130: A Gift from Afar

Chapter 130: A Gift from Afar

Seeing this, Li Hao and the others were stunned. Even Feng Boping showed a look of surprise.

When Li Hao recognized the woman's face, he was taken aback and then shocked.

She was none other than Song Qiumo, the gluttonous water qilin from the cold pond.

What was she doing here?

Li Hao remembered that she had promised the first palace master of Tan Palace, the ancestor of the Song family, to guard Tan Palace and not to leave easily.

But now, here she was in Liangzhou, thousands of miles away.

Under the gazes of everyone, Song Qiumo, dragging two mountain-sized demons behind her, slowly approached the pass.

Seeing Li Hao's stunned expression, she smiled, and the surrounding cold wind seemed to turn warm and bright.

"What, an old friend comes by and you don't welcome me?" Song Qiumo said with a light laugh.

Her clear, spring-water-like voice brought everyone back to their senses.

Li Hongzhuang and Li He were shocked, looking at Li Hao. As members of the Li family who grew up in Qingzhou City, how could they not recognize this great demon king of Tan Palace Academy? But this qilin demon king had actually come for Li Hao?

As far as they knew, this qilin demon king hardly ever left the mountain.

Li Hao came to his senses and immediately laughed, "Let me finish this one first, then I'll welcome you."

He was still holding the giant frog demon.

The giant frog had been struggling to crawl out of the camp, but Song Qiumo's arrival blocked its escape route. Its fatty, massive body was now trembling on the ground, too scared to move.

With two Four Pillar Realm experts nearby, even if it could escape Li Hao's grip, it couldn't evade their attacks.

The giant frog was filled with despair and hatred for Li Hao. Its only hope was to serve these humans and hope for mercy.

"Need help?" Song Qiumo glanced at the giant frog. Her casual question made the frog's fat body tremble, sweating like juice.

"Senior, I was wrong, spare me. I'll do anything, be your servant, anything..." it pleaded.

Before it could finish, Li Hao had already reeled it in, dragging its body back.

With the strength of a thousand catties in his arms, he easily pulled the giant frog.

The giant frog was internally conflicted. Should it struggle or not? Struggling meant resisting. Not struggling... felt like death! In the end, its body remained prostrate, allowing Li Hao to drag it back, leaving a long friction mark on the ground.

"Young man, I meant no offense. It was that old dragon who forced me. I've cultivated for thousands of years, always helping others, I..."

The giant frog, seeing that its life depended on the young man's decision, quickly pleaded.

Li Hao smiled, "Do you have any cultivation techniques?"

"?"

The giant frog was stunned, then said, "Yes, but our demonic techniques are only suitable for us, and each species has different techniques. I cultivated by absorbing the essence of the sun and moon and the power of the swamp..."

"If you have it, show me."

Li Hao interrupted.

The giant frog hesitated, "I don't have it on me, but you can come with me to my home..."

"Give it to me now," Li Hao said calmly.

The giant frog trembled, sensing the young man's killing intent. It was filled with resentment but quickly said with a forced smile, "I just remembered, I have a scroll with me."

It opened its mouth, and a large scroll covered in mucus rolled out.

With a wave of his hand, Li Hao used his power to remove the mucus and took the scroll aside.

Afterward, he smiled and lifted his pig-tooth sword, charging at the frog.

The fishing experience had been collected, and even if he released it to fish again, it wouldn't be effective. Repeated fishing of the same prey yielded minimal experience.

Seeing Li Hao's attack, the giant frog's eyes filled with hatred and anger, roaring, "It's all your fault! Even in death, I'll eat you!"

Knowing it couldn't escape, the frog had planned to counterattack. It opened its mouth, releasing a large cloud of poisonous mist, but it was blocked by a water barrier from Song Qiumo.

A small stream of water entered the frog's mouth, causing its body to swell and then burst, spraying blood like arrows and quickly deflating.

Li Hao stopped to avoid getting splattered, and soon, the frog's body was completely deflated, its eyes shriveled like they'd been soaked in water for months.

Looking at Song Qiumo, Li Hao felt both grateful and helpless, "I could have handled it myself."

"Listen to you, blaming me now," Song Qiumo laughed.

Li Hao scratched his head, realizing his mistake, "I misspoke. Thank you."

"No need to apologize. Even if I hadn't come, you would have been fine," Song Qiumo glanced at Feng Boping in the clouds, "I thought you were struggling, but it seems you have someone watching over you. Maybe I wasn't that timely."

Li Hongzhuang and Li He realized that this great demon king had indeed come for Li Hao.

Li Hao quickly laughed, "Without you, these big demons would have escaped. So, why did you come? Were you fighting the Dragon Lord?"

"That old dragon was spying. I wanted to ambush him, but he's too cautious," Song Qiumo said with some regret, "But his strength is not inferior to mine. It would have been hard to keep him. If not for another presence here, he might have fought me."

Feng Boping smiled, "You're too modest."

Song Qiumo glanced at him and suddenly recognized him. She looked at Li Hao and couldn't help but smile. This guy dared to make friends with anyone.

"I came to deliver a sword technique to you."

"A sword technique?" Li Hao was surprised.

"Did you forget? You're a registered instructor at Tan Palace Academy. According to the agreement, after your lectures, you receive a Tan Palace martial art."

Song Qiumo floated down in front of Li Hao.

A faint orchid fragrance filled the air, like fresh fruit.

Li Hongzhuang and Li He felt a bit pressured, their bodies tensing involuntarily, but knowing there was no malice, they quickly relaxed.

"But I only taught two classes..." Li Hao said.

Before he could finish, Song Qiumo had already taken out a sword manual. It was the Tan Palace's supreme technique, the Taiji Heaven and Earth Sword.

"The palace master said the remaining classes can be credited. You can come back to teach when you have time," Song Qiumo smiled.

Li Hao looked at the sword manual and fell silent.

When he lectured at Tan Palace, he was still the unparalleled genius of Qingzhou City. But Tan Palace had set many conditions.

Now, after his downfall, they crossed thousands of miles to deliver the manual.

"Thank you."

Li Hao took the sword manual.

Li Hongzhuang and Li He understood the message: the gift of the manual didn't signify any personal relationship between Tan Palace and Li Hao, merely fulfilling the duty to a registered instructor.

Given Li Hao's strained relationship with the Li family, helping him wouldn't earn favor with the family and might even offend them.

Despite this risk, Tan Palace delivered the manual, showing their regard for Li Hao.

Li Hongzhuang, watching Li Hao, felt conflicted. She had guarded Tianmen Pass for years without strong reinforcements. In less than two days, two Four Pillar Realm experts appeared to protect her nephew.

She couldn't recognize Feng Boping but guessed he was hiding his true identity. Yet the Tan Palace qilin, who rarely left the mountain, traveled miles to come. It was unbelievable.

What charm did this child have to earn such favor? Was it because of the Li family?

She doubted it.

Li He stood silently, recording these events to report to the Duke.

Since the Battle of Yanbei, Li Tiangang had been promoted twice, becoming a third-class Duke, a rare honor.

In the Li family, only the older generation had reached such a rank, and it was hard to attain. Higher titles like God Duke were almost impossible unless bestowed for extraordinary service.

Years ago, Li Junye, saving countless lives in Cangzhou, was promoted from Captain to Marquis, a historic leap.

Seeing these two Four Pillar Realm experts, Li He felt out of place and redundant.

Moreover, witnessing Li Hao's combat prowess, he doubted his own protective role.

"Isn't there a city here?"

Song Qiumo, hands behind her back, looked around curiously.

Li Hao put away the sword manual, smiling wryly, "The city was destroyed."

He saw the near-dead peacock demon and quickly cast a true energy hook, yanking it over.

[Fishing Experience +2820]

Still quite a lot.

Li Hao was impressed.

Dragging the giant frog had nearly maxed out his fishing experience, earning about eight thousand points. This crippled peacock demon, easily fished, still gave a third of the experience, quite considerable.

Solo fishing a Three Immortal Realm demon could yield around ten thousand total experience.

He initially had over twenty thousand fishing experience, now reaching about thirty-five thousand.

One more Three Immortal Realm demon, and he'd level up to six.

"Kid..." Feng Boping shook his head, seeing Li Hao even fishing the dying. It was almost shameful.

Li Hao grinned sheepishly. Without the experience, he too found it a bit disgraceful as an angler.

"Later, I'll find some paper to sketch these demon corpses. Such valuable specimens shouldn't go to waste," Li Hao thought.

The crude conditions here weren't ideal for drawing, but the Three Immortal Realm demon corpses were rare treasures for accumulating artistic experience, too precious to squander.

"Such fierce battles," Song Qiumo remarked, raising an eyebrow but saying no more.

"Traveling so far, are you hungry?" Li Hao asked.

Song Qiumo laughed, "There's no pastry here."

"I can make some."

Li Hao smiled, but then remembered something, "But there's no material here. You'd need to help gather some."

"You just want me to gather supplies, benefiting yourself too," Song Qiumo saw through him, knowing the limited resources and reliance on demon corpses here.

Caught, Li Hao's face reddened, "Sharing the good things!"

"And the bad?"

"I'll handle those."

Li Hao laughed.

Song Qiumo gazed at him, then laughed melodiously like silver bells.