Chapter 98: Chapter 87 So What?_2
Li Tian Gang didn’t hesitate to say, “That would naturally be a shock to the world, so surprising that perhaps when it gets out, some might not believe it, but other Divine General Mansions will know that the Li Family has produced a once-in-a-millennium genius!”
Li Hao gazed at him and asked, “Even if I am a once-in-a-millennium genius, what of it?”
Li Tian Gang was taken aback, feeling there was something off in Li Hao’s words, and furrowed his brows as he looked at him:
“What do you mean ‘what of it’? Do you have any idea how many people there are in Dayu? How many geniuses?”
“Nineteen provinces, each with hundreds of cities, tens of thousands of villages and towns, billions upon billions of people!”
“Just counting the geniuses, they are innumerable, as plentiful as carps crossing the river; top-tier geniuses are indeed rare, but even among one province, dozens can be selected, yet only those who set foot on the Qiankun List truly make a name for themselves!”
“And now your talent would deem ranking on the Qiankun List too low; when your ninth uncle was nineteen, he stepped into the Immortal realm and was already considered a once-in-a-millennium genius. If you reach the Grandmaster Realm at fourteen, you too would be worthy of that title!”
The further one advances in cultivation level, the more difficult it becomes, just like Li Junye, who entered the Grandmaster Realm at seventeen and was once famed throughout the world, but compared to the shock of someone reaching the Immortal realm at nineteen, it is still somewhat lesser.
After all, the momentum of a genius can be broken.
Most with the ninth-grade battle physique could reach the Divine Travel Realm by fifteen, but that doesn’t mean they will necessarily step into the Celestial Master Realm by the age of twenty.
Many of the same batch of fifteen-year-olds in the Divine Travel Realm might reach the Heavenly Human Realm by eighteen, while others might only reach the Grandmaster Realm at thirty.
And when it comes to challenging the Immortal realm, that’s when an even greater disparity will reveal itself.
Li Hao knew all that Li Tian Gang was talking about; he glanced at the other, but felt there was no need to pursue the conversation further.
He simply turned to Zhao and said, “I must trouble you, Uncle Zhao.”
“It is no trouble at all,” Zhao promptly replied.
But Li Tian Gang’s expression turned ugly; Li Hao’s demeanor made it clear he hadn’t taken his words to heart.
In Northern Yan, his word was a military order, and a military order carried the weight of a mountain!
A single word was like a rifle bullet, piercing through the ground.
“You’re not allowed to go!” Li Tian Gang stopped Zhao in his tracks, then promptly turned to Li Hao:
“As long as I am here, you will not touch those nonsensical things again! Besides, I’ve said it: regardless of your cultivation level, whatever realm you’re in, even if you surpass your ninth uncle’s talents, you must apologize to your Uncle Yuxuan!”
Yu Xuan’s expression changed slightly beside him; he bowed to Li Tian Gang and said, “Lord Hou, let it be, Hao Er is young and ignorant; I didn’t take it to heart.”
“It cannot be let go!”
Li Tian Gang suddenly shouted fiercely, his gaze shifted to Zhao, then swept over to Li Fu, and finally rested on his own son, who was looking back at him with a cold demeanor. What was this expression?
“Because of your indulgence, he has become so presumptuous!”
“What does having cultivation matter? The Li Family isn’t short of geniuses!”
“Disrespectful towards one’s elders, even if one has an outstanding cultivation level, without proper discipline, what future can one hope for?”
Zhao and Li Fu were both shocked, not expecting Lord Hou to be so serious.
After his initial surprise, Li Fu was somewhat stunned; he didn’t expect that bringing back such joyous news would result in such a scene.
“Lord Hou, the young master has always been like this, and although he did those things, it now seems he hasn’t neglected his cultivation…”
Li Fu began to speak, trying to plead on Li Hao’s behalf; he knew of Yu Xuan and couldn’t comprehend what wrong Li Hao had done to necessitate an apology.
However, based on his understanding of Li Hao’s temperament, at most it would have been a slip of the tongue, certainly not a grave mistake warranting such formality.
“Silence!”
Li Tian Gang rarely shouted at him like that.
When administering punishment in the military, he hated it most when others pleaded for leniency or engaged in nepotism.
Li Fu’s expression changed slightly, and he quickly bowed his head, realizing that in this moment, Lord Hou was not the familial Li Tian Gang he interacted with in private, but the unbeatable Lord of Martial Discipline in the army!
Zhao wanted to speak, but the stern look from Li Tian Gang silenced him; he could only look towards Li Hao with a worried expression.
Li Hao fell silent, facing the piercing gaze of the middle-aged man before him, he suddenly felt like laughing, but no laughter came.
Was this the fulfillment of the wait he had endured for fourteen years alone in the courtyard, gazing up at the starry sky?
Yet why couldn’t he feel happy at all now?
Just yesterday everything was still joyful, still harmonious.
Li Hao took a deep breath, and finally not of a youthful temperament, he restrained the unspeakable sense of loss in his heart, staring at the other person, he said:
“Indeed, I shouldn’t have lost my temper at him, because he didn’t do anything wrong, he was just following your orders.”
Beside him, Yu Xuan was slightly stunned, looking at Li Hao with a hint of surprise.
The anger in Li Tian Gang’s eyes had just receded when it surged forth again, his gaze as fierce as a tiger’s emanating an intimidating brilliance:
“So, are you blaming me? Do you still want to shout at your father to get lost?!”
As he spoke, he felt almost laughed at by his own anger.
Utterly lawless!
Li Hao’s fists clenched slightly, but then released, he suddenly wanted to turn away, his gaze casually falling on something else, landing precisely on the weeds beside the courtyard steps.
He suddenly felt how similar he was to that clump of weeds.
He drew in a deep breath and slowly exhaled, a self-mocking, nonchalant smile curling at the edge of his lips:
“Have you ever looked at my paintings? You definitely haven’t, have you? You said my mother left, but actually, I can barely remember as well, so while I still could remember, I painted her down.”
The young man’s voice crisply echoed, altering the expressions of everyone present.
Li Tian Gang suddenly froze, his whole body shaking.
Those paintings… were they of Qingqing?
Naturally, he would not bother to open those shabby scrolls, but he hadn’t anticipated this.
“However, by the time I learned to paint, I had already forgotten what my mother looked like. I could only remember her eyes.”
Li Hao’s gaze settled on the weeds fluttering in the breeze, but his sight was unfocused, his thoughts as if drifting far away, he murmured to himself:
“So, all I painted was her vague figure, I originally wanted to wait for mother to return, to paint her properly, but mother… she left…”
The young man’s voice plunged the others into silence, Li Tian Gang’s breathing became slightly heavier, his palm hidden in his sleeve gripped tight involuntarily.
At that moment, Li Hao’s thoughts seemed to return from afar, back to the courtyard, back to his own frail body.
He turned his head to look at his father before him, smiled, and said, “You say a Grandmaster cannot be insulted, yes, but I just don’t know, whether my mother is allowed to be insulted.”
It sounded like a statement, yet also like a query.
These words pierced like a sharp knife, making Li Tian Gang feel suddenly suffocated, his sturdy frame trembling slightly.
Yu Xuan’s expression also looked somewhat ugly, having not expected those paintings to contain images of the lady; no wonder the young man was so agitated just now.
Reflecting on his own actions, he fell silent.
Li Fu and Zhao’s eyes were slightly moist as they looked towards Li Tian Gang.
The young man said nothing more, turned, and left, only saying, “Those scrolls, do with them whatever you please.”
Watching the young man’s retreating figure, Li Tian Gang uncontrollably shouted furiously, “Stop!”
But the young man’s steps did not halt, and he walked away without stopping.
Li Tian Gang was briefly at a loss, this was the first time someone defied his words.
And that person was his own son.
If it were anyone else, he would have already struck, breaking their limbs, he hadn’t dismissed them, who dared to be presumptuous in front of him?
But Li Hao’s recent words had choked his anger at his throat, which soon evaporated, leaving his complexion unspeakably grim.
“Master, the young master…”
Seeing his anger, Zhao immediately wanted to speak up in persuasion.
Li Tian Gang gestured to stop him, took a deep breath, and said sternly:
“Immediately go and move all the paintings out, clear the cleanest room for me, lay them out properly, if there is any damage, everyone will be dealt with under martial law!”
Zhao was taken aback, relieved, and quickly agreed.
Li Tian Gang turned to Li Fu and said, “Go inform your elder sister-in-law about Hao Er’s progress in the Fifteen Li Realm, let her be aware, I want to host a family banquet, I want the whole world to know!”
Li Fu, seeing his change of heart, also inwardly heaved a sigh of relief and hurriedly saluted, “I’ll go at once.”