https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-174-Renowned-for-Insight-Fourth-Update-/13450216/
Chapter 173: Heavenly Shadow Stele (Third Update)
Chapter 173: Heavenly Shadow Stele (Third Update)
After Lu Chunsheng left, Li Hao began to wander around the Heavenly Mechanism Tower.
The shelves were brimming with various Cultivation Techniques, neatly categorized, giving Li Hao a sense of being in the Rain Listening Pavilion.
However, there was no scent of sandalwood here, and the place was swept much cleaner, indicating frequent visitors.
Sunlight filtering in from outside highlighted the dust particles floating over the Cultivation Technique books.
Li Hao started with the Governance Dao Techniques.
He was searching for Meridian Opening Techniques and Qi Circulation Techniques.
The display of Cultivation Techniques in the Heavenly Mechanism Tower was similar to that in the Rain Listening Pavilion, with the Peerless Techniques placed on the top floor. Li Hao found seven Peerless Qi Circulation Techniques and five Peerless Meridian Opening Techniques.
The Rain Listening Pavilion only had three Peerless Meridian Opening Techniques in its collection.
Given that the Heavenly Mechanism Tower primarily dealt with intelligence, it was understandable that it had such a rich collection.
Li Hao recorded all the Cultivation Techniques on his panel. With his Sixth Rank of Object Control Path insight, these Techniques were immediately marked as Perfect on the panel after being recorded.
The detailed information about the five Meridian Opening Techniques flooded his mind.
Li Hao closed his eyes, as if he had cultivated these five Peerless Meridian Opening Techniques for decades, gradually integrating numerous insights into his memory.
He began to understand the specific locations and meridians that these Meridian Opening Techniques could open.
Many of these meridians overlapped with those from the techniques he had previously cultivated.
As he opened more meridians, the number of overlapping meridians among these techniques increased.
Despite this, each of the five Peerless Meridian Opening Techniques had its unique pathways, adding seven new major meridians for Li Hao!
Originally, he had 98 major meridians, and now he had 105!
He only needed three more major meridians to reach Perfection!
"Pity, there's too much overlap."
Li Hao felt regretful. Each of these five Peerless Meridian Opening Techniques could open over 50 major meridians, but mastering all of them resulted in only seven additional major meridians due to the overlap.
No wonder it was so difficult to open all the major meridians in the body. Over the thousands of years of the Great Yu Divine Dynasty, there were no records of anyone achieving this.
The difficulty was too high.
It was extremely time-consuming. Cultivating another Peerless Meridian Opening Technique to Perfection would take several decades of hard work, even for a genius.
Ordinary people didn't have his level of Dao Realm insight, allowing him to easily master techniques with Dao control.
Unless one relied on longevity, slowly pushing through, which still required connections and resources.
"If I could master the Imperial Meridian Opening Technique, it might complete the remaining three major meridians!"
Li Hao thought to himself.
Unfortunately, that was just wishful thinking.
Cultivating the Imperial Meridian Opening Technique was a capital offense.
It was one of the foundations of the imperial family and could not be tampered with lightly.
Li Hao reined in his thoughts and turned to go downstairs.
On the lower floor, there were numerous High-Grade Meridian Opening Techniques.
Li Hao went through each one, recording them. As he recorded more Meridian Opening Techniques, the information in his mind grew increasingly extensive.
Each Meridian Opening Technique added to the interface was at the Perfection level, but unfortunately, they all overlapped with the Major Meridians that Li Hao had already opened using various other techniques.
Although the methods varied, the Meridians they opened were largely the same.
Li Hao continued to browse through the techniques, descending layer by layer.
After adding over twenty High-Grade Meridian Opening Techniques, he finally found one that opened a new Major Meridian for him.
Li Hao felt a surge of joy and continued his search.
Before long, he added three more techniques, and one of them managed to open yet another Major Meridian.
Now, he had 107 Major Meridians, with only one more to go.
Li Hao continued his search, adding all the High-Grade Meridian Opening Techniques, then moving on to the Middle-Grade ones. However, after reviewing dozens of Middle-Grade techniques, he found that they all overlapped.
With little hope left, Li Hao turned to the Lower-Grade techniques, knowing that if he couldn't find the last one here, he would have to visit various renowned sects in the future to seek out the technique.
Just as Li Hao was losing hope, after adding thirty-two Lower-Grade Meridian Opening Techniques, one of them caught his attention.
This particular Lower-Grade technique was unique, taking a different path and precisely opening the final Major Meridian he needed.
Now, all 108 Major Meridians had corresponding cultivation techniques to open them!
Li Hao was ecstatic, almost eager to start cultivating immediately. However, he was in the Heavenly Mechanism Tower and restrained himself, not wanting to practice here.
If his Major Meridians were fully connected, along with the Yin-Yang Dual Meridians, he couldn't predict what kind of phenomena might occur.
The previous Heavenly and Earthly Dharma Image and the Divine Power State had caused significant disturbances, and this involved the secrets of his martial arts, which he preferred to keep hidden.
A sword has a sheath to conceal its sharpness.
With his Meridian Opening now perfected, Li Hao returned to the rooftop to search for Body Cultivation Techniques.
Following the same process, he added over a hundred techniques, absorbing a vast amount of information.
Although he hadn't practiced them yet, Li Hao knew that many of these cultivation techniques could strengthen parts of his body that he had previously been unable to reach.
Once he practiced them, his physical strength would undoubtedly improve further.
Next, he moved on to Sword Arts, Fist Techniques, and more, mastering and adding them one by one.
As he went back and forth, the rooftop suddenly filled with the sound of a zither.
"General Li, though there are many secret manuals, don't let them overwhelm you. How about I play a tune to help you calm down?"
Lu Chunsheng's voice echoed in his mind.
Although it was a question, the zither music had already begun.
"..."
Li Hao: _
You just want to play the zither, don't you... Li Hao grumbled inwardly but replied telepathically, "Thank you, Chief Elder Lu."
He knew the importance of social graces.
With the zither music from the rooftop, Li Hao continued to sift through the secret manuals.
Although Chief Elder Lu's zither skills still needed improvement, the second-grade performance made for pleasant background music.
Moreover, he only needed to glance through the cultivation techniques, not fully immerse himself in their study, so the music didn't become a distraction.
Time passed.
After an hour, Li Hao had added many cultivation techniques to his interface.
He had cleared all the Peerless Techniques, except for those that couldn't be recorded, such as saber techniques and spear techniques.
His Saber Techniques and Spear Techniques had not yet reached the Dao, so the system panel could not record them unless he discovered them on his own.
But Li Hao had no intention of wasting Art Skill Points on sabers or spears.
Having mastery over fists and swords was enough.
Killing an enemy with one sword strike was sufficient; there was no need to follow up with a saber or spear.
It was better to excel in a few techniques rather than dabble in many, especially since Art Skill Points did not grow on trees.
The most significant gain from this trip, besides completing the Major Meridians, was the Qi Circulation Techniques and Body Movement Techniques.
He had very few Body Movement Techniques, with Old Feng’s Heaven and Earth Traceless Technique being a top-tier secret technique among the best.
Now, he had acquired numerous Body Movement Techniques, and the insights from these techniques had deeply resonated with him, greatly enhancing his Body Movement Techniques.
"Four Peerless Body Movement Techniques, plus Old Feng’s, plus eighteen High-Grade Body Movement Techniques..."
Li Hao was eager to test how fast he could move at his full potential.
Although he could only use one Body Movement Technique at a time, he had cultivated all of them to the True State level, allowing him to combine their strengths and integrate them.
With his Grandmaster Martial Realm overseeing everything, he had absorbed the essence of these Body Movement Techniques, making them his own.
Li Hao returned to the rooftop with a contented heart, finding Chief Elder Lu’s music more pleasant to the ear.
“Young General, are there any Cultivation Techniques you like?” Lu Chunsheng asked with a smile.
Seeing Li Hao come out so quickly, he inwardly praised him as a gentleman.
Earlier, when he let Li Hao choose freely, he had expected Li Hao to secretly memorize many Cultivation Techniques.
This was his way of hinting at and showing favor to Li Hao.
But now it seemed that even if Li Hao had memorized some techniques, it wouldn’t be too many in such a short time.
Taking what one needs and no more—that’s the mark of a gentleman.
“That ‘Embroidering Spring Breeze’ Sword Techniques is quite good,” Li Hao said, holding out a top-tier Sword Manual. “I’ll take this one.”
“Young General has good taste. This Sword Technique was created by a Three Eternities Realm expert eight hundred years ago. It is sharp yet gentle in intent, making it suitable for someone with your refined and elegant nature,” Lu Chunsheng said with a smile.
Though they had not interacted much, Lu Chunsheng could tell that Li Hao was different from other generals, lacking the heavy aura of violence and possessing a softer, more refined disposition.
This was one of the reasons he found Li Hao agreeable.
“Chief Elder Lu flatters me,” Li Hao said with a smile.
Lu Chunsheng handed the prepared tea to Li Hao and smiled, “Young General, what do you think of the piece I just played?”
Li Hao: (/“≡_≡)=
If you’re bad, practice more... Li Hao cleared his throat and said, “Chief Elder Lu’s music is like this cup of tea—sweet and refreshing!”
“Haha...”
Lu Chunsheng laughed heartily, thinking that this young man had good taste.
Feeling in a good mood, he said, “Actually, I have another piece that I composed myself. Would you like to hear it, Young General?”
Though he asked, his body was already moving to stand up from the mat.
Just as Li Hao was about to respond, a commotion came from outside the building.
With his strong physical constitution, Li Hao could hear clearly despite the distance and immediately asked, “Chief Elder Lu, what’s happening over there?”
Lu Chunsheng, who had just stood up, glanced outside the pavilion and smiled, “It seems someone has passed the Heavenly Shadow Stele. Young General, would you like to go take a look? It would also be a good opportunity for our Heavenly Mechanism Tower disciples to learn from you.”
"Alright."
Li Hao agreed.
The two immediately flew out from the Pavilion and headed toward the training ground.
They saw that a number of disciples who had been cultivating earlier were gathered in one area of the training ground.
In front of them, a path led from the training ground to a high mountain, where numerous black stone steles stood.
These stone steles were about six to ten feet tall, standing on the ground. If not for their size, they would look like a row of tombstones.
"Senior Sister Tang has observed the steles three times and successfully challenged Senior Brother Jiang!"
"Amazing, just three times!"
"Senior Sister Tang is a renowned talent. She mastered the Upper-Grade Sword Techniques in three observations and became proficient in seven days!"
"Unfortunately, Senior Sister Tang comes from a humble background. Although her insight is unparalleled, she lacked good resources in her early years. Now that she's older, she can't enter the Heaven and Earth List, or she would have been famous long ago!"
"Shh, do you want to die? Why bring up such a taboo topic?"
"Are you not saddened by it?"
"Saddened? You must be crazy! If you dare say Senior Sister Tang is old, you don't want to live!"
"..."
In front of the stone steles, the disciples whispered and sighed, occasionally expressing amazement.
Suddenly, someone noticed Li Hao and Lu Chunsheng flying over.
They were all extremely unfamiliar with Li Hao, but they knew Lu Chunsheng very well.
After all, there was a statue of Lu Chunsheng at the entrance of the Heavenly Mechanism Tower.
This young man, who could accompany the Chief Elder, must be a prodigy from some distinguished family. Many couldn't help but look curiously, but they quickly bowed respectfully:
"Disciples pay respects to the Chief Elder."
Lu Chunsheng nodded slightly, indicating that these young ones didn't need to be so formal.
Then, he glanced at Li Hao and smiled lightly. "Let me introduce you all. This is General Haotian."
He knew about Li Hao's connection to the Li Family and the words he had spoken at the Grandmaster Conference, so he avoided touching on Li Hao's Reverse Scale by using his title.
"Haotian, General Haotian?"
Everyone was taken aback, and some didn't react immediately.
But soon, everyone's eyes widened slightly.
In the crowd, a woman who had been the center of attention stood tall and graceful, holding a long sword. Her eyes were as clear and cold as autumn water.
Hearing Lu Chunsheng's introduction, her indifferent gaze couldn't help but waver, and she looked at the young man with a gentle expression.
As disciples of the Heavenly Mechanism Tower, they had access to more information and naturally knew about General Haotian's many remarkable deeds.
He had been appointed a general and ennobled at the age of fourteen, achieving the dreams of countless young men.
Even as a woman, she couldn't help but be curious about this legendary figure.
Seeing the shock and surprise on everyone's faces, Lu Chunsheng smiled. Then, he noticed the proud and cold woman in the crowd and said to Li Hao:
"This is your first time here, right? Are you interested in trying out the Heavenly Shadow Stele of the Heavenly Mechanism Tower?"
"So these are the Heavenly Shadow Steles?"
Li Hao examined the numerous black stone steles, somewhat surprised.
He had heard his Second Uncle mention that the Heavenly Mechanism Tower had once found a divine stone from beyond the heavens, which contained the resonance of the Dao. This stone could capture the images of cultivation techniques on its surface.
The Heavenly Mechanism Tower had cut this stone into pieces to create the Heavenly Shadow Steles, which became a beautiful sight and had attracted countless geniuses a thousand years ago.
However, after some incidents, the Heavenly Mechanism Tower restricted the use of these steles to its own disciples and no longer opened them to the public.
Now, Lu Chunsheng was inviting Li Hao to try, hoping that the legendary young man could leave his mark on the Heavenly Shadow Stele. If he succeeded, the stele would be sealed and used to inspire future generations of disciples.
(End of Chapter)
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