"Joking with you is one thing. I wouldn't dare joke with the ancestors," Li Muxiu said mildly.
The long-browed elder frowned slightly, thinking that was indeed true. Though his second brother was usually rather unrestrained, he had always behaved impeccably in this Ancestral Shrine.
He asked, "Does the child simply look young? Is he nine?"
"Eight."
"Eight?!"
The long-browed elder froze, ripples of emotion stirring in his eyes. "You mean he reached perfection in the Circulation Realm at eight?"
"That's right."
After his mild reply, Li Muxiu walked over to the prayer cushion before the golden statue and knelt.
"Hao, come here."
After kowtowing three times, he called softly without rising.
Li Hao immediately walked to his side.
"Kneel and kowtow to the ancestors."
Li Hao did as instructed, kneeling on the cushion and kowtowing to each spirit tablet in turn.
Li Muxiu raised his head and said softly, "Your descendant, Li Muxiu, has brought a junior here today to receive the ancestors' teachings. Ancestors, please grant him your inheritance!"
As his words fell, the many spirit tablets above seemed to tremble slightly.
Having finished kowtowing, Li Hao looked up and saw spectral figures appearing before the tablets, seated in midair. Some wore scholars' robes of white, others heavy armor, and still others were missing half their bodies, wrapped in nothing but a battle standard.
Clearly, these were the forefathers of the Li Family.
"Well, another promising seedling."
"Perfection in the Circulation Realm, yet his bones are still young. Barely eight years old, and even more impressive than that little fellow twenty years ago!"
"To think our Li Family's fortunes have flourished so greatly over the past century. We ought to warn those youngsters not to grow arrogant because of it. Otherwise, that child's fate should serve as a lesson."
The spectral ancestors conversed quietly, each offering his opinion.
Upon entering the Ancestral Shrine, Li Hao had temporarily withdrawn his Myriad Manifestations attribute. Though he did not know whether these ancestral Heroic Souls could see through its concealment, it was better not to invite complications.
"This child is clever and gifted. I won't get involved. You grant him your inheritance."
"With talent like this, only the founding ancestor and you few are qualified to bestow one."
After some discussion, many of the ancestral figures gradually faded and returned to their tablets. Only four remained hovering above their tablets, silently studying Li Hao.
"I..." One of the figures holding a spear had just begun to speak when the golden statue at the center of the tablets suddenly radiated light, as though coming alive.
The other figures looked over, then lowered their heads and bowed slightly.
The many other tablets also trembled faintly, voices emerging in near-perfect unison. "Greetings, Ancestor."
Before the golden statue sat the spectral figure of a tall, broad-shouldered middle-aged man. Compared with the other figures, he seemed considerably more solid.
His features were identical to those of the golden statue.
"If you can abide by my Heart Oaths, you will receive my inheritance." The middle-aged man looked down at Li Hao, his expression gentle, calm, and unruffled.
Li Hao could feel the old man beside him trembling slightly, seemingly overcome with excitement. He also recognized the figure: the Li Family's founding ancestor, Li Tianyuan!
"Greetings, Ancestor!"
Old Master Li Muxiu bowed his head and kowtowed.
Li Hao immediately followed suit.
"In those days, I accompanied Great Yu's former emperor on his campaigns, fighting across the eight wilds of Eastern Brilliance and subduing countless monsters and tribes. I swore two Heart Oaths to the Late Emperor, securing a thousand years of glory for our Li Family."
The Heroic Soul of the ancestor Li Tianyuan spoke slowly. "The first Heart Oath is that members of the Li Family must protect the Li Family unto death, sharing life and death with it!"
"The second Heart Oath is to defend the Great Yu Dynasty unto death, sailing in the same boat as Great Yu through life and death!"
"Can you do this?"
Having spoken, Li Tianyuan gazed at Li Hao below.
Li Hao paused. Protect the Li Family unto death? Does that mean certain people, or everyone?
The Ancestral Shrine fell silent. Every gaze seemed fixed on the child, waiting for him to speak.
After a long silence, Li Hao finally said quietly, "Ancestor, forgive your descendant's dullness, but there is something I don't understand."
"Speak." Li Tianyuan's Heroic Soul remained calm.
"Does protecting the Li Family mean everyone, including the collateral branches?"
Li Hao asked cautiously, "Does protection mean keeping them safe, or that I must not harm them?"
"It applies only to the direct bloodline. Since you are to protect them, naturally, you cannot harm them. Otherwise, cutting off their limbs and leaving them with a breath of life could also count as protection," Li Tianyuan said. Clearly, this Heart Oath was quite rigorous.
Li Hao asked, "Then... what if there is a traitor among the direct descendants, or someone plots against me?"
"You may hand such scum over to those who have not entered the Ancestral Shrine for Soul Inheritance to deal with."
"But if such scum attack me first, or ambush me, wouldn't I have no choice but to dodge?" Li Hao asked.
"Those who receive my Soul Inheritance shall be invincible among their peers in the same realm, apart from the imperial family!"
Li Tianyuan said indifferently, "Avoiding them would be effortless. If you encounter someone of a higher realm, you need only flee for your life. Do not attempt to wound them in return."
"What if they are dying in front of me, and I stand by without helping?"
"You must act to save them, even if they are scum," Li Tianyuan said. "But when such scum are being punished under the law, you may choose not to be present. Then you will not break your Heart Oath and suffer injury."
Li Hao thought it over. That was a solution, at least.
"Still, doesn't that seem a little unfair?"
As a prodigy, he would have no choice but to hide when facing someone from the Li Family in the same realm.
And if the other person encountered danger and he saw it, he would even have to help? That seemed far too unreasonable.
"Don't talk nonsense."
Beside him, Li Muxiu's expression changed slightly, and he immediately spoke to Li Hao in a low voice.
Li Tianyuan's Heroic Soul did not grow angry. Instead, he gave Li Hao a calm look and said slowly, "It certainly cannot be called fair. But do you know why I would make geniuses qualified to enter the Ancestral Shrine for Soul Inheritance suffer such grievances and swear such Heart Oaths?"
Though the Li Family possessed an Ancestral Shrine and many ancestral Heroic Souls, not every child of the family was qualified to receive Soul Inheritance here. These ancestral Heroic Souls had very exacting standards.
Li Hao shook his head. "I don't."
"For continuity."
Li Tianyuan said slowly, "The first Heart Oath prevents the family's geniuses from growing arrogant on the favor they receive and disregarding the lives of ordinary, mediocre clansmen, or even leaving the family to soar freely after rising on its resources."
"Thus, such restrictions may not be fair to geniuses, but at most, they suffer a few small grievances. The benefit, however, is that the family can endure, passing its legacy down from generation to generation!"
Li Hao considered this. From the ancestor's perspective, it was indeed true.
"And the reason our Li Family has endured for a thousand years without falling, without arousing the imperial family's suspicion, is the second Heart Oath!"
Li Tianyuan said calmly, "There were twelve divine generals who accompanied the Late Emperor on his campaigns. Yet today, Great Yu has only five Divine General Residences. Two of those rose later, during these past thousand years. The descendants of those old comrades have long since died out and vanished. Those who remain have concealed their names, their whereabouts unknown."
"These two Heart Oaths may seem like restrictions, like chains, but in truth, both exist to ensure the bloodline's continuity!"
"Otherwise, with our Li Family's thousand years of accumulated military achievements, its connections, its number of generals and commanders, and its prestige in the army, how would the imperial family dare entrust it with power so readily? How could they refrain from using imperial statecraft to weaken and destroy it?"
Hearing these words, Li Hao froze.
From this ancestor's perspective, he had indeed achieved his aim.
The benefits outweighed the drawbacks.
A lineage of divine generals enduring for a thousand years sounded simple enough, but the difficulty was beyond what ordinary people could imagine.
Perhaps it was precisely because the imperial family knew the Li Family's greatest prodigies would receive Soul Inheritance in the Ancestral Shrine and be bound by these two Heart Oaths that the family enjoyed its present splendor.
"Now that you understand everything, are you willing to swear the Heart Oaths?" Li Tianyuan asked calmly.
Li Hao deliberated, still unable to decide.
He could not shake the feeling that these two Heart Oaths were a curse upon the Li Family.
Though they perpetuated a thousand years of glory, were they not also an unbreakable confinement?
Generations of merit and fame, a hall filled with Heroic Souls, six of the previous generation's Nine Sons killed in battle-how many in each generation had actually lived out their natural lives?
By contrast, most of the family's ordinary children enjoyed protection and could spend their twilight years in peace.
Geniuses... seemed to be the unlucky ones in the Li Family.
Because they had to shoulder the entire Li Family!
In that case, he would be better off seeking Soul Inheritance at the Martial Temple. At least he could enjoy an easy life.
Li Tianyuan seemed to perceive Li Hao's hesitation. A trace of coldness entered his eyes, and his figure gradually faded away, leaving only his voice echoing through the hall:
"This child possesses rare talent, but lacks firmness of character. Let him consider it further."
The other tablets trembled slightly, as if seeing the ancestor off, then all fell still.
Li Muxiu was taken aback. He looked helplessly at Li Hao, but said nothing further before the ancestral tablets. Instead, he rose, bowed deeply, and led Li Hao out of the Ancestral Shrine.
Seeing this, Li Hao inexplicably felt relieved and followed Old Master Li Muxiu outside.
Before leaving, his peripheral vision involuntarily strayed toward the chessboard. He could hardly be blamed. He possessed a Chess Heart. As Sword Wudao had once said, someone who loved swords would spot a sword at first glance among a thousand weapons.
That was merely the stage of love, let alone Heart Entry.
Even among ten thousand objects, Li Hao could notice a chessboard at a glance.
"Old Master, black at seven-thirteen wins."
With that, Li Hao followed the Second Master out of the Ancestral Shrine.
Outside, a light rain seemed to have begun, its fine threads falling steadily.
Li Muxiu sighed. This was the best time to fish. Fresh water mingled with the lake's surface, and fish demons liked to emerge for air. Yet he was in no mood for it.
"You... don't let your thoughts get too tangled. Think it over some more yourself." Li Muxiu knew Li Hao was playful by nature and disliked being bound, so he had no way to persuade him.
The child was too young. Occasional willfulness was inevitable.
Li Hao nodded.
The old man had also received Soul Inheritance in the Ancestral Shrine. Clearly, beneath his seemingly carefree and unrestrained manner, his heart was tied to the Li Family.
Inside the Ancestral Shrine, the long-browed elder withdrew his gaze. He was not close to Li Hao and did not particularly care what the boy thought. In any case, he would return sooner or later.
His gaze returned to the chessboard. Holding a piece lightly between his fingers, he was just about to play when he suddenly murmured in surprise.
(End of chapter)
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