"Second Uncle?"
Li Hao was surprised. In the family, Li Fu's rank was determined by his father's generation, and the only ones he could call uncle were from the Li family’s generation.
"Oh."
The old man didn’t pay much attention to Li Fu's respectful greeting and just casually replied. His gaze then shifted to Li Hao, who was dressed in fine clothes and had a dragon blood jade pendant hanging from his waist, as well as the body refining manual he was holding.
"I heard that our Li family has produced a martial arts waste. Could it be this child?" the old man asked casually.
Li Fu was extremely respectful, cupping his fists and bowing. "Reporting to Second Uncle, it is indeed Hao'er. He is the child of Marquis Xingwu, born with blocked meridians and cannot practice martial arts."
"Oh ho ho..." The old man smiled slightly. "So he is the child of that stubborn guy. Tsk, is this little fellow planning to refine his body? That’s a tough road."
Li Fu still had a respectful expression. "Though refining the body is a tough path, if we want this child to have a future, we can only do it this way."
"Tch."
The old man scoffed disdainfully. "How much success can body refining bring? Even if he reaches the heights of those historical body cultivators, so what? In a sea of soldiers, he’s just a small pebble."
Li Fu smiled bitterly, knowing the old man was not wrong. He could only say, "But as a son of the Li family, if he can die on the battlefield, that would also be an honor."
Upon hearing this, the old man's smile vanished, and his expression suddenly darkened as he snorted coldly.
"What nonsense! Shouldn't a son of the Li family die on the battlefield? Honor? I think you all have lost your minds!"
"Being able to survive on the battlefield is what real skill is!"
"Uh..." Li Fu was taken aback by the sudden reprimand. He had heard that this Second Uncle had a strange personality and had done many unconventional things in his youth, but he didn’t expect him to be so different from ordinary people.
"Is this Li Tiangang’s idea, or is it yours?" the old man seemed a bit angry as he asked.
Li Fu cautiously replied, "It’s the Marquis and our idea..."
"Hmph, that kid Tiangang is really becoming more and more useless."
The old man snorted, "Forcing a child is nothing. If you have the ability, let him break through the three immortals and step into the four standings. Then he can change his fate."
"Regardless of how useless, disabled, or foolish he is, he can become an extraordinary genius. Instead of making the child work hard, why not put in a little effort yourself? Are you aware of your own incompetence?"
"Ah this..."
Li Fu was left speechless, not daring to respond.
The four standings? It sounded easy, but how could it be so simple to reach that realm?
In the entire Dayu, only a few could reach this level.
Beside him, Li Hao couldn’t help but chuckle, thinking this old man was quite lovable.
He had expected a serious elder to teach him like Li Fu, tirelessly instructing him about hard work and perseverance, but instead, the old man’s words were completely different.
"Our large Divine General Mansion can’t even support one child?"
Seeing Li Fu speechless, the old man coldly snorted, "We risk our lives, and those kids die on the battlefield. Can’t we let a junior enjoy this hard-earned wealth?"
Li Fu was trembling and could only nod awkwardly, not daring to speak.
The old man rolled his eyes at Li Fu, knowing it was useless to talk to someone so wooden. He had seen too much since his youth and understood the traditional ideas passed down in the Li family for hundreds of years.
However, his gaze shifted and noticed the boy beside him was sneaking a laugh, which made him raise an eyebrow.
"You little thing, I say your father is useless, and you still laugh?"
"Old man, I think you’re right."
"Li Hao!" Li Fu was startled and quickly scolded, "Don’t be disrespectful! How can you speak to your elder like that?"
But the old man didn’t get angry; instead, he was taken aback. "What did you call me?"
"Old man," Li Hao laughed, "I can’t call you a young man, can I?"
The old man’s face darkened slightly. "Has no one taught you how to address your elders?"
"You called me a little thing, so I call you old man. Isn’t that fair?" Li Hao replied. "Surely someone taught you how to address juniors too?"
Li Fu was sweating and quickly covered Li Hao’s mouth, saying to the old man, "Second Uncle, please don’t argue with this child. When he was born, the Marquis and his wife went to the battlefield in Yanbei, and no one taught him, which is why he’s a bit wild and lacks manners..."
The old man raised an eyebrow and lightly snorted, "What this child said makes sense. Let’s call it even."
Li Fu was stunned and immediately breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Second Uncle, for your generosity!"
Li Hao pried Li Fu’s sweaty hand off his mouth, wiped his cheek with his sleeve, and then glanced at the old man’s fish basket. "You only caught one? It’s so small; who can eat that?"
The old man said nonchalantly, "I’m not fishing to eat. Fishing is a kind of fun. You’re still young and don’t understand."
"Since it’s for fun, your fishing skills are pretty poor, aren’t they?" Li Hao replied. "Just one fish, what’s the difference from being in the air force?"
Mentioning the air force made the old man react even more strongly than before, glaring at Li Hao.
"What do you know, you little brat? I wasn’t serious about fishing today; I went to the new lake and wasn’t familiar with the water conditions. Just wait until tomorrow and see how many I catch for you!"
He seemed to want to add weight to his words, lifting the basket in front of Li Hao. "You think this is an ordinary little fish? This is a monster! If I let it go, it might not even be able to beat this guy!"
Clearly, he was referring to Li Fu beside him.
Li Fu felt embarrassed at this and thought, what does this have to do with me?
"Second Uncle, since this monster is so dangerous, you should keep it away from Hao'er..." he said cautiously.
The old man coldly snorted, "Once it’s in my basket, can it turn the world upside down?"
"Monster?"
Hearing this, Li Hao became curious and examined the little fish in the basket.
The fish was about the length of a chopstick, with a golden back and red belly. Strangely, the bone on its head had scales that resembled eyelashes.
As Li Hao leaned in to take a closer look, the fish seemed to notice this ignorant human child and glared at him fiercely.
Li Hao could clearly sense the hatred and killing intent from the fish's eyes and couldn’t help but exclaim. This was the first time he had seen a monster up close.
"Old man, are your fishing skills really that impressive? You actually caught a monster. Why don’t you teach me?" Li Hao asked.
If he remembered correctly, fishing was also considered an art form in the skill classifications.
There were also carving, painting, playing the piano, and so on.
He had thought fishing was just about catching fish, but he didn’t expect that in this world, one could also catch monsters.
Wasn’t this just like practicing martial arts?
The old man was taken aback, and his eyes brightened.
"You want to learn fishing?"
"Yes, can I?"
"Of course you can!"
The old man suddenly burst into laughter. "It’s rare that you have such insight. Unlike these wooden heads, why practice some useless body technique? I’ll teach you fishing, and tomorrow you can see how my fishing skills are. I’m definitely not bragging; I just wasn’t familiar with that new lake today..."
He kept explaining, clearly still bothered by Li Hao’s comment about the air force.
"Ah this..."
Li Fu stood by, stunned. He had finally gotten Li Hao to calm down and practice martial arts, but now he was being led astray.
"Second Uncle, Hao'er actually has a great talent for body refining. In just three months, he has mastered a low-grade body technique to a great level. He’s definitely a good seedling; you can’t delay him!"
As he spoke, Li Fu was bracing himself. If worse came to worst, he’d just get beaten up and lie down for half a month.
"What talent? Even if he can practice it, how strong can he get? Can he compare to a hundred thousand soldiers from the Li family?"
The old man replied impatiently, "Do you really want such a delicate and cute child to turn into a little blackie from body refining?"
I won’t turn into a little blackie... Li Hao silently thought.
After the old man finished speaking, he didn’t bother with Li Fu anymore, snatched the "Dragon Spine" manual from Li Hao’s hands, and shoved it into Li Fu’s arms.
"Go, what a useless thing. Practicing this won’t lead to success. Hao'er, right? Come on, you haven’t eaten yet. I’ll go catch this monster and give you a good meal."
"Mm mm."
Li Hao nodded repeatedly, delighted.
"Second Uncle, you can’t do this!" Li Fu’s calls from behind were filled with despair.
As he was led away by the old man, Li Hao realized just how bold this Second Uncle of the Li family was. The place where he cooked was actually on the seventh floor of the Listening Rain Tower, which housed the most precious manuals of the Li family for hundreds of years.
And at this moment, not far from those ancient manuals, a fire was burning.
During their conversation, Li Hao also learned the old man’s name: Li Muxiu.
"Xiu" means to rest and recuperate.
It also means... never-ending.
(End of Chapter)