"Oh?"
Hearing Li Hao’s words, Zhou Haitang was somewhat surprised.
He was a Celestial Master after all, personally inviting someone, only to be refused.
However, considering what his disciple had just said, this young man could approach without disturbing the candle flame, which showed great martial arts foundation. His future prospects of crossing into the Heavenly Human Realm after reaching the Fifteen Li Realm were far greater than those so-called cultivation geniuses.
Such talent, if not a prodigy, must have been nurtured by a prestigious family.
"Buying a painting, what kind of painting?"
Zhou Haitang lightly raised an eyebrow and said.
Li Hao shook his head slightly and said, "The painting is with Bai Chunhai. I need you to introduce me."
"You’re looking for him, not to become a disciple, but just to get a painting?"
"Yes."
Zhou Haitang couldn’t help but scrutinize Li Hao, and the three people beside Zhou Ling’er were also extremely surprised as they looked at Li Hao.
With a Grandmaster in front, as long as Li Hao nodded, he could immediately become a disciple, what a precious opportunity that was.
"Then you’ll have to wait. That old fellow hasn’t arrived yet; he’s probably on his way. He will appear during the Grandmaster’s Assembly in three days. You’ll see him then."
Zhou Haitang picked up the teacup nearby, took a gentle sip, and said indifferently.
Raising the teacup was also a way of signaling the end of the conversation.
Since Li Hao had no intention of becoming a disciple, he would not insist.
Excellent horses are common, but good judges are rare.
Upon getting the news about Bai Chunhai, Li Hao had no intention of lingering any further. After obtaining the contact address for his inn from his counterpart, he left the restaurant.
The three disciples chased after him, with Zhou Ling’er huffing, "My dad rarely wants to take on a disciple. How can you not know what’s good for you, or do you already have a sect?"
"?"
Li Hao looked at her, puzzled.
"Ling’er."
The young man quickly tugged at Zhou Ling’er, addressing Li Hao, "I’m sorry, she speaks rather bluntly, don’t take it to heart."
Li Hao was too lazy to pay them any more attention. The gift of the dagger and leading the way had settled the score between them.
Without saying much more, Li Hao turned and walked toward the Martial Temple, wondering if Ren Qianqian had finished her Soul Continuation.
"*His martial arts foundation is deep, he should be from a renowned sect.*" The girl in the plain white skirt watched Li Hao’s departing figure and said softly.
Upon hearing these words, Zhou Ling’er felt a bit ashamed and angry, saying, "Isn’t my dad considered from a prestigious family? What do you mean by that?"
The girl in the plain white skirt came back to her senses, hesitated for a moment, and quickly said, "I didn’t mean that..."
"Hmph!"
...
When Li Hao returned to the front of the Martial Temple, he saw Ren Qianqian’s figure beneath an eave outside the temple, holding her sword and looking around.
Li Hao waved at her.
Upon seeing Li Hao, the girl immediately beamed with a bright smile and dashed over.
"How is it?"
"A senior in the Four Stands Realm saw my swordsmanship and thought I had potential."
Ren Qianqian’s face was full of uncontrollable joy, as she was chosen by the only Four Stands Realm Heroic Spirit in the Martial Temple.
Although her father was a Grandmaster, continuing her soul to the Four Stands Realm was quite difficult. It was the top-level continuation qualification outside the Royal Family.
She had joined Tan Palace Academy intending to continue her soul there, but doing so would involve certain limitations as a trade-off.
The conditions for soul continuation at the Martial Temple were the most lenient.
Most of these Heroic Spirits had only one condition: that they step forward when the Dayu Divine Dynasty faced a crisis!
But in over three thousand years of the Dayu Divine Dynasty, if a true crisis arose, it typically occurred at the borders, handled and resolved by the Divine General Mansion, eliminating the need for them to step forward. Hence, this condition was almost negligible.
Unless someone enlisted in the military to establish a career at the borders.
"Four Stands Realm, not bad." Li Hao smiled.
"Thanks to the Sword Intent you taught me, I was able to catch that senior’s attention."
Ren Qianqian looked at Li Hao, her eyes sparkling.
Li Hao said with a smile, "It’s all your own understanding. I only pointed you in the right direction."
Ren Qianqian shook her head slightly, disagreeing internally but not arguing with Li Hao, just quietly noting it in her heart.
"So where do we go next?"
"Let’s look around, have some fun, and wait for the Grandmaster Assembly in three days to begin."
Li Hao said, "We can also listen to the assembly, see how these Grandmasters’ martial arts are, and you can watch too, it’ll help you in your journey toward the Heavenly Human Realm in the future."
"Okay!"
Ren Qianqian looked delighted.
Li Hao immediately took her away from the Martial Temple. The two wandered lazily through the streets, taking in the sights and sounds of the Liangzhou City.
That evening, elsewhere in the city, a lively event was taking place.
Contests and name-claiming.
Through matches on the arena, participants could earn rewards from the City Lord’s Mansion based on their rankings.
The gathering of Grandmasters from all over made it a grander event than the Tan Palace Academy’s admissions. The city was packed with people everywhere.
Numerous talents collided with each other, and with no outlet for their tensions, local authorities took the opportunity to launch this event as a prelude to the Grandmaster Assembly.
The contest arena had restrictions on three realms, from the Soul Succession Realm to the Fifteen Li Realm.
Anyone below the Soul Succession Realm need not display their skills, just enjoy watching from the crowd.
Li Hao wasn’t interested in such excitement. If he participated, even the Fifteen Li Realm couldn’t withstand a finger from him, which would be pure bullying.
But Ren Qianqian, having just completed her soul continuation, was full of enthusiasm, and Li Hao didn’t want to dampen her spirits, so he accompanied her to the Soul Succession Realm arena.
"Why is it you?"
Just arriving here, it was a stroke of coincidence that Li Hao encountered Zhou Ling’er from earlier that day.
Beside Zhou Ling’er was the girl in the plain white skirt, Xu Wan’er. Both were in the Soul Succession Realm. Having heard the news, they hastily ate dinner and came here, each eager to try their luck.
Their senior brother had gone to the Divine Soul Realm arena, also planning to have a match with various local talents.
"Young Master, do you know them?"
Ren Qianqian tiptoed forward and looked around, only noticing them once she heard the voice.
"Just met."
Li Hao replied.
"Why are you here? Are you only in the Soul Succession Realm?"
Zhou Ling’er raised an eyebrow at Li Hao’s cold demeanor, speaking with a hint of mockery.
Xu Wan’er curiously studied Li Hao, having heard him referred to as a young master. With Li Hao’s behavior earlier in the day, casually gifting a precious dagger and talking about purchasing paintings from a Grandmaster, he did seem like an unruly, carefree rich young master.
"Hmm?"
Ren Qianqian sensed the unkind tone and stepped forward, saying coldly, "Don’t be impolite!"
Zhou Ling’er was momentarily stunned, noticing Qianqian’s aura, which was also in the Soul Succession Realm. She frowned, asking, "And who are you, his maid?"
Ren Qianqian simply stared coldly at her without responding.
Zhou Ling’er felt a tinge of anger under her gaze, but realized that Li Hao’s identity probably wasn’t simple. Otherwise, why casually give away a famous dagger just to be guided to find Bai Chunhai?
Moreover, seeking out that Grandmaster wasn’t to become a disciple, merely to purchase a painting.
"Hmph!"
With a tug from Xu Wan’er, Zhou Ling’er restrained her temper, merely letting out a cold snort.
At that moment, the arena erupted with cheers as another even match concluded with one person losing.
"Come on, let’s join in."
Zhou Ling’er immediately said to Xu Wan’er and then glared at Li Hao, "With the dagger skills you had earlier, want to spar with me on stage? Beat me and I’ll accept it."
Li Hao shot her a bored look. *This young girl had been spoiled without proper discipline.*
"Do you really think you’re qualified to challenge my young master?"
Ren Qianqian frowned and retorted coldly.
Zhou Ling’er was so angry she almost snorted, "If your young master is so formidable, why isn’t he at the Fifteen Li Realm’s arena? What is he doing here? If he’s capable, go up there and prove it!"
"If you want a fight, I’ll oblige."
Ren Qianqian declared.
"You? You’ve just entered the Soul Succession, don’t say I bully you."
Zhou Ling’er laughed angrily, then climbed onto the stage.
Ren Qianqian turned to Li Hao, "Young Master, I’m going to meet her."
"Then be careful, she’s in the Fourth Level of the Soul Succession Realm. You’ve just continued your soul and are not fully familiar yet. Be cautious, don’t harm her." Li Hao advised.
Off to the side, Xu Wan’er paused, doubting her ears. This boy could discern Ling’er’s realm yet was advising someone who had just entered the Soul Succession not to harm Ling’er?
"I will control myself," Ren Qianqian said.
With that, she too leaped onto the stage.
The previous victor had already stepped down to rest. Now, with Zhou Ling’er and Ren Qianqian on stage, cheers erupted from the audience.
"Aren’t you worried?"
Xu Wan’er couldn’t resist her curiosity when she saw Li Hao’s composed expression.
"A bit worried."
Li Hao, with a favorable impression of the girl in the plain white skirt, responded with a smile, "I hope she doesn’t strike too hard and make your little treasure cry."
"..." Xu Wan’er was speechless.
At that moment, the match on stage commenced.
Zhou Ling’er unleashed her Soul Aspect, which was also continued to the Four Stands Realm, bringing an intense aura with it.
Ren Qianqian released her Soul Aspect as well, resisting the pressure. She then drew her sword and charged; she was using her own sword.
As for Dragon Soar, she had temporarily returned it to Li Hao before stepping on stage.
Sword light flickered, appearing like numerous sword blossoms turning, assaulting like raindrops.
Zhou Ling’er was startled and quickly wielded her blade, with the ringing clash of weapons resounding, but soon, a sword sliced through the shadow of her blade, against her throat.
The match concluded.
Below, Xu Wan’er watched, dumbfounded. She actually won!
Wasn’t that girl just in the Soul Succession Realm?
And what was with that sword skill; it was far too complex!
On stage, Zhou Ling’er stared blankly at the sword blade before her, the snowy edge still reflecting her bewildered face.
Ren Qianqian glanced at her, then with a ring, twisted her wrist, sheathed the sword, and turned to the crowd, "Please grant me further instruction."
Clearly, she intended to continue challenging and invited other talents to the stage.
The match with Zhou Ling’er was just a warm-up for her.
Despite the gap of four levels and her recent entry into the Soul Succession Realm without having had time to cultivate and solidify her power, her swordsmanship was significantly superior.
The seemingly fierce blade and sword clashes did not involve direct power but rather dexterous redirection of force, resulting in a swift victory.
Upon hearing Ren Qianqian’s invite, Zhou Ling’er appeared to awaken from a dream, her face flushed with shame, eyes moist, and she bit her lip, rushing off the stage.
"Ling’er."
Seeing this, Xu Wan’er forgot her wish to compete and quickly followed her.
Meanwhile, on stage, with Ren Qianqian’s duel invitation, another contestant soon stepped up.
Before long, intense combat unfolded again.
Ren Qianqian defeated four people in a row before finally being bested by someone in the Eighth Layer of the Soul Succession Realm.
Seeing Ren Qianqian descend from the stage with a slightly dejected expression, Li Hao smiled, saying, "When you stabilize your cultivation and grasp the true meaning of your Thousand Feathers Sword Skill, you’ll win the earlier match."
"The true meaning... it’s too difficult." Ren Qianqian laughed bitterly.
Li Hao felt somewhat helpless, considering that she only lost to someone eight layers above her level. *These people were geniuses, how could she feel aggrieved?*
"Young Master, if you only used Soul Succession’s First Level power in combat, how many moves would it take you to win?"
Ren Qianqian suddenly looked at Li Hao, eyes filled with anticipation and curiosity.
She knew Li Hao was extraordinary, his cultivation speed frighteningly fast. There was no way she could catch up to Li Hao in realm progression, but she wanted to chase after the shadow of Li Hao’s past.
"Me?"