Chapter 13: Assassination

Seeing the prompt, Li Hao did not feel much joy in his heart.

He had long since cast aside utilitarian motives, devoting himself entirely to the task, and it was precisely because of this that he possessed a "Chess Heart."

The idea of using the Dao of Chess to practice the Martial Dao, treating chess merely as a tool—this was something he could no longer accept.

In fact, there was an impulse in his heart to use these Artistry Points directly on the Dao of Chess.

But that severed arm and the man drinking wine made him restrain this thought.

Playing chess was certainly important; it was something he currently loved.

Yet, there were some things that had to be done, such as tearing that Tiger-Robed Immortal into ten thousand pieces! However, that was a Fourth Realm Great Demon; wanting to cultivate to the Fourth Realm was by no means a matter of a single day or night.

The only thing he could do now was to grow up quickly.

……

……

A Chess Heart is a state of mind, a state of being.

After possessing the Chess Heart, in the days that followed, Li Hao began to busy himself with playing chess in the small courtyard once again.

But now, he did not play for the meager experience gained at the end of a game; he truly enjoyed the entire process of playing.

The subtlety of every move, the layout, the deliberation—all of it deeply fascinated him, just like playing a fun game, completely immersed in it, unable to stop.

Eating, sleeping, watching the little girl practice swordplay—chess would always cross his mind.

This left Li Hao with little interest in anything other than chess.

One day, Xuejian from Changchun Courtyard brought news: the Eldest Lady had invited Bian Ruxue to join the Martial Arts Arena of the Divine General's Mansion.

That was where the Li Clan's descendants practiced.

After the age of six, if one had not been accepted into a famous sect, they would go to the Martial Arts Arena to practice, receiving unified instruction from experts who had retired from the Li Clan's military.

Li Hao agreed. Although he could also teach the little girl, he was currently only proficient in swordplay, whereas the Martial Arts Arena provided comprehensive training, including how to cultivate, various types of Martial Dao knowledge, and popularization of information about the outside world.

From that day on, after paying his morning respects to the Eldest Lady, Li Hao and the little girl would part ways at Changchun Courtyard; one would return to Shanhe Courtyard, while the other was sent to the Martial Arts Arena.

In the Martial Arts Arena, besides the direct descendants of the Li Clan, there were also some collateral descendants and children from branch clans, so there were quite a few of them—several dozen in total. Inside, there were only five direct descendants, the same ones who paid morning respects to the Eldest Lady with Li Hao.

Bian Ruxue also enjoyed the treatment of a direct descendant in the Martial Arts Arena because she was Li Hao's future fiancée, half a member of the Li Clan.

Direct descendants in the Martial Arts Arena were like stars surrounding the moon; their status was far higher than that of the collateral descendants. For instance, the cultivation resources during Foundation Establishment and Blood Melting were at least one grade higher than those of the collateral descendants.

Consequently, there was a significant gap in Martial Dao aptitude between direct and collateral descendants.

This led to the situation in the Martial Arts Arena where, apart from a few direct descendant children who had just gained understanding, most of the collateral descendants were teenagers. Their talents were around the fourth to sixth grade, belonging to medium aptitude, and they could eventually become city guards in charge of a region.

Among them, collateral descendants who reached the seventh-grade aptitude would receive focused cultivation and enjoy cultivation resources approaching those of the direct descendants.

After entering the Martial Arts Arena, Bian Ruxue could be considered to have officially stepped onto the path of cultivation.

At this moment, the terror of a ninth-grade battle body manifested itself.

In just a few short months, Li Hao saw that the little girl had already reached the Fourth Level of the Tongli Realm.

Breaking through a minor realm almost every month—such terrifying speed was truly as simple as eating and drinking water.

Although this could not be separated from the Li Clan's abundant cultivation resources being poured into her without reservation, Martial Dao aptitude is like a sponge; being able to absorb such a large amount was also a skill in itself.

Meanwhile, those teenagers in the Martial Arts Arena were still hovering at the eighth or ninth level of the Tongli Realm; it was estimated that in another half a year, they would be overtaken by this little girl.

Li Hao, on the other hand, played chess in the courtyard day after day, and no one disturbed him. The Eldest Lady did not require him to go to the Martial Arts Arena either. Li Hao could see the Eldest Lady's intentions: she did not want him, as a direct descendant, to suffer humiliation in the Martial Arts Arena.

Because in the Martial Arts Arena, besides teaching, they would also arrange for mutual sparring and competition to stir up the cultivation fighting spirit of these children and teenagers.

If someone like Li Hao, who had no Martial Dao aptitude, were placed in there, he would inevitably suffer. Some children spoke without restraint, and it was even inevitable that disputes would arise, potentially reaching the adults, which would not look good.

The Eldest Lady, managing the Divine General's Mansion, only wanted peace and quiet.

And Li Hao was happy with this, wanting ease.

After all, practicing martial arts was just a waste of time for him.

He also had no interest in arguing and fighting with those teenagers; it was too boring.

……

"You've played so many games, yet you still don't learn your lesson. It's the same move, and you've already lost three games!"

Li Hao scolded the servant playing chess in front of him.

The servant jumped in fright, hurriedly stood up with his hands hanging down, and said tremblingly like a quail, "Young Master, please calm your anger."

Now that Li Hao possessed the aura of a young master, they no longer dared to treat him as a child and disregard what he said.

"Your mind is not on the chess at all. What are you thinking about?" Li Hao said angrily.

The servant felt bitter in his heart. In the past, he had played the same way, but the Young Master had never cared; instead, the games ended quite quickly, and the Young Master was quite happy.

But recently, things had changed.

If the chess was played poorly, the Young Master would darken his face, making him feel bitter and distressed.

"The two of you play chess too poorly. You've accompanied me for so long, and you haven't made any progress at all!" Li Hao said irritably.

The servant hurriedly begged for mercy. Another servant seemed to think of something, secretly glanced at Li Hao, and said, "Young Master, I do know someone who is said to be able to play chess. He is a third-grade servant newly recruited into the mansion."

"Oh?" Li Hao raised an eyebrow and asked, "Where is he?"

"In the woodshed, responsible for chopping firewood."

"Then what are you waiting for? Call him over and let me test him." Li Hao said immediately.

"Yes, Young Master." The servant was delighted and immediately withdrew. Not long after, a thin, gaunt young man wearing servant's clothes was brought before Li Hao.

"What are you standing there for? Why don't you pay your respects to the Young Master?"

"Ah, yes, Young Master, I wish you good health." The gaunt young man hurriedly knelt down.

Li Hao waved his hand slightly, telling him to get up and speak, and pointed to the chessboard: "I heard you can play chess. Accompany me for a game and let me see. If you play well, you can stay in Shanhe Courtyard from now on, be granted the status of a first-grade servant, and stay by my side."

"Ah?" The gaunt young man clearly did not expect such a sudden stroke of good fortune to occur, and he was stunned, then said with pleasant surprise, "Thank you, Young Master! Thank you, Young Master!"

After speaking, he wiped his hands on his body and sat down in front of the chessboard.

Soon, a game was set up, and Li Hao held the white pieces.

After seven or eight moves of confrontation, Li Hao immediately felt delighted. This gaunt young man could indeed play chess, and he was quite skilled.

Li Hao also became slightly more serious, not holding back in his moves.

In just a short half-quarter of an hour, the gaunt young man's face turned pale, fine cold sweat broke out on his forehead, and a look of fear appeared in his eyes.

Finally, his palms trembled slightly, and he looked dejectedly at the chessboard in front of him, then looked at Li Hao in front of him, finding it hard to believe that such a small child could have such a deep study of the Dao of Chess.

"I lost." The gaunt young man stood up with a complex expression, his eyes revealing unwillingness and a trace of hidden ferocity.

Li Hao, however, was in a daze.

Hearing the gaunt young man's words, he came back to his senses and immediately laughed: "Good, very good. From now on, you are a first-grade servant in my courtyard. Just follow me and accompany me to play chess every day."

The gaunt young man was stunned, looking at Li Hao in astonishment: "But, but I lost."

Li Hao smiled. Just now, as this game ended, the prompt told him he had gained experience—actually a full 20 points! Usually, playing with the two guys by his side, the highest he got was only 3 points. The gap was simply too large.

From this, it could be seen that the higher the level of the opponent, the more experience he gained, rather than purely relying on the quantity of games.

"If every game is 20 points, 10 games would be 200. To accumulate 5,000 points, it would only take 250 games. Even if we calculate it as 10 games a day, it would only take a month."

The more Li Hao thought about it, the more excited he became, and he looked at the gaunt young man in front of him with increasing joy.

"If you can win against me, I can grant you ten thousand taels of gold!" Li Hao smiled and encouraged him.

The gaunt young man was stunned, trembling with excitement like chaff.

Li Hao told him not to stand there, to sit down and continue, while ordering the two servants by his side to prepare his registration and handle his transfer procedures.

Just like that, Li Hao and the gaunt young man began to play game after game in the courtyard.

In the blink of an eye, half a month passed.

One night, after Li Hao finished dinner, he called the gaunt young man over to continue the battle.

In the bedroom, under the night lamp, two figures, one big and one small, were fighting on the chessboard.

"Young Master."

When Li Hao was concentrating on thinking about his move, he suddenly heard the gaunt young man call him.

But the tone was not as slightly fawning and respectful as usual, but had a trace of strange tranquility.

Li Hao looked over in confusion, only to see a flash of cold light suddenly strike, heading straight for his face!

His pupils shrank, and his body instinctively kicked his legs, retreating backward like lightning.

Looking at the chess table again, the gaunt young man had one hand on the table and the other maintaining the posture of holding a dagger and stabbing forward, with a look of astonishment on his face, clearly not expecting that this young master could dodge his strike.

"Hmm? You……"

Li Hao came back to his senses; everything was too sudden, with no preparation at all.

While shocked, his eyes rapidly turned cold and clear, and he said coldly: "Assassination? Who sent you?"

In his mind, he instantly thought of the woman in Water Flower Courtyard, but Li Hao quickly dismissed it. He was already a useless person with no threat; no one in the courtyard should be assassinating him.

"How did you……" The gaunt young man's mind was even more chaotic and shocked than Li Hao's. Wasn't it said that this child was a piece of trash who couldn't cultivate the Martial Dao? These days, he had been accompanying Li Hao in the courtyard every day, and he had indeed never seen Li Hao cultivate, not even once!

You must know, Li Clan descendants had to practice hard in the Martial Arts Arena at the age of six.

The trash in front of him, however, played chess in his own courtyard every day, with no one paying him any mind.

The intelligence was not wrong, but it seemed…… wrong to an outrageous degree!

Soon, the gaunt young man reacted, his body suddenly exploded, erupting with terrifying movement speed, rushing straight at Li Hao.

He must not let this child make a sound, his eyes were ferocious and full of killing intent.

But on the other side, Li Hao's thoughts were the same as his.

The assassin must not be allowed to make a sound, otherwise, it would alarm too many people.

Kill!

Seeing the figure rushing over, Li Hao did not dodge; instead, he suddenly straightened his feet, and his small figure rushed out like thunder. In the movement, there was a faint sound of wind. At the moment of closing in, he tilted his head slightly, watching the dagger brush past his eyes, and at the same time, smashed a fist into the opponent's stomach.

Since Li Hao stepped onto the path of cultivation, he had never fought anyone.

This time, it was almost an all-out explosion.

Only a heavy sound like a sandbag falling to the ground was heard. The gaunt young man's eyeballs suddenly widened as if they were about to bulge out, his body arched like a shrimp, and he was knocked backward, hitting the chess table.

Li Hao did not know how heavy the power of this punch was, but being able to lift a 20,000-jin rockery, if this punch was struck with full force, it would be at least tens of thousands of jin.

While the gaunt young man was being repelled, Li Hao jumped up rapidly, his small hands like eagle claws, pinching the opponent's throat, and said coldly: "Don't scream!"

Gaunt young man: "???"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 14 =====