed as such, leaving many within the mansion both happy and shocked.
Happy that after a thousand years of brilliance, the Li Family finally showed a decline in their bloodline!
Yet shocked that the Martial Marquis concealed it so deeply, having already reached the Three Immortal Realms, only now revealed.
Fortunately, his son was a wasteland physique; otherwise, he would likely become another Li Junye in the future!
...
...
In the blink of an eye, Li Hao was four years old.
After a year of sneaking effort, Li Hao's Chess Tao successfully reached the second level.
He also gained a new skill point.
Without hesitation, Li Hao spent the skill point on Sword Dao.
His Sword Dao thus advanced to level two.
Compared with the rich and complex information impact from the first level upgrade, now at four, Li Hao could barely withstand it, just feeling his mind slightly swollen.
With the improvement in Sword Dao, the skills on the panel also changed.
[Name: Li Hao]
[Age: 4]
[Cultivation: Mortal]
[Sword Dao: Level 2]
[Skill: Endless Sea·Tide (Ultimate Perfection) [Restricted]]
[Mastered Art: Chess Tao]
[Chess Tao: Level 2 (0/1000)]
[Chess collection: 0]
[Skill Points: 0]
However, after Chess Tao entered the second level, Li Hao found that continuing solitary games could no longer gain experience; he needed to find someone to spar with.