Chapter 30: The Two Saints and the Little Mouse
Acting on his thought immediately, Li Hao instructed Zhao Bo to prepare painting materials, including colors, brushes, ink, and paper. After finishing his daily fishing session with Li Muxiu, Li Hao requested permission to return to his Shanhe Courtyard for some rest.
Li Muxiu made no objections. His philosophy in raising Li Hao was to let him develop freely.
Although Li Hao demonstrated exceptional talent in body refining techniques, Li Muxiu never forced him into rigorous daily practice. If Li Hao sought guidance, he would provide earnest instruction. If Li Hao preferred not to train, he would take the boy on leisurely excursions to the mountains, enjoying the scenery and fishing in the wild.
...
In the vast courtyard of the Shanhe Courtyard, Li Hao had two stools brought out—one high, one low—and began painting in the manner of an art student, sketching on a mounted canvas.
Zhao Bo tried earnestly to dissuade him, but Li Hao turned a deaf ear. Helpless against this idle young master, Zhao Bo left him to Li Fu.
Li Hao already had a plan to deal with Li Fu: he demonstrated the second layer of the Flood Dragon Body in front of him.
Li Fu was dumbfounded, wondering if his eyes were playing tricks. He had Li Hao repeat the technique, and when he saw it clearly the second time, his eyes reddened with emotion.
He assumed Li Hao's rapid mastery of the second layer of this body refining technique in less than a month was thanks to his second uncle’s careful training. Grateful to Li Muxiu, he also felt immense joy and excitement at Li Hao’s extraordinary aptitude for body refining.
Such talent far surpassed that of someone achieving mastery in the Barbaric Bull Strength in three months. Li Hao was undoubtedly a top-tier genius in body refining.
Seeing Li Fu’s elated reaction, Li Hao silently thanked himself for not showcasing the third layer, the Hundred Flood Dragons Body. After all, not everyone had the same vision or composure as his grandfather.
In exchange for Li Fu’s cooperation, Li Hao promised to train seriously with his second uncle. However, he set a condition: Li Fu was not to interfere when he pursued other interests.
Though thrilled by Li Hao’s promise, Li Fu still appeared worried. With such talent, he wished Li Hao would train nonstop, save for eating and sleeping, to catch up with the prodigies with Ninth-Class Battle Bodies. Yet Li Hao’s carefree temperament left him exasperated.
After much back and forth, Li Fu finally relented.
Thus, Li Hao confidently began painting in the courtyard.
With his brush in hand, Li Hao began sketching. Very soon, words appeared before his eyes:
[Painting Dao: 0th Stage (1/100)]
It worked!
Li Hao smiled knowingly and continued painting with great enthusiasm.
Drawing on his experience in the Chess Dao and Fishing Dao, Li Hao theorized that the better his paintings, the more experience points he would gain. Hence, he took his work seriously and did not approach it casually.
However, having been a businessman in his previous life, he had spent decades immersed in the art of commerce and knew nothing about painting. He had only a vague impression of how female colleagues sketched.
For his first painting, Li Hao chose a portrait and selected the prettiest maid in the courtyard to stand before his easel.
With confidence, he picked up his brush. A portrait, after all, started with a circle. Then a vertical line. A few strokes here and there. Yes, it needed hair.
Done!
[Painting Dao Experience +1]
“Hiss… Painting is harder than it looks,” Li Hao muttered, smiling wryly.
Beside him, Zhao Bo glanced at the canvas curiously and asked, “Young Master, what is this supposed to be?”
“Can’t you tell? A person!” Li Hao snapped, embarrassed and angry.
“This doesn’t look like...” Zhao Bo began hesitantly.
“You think the appearance is off?” Li Hao huffed. “You’re not seeing the essence of my work. Look at the circle; do you think it’s just a head? It’s not. It represents smoothness and adaptability. Look at the line; it’s not merely a body but conveys that to stand upright, one must first be flexible. Zhao Bo, you’ve got much to learn; don’t be so blunt!”
“Uh... and the blob on the circle—is that not hair?”
“No. Yes. Both. It’s hair and also aspiration!”
“Aspiration?”
Li Hao replied with a faint smile, “Aspiration grows in the head—it makes sense, doesn’t it? And lush hair, that’s a common aspiration, isn’t it?”
“??” Zhao Bo was utterly baffled.
After spouting nonsense, Li Hao continued painting.
To the astonishment of Zhao Bo and Li Fu, he created dozens of nearly identical drawings. The maid who had been standing as his model looked at the stack of crude sketches and wondered what the point of her role was. Clearly, their young master had no talent for painting; it was nowhere near his proficiency in chess.
Still, it was all just an idle pastime, so they didn’t probe further.
Li Hao’s painting pace was rapid, and soon a pile of discarded sheets accumulated on the ground. Slowly but surely, his experience points reached a hundred.
Each point had been painstakingly earned.
Li Hao felt drained.
...
[Painting Dao upgraded to 1st Stage]
[Art Skill Point +1]
As the words appeared, a surge of insight flooded into his mind. Li Hao closed his eyes briefly and absorbed the new understanding. Immediately, he realized how amateurish his earlier attempts had been.
Picking up his brush again, he began painting with strokes imbued with grace and spirit. Very quickly, the outline of an elegant figure emerged on the canvas.
Bored, Li Fu and Zhao Bo, who had been idly watching, suddenly froze in shock.
In no time, Li Hao used his brush to delicately highlight the lips and applied color with the pigment. The result was a vivid, lifelike portrait of a young maiden, standing as though alive.
[Painting Dao Experience +13]
Li Hao was delighted. As he had guessed, the more detailed and refined the painting, the greater the experience gained. Finally, he could genuinely say he knew how to paint.
“Young Master, this...” Zhao Bo stared blankly at the painting, unable to reconcile it with the rough stick figures from earlier. Could their young master be a genius who had mastered painting in mere moments? Or had he been pretending before?
Or perhaps... those earlier stick figures truly contained “essence,” as he had claimed?
Zhao Bo felt his understanding of the world being upended.
“Basic operation; don’t overthink it,” Li Hao said nonchalantly.
Though Zhao Bo didn’t understand, he was deeply impressed.
Li Hao created several more paintings, and as he became more proficient, he had Li Fu and Zhao Bo stand as models. He painted portraits of them, capturing their features with striking accuracy. One had a weathered, kindly expression; the other, stern but with a hint of awkwardness, looked away shyly.
When the paintings were complete, the two men stared at their portraits with mixed emotions.
If Li Hao had been born into a scholarly family, his artistic talent would have been cherished.
But this was the Divine General Mansion, where one was expected to protect Great Yu from a young age.
After the paint dried, both men carefully rolled up their portraits and put them away. They would always remember that, at seven years old, their young master had drawn their likenesses.
It was the first time in their lives they had ever received portraits of themselves.
...
Time flew by, and half a year passed.
On the serene shore of the Blackwater Demon Lake, three figures sat spaced about ten meters apart, fishing in silence. Among them were two elderly men and a child. The child, naturally, was Li Hao. Of the two elders, one was Li Muxiu, and the other was his fishing companion, introduced by Li Muxiu as the "Thief Saint." His name, Feng Boping, was particularly intriguing.
According to Feng Boping, the name was self-chosen, and its meaning wasn’t about striking only when the waters were calm. Instead, it symbolized how he could act and leave the waters undisturbed, with no ripples to trace his presence.
As they fished, Li Muxiu shared tales of Feng Boping’s exploits with Li Hao, each one affirming the aptness of his name. Many of Feng Boping's victims only realized their treasures had been stolen months or even years later. Often, there was no indication of when or how the theft occurred, leaving no leads to pursue. Many even suspected their own kin rather than an outside thief.
Feng Boping’s legendary ability to steal treasures without leaving a trace earned him the moniker of Thief Saint—silent, invisible, and unfathomable.
...
On the shore, Li Hao expertly set up a large pot. While cleaning a freshly caught fish demon, he began dissecting and preparing it with skilled precision, occasionally glancing at his fishing rod’s float.
The fishing rod, anchored firmly in the bank, was tied with a rope looped around a boulder. If there was any activity, he would have time to react.
With his sword in hand, Li Hao worked on removing the fish demon's innards. His movements were practiced and precise, revealing a natural affinity for the sword.
Li Muxiu and Feng Boping, observing from their seats, were unfazed by his proficiency. Though it was just fish cleaning, both had long recognized Li Hao’s remarkable talent in the Sword Dao. When Li Muxiu had first seen Li Hao wielding a sword, he had joked that the weapon itself must have been blind not to recognize the boy’s innate brilliance.
Feng Boping, too, had taken a liking to Li Hao, this lively child who showed no apprehension about his "Thief Saint" reputation. On one occasion, he even promised to search for rare medicinal herbs to help Li Hao unblock his meridians.
Soon, the white fish meat was placed into the pot.
Li Hao kneaded some coriander and crushed red chilies before tossing them in. A fragrant, spicy aroma quickly wafted through the air, drawing curious glances from the two elders.
Their fishing lines extended far into the depths of the lake. Unlike conventional rods, their lines were invisible to the naked eye and lacked visible floats. Instead, they relied on the sensitivity of the line itself to detect any movement.
“Gentlemen, the soup will be ready in three minutes,” Li Hao announced with a grin.
Over time, Li Hao had grown comfortable referring to Li Muxiu as "Second Grandpa" and Feng Boping as "Old Feng." The two elders, in turn, had affectionately given him a nickname they felt captured his essence: "Little Mouse."