Chapter 36: The Ancestor's Rules

"Joking with you is fine, but I wouldn't dare joke with the ancestors." Li Muxiu said indifferently.

The long-browed old man frowned slightly, thinking that was indeed the case. Although Second Brother was usually unreliable, he was always very disciplined in this ancestral hall.

He asked: "Could it be that this child looks young, but is nine years old?"

"Eight years old."

"Eight years old?!"

The long-browed old man was stunned, and ripples appeared in his eyes: "Are you saying he reached Zhou Tian perfection at eight years old?"

"That's right."

Li Muxiu said indifferently, and then walked to the prayer mat in front of the golden statue and knelt down.

"Hao'er, come over."

After kowtowing three times, he called out softly while kneeling.

Li Hao immediately walked to his side.

"Kneel down and kowtow to the ancestors."

Li Hao followed his instructions and knelt on the prayer mat, kowtowing to all

Li Muxiu looked up and said softly, "Your descendant Li Muxiu has brought the younger generation here today to listen to the teachings of our ancestors. I ask that you, ancestors, grant us your inheritance!"

As his words fell, the many spirit tablets above seemed to vibrate slightly.

After Li Hao finished kowtowing, he looked up and saw that before each spirit tablet, a phantom image had emerged, sitting cross-legged in the void. Some of these figures wore Confucian robes and white gowns, others were clad in heavy armor, and some had incomplete bodies, wrapped only in a battle flag.

Clearly, these were the ancestors of the Li Clan.

"Tsk, another good seedling, it seems."

"At the Perfected Zhou Tian Realm, with bones still young—barely over eight years old. He's even three parts more impressive than that little fellow from twenty years ago!"

"I never expected the fortune of my Li Clan to be so prosperous over the last hundred years. We really must warn those little ones not to become arrogant and reckless because of it; otherwise, that child will be a lesson."

The many ancestral phantoms whispered and conversed, each expressing their own views.

When Li Hao entered the ancestral hall, he had temporarily put away his Myriad Phenomena attribute. Although he did not know if these ancestral spirits could ignore the concealment effect of Myriad Phenomena, it was better not to invite unnecessary trouble.

"This child has great aptitude and intelligence, so I won't interfere. You all give it."

"With this aptitude, only the First Ancestor and you few can bestow an inheritance."

After conversing for a while, many of the ancestral phantoms gradually dimmed and returned to their spirit tablets, leaving only four phantoms still suspended above the tablets. They simply watched Li Hao quietly, without speaking.

"I..." one of the phantoms holding a spear had just begun to speak when, suddenly, the golden statue in the center of the many spirit tablets began to radiate light, as if it had come back to life.

The other phantoms could not help but look over, and immediately bowed their heads slightly.

As for the many other spirit tablets, they also vibrated slightly, emitting a nearly unified voice: "Greetings, First Ancestor."

Before the golden statue, a middle-aged man with a tall, straight stature and broad shoulders sat, his phantom image appearing more solid than the others.

His facial features were exactly the same as the golden statue.

"If you can abide by my heart-oath, you shall receive my inheritance." The middle-aged man looked down at Li Hao, his expression gentle, calm, and unruffled.

Li Hao could feel the old man beside him trembling slightly, as if he were quite moved; at the same time, he recognized this phantom as the Li Clan's First Ancestor, Li Tianyuan! "Greetings, First Ancestor!"

Old Master Li Muxiu bowed his head and kowtowed.

Li Hao immediately followed suit, imitating his actions.

"In my day, I followed the First Emperor Da Yu on campaigns, conquering the Eight Wildernesses of the East, subduing countless monsters and tribes. I once made two heart-oaths to the First Emperor, which extended a thousand years of glory for my Li Clan."

The spirit of the First Ancestor Li Tianyuan said slowly: "This first heart-oath is that the people of the Li Clan must protect the Li Clan with their lives, sharing life and death together!"

"The second heart-oath is to defend the Da Yu Dynasty with one's life, sharing the same boat of life and death with Da Yu!"

"Can you accomplish this?"

After speaking, Li Tianyuan stared intently at Li Hao below.

Li Hao was slightly startled. Protect the Li Clan with his life? Does this "Li Clan" refer to certain people, or everyone?

The ancestral hall was silent; all gazes seemed to be focused on that child, waiting for him to speak.

After a long silence, Li Hao said in a low voice: "First Ancestor, forgive this junior for being dull; I do not quite understand."

"Speak." The spirit of Li Tianyuan remained calm.

"Does protecting the Li Clan refer to everyone, including the collateral branches?"

Li Hao asked cautiously: "Does this protection mean to defend them, or that I cannot harm them?"

"Only protect the direct bloodline. Since it is protection, you naturally cannot harm them; otherwise, chopping off their limbs and leaving them with a breath of life could also be considered protection," Li Tianyuan said. Clearly, this heart-oath was quite rigorous.

Li Hao asked: "Then... what if there is a traitor among the direct family, or someone plotting against me?"

"For such scum, you may hand them over to those who have not entered the ancestral hall to inherit the soul to deal with."

"But if such scum actively attacks or ambushes me, am I only allowed to dodge?" Li Hao said.

"Those who receive my soul inheritance shall be invincible among peers, except for the Imperial Family!"

Li Tianyuan said indifferently: "Avoiding them is easy. If you encounter someone of a higher realm, you only need to flee; there is no need to attempt to counter-attack." "Then what if they die in front of me and I stand by and watch?"

"You must intervene to save them, even if they are scum," Li Tianyuan said. "But when scum are being punished by law, you can choose not to be present, and you will not break the heart-oath or be injured."

Li Hao thought about it; this could be considered a solution.

"It's just that, this seems a bit unfair?"

As a prodigy, encountering a Li Clan member of the same realm, one is forced to hide instead.

Even if the other party is in trouble and one sees it, one still has to help? It seems too unreasonable.

"Don't talk nonsense."

Li Muxiu beside him had a slight change in expression and immediately whispered to Li Hao.

The spirit of Li Tianyuan was not angry, but looked at Li Hao calmly and said slowly: "It certainly cannot be considered fair, but do you know why I would let a genius qualified to enter the ancestral hall to inherit the soul suffer such grievances and make such a heart-oath?"

Although the Li Clan has an ancestral hall and many ancestral spirits, not every Li Clan descendant is qualified to come here to inherit the soul; the standards of these ancestral spirits are very high.

Li Hao shook his head: "I do not know."

"It is for continuity."

Li Tianyuan said slowly: "The first heart-oath is to prevent family geniuses from becoming spoiled and arrogant, disregarding the lives of ordinary, mediocre people in the clan, or even abandoning the family and acting recklessly after soaring with the family's resources."

"Therefore, this restriction might not be fair to a genius, but at most, it is just suffering a small grievance, while the benefit is being able to continue the family and pass it down through generations!"

Li Hao pondered for a moment; from the perspective of the ancestors, this was indeed the case.

"And the reason my Li Clan has continued for a thousand years without being destroyed, and without being feared by the Imperial Family, is because of the second heart-oath!"

Li Tianyuan said calmly: "There were twelve divine generals who followed the First Emperor on campaigns; now, there are only five Da Yu Divine General Mansions. Two of them are later risers from the last thousand years; the descendants of those old comrades from the past have long since died out, and the remaining ones have also hidden their names and disappeared without a trace."

"These two heart-oaths seem like restrictions and chains, but in reality, they are all for the continuation of the bloodline!"

"Otherwise, with my Li Clan's thousand years of accumulated military merit, its connections, number of generals, and prestige in the army, how would the Imperial Family dare to easily relinquish power, and how would they not use imperial arts to weaken and harm us?"

Hearing the other party's words, Li Hao was stunned.

From the perspective of this ancestor, it was indeed achieved.

The benefits outweighed the disadvantages.

A thousand years of divine generals, being able to continue—it is a light sentence, but the difficulty is hard for ordinary people to imagine.

Perhaps it is precisely because the Imperial Family knows that the Li Clan's top prodigies will inherit the soul in the ancestral hall and have these two heart-oaths that the Li Clan has its current glory.

"Now that you understand everything, are you willing to make the heart-oath?" Li Tianyuan asked calmly.

Li Hao hesitated, still unable to make up his mind.

He always felt that these two heart-oaths were like a curse on the Li Clan.

Although they continued a thousand years of glory, how were they not also a firm imprisonment? Generations of fame, this hall full of heroic spirits—in the previous generation, six of the nine sons died in battle. In every generation, how many died of old age?

On the contrary, those ordinary descendants in the family are mostly protected and can enjoy their old age in peace.

Prodigies... in the Li Clan, it seems, are actually the unlucky ones.

Because they have to shoulder the entire Li Clan on their shoulders! In this case, it would be better to seek soul inheritance at the Martial Temple; at least one would be relaxed and easy.

Li Tianyuan seemed to see Li Hao's hesitation; a trace of indifference appeared in his eyes, and then his figure gradually faded and dissipated, leaving only the lingering sound echoing in the hall:

"This child has rare aptitude, but his character is not firm. Let him consider it further."

The other spirit tablets vibrated slightly, as if respectfully seeing off the ancestor, and then they all fell silent.

Li Muxiu was stunned and couldn't help but look at Li Hao helplessly. He didn't say anything more before the ancestral tablets, but stood up, bowed deeply, and then led Li Hao out of the ancestral hall.

Seeing this, Li Hao felt an inexplicable sense of relief in his heart as he followed Old Master Li Muxiu out.

Before leaving, his peripheral vision couldn't help but glance at the chessboard. This wasn't his fault; possessing a "Chess Heart," just as Jian Wudao had said, a sword lover will see a sword first among a thousand weapons.

That is only the stage of love, let alone entering the heart.

Among ten thousand things, Li Hao could notice a chessboard at a glance.

"Old Master, Black piece at seven-row, thirteen-column, can win."

After speaking, Li Hao followed his second grandfather out of the ancestral hall.

Outside, it seemed to be drizzling; the rain was continuous.

Li Muxiu sighed; this was the best time for fishing. The lake surface was melting with new water, and fish demons liked to come out to catch their breath, but at this moment, he was not in the mood.

"You, don't think too much; ponder it yourself." Li Muxiu knew that Li Hao was playful and unwilling to be bound, and he had no way to persuade him.

The child was too young; it was inevitable that he would occasionally be willful.

Li Hao nodded.

The old master also inherited his soul in the ancestral hall, which showed that although he seemed casual and wandering, he was actually concerned about the Li Clan.

Inside the ancestral hall, the long-browed old man withdrew his gaze. He was not familiar with Li Hao and didn't care what the other party thought; anyway, he would come again sooner or later.

His gaze fell back to the chessboard. He flicked his fingers, just about to pick up a piece, when he suddenly gave a light exclamation.

(End of chapter)