Volume 3 - Chapter 417: Fame Shakes the Imperial Star, Progenitor of the Su Clan (Part 5)
She noticed the chess table nearby, along with the many carved figurines placed beside it.
Each of those figurines—shockingly—was the likeness of a single person.
Her expression shifted slightly.
A soul age of a mere hundred years, a top-tier prodigy—time was unimaginably precious to someone like him. Yet it was clear that he had spent no small amount of that time on these carvings.
Even more astonishing was the profound Dao charm contained within them—this was no simple craft.
Ordinary immortals could use divine sense to carve lifelike figures, but those only captured form, not spirit—let alone intent.
But she was no ordinary cultivator. With one glance, she could tell these carvings were anything but simple. Without deep immersion and painstaking refinement, it would be impossible to achieve such depth. Five years, ten years—even longer—was likely what it took.
Jiang Qiuyue withdrew her gaze and asked softly, “Hao Tian, earlier when you slew those demons, you used the Illusory Void Wandering Step. May I ask where you learned it?”
Li Hao was not surprised. When he used that technique, he had already anticipated the Jiang Clan might inquire.
But to kill those demons without giving them a chance to surrender, he had no choice. He had to go all out.
“I learned it by observation,” Li Hao replied truthfully.
“Observation?” Jiang Qiuyue was momentarily stunned.
Even Su Zhenyuan blinked in confusion.
That answer had exceeded both their expectations.
She had assumed he might say it was acquired by chance, or gifted by some mighty senior. Never would she have thought he’d say he learned it through observation.
Wasn’t that just… stealing?
“Observation... May I ask, where did you observe it?” she pressed, unable to help herself. She hadn’t planned to press the issue, but his answer left her too curious.
“That first combatant,” Li Hao said calmly. “He used it in battle. I picked up a bit of it from there.”
The courtyard fell utterly silent.
Su Zhenyuan and Jiang Qiuyue both stared wide-eyed at Li Hao, doubting their own ears.
That Jiang Xu had indeed used the technique. Was Li Hao saying he had merely watched him during combat and—just like that—learned it?
“You… you saw him use it in battle, and in just that brief moment… you learned it?” Jiang Qiuyue finally asked, stunned.
Li Hao gave a small nod.
His body movement Dao had reached the eleventh segment. When someone performed a technique in front of him, he could instantly internalize it.
And once it was internalized, insights from his body movement Dao would infuse the technique, immediately elevating it to the eleventh-segment level.
Jiang Qiuyue: “……”
Su Zhenyuan: “……”
They had already known that Li Hao was a monstrous talent. But at this moment, their understanding was once again overturned.
Monstrous? This was more like a freak of nature!
They had seen geniuses who could grasp sword techniques or immortal arts at a glance, but that only applied to common-level techniques.
The Illusory Void Wandering Step was a top-tier body movement technique. Even most prodigies had to toil over it with painstaking effort. To master it at a glance?
“You…” Jiang Qiuyue opened her mouth again, but no words came.
To learn it by observing in combat—was that really theft?
Besides, from Li Hao’s demeanor, he clearly wasn’t lying.
She gave a wry smile. Was her clan’s top-secret movement technique really that easy to learn?
“It seems your comprehension in body movement arts is unmatched,” she finally said. “What you’ve grasped so far is only the Spiritlight level. I can pass you the latter half of the technique.”
She took a deep breath, her tone solemn.
Li Hao was momentarily stunned. He had been prepared for a confrontation—but she was offering him the rest of the technique?
One look at her expression told him it was no bluff. She was completely sincere.
Li Hao’s expression turned serious, his heart full of respect.
To offer up a clan’s top-secret technique without condition—her generosity far surpassed his expectations.
Was this the reason why the human race had survived so long in the Northern Domain?
“Thank you, Clan Leader Jiang,” Li Hao said, with utmost sincerity.
Seeing his genuine expression, a smile spread across Jiang Qiuyue’s face. She suddenly felt a new closeness to the youth.
“If you ever need anything,” she said warmly, “you may come to the Jiang Clan. Whatever cultivation resources you lack—if we have them, they’re yours.”
Li Hao said nothing, waiting for the inevitable condition.
But she said nothing more.
No request.
Just a gift. Pure kindness.
Li Hao was silently moved.
He looked into those bright and gentle eyes and felt, for the first time in ages, that the battle he had fought with his life on the line… had been worth it.
This Northern Domain—was worth it.
Compared to the painful South Domain, the warmth in his heart was undeniable.
“Thank you,” Li Hao said quietly.
Just two words—but he had never meant them more.
Jiang Qiuyue smiled again. Then she raised her slender white fingertip and gently touched his forehead.
“Focus your mind. I’ll transmit it to you,” she said.
And there, before Su Zhenyuan, she passed the complete Illusory Void Wandering Step to Li Hao.
The Jiang Clan’s top-secret technique flowed into his sea of consciousness.
Li Hao quietly absorbed it, committing every detail to memory.
“If you need anything, you’re always welcome at the Jiang Clan,” Jiang Qiuyue said gently. She didn’t linger—there were still matters that required her attention. Leaving those parting words, she vanished like a drifting cloud.
Li Hao snapped out of it and saw that only Su Zhenyuan remained.
The latter half of the Illusory Void Wandering Step now echoed in his mind.
Yet with his current level in the body movement Dao, he couldn’t yet comprehend it fully.
That realization gave him a sense of urgency again.
He sorely lacked enough twelfth-segment Dao insights.
If he could obtain just two more twelfth-segment realizations, he could push both his dominion and body movement Dao to the twelfth level—making him truly invincible at the Immortal Lord realm.
Even against a monstrous foe like the Black Princess, he wouldn’t have to burn his soul. He could defeat her with ease.
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