Chapter 206: Chapter 20: Ren Qianqian Crosses the Border
“Oh?”
Upon hearing Li Hao’s words, Zhou Haitang appeared somewhat astonished.
After all, he was a Grandmaster of the Tianren Sect, and to have his personal invitation refused was unexpected.
However, considering what his apprentice had just said, this youth’s ability to approach the candle flame without disturbing it demonstrated a solid foundation in martial arts. Once he steps into the Fifteen Li Realm, his chances of advancing to the Heavenly Human Realm would be much greater than those so-called cultivation prodigies.
Such talent, if not a prodigy, must have been nurtured by a prestigious sect.
“Buying a painting? What painting?”
Zhou Haitang asked with a slight lift of his eyebrows.
Li Hao shook his head slightly and replied, “The painting is in Bai Chunhai’s possession, I’ll need your assistance to introduce me.”
“You seek him out not to become an apprentice, but only to ask for a painting?”
“Yes.”
Zhou Haitang couldn’t help but size up Li Hao, while Zhou Ling’er and the other two beside him also looked at Li Hao with great surprise.
With the Grandmaster right before him, all Li Hao had to do was nod, and he could instantly become his disciple—an opportunity of immense value.
“Then you’ll just have to wait. That old fellow hasn’t arrived yet; he’s probably on the way here. Wait for the Grandmaster event three days from now; he will surely appear, and you’ll have the chance to meet him then.”
Zhou Haitang picked up a teacup from beside him, sipped lightly, and spoke indifferently.
Picking up the tea also signified the act of bidding farewell.
Since Li Hao had no intention of apprenticeship, he would not press the matter.
A steed often finds itself, but Bole, the great horse tamer, does not come by often.
Having received the information about Bai Chunhai, Li Hao had no desire to linger. He obtained the address of Zhou Haitang’s inn and then left the restaurant.
The three apprentices followed him out, and Zhou Ling’er said in frustration, “My father rarely wants to take disciples; how can you be so unaware of good fortune, or do you already have a master?”
“?”
Li Hao looked at her puzzled.
“Ling’er.”
The young man hastily pulled Zhou Ling’er aside and apologized to Li Hao, “I’m sorry, she speaks too directly. Please don’t take it to heart.”
Li Hao couldn’t be bothered with them anymore, having already cleared his debt with the gift of the dagger and their guidance.
Without saying much more, Li Hao turned around and walked towards the Martial Temple to see if Ren Qianqian’s Soul Succession had ended.
“His martial arts foundation is profound; he must come from a famous sect,” the young girl in a simple white dress murmured as she watched Li Hao’s departing figure.
Hearing this, Zhou Ling’er felt some shame and annoyance, retorting, “Is my father not considered a prestigious sect? What do you mean by that?”
The girl in the white dress snapped back to reality, startled, and quickly explained, “Of course, that’s not what I meant…”
“Hmph!”
…
When Li Hao returned to the Martial Temple, he saw Ren Qianqian under the eaves outside the temple, holding her sword and looking around.
Li Hao waved to her.
Seeing Li Hao, the girl immediately ran over with a joyful smile.
“How’d it go?”
“A predecessor from the Four Stands Realm noticed my swordsmanship and said I was a worthy candidate.”
Ren Qianqian couldn’t hide her delight. That she was chosen by the only spirit of the Four Stands Realm in the temple was remarkable.
Even though her father was a Grandmaster, advancing the soul to the Four Stands Realm was challenging. This was one of the most elite Soul Succession qualifications outside the Royal Family.
She had joined Tan Palace Academy to undergo Soul Succession there, but doing so comes with some constraints.
But in the Martial Temple, the conditions for Soul Succession are much more relaxed.
The spirits’ only requirement was generally one: to stand and fight when Dayu Divine Dynasty faces danger!
But over 3,000 years of the dynasty, even if there was a crisis, it usually happened at the borders and was dealt with and resolved by the Divine General Mansion. Thus, this condition was virtually inconsequential.
Unless one voluntarily joined the army and went to establish themselves on the frontier.
“Four Stands Realm, not bad,” Li Hao said with a smile.
“It’s thanks to the Sword Intent you taught me. Otherwise, it would have been difficult to catch that predecessor’s eye,” Ren Qianqian said, her eyes sparkling as she looked at Li Hao.
Li Hao responded with a smile, “It’s all your own understanding; I merely pointed you in a direction, that’s all.”
Ren Qianqian shook her head slightly; she didn’t see it that way, but didn’t argue with Li Hao, instead, she silently took note of his words.
“So, where do we go next?”
“We’ll wander around, eat, play, and wait for the Grandmaster event to begin in three days,” Li Hao said. “By the way, we can also listen to what unfolds at the event to see how these Grandmasters perform in their martial arts. It will help you when you step into the Heavenly Human Realm.”
“Great!” Ren Qianqian’s face lit up with joy.
Li Hao immediately took her away from the Martial Temple, and the two strolled leisurely through the streets, casually observing and enjoying the local culture and customs of Liangzhou City.
That evening, a boisterous event took place in the city.
A contest for the rankings.
Competitors sparred on fighting stages to achieve rankings and received rewards offered by the city’s lord.
With Grandmasters gathering from all over and attracting talents from different provinces, it was even more grandiose than the previous Tan Palace Academy’s recruitment, and the city was packed with people everywhere.
The numerous prodigies had no outlet for their meeting except for idle discussions, so the local city lord launched this event as a warm-up for the upcoming Grandmaster gathering.
The contest only allowed three realms, from the Soul Succession Realm to the Fifteen Li Realm.
Anyone below the Soul Succession Realm need not exhibit their skill; simply cracking seeds and watching from below the stage sufficed.
Li Hao had little interest in such excitement; if he were to take the stage, those within the Fifteen Li Realm wouldn’t match a single finger of his—a mere bullying of children indeed.
However, with Ren Qianqian having just completed her Soul Succession and brimming with enthusiasm, Li Hao couldn’t bear to dampen her spirits, so he still accompanied her to the venue, arriving at the outskirts of the Soul Succession Realm’s stage.
“It’s you again?”
By sheer coincidence, Li Hao encountered Zhou Ling’er from earlier in the day.
With her was the white-dressed girl, Xu Wan’er; both were of the Soul Succession Realm. After hearing the news, they hurriedly finished dinner and came here, both eager to test their skills.
Their senior brother headed for the Divine Soul Realm’s stage, intending to compete and exchange insights with the talents from various provinces.
“Young Master, do you know them?”
Ren Qianqian stood on her tiptoes to look ahead, only turning towards the noise with a bit of surprise.
“Just met.”
Li Hao said.
“Why are you here? Are you also in the Soul Succession Realm?”
Zhou Ling’er, seeing the indifference in Li Hao’s expression, raised her eyebrows slightly, saying mockingly.
Xu Wan’er, however, was curiously sizing up Li Hao. Hearing the address of young master, and combining Li Hao’s actions during the day, casually giving away a valuable dagger and mentioning buying paintings from a Grandmaster… He indeed seemed like a wayward and carefree rich young master.
“Hmm?”
Ren Qianqian, detecting the tone of disrespect, took a step forward and said coldly, “You shall not be impolite!”
Zhou Ling’er was taken aback and sensing her momentum, which was also from the Soul Succession Realm, she couldn’t help but say with a solemn face, “And who are you, her maid?”
Ren Qianqian just stared at her coldly without answering.
Zhou Ling’er, irritated by her gaze but also realizing Li Hao’s identity wasn’t simple—otherwise, why would he casually gift her a renowned dagger just for guiding him to Bai Chunhai—restrained her temper with only a cold snort.
At this moment, cheers erupted from the platform as the audience cheered for a match that had just ended, with one contestant admitting defeat.
“Let’s go, we should head over as well.”
Zhou Ling’er immediately said to Xu Wan’er, and after finishing her remark, she glared at Li Hao and said, “That skill you showed earlier with the dagger, do you want to get on the stage and spar with me? If you win, I’ll admit defeat.”
Li Hao glanced at her with some boredom. This little girl really hadn’t been roughed up before; she had been utterly spoiled.
“Is someone like you even qualified to challenge my young master?”
Ren Qianqian frowned and responded coldly.
Upon hearing this, Zhou Ling’er’s nose flared with anger. “If your young master is so formidable, why doesn’t he go to the Fifteen Li Realm’s platform instead of coming here? If you’ve got the skill, get up there and let’s see the truth through combat!”
“If you want to fight, I’m enough to keep you company.”
Ren Qianqian said.
“You? You’ve only just reached Soul Succession, haven’t you? Don’t say I’m bullying you.”
Zhou Ling’er laughed with anger and leapt onto the stage.
“Young master, I will go and deal with her,” Ren Qianqian said to Li Hao.
“Then be careful,” Li Hao told her. “She’s at the fourth layer of the Soul Succession Realm, you’ve just entered Soul Succession and are not yet fully accustomed to it. Be careful, and don’t hurt her.”
Xu Wan’er, who was nearby, was stunned at Li Hao’s words, wondering if she had heard wrong.
This young man could obviously see Ling’er’s realm, yet he instructed someone who had just reached Soul Succession not to injure Ling’er?
“I’ll be careful,” Ren Qianqian said.
She then leapt onto the platform as well.
The previous victor had already left the stage to rest, and with Zhou Ling’er and Ren Qianqian stepping up, cheers immediately burst out from below.
“Aren’t you worried?”
Xu Wan’er, seeing the nonchalant expression on Li Hao’s face, couldn’t help but ask out of curiosity.
“I am a little worried,”
Li Hao responded with a smile to the girl in the plain white dress, his impression of her not bad, “I just hope she doesn’t strike too hard and cry when she chops up your little treasure.”
“…”Xu Wan’er was at a loss for words.
Meanwhile, the competition on the stage had begun.
Zhou Ling’er showcased her martial display, impressively having reached the Four Stands Realm as her cultivation foundation for the Soul Succession, her presence filled with formidable momentum.
Ren Qianqian also brought forth her martial display to defend against her opponent’s intimidation, then unsheathed her own sword and dashed forward—the one she wielded was her own.
Dragon Soar, however, had been returned to Li Hao before ascending the stage.
The sword light flickered, with countless sword movements swirling, pouncing forward like beads of rain.
Zhou Ling’er, startled, drew her knife quickly, and a clanging sound of metal against metal ensued. But swiftly, a sword streak slipped through the knife’s shadow, resting at Zhou Ling’er’s throat.
The battle was over.
Below, Xu Wan’er watched in astonishment. She had truly won!
Wasn’t that girl just at the beginning of Soul Succession Realm?
And what was that swordsmanship? It was so complicated!
On the stage, Zhou Ling’er still gazed at the sword blade in front of her, her face reflected on its snowy white edge, filled with confusion.
Ren Qianqian glanced at her, then pulled her sword back into its sheath with a swoosh, turned around, and said to the crowd below, “Please grace me with your advice.”
Clearly, she wished to continue the challenge, inviting other talents to the stage.
The exchange with Zhou Ling’er had been merely a warm-up for her.
Despite a discrepancy of four layers within the same realm, and having just stepped into the Soul Succession Realm without time to practice and consolidate, her swordsmanship was far superior to that of her opponent.
The clash of sword and knife seemed fierce, yet she never truly opposed with direct force, instead using finesse to deflect strength before securing victory with a single strike.
Hearing Ren Qianqian’s words, Zhou Ling’er snapped out of her daze. She blushed with shame and frustration, her eyes moistened, biting her lip as she rushed off the platform.
“Ling’er.”
Xu Wan’er, seeing this and forgetting her desire to compete, hastily followed after her.
On the stage, with Ren Qianqian’s call to battle, someone quickly joined her on the platform.
Before long, another fierce battle commenced.
Ren Qianqian defeated four opponents in succession but was finally bested by a woman at the Eighth Layer of the Soul Succession Realm.
Seeing Ren Qianqian stepping off the platform with a slightly disheartened expression, Li Hao chuckled and said, “When your cultivation level is more solid and you grasp the true essence of your Thousand Feathers Sword Skill, you could have won just now.”
“The true essence… it’s too difficult,” Ren Qianqian sighed.
Li Hao felt somewhat helpless as well. After all, she was defeated only after crossing eight layers within the same realm against another prodigy. Why did she still feel aggrieved?
“Young master, if you fought using only the power of the first layer of the Soul Succession Realm, how many moves would you need to win?”
Ren Qianqian suddenly looked at Li Hao, her eyes filled with hope and curiosity.
She knew that Li Hao was a prodigy, terrifyingly quick in his cultivation. She understood that catching up to him in realm was impossible, but she wanted to chase the shadow of Li Hao’s past.
“Me?”
