Chapter 15: Chapter 14 The Softest Place
Translator: 549690339
“`
What’s happening?
The lean young man’s mind was momentarily muddled, unable to discern who the assassin was.
But feeling the tremendous force pressing against his throat, he came to his senses and looked at the little boy before him in alarm and fear.
What kind of monster is this? Barely seven years old, yet possessing such terrifying strength. Even at the tenth level of perfection in the Power Passage Realm, plus the resurgence of the noble lord’s Divine Blood, it shouldn’t be so exaggerated, should it?
“Who sent you to assassinate me?” Li Hao stared intently at the other party and asked, while various pieces of information surfaced in his mind. Playing chess was a means to approach him, indicating that the other party’s purpose in coming to the Divine General Mansion was straightforward—to assassinate him.
The lean young man was somewhat silent, as the child before him displayed a strength and cognition far beyond that of an ordinary six-year-old.
He had thought he was sent to deal with a useless little thing, only to uncover such terrifying information.
“You’re not a martial arts waste. Hiding your strength, is this your idea, or your old man’s arrangement?” the lean young man asked, slightly squinting his eyes.
Now that the assassination attempt had failed and he felt the enormous strength at his throat that could crush it at any moment, he knew he had no way out and became calm.
Assassinating the direct bloodline of the Divine General Mansion was a task with very slim chances of survival; it’s just a pity that the mission could not be completed.
“Do you know my father?” Li Hao’s eyes flickered slightly.
“You’re joking.”
The lean young man said coldly, “Who in the world does not know the Martial Marquis Xingwu? Currently, he is stationed at the Frontier Pass, and a few months ago, he gathered martial artists from Jianghu in Northern Yan to assist in suppressing demons, commanding great respect with a single call.”
Assisting in suppressing demons? Li Hao furrowed his brows; could it be that the situation in Northern Yan had become so difficult that they had to rely on the strength of Jianghu martial artists?
“Are you sent by my stepmother?” Li Hao asked.
The lean young man was momentarily stunned, then suddenly realized, a sneer crossing his eyes, “You’ve been the target of assassination? Unexpectedly, even within the iron-blooded Divine General Mansion, there’s such decay. No wonder you’re pretending to be useless, but speaking of which, I really haven’t seen you train. How many hours do you practice every day?”
I’ve always been training with you… Li Hao calmly looked him in the eyes and said, “You answer my question first, and then I’ll answer yours. That’s called an exchange.”
The lean young man slightly raised his eyebrows and couldn’t help but laugh. This child was indeed interesting.
“Anyway, it’s a sure death. You’ve made me fail my mission and doomed my family, why should I tell you?” the lean young man scoffed lightly.
Li Hao said, “Because I can see that you don’t want to die, you’re also afraid of dying, and there are many ways to die. I can give you a swift death.”
The lean young man’s smile vanished, he fell silent for a moment, and then slowly said, “The one who sent me here is…”
Suddenly, his arm quivered, and he threw a punch at Li Hao’s head.
Li Hao slightly tilted his head and easily dodged it, not retaliating but just looking at him with cold eyes.
The lean young man felt a chill as his heart sank; the gap was that big? He, a mighty Zhou Tian Realm martial artist, seemed to have switched roles with this child. In front of him, he was like a child, completely seen through.
The latter’s contempt made him dispiritedly retract his hand: “You truly are a monster.”
“Spill it,” Li Hao said coldly. “You should know that the Li Family is a martial family with countless captives and convicted criminals subjected to interrogation. The methods used are beyond your imagination, impossible to wish for death. If possible, I can give you a swift end.”
The lean young man’s eyes twitched slightly; of course, he knew the child before him was not lying, and a sense of fear began to grow within him.
“If I tell you, can you let me go?” the lean young man asked with a glimmer of hope, relying on the chance that the child in front of him still had a naive nature.
“I can,” Li Hao answered.
Spurt… the lean young man almost coughed up blood. Could you not be so blunt? It’s so fake it can’t be faked anymore. Do you think I’m a child?
He laughed bitterly and said, “Actually, telling you doesn’t matter much. The assassination has failed, and my family won’t survive either. I came from Northern Yan, and the one who sent me to kill you is ‘Monarch Bai’.”
“Monarch Bai?”
“That’s right, one of the three great Demon Gods of Northern Yan with terrifying strength, and also your father’s old adversary.”
The lean young man’s eyes were complicated: “Your father is a genius with his troops, and the Li Family army is fearless and unstoppably strong; Northern Yan would have fallen long ago. At present, they’ve managed to hold the front, but Monarch Bai sent me to assassinate you. He wants your death to spread out from the Divine General Mansion, to reach the Frontier Pass of Northern Yan, to cause great disarray within your father’s army. If he leaves the battlefield to return, Northern Yan will be conquered.”
With that, he looked intently at Li Hao.
No one knew that this child was the key that could affect the life and death of tens of cities and hundreds of thousands of people in Northern Yan.
Li Hao was stunned; so, it was because of Northern Yan.
The warfare there had actually reached the Divine General Mansion, so far away.
“Your father commands the battles in Northern Yan, they are battle-hardened with no vulnerabilities, unassailable, and you are their only weak point, the softest spot.”
The lean young man continued, “Only by starting with you can they defeat your parents, make the Frontier Pass of Northern Yan fall, and let the demon army march straight in.”
Li Hao fell silent, digesting the other’s words, and after a while, he slowly said, “You are of the Human Race, why would you work for the demons?”
The lean young man was slightly stunned, paused for a moment, then looked gloomily at Li Hao, his eyes filled with jealousy and hatred: “Not everyone is as lucky as you. Even if I explained, you wouldn’t understand.”
“Is that so?”
Li Hao looked at him calmly, “Since birth, my parents have been away, and I was betrayed by close relatives. Now, because of my parents, I face assassination; do you still think my life is good?”
The lean young man’s mouth opened slightly, he was stunned, at a loss for words, and could no longer speak.
Li Hao did not say more, merely stating, “I promised you, I would grant you a swift death.”
“Heh, you’re quite a decent person,” the lean young man recovered, forced a mocking smile, and said.
No matter what is said, in the end, death is inescapable. He had a hint of fear deep in his eyes; he didn’t want to die, he was afraid of dying, or else, why would he end up taking orders from demons?
“`
Li Hao spoke as if he didn’t understand the sarcasm, “Actually, I don’t want to kill you.”
“Oh?” The gaunt young man’s eyes revealed a cold sneer, clearly not believing him.
“Because your chess skills are not bad,” Li Hao said seriously.
The gaunt young man was stunned.
After a while, he came back to his senses, a bitter smile on his face, “But the pity is, I’ve never won against you.”
“Next life then.”
Li Hao began to exert force with his palm, “In your next life, don’t practice martial arts, just play chess honestly, at least you’ll live longer and more at ease.”
The gaunt young man wanted to struggle, but seeing Li Hao’s indifferent and composed eyes left him in despair, he bitterly said, “You really are a strange child.”
In the end, Li Hao still pinched him to death.
As suffocation set in, the gaunt young man struggled violently again, but to no avail.
After dealing with the assassin, Li Hao remembered that he still didn’t know the man’s real name.
And the name of the house servant the man had used to sneak in was one bestowed by the Li family.
However.
It doesn’t matter anymore.
…
…
After the assassin died, Li Hao summoned the house servant, scaring him half to death.
That night, the entire Divine General Mansion was shaken.
The lights in each courtyard were lit, and the ladies of each courtyard, already in bed, hurried over in their clothes. Upon seeing the corpse of the assassin lying in front of the chess table, they were all incredibly shocked.
How could an assassin infiltrate a place like the Divine General Mansion?
He Jianlan’s normally graceful and composed demeanor was gone, and she hugged Li Hao anxiously, touching and looking him over, “Are you all right?”
“Aunt, I’m fine,” Li Hao reassured her.
After confirming that there were indeed no injuries on Li Hao, He Jianlan, now reassured, questioned him closely, and Li Hao relayed the story he had thought up in advance.
An assassin attacked, and in a critical moment, an old man intervened and killed him.
Afterward, the old man disappeared.
Li Hao thought to himself that since an assassin could infiltrate the Divine General Mansion, making up a story about an old man should also be no problem, right?
After all, if you didn’t even know about the assassin, then not knowing about other powerful experts is quite normal too, isn’t it?
After hearing Li Hao’s story, He Jianlan was visibly shaken, immediately conjuring up some speculations. Could it be a military expert sent secretly by the Divine Martial Marquis?
Or is it… that elder from the clan?
She suppressed the guesses in her heart and never doubted Li Hao’s words.
After all, no matter how mature Li Hao was, he was still a child under seven years old.
And having not stepped onto the path of martial arts, if there were no expert secretly protecting him, he would surely have died without question.
He Jianlan then asked Xuejian to take Li Hao and the little girl Bian Ruxue to rest at the Eternal Spring Court first, to recover from the shock.
Meanwhile, she sat in the grand hall of the Mountain and River Courtyard, called over the house servant who had accompanied Li Hao while he played chess, and the first house servant who had been startled awake by Li Hao’s call, questioning them carefully in the yard.
At the same time, she summoned the mansion’s experts to examine the corpse of the assassin.
It wasn’t long before the entire course of events was learned from the house servants.
When the assassin entered the mansion, how he revealed his talent in chess, performed in front of the Mountain and River Courtyard’s servants, and ingratiated himself with them, and so on.
Clearly, the other party had gathered information about Li Hao, deliberately approaching him by playing chess, with everything leaving traces to follow.
Later in the night, the examination results of the corpse were also out. The assassin was astonishingly at the Zhou Tian Realm, roughly between the third and fourth levels.
This level of cultivation, thrown out into the world, would be considered quite decent for a knight-errant, capable of upholding justice in Jianghu and gaining a bit of fame. However, in the Divine General Mansion, where powerful individuals abounded, it would be a very ordinary existence.
Nevertheless, to kill a six-year-old child, this level of cultivation was more than enough, even like using a cleaver to kill a mosquito, excessively overkill.
Moreover, the assassin had consumed some kind of special pill that sealed his own sense of qi, which is why no one had detected him.
Hearing this result, the ladies of the courtyards all felt chills of fear in waves. If the target of the assassin had not been Li Hao but their own children, they would undoubtedly have faced certain death!
The sudden rise of a Zhou Tian Realm killer beside a child was terrifying.
Liu Yue Rong, upon hearing the results of the examination, slowly let go of the slight suspicion and speculation that had crossed her mind.
Even if Li Hao’s Divine Blood had not been ruined, it was not possible for him to kill the assassin on his own.
It seemed that the couple, although stationed at the Frontier Pass, had made thorough preparations for their son.
Realizing this, she felt secretly apprehensive; the matter of her drugging should have gone unnoticed since it took place in the Shuihua Courtyard, and she also had formidable experts in her own courtyard.
Chapter 16: Chapter 15 Defeat
Translator: 549690339
At the Northern Yan border, Yuan Yue City.
Inside the city, the skies were filled with distress and dullness, while outside the city, the ground was scarred and pitted. Within a mountain forest a hundred miles away, colossal figures with varying shapes lurked, casting a myriad of demonic shadows, along with some slender figures, who had the appearance of humans, sitting cross-legged on the peaks.
The ground here was stained with blood, and skeletons lay around like piles of firewood. The flayed skins hung loosely from branches and stones, like ragged cloths.
At this moment, a beautiful young woman, holding the arm of a corpse in military armor, was gnawing on one of the fingers. Her lips and cheeks were smeared with bright red blood, but she seemed utterly unconcerned.
Suddenly, a black speck appeared in the sky, racing towards them at high speed. As it drew closer, it was revealed to be a massive three-clawed black bird, over ten meters long.
As it contracted its body, when it landed, it had transformed into a graceful-looking young man with a black headband, walking briskly towards a group of seated figures, and then approaching a youth draped in white who had a long zither lying across his knees.
With a leisurely strum of his fingers across the strings of the zither, soothing sound waves emerged, though his gaze was set calmly on the distance, looking toward the city that seemed like an unsightly stone.
There one could faintly discern the ominous clouds amassed above the city and the vague silhouettes atop the walls.
“Monarch Bai.”
The youth with the black headband greeted with a slight bow, showing respect as he addressed the white-clad youth, “I’ve just received news that the disposable flesh we sent earlier failed and even alerted the Divine General Mansion; now the entire mansion is on high alert. They say there’s a master secretly protecting the child.”
“To fail at such a task? Worthless trash!”
Standing by, a robust and giant man’s expression darkened, his lips parting slightly to reveal sharp teeth unlike those of a human.
“Didn’t you say he had already infiltrated close to that child?” the beautiful woman gnawing on the arm frowned, stopping her chewing to cast a glance at the young man with the headband.
“Half a month has passed, and his identity surely has not been revealed. How could he have not found an opportunity to strike in all this time?”
A young man with yellow eyebrows spoke up with a furrowed brow, “To prevent any misinformation from the Divine General Mansion, that Marquis Xingwu deliberately concealed the child’s true circumstances. That’s why we sent a flesh of the Zhou Tian Realm for this task. If a sudden punch was delivered from close range, not even someone at the tenth level of the Power Passage Realm could avoid it, let alone if there is a master guarding at his side, they would not have time to react, right?”
The young man with the black headband sighed, “We have no details on what happened, only that the creature turned out to be so useless.”
“Hmph, not only did it fail, but it also alerted the Divine General Mansion. If this news reaches Li Tian Gang’s ears, he’ll surely send more people to protect the child. Damn worthless thing!” the burly man grunted angrily once again.
The young man with the headband nodded slightly, “The next assassination will only be more difficult. Since that flesh has failed, there’s no need to keep its family alive – let the little ones below have their fill.”
“They’ve already been devoured.”
The beautiful woman bit off another finger and spoke while chewing.
The young man with the black headband said no more, instead turning his gaze toward the white-clad youth who had stopped playing the zither, his eyes revealing a hint of awe, “Monarch Bai, what should we do next? Shall we launch a direct assault?”
The others also looked over, waiting for his command.
Monarch Bai’s emotions seemed undisturbed as he continued to stare at Yuan Yue City in the distance, speaking softly, “This Li Family is indeed a tough bone to chew. If we were to launch a direct attack, our losses would be too great.”
“Indeed, those scoundrels are unwilling to put in the effort. Damn them,” the sturdy man said discontentedly.
“So, do we still go through with the assassination?” the youth with the black headband inquired.
Monarch Bai turned to look at him and said, “What do you think?”
…
…
Since Li Hao’s attack, the vigilance at the Divine General Mansion had significantly increased.
He Jianlan deployed powerful individuals from the inner court to guard the front court and had every house servant who had entered the mansion in the past three years carefully screened.
There was a lot of commotion surrounding this matter, but each court cooperated actively. After all, the assassination had been perilously close, and no one wanted the same to happen to their own child.
After an investigation by the Li Family’s intelligence network, it was found that the assassination attempt was linked to the demons of Northern Yan.
Li Hao sought out his aunt to keep the news of the assassination attempt from spreading to Northern Yan, from reaching that couple’s ears, so as to not affect the war on the front lines.
Hearing Li Hao say this left He Jianlan in a daze, and as she looked at Li Hao’s young face, her heart felt as if it was being tugged at something.
The child had barely escaped assassination due to the conflicts in Northern Yan, yet still worried about its impact on the front, truly a thoughtfulness that was heartrending.
However, the commotion caused by the assassination was too significant, and keeping it a secret was impossible.
News quickly reached the Northern Yan border.
Marquis Xingwu, who was contemplating the military arrangements in the camp, was enraged, and Ji Qingqing was also uncontrollably furious. They immediately discerned the demons’ intentions of using Li Hao’s death to demoralize the army, compelling them to leave the Northern Yan battlefield.
Should they abandon the front, this side would undoubtedly be met with a thunderous assault.
Marquis Xingwu couldn’t possibly ignore the battlefield here. In his rage, he immediately sent a trusted aide from his side back to the mansion to guard Li Hao closely.
The mansion reported that the assassination attempt was thwarted by someone covertly protecting Li Hao.
But Marquis Xingwu knew well that he had not assigned anyone to secretly guard Li Hao.
With the Mountain and River Courtyard guarded and located within the Divine General Mansion, it never crossed his mind that someone would attempt to assassinate a child.
If Li Hao had displayed extraordinary talent in Martial Arts, he would have concerned himself and sent someone to protect him secretly, to prevent the Li Family’s potential prodigy from perishing in the cradle.
But for someone without Martial Arts talent, posing no threat, to nearly be harmed in such a manner.
And all this was due to the damned stalemate before him.
Several days later, at the Northern Yan battlefield, the Li Family’s army struck like lightning, purging a nest of demons overnight. The news spread, and all demons felt the Li Family’s wrath.
…
…
Days eventually settled down and became calm again.
Half a year passed, and Li Hao turned seven.
The news of the assassination attempt had happened half a year ago, and by now, no one in the household brought it up anymore.
In the meantime, the powerful protector sent back from the military by the Marquis of Xingwu had been following Li Hao closely for the past six months—a tall and upright middle-aged man who seldom spoke or smiled, acted cautiously and meticulously, and was named Li Fu.
It was said that Li Fu was an abandoned infant many years ago, taken in by the Li Family. People said that although the child’s fate was tragic, ending up at the door of the Divine General Mansion was also seen as fortunate. That’s why he took the Li surname and was given a single name, Fu.
In his early years within Mountain and River Courtyard, Li Fu grew up alongside the Marquis of Xingwu.
He was seven or eight years older than the Marquis of Xingwu. On ordinary days, he looked after the Marquis like an elder brother, but in the army, the two shared a senior-junior relationship.
At the same time, Li Fu was also one of the Marquis of Xingwu’s right-hand men, a person he trusted immensely.
“Uncle Fu, you lost again,”
Inside the pavilion, as a game of chess concluded, Li Hao said with a grin.
Li Fu’s stern face revealed a hint of helplessness, “I am of the same generation as your father, you should call me ‘uncle’.”
“But calling you Fu Uncle sounds like admitting defeat,” Li Hao curled his lips, “When I play chess, I only want to win; I don’t like admitting defeat.”
Li Fu found himself speechless, his superiors in the family hierarchy propelled by this silly wordplay.
“You can also call me Uncle Li.”
“But this is the Li Family, there are too many with the Li surname. If I call you Uncle Li, I’m afraid you’ll get confused,” Li Hao said.
Li Fu was once again at a loss for words.
“If you ask me, you shouldn’t have been named Fu; since everyone says you are blessed… you should be called Li You.”
Li Hao said earnestly, “Look, the name Li You sounds so nice. You have, you have, it’s as if you have everything, corresponding to perfection!”
Li Fu felt an urge to knock on the boy’s little head. Unlike the Marquis of Xingwu’s by-the-book nature, this son of his was slick and smooth-talking.
“Stop talking nonsense. If your father were here, he would certainly spank you for being disrespectful,” Li Fu scolded with a stern face.
“But he isn’t here,” Li Hao casually remarked.
Li Fu wanted to discipline him a bit to prevent him from becoming increasingly unruly, but this indifferent comment made his heart tremble.
When the Marquis of Xingwu went on a campaign back then, he had also been by his side and naturally knew that this year Li Hao was seven, and so the lord had been in Northern Yan for seven years.
The situation in Northern Yan made it difficult for Ji Qingqing, who initially accompanied him with the intention of swift victory, to leave. She couldn’t neglect her husband’s danger.
The child before him had been without his parents’ company for seven years. It must have been hard, right?
Li Fu felt a pang of sympathy and his heart softened, he sighed, “Your father has his difficulties too. Don’t blame him.”
“I never blamed him,” Li Hao said seriously.
Li Fu looked into his eyes, his heart warmed slightly, feeling somewhat gratified, “You’re very sensible.”
Sensible? Li Hao cracked a smile.
Just then, a half-grown figure returned to Mountain and River Courtyard.
Li Hao turned to look and saw Bian Ruxue coming back from practice at the martial arts training ground.
The little girl had now turned into a young lady, her tender face couldn’t hide her beauty.
“Why are you back so early today, are you hungry?” Li Hao called out with a smile.
Upon seeing Li Hao, Bian Ruxue walked over with her sword in arms, her expression somewhat sullen, “I’m not hungry,” she muttered.
“What, did someone upset you?” Li Hao teased.
Bian Ruxue clenched her teeth slightly, turned her little face away, and did not speak.
Li Hao had asked casually, but seeing her reaction, he raised his eyebrows slightly, “Tell me what happened?”
“It’s nothing,” Bian Ruxue got up, hugged her sword and ran off, heading to the place where she usually practiced her swordsmanship.
Li Hao thought for a moment, then summoned the female attendant who accompanied her in sword practice, and asked, “What happened to Xue’er?”
“To report to the young master, Miss Xue’er was defeated in a swordsmanship contest at the martial arts training ground,” despite Li Fu being present, the attendant still maintained a respectful demeanor, even though she knew that this young master was unfit for martial arts.
“Just that little thing?”
Li Hao was relieved and said, “So what if she lost once? As a martial artist, winning and losing are common in the military profession. She’ll just have to win next time. What, can’t she accept losing?”
The attendant hesitated, then said, lowering her head, “No, young master, the one who defeated the young lady was rather despicable, running down the young master in front of her, which is why… the young lady is so upset.”
“Ah?” Li Hao hadn’t expected the issue involved himself; was the little one taking up his cause?
Li Hao glanced at the young girl in the distance, who was now practicing her swordsmanship, but looking visibly agitated.
His eyes flickered slightly, and he told the attendant, “I understand, you may go now.”
Chapter 17: Chapter 16 Mind Nature
Translator: 549690339
After the maid had left, Li Hao did not continue playing chess, but stood up and walked over to the courtyard.
Li Fu also stood up; when Li Hao did not speak to him, he reverted to his expressionless military demeanor, like a silent shadow, faithfully following behind Li Hao.
Li Fu had asked the servants about the previous assassination attempt, had learned the details thoroughly, and felt a trace of fear.
Especially these days of accompanying the child in playing chess, he was keenly aware that the position he was now sitting in was precisely where the assassin had been.
Separated by only a chessboard.
At such a distance, to exploit a child’s full array of openings at a moment of inattention could mean death in an instant!
But such an assassination had been stopped; it was uncertain whether to call the assassin incompetent, or the clan elder who intervened terrifyingly formidable, or perhaps the child was truly blessed with a large fortune!
Therefore, Li Fu took it as a lesson, clinging closely to Li Hao’s side during meals, drinks, and sleep, scrutinising any house servant or maid who approached within three feet of Li Hao with a hawk-like gaze.
This caused the servants and maids in the courtyard to secretly groan; every time they reported something to the young master, they did so with trepidation, scarcely daring to lift their heads… they were nearly becoming introverted.
Seeing Li Hao approaching, Bian Ruxue slightly pursed her lips and turned her body away as if she did not want Li Hao to see her.
Li Hao looked at her aggrieved demeanor and smiled warmly, ordering a servant to bring over a small stool and some cakes and fresh fruits, then sat down beside her and began to eat.
“Practicing swordsmanship with a distracted mind, you can’t beat anyone like this,” Li Hao said with a smiling tone upon seeing the girl waving her sword chaotically, clearly distracted.
Bian Ruxue’s eyes suddenly reddened a bit, and she stopped practicing. Looking down, she said, “If only Brother Hao could cultivate, with your intelligence, you would definitely surpass me in swordsmanship and become the most outstanding one.”
Having trained in the martial arts field for a year, Bian Ruxue had improved rapidly, and as she grew up, her understanding deepened; she began to comprehend why, after the bone measurement, the adults looked at Li Hao with that kind of expression.
And she also understood what Li Hao had truly lost in that year.
Hearing Xue’er’s words, Li Fu’s brows furrowed slightly, a hidden sorrow and pity briefly showed in his emotionless eyes.
This was not only a regret for the Li Family but also for the Divine General Mansion!
Li Hao felt a bit helpless; he had not grieved for himself, yet the young girl seemed sadder in comparison.
“Don’t say that,” he consoled.
Li Hao comforted her, “Practicing swordsmanship is so boring. Look at you, bearing wind and sun every day, enduring the hardest days of winter and summer, how tiring that must be. Unlike me, eating chilled melon in the pavilion during summer, playing chess, and in winter, curling up in bed to stay warm, sleeping until the sun is high in the sky. Now that’s what I call happiness!”
Li Fu couldn’t help but glance at the boy, these indeed sounded like his kind of words.
Without the Divine General around, the other ladies of the mansion could not discipline him too severely, and Li Fu had realized upon his return that the child had adopted a somewhat cynical outlook on life.
“You’re not afraid of hardship,” Bian Ruxue said, lifting her head.
“What do you know,” Li Hao responded with annoyance. “Look at me now, too lazy even to stand when I can sit, and to sit when I can lie down. Some hardships are meaningless. Otherwise, why would we have sweets? You’re still young, you don’t understand. Just focus on your sword practice.”
“Don’t talk nonsense,” Li Fu couldn’t listen anymore and interrupted sternly.
What kind of absurd talk was this, that enduring hardship was meaningless? Which soldier at the border was not enduring hardships?
As a martial artist, the last thing to fear is hardship—the only fears were lack of talent and resources.
This young master, comfortably unaware of his own blessings, lacked talent yet loathed hardship, not taking his own learning seriously, and now he was potentially leading astray the young Xue’er—how could this be tolerated?
Bian Ruxue’s talent in the way of the sword was something Li Fu acknowledged; she was exceptionally talented and destined to achieve greatness in swordplay. In the future, she would become a protective umbrella for Li Hao, and he could not let this mischievous young master undermine his future ally.
“Fu, I think Hao is right,” Bian Ruxue hastily spoke up for Li Hao.
Li Fu’s eyes bulged with frustration; the young girl was too influenced by Li Hao’s words. If she truly got led astray by him, it would be disastrous.
“Don’t spill such nonsense to Xue’er; you think just because I wouldn’t dare beat you? If I did, even your father would approve!” Li Fu controlled his impulse to scold the well-behaved orphaned girl and instead threatened Li Hao sternly.
Li Hao gave a sheepish smile, knowing well that he found no common ground in this respect with the stern and rigid servant.
And besides, the Divine General Mansion was a family of soldiers; the Li Family had always advocated frugality and the spirit of enduring hardship.
Despite the fact that the ladies of various houses dined and dressed sumptuously, envied by all, in accordance with the standing and the foundation of the Divine General Mansion, they could actually live even more lavishly.
The Great Lady He Jianlan had for many years eaten vegetarian meals twice a week. Although not a Buddhist, as a soldier who had taken countless lives, she did not say she did it for religious reasons but rather to remind herself and her children not to get lost in this opulent luxury and forget the duty and spirit of a soldier.
“Yes, yes, you’re right, Fu,” Li Hao agreed.
To Xue’er, he said, “See, you made Fu angry; you should hurry up and practice your swordplay.”
Xue’er blinked her small eyes and pouted slightly; it was clearly Hao who had provoked the anger.
However, she did not argue. If she could take Fu’s anger on behalf of Hao, she was willing to do so.
Hearing Li Hao’s shameless remarks, Li Fu was about to laugh in exasperation, rolling his eyes. This boy was indeed too difficult to discipline.
“Fu, can you help take a look and give some pointers to Xue’er’s swordsmanship?” Li Hao asked Li Fu.
Chapter 18: Chapter 16 Mindset_2
Translator: 549690339
Li Fu said indifferently, “I use a knife, not a sword.”
“The knife and sword are similar; the difference is not significant,” Li Hao said with a smile.
“What do you know? To train a weapon to perfection, even the slightest difference can lead to infinite variations,” Li Fu said irritably, but then restrained his temper, thinking that it was only natural for this kid, who did not understand martial arts, to see it that way.
Li Hao felt a bit helpless and continued to munch on fresh fruits, with one leg casually crossed over the other, watching Xue’er practice swordsmanship.
“There’s something wrong with your Swirling Style,” he commented.
Halfway through watching, Li Hao casually offered Bian Ruxue some tips, “If you drop your arm a bit lower, it would look better.”
“Don’t talk nonsense; you’re going to distract Xue’er,” Li Fu scolded, frowning.
An amateur advising an expert? That was simply preposterous!
However, Bian Ruxue ignored Li Fu. She was used to Li Hao’s casual suggestions. Even though Brother Hao had not embarked on the path of martial arts, she found that practicing as he suggested always felt smoother.
At that moment, as she lowered her arm and used the Swirling Style again, she indeed felt an understanding and ease in her heart.
Li Fu uttered a light ‘huh,’ not because Bian Ruxue actually followed Li Hao’s advice—after all, the young lady was too compliant with Li Hao—but because, as Li Hao said, a slight change in posture indeed added a bit more fierceness to the sword’s momentum.
He glanced down at the kid who was munching on fruit and sitting with his legs recklessly crossed. Was it a fluke?
Or was he judging by what looked good?
“You need to use force in your waist. For a Swirling Style with a long slash, it’s not just the hands that need force; the waist must drive the arms to swing out,” Li Hao suggested again.
Bian Ruxue nodded slightly, then executed the move several times in a row, finally grasping the essence of it. The sword’s momentum created a breeze, and its power was visibly greater than before.
Li Fu raised his eyebrows in astonishment. One time could be a coincidence, but not twice.
Could this kid actually understand swordsmanship and possess a talent for it?
Although Li Fu was not fond of Li Hao’s disposition, he had to admit that over the past half year, this kid had shown great intelligence, as well as a maturity and wisdom beyond his peers.
Could it be that he actually had a talent for swordsmanship but couldn’t display it because he was forbidden to practice martial arts?
Thinking about this possibility, he couldn’t help but feel a pang of sorrow. If that were true, what a regret it would be!
With Li Hao’s casual tips, Bian Ruxue’s sword technique gradually approached perfection.
There was no helping it. With Li Hao’s understanding of swordsmanship, just by watching for a few moments, he could integrate Bian Ruxue’s superior sword technique into his panel and directly achieve a level of near perfection.
With his perfect-level understanding to compensate for any flaws, he even skipped the ‘perfect’ stage. As long as Bian Ruxue grasped a bit of it, she could achieve a might comparable to perfection.
Next, Li Hao asked the young lady to perform for him the move she had failed to counter during their previous sparring.
Bian Ruxue obediently complied.
Li Hao understood immediately upon watching and even imagined the scene of how his opponent had defeated him.
However, he kept it to himself, considering that Li Fu was there. It wouldn’t matter if he showed a little bit of his understanding of swordsmanship, but getting too detailed would be too freakish.
“This sword move isn’t good-looking. I think the downward slash here should be changed to a sloping chop, and the elbow should be lifted behind,” he said.
“It’s better to switch from chopping to a straight thrust here, and don’t shake your wrist,” he pointed out casually.
Bian Ruxue was puzzled but listened carefully, slowly comprehending Li Hao’s words, and then practiced again according to his suggestions. After several repetitions, she gradually came close to what Li Hao had described.
Li Fu glanced at Li Hao and was now convinced that Li Hao also possessed an extremely high talent for swordsmanship.
Although the kid expressed himself in an amateurish way, merely correcting Bian Ruxue’s form by what “looks good” and “doesn’t look good,” being able to perceive the aesthetic of weaponry at such a young age was a talent in itself.
After all, in the eyes of a genius, some things appear as a different landscape.
Li Fu sighed inwardly, feeling increasingly sorry for Li Hao.
The next day.
The two went to the Eternal Spring Court for their morning visit, and afterwards, Bian Ruxue hurried excitedly to the martial training ground.
After the morning training and lessons at the martial training ground had ended, Bian Ruxue found the young man from the previous day, the one born out of wedlock. Clutching a sword nearly as tall as herself, her little face brimmed with seriousness as she requested another challenge.
Upon hearing Bian Ruxue’s words, the young man couldn’t help but burst into laughter.
The other young men born out of wedlock who were crowding around him also mocked and ridiculed her.
They didn’t dare to provoke the other legitimate children too much, but Bian Ruxue was, after all, not a member of the Li Family by blood; she was only betrothed to someone from the family, and the marriage hadn’t even taken place yet. Besides, that someone in the family was already known as a useless person within the Divine General Mansion, and any one of them would surpass him in the future.
That’s why they naturally disliked the one sitting on a treasure mountain, enjoying endless resources and affection.
“Didn’t Bai beat you yesterday? Haven’t you learned your lesson?”
“Want to stand up for that piece of trash? If you’ve got the guts, tell him to come himself. Bai doesn’t even need to lift a finger, I could take that trash with both hands tied!”
“Hmph, Bai already showed you mercy yesterday and you still don’t appreciate it.”
“You do have talent, but Bai has been training here for eight years. If you want revenge, you might stand a chance in half a year, but by then Bai will probably no longer be here.”
Bian Ruxue bit her lip but continued to stare earnestly at the young man in the middle, “Do you dare or not?”
Her words instantly fired up the young man’s blood qi. The young man called Bai, formally known as Li Dongbai, was one of the three most talented among the illegitimate children at the training ground, with a seventh-grade battle body. Enjoying resources close to those of the legitimate children, he had already stepped into the Zhou Tian Realm.
However, the martial training ground’s regulation for skill competition required that the stronger party suppress their cultivation level to the same realm as the weaker party.
And Bian Ruxue’s current cultivation level was at the tenth level of perfection in the Power Passage Realm!
“Today, I’ll make sure you lose clearly and unmistakably.”
Li Dongbai’s eyes were cold. He hadn’t planned on provoking this girl with exceptional talent. He was simply chatting with his companions about something, and upon mentioning that trash in passing, he had expressed a few opinions and had somehow been sought out by this girl.
Although an illegitimate son, he too had his pride and obviously wouldn’t apologize, thus the competition yesterday.
“Come on!”
Li Dongbai took his position on the stage in the martial training ground.
Soon, the area around the stage was crowded with people, all eager to see the sparring between these two illegitimate young prodigies and that extraordinary talented girl.
On the outside of the arena, the martial training ground’s instructor, that old military veteran, squinted his eyes and smiled, encouraging the spirited competition among these young folks.
A good sword is forged from constant sharpening. Without struggles during their youth, how can they experience setbacks, how can they progress? They certainly can’t wait until they are his age, an old bag of bones, to start fighting for their lives.
Soon, two figures, one large and one small, were locked in intense combat within the arena.
The same scene had been witnessed by the old military veteran just the day before, and today’s difference was not significant, except that Li Dongbai was striking with a few more degrees of ferocity.
“It seems that Xue’er is going to lose again,” thought the old military veteran: “After all, her training is too short. Though she has exceptional talent, she still needs tempering.”
Just then, inside the arena, the figures crisscrossed, and the fiercest sword technique was executed.
With a zooming sound, a sword flew out, tumbling to land outside the platform, where it was skewered in the sand.
The figures on the platform were also frozen in place.
Frozen with them were the cheering and jeering voices from below the platform.
And also, the smile on the face of the old military veteran.
