Chapter 82: Chapter 78 The Great Demon King

Tan Palace Academy could attract geniuses from the Nineteen Provinces not only because of their exceptional teaching level but also because of this peerless technique.

This was also the treasure of the academy that was not easily imparted to outsiders, but if one could become the top scholar of Tan Palace’s White Hall, they certainly would be qualified to study it.

“If I can incidentally learn this swordsmanship, that would naturally be good,” Li Hao admitted with a smile.

He indeed came for this peerless technique, just not in the way the others thought, as his main goal.

After all, if he were really in urgent need, he could completely entrust Feng to stealthily steal and copy one from inside.

Hearing Li Hao speak thus, Huang Licao’s lips curled up, and an “I knew it” expression appeared on his face as he thought to himself that this kid was really good at acting, almost deceiving them.

Song Yufeng and the others exchanged glances, also revealing a look of understanding and smiling.

After Li Hao left Tan Palace, Song Yufeng looked towards the others and said, “Since he’s here for the Taiji Qiankun Sword, does anyone have any thoughts?”

“The Li Family did keep their promise.”

Shen Yunqing stroked his beard and smiled, “Back then, the third son of the Li Family took a copied version of the Taiji Qiankun Sword from us and assured us that it would never be passed on to a second person. I hadn’t expected him to actually do it.”

“Indeed, it’s no wonder this youngster came here,” an elder nodded, obviously holding a good impression of the third son of the Li Family’s actions.

The third son of the Li Family had infuriated the entire Tan Palace Academy when he had come to the mountain back in the day, but as time passed, the third son had long died in battle beyond the borders, and they had long since moved on.

Moreover, it was said that before his death, the third son had used the Taiji Qiankun Sword to pierce through seventeen Demon Kings, intimidating the demonic horde, thus allowing this peerless technique to shine its most dazzling light in the world, somewhat giving face to Tan Palace.

“He has just enrolled; we can’t just give it to him that easily, can we?” someone said, looking at Song Yufeng.

Song Yufeng’s heart stirred, but he remained silent.

“Then what do we do? The boy is at the Fifteen Li Realm; even placed in the White Hall, he would still be like a single hand suppressing the masses, capable of claiming the top scholar position whenever he wants. It’s not like we, the old folks, can go down and compete, right?” Zhao Zongyuan said irritably.

“You’ve forgotten, we have a rule that one must be enrolled in the academy for three years; otherwise, wouldn’t the true dragons from the Divine General Mansion come and take whatever they want?” the elder said.

“That’s true, but having him spend three years with us for nothing—we don’t have anything to teach him—wouldn’t that be a waste of such a genius’s time?” Shen Yunqing frowned, after all, he had played chess with Li Hao, drunk with him, and even tasted his barbeque, which was superb. In his heart, he couldn’t help leaning a few points towards Li Hao.

“The rules of the palace are such; we can’t just break them for the Li Family, can we?” an elder with a horse-like face said, his face stern.

Huang Licao said, “We’ve already made an exception this time; don’t forget, we at Tan Palace Academy teach geniuses, and geniuses are meant to break the norm. If we bind them with rigid rules, that’s when the real problem arises.”

“But if we set this precedent, won’t all the prodigies from other Divine General Mansions come and claim theirs, making it common?”

As the debate among them continued unabated, Song Yufeng thought for a moment and then said, “How about we give him two options? One is to teach at Tan Palace for one year; the other is to act as a nominal professor for our Black and White Hall. In this way, the sword manual wouldn’t be considered to have been passed on so easily.”

Hearing the Palace Master’s words, everyone quieted down and looked at each other.

It seems the Palace Master is still the most cunning among us…

…

…

Next to the Thousand Ren Cliff of Tan Palace, by a deep pond.

As Li Hao descended the mountain and passed by this place, he saw the profound deep waters of Emerald Pond and was immediately struck with inspiration. He returned to the student residences inside Tan Palace, took out his paper and brush, and came back to the side of the pond.

He set up his easel and began sketching by the water’s edge.

The experience system was quite user-friendly; the rate at which painting experience was gained depended on the artistic conception or cultivation level that came with what he was painting.

For instance, if he imitated a Great Demon, he would gain more experience.

The same was true for the portraits of highly cultivated individuals.

However, after a certain number of repeated portrayals, the experience would gradually decrease, so he needed to continually paint different subjects.

Still, Li Hao conjectured that to achieve a Spiritual Awakening in the Art of Painting, he would likely need to cast aside thoughts of experience and bring a certain subject matter to an extraordinary level.

Only after repeating a painting a hundred, a thousand, or ten thousand times, might he possibly capture its spirit.

But at present, his Painting Experience was only at the fifth stage, not yet reaching the pinnacle of the Sixth Stage, so he planned to max out his experience first.

With splashing ink for landscapes, Li Hao quickly sketched the majestic and precipitous cliffs on his easel, and with a turn of ink and brush, the contour of the pond appeared as well, resulting in a painting that seemed to stand out on the paper.

Li Hao painted three pieces in succession, and his Painting Experience increased with each.

+183, +145, +92…

At the bottom of Emerald Pond, a vast dark shadow coiled atop a rock.

Suddenly, it opened its eyes, feeling an uncomfortable sensation as if being spied upon, disturbing its peaceful dreams.

With a whoosh, its Spiritual Thought swept out. To its surprise, there was a young man on the shore.

A little ghost from where… It snorted lightly and suddenly rose from the rock, rapidly glided toward the mouth of the pond, and leaped out.

Splash! The sound of water splashing erupted, falling on the shore.

As Li Hao, intending to fully exploit the vista of the deep pond and cliff for his fourth painting, saw the surging and bursting waters from which a cyan-bodied Qilin emerged, he was taken aback.

Water Qilin?

He looked astonished at the creature, a human and beast locked in a staring contest.

“Who allowed you to be here, scram at once!”

The Water Qilin shook off the water droplets from its head and scolded with a voice as beautiful as the sound of a bubbling spring, which turned out to be that of a woman.

Li Hao had long heard that the founding Palace Master of Tan Palace Academy had once subdued a Qilin Great Demon to guard and protect the premises, and here it was before his eyes.

Word was, this was a Great Demon King of the Four Stands Realm!

Li Hao’s eyes suddenly shone, bright and sparkling, filled with the light of twinkling stars.

“Senior!”

Li Hao hastily saluted, his demeanor utterly respectful, “May this junior paint a portrait of you?”

If he could paint this Water Qilin, his Painting Experience would definitely skyrocket.

He had already thoroughly gleaned wool from Second Elder and Master Feng, along with Fifth Elder who had provided him with a sizeable amount of Painting Experience.

“?”

The Water Qilin was stunned, tilting its head with a giant question mark floating in its mind.

Could it be that this disciple from the academy has been training so hard that he’s damaged his brain?

“What nonsense are you spouting?” The Water Qilin’s eyes held a hint of anger, huffing through its nostrils, and the surrounding pond water seemed on the verge of freezing, emitting a dense chill,

“Scram, or I’ll eat you!”

Li Hao knew it was a threat, Water Qilins couldn’t harm Tan Palace Academy disciples—of course, unless certain disciples went too far and truly enraged it.

However, seeing the might it displayed at the moment, Li Hao still felt a wave of nervousness, after all, the likes of Second Elder had never shown such divine might in front of him.

He braved himself and said, “This junior is from the Li Family down the mountain, if Senior were to eat me, I fear the taste might not be pleasant.”

“The Li Family?”

The chill in the Water Qilin’s eyes momentarily stalled, that taste wouldn’t just be unpleasant, it could very well cause it to lose a layer of skin.

“Hmph, even if I don’t eat you, letting you suffer a bit of skin and flesh wound, your Li Family wouldn’t dare do anything to me,” the Water Qilin harrumphed, although speaking these words, it had no real intention to harm Li Hao, lest the older generation ‘youngsters’ of the Li Family came questioning—it would be somewhat at fault.

It couldn’t just say, your boy disturbed my peaceful dream, so I beat him up, could it?

After all, it should behave like a senior.

By the standards of the Human Race, it had to show some measure of tolerance.

Thinking this, it felt somewhat irritated and was about to use the pond water to sweep Li Hao away, when suddenly, Li Hao shouted,

“Don’t move!”

“Senior, please don’t move!”

Li Hao said nervously, “Just a moment, please stay as you are, Senior, I’ll be quick to finish.”

“?”

In the Water Qilin’s large pure blue eyes, a hint of confusion appeared.

At this moment, Li Hao had already sprung into action and began drawing swiftly on the canvas.

The view this scene presented was too magnificent.

The Water Qilin stood in the Emerald Pond, waves billowing around its body, with a sheer cliff nearby—this painting was sure to be a masterpiece.

“You…”

“Senior, I’m begging you, please stay still!”

The Water Qilin felt both embarrassed and annoyed, yet at the same time strangely curious; it had been over a thousand years since it had encountered such an odd little fellow. What was he up to?

Seeing that the Water Qilin was indeed staying still, Li Hao’s gaze turned sharp, he stared intently at the paper, concentrating fully. He was somewhat lost in the moment, painting rapidly.

With ink flying, his movements were like flowing clouds and water, stipples and clumps, the application of ink light and heavy, slow and fast, with clear layers.

Half an incense stick later, just as he was about to finish, the Water Qilin grew impatient, manipulating the pond water to fall and said, “Hey, what trick are you playing?”

Luckily, Li Hao had just completed painting the surging water of the pond. His expression focused, ink racing across the canvas, and soon, with the last blade of grass by the pond’s edge outlined, the entire painting came to an end.

[Painting Experience +1986]

Seeing such a large amount of experience, Li Hao couldn’t help but feel elated; this single painting was worth a hundred of his usual works.

“Thank you, Senior!”

Li Hao returned to his senses and, seeing the Water Qilin’s eyes full of anger, quickly bowed deeply.

This was not just for the experience, but also because the other party had cooperated, allowing him to complete such a painting.

His heart was in the Art of Painting, and his love for the painting itself was now no less than the joy of gaining experience.

“Are you finished?”

The Water Qilin arched an eyebrow. It had some understanding of the behaviors of the Human Race and commanded indifferently, “Show it to me.”

Li Hao nodded and turned the canvas around.

In that instant, a stunningly beautiful painting appeared before the Water Qilin.

The cliff sharp as a sword, the solitary and profound Emerald Pond, and the azure Qilin standing atop, majestic without anger, surrounded by roiling waves, like the sovereign of the waters.

Its eyes began to brighten gradually.

Was the Qilin in the painting… itself?

Could it actually… look that beautiful?!

With a swish, the Water Qilin’s figure suddenly flickered, stepping out of the Emerald Pond; as its forelimbs moved forward, its body rapidly shrank and in the blink of an eye transformed into a woman clad in a deep blue robe.

Her hair was water blue, with a tear-drop-shaped ink mark at the corner of her eye, her beauty breathtaking, and her pale jade-like bare feet gently floated down in front of the canvas.