"I don't want milk anymore!"
Li Pingcan waved his chubby little hands in refusal.
With Moonlight Microbeams upgraded to LV2, he wasn't lacking nutrition and was exceptionally robust. Given the scarcity of resources in ancient times, breastfeeding actually harmed his gentle mother Lady Qin's health. He wanted his dear mother to live a long life.
Unaware of her youngest son's thoughts, Lady Qin felt somewhat troubled and planned to discuss it with her husband when he returned.
"Ping'an, play with your little brother at home. Mother needs to go out."
"Okay!" Li Ping'an responded loudly, placing the chessboard their father Li Rongzhou had made onto the bed with enthusiasm. "Little brother, let's play chess!"
Li Pingcan gave Li Ping'an an exasperated look.
His two brothers were quite different - the eldest was straightforward and strong as a young ox, showing some talent in martial arts. The second brother displayed greater interest in literature and mathematics, being clever and proud yet overly sensitive.
Li Ping'an continued excitedly: "The rules are simple - connect five stones of the same color in a row to win. I'll give you a five... no, four stone advantage."
Ignoring the childish challenge, Li Pingcan focused on improving his skills.
Having set his goals, he needed to work diligently. After much consideration, becoming a Druid seemed his best path to transcend social classes through cultivation.
This meant leveling up, earning money, studying, practicing martial arts, and improving his family's social status - becoming an official would be ideal.
However, in this dynasty, only those with spiritual roots could become officials. No matter how outstanding one's literary or martial achievements were, commoners could only become clerks at best.
"Why would immortals want to be officials?"
This puzzled Li Pingcan. Shouldn't immortals abstain from worldly affairs to focus on cultivation and longevity?
But such information remained beyond his current reach. Overthinking was pointless.
Li Pingcan decided to practice three skills: [Animal Speech], [Dance of the Wind], and [Thorn Whip].
Animal Speech provided crucial external information and was worth leveling up. Dance of the Wind manipulated elements - while currently only creating breezes, what if he could summon gales? That would be overwhelming against ordinary people.
Accumulating elemental insight might even unlock [Fire Control], allowing him to create powerful gunpowder or ignite fires remotely - potentially effective even against martial artists.
Thorn Whip, his only offensive skill at LV3, now extended two meters with dense barbs - perfect for ambushes.
Skill practice required gradual progression.
He cast [Animal Speech] on a raven under the eaves. Instantly, its harsh "caw" transformed into human speech:
"Caw! Hate... scary big bird!"
Without engaging, Li Pingcan ended the spell and continued practicing on the same raven.
"Caw! Me strong! Choose me!"
Oh? A mating-season raven.
"Caw! Food! Food here!"
So this thief ate Mother's mulberries last time!
"Caw! Like... shiny gold stone!"
Li Pingcan paused mid-spell-cancel.
Gold? If the raven could describe it, it must have seen some somewhere!
Excited, he poked Li Ping'an's arm: "Brother, mulberries."
"Want mulberries? Stay put, I'll get some." Li Ping'an set down his pieces and dashed out.
Seizing this "lure the tiger from the mountain" opportunity, Li Pingcan asked the raven: "Where did you see gold?"
The raven cocked its head, finally focusing on the tiny human. In all its bird-life, it had never met a human who spoke bird language! Fascinating!
Li Pingcan simplified: "Gold. Location. Want."
The raven hopped excitedly: "Caw! No give!"
"I'll pay! Give good fruit!"
Hearing Li Ping'an's returning footsteps, Li Pingcan shut his mouth and tossed a mulberry upward.
Li Ping'an gasped as a large raven swooped down, snatched the mulberry basket, and flew off triumphantly.
Li Pingcan stared dumbfounded.
That damn bird just robbed us! Where's justice? Where's law?
Thieving raven! Shameless rogue!
And you didn't even tell me where the gold is!
"Bad raven!" Li Ping'an fumed, comforting his seemingly tearful brother: "Don't cry! We have more mulberries!"
That's not why I'm crying!
When Li Ping'an proudly presented freshly mashed mulberry juice with expectant eyes, Li Pingcan took a sip - instantly puckering his face and really crying this time.
Mulberry juice is seriously sour!
Humans wouldn't be defeated by birds.
For days, Li Pingcan strategized how to extract information from the raven.
Extreme measures like binding it with Thorn Whip for "interrogation" proved futile - the raven only felt instinctive fear without comprehension.
If force failed, bribery remained.
He diligently fed it berries to build rapport.
A Druid's natural affinity worked wonders. Despite initial fear from the "torture," the raven gradually warmed to Li Pingcan's sugary tactics.
Obtaining the "gold stone" location was now just a matter of time.
"Can'er made a new friend."
At noon, Li Rongzhou watched his youngest interact with the raven, still amazed.
After days observing the harmless, intelligent bird, he stopped interfering.
Rumors said children with "immortal potential" displayed unique talents young.
"Maybe Can'er has spiritual roots?"
Delighted but discreet, Li Rongzhou subtly concealed his son's peculiarity.
Touched by his father's acceptance, Li Pingcan felt relieved. His intentional hints at uniqueness had been met with understanding rather than alienation.
In this era, individual strength was limited - lasting success required family trust.
"Stand like pines, sit like bells, sink energy to your dantian!"
That afternoon, Li Rongzhou trained his sons' stances in the courtyard.
Though lacking spiritual roots, Li Pingfu showed martial talent - childhood training could secure his future.
Sweating profusely yet determined, he maintained his stance stubbornly.
Li Ping'an fared worse - his slender frame couldn't last half an incense time, so Li Rongzhou treated it merely as exercise.
Li Pingcan curiously observed the basics, being too young for formal training.
With an adult's mind, he memorized everything instantly. As a Druid, he even noticed differences between his father's and brother's techniques.
"Different breathing rhythms!"
Li Rongzhou practiced the Crane Style from Pine Crane Dojo, imitating white cranes with complete internal methods. However, dojo rules forbade teaching core techniques without permission - a martial artist's taboo.
"If imitating animals enables martial arts, my Druidic connection to nature far surpasses crude mimicry!"
Li Pingcan reasoned that while immortality remained distant, martial arts could be his shortcut. His "mana pool" linked to vitality - perhaps martial training could accelerate his progress.
A stone hit roof tiles.
Looking up, Li Pingcan saw his father teaching slingshot techniques.
First-timer Li Pingfu adored the ox-tendon slingshot. Mimicking his father's posture, he drew it taut and launched a stone like an arrow thirty paces away.
The tile shattered on impact.
Li Rongzhou beamed - his eldest was truly a natural martial prodigy!