Chapter 16

After the maid retreated, Li Hao didn't continue playing chess and got up to walk toward the courtyard.

Li Fu also got up. When Li Hao wasn't talking to him, he returned to his expressionless military demeanor, like a silent shadow, following Li Hao closely.

He had inquired about the previous assassination attempt from the mansion's servants and understood it carefully, feeling a sense of lingering fear.

Especially since accompanying this child to play chess these days, he was even clearer that the position he was sitting in now was the exact position where that assassin had once been.

Separated by only a chessboard.

At such a distance, taking advantage of a child's vulnerability and lack of attention, it would be enough to kill him instantly!

But such an assassination attempt had actually been blocked. He didn't know whether to say the assassin was incompetent, or that the clan elder who had intervened was too terrifying, or that this child was truly blessed with great fortune! Therefore, Li Fu took it as a warning, accompanying Li Hao everywhere—eating, drinking, and sleeping—and any retainer or maid who came within three feet of Li Hao would be sternly scrutinized by his eagle-like gaze.

This also made the retainers and maids in the courtyard secretly miserable; every time they reported things to the young master, they were trembling with fear, not even daring to lift their heads... they were almost becoming introverted.

Seeing Li Hao walk over, Bian Ruxue, who was practicing sword, pouted slightly and turned to the side, as if not wanting to be seen by Li Hao.

Li Hao looked at her aggrieved and sulky appearance, smiled, called a retainer to bring a small stool, and brought some pastries and fresh fruits, sitting down to eat.

"Practicing sword with a distracted mind, you won't be able to beat others like this." Li Hao saw the little girl waving her sword messily, clearly absent-minded, and said with a smile.

Bian Ruxue's eyes suddenly turned slightly red, she stopped her sword, lowered her head, and said: "If only you could cultivate, Brother Hao. With your intelligence, practicing sword would definitely surpass me and make you the most outstanding person."

Practicing in the martial arts arena for a year, Bian Ruxue grew rapidly, and as she gradually grew up, her mind began to mature, gradually understanding why those adults had looked at Li Hao with that kind of gaze after the bone measurement back then.

She also understood what Li Hao had actually lost in that year.

Hearing Xue'er's words, Li Fu's brow furrowed slightly, and deep within his emotionless eyes, a trace of regret and pity appeared.

Isn't this also the regret of the Li Clan, the regret of Marquis Xing Wu!

Li Hao felt somewhat helpless; he wasn't sad himself, so why was this young girl sad instead?

"Don't say that."

Li Hao comforted her: "Practicing sword is so boring. Look at you, exposed to wind and sun every day, in the dead of winter and the heat of summer, how tiring that is. Unlike me, eating iced melon in the pavilion in summer, playing chess, curling up in a quilt to keep warm in winter, sleeping until the sun is high—this is what you call happiness!"

Li Fu couldn't help but glance at this kid; it was indeed something he would say.

Without Marquis Xing Wu by his side, the ladies of other courtyards couldn't discipline him strictly, and when he returned, he noticed that this child's personality had become a bit cynical.

"You're just afraid of hardship." Bian Ruxue raised her head and said.

"What do you know."

Li Hao said indignantly: "Look at me now, I'm too lazy to even stand here. I'd rather sit than stand, rather lie down than sit. Some hardships are meaningless; otherwise, why would you want sweetness? You're still young, you don't understand. Just practice your sword well."

"Don't talk nonsense."

Li Fu couldn't listen anymore and couldn't help but scold him.

What kind of nonsense is that? Hardship is meaningless? Which soldier at the border isn't enduring hardship?

As a martial artist, the thing they fear most is not hardship, but lacking talent and resources.

This kid is good; living in blessing without knowing it, having no talent, and complaining about hardship. He doesn't learn well himself, and now he wants to lead Xue'er astray—how can that be?

Bian Ruxue's sword talent, Li Fu saw, was very outstanding. In the future, she would definitely achieve great things in sword arts and become a protective umbrella for Li Hao. He couldn't watch this bastard kid talk away his own future reliance.

"Uncle Fu, I think Brother Hao is right."

Bian Ruxue hurriedly spoke up for Li Hao.

Li Fu's eyes widened, his heart even angrier. This girl listened to Li Hao too much; if she were really led astray by Li Hao, it would be over.

"Don't feed Xue'er these messy things. Kid, don't think I don't dare to beat you. If I beat you, your father would even say 'well done'!"

Li Fu didn't have the heart to lose his temper at this well-behaved little girl who had lost her parents, so he had to sternly threaten Li Hao.

Li Hao gave a sheepish smile, knowing he had no common language in this regard with this stern and rigid guy.

Moreover, the Divine General Mansion was a family of soldiers, and the Li Clan had always advocated the spirit of thrift and enduring hardship.

Don't look at the ladies of the courtyards living in luxury and being envied by the world; with the status and foundation of the Divine General Mansion, they could actually live even more extravagantly.

And the eldest aunt, He Jianlan, had been eating vegetarian meals for two days every week for many years. Soldiers killed countless lives; she didn't believe in Buddhism, only saying that this was to warn herself and her children not to indulge in this prosperity and wealth, and to forget the duty and integrity of a soldier.

"Yes, yes, Uncle Fu is right."

Li Hao said to Xue'er: "Look, you've made Uncle Fu angry; hurry up and practice sword."

Xue'er blinked her little eyes and pouted slightly; it was clearly you, Brother Hao, who made him angry.

However, she didn't argue. If she could take the anger of Uncle Fu for Li Hao, she was willing.

Hearing Li Hao's shameless words, Li Fu was almost angered to laughter, rolled his eyes, and thought this kid was really too hard to discipline.

"Uncle Fu, help me take a look and guide Xue'er's sword arts." Li Hao said to Li Fu.

Li Fu said indifferently: "I use a saber, I don't know sword."

"Saber and sword are connected, there's not much difference." Li Hao said with a smile.

"What do you know? Weapons must be practiced to perfection; even a difference of a hair's breadth has infinite differences." Li Fu said indignantly, then suppressed his temper. Forget it, this kid doesn't understand martial arts, so it's normal for him to see it this way.

Li Hao felt somewhat helpless, so he had to continue gnawing on fresh fruit, crossing his legs, and watching Xue'er practice sword.

"That whirling style of yours, I think it's wrong."

Seeing halfway through, Li Hao pointed out to Bian Ruxue as if casually: "If you lower your arm a bit more, it will look better."

"Don't talk nonsense, it will interfere with Xue'er." Li Fu frowned and scolded.

A layman guiding an expert? This is simply outrageous!

Bian Ruxue didn't pay attention to Li Fu. She was used to Li Hao's casual guidance. Although Brother Hao hadn't stepped into martial arts, every time she practiced according to what Brother Hao said, she felt it was indeed smoother.

At this moment, she lowered her arm and used the whirling style again. Sure enough, there was a sense of ease that she understood in her heart. Li Fu gave a soft 'eh', not because Bian Ruxue really listened to Li Hao, after all, this little girl was too obedient to Li Hao, but because the posture, as Li Hao said, changed slightly, and it really made the sword momentum have a bit more ferocity.

He looked down suspiciously at this kid who was gnawing on fruit and crossing his legs in an unruly posture. Was it a coincidence?

Or did he judge it based on whether it looked good? "You have to use your waist. For this kind of whirling long-slash posture, it's not just the hand that needs to exert force; you have to use your waist to drive your arm out." Li Hao said again.

Bian Ruxue nodded slightly, then performed it again. After several times, she finally mastered the essentials, and the sword momentum generated wind, clearly with more power than before.

Li Fu raised his eyebrows, his heart astonished. Once is a coincidence, but twice is not.

Could this child really understand sword and have sword talent?

Although Li Fu was quite displeased with Li Hao's personality, he had to admit that after half a year of contact, this child was very intelligent and had maturity and wisdom beyond his peers.

Could it be that he actually had sword talent, but because he couldn't practice martial arts, he couldn't display it?

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but feel secret heartache. If this were true, what a great regret it would be! Following Li Hao's casual guidance, this set of sword techniques of Bian Ruxue gradually tended toward perfection.

There was no way around it. With Li Hao's understanding of sword Dao, just by looking at it a few times, he could record this set of Supreme Grade sword techniques of Bian Ruxue into his panel and then directly reach the Ultimate level.

He guided her with an Ultimate-level understanding that made up for defects, even skipping perfection. As long as Bian Ruxue mastered it a little, she could achieve power comparable to perfection.

Afterward, Li Hao asked the little girl to demonstrate the move she had lost in the duel before.

Bian Ruxue obeyed and did as she was told.

Li Hao understood as soon as he saw it, and even imagined in his heart the scene of how the other party had defeated her.

However, he didn't say it out loud. After all, with Li Fu nearby, it wouldn't matter if he revealed a little sword talent, but if it were too detailed, it would seem too monstrous.

"This sword doesn't look good. I think the downward slash here should be changed to a slant, and the elbow should be raised backward."

"It's better to change from slashing to a straight thrust here; don't shake your wrist."

Li Hao pointed out as if casually.

Bian Ruxue was suspicious, listened carefully, slowly understood Li Hao's words, and then practiced again, over and over, gradually approaching Li Hao's description.

Li Fu looked at Li Hao. He was already convinced that Li Hao also possessed extremely high sword talent.

Although this kid's way of expressing it was very layman, only correcting Bian Ruxue's movements with "good-looking" and "not good-looking", but being able to perceive the beauty of weapons at such a young age, isn't that also a kind of talent?

After all, in the eyes of a genius, some things are a different scene.

Li Fu sighed in his heart, feeling even more pity for Li Hao.

The next day.

The two went to Changchun Courtyard to pay their morning respects, and then Bian Ruxue ran excitedly to the martial arts arena.

After the morning practice and morning class in the martial arts arena ended, Bian Ruxue found the illegitimate youth from yesterday. The little girl hugged the sword that was similar in height to her, her little face full of seriousness, wanting to challenge him again.

Hearing Bian Ruxue's words, the youth couldn't help but laugh out loud.

The other few illegitimate youths surrounding him also followed with mockery and ridicule.

They didn't dare to provoke the other legitimate disciples too much, but Bian Ruxue was ultimately not a legitimate member of the Li Clan, only the fiancée of a legitimate member, and one who hadn't even entered the door yet. Moreover, that legitimate member was a waste whose name had long spread throughout the Divine General Mansion. In the future, any one of them would surpass the other party.

Therefore, they naturally couldn't stand that guy who sat on a treasure mountain, enjoying endless resources and favor.

"Defeated by Brother Bai yesterday, haven't you learned your lesson yet?"

"Want to stand up for that waste? If you have the ability, let him come himself. Brother Bai doesn't need to strike; I'll let that waste use both hands!"

"Hmph, Brother Bai already showed mercy yesterday, yet you're still not sensible."

"Although your talent is good, Brother Bai has been practicing here for eight years. Want revenge? I think you'll have a chance in half a year, but by then Brother Bai should no longer be here."

Bian Ruxue bit her lip, her little face staring seriously at the youth in the middle: "Do you dare?"

These words immediately stirred up the youth's blood. The youth called Brother Bai had the full name Li Dongbai. Among the illegitimate disciples in the martial arts arena, he was considered one of the three with the highest talent, a Seventh-Grade Battle Body, enjoying resources close to the legitimate members, and had already stepped into the Zhou Tian Realm.

But the technique competition stipulated by the martial arts arena required the cultivation of the stronger party to be suppressed to the same realm as the weaker party.

And Bian Ruxue's current cultivation was Level Ten Tongli Realm perfection! "Today I'll let you lose clearly."

Li Dongbai's eyes were cold. He hadn't intended to provoke this little girl with peerless talent; he was just chatting with the people around him about something, happened to mention that waste, and incidentally expressed a few words, only to be sought out by this little girl.

Although he was an illegitimate disciple, he also had extremely high spirit and naturally wouldn't apologize for this, which led to yesterday's contest.

"Come on!"

Li Dongbai stood on the arena of the martial arts arena.

Soon, the arena was surrounded by people. Everyone was full of interest, wanting to see the contest between these two illegitimate geniuses and that peerless genius girl.

Outside the arena, the instructor of the martial arts arena, that old man in the army, smiled and squinted, holding an encouraging idea about the competition between these young and vigorous little guys.

A sharp sword is honed from sharpening; if you don't fight when you are young, where will the setbacks come from, and where will the progress come from? You can't wait until you are his age, an old bag of bones, to go and risk your life with others.

Soon, two figures, one big and one small, fought fiercely in the arena.

The same scene had already been seen by the old man in the army yesterday, and the difference today was not big, only that Li Dongbai's strike was a bit more ferocious.

"It seems Xue'er is going to lose again." The old man in the army thought to himself: "After all, her cultivation is too short. Although her talent is excellent, she ultimately needs to be honed."

Just then, the figures in the arena crossed, and the most intense sword was used.

With a 'zeng' sound, a sword flew out, rolled outside the arena, and slanted into the sand.

And the figure on the arena also froze.

Also frozen were the cheers and support for both sides under the arena.

And the old man in the army's smiling face froze.

(End of chapter)