Three days later.
Song Yueyao returned from Cangyu City with a tired look on her face. She had completed her task as a governor and was now heading back to the Tan Palace to report.
She had already learned that Li Hao and the others had returned early, and they must have arrived back in Qingzhou by now.
Thinking about the strength Li Hao had shown, she couldn't help but clench her teeth. After years of training in the Black and White Hall, she had seen many talented individuals, but someone like him was a first for her.
This was somewhat discouraging for her.
"Yueyao?"
As Song Yueyao was about to head back to the Black and White Hall to report on Li Hao’s situation to her grandfather, she ran into her friend, Su Yehua, who was passing by outside the hall.
Seeing her friend, Song Yueyao slowed her pace. "Sister Su."
The two were only three years apart in age and had known each other for over ten years, like sisters.
"You’re back so soon. Was the task smooth? Did you run into any big monsters?" Su Yehua asked gently, noticing Song Yueyao's exhaustion.
Mentioning "big monsters" made Song Yueyao's mind flash back to the neatly stacked monster corpses on the mountain, and her expression changed slightly.
"What’s wrong?" Su Yehua was taken aback. Did she really encounter a big monster?
"Nothing." Song Yueyao shook her head slightly and suddenly thought of something. "Sister Su, Li Hao and the others must have returned, right?"
"Uh?"
Su Yehua was a bit surprised. Knowing Song Yueyao’s cool personality, she had always treated outsiders like grass and never cared about them. Why would she ask about the two young masters of the Li family?
Then she recalled that the task location for those two seemed to be Cangyu City as well.
"What’s the matter? Did they cause you trouble?"
Thinking of one of them, who was usually quite carefree and liked to sleep in class, she frowned slightly and comforted her. "After all, they are young masters from a big family and like to throw tantrums. Don’t take it to heart..."
Song Yueyao was taken aback for a moment and shook her head. "No, something big happened in Cangyu City. If it weren't for Li Hao stepping in, I might not have made it back."
"What?"
Su Yehua was stunned, looking at Song Yueyao in disbelief, doubting whether she had misunderstood.
Song Yueyao wasn’t surprised by her reaction. It seemed this sister didn’t know about Li Hao’s strength, so she briefly explained everything that had happened in Cangyu City.
After listening, Su Yehua stared at Song Yueyao with wide eyes.
"Fifteen-mile realm? Him?"
Su Yehua recalled the boy who had been sleeping in class, and if she remembered correctly, he was only... fourteen years old when he registered for school?
Seeing Su Yehua’s shocked expression, Song Yueyao couldn’t help but smile slightly, feeling a sense of inexplicable joy.
It seemed she wasn't the only one who was shocked.
Her tired look faded a lot, and she waved at Su Yehua. "I’ll go report now."
With that, she turned and left gracefully.
Su Yehua came back to her senses, suddenly realizing.
No wonder Li Hao never attended classes or participated in the martial arts rankings. With such a level, he could teach others on stage.
But then again, with his cultivation level, did he still need to attend the Tan Palace Academy?
She was puzzled and planned to ask Li Hao about it when they met again.
...
A few days later, the students from the Jia Academy who had been sent out for the academy task returned one after another.
Su Yehua gathered the students to evaluate their performance during the task.
Among them, the most outstanding were the teams led by the two princes, who had chosen the most difficult task worth 15 credits, and their entire team received full marks.
In addition, they had also achieved merit during the task, helping the Monster Suppression Division solve a major case, earning one third-class merit and one second-class merit each.
As for first-class merit, it was hard to come by outside of war zones.
Even second-class merit was quite impressive.
"Did they encounter monsters attacking the city as well?"
Du Qiuyue and Yu Wei whispered to each other.
Yu Wei took a glance and shook his head quietly. "I don’t think so. It’s possible the Monster Suppression Division is just flattering them, transferring the original credit to them. Or maybe the place they went to was part of their faction..."
"Shh!" Du Qiuyue jumped in surprise and quickly silenced him.
Yu Wei realized he had misspoken. The complex situation behind the royal family was not something they could discuss.
Even if these two princes were not favored, they were still royal blood. Who knew if they might rise to power in the future?
Aside from the two princes, the performance of Wang Han and the Li siblings was also excellent. They had taken on the most challenging task and received full marks as well, though they didn’t earn any additional merit.
The expressions of the other noble students varied. Some whispered to each other, some admired their strength, while others secretly scoffed, believing they relied on connections to get their scores.
Though they were only in their teens, they had already witnessed the huge differences that status could bring. This experience would help them learn to read people and become more worldly.
"These two..."
Li Yuanzhao watched the Li siblings receiving praise from Teacher Su Yehua. Although they looked calm, their eyes clearly hid their joy.
Li Zhining was fine, but Li Yuanzhao noticed that Li Yun had a bandaged arm, clearly injured, yet he still wore a slight smile, looking relaxed. He couldn’t help but shake his head.
With Li Yun’s strength and status, the reason for his injury was probably due to being overly eager to perform well during the task.
Compared to the showy Li Yun, Li Yuanzhao thought of Li Hao.
He liked hanging out with Li Hao, not just because they came from similar backgrounds, but he genuinely admired the cool confidence Li Hao carried.
How to describe it? Using some strange words Li Hao once used, it was like having a certain style.
He always maintained a calm and easygoing demeanor, as if everything was just a passing cloud.
In Li Hao’s words, if you encounter a mountain that’s hard to climb... then just go around it.
If someone only knew how to be lazy, that wouldn’t be impressive. But this time in Cangyu City, Li Hao stood alone to defend the city and slayed a big monster, achieving great merit, yet he remained low-key and didn’t boast about it, as if he had just done something trivial.
Just this point made him far superior to Li Yun and the others.
Even those two pretending to be calm princes, in Li Yuanzhao’s eyes, couldn’t compare to Brother Hao.
Moreover, despite being at the fifteen-mile realm, Li Hao had never shown off. If he were like Li Yun, proclaiming everywhere, the whole world would have known by now.
While everyone sought fame, Li Hao said that fame and fortune were burdens.
When Li Yuanzhao first heard this, it struck him deeply. Although he didn’t fully understand, he felt... it was impressive.
Because of this, he liked to follow Li Hao, not for any other reason, but simply out of a genuine desire to learn.
"Teacher, where’s Li Hao?"
At this moment, Li Yun noticed Li Yuanzhao beside him and saw that Li Hao was missing. He couldn’t help but frown, feeling a sudden pang of worry. Did something happen to him?
"Li Hao..."
Su Yehua looked at the empty seat next to Li Yuanzhao, her eyes flashing with complexity. "He has been selected to enter the Black and White Hall ahead of time."
"What?!"
As soon as these words were spoken, the entire Jia Academy erupted in chaos.
The noise immediately turned into a market-like clamor, with everyone chattering and asking why and how.
Among the crowd, Jiang Ye’s previously smiling face instantly fell.
As a prince himself, he hadn’t been given any exceptions, yet a mere son of the Li family was granted one?
His expression darkened, but recalling his teacher’s earnest teachings, he managed to regain his calm, though his heart was filled with anger, and a hint of gloom was evident in his eyes.
"Teacher." Jiang Ye spoke up, and the surrounding noise seemed to quiet down significantly. "Why was he allowed to enter ahead of time?"
Jiang Ye stared at Su Yehua.
Su Yehua immediately sensed the anger in this prince’s heart. She thought to herself, if you could also reach the fifteen-mile realm, no, even the Spirit Journey realm, you could have been given an exception too.
Her face remained calm, and she smiled as she said, "Li Hao’s cultivation level is higher than yours, and he achieved special merit during the task in Cangyu City. Therefore, to teach him according to his abilities, he was allowed to enter the Black and White Hall early. If he stayed here, we wouldn’t be able to teach him, and he would just occupy a spot on the martial arts ranking."
Upon hearing this, everyone exchanged glances, all looking bewildered.
Li Hao’s cultivation level is higher than theirs? Had he already reached the Soul Fusion stage?
But... what was this special merit?
Li Yun and Li Zhining also looked confused, glancing at Li Yuanzhao.
Both of them had gone to Cangyu City, so why hadn’t Li Yuanzhao earned any merit?
Seeing the questioning looks from the Li siblings, Li Yuanzhao just smiled slightly, feeling secretly pleased. Want to know? I won’t tell you.
After all, Brother Hao had said not to make a fuss. When he asked the reason, Brother Hao only said he wanted to enjoy a little more leisure time.
However, the events in Cangyu City were too significant; it probably wouldn’t be kept secret for long.
Li Yuanzhao was looking forward to the moment when the siblings and others learned about Brother Hao’s cultivation level. He wondered what their expressions would be like.
Their Li family, after Uncle Nine, would surely become famous again!
Thinking of that scene, he couldn’t help but wish time would pass quickly so that news from Cangyu City would spread soon.
...
Meanwhile, in the Tan Palace of the Black and White Hall.
Palace Master Song Yufeng sat at the top, the tea in front of him had cooled, and he was lost in thought, forgetting to taste it.
Beside him, Shen Yunqing, Zhao Zongyuan, and many elders from the Tan Palace were present, with only a few elders absent due to other matters.
Song Yueyao sat at the end of the table, like everyone else, observing the boy in front of her.
Li Hao felt the gazes of everyone around him, like they were watching a monkey, and he felt a bit helpless. It had been over ten minutes, and they hadn’t said a word. With that time, he could have drawn a couple of pictures.
"You all let me enter the Black and White Hall directly, and I’m very happy."
"But wasting time like this isn’t something I enjoy."
Li Hao cleared his throat and said with a humble and innocent expression.
The curious gazes of Song Yufeng and the others finally softened.
Years ago, the Li family’s Ninth Young Master had fallen, shaking the world. The tales of his achievements at nineteen were unheard of.
Unfortunately, they had never seen his face in life.
Now, they were witnessing this fourteen-year-old in the fifteen-mile realm, and they couldn’t help but want to observe him closely. Could he really have some extraordinary abilities?
Being human, how did he cultivate?
Song Yufeng observed for a long time, becoming increasingly astonished. He had secretly tried to gauge Li Hao’s cultivation level with his aura but found it impossible to see through.
With his own level, he couldn’t even catch a glimpse. This kid had likely cultivated some kind of hidden aura technique and had mastered it to an extremely high level.
It’s important to note that such techniques usually have little effect on direct combat power, yet Li Hao was only fourteen and still took the time to practice this seemingly useless skill, all while reaching the fifteen-mile realm. His talent was probably a bit outrageous.
When the emperor named him... the emperor’s vision was indeed sharp!
Song Yufeng thought to himself, feeling a bit more respect for the towering figure sitting on the dragon throne.
"You’ve already reached the fifteen-mile realm. With such talent, you could easily become a disciple of the Qian Dao Palace."
Song Yufeng asked Li Hao curiously, "I want to know, why did you choose to come to our Tan Palace Academy?"
Everyone else also looked at Li Hao with curiosity. Was it for that unique skill? Or something else?
Song Yueyao couldn’t help but focus her gaze, waiting for Li Hao’s answer.
"The reason...?"
Li Hao recalled that day and said, "It was probably because that morning, I happened to want to eat a piece of crispy fried dough."
Everyone: "..."
What?
They had thought of various possible answers, but never expected something like this.
What is crispy fried dough?
A piece of fried snack?
People around the world have all sorts of reasons for wanting to join the Tan Palace Academy—some seek revenge through martial arts, some want fame, some wish to inherit family businesses, and others want to gain prestige... but no one had ever said it was for a piece of fried dough.
The hall fell into stunned silence. After a moment, Song Yufeng finally came back to his senses and forced a smile. "That fried dough... must be very delicious."
"Yeah."
Li Hao’s expression became serious and a bit enthusiastic. "If you get the chance, you all should definitely try it. Just remember to find the right place, it’s from the old Liu family in Qinglian Alley."
Seeing Li Hao earnestly recommending it, everyone was left speechless.
Crispy fried dough from Qinglian Alley... Song Yueyao murmured to herself, unconsciously noting it down.
"Isn’t it for our Tan Palace’s unique skill, the Taiji Qian Kun Sword Technique?" Huang Licai couldn’t help but ask.
He felt that Li Hao’s words were too nonsensical. What fried dough? Nonsense.
(End of Chapter)