Carefree

The Golden-Backed Red-Bellied Fish was released from the fishing creel. It was indeed a demon: the moment it sprang out, it leaped into the air, transforming high above the pavilion into a body over a hundred feet long. Its scales were like an array of blades, its fins like pointed banners. It spoke in human language, yet its voice was that of a pitiful woman pleading:

"Senior, I swear I will never take another human life. Please spare me."

Its enormous, hideous head bobbed up and down, as though imitating a human kowtowing in midair.

Waves of fishy wind washed over Li Hao's face. He pinched his nose, nearly retching.

This fish... really did stink!

"If I spared you, wouldn't I really have come back empty-handed?"

Old Master Li Muxiu's words plunged the Fish Demon into instant despair. It trembled with anger, yet dared not lash out.

"Into the pot!"

Li Muxiu raised a hand and pointed.

Though the Fish Demon had begged for mercy, it had revealed its true form and taken to the air precisely so it could flee at any moment. Seeing that the old man would not spare it, it immediately swung its body, treating the sky as a lake as it tried to swim away into the distance.

But before it could turn, its entire body jolted as though struck by lightning. Blood erupted from its mouth and gills, and its hideous body split apart in midair, as though countless invisible blades had used the sky as a chopping board to chop it to pieces.

Miraculously, before the spraying blood could reach the ground, a gust of wind carried it away, leaving no trace.

The Fish Demon's mutilated remains vanished the same way. Only a smooth, round, fist-sized dark purple Demon Core and several pieces of snowy-white fish remained suspended in the air.

Li Muxiu beckoned, and the Demon Core dropped into the pot of boiling water. Invisible blades sliced the white fish into pieces as thin as cicada wings, which drifted into the pot once the water boiled.

Then the old man produced a salt jar from somewhere, scooped two spoonfuls into the pot, and covered it to let it simmer.

Li Hao watched the whole process in amazement. It also gave him a tangible understanding of this world's Martial Dao experts.

So this was a demon, and this was a powerful martial artist!

"Old man, that purple meatball was a Demon Core, right? Aren't you supposed to eat those raw?" Li Hao asked curiously.

"Where did you hear that?"

Li Muxiu glanced sideways at him and said mildly, "Aren't you afraid the stink will kill you? Demon Cores have to be refined with various medicinal ingredients to be effective, and you can't just mix them at random. Every kind of demon is different, after all. You need professional alchemists to tell them apart. Eating one raw... heh, it's the same as ordinary people hunting a tiger and making soup with its bones to strengthen their bodies. Could they digest those raw?"

"Then what are you doing?"

"Eating it as an ingredient. Most of its potency will go to waste, but eating this thing doesn't do much for me anyway. I'm only having a taste. As for you, have some broth and a few slices of fish to fill your belly later. A Demon Core at this level is still more than you can handle."

"I see."

Li Hao nodded, feeling no regret over the waste.

After all, the Divine General Residence had countless spirit pills and precious medicines. Never mind raw ingredients like this Demon Core-those were all finished, refined pills.

However, after his Foundation Establishment failed, he had tested them. For him, those spirit pills and precious medicines were only food to fill his stomach. Their extraordinary medicinal effects were completely blocked off.

Still, despite the abundant supply of spirit medicines, the residence was extremely restrained when distributing them among the children of its various courtyards.

After all, every medicine carried a measure of poison. Pills could certainly bring rapid progress, but those who reached the highest realms mostly relied on their own strength, making them less vulnerable to backlash.

The water in the pot boiled again, and the steam made the lid tremble gently.

The old man used his Ruthless Iron Hand to lift the lid by its ceramic knob. Hot steam immediately billowed out, only to be carried away by a gentle breeze without touching the pavilion's beams or pillars.

The aroma of cooked fish wafted out, mingled with a fishy odor.

Li Hao frowned slightly. Though he had yet to taste it, his instincts told him it would not be good.

"Here, give it a try."

Li Muxiu rummaged up a pair of dark, grimy chopsticks from somewhere, wiped them on his clothes, and thrust them into the Demon Core in the pot, which looked like a braised lion's-head meatball. He began taking great mouthfuls.

At the same time, he swept his palm aside. A swaying branch outside the pavilion snapped off and flew into his hand.

He handed it to Li Hao. "Peel off the bark, and you can use it."

Li Hao was speechless.

But he was not one to stand on ceremony. He sat sprawled on the floor beside the old man, here on the top floor of the Listening Rain Pavilion-a place martial artists across the world regarded as sacred. Casually stripping the green bark from the branch, he broke it in two, dipped it into the pot, and picked up a translucent slice of fish.

To Li Hao's surprise, the fish had not fallen apart despite being simmered under a lid. When he lifted it, it was like chilled jelly, tender and slippery.

He held the pot lid beneath it to keep the broth from dripping onto him, then slurped it up.

"How does it taste?"

"Good, really good. Just a little fishy."

"Fishy? Why don't I notice it?"

"You smell fishy all over yourself. Of course you don't notice."

"Hey, you little brat, is that any way to talk to me?"

"It's true. I'm not wrong."

"Hmph, you're lucky you met me. An ill-mannered little imp like you-anyone else would have beaten your backside into eight pieces by now."

"I wouldn't even bother talking to anyone else."

"Oh, quite the big talker."

The old man and the boy ate together like that. The elder showed little of a senior's dignity, and the younger showed little fear or deference. Once they had finished the fish and broth, both flopped backward, legs spread, and let out a contented sigh in unison:

"Ah, that hit the spot!"

Their poses were practically identical.

"You little rascal..." Li Muxiu glanced at Li Hao, then suddenly burst into laughter.

Li Hao merely smiled, pillowing his head on his hands as he gazed ahead. Beyond the eaves, night had settled over the sky, and faint stars gradually emerged.

A gentle breeze drifted up from below and from the surrounding mountain wilderness, bringing a wonderfully refreshing sense of ease.

He suddenly felt that all the splendor of the mortal world, all the servants attending him-

None of it compared to the freedom and comfort of this moment.

After lying quietly for a while, Li Hao suddenly thought of something. He turned his head and asked, "Old man, you must have some techniques for fishing, right?"

"What, you want to learn already?"

Li Muxiu watched him with interest.

"I want to try my hand tomorrow too. How about we see who catches more?" Li Hao said with a grin.

Li Muxiu could not help laughing at that.

He had never expected those wooden-headed members of the Li Family to raise such a lively, interesting child.

"Very good. From now on, you can learn fishing from me. I'll teach you. Fishing is a form of cultivation too. With one cast of my hook, even someone of the Three Immortalities would get hauled in with his mouth crooked!"

Li Muxiu chuckled softly, his eyes brimming with pride. That pride was not so much in his cultivation as in his fishing skills.

Li Hao could hardly contain his amusement. He even pictured a few scenes and burst out laughing.

A Three Immortalities Realm expert standing at the pinnacle above countless martial artists, his mouth dragged crooked by a fishing hook... that was so damned vivid!

"What are you laughing at? Don't believe me?" Li Muxiu raised an eyebrow, his expression turning slightly stern.

"I do, I do, of course I do," Li Hao said, laughing. "I just thought the scene would be hilarious."

With that, he clutched his belly and burst into laughter again.

Li Muxiu thought it over and agreed that the sight would indeed be amusing. He chuckled and said, "Once we get there tomorrow, I'll teach you how to fish and let you get some practice. You wouldn't understand if I just talked about it now. Get to bed early tonight. I'll go find you a fishing rod."

Then he sat up, dusted off his backside, and swept the remaining embers and iron pot on the terrace into his sleeve, where they vanished.

He took a single step and disappeared into the boundless night.

The next day.

Early in the morning, when the sky was only beginning to brighten, Li Muxiu woke Li Hao.

Fortunately, Li Hao had gone to bed early the previous night and was not particularly sleepy. "Are we leaving this early?" he asked.

"Of course. You have to start early for morning fishing. This is when they bite most readily."

Li Muxiu wore a smile. Usually, he went fishing alone, with one rod and one creel. Having the little fellow along today made him even more eager to fish.

"This is your fishing rod. Hold on to it."

The old man produced a black fishing rod from somewhere and handed it to Li Hao.

When Li Hao took it, he found it surprisingly heavy. Still, it was nothing to his power through realm completion strength, especially since he was ten times stronger than an ordinary person at power through realm completion.

By Li Hao's estimate, however, someone would need to be at least at the fourth or fifth level of the power through realm to wield this rod freely.

Seeing Li Hao accept it with ease, a flicker of surprise crossed Li Muxiu's eyes. "It seems that lad Li Fu wasn't talking nonsense. You really do have a talent for body refinement. Which art are you practicing? Have you truly mastered it?"

Only then did Li Hao realize that the old man had chosen the fishing rod according to his cultivation, putting some thought into it.

Wild Bull Strength was a low-grade body-refinement art. Mastering it would grant strength roughly equivalent to the sixth level of the power through realm.

(End of chapter)