A soldier from the Yuan Character Camp glanced at the young monk, recognized who he was, nodded, and then turned to report inside the Diamond Heart Hall.
Before long, a young man dressed in a blue robe and a half-yellow monk's robe stepped out of the hall. He had a tall and straight figure, sharp eyebrows, and bright eyes that looked cold yet determined. With a sword at his waist, he carried himself with an air of confidence, like a proud dragon.
"Brother Song."
Seeing the young monk, Li Qianfeng slightly nodded.
"Li Qianfeng, do you remember me?" a beautiful woman next to him asked, her eyes lighting up as she looked at the young man.
Li Qianfeng glanced at her, furrowing his brows. "Who are you?"
"One year ago, at Qingfeng Ridge!" The woman’s eyes sparkled with hope. "Do you remember?"
"Qingfeng Ridge..." A hint of nostalgia appeared in Li Qianfeng's eyes as he thought, "I believe the monsters there have been dealt with."
"It was me, Murong Qiulan. You helped me fend off that Wind Snake Demon. Without you, I would have died!" Murong Qiulan quickly explained.
Li Qianfeng frowned slightly and looked at her. "What brings you here?"
"I said back then that I would repay your kindness. I, Murong Qiulan, will only marry you in this life!" She blushed slightly but still gathered her courage to say it.
"So, you’re here to repay kindness with malice?" Li Qianfeng raised an eyebrow.
Murong Qiulan fell silent.
The young monk beside them looked at Li Qianfeng in amazement. To say such harsh words to such a beautiful woman, this junior truly lived up to being a disciple of the Buddha.
"I just want to repay you..." Murong Qiulan bit her lip and said, feeling wronged.
She had traveled a long way and used connections to come here, only to be met with such a cold response.
"What’s your family background?" Li Qianfeng asked calmly, unaffected by her pitiful demeanor.
Murong Qiulan was taken aback and quickly replied, "My Murong family is the number one family in Baifeng City. My father is the clan leader. He was already at the Fifteen Li Realm when he was young, traveling far and wide and making connections. Now he has entered the Celestial Realm, and if the opportunity arises, he might even aim for the Three Immortals."
"How old is your father?"
"He just turned fifty-four this year."
"He's already old."
Li Qianfeng shook his head slightly. "With such talent, it’s difficult to aim for the Three Immortals. Even if he does reach that level, it wouldn’t mean much in front of my Li family. Your background is too low!"
Murong Qiulan opened her mouth, unable to respond.
Did she not know that among the great families, how many could compare to the young man before her?
She gritted her teeth and said, "But my mother said, if two people truly love each other, why should they care about family background? I don’t care; I’m willing to give up the betrothal gifts, anything at all. I only want you!"
"That statement alone is quite greedy!" Li Qianfeng replied coldly. "I am worth more than countless betrothal gifts. Marrying me is like gaining half a province! My marriage will be decided by my mother, and I will only marry someone of equal status, like a royal princess or a noble lady. Your family background is probably beneath her notice."
Murong Qiulan's face turned pale, speechless.
She never expected this. As a woman, she took the initiative to confess her feelings and even offered to give up everything, only to be rejected.
The young monk beside them was astonished by Li Qianfeng's words. This junior was truly fierce!
"But what if the person you marry in the future is someone you don’t like?" Murong Qiulan bit her lip, feeling heartbroken.
Li Qianfeng replied indifferently, "Marriage is a transaction; what is there to like? My only companion in this life is my sword; everything else is just clutter."
Both of them fell silent, taken aback by his words. The extraordinary young man, like a proud dragon in the sky, had seemingly devoted all his thoughts to the sword in his hand.
Clearly, matters of love and affection were not something they could discuss with someone like him.
After a long silence, Murong Qiulan finally said, "I understand. What if... what if I’m willing to marry you as a concubine?"
As she spoke, she looked up at the impressive young man again.
The young monk beside them changed his expression slightly, glancing at the woman, and for some reason, he turned his head away, feeling a bit sympathetic.
Is this what the master meant by being infatuated in this world?
"Being a concubine..." Li Qianfeng thought for a moment and said, "The daughter of a master is somewhat acceptable, but I must first marry before taking a concubine."
"I can wait!" Murong Qiulan immediately replied.
"Alright then."
Li Qianfeng nodded, not saying much more. He turned to the young monk and asked, "Brother Song, did you bring the registration book? I’ll be going down the mountain for a while."
The young monk came back to his senses, nodded, and took out a book from his robe, along with some ink and a brush.
"Junior Brother Qianfeng has been on the mountain for over ten years. Are you going home now?"
"Yes, it’s time to go home, but before that, I need to gain some recognition."
Li Qianfeng took the ink and began to register while speaking.
The young monk was surprised. "Oh? Does Junior Brother Qianfeng still need recognition?"
"Brother Song is joking. As a member of the Li family, I must establish my own reputation. Moreover, this trip home is also to compete for the True Dragon position. Having some recognition is naturally better."
At this moment, Li Qianfeng appeared very approachable. He quickly finished the registration and handed the brush back to Brother Song.
The young monk dried the registration book, closed it, and put away the ink and brush, smiling as he said, "Junior Brother Qianfeng is too cautious. With your cultivation, who could compete with you for the True Dragon position?"
Li Qianfeng smiled faintly, his gaze drifting into the distance.
In his mind, a figure appeared, someone his mother had mentioned when she visited him on the mountain.
Li Wushuang.
A year ago, when he descended the mountain to slay demons, he had also heard of this name, already on the Qian Kun Ranking!
With a ninth-level battle stance, a renowned master, and a year and a half younger than him, they had already made a name for themselves in the martial world, getting ahead of him.
This journey would be his biggest competitor.
Although they had not met, Li Qianfeng felt a sense of awareness, as if the other was closely following in his footsteps.
Thinking of this, he couldn’t help but smile slightly. He would let that cousin know that his back was not something just anyone could chase after. He believed in himself and the sword in his hand.
"Can I go with you?" Murong Qiulan seized the opportunity and asked cautiously.
She looked at Li Qianfeng with a pitiful expression, her mind still echoing with the image of him defeating the Wind Snake Demon with a single sword strike.
"If you can keep up, then you may come along," Li Qianfeng replied indifferently, not paying much attention to her delicate demeanor.
...
In Cangyu City.
Since the demon disaster was resolved, Li Hao and the others were preparing to head home.
The Demon Suppression Office had also become less busy; aside from clearing out the demon corpses outside the city, there was little else to do.
For now, no demons dared to invade Cangyu City, except for a few foolish little demons lacking intelligence who dared to act recklessly.
Meanwhile, Li Hao was collecting paintings and poetry throughout the city, gathering quite a bit.
[Name: Li Hao]
[Age: 14]
[Cultivation: Peak of the Fifteen Li Realm]
[Sword Path: Sixth Stage (Flying Stage) (Hidden Bow)]
[Sword Technique: Sea of No End (True State) Snowfall Sword Technique: Avalanche (True State) ...]
[Body Path: Sixth Stage (Myriad Forms) (Tiger Pressure)]
[Body Technique: Golden Skin Refinement: Diamond (True State) Thousand Floods Sacred Body: Transforming Flood (True State) Primordial Fifth Layer (Primordial Body True State) Dragon Cicada True Void Body: Dragon Soar (True State) ...]
[Control Path: Sixth Stage]
[Control Technique: Heavenly Gang Zhou Tian Technique: Heavenly Gang (True State) Hundred Battles Zhou Tian Technique: Peerless (True State) Dragon River Divine Pulse: Dragon Breath (True State) Nine Turns Star Technique: Nine Turns (True State) ...]
[Fist Path: Sixth Stage]
[Fist Technique: Half Step Invincible Fist Sixth Layer (Ultimate) Heaven and Earth Penetrating Fist (Ultimate)]
[Body Movement Path: Second Stage]
[Body Movement: White Phoenix Walk (Ultimate)]
[Chess Path: Fifth Stage (18322/50000)]
[Painting Path: Fifth Stage (8273/50000)]
[Poetry and Prose: Third Stage (4999/5000)]
[Music: Third Stage (4999/5000)]
[Fishing Path: Fifth Stage (21827/50000)]
[Culinary Path: Sixth Stage (99999/100000)]
[Chess Manual Collection: Myriad Forms, Tiger Pressure, Flying Stage, Hidden Bow, Conceal Light and Nurture Darkness, Seven Phoenixes Lighting the Lantern]
[Painting Collection: Thousand Mountains Bird Flying Picture, Snow Mountain Spirit Fox Picture, Qilin Steed Picture, Blood Sea Fierce Flood Picture, Mountain Picture, Qiongqi Mountain Picture]
[Poetry Collection: Zhao Xinhun Poetry Collection, Song Yuan Poetry Collection]
[Music Score Collection: Phoenix Seeking Phoenix, Ghost Orchid, Moon Cry, Little Hu Jia]
[Fishing Collection: None]
[Culinary Recipe Collection: None]
[Mental State: Chess Heart (Consumed) Painting Heart (Consumed) Fishing Heart (Consumed) Culinary Heart (Consumed)]
[Skill Points: 1]
...
This trip yielded two chess manuals, "Conceal Light and Nurture Darkness" and "Seven Phoenixes Lighting the Lantern."
Li Hao decided to embed "Conceal Light and Nurture Darkness" into his Body Path. Soon, the effect was revealed.
Conceal Light and Nurture Darkness: In a relaxed state, the body heals rapidly, and severed limbs can slowly regenerate.
This effect was good, but he had hardly been injured.
"Seven Phoenixes Lighting the Lantern" was a manual for trapping and killing formations.
Li Hao wanted to use it in both the Sword Path and Control Path. After some thought, he ultimately chose the Control Path.
As he embedded it, the effect was also revealed.
Seven Phoenixes Lighting the Lantern: After using power seven times, one can temporarily double their strength.
Seeing this effect, Li Hao was somewhat shocked.
This effect was incredibly strong!
This power refers to the methods of opening meridians and circulating energy. If he cycles through it seven times, his strength would double?
He knew that as his Control Path reached the sixth stage, most of the techniques he mastered also reached the True State level.
Some lower-level techniques, under the understanding of the Great Path, would even evolve into superior techniques.
As many techniques improved, Li Hao’s number of opened meridians also significantly increased, from 69 to 98!
His energy circulation went from 248 cycles to 369 cycles.
Just the energy force from his own circulation totaled over eight million pounds.
With the instant doubling effect from the Yin-Yang dual meridians, it could reach over seventeen million pounds!
Even among the royals, they only had two million pounds, nearly nine times less. If he used this effect, it would be eighteen times!
The difference was like heaven and earth.
But Li Hao knew that this kind of boost could also harm the body, as it was a temporary explosive attack.
Moreover, he had not yet opened all 108 major meridians, so there was still room for improvement.
The only thing that had reached its limit was probably his soul, having condensed the laws of heaven and earth.
This trip was very fruitful. In addition to the two chess manuals, he also acquired three famous paintings, two poetry collections, and four famous songs.
For now, Li Hao chose not to embed them.
He felt that with his current strength, only someone in the Celestial Realm could force him to exert his full power.
At that time, he would know which areas were still lacking and could make up for them.
(End of Chapter)