Chapter 205: Chapter 19 Recommendation
“After all, they are just youngsters.”
“People chase after fame and fortune, not elegant like the two of us.”
The two young shrine attendants chuckled and conversed in light laughter.
Li Hao, who had walked far away, heard them and turned back. He grabbed a few pieces from the Go chip box and tossed them onto five spots on the board. Then he huffed and strode away.
“You brash youth, you…”
The young shrine attendant playing with the white pieces was furious and about to scold him when the boy had already gone far. Angrily averting his gaze, he was about to clean up the disrupted pieces but noticed his friend across the board staring blankly at the game.
To his surprise, he looked down and immediately realized that the difficult situation he was facing had been reversed. The placement of the five pieces had opened up a new territory for him.
The key was that one less and they would be isolated pieces, undetectable.
“This…”
…
After wandering around, Li Hao found himself bored and saw that Ren Qianqian’s soul continuation ritual wasn’t over yet. He immediately asked an old shrine attendant to tell the young girl who had just gone in to wait for him here after she comes out and not to wander off.
Handing over two pieces of silver, the old shrine attendant happily accepted and promised to pass on the message.
Li Hao then left the martial shrine with his sleeves flapping in the wind, walked confidently into the city, and found a bustling tavern to inquire about Grandmaster Bai Chunhai.
The tavern was packed with guests, buzzing with activity. At a staircase inside, a candle hung suspended, its flame flickering and dancing. Below the candle, about half a meter down the rope, hung an exquisite dagger inlaid with amber gems.
Downstairs, many people were egging each other on.
Li Hao glanced twice and realized that the tavern was holding a promotion amid the liveliness. If someone could remove the dagger without the candle flickering, it would be given to them for free.
Just from the gemstone on the dagger, one could tell that it was worth a fortune, no wonder it attracted so many people.
Li Hao had no interest in the dagger. He went up another staircase and found a place by the railing to sit down.
He looked around, filtering out the many noises and continuously selecting the various whispers he could overhear.
His hearing was sharp, and even the talk outside the tavern, nearby teahouses, and passersby on the streets didn’t escape his ears.
Even the whispers of some people were clearly heard.
Like a couple of women at a table below and behind him whispering: The youth by the railing is quite handsome…
Li Hao’s mood was instantly uplifted.
Suddenly, he heard the three words “Bai Chunhai” coming from a table in front of the window. Curious, he saw three figures sitting there, two women and one man, whispering to one another:
“The master has challenged Grandmaster Bai Chunhai to a fight. After the Grandmasters’ Conference is over, they will exchange moves on Heavenly Sword Peak.”
“Bai Chunhai’s palm technique is said to be supernatural, able to hit a snow-laden tree and shatter the tree without the snow trembling. I wonder if it’s true or false.”
“Maybe it’s just his disciple bragging…”
Li Hao’s eyes sparkled, and he immediately got up and approached their table:
“Pardon my intrusion, but do you know Grandmaster Bai Chunhai?”
Their conversation abruptly ceased, and their expressions changed slightly, seemingly not expecting someone to overhear them talking behind their backs.
“Are you his disciple?”
The three looked up at Li Hao with unfriendly expressions. When they saw he wasn’t much older than themselves, they let out a sigh of relief.
Talking behind someone’s master and actually fighting are different things. Given this youth’s age, he probably wasn’t a match for them.
“No, I just want to meet him,” Li Hao replied, shaking his head.
The three were momentarily stunned and exchanged glances, relaxing a bit.
“You’re here to seek apprenticeship with him, aren’t you?”
The girl in a plain white dress, who looked gentle and spoke softly, asked.
Li Hao looked at her in surprise and then realized that the Grandmasters’ Conference, aside from attracting grandmasters from across the world, also drew many young martial artists who admired and sought apprenticeship.
Such as young masters and ladies from declining noble families or newly-risen families, all traveling thousands of miles to find a master and learn.
After all, with so many grandmasters around, one was bound to meet one or two if they were lucky.
Li Hao smiled, not offering an explanation, and said, “Do you know where I can find him?”
“What’s it to you whether we know or not, why should we tell you?”
The girl in an orange dress, more delicate but with a fiercer demeanor, glared at Li Hao. She was clearly unhappy that he had just overheard their conversation.
The young man in the middle didn’t intervene but simply said:
“If you wish to seek a master, wait outside the venue after the Grandmasters’ Conference, and you’ll naturally get to see him.”
Seeing their unfriendly attitudes toward Li Hao, the girl in the white dress just glanced at him without saying anything more.
Li Hao wasn’t offended. He pulled out the remaining half bag of silver and said, “Please do me a favor and guide me there.”
“Who cares for such a small amount of money?”
The girl in the orange dress glanced at it and snorted. As she turned her head, she happened to see the dagger hanging by the spiral staircase. She pointed at it casually:
“If you’re serious, get that dagger down for me, and I’ll tell you.”
The young man, knowing his sister was deliberately making it tough for this youth, had tried himself and couldn’t do it.
“Ling’er.”
The girl in the white dress softly called the younger girl by her name and apologetically said to Li Hao, “I’m sorry, we can’t just disclose information about Grandmaster Bai Chunhai. If we were to be blamed…”
“A dagger, is it? Sure thing,”
Li Hao smiled and hurriedly retrieved the half-bag of silver, to avoid wasting money.
Although the dagger was more expensive than the money he had, in his view, money or treasures were just conveniences meant for himself. As long as they were useful, that was all that mattered.
With his current strength, earning money was easy; he could kill a few demons and accumulate a considerable fortune, always able to live like a wealthy family’s scion, free and happy.
Seeing Li Hao turn and walk downstairs,
The trio was taken aback, exchanging looks in bewilderment. Zhou Ling’er snapped out of it and couldn’t help saying, “Is he an idiot, really thinking he can get it?”
“He probably didn’t read the rules clearly, thinking it’s enough to leap up three Zhang high,” the young man shook his head and said with a slight sneer.
In the midst of the conversation, the three still got up and went to the railing to watch.
Li Hao reached the downstairs area, where many people were eager to try their luck.
To take on the challenge, one had to first order a ‘Gold and Jade Full Hall’ set meal, which served as a challenge ticket.
This familiar routine made Li Hao feel somewhat nostalgic.
He spent ten silvers to buy a set and didn’t wait for the food to arrive before stepping into the challenge area.
The gazes of the surrounding people immediately converged on him. When they saw Li Hao’s age, the jeering grew louder, thinking he was just another noble scion unable to resist showing off and wanting to give it a try.
The money in these young nobles’ pockets was always the easiest to earn.
A middle-aged man, who seemed to be the restaurant manager, enthusiastically explained the rules to Li Hao, continuing to vigorously enhance the atmosphere.
Li Hao didn’t wait for the crowd to start their clamor before he lightly leaped up. Under the eyes of the whole floor, he drifted up like a breeze and gently plucked the dagger tied above the candle.
According to the rules, those within the Fifteen Li Realm were forbidden to compete; one couldn’t retrieve the object by controlling it with their power—what was tested was the pure foundation of Martial Arts.
Therefore, even if one’s cultivation level had reached the Divine Travel Realm, if their martial arts skills were average, it would be difficult to keep the candle flame steady.
However, at this moment, as Li Hao landed, the candle flame was still burning quietly, its tip straight as an arrow.
Li Hao gave a slight smile to the stunned restaurant manager and turned upstairs with the dagger in hand.
A brief silence in the restaurant erupted into noise, and the entire place emitted sounds of shock. Countless gazes followed the young man’s figure.
Li Hao climbed upstairs and handed the dagger to Zhou Ling’er, who was standing by the railing with a stunned expression. He smiled and said, “Please show me the way.”
Zhou Ling’er and the two regained their senses. They had all seen it clearly; the candle flame had not wavered at all, and Li Hao’s approach seemed not to have stirred a single breeze.
“How did you do that?” Holding the dagger, Zhou Ling’er couldn’t help but ask dazedly.
The young man’s eyes widened as he sized up Li Hao, himself a genius of the Qiankun List who couldn’t achieve such a feat, yet this youth had managed it.
Could the other party also be from the Qiankun List?
Li Hao felt the attention around him growing, and once again he said, “Please show me the way.”
The three snapped to attention, and the young man took a deep look at Li Hao and said, “Please follow us. Grandmaster Bai Chunhai should be with our master, but I can’t guarantee we will meet him.”
“Alright,”
Li Hao agreed.
The young man led the way, taking them out of the restaurant.
The restaurant manager watched them leave and ultimately restrained the urge to come forward and plead. In recent days, it was best not to provoke the young lords visiting Dayue City, as it was easy to kick against an iron plate.
Zhou Ling’er kept sizing up Li Hao along the way. Although she was temperamental, she had great respect and admiration for those with formidable strength, peppering him with questions one after another.
“How exactly did you do that?”
“What’s your name?”
“Where are you from?”
Li Hao didn’t answer, feeling as if a bee was buzzing near his ear.
The young lady in the plain white dress also stealthily observed Li Hao, her eyes filled with curiosity. Among her peers, she had rarely seen someone so formidable.
Before long,
under the young man’s lead, they arrived at the Grandmasters’ Debate Platform in the city, where the place was bustling and already surrounded by spectators.
All the inns around were fully booked.
In a restaurant with a stage set up for plays, the young man found their master—a short-statured middle-aged man who looked like a Grandmaster, named Zhou Haitang.
The young man introduced Li Hao and whispered the events at the restaurant to him.
Zhou Haitang, who was listening to the play, looked up at Li Hao and then chuckled, “May I ask, young master, whence you hail and how you are addressed?”
“Ji Hao,”
Li Hao simply said.
Zhou Haitang pondered for a moment; this name wasn’t on the Qiankun List. It seemed likely he was a new member of a renowned family, which Li Hao’s age seemed to suggest.
“You’re only a surname away from that unparalleled genius on the Qian Dragon List,”
Zhou Haitang chuckled slightly and said, “Do you wish to become Bai Chunhai’s disciple? I too have some proficiency in martial arts; would you be interested?”
Zhou Ling’er and the others looked at him in surprise, not expecting their master to be so opportunistic and actually wanting to take the young man under his wing right away.
However, considering the martial prowess that Li Hao had displayed, if he were to join, perhaps he could even surpass them in skill more quickly.
Thinking this, the three felt a mix of anxiety and anticipation.
“I’m not here to become a disciple,”
Li Hao shook his head slightly: “I would like to purchase a painting from him.”