Chapter 11

The sword technique that was still slightly unfamiliar yesterday had already displayed the charm of a swordsman today.

The posture was precise, the movements were crisp and neat, and there was a sense of nimbleness! A Sword Dao genius!

At this moment, only these four words appeared in Lin Haixia's mind.

You must know, how many days had Bian Ruxue been learning this set of sword techniques? It would be good if she could reach initiation in half a month.

But now she was already proficient, and there was a rare trace of spirituality in her moves; this was the key.

Although he had scolded the little girl a few times yesterday, it was only because he had seen the child's Sword Dao talent and the hope of her becoming a powerhouse in the sword in the future that he had been strict and harsh.

He hadn't expected Bian Ruxue's performance today to greatly exceed his expectations; this was definitely a Sword Dao genius, the kind that was rare in the world!

"Good, very good."

Lin Haixia laughed and nodded repeatedly. After Bian Ruxue finished practicing, he asked: "Did you practice by yourself last night?"

Bian Ruxue immediately thought of Brother Li Hao's guidance, but then thought of the other party's stern-faced warnings and admonitions, so she nodded lightly.

Lin Haixia was not surprised; if she hadn't put in the effort last night, it would be impossible to have this performance today.

It was just that to have such rapid progress after practicing for only one night was truly gratifying.

"This sword technique is a bit simple for you; today I will teach you a Supreme Grade sword technique!"

Lin Haixia said.

The previous one was only a Lower Grade sword technique; he had no right to enter the Li family's Listening Rain Tower, and he was not qualified to pass on the Supreme Grade sword techniques, or even Absolute Grade sword techniques listed inside, to the little girl before him on behalf of the Li family.

Unless Li Hao's parents gave their consent, otherwise even Li Hao himself was not qualified right now.

He was still too young to be the head of the house.

"Mm."

Bian Ruxue nodded.

The big one and the small one practiced new sword techniques in the courtyard again.

One taught, one learned.

Li Hao watched for a moment, feeling slightly bored, and continued to ponder his chess heart.

He held the black and white pieces in his hand, turning them over and over at his fingertips, rubbing them gently, while his heart pondered the matter of those chess manuals.

Time passed quietly and without a trace in this courtyard.

During the day, Li Hao stared at the chessboard in a daze by himself.

At night, he would occasionally give pointers to Bian Ruxue, correcting some of her small flaws.

Bian Ruxue's Sword Dao progress was rapid, making Lin Haixia pleasantly surprised.

Several months later, in the Floating Snow Courtyard.

Li Hao stood silently in the crowd, watching an old man with the air of an immortal lead away the eight-year-old Li Wushuang to practice cultivation.

The Fifth Lady saw her off in tears, urging Shuang'er to eat well, listen well, and sleep well.

Li Hao remembered that when he was still in swaddling clothes, this little girl would tug at his mother's trousers, looking at him with bright, sparkling little eyes.

The Fifth Lady had three children, two daughters and one son; this was the eldest daughter.

When her bones were measured at age five, she was found to have a Ninth-Grade Battle Body, another heaven-gifted talent of the Li family.

Now, it was said that she had displayed extremely high cultivation talent and had been recognized by a master, who had taken her as a disciple.

Li Hao had seen such a familiar scene two years ago.

At that time, it was Liu Yuerong's child who was taken away by a bald monk chanting Buddhist names.

Clearly, that person was from Mount Wuliang.

Those with supreme talent in the Li family would mostly join the top forces of Da Yu to practice; this was also one of the ways for top forces to spread their connections.

As for those with secondary talent, like the Second Lady's second son, who only measured a Seventh-Grade Battle Body, although he was also considered a genius, he was clearly a cut below those heaven-gifted talents and would join the Tan Palace Academy in Qingzhou City to practice in the future.

Compared to the Fifth Lady's motherly feelings, Li Wushuang's little face was full of maturity, like a little adult; she just nodded calmly, urging her mother to take care of her health and her father to take care of his health.

Afterwards, the little girl's gaze swept across the courtyard, looking at everyone.

When she passed Li Hao, it was just a simple glance; she had long since had no impression of him.

Among the third generation of children in the mansion, the ones she heard her mother mention most often on weekdays were only those few who had supreme talent, such as the Second Lady's child Li Qianfeng, who was the target she was currently chasing.

As for the others, she no longer took them to heart.

Immersed in the big vat of martial arts, with her mother, the instructors teaching martial arts, the servants, etc., around her, everything she heard and saw fell into her ears. Although she was young, her mind was already mature, her eyes had a sharp feeling, and she already had the ambition and goal of chasing the supreme martial arts in her heart.

After saying goodbye to her parents, amidst the farewells of everyone, the little girl left with the Daoist just like that.

If they were to meet again, it would probably be when the other party returned to the mansion after making a name for herself many years later.

Days returned to calm.

In this quiet time, Li Hao slowly returned to playing chess with himself.

But now, he was not doing it for experience, but simply thinking about every game of chess.

He was trying to defeat himself; when holding the white pieces, he switched his thinking to the white pieces, and when holding the black pieces, he switched to the black pieces. Although the process was somewhat difficult, it had a sense of challenge.

Fighting against oneself, the joy is boundless.

In this world, entertainment was scarce, and Li Hao gradually grew to like this feeling of focusing on something, especially since there was the fun of a challenge within it.

Thus, the maids would occasionally see the young master startled.

Like when eating quietly, he would suddenly shout, "Oh, that move should have been placed there!" with a look of regret.

Sometimes he would point to the flower bed and ask the maids beside him, "Look at those flowers, do they look like a chess game?"

The maids:???

Can't understand, completely can't understand.

But if the young master says so, then it is so.

After all, it's their own young master, what else can they do? Just go along with it.

When Li Hao was six years old, Lin Haixia found Li Hao and said he wanted to teach him techniques.

He brought a weapon rack and let Li Hao choose the weapons on it to practice one by one, just like when he chose weapons for Bian Ruxue.

It was only considering that Li Hao's bones were not a top-tier battle body like Bian Ruxue's that he chose to delay it for a year, to avoid affecting bone development by exercising too early.

Only then did Li Hao know that the reason this military powerhouse was still lingering in the mansion was to teach him techniques.

"Can't I not practice?" Li Hao was dragged up early in the morning, yawning, only wanting to crawl back into bed.

"Practice techniques first; in case the commander finds a way in the future to help you open your meridians, you can immediately step into cultivation without falling behind in techniques." Lin Haixia said; this was his plan, practice first, just in case.

What if he can cultivate in the future? Wouldn't it come in handy then?

"Then what if it doesn't work?" Li Hao asked. "You're idle anyway." Lin Haixia said blandly.

Li Hao had a feeling of wanting to vomit blood; what kind of talk was this?

Being idle is better than suffering!

But Lin Haixia was clearly determined; no matter how Li Hao tried to persuade him, it was useless. Finally, he straightened his face and sternly took out a bamboo strip, saying he would hit him if he didn't listen.

Although Li Hao was not afraid of pain, after all, with his current physical body, unless Lin Haixia really used heavy force, it would just be tickling.

But seeing the other party so serious, he had no choice but to avoid the sharp edge for now.

Li Hao picked up the weapons and practiced one by one, only wanting to get it over with; the knives, spears, sticks, and clubs were all played without any proper form.

When he got the sword, the little girl was still beside him with an expectant look, holding her little fists and encouraging: "Brother Hao, come on!"

Li Hao was a bit speechless and waved it a few times casually, finishing it off hastily.

Lin Haixia's face was gloomy, as if he saw through the little guy's thoughts, and said: "Of these weapons, you haven't picked one today that I'm satisfied with; you are not allowed to rest, and you are not allowed to touch that damn chessboard again!"

"Lin Shu!" Li Hao wailed.

"Practice for me!" Lin Haixia gritted his teeth, ignoring Li Hao's pleas.

Li Hao had no choice but to pick up a knife and play with it, but his mind was not on cultivation; although he looked serious, there was no method at all.

Seeing that Li Hao was interested in the knife, Lin Haixia taught him move by move, starting from the simplest stance.

Seeing him so serious, Li Hao dared not practice even more; if he let him see a glimmer of hope, wouldn't he be giving him a pep talk every day? Don't even think about peace.

Therefore, when Lin Haixia taught, he nodded repeatedly, saying he understood, he understood.

Once the knife was in his hand, he played it in a muddled way again.

It was as if his hands and feet were saying, "Understand your sister!" After an afternoon passed, Lin Haixia also wanted to curse.

He couldn't even practice the most basic Lower Grade knife technique into a shape; this was having absolutely no martial arts insight at all.

He couldn't help but think of certain geniuses.

Some people have extremely high talent in one aspect, but in other aspects, they are completely ignorant, even worse than ordinary people.

And Li Hao seemed to be this type.

It's just a pity that his talent was used in the wrong place.

Chess skills... what kind of damn thing is that?! Lin Haixia even began to hate it; why would there be someone in the world so bored as to invent such a thing? It's simply damnable! But after the hatred, he felt sad in his heart again; is he really unable to help the young master? He hated his own incompetence and hated that he couldn't repay the commander's kindness.

After forcing Li Hao to practice for another half month, Lin Haixia finally despaired and gave up.

He told Li Hao that there had been some changes in the Yanbei war recently and that he would be leaving in a while.

Li Hao looked at this man and knew that his heart was already dead.

During this period, seeing the man's sorrowful appearance, he felt both moved and ashamed in his heart.

The other party had hated the chessboard and hated his own incompetence in teaching, but he had never hated Li Hao.

"Lin Shu, tell me, can a person who cannot cultivate martial arts become a powerhouse if they take the path of body tempering and combine it with techniques?"

Sitting in the courtyard, Li Hao looked at the man beside him who was drinking again and asked.

Lin Haixia pressed the wine aside, thought for a moment, and said with absolute certainty: "Yes!"

Immediately after, he added: "I have seen powerhouses in the army with powerful physical strength and superb spear techniques; they can also be considered powerhouses."

He turned his head to look at Li Hao, but his eyes quickly dimmed again: "Young Master, I know you are smart and can endure hardship; if you take the path of body tempering, you can definitely handle it, but your insight..."

He didn't continue, his heart feeling desolate; previously, letting Li Hao practice techniques was also with this intention.

Li Hao looked at him with some surprise and said: "I sleep until the sun is high every day; you say I can endure hardship?"

Lin Haixia shook his head slightly, a bitter smile appearing at the corner of his mouth: "I have seen the way you play chess; I know you can endure hardship, you just don't like to."

From Li Hao, he saw the possibility of becoming a top powerhouse.

That is intelligence, character, and diligence.

But the only thing missing is martial arts aptitude and martial arts insight.

These two things are precisely the tickets to martial arts.

If you can't even enter the door, how can you talk about a premium seat? This also led to the sky-high cultivation resources in the Divine General Mansion being piled in front of Li Hao, but it was just an empty mountain.

Hearing Lin Haixia's words, Li Hao felt slightly surprised, turned his head to look at the man, and then fell silent again.

The night wind blew; one person continued to drink, while the other silently watched the night sky, as if a meteor had streaked across—whose general star had fallen? Two months later.

Lin Haixia was leaving and formally said goodbye to Li Hao.

Li Hao waited for him in the inner courtyard; the large courtyard was empty, and he had the servants of the inner courtyard withdraw to the outer courtyard, leaving only him to see him off.

"Won't Lin Shu feel it's too cold and cheerless?" Li Hao asked with a smile, his small hands behind his back.

Lin Haixia sighed lightly and said: "I don't care about these superficial things; as for you, take care of Xue'er for me. That girl has extremely high Sword Dao talent and will definitely achieve great things in the future. Treat her well, and she will protect you in the future."

At this moment, there was a complex look in his eyes, as well as sighs and relief.

By now, he had completely given up on Li Hao practicing martial arts.

He had come to the Divine General Mansion full of expectations and passion, wanting to do his best and use all his heart and blood to cultivate the commander's youngest son to repay his kindness.

Now, he was leaving with a heart full of regret and loneliness; he felt a bit sad in his heart.

Li Hao smiled slightly and said: "Lin Shu, I have nothing to give you for our meeting. Since you are leaving today, I will give you a small gift."

"I don't want any gifts, and I have no face to accept them. You just need to be well." Lin Haixia felt slightly comforted, but he had no interest in the gift Li Hao mentioned; he lacked nothing.

Li Hao didn't speak, just slowly walked towards the weapon rack.

Lin Haixia was stunned, looking at him in confusion.

Afterwards, he saw Li Hao slowly draw a sword from it.

"This sword is for Lin Shu."

"Your disciple thanks you for your guidance!"

Li Hao said softly.

Afterwards, the sword rose.

The posture was as graceful as snow; the sword light in his hand was like surging waves, instantly shining with countless sword flowers, complex and exquisite, gorgeous to the extreme.

Ultimate, Sea Without End, Tide Sword Art! At this moment, that brilliant and dazzling sword light illuminated the entire empty inner courtyard.

Likewise, it also shone into Lin Haixia's eyes, reflecting his dark, constricted pupils into a snowy white brightness.

(End of Chapter)