Prestige

"Of course."

Li Yuanzhao frowned. "You think I can't manage on my own? Why don't we have another match when we get back? We never settled who won last time!"

Li Yun snorted coldly. Over the past two years, his sparring matches with Li Yuanzhao had been almost evenly matched, with neither able to gain the upper hand.

But when their ages were taken into account, he had lost by a narrow margin.

After all, the other boy was a year younger.

In terms of the battle body aptitude revealed by bone measurement, he had lost as well. His was seventh grade, while his sister and Li Yuanzhao both had eighth-grade aptitude.

So naturally, his remark had not been aimed at Li Yuanzhao, but at the fellow on the other side-the one he had secretly resented ever since he had grown old enough to understand things.

The thought that he had once been thoroughly thrashed by a good-for-nothing made him especially furious. Fortunately, only Heaven, Earth, Li Hao, and he himself knew about it.

Whenever he saw Li Hao over the years, his teeth practically itched with rage. If the Second Master and Fifth Master had not always been accompanying Li Hao, he would never have passed up a chance for revenge.

Li Yuanzhao noticed Li Yun shooting Li Hao a cold glance. He might have been young, but he was no fool. Especially after spending so many years with Hao Ge and listening to all those wondrous, strange stories-not only tales of gods, ghosts, and spirits, but also of the cruelty of human nature. Though he could not fully understand them yet, he was still somewhat more mature than others his age.

That was precisely why he had picked up on Li Yun's meaning from the start and deliberately redirected the spearhead toward himself.

Seeing that Li Yun only dared to make veiled jabs, he could not be bothered to pursue it and spoil everyone's mood. He smiled at Li Hao. "Hao Ge, I heard Sister Xue'er will be back in another year."

"That's right."

A faint smile appeared at the corner of Li Hao's mouth.

"My master said the Sword Hermitage's rules require you to reach at least the Spirit Wandering Realm before you can leave the mountain. Does that mean Sister Xue'er will break through to the Spirit Wandering Realm next year?" Li Yuanzhao asked curiously.

Someone in the Spirit Wandering Realm was a Fourth Realm expert. Out in the wider world, such a person could venture deep into a tiger's den to slay monsters and vanquish demons. Even on the border, they could carve a bloody path through the enemy and serve as a Commandant in the army, second only to a general!

And next year, Bian Ruxue would only be fifteen.

That rate of progress would place her among the very best even in the ranks of top geniuses with a ninth grade battle body.

Most figures renowned throughout the world possessed a ninth grade battle body. It was merely the starting point for the greatest prodigies, merely the upper limit of bone measurement!

The opportunities, effort, innate talent, comprehension, and other factors that came afterward would continue to widen those differences.

Beside them, Li Yun's ears immediately pricked up at the mention of "Sister Xue'er," and he could not help glancing toward Li Hao.

The seed that had sprouted in his heart as a child seemed faintly ready to poke its tender tip out again.

But at the thought of the Spirit Wandering Realm, the boy's expression grew heavier and more downcast. Precisely because he now understood things and knew the gaps between cultivation levels, he understood just how impossibly distant that was.

"Exactly."

Li Hao nodded. At the Spirit Wandering Realm, one had some assurance of survival while roaming the martial world.

He glanced at a certain figure nearby wearing a complicated expression. While secretly finding it amusing, he also felt that the brat was asking for another beating.

It's been so long since I knocked him into line that he actually dares to pine for her again.

"The Spirit Wandering Realm at fifteen. That's incredible. If she came to Tan Palace Academy, even the Palace Master would probably welcome her in person. She'd enter the inner palace as a Personal Disciple right away," Li Yuanzhao said, unable to contain his admiration.

The three of them had only reached perfection in the Circulation Realm and were still a little short of soul inheritance.

Their reason for entering Tan Palace Academy this time was also to inherit the souls of its ancient heroes.

Those had been their mothers' instructions. They did not know the exact reason themselves.

"Her master is the Sword Saint, after all. There's no comparing yourselves to her," Li Hao consoled them.

In truth, these youngsters were geniuses too. The reason they had not apprenticed on renowned mountains was simply that the Li Family's direct descendants seemed to follow an unwritten rule: they could seek apprenticeship on a renowned mountain, but only under a master of the Sword Saint's caliber, and only as that master's Personal Disciple.

Otherwise, they would remain at the residence to cultivate, then join the major factions once they had achieved some success, making their mark and displaying the might of the Li Family's younger generation.

Such standards applied only to the direct line. The descendants of concubines were different. Like branches spreading and leaves unfurling, they had already apprenticed on many renowned mountains and under many celebrated masters after establishing solid foundations, making the Li Family's name resound throughout various factions.

Before the true dragons had even emerged, the concubines' children alone had already become leading figures among the young in many second- and third-rate factions.

This gave the Li Family immense prestige in the martial world, not merely in the military camps along the border.

"Yeah," Li Yuanzhao sighed. Instruction from a celebrated master on the Sword Saint's level was something he could only envy. Ninth-grade battle body aptitude was the starting requirement, the lowest threshold.

Meanwhile, with the Flood Dragon Lions clearing the way, the enormous carriage, as large as a motorhome, rolled along the streets. Everyone in Qingzhou City recognized it as a vehicle from the Divine General Residence.

Passersby stepped aside, pointing and talking among themselves. From its direction, they could tell that it most likely carried the Li Family's true dragons, heading to Tan Palace Academy to cultivate.

When the horses pulling the carriages of wandering martial heroes and young nobles from distinguished families who had come from various provinces encountered the monstrous aura radiating from the Flood Dragon Lions, every one of them grew restless and stopped in place. Some were so frightened that they bolted frantically toward the roadside, not daring to block the way, and their drivers could not hold them back no matter how hard they hauled on the reins.

At that moment, the majesty of the Divine General Residence was on full display.

Before long, the carriage came to a stop. Uncle Ming, who was driving, gently informed them that they had arrived outside Tan Palace Academy.

Tan Palace Academy was not far from the Divine General Residence to begin with. They were practically neighbors.

Once the carriage had stopped, Li Yuanzhao and the other two all grew a little more focused.

Though they were prodigies with exceptional aptitude, they normally cultivated within the residence and had never truly displayed their abilities before outsiders. Coupled with their youthful temperaments, they could not help feeling a little nervous now.

Li Hao felt little of the sort. Once the carriage stopped, he rose leisurely and casually lifted the curtain.

Light fell across his face. At the same time, countless lively, clamorous sounds came racing in, pouring into the carriage, as though that casual lift of his hand had unveiled an entire flourishing world!

The three inside the carriage came back to their senses. They saw Li Hao standing leisurely at the doorway, quietly surveying his surroundings amid the countless noisy voices, his usual faint smile on his face, perfectly at ease.

Li Zhining's gaze sharpened slightly, as though a fragment of an old memory had surged to the surface. But she quickly regained her clarity, and that lifted corner closed once again.

Only when all three stood and came outside the carriage did they see just how lively the scene was.

The vast square was packed with figures, a dark sea of people rubbing shoulders. Most were spirited young men and women carrying sabers, swords, spears, and other weapons on their backs.

Among the crowd were also some richly dressed youths with attendants at their sides, keeping strangers away from the space around them.

There were also girls in rainbow dresses and feathered robes, with graceful maidservants holding parasols beside them to shield them from the blazing sun. They too stood apart from the crowd, especially conspicuous.

As far as the eye could see, young martial artists were packed tightly together.

Yet at that moment, the few standing on the carriage instantly became the focus of everyone's gaze.

After all, the Divine General Residence's Flood Dragon Lion carriage was far too eye-catching.

Great Yu's laws stipulated that, for carriages drawn by dragon-meridian beasts, an emperor could travel with nine, and feudal kings and princes with seven. Only Hou-rank Nobles and officials of the Principal Fifth Rank were entitled to use five Flood Dragon Lions. Other scholar-officials, distinguished scholar clans, and the like were entitled to only three or two.

Ordinary commoners and wealthy merchants without official honors could use only a single mount to pull their carriages, and they could not use mounts possessing a flood dragon's dragon meridian.

Though Li Hao and the others held no official honors themselves, as the children of Hou-rank Nobles, they could enjoy their fathers' glory.

"Is that the Divine General Residence?"

"The Li Family of Qingzhou City, the thousand-year-old Divine General Residence. What grandeur!"

"There go another four places. I heard Tan Palace Academy has limited places. Infuriating!"

"Hmph! I, Lin Yan, will lead my Liuzhou Lin Family to rise with my generation and contend with Heaven and Earth!"

"I heard there's a good-for-nothing in this generation of the Li Family. I wonder if he came?"

A thousand years of glory inspired envy and jealousy in countless people, and who knew how many young hearts it stirred with bold ambition and drive? Amid the clamor, an even stronger eagerness to prove themselves arose.

Li Yun, Li Yuanzhao, and Li Zhining wore tense expressions. Though they forced themselves to appear calm, their fingers were already sweating, betraying their nervousness.

Those gazes seemed capable of scorching them. Li Yun did not linger. His face stiff and cold, he said, "We'll go on ahead."

Then he took his sister Li Zhining and jumped down from the carriage. Amid Uncle Ming's calls of "Take care, Young Master. Watch your step," they entered the crowd like fierce tigers plunging into a forest.

The people around them instinctively stepped aside. Their respect was not for the boy, but for the surname behind him.

"Hao Ge, let's go too." Li Yuanzhao secretly swallowed and spoke to Li Hao.

Li Hao, however, rose slightly onto his toes, looked around, and sniffed lightly. Soon, his eyes lit up. "Let's go!"

With that, he jumped down from the carriage. Those around him stepped aside, not daring to block the finely dressed boy's way.

Li Yuanzhao followed close behind, but after only a few steps, he caught Li Hao's sleeve. "Hao Ge, aren't we going the wrong way? Tan Palace Academy isn't over there."

"I know."

Without looking back, Li Hao said, "But there's food up ahead."

Merit and fame lie behind me, but fine food lies ahead!

(End of chapter)