As the imperial edict spread across the Nine Continents, Li Hao also returned to the Tianmen Pass in Liangzhou.
The familiar walls and banners greeted him, but the news of his achievements had not yet reached this distant outpost. The soldiers stationed here remained unaware of the recent events.
Li Hao didn't disturb anyone and quietly made his way back to the bamboo fence courtyard.
Within the courtyard, a young female swordswoman, deep in her training, sensed the boy's presence and looked up at Li Hao with a delighted expression.
"Young Master, you're back."
Beside her, the Sword Demon, Jiang Licheng, glanced at Li Hao, his eyes narrowing slightly.
In just a short time, he felt that Li Hao's aura had become even more restrained and profound, like an unfathomable starry sky. Quietly standing there, Li Hao seemed to possess the power to move stars with a mere lift of his hand.
Li Hao glanced at Ren Qianqian, the fifteen-year-old girl who was a year younger than him. Yet, she had already entered the Heavenly Man Realm.
"Did you teach her this?"
Li Hao looked at Jiang Licheng.
Jiang Licheng scoffed, "I can't teach the Heavenly Man's Heart. She figured it out herself. Most likely, she gained some insight from being around you, a monster."
Hearing this, Ren Qianqian's cheeks reddened slightly. Originally, she had followed Li Hao with the goal of surpassing her father and becoming a Heavenly Man Grandmaster. But now, she had achieved her lifelong goal in just two short years.
At present, her innate talent and strength could rank her within the top five on the Qiankun List.
And this was all without her actively seeking out battles and keeping a low profile.
Li Hao nodded and smiled at Ren Qianqian, "Now that your wish to follow me has come true, do you still want to continue? You're still young and can take advantage of your youth to see the world."
Ren Qianqian quickly shook her head, "No, I want to continue cultivating. I want to accompany the Young Master to see the view from the mountain peak."
Li Hao sighed in resignation, "But I don't want to climb the mountain. There's only one view at the summit, but the scenery at the foot of the mountain is diverse and ever-changing."
Ren Qianqian was taken aback, then quickly replied, "Then I'll accompany the Young Master at the foot of the mountain and watch the curling smoke from the human world."
"You're quite poetic," Li Hao smiled.
Ren Qianqian's cheeks reddened.
Li Hao didn't persuade her further. Instead, he scanned the area with his divine sense but couldn't find any trace of Feng Laoman. He then extended his consciousness to cover the entire city but still sensed nothing. Li Hao was slightly taken aback and immediately asked,
"Where's Feng Laoman?"
By now, Ren Qianqian already knew Feng Laoman's true name and identity. Hearing Li Hao's question, she quickly replied,
"Senior Feng seemed to have regained his sanity shortly after you left. He told me that he was leaving and asked me to inform you that he would be waiting for you at the Land of Saints."
"Oh?"
Li Hao was surprised and a little taken aback by the sudden news.
But soon, he thought of Mo Henei.
Had Feng Laoman gone to the Land of Saints because of that incident?
"Your old friend is most likely an incarnation of a Sage. He probably had his incarnation reincarnate and cultivate," Jiang Licheng said to Li Hao. "Such things are rare but not unheard of. During the Great Yu Dynasty, there were a few of those peerless geniuses who did the same. They kept a low profile during their cultivation and suddenly disappeared after rising to prominence, like a shooting star that appeared and then rapidly fell."
Li Hao fell silent for a moment, contemplating the capabilities of a Saintly being, which were beyond the imagination of mortals.
However, despite the vastness of the world, there would still be a chance for them to meet again.
Yet, he felt a sense of loss as one familiar person from this mortal world had departed.
Li Hao's gaze swept across the courtyard, and he asked, "What about the other two?"
He was referring to Ying Xiaoxiao and the old man from the tea stall.
"I heard they went to collect killing intent and vengeful spirits," Jiang Licheng replied.
"Is there another battle raging outside?" Jiang Licheng asked.
Li Hao nodded, "The Imperial Palace was almost destroyed."
The plea for help from the Royal City never reached Tianmen Pass, as the place was swiftly attacked by demons. The soldiers stationed at this distant pass were unaware of the dire situation.
Although the Great Yu Dynasty was known for its efficient intelligence network, the vastness of its territory presented a challenge.
Hearing Li Hao's words, Ren Qianqian, who was standing beside him, turned pale with shock. To her, the Imperial Palace was the most sacred and supreme place, and it had almost been destroyed.
Unlike Ren Qianqian, Jiang Licheng merely raised an eyebrow, "If you're back, then the troubles there must have been resolved?"
"Mhm," Li Hao replied.
"But it seems that quite a few royals were killed. Don't you plan on going to see?" Jiang Licheng asked, his eyes flickering with unspoken emotions.
"I have no children or loved ones to worry about, nor a wife to return to. There's no one for me to visit," Jiang Licheng said, his expression indifferent.
Li Hao could sense that there was a story behind Jiang Licheng's words, but he didn't press further. Some things were too deep-seated to be resolved with a few simple words.
As Li Hao settled back into the bamboo fence courtyard, the imperial edict spread across the states, sparking intense discussions. Meanwhile, Li Hao took Ren Qianqian with him to a demon lake hundreds of miles outside the pass to go fishing.
To Li Hao's disappointment, the place was probably too thoroughly cleaned out and too intimidating due to his previous actions. As a result, he sat by the lake for an entire day, eating four or five oranges, but not a single demon appeared.
It seemed that the demons had been scared away... Li Hao thought to himself, which was why he ended up empty-handed.
He didn't use his divine sense to probe the depths of the lake. As an angler, he prided himself on using his fishing skills and understanding of the water to make his judgments. Using divine sense would be like casting a net, taking away all the accomplishment and joy of fishing.
As dusk approached, Li Hao returned with a wild demon he had killed in the mountains.
"We're having roasted demon pig for dinner tonight," Li Hao announced as he re-entered the bamboo fence courtyard.
"Young Master, did you catch this yourself?"
"Mhm."
"But this seems to be a mountain demon."
"It's amphibious."
"Oh..."
After a simple meal, Li Hao replenished his 180 chess pieces.
When night fell, he went to the mountain peak where he used to sit with Feng Laoman and brought a flask of wine. There, he drank alone while admiring the cold moonlight.
When the wine in the flask was gone, Li Hao opened his palm, and the Huanghe Golden Paper appeared, recording his few deeds.
Li Hao sank his consciousness into the golden paper and soon entered the Merit Treasure Vault.
Numerous treasures were displayed inside, floating like golden orbs, available for redemption with merit.
Li Hao looked at the Reversal of Fate, which was extremely useful and equivalent to a second life. However, he was now facing beings at the Dao Perception Realm, capable of obscuring destiny, so it held less significance for him.
Li Hao browsed through the options and saw that besides Divine Power, he could also exchange for the Pulse of Heaven and Earth in the Extreme Realm.
But the Pulse of Heaven and Earth required 30,000 merits, while Divine Power needed 10,000.
There was no Heaven and Earth Dharma Form, nor any other Extreme Realms after that.
The redeemable items were quite limited. While they might be treasures that would excite others, Li Hao could only be selective.
There was the Fruit of Dao Perception, which could aid in perceiving the Dao, but it only increased the probability of success and didn't guarantee it.
Li Hao planned to exchange for one, but he didn't intend to use it for cultivation. Instead, he wanted to use it for cooking.
Currently, his Physical Dao was at the eighth level, and if he wanted to add another point, he needed to enter the Dao.
He figured that to raise his Cooking Dao to the eighth level and break through the bottleneck, he would also need to understand the Dao. Using the Fruit of Dao Perception for cooking would make entering the Dao much easier.
However, the prerequisite was that he must first raise his Cooking Dao to the eighth level; otherwise, the probability of perceiving the Dao would decrease.
In addition, Li Hao surprisingly found that he could also exchange for Poetic Heart and Carving Heart, among other mental states.
Just like Sword Heart, these only required 100 merit points.
Without hesitation, Li Hao directly exchanged for them.
However, apart from entering the heart, there was no exchange for entering the spirit, which Li Hao found rather regrettable.
Otherwise, with the Entering Spirit state, he could have improved his Chess Dao, fishing, and various other art techniques, elevating his Sword Dao, body techniques, and others to break through the seventh level.
Currently, Li Hao possessed the following attributes:
- Physical Dao: Level 8
- Driving Dao: Level 7
- Body Techniques: Level 6
- Sword Dao: Level 6
- Fist Dao: Level 6
As for art techniques:
- Chess Dao: Level 6
- Music: Level 4
- Poetry and Literature: Level 3
- Carving: Level 3
- Cooking: Level 7
- Painting: Level 7
- Fishing: Level 5
Remaining Art Technique Points: 1
With the exchange of the Poetic Heart and Carving Heart, Li Hao's Poetry and Literature and Carving techniques immediately rose to Level 4, breaking through the bottleneck.
They could now accumulate experience again until the sixth-level bottleneck.
His Art Technique Points also increased to 3.
The consecutive battles had kept Li Hao from settling down to cultivate for a long time.
He didn't rush to exchange for the Fruit of Dao Perception but chose to increase his cooking experience first.
In the following days, everyone saw Li Hao bringing back a demon from outside the pass every day and hosting a feast for the entire city.
Various demon kings and their delicacies were cooked and served on the tables of the commanders and soldiers in the city, allowing everyone to feast and enjoy the rare treats.
Li Hao transformed into a cook, dedicating himself to his culinary cultivation.
Several months later...
After repeatedly cooking Demon Kings, Tianmen Pass had become a culinary capital, attracting people from all over to flock to this place.
Now that the war was over, the top demon forces outside the Great Yu Dynasty had been almost swept away. The demon force of the Star Moon Academy, secretly controlled by Yu Huang, gathered demons from all sides, forming the largest demon force in the current world.
While Yu Huang managed the dynasty, he also controlled the demons outside the pass.
In recent years, the frequent wars in various states finally ceased, and peace reigned.
This tranquility led to increased commercial trade among the states, and more people traveled for leisure. In Tianmen Pass, many of Li Hao's old friends and disciples from the Tan Palace Academy also came to visit.
In the bamboo fence courtyard, Yixian transformed into a red-skirted maiden and accompanied Li Hao.
Song Qiumo had also arrived. Li Hao mentioned her to Yu Huang, and now she enjoyed the honor of being a state-protecting beast of Great Yu. A temple was built for her, and her waist card was marked with the formation sigils of various states, allowing her to travel freely throughout Great Yu.
In Li Hao's Heaven and Earth Space, the Candlelight God and his wife absorbed the Buddha's relic. This relic retained the power of the unity of Buddha and Demon, and as the Candlelight God and Yin Goddess were originally a dual entity, after absorbing it, their bodies also began to merge, forming a large sphere. No one knew when they would awaken.
As for Li Qianfeng, who had been discarded in the Heaven and Earth Space with his cultivation abolished, Li Hao had him sent back to the Li family, thus ending this long-standing grudge.
As he cooked more and more, and with each dish being made from Demon King-level ingredients, Li Hao had hunted all the Demon Kings near Liangzhou. So, he went to the Great Wilderness and caught some from there.
In less than half a year, his Cooking Dao finally accumulated enough experience to reach the eighth level.
Without hesitation, Li Hao waited until he hit the bottleneck and then went to a solitary peak to exchange for the Fruit of Dao Perception in the Merit Treasure Vault.
This Fruit of Dao Perception was like a translucent emerald, with patterns on its surface and a dazzling brilliance within, emitting a strange and delightful fragrance.
Li Hao took only two glances before biting into it and swallowing it whole.