Chapter 30: Two Saints and Little Haozi

Thinking of it, he did it.

Li Hao asked Uncle Zhao to prepare painting pigments, as well as brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones for him. After fishing with the old man every day, he would apply to the old man to return to his own Shanhe Courtyard to rest.

Li Muxiu didn't say much about this either. His principle for cultivating Li Hao was free-range.

Although Li Hao showed extremely high body-refining talent, he didn't force Li Hao to practice hard every day because of this. If Li Hao was willing to ask him for advice, he would guide him earnestly; if he wasn't willing, he would take the little child to travel around mountains and water every day, fishing in the wild everywhere.

In the Shanhe Courtyard, in the spacious courtyard.

Li Hao had people move two small stools, one high and one low, and like an art student, he began to draw on the set-up drawing board.

Uncle Zhao tried to persuade him earnestly, but Li Hao turned a deaf ear. Uncle Zhao was completely helpless with this young master who liked to indulge in idle pleasures, so he could only hand him over to Li Fu.

Li Hao had long had a way to deal with Li Fu. He demonstrated the Second Layer Flood Dragon Body in front of him.

Li Fu was dumbfounded, suspecting that his eyes were playing tricks on him. He asked Li Hao to demonstrate it again. After seeing it clearly the second time, the man was so excited that his eyes became wet and red.

He only thought it was Second Uncle's cultivation and guidance of Li Hao that allowed Li Hao to practice this body-refining supreme technique to the Second Layer in less than a month. While feeling grateful to Second Uncle, he also felt surprised and excited about Li Hao's body-refining talent.

Such talent was much more awesome than practicing Savage Bull Strength to Great Success in three months; he was absolutely a top-notch body-refining genius.

Seeing his ecstatic appearance, Li Hao was also secretly glad that he hadn't demonstrated the Third Layer Hundred Flood Dragon Body in front of him. After all, not everyone had the vision and endurance of the old man.

In exchange, Li Hao promised Li Fu that he would cultivate well with Second Uncle, but the premise was that when he did other things, he was not allowed to interfere anymore.

This left Li Fu feeling both pleasantly surprised and somewhat distressed. Li Hao's talent for body cultivation was so high that he now wished Li Hao would spend every day doing nothing but cultivating, aside from eating and sleeping, so that he could catch up to those prodigies with Ninth-Rank Battle Bodies. Yet, Li Hao's nature was incredibly laid-back, which left him feeling deeply helpless.

After repeated tug-of-war, Li Fu finally couldn't beat Li Hao and agreed.

So Li Hao began to paint generously in the courtyard.

As he lifted his brush and painted, soon, fonts appeared before his eyes.

【Painting Dao: 0 Stage (1/100)】

Sure enough, it worked.

Li Hao smiled knowingly and began to paint freely.

With the experience of Chess Dao and Fishing Dao, Li Hao guessed that the better he painted, the more experience he should gain.

Therefore, he wasn't too casual but began to draw relatively seriously.

It was just that in his previous life, he was a businessman who had been immersed in the business world for decades; what did he know about painting? He knew a little bit about girls who could paint...

For his first painting, Li Hao chose a portrait, so he picked the prettiest maid in the courtyard to stand in front of the drawing board.

Then he confidently lifted his brush. For a person, first draw a circle, then a vertical line, then a slash and a dot, and then another slash and a dot.

Hmm, still missing some hair.

Done!

【Painting Dao Experience +1】

Hiss... Sure enough, painting is hard.

Li Hao smiled bitterly to himself.

Nearby, Uncle Zhao peeked at the drawing board and asked suspiciously: "Young Master, what are you painting?"

"Can't you tell? A person!" Li Hao was ashamed and angry.

"Where is..." Uncle Zhao was somewhat confused.

Li Hao said angrily: "You say it doesn't look like it on the outside, that's because you didn't understand the connotation I painted. Look at this circle, you think this is a head? No, this represents smoothness. Look at this vertical line, you think this is a body? No, this is to express that if a person wants to stand up, they have to be smooth. Uncle Zhao, you still have to learn; don't be too straightforward!"

"Uh, and that bunch on the circle isn't hair?"

"Not necessarily, it is and it isn't. That is both hair and an ideal!"

"An ideal?"

Li Hao said indifferently: "Ideals grow on the head, which is very reasonable, right? This lush hair is the ideal of many people, which is also very reasonable, right?"

"??" Uncle Zhao was bewildered.

After Li Hao finished spouting nonsense, he continued to paint.

What made Uncle Zhao and Li Fu look at each other in dismay was that after painting dozens of sheets, they were all not much different. Looking at the pretty little maid standing in front of the drawing board... what was the point of having her stand there as a background?

Obviously, this young master had no talent in painting, which couldn't be compared to chess.

However, it was all just play that wasted martial arts, so they were too lazy to delve into it.

Li Hao painted very quickly, and soon a pile of waste paper piled up on the ground. Not long after, the experience value accumulated to one hundred.

It was all accumulated bit by bit. Li Hao felt quite tired in his heart.

【Painting Dao promoted to First Stage】

【Skill Points +1】

With the font prompt, a wave of insight into the painting Dao surged into his heart. Li Hao closed his eyes for a moment and gradually digested it all. In an instant, he knew how much of a layman he had been before.

He picked up his brush and began to paint again; the strokes seemed to possess a divine charm, and soon, a graceful figure with a captivating, elegant bearing appeared on the paper.

Li Fu and Uncle Zhao, who were bored and looking around, accidentally caught a glimpse and were stunned, staring with wide eyes in astonishment.

Not long after, Li Hao used a brush to lightly dot the vermilion lips and dipped in pigments to color. In an instant, a lifelike figure stood gracefully on the panel.

【Painting Dao Experience +13】

Li Hao couldn't help but be pleasantly surprised. Sure enough, the more detailed and exquisite the painting, the more the painting Dao experience increased.

And he, finally, could be considered to know how to paint.

"Young Master, you this..." Uncle Zhao looked at the drawing board blankly. He had just painted those rough stick figures, and now he had reached this level? Could it be that the young master was a genius who learned it in a short moment?

Or was he pretending before? Or... could it be that those stick figures were really, as the young master said, painting "connotation"?

He felt that his previous cognition had been strongly impacted.

"Basic operation, don't be surprised." Li Hao said indifferently.

Uncle Zhao couldn't understand, but it didn't prevent him from being deeply shocked.

Li Hao painted a few more sheets. After feeling more and more proficient, he had Li Fu and Uncle Zhao stand in front of the drawing board and painted one for each of them. In the painting, their eyes were lively; one was vicissitudinous and kind, the other was serious but revealed a bit of unnaturalness, looking elsewhere—lifelike.

Seeing the completed painting in their hands, the two had different expressions and complex moods.

The young master's talent was rare in the world. If he were born in a family of civil officials, he would definitely be treated as a treasure.

Unfortunately, this was the Divine General Mansion, a military family born to defend Great Yu.

After the pigments and ink on the painting dried, both of them unconsciously rolled them up and put them away slowly, looking quite cautious.

They would remember that when the young master was seven years old, he painted a portrait for them.

This was the first time in their lives they had received their own portraits.

Time flew, half a year later.

On a shore of the calm Black Water Demon Lake, three figures were sitting more than ten meters apart, fishing—two old men and one child.

The small one was naturally Li Hao. Besides Li Muxiu, the old one was Li Muxiu's fishing buddy. Li Hao heard from the old man that this was the Saint of Thieves, whose name was very interesting—Feng Bo Ping.

According to the Saint of Thieves, he changed his name himself. The meaning did not refer to taking action only when the wind was calm and the waves were still, but that even after he took action, the wind and waves remained calm.

While fishing, Li Muxiu also smiled and introduced the Saint of Thieves' experiences to Li Hao, finding that he truly deserved the name.

Many forces stolen from by the Saint of Thieves only realized their treasures were stolen months or even years later.

Often, they couldn't detect it at the first moment, so there was no way to find out who stole it, when it was stolen, and they didn't even know if it was an inside job...

Hiding merit and fame, treasures searching among people—this was the Saint of Thieves, Feng Bo Ping.

On the shore, Li Hao skillfully set up a large pot, dissecting and butchering the fish demon he had just caught, while occasionally glancing at his fish float.

The other end of the fishing rod was fixed on the shore, tied to a large stone with a rope through a hole. If there was any movement, he would have time to take action.

At this moment, Li Hao was processing the fish demon's internal organs with a sword, his technique skillful.

Regarding this, Li Muxiu and the Saint of Thieves were already used to it. Although it was just processing fish meat, the two had long seen that Li Hao possessed extremely high Sword Dao talent. When Li Muxiu first saw Li Hao wielding a sword, he had mocked that Jian Wudao was blind and had lost a true treasure.

The Saint of Thieves, Feng Bo Ping, also liked this lively little fellow who loved fishing and had no strangeness toward his sensitive identity. He once seriously said that he would help Li Hao search everywhere to find precious medicines to open his meridians.

Soon, the snow-white fish meat was in the pot.

Li Hao also kneaded some coriander and spicy horns and threw them in. A fragrant, hot, and spicy smell immediately wafted out, causing the two old men on the shore to frequently cast glances.

Their lines were cast extremely far into the depths of the lake, all using themselves as rods. The lines were invisible, and there were no fish floats; they could sense movement through the lines.

"Two elders, it can be eaten in three minutes." Li Hao smiled.

After being in contact for a long time, Li Hao's address for Li Muxiu had also changed to Second Grandfather, and Feng Bo Ping to Old Feng. The two old men also gave Li Hao a nickname they thought was vivid and appropriate:

Little Haozi.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 31 =====