Chapter 88: And Then What?

With Li Fu’s words spoken, the courtyard seemed to fall into quiet stillness.

Zhao Bo slowly opened his wrinkled eyes, staring at Li Fu in disbelief, then turned to look at Li Hao.

“Young Master Hao… is he at the Fifteen Li Realm?!” Li Tiangang and Yu Xuan both froze, expressions stunned.

Seeing Li Fu so agitated, Li Tiangang knew his meticulous nature would never speak without cause—but this news was too joyous and shocking.

“Really? But Hao’er couldn’t establish his Foundation, nor did he dissolve his blood, right?” Li Tiangang couldn’t help but exclaim excitedly.

Li Fu nodded vigorously, beaming: “True! Absolutely true! I don’t know why—only Young Master Hao knows. Probably Second Master secretly helped him.”

Second Uncle…

Li Tiangang’s heart jolted sharply.

Second Uncle was a Four Stand Realm cultivator, and the Four Stand Realm possessed a power that made countless warriors envious:

The ability to defy fate! To alter a person’s destiny—even a born fool or beggar could be transformed into a peerless prodigy, a dragon among men!

Thus, a family with a Four Stand Realm guardian could rise again even after a generation’s decline.

But if decline came repeatedly, it wouldn’t work.

Because the Four Stand Realm’s fate-altering power could be used only once—and only for one person. Realizing this, Li Tiangang felt overwhelming gratitude, his eyes reddening. What virtue had his son done to earn such love from Second Uncle?

“Good, good, excellent!”

Li Tiangang repeated “good” three times, his voice shifting from trembling to controlled. He took a deep breath and looked gently at the boy before him: “Such great news—why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

Li Hao watched his father’s excitement, yet felt no great stir within him—only a faint, quiet tug: “I wanted to tell you yesterday, but you told me to rest and cut me off.”

Li Tiangang suddenly remembered last night’s conversation and fell silent. He’d been unable to bear hearing Li Hao speak of those frivolous, unproductive matters, so he’d ordered him to rest.

“Fine, let’s not speak of the past.”

Li Tiangang smiled: “When did you reach the Fifteen Li Realm? Why didn’t you write to me all these years? Was it Second Uncle who told you to stay silent?”

Li Hao replied: “If I told you, what would you do? Come back?”

Li Tiangang froze slightly. Seeing the boy’s dark, calm eyes, he felt a sudden stab in his chest.

But then, a surge of anger rose:

“At least your mother and I would have been happy for you! We could’ve asked Big Sister to find you a master!”

Li Hao said: “A master? Isn’t Second Uncle enough? Are you dissatisfied with my current cultivation?”

Li Tiangang fell silent, momentarily at a loss.

Indeed, Second Uncle was a Four Stand Realm—more than enough to rival any master.

But Li family disciples sought masters not just for cultivation, but to build connections across generations.

Even if the previous generation’s favors might not serve the next, each generation must build anew—this was how a thousand-year legacy accumulated its greatest foundation.

These connections might lie unused daily, but at critical moments, they could prove decisive.

“You’re being too naive.”

Li Tiangang shook his head, thinking Li Hao still too young and ignorant, and chose not to press further.

Li Hao silently replied: You’re the naive one.

Li Fu watched the father and son, sensing something amiss—why did it feel as if the Marquis and Young Master were distant, even estranged? “You’re only fourteen, yet reached the Fifteen Li Realm—remarkable. This record even surpasses your Ninth Uncle’s!”

Li Tiangang, thinking of Li Hao’s cultivation realm, still felt a surge of joy. He smiled at Li Hao: “Now that I’ve returned, Second Uncle has no reason to keep you hidden. Zhao Bo, go at once and inform Big Sister—announce to the entire household. I will proclaim to the world: my son, the Marquis of Xingwu, is a peerless prodigy!”

“I will make all know: my son’s talent is the greatest in a thousand years!”

He spoke with fiery passion, as if releasing a long-suppressed stone from his heart, his face radiant.

Zhao Bo was equally thrilled, his lips trembling slightly.

Over the years, he’d watched Li Hao’s maturity and wit, and often wept silently, mourning heaven’s injustice—why deny Li Hao the cultivation talent he so deserved?

Yet now, even this final flaw was mended.

Young Master Hao—unparalleled talent, unmatched brilliance! Thinking this, Zhao Bo’s entire body trembled. He immediately replied, swiftly wiping away the old tears seeping from his eyes:

“I’ll go at once.”

“Zhao Bo.”

Li Hao stopped him: “First, send someone to bring out all my paintings from the firewood shed.”

Zhao Bo blinked, then nodded quickly: “Yes!”

Li Tiangang snapped back to reality, frowning. He recalled what had just been said, his face darkening: “Hao’er, now that you possess such astonishing talent, will you still waste yourself on these nonsense pursuits? If you’d trained seriously under Second Uncle all these years, you might already be a Grand Master!”

How do you know I haven’t trained seriously? Li Hao looked at him, yet understood others would think this way—his panel was impossible to explain, and he had no need to try. He asked: “If I now pursued Grand Master as you wish, what then?”

Li Tiangang answered without hesitation: “The world would be stunned. Few would believe it—but other Divine General families would know: the Li family has produced the greatest prodigy in a thousand years!”

Li Hao stared at him: “If I am the greatest prodigy in a thousand years—then what?”

Li Tiangang paused, sensing something off in Li Hao’s tone. He frowned: “What do you mean, ‘then what’? What are you trying to say? Do you know how many people are in Great Yu? How many prodigies?”

“Nineteen provinces, each with hundreds of cities, tens of thousands of villages, hundreds of millions of subjects!”

“Prodigies are countless as fish crossing a river. Top-tier prodigies are rare, but each province can still produce dozens. Only those who enter the Qiankun List truly gain fame!”

“Your talent now barely qualifies for the Qiankun List. Your Ninth Uncle entered the Three Imperishables at nineteen—already the greatest in a thousand years. If you reach Grand Master at fourteen, you’ll still be called the greatest in a thousand years!”

The higher the cultivation, the harder it becomes. Like Li Junye, who entered Grand Master at seventeen and was famed across the land—but compared to the shock of entering the Three Imperishables at nineteen, his achievement paled.

After all, a prodigy’s momentum can fade.

Of the Nine-Level Battle Bodies, most reach Spirit Travel at fifteen—but that doesn’t mean they’ll reach Heaven-Man Grand Master by twenty.

Many prodigies who reached Spirit Travel at fifteen might reach Heaven-Man at eighteen, others only Grand Master at thirty.

And as for challenging the Three Imperishables, the gap widens even further.

Li Tiangang’s words were all known to Li Hao. He glanced at the man, then decided there was no point in asking further.

He turned to Zhao Bo: “Thank you, Zhao Bo.”

“No trouble at all,” Zhao Bo hurriedly replied.

Li Tiangang’s face darkened. Li Hao’s demeanor clearly showed he dismissed his words. In Yanbei, his words were military orders—and military orders weighed heavier than mountains!

One word was a spear, driven into the ground.

“Don’t go!” Li Tiangang barked, halting Zhao Bo, then turned to Li Hao: “From now on, with me here, you’ll never touch those nonsense things again! Also, no matter your cultivation or realm—even if you surpass your Ninth Uncle’s talent—you must apologize to Yu Xuan!”

Beside him, Yu Xuan’s face changed slightly. He bowed to Li Tiangang: “Marquis, forget it. Young Master Hao is young and ignorant—I didn’t take it to heart.”

Beside him, Yu Xuan’s expression shifted slightly as he bowed to Li Tiangang: “My Lord, let it go—Hao is young and ignorant; I didn’t take it to heart.”

Li Tiangang roared angrily, his gaze sweeping from Zhao Bo to Li Fu, then to his son, whose cold expression he now noticed. What was that look? “It’s because you’ve spoiled him that he’s become so reckless!”

“So what if he has cultivation? The Li family doesn’t lack prodigies!”

“Disrespectful to elders—even with heavenly cultivation, if uncorrected, what future will he have?!”

Zhao Bo and Li Fu were stunned. They hadn’t expected the Marquis to be this serious.

After his shock, Li Fu was bewildered—he’d brought such glorious news, yet now faced this scene.

“Marquis, Young Master has always been this way. Besides, though he does those things, he hasn’t neglected his cultivation…”

Li Fu opened his mouth to plead for Li Hao. He knew Yu Xuan well—didn’t understand what fault Li Hao had committed to warrant an apology.

Yet knowing Li Hao’s nature, it was likely just a careless remark—not a grave offense, not worth such severity.

Yet, given his understanding of Li Hao’s nature, it was surely just a slip of the tongue, nothing serious, not worth such solemnity.

Li Tiangang rarely shouted at him like this.

In the military, he despised pleas for mercy—especially when they came from personal ties.

Li Fu’s face paled. He lowered his head instantly, realizing: this was no longer the Li Tiangang who called him brother in private—but the invincible Marquis of Xingwu, commander of ten thousand soldiers!

Zhao Bo opened his mouth to speak, but met Li Tiangang’s stern gaze and fell silent, only casting a worried glance at Li Hao.

Li Hao fell silent. Facing the middle-aged man’s fierce stare, he suddenly wanted to laugh—but couldn’t.

Was this what he’d waited for, alone in this courtyard for fourteen years, gazing at the stars?

Yet why, now, did he feel no joy at all?

Yesterday, they’d been so happy, so harmonious.

Li Hao took a deep breath. He was no longer a boy. He suppressed the unspoken sorrow within, fixed his gaze on the man, and said:

“I shouldn’t have shouted at him—he did nothing wrong. He merely followed your orders.”

Beside him, Yu Xuan blinked, surprised, looking at Li Hao.

Li Tiangang’s anger had just subsided, but now surged again—his eyes blazed like a tiger or wolf, piercing and terrifying: “So you’re blaming me? Do you want to yell at your own father and tell him to get lost?!”

The anger in Li Tiangang’s eyes had barely faded when it surged again, blazing with a terrifying, beastlike glare: “So you’re blaming me? Do you still want to yell at your own father to get lost?!”

Utterly lawless!

Li Hao’s fist clenched slightly, then relaxed. He suddenly wanted to turn away. His gaze drifted idly—and landed on the weeds beside the courtyard steps.

He suddenly felt how much he resembled that weed.

He took a slow, deep breath, then exhaled slowly. A faint, self-deprecating smile curled on his lips:

“Have you ever seen my paintings? You haven’t, have you? You say Mother left—but I can’t even remember her face. So while I still could, I drew her.”

The boy’s clear voice drifted through the air—and changed the faces of all present.

Li Tiangang froze, his whole body trembling.

Those paintings… were they of Qingqing? He’d never opened those tattered scrolls—but now he understood.

“But by the time I learned to paint, I’d forgotten what Mother looked like. I only remembered her eyes.”

Li Hao’s gaze rested on the weed swaying in the breeze, unfocused, his thoughts drifting far away, speaking as if to himself: “So I drew only her blurred form. I planned to paint her properly when she returned… but she left.”

The boy’s words plunged the room into silence. Li Tiangang’s breathing grew heavier; his hand inside his sleeve clenched unconsciously.

At that moment, Li Hao’s thoughts returned—from afar—to the courtyard, to his own thin frame.

He turned to face his father, smiled, and said: “You say a Grand Master cannot be insulted. Yes. But I wonder—could my mother be insulted?”

It sounded like an assertion, yet also a question.

These words were like a sharp dagger, causing Li Tiangang to suddenly feel suffocated; his steady, mountain-like frame trembled slightly.

Yu Xuan’s expression also turned grim—he had not expected that the paintings contained a portrait of the Lady; no wonder the boy had reacted so strongly just now.

Thinking of his own actions, he fell silent.

Li Fu and Zhao Bo’s eyes were slightly moist as they looked at Li Tiangang.

The boy said nothing more, turned, and walked away, only saying: “Do with the scrolls whatever you wish.”

Watching the boy’s retreating back, Li Tiangang could not help but roar: “Stop!”

But the boy did not pause—he walked straight away.

Li Tiangang was momentarily stunned. This was the first time anyone had defied him.

And this person was his own son.

Had it been anyone else, he would have already struck, breaking their legs. He had not said to leave—who dared act so boldly before him? Yet Li Hao’s words had choked his rage in his throat, only for it to dissipate quickly, leaving his face utterly grim.

“Master, the Young Master…”

Zhao Bo, seeing his anger, immediately opened his mouth to persuade him.

Li Tiangang waved his hand, silencing him, then took a long, deep breath and said coldly:

“Immediately bring out all the paintings. Clear out the cleanest room and arrange them properly. If there is any damage, all of you will be punished by military law!”

Zhao Bo froze, then exhaled in relief and hurriedly replied.

Li Tiangang turned to Li Fu and said: “Go inform your elder sister—tell her Li Hao has reached the Fifteen Li Realm. Let her know. I am hosting a family banquet. I will make sure the whole world knows!”

Li Fu, seeing his master’s mood shift, also quietly exhaled in relief and bowed deeply: “I’ll go at once.”

(End of Chapter)