When he thought of something, he acted on it.
Li Hao asked Uncle Zhao to prepare some paints and brushes for him. After his grandfather finished fishing each day, he would ask to return to his own courtyard to rest.
Li Muxiu didn't say much about it. His approach to raising Li Hao was to let him roam free. Although Li Hao showed great talent in body training, he didn't push Li Hao to practice hard every day. If Li Hao wanted to ask him questions, he would guide him seriously; if not, he would take the little one out to explore the mountains and fish by the riverside.
In the courtyard of the Mountain River Residence,
Li Hao had two small stools brought over, one high and one low. He set up a board and began to paint like an art student.
Uncle Zhao tried to persuade him with kind words, but Li Hao ignored him. Uncle Zhao felt helpless against this young master who was easily distracted and could only leave him to Li Fu.
Li Hao already had a way to deal with Li Fu. He showed off his second level of the Dragon Body technique in front of him.
Li Fu was stunned, doubting his own eyes. After Li Hao demonstrated it again, he finally saw it clearly, and his eyes turned red with excitement.
He thought it was all thanks to his second uncle's guidance that Li Hao had mastered this body training technique in less than a month. He felt grateful to his second uncle while also being amazed and excited about Li Hao's talent.
Such talent was far beyond the three-month achievement of the Bull Strength technique. He was definitely a top-tier body training genius.
Seeing Li Fu's ecstatic expression, Li Hao was secretly glad he hadn't shown him the third level of the Hundred Dragons Body technique. After all, not everyone had the same vision and endurance as his grandfather.
In exchange, Li Hao promised Li Fu that he would practice well with the second master, but only if Li Fu didn't interfere when he was doing other things.
This made Li Fu happy but also a bit worried. With Li Hao's high talent in body training, he wished Li Hao would spend every moment practicing, except for eating and sleeping, to catch up with those outstanding talents at the ninth level of body training. But Li Hao was quite carefree, which left him feeling helpless.
After much back and forth, Li Fu finally gave in to Li Hao's request.
So, Li Hao confidently began to paint in the courtyard.
As he picked up the brush, words quickly appeared on the paper.
[Painting Skill: 0 (1/100)]
It really worked.
Li Hao smiled to himself and began to paint with enthusiasm.
With his experience in chess and fishing, he guessed that the better he painted, the more experience he would gain.
So he took it seriously and focused on his drawing.
However, he had been a businessman in his past life, spending decades in the world of commerce, so he didn't really know much about painting.
He did have a little understanding of girls who could paint...
For his first drawing, Li Hao chose to sketch a person, picking the prettiest maid in the courtyard to stand in front of the board.
Then, with confidence, he picked up his brush. For a person, he started with a circle for the head, a line for the body, and then some strokes for the limbs.
Hmm, still missing some hair.
Done!
[Painting Skill +1]
Wow... painting is really hard.
Li Hao couldn't help but chuckle to himself.
Nearby, Uncle Zhao peeked at the drawing and asked curiously, "Young master, what is this painting?"
"Can't you tell? It's a person!" Li Hao replied, annoyed.
"This doesn't look like..." Uncle Zhao was a bit confused.
Li Hao huffed, "You think it doesn't look like a person? You just don't understand the meaning behind my drawing. Look at this circle. You think it's a head? No, it represents smoothness. And this line, you think it's a body? No, it expresses that if a person wants to stand up, they need to be a bit smooth. Uncle Zhao, you still have a lot to learn; don't be so blunt!"
"Uh, isn't that round thing on top hair?"
"Not quite, it's both hair and an ideal!"
"Ideal?"
Li Hao said lightly, "An ideal grows on the head, right? This lush hair represents many people's ideals, doesn't it?"
Uncle Zhao was left bewildered.
After rambling on, Li Hao continued painting.
What left Uncle Zhao and Li Fu exchanging glances was that after painting dozens of pictures, they all looked quite similar. And what was the point of having the pretty maid stand there as a background?
Clearly, this young master had no talent for painting, unlike his skills in chess.
But since they were all just indulging in leisure instead of martial arts, they didn't bother to dig deeper.
Li Hao painted quickly, soon piling up a bunch of scrap paper. Before long, his experience points reached one hundred.
It all added up little by little.
Li Hao felt quite exhausted.
[Painting Skill Level Up to 1]
[Art Points +1]
With the notification, a wave of understanding about painting surged in his heart. Li Hao closed his eyes for a moment and gradually digested it, realizing just how inexperienced he had been before.
He picked up his brush again, and with a touch of inspiration, a graceful figure quickly appeared on the paper.
Li Fu and Uncle Zhao, who were bored and looking around, caught a glimpse and were instantly stunned, their eyes wide open in shock.
Before long, Li Hao lightly touched the lips of the figure with a brush, dipped it in paint, and suddenly, a lifelike figure stood elegantly on the board.
[Painting Skill +13]
Li Hao couldn't help but feel delighted; indeed, the more detailed and exquisite the painting, the more experience he gained.
And finally, he could say he knew how to paint.
"Young master, this..." Uncle Zhao stared at the board, surprised. He had just painted stick figures before, and now it had reached this level?
Could it be that the young master was a genius who learned it in a short time?
Or was he pretending before?
Or maybe... those stick figures really were, as the young master said, full of "meaning"?
He felt his previous understanding being strongly challenged.
"Basic skills, not difficult." Li Hao said casually.
Uncle Zhao didn't understand, but it didn't stop him from being deeply shocked.
Li Hao painted a few more pieces, and when he felt more skilled, he had Li Fu and Uncle Zhao stand in front of the canvas, painting each of them a portrait. The eyes were lively, one looked kind and wise, while the other had a serious expression with a hint of awkwardness, gazing elsewhere, lifelike.
Looking at the completed portraits in their hands, the two had different expressions and complex feelings.
The young master's talent was rare in the world; if he were born into a family of scholars, he would surely be treasured.
Unfortunately, this was the residence of divine generals, where one was born to defend the great Yu.
As the paint dried on the canvas, both of them unconsciously rolled it up carefully, showing a sense of seriousness.
They would remember that when the young master was seven years old, he painted a picture for them.
This was the first time in their lives they received a portrait of themselves.
Time flew by, and half a year later.
On the calm shore of the Black Water Demon Lake, three figures sat at a distance of more than ten meters apart, fishing—two old men and a young boy.
The young boy was naturally Li Hao, and the older men, besides Li Muxiu, included one more person, who was Li Muxiu's fishing friend. Li Hao heard his grandfather introduce him as the Thief Saint, with a rather interesting name, Feng Boping.
According to the Thief Saint, he had changed his name himself, meaning he didn’t only act when the wind was calm but remained calm even after he acted.
While fishing, Li Muxiu smiled and introduced Li Hao to the Thief Saint's experiences, realizing he truly deserved the name.
Many of the forces that the Thief Saint had stolen from only realized their treasures were missing months or even years later.
Often, they didn't notice it right away, so they had no way to find out who stole it, when it was stolen, or even if it was an insider...
He hid his achievements and fame, seeking treasures in the world; that was the Thief Saint Feng Boping.
On the shore, Li Hao skillfully set up a big pot. While cleaning the fish demons he had just caught, he also kept glancing at his fishing float.
The other end of the fishing rod was secured to the shore, tied to a large rock with a rope, so he could react in time if there was any movement.
At this moment, Li Hao was skillfully using a sword to handle the fish demons' innards.
Li Muxiu and the Thief Saint were already used to it. Although he was just handling fish, they had both noticed Li Hao had an extremely high talent for swordsmanship. When Li Muxiu first saw Li Hao wielding a sword, he had even mocked him, saying the sword had no path and was blind, losing its true treasure.
The Thief Saint Feng Boping also liked this little guy who loved fishing and showed no unusual reaction to his sensitive identity. He had seriously said he would help Li Hao look for some treasure to open his meridians.
Soon, the white fish meat was in the pot.
Li Hao added some coriander and spicy peppers, and the fragrant, spicy aroma immediately spread, making both old men glance over frequently.
Their lines were cast far into the deep lake, and they used their bodies as rods, with the lines hidden from view. They could sense any movement through the line.
"Two gentlemen, it will be ready to eat in three minutes," Li Hao said with a smile.
After spending time together, Li Hao had started calling Li Muxiu "Second Master," and Feng Boping "Old Feng." The two old men had also given Li Hao a nickname they thought was lively and fitting:
Little Mouse.
(End of Chapter)