https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-136-Heaven-and-Earth-List-Part-Five/13450138/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-138-Ren-Qianqian-Beyond-the-Border/13450142/
Chapter 137: Introduction
Chapter 137: Introduction
"You're still just a young man, aren't you?"
"The world chases after fame and fortune, unlike us two, who are refined and elegant."
The two young Temple Keepers chuckled as they spoke.
Li Hao, who had already walked away, heard this and turned back. He grabbed a handful of stones from the Go board and placed them on five spots on the Chess Board. Then, he let out a light hum and strutted off.
"Bold young man, you—"
The young Temple Keeper holding the white stones was furious and was about to curse, but the young man was already far away. He angrily turned his gaze and was about to clear away the disruptive stones when he noticed his friend staring blankly at the Chess Board.
Puzzled, he looked down and immediately realized that his previous predicament had been completely reversed, as the placement of the five stones had opened up a new territory for him.
The crucial point was that if even one stone were missing, it would just be scattered stones, undetectable.
"This—"
...
After wandering around for a while, Li Hao found it a bit boring. Seeing that Ren Qianqian's Soul Continuation ritual wasn't over yet, he sought out the elderly Temple Keeper and asked him to tell the little girl who had just entered to wait for him here when she came out, not to wander far.
Handing over two silver coins, the elderly Temple Keeper gladly accepted and agreed to pass the message.
Li Hao then strolled out of the Martial Temple, sleeves swaying, and made his way to a bustling tavern in the city to inquire about Grandmaster Bai Chunhai.
The tavern was packed with guests, extremely lively. A candle hung from a spiral staircase inside, its flame flickering. Half a meter above the candle, a beautiful dagger embedded with amber jewels was suspended.
Downstairs, many people were cheering.
Li Hao took a glance and realized the tavern was running a promotion. If someone could remove the dagger without the flame flickering, it would be given as a gift.
Just by looking at the gems on the dagger, one could tell it was worth a fortune, no wonder it attracted so many people.
Li Hao wasn't interested in the dagger. He followed another staircase to the upper floor, found a spot by the railing, and sat down.
He looked around, filtering out the various noises, and focused on listening to the low murmurs around him.
His hearing was sharp, and he could even hear conversations from outside the tavern, in nearby teahouses and on the streets.
Even whispered secrets were clear to him.
For example, from the table behind him and downstairs, a few women were whispering: "That young man by the railing is so handsome..."
Li Hao felt a sudden sense of pleasure.
Suddenly, Li Hao heard the name "Bai Chunhai" from a table near the window. He was surprised and saw three figures, two women and a man, discussing in low voices:
"Master has a challenge match with Grandmaster Bai Chunhai. After the Grandmaster Conference, they will meet at Heavenly Sword Peak to spar."
"That Bai Chunhai's Palm Technique is said to be so advanced that he can strike a snow-covered tree and the snow won't tremble while the tree shatters. I wonder if it's true."
"Maybe his disciples are just exaggerating..."
Li Hao's eyes lit up, and he immediately stood up and walked to their table.
"Excuse me, do you know Grandmaster Bai Chunhai?"
The three of them fell silent, their expressions changing slightly, seemingly surprised that their private conversation had been overheard.
"Are you his disciple?"
They looked up, their faces unfriendly, but relaxed a bit when they saw Li Hao was young.
If they had a real fight, this young man's age suggested he wouldn't be much of a match for them.
"No, I just want to meet him", Li Hao shook his head.
The three were slightly stunned, exchanged glances, and relaxed.
"Are you here to become his disciple?"
The woman in a plain white dress, who looked gentle and spoke softly, asked.
Li Hao looked at her in surprise, then understood. The Grandmaster Conference attracted not only Grandmasters from all over but also many young martial artists seeking to become disciples.
For example, some fallen noble families or newly established noble families sent their young masters and young misses on long journeys to learn martial arts.
After all, with so many Grandmasters here, one might encounter a few.
Li Hao smiled, not bothering to explain, and asked, "Do you know where he is?"
"Even if we do, why should we tell you?"
The woman in an orange-yellow dress, who looked more delicate but had a somewhat aggressive personality, glared at Li Hao, clearly unhappy that he had eavesdropped on their conversation.
The young man in the middle didn't stop her but said indifferently:
"If you want to become a disciple, wait outside after the Grandmaster Conference. You'll naturally see him."
The woman in the plain white dress, seeing their unfriendly attitude toward Li Hao, just glanced at him and didn't say anything more.
Li Hao didn't get angry. He took out the remaining half bag of silver and said, "Please help me with a favor, show me the way."
"Who cares about this small amount of money?"
The woman in the orange-yellow dress glanced at it and huffed. She then turned her head and saw the dagger hanging by the spiral staircase, pointing at it:
"If you really have the sincerity, take down that dagger for me, and I'll tell you."
The young man heard this and knew his junior sister was deliberately giving the young man a hard time.
He had tried to take down the dagger just now and failed.
"Ling'er."
The woman in the white dress gently called out to the young girl and apologized to Li Hao, "I'm sorry, but we can't casually reveal Grandmaster Bai Chunhai's whereabouts. Otherwise, we might be blamed..."
"Dagger, right? No problem."
Li Hao smiled and quickly put the half-bag of silver coins back, not wanting to waste money.
Although the Dagger was more valuable than the money he had, in his eyes, both money and treasures were merely tools to provide convenience. As long as they served their purpose, that was enough.
With his current strength, making money was easy. Slaying a few Demons could earn him a substantial amount, allowing him to live a carefree, wealthy life whenever he wanted.
Seeing Li Hao turn and walk down the stairs, the three of them were taken aback and exchanged glances. Zhou Ling'er, coming to her senses, couldn't help but say, "Is he a fool? Does he really think he can get it?"
"He probably didn't read the rules clearly, thinking that jumping three meters high would be enough", the young man shook his head and said with a slight sneer.
As they spoke, the three of them still got up and moved to the railing to look down.
Li Hao went downstairs, where many people were eager to try their luck.
To challenge, one had to first order a Jinyu Man Tang Bountiful Feast Package, which served as the challenge ticket.
This familiar routine made Li Hao feel a bit nostalgic.
He spent ten taels of silver to get a package, didn't wait for the dishes to arrive, and immediately stepped into the challenge area.
The gazes of the surrounding people immediately focused on him. When they saw Li Hao's age, the commotion grew louder, as everyone thought he was some young noble who couldn't resist showing off.
The money in the pockets of these young nobles was the easiest to earn.
A middle-aged man who seemed to be the manager of the inn enthusiastically explained the rules to Li Hao, further hyping up the atmosphere.
Without waiting for the crowd to get too rowdy, Li Hao lightly leaped up. Under the watchful eyes of everyone in the building, he rose like a gentle breeze and gently plucked the Dagger hanging above the candle.
The rules prohibited participants from the Fifteen Li Realm and from using Object Control to directly retrieve the Dagger. The challenge tested pure Martial Dao skills.
Thus, even if one's cultivation reached the Divine Wanderer Realm, if their Martial Dao skills were average, it would be difficult to keep the candle flame from flickering.
However, as Li Hao landed, the candle flame remained steady, the tip of the flame straight.
Li Hao smiled at the dazed inn manager and turned to go upstairs with the Dagger.
The inn fell into a brief silence before erupting into a roar of excitement. Everyone in the building let out shocked exclamations, their gazes following the young man's figure.
Li Hao walked upstairs and handed the Dagger to Zhou Ling'er, who was standing by the railing with a stunned expression. He smiled and said, "Can you show me the way?"
Zhou Ling'er and the others snapped out of their stupor. They had all seen clearly that the candle flame had not flickered at all. Li Hao's approach seemed to have caused no wind at all.
"How, how did you do that?" Zhou Ling'er asked, holding the Dagger and staring in amazement.
The young man beside her widened his eyes and sized up Li Hao. He was a genius on the Kunfeng List, and even he couldn't achieve what this young man had just done.
Could this person also be on the Kun List?
Li Hao felt more and more attention from the crowd and repeated, "Can you show me the way?"
The three of them came to their senses. The young man gave Li Hao a deep look and said, "Please follow us. Grandmaster Bai Chunhai should be with our master, but I can't guarantee we'll meet him."
"Alright."
Li Hao agreed.
The young man led the way, guiding the group out of the inn.
The inn manager glanced at them but ultimately held back from trying to stop them. In recent days, it was best not to provoke the young masters coming to Daiyue City, as they could easily be a hard nut to crack.
Zhou Ling'er couldn't stop looking at Li Hao as they walked. Despite her volatile temper, she held a deep admiration for those with great strength. She kept asking questions along the way.
"How did you do it?"
"What's your name?"
"Where are you from?"
Li Hao didn't answer, feeling like a bee was buzzing in his ear.
The young girl in the white dress was also quietly observing Li Hao, her eyes filled with curiosity. Among her peers, she rarely saw anyone as skilled as him.
Before long, under the young man's lead, they arrived at the Grandmaster Discussion Platform in the city, where a large crowd had already gathered.
The surrounding inns were all full.
In a tavern with a stage set up, the young man found their master, a middle-aged Grandmaster named Zhou Haitang, who was of small stature.
The young man introduced Li Hao and whispered the story of what happened at the inn.
Zhou Haitang, who was enjoying a performance, couldn't help but look up and give Li Hao a glance. He then smiled lightly and said, "May I ask where you are from and what your name is?"
"Ji Hao."
Li Hao replied.
Zhou Haitang pondered the name for a moment. It wasn't on the Heaven and Earth List, so he assumed it might be a young noble from a prestigious family, which Li Hao's age suggested.
"He's only one surname away from being that supreme genius on the Qianlong List."
Zhou Haitang chuckled and said, "Do you want to become Bai Chunhai's disciple? I also know a bit of martial arts. Are you interested?"
Zhou Ling'er and the others looked at him in surprise, not expecting their master to be so impressed that he would want to take in this young man directly.
However, given Li Hao's displayed skills and high Martial Arts foundation, if he joined, he might advance faster than they did.
Thinking of this, the three of them felt a mix of nervousness and anticipation.
"I am not here to become a disciple."
Li Hao shook his head slightly. "I am here to purchase a painting from him."
(End of Chapter)
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