Lin Qingyue felt a trace of strangeness in her heart. The Sword Master was a being of the Saint Realm, and many Saint Heirs sought his favor with no avenue to approach him. Li Hao had only been in the Holy Land for a year and already seemed quite familiar with him, which was somewhat unbelievable.
Soon, they arrived in front of Sword Cliff. Li Hao saw that, apart from the Sword Master, Qiu Wuheng was also there.
Lin Qingyue also noticed Qiu Wuheng, and her eyes slightly narrowed.
“Sword Master, senior.”
Li Hao stepped forward and greeted him with a cupped-hand salute.
The Sword Master slightly turned his head, caught sight of Li Hao, and naturally noticed Lin Qingyue too. His eyes flicked, and he said, “This lass has come to fish too?”
Being observed by the Sword Master made Lin Qingyue’s skin crawl, as if her hair were standing on end, and a hard-to-describe pressure welled within her. She immediately bowed in greeting.
Upon hearing the Sword Master ask, she shook her head slightly, “I just came to see with him, never expecting to meet you, senior.”
“Come to see, let’s just look then.”
The Sword Master, having heard this, said no more.
However, Qiu Wuheng glanced toward Lin Qingyue and nodded slightly, then said:
“I saw that battle of yours, Great Accomplishment in Sword Intent, quite impressive!”
“You had a great battle too; the Thousand Strands Sword was quite impressive.”
Lin Qingyue responded similarly.
The corner of Qiu Wuheng’s mouth twitched slightly—after all, he had been defeated miserably by Haoyue Saint Son in that battle.
Hearing Lin Qingyue’s words, Li Hao felt somewhat at a loss. What kind of straightforward woman was she? Was this their way of making small talk?
“Come, have a seat.”
Li Hao invited Lin Qingyue to sit at the cliff’s edge and returned to his usual spot, then focused his power into a line and cast it into Sword Cliff.
Lin Qingyue watched the three of them fishing, somewhat curious. Was there any significance in doing this?
She looked at the Sword Master, for whom this might be a hobby, and the same for Li Hao, but for Qiu Wuheng…
“Are you using this to comprehend the Sword?” Lin Qingyue was not dull and sensed the purpose of his fishing.
Qiu Wuheng nodded slightly, “Indeed.”
Lin Qingyue’s eyes revealed contemplation.
Li Hao smiled at Lin Qingyue, saying, “Your Gentle Sword Intent is quite suitable for fishing. You can delicately sense the water’s behavior to judge if there’s a bite, you might also try it.”
The Sword Master, hearing Li Hao’s words, laughed and cursed jokingly, “You lad!”
Clearly, he meant Li Hao was tempting someone into wrongdoing.
Li Hao gave an embarrassed smile. What he said was also the truth.
Lin Qingyue, however, shook her head slightly, not interested in the activity.
Nevertheless, she did not leave but quietly sat next to Li Hao, soaking in the peaceful nature.
Before long, Li Hao got a bite.
Lin Qingyue looked over, surprised to see a True Dragon hooked on the line.
“It’s you again.”
Seeing the Dragon Demon Ao Jie, Li Hao couldn’t help but gasp.
Ao Jie was also taken aback and quickly pleaded for mercy.
The two had almost become old acquaintances from fishing.
Helplessly, Li Hao unhooked him and let him go.
Hearing this Dragon Demon speak, Lin Qingyue realized Li Hao was already a regular here. Her gaze fell on Li Hao’s profile, and suddenly, the memory of coming back from cultivation one day flashed in her mind. She had heard the ground shaking and when she went to check, she saw Li Hao severely injured in a pit…
A flush delicately appeared on her cheeks as she lifted her head and gazed into the distance.
When the sun set in the west, Li Hao bid farewell to the Sword Master and Qiu Wuheng before taking Lin Qingyue back to the Pill Refining Institute.
In the following two days, Lin Qingyue did not practice sword again, but instead accompanied Li Hao to go fishing daily.
Qiu Wuheng did not come, seemingly having gone into seclusion.
After all, he needed to compete in the loser’s bracket in three days.
Lin Qingyue sat at the cliff’s edge, watching the swirls of water within the deep pool, her thoughts drifting far away.
The Sword Master made casual conversation, but seemingly with intention, he brought up the Gentle Sword Dao which allowed Lin Qingyue to catch the transmission of his Dao sounds and vaguely glimpse the levels beyond Sword Intent Perfection.
But it was just a glimpse of direction; truly reaching it was still far off.
On the fourth day, the loser’s bracket competition took place, and Lin Qingyue went to watch. Li Hao, however, did not go and kept to himself at Sword Cliff, continuing to fish here.
To him, fishing was cultivation.
“There’s also a battle going on over there today, why didn’t you go?”
The Sword Master, seeing that Li Hao still came today, asked somewhat unexpectedly.
Li Hao laughed and said, “I’ve seen all that before.”
“You rascal, did you not understand, or did you find it too boring?” The Sword Master smiled as he looked at him, his eyes seemingly piercing into Li Hao’s heart.
Ever since learning that Li Hao was 28 years old and had cultivated 97 layers in the Dao Domain, he knew that Li Hao’s talent was beyond imagination and among the Saint Heirs, he was an exceptional existence belonging to the top elite.
“I didn’t understand…” Li Hao said with a sheepish smile.
To say it was boring would be downright embarrassing, especially since those were the Saint Heirs painstakingly cultivated by the Sword Ancestor Holy Land.
The Sword Master frowned at him disapprovingly. If you didn’t understand it, you would even more likely watch it. How could you have the free time to come here?
In all his years as a Saint, he had never met someone as bizarre as Li Hao.
Qiu Wuhen came here to fish, using it as an opportunity to comprehend the sword, but Li Hao’s fishing had nothing to do with swords. It was just a hobby.
When Qiu Wuhen got a bite, his face was expressionless, as if he was just lifting a rock.
But when Li Hao got a bite, the excitement in his eyes was clearly visible.
Such emotion couldn’t be concealed; only someone who truly loved fishing would display such feelings.
“If you feel going to watch the battle is somewhat offensive, you don’t have to. Sooner or later, they must contest with the other two Holy Lands, and even the entire Thirty-Three Realms for the title of the strongest. If their flaws are spotted by just a few glances, they deserve to lose,” the Sword Master stated indifferently.
Li Hao nodded. The current Sword God War was not only to decide the strongest pride of the Holy Land but also to select the top ten to compete against the other two Holy Lands, vying for the title of the top ten strongest in the Canglan Realm.
Seeing Li Hao was uninterested, the Sword Master didn’t persuade further. He regarded Li Hao as a rival Saint Heir from the Supreme Saint Gate, who would inevitably meet his Holy Land’s Saint Heir in the future Three Realms’ Pride of Heaven Battle. He didn’t mind Li Hao’s reluctance to spy; in fact, he quite admired his pride.
As the day progressed with intermittent fishing, Li Hao, after repeatedly fishing for Ao Jie, found that his fishing experience had barely diminished.
A bit helpless, he reeled in his line and said to the Sword Master, “Senior, may I draw a picture for you?”
The Sword Master raised his eyebrows, surprised, and soon thought of Li Hao’s previous famous paintings from the Sword God War. He smiled and said, “If you want to paint, feel free.”
Overjoyed, Li Hao immediately took out a painting board from the Heaven and Earth Space and began to paint in front of Sword Cliff.
The sound of the waterfall crashing, the Sword Master wearing a bamboo hat sitting quietly alone at the edge of the cliff, across him the breathtakingly profound sword scar on the Sword Cliff, carrying with it heaven-reaching Sword Qi—all these Li Hao captured in his painting.
While depicting the Saint, Li Hao felt the difficulty of the Artistic Path; it was completely different from painting others.
His expression was solemn, he observed carefully, but always felt there was a sort of mist surrounding the subject, making careful observation during painting different from casual viewing.
He aimed to capture the essence, but that essence was incredibly elusive, like a True Dragon that showed neither head nor tail, constantly changing and inscrutable.
When Li Hao faintly perceived it, he suddenly felt a sharp, buzzing-like Sword Qi explode beside his ear.
The Sword Master’s expression shifted, slightly surprised; had the Sword Dao concealed within his body been perceived by the other?
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“Huh? Are you alright?”
The Sword Master looked toward Li Hao, only to see golden blood seeping through Li Hao’s eyes, which looked as though they had been slashed blind.
From his gaze, he sensed a faint Sword Intent, his body’s Sword Dao reflected in the other’s eyes, damaging his eyesight.
This wasn’t his doing. He raised his hand, intending to withdraw the sword force, otherwise, if it continued to linger in Li Hao’s eyes, they wouldn’t heal.
“Senior, don’t mind me; I’m painting!” Li Hao seemed to notice his movement and quickly spoke.
The Sword Master paused, taking another look at Li Hao. At that moment, he understood why the other had managed to paint such famous paintings from the Sword God War.
The other wasn’t obsessed with the sword, but with painting!
His passion for painting even surpassed many Saint Heirs’ obsession with the Sword Dao!
The Sword Master looked at him deeply; it was hard to imagine someone whose heart was so passionately devoted to painting and still had such enthusiasm for fishing, and what was more formidable was the fact that he had reached 97 layers in the Dao Domain at the age of 28!
Such a monstrous talent, even if said to be a reincarnation of a Saint, he fully believed it.
At that moment, Li Hao’s eyes were slit, blood continuously flowing, but his hands continued moving on the painting.
He painted with his heart!
As time passed, the outlines on the paper became clearer, and the side profile of the sitting Sword Master gradually took on his essence.
At first glance, he looked like an old man sitting; upon closer inspection, he resembled a steep sharp sword standing on the edge of a cliff!
But looking again, he was still an old man.
When the painting was completed, the two streaks of reflected Sword Qi in Li Hao’s eyes were also transferred into his painting through the Artistic Path.
As the painting took form, Li Hao’s eyes also regenerated and took shape.
Simultaneously, a panel popped up in front of him:
[Artistic Path Experience +372742]
[Stage Eight Artistic Path Experience filled]
[Congratulations, you have comprehended the heart of the Artistic Path, advancing to Ninth Stage]