Chapter 38

The "Qingyuan" era name was established in the year Li Hao was born, which shows the Yu Emperor's deep grace toward the Li Clan.

This dynasty, which had stood for more than three thousand years, was still like a male lion; although it was gradually aging and weakening, its accumulated prestige was deep, protecting most of the country's peace and prosperity, making the demons of the Eight Wildernesses and Four Directions dare not wantonly step into the inland, and also making those vassal states that bowed their heads and paid tribute continue to pay tribute every year! In this year, in the Yougu Mountains on the border of Yunzhou, the eighty-six-year-old general Jiang Tianshou set out on an expedition amidst the cheers of the border herdsmen, leading more than thirty thousand Imperial Iron Cavalry. In just three days, he wiped out one hundred thousand Tiger and Leopard demon tribes that were harassing the border, expanding the territory by a thousand miles, and his name spread to the nineteen prefectures!

This year, the twelve-year-old "Young Qilin" Ming Yue Jian broke through the Nine Levels of the Heaven Gate and entered the Qian Dao Palace as a personal disciple to listen to the Dao sounds of the saints, becoming famous throughout the world!

And that old grandmaster who had closed his doors on Mount Wanfeng for thirty years also descended the mountain this year, fighting a decisive battle with someone by the Chishui Lake, attracting people from all over the world to watch, but no one knew the final outcome.

At this time, it was late autumn in October.

Withered yellow fallen leaves covered the land of Qingzhou.

The cultivation holy land of Qingzhou City, the Tan Palace Academy, known as the "Leaping Immortal Gate," also opened its academy gates that had been closed for six years.

Once the news came out, it swept through all the prefectures.

Countless young talents, princes, and princesses rushed from all the prefectures of the world like crucian carp crossing a river, competing for this fame and opportunity.

And in Qingzhou City, in a small courtyard of the Divine General Mansion not far from the Tan Palace Academy, a young man sat leisurely.

He listened to the sound of falling leaves in the courtyard, brewed a pot of green tea, and played a game of chess quietly.

It seemed that the noise and fighting outside the courtyard,

had nothing to do with him.

"Fifth Grandfather, you lost again."

The black piece fell, blocking the last retreat of the white chess, a decisive kill.

The young man picked up the teacup beside him, took a light sip, and said with a smile.

He had red lips and white teeth, eyes like bright stars, clear and deep. The contours of his cheeks, with a hint of youthful spirit, were soft and clearly defined. His fair skin seemed to have not seen sunlight for a long time, revealing a cold color of moon white. The fingers holding the pieces were long and powerful, and the nails were transparent, without any impurities.

After he finished speaking, the old man sitting opposite the chessboard twitched the corners of his mouth, frowned and carefully examined the chessboard, finally unable to find a way out, and angrily threw the white piece from his fingertips back into the chess box.

"You brat, your chess skills are getting more and more exquisite."

Fifth Grandfather Li Qingzheng said, although he was praising the young man, his eyes were exceptionally resentful.

Having immersed himself in it for most of his life, his proudest and most triumphant chess Dao had actually been repeatedly defeated by this brat recently, and he could only win a game occasionally, which made him feel depressed.

"It's all thanks to your sparring, Fifth Grandfather," the young man was Li Hao, and he said with a humble giggle.

"Stinky brat!"

Li Qingzheng gave him an angry look and wanted to play another game, but looking at the chessboard in front of him, he felt a bit discouraged.

He hadn't figured out how he lost this game just now.

At this moment, the crunching sound of withered leaves being stepped on sounded on the ground, and a snow-white figure rushed over, jumping into the young man's arms without a word; it was a white fox.

The white fox's ears were orange, and the two bright colors added a bit of liveliness to it.

Li Hao rubbed the white fox that was acting like a spoiled child in his arms, sniffed, and frowned: "Why is there a medicinal fragrance on your body? Where did you go to steal food again?"

Hearing this, the white fox burrowed its head deeper into Li Hao's arms, as if avoiding the answer.

Just then, Li Hao heard footsteps, looked up, and saw a figure in green clothes running over; it was a maid of sixteen or seventeen, with bright eyes and white teeth, quite beautiful.

She arrived outside the pavilion, panting, saw Li Qingzheng, hurriedly bowed and saluted, greeted him, and then hurriedly said to Li Hao: "Young Master, Xiao Rou ran to the Eldest Lady's kitchen again, and overturned the Eldest Lady's beauty-nourishing medicinal soup. Now everyone in the Changchun Courtyard is looking for the culprit..."

Li Hao was speechless, dug out the little head burrowed in his arms, and said irritably: "I told you not to be naughty everywhere, do you want to be beaten again?"

The white fox's little head tried hard to turn away, not daring to look into Li Hao's eyes, as if it also knew it had made a mistake.

"If you do this again, I will hand you over to the Eldest Lady, let her deal with you severely, and strip all your fur!" Li Hao threatened.

The white fox seemed to think of that scene, trembling with fear, turned its head, and looked at Li Hao aggrievedly.

"You say you are also in the Zhou Tian Realm, why can't you talk yet..." Li Hao looked at the white fox's aggrieved eyes and felt quite helpless.

He turned his head and said to the maid Qingzhi: "Later, you go and apologize to the Eldest Lady for me, and by the way, send a plate of the perilla cakes I made. Also, what about today's cotton-jade oil pastry? Did you buy it?"

Qingzhi pouted softly: "It's me again. Every time it causes trouble, I'm the one who gets scolded."

"What?"

"Nothing, I'll go buy the cotton-jade oil pastry first," Qingzhi said hurriedly, and then ran away quickly like a green cloud.

"This little girl is becoming more and more unruly." Li Hao picked up the tea and shook his head helplessly.

Li Qingzheng glanced at him: "How many people in your courtyard are decent?" Li Hao almost spat out his tea, looking at the old man speechlessly: "Fifth Grandfather, you can't say things like that."

Li Qingzheng snorted coldly: "The retainers have no standing, the maids walk around crazily. Go and look at the other courtyards; where are they not orderly? This little demon fox is also naughty everywhere, and sooner or later it will be caught and stewed. It's really 'the upper beam is not straight, the lower beam is crooked.' It's mainly you. You originally had a bright future, but you insisted on messing around yourself. Can our family's ancestors be compared to a demon dragon?"

Speaking of this, he became furious, blowing his beard and staring.

Clearly, this matter had been separated by several years, but it still made him hold a grudge.

At the age of eight, Li Hao could have stepped into the Ji Hun Realm, but he insisted on dragging it out for a year.

As a result, when those ancestors in the ancestral hall couldn't hold back and asked, he sent someone to find this brat again, only to find that Li Hao had already inherited the soul.

Using body cultivation techniques to slay a dragon and inheriting a demon soul.

Although he inherited a dragon soul, how could a mere little dragon compare to the ancestors of the Li Clan?

And demon souls inherit nature; inheriting a demon soul inevitably leads to a murderous and cruel personality.

Fortunately, over the years, Li Hao hadn't shown this side, which was mostly due to playing chess with him all year round and being influenced by him... He stroked his beard with satisfaction.

It's just that the demon dragon soul lowered Li Hao's soul inheritance aptitude, destined to be only middle-to-upper class in the Ji Hun Realm.

Facing most Ji Hun Realm cultivators, it was still okay, but compared to the top Ji Hun Realm cultivators of various sects, it paled in comparison.

After all, when others show their soul appearance, it is an ancestor of the Four Standing Realms, while his own is a demon dragon.

And the demon dragons killed by those ancestors during their lifetime were countless; just the dragon-slaying momentum brought by the soul appearance itself would probably be enough to scare Li Hao to the ground.

Thinking of this, Li Qingzheng was full of anger.

Those ancestors in the ancestral hall were also furious.

As a son of the Li Clan, he inherited a demon dragon soul; this made them lose face.

Some ancestors even proposed to punish Li Hao severely, lock him in the Li Clan's heavenly prison, and let him learn a good lesson.

Even Li Muxiu, who had been by Li Hao's side all year round and acted as half a caretaker, was scolded by the ancestors one by one...

However, the second brother also deserved it! It was because the second brother was too indulgent and doted on this brat, not caring about anything, that he became lawless!

If it weren't for seeing Li Hao play a good game of chess, he would have had to teach this brat a lesson.

Thinking of this, looking at the chessboard in front of him, Li Qingzheng's anger grew by three parts.

How could he have lost!

Since the year he stepped out of the ancestral hall, he felt that his state of mind, which had been calm for decades, seemed to have more and more waves.

"I feel pretty good; the servants are comfortable, and I am comfortable."

Li Hao gave the old man a sheepish smile.

"You are so laid-back, and your servants are also laid-back. When your father comes back, let's see how he cleans you up." Li Qingzheng snorted coldly.

Li Hao said: "What if he doesn't let me play chess with you anymore?"

"He dares!"

Li Qingzheng immediately stared.

Li Hao chuckled. At this moment, another sound of footsteps came, but judging by the sound, it wasn't that maid Qingzhi.

He looked over in surprise and saw a familiar face, Xuejian from the Changchun Courtyard.

But now, several years later, the little girl from back then had more and more of a dignified charm.

Behind her followed two little maids, with lowered eyes and silent footsteps, clearly much more orderly... and much harder working than those in his own courtyard.

Seeing that the Fifth Grandfather was also there, Xuejian hurriedly bowed and saluted. While surprised in her heart, she couldn't help but look at Li Hao. It was well known in the mansion that this young master of the Shanhe Courtyard was idle and didn't learn any skills, but he got along well with the two old masters.

"Young Master, the Eldest Lady asked me to come and inform you that the Tan Palace Academy has opened this year. This is the invitation sent to the mansion by the academy. The Lady asked me to send you a copy."

Xuejian bowed respectfully and handed an invitation with the appearance of black and white fish to Li Hao.

Although she might not necessarily respect Li Hao much in her heart, she couldn't find any fault in her attitude.

Li Hao had long known that this girl handled things with excellent discretion, smiled, took it, and then threw it casually beside the mat, saying: "Thank you, Miss Xuejian."

Xuejian lowered her eyes and saw this precious invitation that martial artists in the world were fighting for, just placed aside so casually. Thinking of this young master's temperament, it was indeed as the Lady had expected.

(End of chapter)