Li Hao didn't conceal anything and told the old man truthfully.
When Li Muxiu heard that it was Bull Strength, he nodded slightly without saying much, and then threw a backpack to Li Hao:
"Inside are the baits you'll use. The demons of the Power Passage Realm are quite fond of them; which kind you'll catch depends on your luck."
After speaking, he was about to take Li Hao downstairs.
"What about my fish basket?" Li Hao asked.
"Ha..." Li Muxiu laughed, saying, "Let's talk about it when you actually catch something. If you really do, we'll share one."
"Alright then."
Li Hao didn't insist.
As the pair reached the bottom of the stairs, they found Li Fu unexpectedly waiting outside the building.
"Second uncle, what are you..."
Seeing the fishing rod in Li Hao's hands, Li Fu was momentarily stunned, then his eyes widened slightly.
"What else? We're going fishing," Li Muxiu glanced at him, clearly uninterested in conversing with this blockhead.
Li Fu was on the verge of tears and said, "Second Uncle, Hao Er learned Bull Strength in just three months and achieved Great Accomplishment. He has an extremely high talent for Body Refinement. You, you can't hold him back!"
"Didn't you say the same thing yesterday? Can't you come up with something new?"
Li Muxiu dug at his ear and said, "What future is there in Body Refinement? At most, you'll end up at your level if you push it to the limit. Let me ask you, are you that strong? Can you hold off ten thousand soldiers?"
Li Fu was at a loss for words.
The ten thousand soldiers Li Muxiu referred to were naturally not ordinary troops but the elite warriors of the Li Family's Yuan Camp. Ten thousand of these warriors were enough to break through half of Qingzhou City, far beyond what he could handle.
"Hao Er, don't mind him, let's go."
Li Muxiu, seemingly worried that Li Fu might influence Li Hao's thoughts, grabbed Li Hao's little hand and whisked him away.
"Fu, you needn't worry."
Li Hao waved at Li Fu. Although this man was stern and rigid in his ways, Li Hao did not overlook his care and concern.
"Hao Er..."
Li Fu opened his mouth slightly, wanting to say more, but seeing Li Hao being pulled away, the boy's bright smiling face as he looked back suddenly turned his words into silence.
"The vast Divine General Mansion, can't it support one child?"
Yesterday's words seemed to echo in his ears once more.
Li Fu fell silent.
Perhaps, in this moment, Hao Er was happy.
At least he could have a happy childhood...
Two figures, one old and one young, disappeared in an instant, leaving only the man standing there, who, after a long gaze, softly sighed...
...
...
With an experience akin to riding the clouds and traveling in the fog, Li Hao was led by Li Muxiu, soaring through the sky.
The courtyards of the Divine General Mansion rapidly passed underfoot. Li Hao saw maids and house servants drawing water and cooking early in the morning, the lady of the house strolling in the courtyard, and Fifth Lady taking her child to the training ground, earnestly giving instructions at the courtyard gate...
These scenes swiftly passed by, making Li Hao marvel that the human world was already so lively at the time he normally slept in.
"Are you scared?"
Li Muxiu looked down and asked indifferently.
"Afraid of heights? Well, not really," Li Hao replied.
He felt no different standing in the sky than on the ground as if supported by an incredibly firm force.
The cold morning breeze seemed filtered of its chill, leaving only a cool wind that caressed his face and tousled his hair.
Li Muxiu smiled slightly and said, "I'm going to speed up now."
After he finished speaking, Li Hao felt the scenery before his eyes suddenly blur as they zoomed through the air.
In the blink of an eye, they had flown out of Qingzhou City, heading for the vast wilderness outside the city.
Half an hour later, Li Muxiu slowly descended with Li Hao to the shore of a vast lake.
The lake stretched as far as the eye could see, with dark waves rolling.
Green water denotes depth, black water denotes an abyss.
It was clear that the lake was bottomless. The surface was only slightly rippled, appearing calm and peaceful.
But for this very reason, there was an eerie feeling, as if standing at the edge of an abyss.
Surrounding the lake were several large mountains with open terrain. Some were steep along the lake; others were more rounded and expansive.
They landed at the base of one of the mountains. Li Muxiu looked around expertly and said, "The water here is shallow; you can fish here. I'll go to the middle of the lake to fish for the bigger ones. Take this with you; it can protect you in a pinch. Don't worry, if anything happens on your side, just shout, and I'll be there immediately."
"Okay."
Li Hao nodded and took the golden amulet handed over by the old man.
"Do you know how to bait? Let me watch you cast the line."
Li Muxiu didn't rush off, instead, he smoothed his hand over a large rock, which weathered away to become a fishing platform.
He waved his hand again to clear the messy bushes around, preventing the fishing line from getting caught on branches and weeds when casting the hook. Clearing those would inevitably delay a novice like Li Hao.
Li Hao jumped onto the stone fishing platform, opened the backpack, and found a bag of moist, red dough inside.
"For these little demons of the Power Passage Realm, dead baits are sufficient. Later, when you're strong enough, I'll give you live baits, which have a higher probability of success," Li Muxiu commented.
Li Hao didn't fuss and nodded. He skillfully pulled out a piece of bait and immediately smelled a fishy scent.
He kneaded the bait onto the fist-sized hook, which took quite a bit of bait to fully cover.
To Li Muxiu's surprise, he observed Li Hao's technique and asked, "Have you fished before?"
"No."
Li Hao said, "Isn't that how it's done?"
"It is like that." Li Muxiu nodded, taking another look at Li Hao but not dwelling on it any longer. He had realized yesterday after a few words that the child was bright.
"This stuff can conceal your scent,"
Li Muxiu pulled out a handful of powder from nowhere and patted it onto Li Hao's body, then continued, "Cast the line now. If you manage to catch one today, I'll bring you back here to play again tomorrow."
"Okay,"
Li Hao nodded.
He then swung the fishing rod to cast the line as far as possible, hurling it a hundred yards out into the lake.
As the hook hit the water with a plop, a string of text suddenly appeared before Li Hao:
[Fishing Tao: Level Zero (1/100)]
[Fishing Experience +2]
A smile crossed Li Hao's face; sure enough, the art of fishing from that game could also be logged into the panel.
What surprised Li Hao even more was that simply casting the line had earned him 2 points of experience!
Usually, he would only get one point for a game of chess.
An encounter with a slightly challenging chess game would give 2 points of experience.
This meant that fishing was like Chess Tao, which suggested that this lake belonged to the more dangerous ones and posed a greater challenge for fishing.
"Remember, be patient, stay quiet, and don't disturb anything under the water."
"Don't look around; keep your eyes on the float."
"It might feel a bit dull when you start fishing, but once you have a bite, you'll understand that all the uneventful waiting was worth it,"
Li Muxiu instructed earnestly, worried that Li Hao's childish impatience might lead him to give up soon.
After all, fishing was mostly something for older folks like them. A seven or eight-year-old child, full of energy, would hardly have the patience for such solitude.
"Hmm."
Li Hao nodded.
Seeing Li Hao's calm and composed manner, the corners of Li Muxiu's mouth curled into a slight smile, and he refrained from saying more, quietly watching by the side.
Sensing no hook of his own, he stealthily released his spirit to probe the movements beneath the water, spotting two small fish swimming his way – one at the Power Passage Realm Fourth Layer and the other at the Seventh Layer.
"As expected of the beginner's protection phase, there's already some activity so quickly. Let's see if he can reel it in,"
Li Muxiu felt a twinge of envy. Though he could use techniques to make the fish bite directly and greatly cultivate Li Hao's interest in fishing, his own love for fishing made it impossible for him to settle for such dull practices.
Before long, Li Hao saw the float move.
His eyes lit up, and after a short patience, when the float was more than half submerged, he quickly pulled the rod up.
With that pull, the line went taut, something on the other end of the hook struggled fiercely, sending bursts of tremendous force through the line.
But in Li Hao's hands, this formidable force felt like the friction of catkins, and with a strong tug, the other end uncontrollably jerked towards him.
"Don't be too hasty, watch out for the fish getting off the hook," admonished Li Muxiu from the side.
Li Hao's heart tightened, and he promptly relaxed his pull a bit, then, under Li Muxiu's guidance, started to skillfully play the fish.
The black waters of the lake churned violently, splashing high.
After fighting for about ten minutes, Li Hao finally dragged the exhausted Demon Fish ashore. It was four to five meters long, with a mouth full of sharp teeth capable of swallowing an adult whole.
If someone accidentally fell into the water, they would undoubtedly become a feast for this Demon Fish.
A fish of the Power Passage Realm had not yet learned to transform and had only just begun to show primitive intelligence, dominated by a bloodthirsty and vicious demon nature.
As the fish was pulled onto the shore, text appeared before Li Hao's eyes.
[Fishing Experience +37]
Li Hao's eyes slightly widened at the sight. Wow, just like that, almost half a bar of experience!
The Demon Fish ashore struggled fiercely and even opened its mouth viciously to lunge at Li Hao, intending to devour the member of the Human Race.
With a casual flick, Li Muxiu shrank the Demon Fish's body, turning it into a small fish the size of a pellet. He scooped it up easily and tossed it into the fish basket.
"Kid, I didn't expect you to get started so quickly,"
Li Muxiu laughed and said to Li Hao, "How does it feel? Tired? This fish was at the Seventh Layer of the Power Passage Realm. The force it could unleash underwater was enormous. Not even someone at the Eighth Layer might be able to keep the rod steady. You've got some skill!"
"Not tired,"
Li Hao grinned with a smile.
"Alright, then continue. Good, I'll use this fish as bait,"
Li Muxiu, itching to fish, finished speaking, then picked up the fish basket and stepped forward, flying towards the distance, and in the blink of an eye, he was reduced to a mere dot.
Li Hao gazed distantly and observed the other party reaching the center of the lake. Even with his Visual Strength, he could only just make out a tiny dot.
Shaking his head, Li Hao didn't look any further and continued to seize the time to grind for experience.
He baited the hook again and cast the line.
[Fishing Experience +2]
Li Hao sat on the fishing platform, staring intently at the float, waiting in silence.
The recent catch proved that reeling in a fish could earn more experience, so he remained focused.
Time slowly passed by.
Perhaps because the fight with the previous fish had taken too long, stirring up big splashes and alarming the surrounding fish, Li Hao ended up sitting for an hour without any movement on the float.
Could it be that the bait had already been stealthily eaten?
This thought surfaced in Li Hao's mind, and he wanted to pull the hook up to check, but he held back.
He had thought of exploiting a bug by repeatedly casting the line, which would have been faster than simply fishing for experience.
But on the second cast, he gained only one point of experience.
On the third, he didn't gain any at all.
Clearly, casting too frequently without a catch meant the experience gained just from casting was limited.
Right then, the still float suddenly twitched.
Li Hao's nearly numb eyes instantly brightened, but before he could continue to wait, the float plunged into the water, disappearing from sight.
Li Hao hurriedly pulled the rod, and the line twanged tautly, with a colossal force transmitted from the other end in an instant, weighing dozens of cauldrons.