https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-198-Foundation-Building-World-Class-Talent-Part-2-/13450269/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-200-Fourth-Stage-Body-Dao-Bone-Measurement-/13450271/
Chapter 199: Who Dares to Mock My Son
Chapter 199: Who Dares to Mock My Son (Additional Chapter for Patriarch 'Ci li Ci li', Thank you!)
Li Hao was somewhat surprised, not expecting the other party to not be angry or to blame him.
The man's face looked stern and heroic, with thick brows that naturally exuded an aura of authority. However, his current gentle expression softened the accumulated sternness, giving off a warm and soothing feeling, like a gentle spring breeze.
"What did you draw? Let me see."
Li Tianzong walked over and saw the figure Li Hao had sketched on the painting board. He could vaguely make out that it was a woman.
Li Hao's Art Dao had not yet reached the first stage, and his current drawing was only a rough approximation. Li Tianzong asked curiously, "Who is this?"
"Mother."
Li Hao referred to the "mother" of this body, Chen Hefang.
He felt a bit embarrassed. His drawing skills were still very poor, and the sketch was far from a proper portrait, making it hard to recognize.
If he were to draw a wanted criminal, the criminal could probably come and claim the reward without anyone recognizing him...
Li Tianzong was taken aback by Li Hao's words, but then he laughed and said, "It's a good start, but your mother is much more beautiful than this. You need to practice more."
Li Hao was even more surprised, realizing that the other party did not intend to stop him from pursuing this "unorthodox" path.
"I will work hard", Li Hao said.
Li Tianzong ruffled his small head and said, "When your skills improve, draw one for me too. Include your brothers and Little Red Makeup."
He glanced at Li Hongzhuang, who was sitting nearby eating pastries.
Little Li Hongzhuang: "?"
His large, watery eyes looked at the two of them with confusion, not understanding what they were talking about.
Li Hao felt the warmth of the large hand ruffling his head, a warmth filled with affection. He was momentarily taken aback. Although this was Mourning River and the "father" before him was a long-dead grandfather, he felt an indescribable emotion in his heart.
It was as if a long-unhealed wound had finally begun to close.
He fell silent for a moment, then nodded seriously.
"I will hone my skills!"
Li Tianzong smiled and said, "When you finish, I will treasure it. My son has talent beyond just the Martial Dao, haha!"
He laughed a few times and then continued, "But don't forget to learn to read. After your Five-Year Bone Measurement, you will need to read cultivation techniques every day, understand?"
His expression grew slightly more serious as he spoke.
"Understood!"
Li Hao nodded, showing a bright smile.
His white teeth shone on his child's face.
"Come, let's go get some delicious food."
Li Tianzong picked up Li Hao and then wrapped his other arm around Li Hongzhuang, carrying them both out of the side room.
When they reached the courtyard, Chen Hefang saw Li Tianzong carrying Li Hao and Li Hongzhuang and hurried over, speaking softly in the Wrath Path,
"Look at you, they're already so big, and you're still carrying them. What will people think?"
"Who dares to mock my son?"
Li Tianzong raised an eyebrow, exuding a bit of his authority, but then he laughed and said, "The situation outside Dragon City is not good, but I rarely get to be home, so I want to spend more time with the children."
"You need to be careful yourself."
Chen Hefang's smile turned into a look of worry when he mentioned Dragon City.
Li Tianzong shook his head and smiled, "It's all minor issues, I will handle them. Let's not talk about such things at home. Go, get some delicious food, and we'll go to the training grounds to see how the older ones are doing. If anyone isn't practicing well, I'll send them to a famous mountain to train."
Chen Hefang couldn't help but smile, knowing his nature, and didn't try to persuade him further. She instructed a maid to fetch some pastries from the kitchen.
Li Hao's eyes flickered as he glanced at them. Although the current warmth was precious, going to the training grounds to watch his "brothers" train held little significance for him. The time he spent in the waking state would be returned to his body when he left Mourning River, so he chose to speed through it.
As the couple chatted softly and led Li Hao and Li Hongzhuang to the training grounds, Li Hao closed his eyes and accelerated his perception.
Several days passed in a flash.
Li Hao continued to refine the Demon King Strange Blood every day. He used his free time to draw, accumulating Art Dao experience.
With each stroke, Li Hao's mind gradually calmed down. He seemed more relaxed, fully engrossed in his painting in the side room.
Sheet after sheet of painting paper was peeled off, and the figures he sketched became increasingly clear and beautiful, as gentle as jade.
When his Art Dao reached the 2nd Rank, Li Hao's brushstrokes became divine, and his control over the brush greatly improved. He could now draw portraits with precision, making them lifelike.
Li Hao meticulously depicted Chen Hefang, Li Tianzong, Little Li Hongzhuang, and others. The Art Dao experience he gained varied depending on the different people he sketched.
The floor of the room was scattered with xuan paper.
As the sky darkened and Old Zhao called him for dinner, Li Hao finally stopped and chose to fast-forward through time.
The surroundings shifted, and it was another free moment several days later.
He still sat in the side room, painting. To Li Hao's surprise, all the xuan paper scattered on the floor had vanished.
Li Hao thought for a moment and decided to focus on painting first.
Each time he closed his eyes and fast-forwarded, it was at least three to four days later, and it was hard to control. If he sped up a bit too much, it could be half a month later.
While painting, Little Li Hongzhuang pushed the door open and peeked in, handing Li Hao a pastry.
Li Hao, whose painting was interrupted, didn't get angry. He smiled, took the pastry with his mouth, and asked while eating, "Red Makeup, where are my paintings?"
"They were all taken away by Father."
"Taken away?"
Li Hao's heart tightened slightly.
Little Li Hongzhuang, holding a wooden toy horse, pushed it on the ground and recalled, "Father said during dinner that Old Zhao should pack them all up. When you split the household in the future, they will be displayed in your courtyard so your wife can see your talents from childhood."
At two years old, she spoke clearly, repeating everything she had heard word for word.
When she finished, she looked up at Li Hao with confusion, "Tenth Brother, what does 'split the household' mean? And what is a wife? Is it tasty?"
The little girl's face was full of questions, but she saw that her "Tenth Brother" was sitting in front of the painting board, silent and unresponsive, like a statue.
...
Time skipped forward with each acceleration. Li Hao always tried to jump to his free moments and then come to the side room to paint.
He had no memory of what happened during the skipped time, only occasionally learning from Little Li Hongzhuang.
After seven jumps, several months had passed in Mourning River, but to Li Hao, it felt like he had sat and painted for seven consecutive days.
Each time he traveled through time, the scattered xuan paper would disappear.
One day, when he jumped to dinner time, he saw the painting papers neatly placed on a cabinet next to the main hall.
The cabinet, which originally held many precious divine weapons, ceramics, and imperial jade, now had most of its contents removed, replaced by thick stacks of his paintings.
"My son's painting skills are getting better, and according to the teacher, his reading progress is also rapid. He learns after just one lesson, ha ha!"
At the dinner table, Li Tianzong laughed heartily.
Li Hao, however, remained silent.
This was the first time Li Hao had eaten with his "father" and "mother" since arriving in Mourning River.
This time, he didn't skip. He held his bowl and quietly ate.
"Old Tenth, I heard you painted portraits of all of us, but why not me?"
At the dinner table, a child stood up and spoke. It was Little Li Tengang.
The news of Li Hao's painting skills had spread, and his older brothers had all seen his works, finding their own sketches and marveling at them. But Little Li Tengang, after searching through all the paintings, couldn't find his own.
Li Hao glanced at him. Though only eight or nine years old, the boy already bore a resemblance to the person in his memory.
Li Hao said nothing and continued to eat.
"Old Tenth, why aren't you answering me?"
Little Li Tengang called out, growing impatient.
Li Hao closed his eyes slightly, and the scene quickly shifted to several days later.
He stood in the courtyard, his body being wiped by a maid, indicating he had just finished absorbing Strange Blood.
The teacher came over and led Li Hao to a reading lesson.
After each Blood Dissolution, he would learn to read, and after finishing his reading lessons, it would be Li Hao's free time.
Li Hao no longer hopped around. He obediently followed the old man to study, but this time he personally participated. Most of what the old man taught, he already knew, so he held his brush and, while listening to the lesson, began writing poems in his notebook.
[Poetry Books Experience +53]
[Poetry Books Experience +46]
...
As he wrote one poem after another, his Poetry Books Experience continued to rise.
Halfway through the lesson, the old man noticed Li Hao diligently writing and recording notes. He nodded in silent approval, then leaned in to take a closer look. He was instantly stunned.
What he saw were not the characters he had taught, but several poems.
The old man quickly grabbed Li Hao's textbook and examined it closely, his eyes widening with each line. Finally, he looked at Li Hao in disbelief.
"Are these all written by you?"
Li Hao nodded.
This wouldn't expose him; it was merely a display of his poetic talent.
Only if he mentioned things like Liangzhou, the Demon King, or the Candlelight Deity—things he couldn't possibly know at his current status—would it raise suspicions and create inconsistencies.
"This, this..."
The old man was speechless with shock.
This was a prodigy of the age, a man of great learning!
To be able to write poetry just after learning to read and write was a remarkable feat. Even in the Noble Families of great scholars, such talent would cause a stir!
Not to mention, Li Hao came from a military family, and to have such poetic talent was truly rare!
Moreover, the old man knew that Li Hao's Cultivation Talent was also extraordinary, already renowned throughout the Divine General Manor as the Li Family's greatest genius in a thousand years!
A man of both literary and martial prowess!
"I must tell the Master about this!"
The old man said excitedly, "If the Master knew you had such talent and intelligence, he would be overjoyed!"
Thinking of his "grandfather", Li Hao's eyes flickered, and he felt a strange sense of anticipation.
Throughout history, being able to recite poems just after learning to read was already considered a prodigy. Some great scholars could write children's poems about chickens and ducks within a few years of learning to read, thanks to the influence of their noble families and the eloquent conversations they were exposed to daily. Of course, there were also those born with such talent, known as the embodiment of the Literary Star.
After the old man excitedly rushed out of the classroom, Li Hao continued to his side room to paint as usual.
He was fully engrossed, his eyes focused and serious as he thought about the painting that would be displayed in the main hall. He immersed himself completely in the task.
Painting...
Li Hao's brush moved with precision, feeling the weight of each stroke.
He was entirely absorbed, his mind consumed by the painting.
"Once your painting skills improve, draw one for me. Include your brothers and little Red Makeup..."
"Once it's done, I'll treasure it. My son, besides his Martial Dao talent, also has outstanding literary talent, ha ha..."
Li Hao's brush continued to move, his mind fully focused on the painting. He didn't hear or sense anything else.
All that remained was the figure on the canvas, gradually coming to life—a towering, awe-inspiring general!
His face was stern, his eyes gentle, his posture straight, and his presence commanding.
With the final stroke, a notification appeared in Li Hao's vision.
But Li Hao ignored it.
He sat still for a long while, then, remembering the notification, he checked his panel.
[You have comprehended the Painting Heart]
[Mindset: Painting Heart]
Li Hao was taken aback. His Art Dao Experience had not yet reached the third stage saturation, yet he had already comprehended the Painting Heart.
He fell silent for a moment, gently blowing to dry the painting paper, then carefully placed it aside, no longer leaving it on the floor carelessly.
He then took out another sheet of white paper and continued to paint.
One after another.
His Art Dao Experience continued to rise.
When it reached the third stage and quietly advanced to the fourth, his Art Skill Points increased by one.
Li Hao checked his accumulated Art Skill Points. Besides the one point already used for the 1st Rank Sword Dao, he had four points left—three from Art Dao and two from Poetry Books.
He still hadn't explored chess, carving, or fishing.
Thinking of the Rain Listening Pavilion, Li Hao decided it was time to visit.
Thinking of the Rain Listening Pavilion, Li Hao also thought of Second Uncle, wondering what he looked like in his youth.
At dinner, Li Hao left his side room and returned to the main hall.
(End of Chapter)
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