Han Li focused his gaze and saw a young-looking person standing by the bed, wearing a light gray robe. The person had a faint smile at the corner of his mouth as he looked at Han Li.
Though the light gray clothing typically gave off an older vibe, the various small accessories on the person made the overall style look quite elegant.
Han Li squinted slightly, his mind racing as he noticed the details: the luxurious attire, the youthful face, and the silent, unnoticed arrival. He instinctively looked at the person's left eye and noticed a hint of ice blue peeking through some silver strands of hair.
Could this be the famous Guang Ling Douluo?
Han Li's reaction was swift. As thoughts churned in his mind, he had already sheathed his dual blades, stood up decisively, and bowed: "Greetings, Teacher."
Now it was Guang Ling's turn to be taken aback. His face twitched involuntarily. Watching the child on the bed bow and address him as "Teacher," he was momentarily at a loss for words. To be honest, with his over eighty years of life experience, he had not anticipated such a meeting.
His elder brother had warned him not to take his anger out on the child, but he had indeed planned to give this boy a hard time. He could understand the boy's opportunistic behavior, but it had affected his elder brother. If it only involved himself, Guang Ling might not care, but affecting the Angel lineage was unacceptable—a principle he had always adhered to.
"Stand up first. I haven't said I'll take you as my disciple."
Guang Ling quickly regained his composure, impatiently waving his hand to indicate Han Li should get off the bed.
"Alright."
Han Li efficiently put on his shoes, got off the bed, and stood in front of Guang Ling, who had seated himself at the table and was drinking a glass of water.
"Before coming here, I went to the Spirit Hall and inquired about the situation. The final annotation, I heard, was your suggestion?" Guang Ling said, putting down his cup and staring at Han Li.
"Yes, I insisted on adding it," Han Li replied without hesitation.
"Do you know that because of this, the Worship Hall suffered losses?" Guang Ling didn't specify the details but spoke more sternly.
"I don't know, nor do I want to know. That's not something I should be concerned about," Han Li responded calmly, unaffected by Guang Ling's tone.
Hearing his matter-of-fact reply, Guang Ling felt as if he had punched into cotton, a slight irritation rising in him. However, considering Han Li's age, he suppressed his displeasure and said, "Oh? I'd like to hear why you say that. Your answer will determine my attitude towards you."
"This isn't hard to understand."
Han Li glanced at Guang Ling and continued, "Because up to now, I'm still a viscount of the Heaven Dou Empire, not a member of the Spirit Hall. I've only awakened, and I can even pay for it. And what you mentioned is like an ordinary person seeking a job, asking for better conditions before joining. Isn't that quite normal?"
"For the Spirit Hall to have an issue with a document and blame it on me, an outsider, isn't that a bit inappropriate?"
Guang Ling listened to the little kid in front of him speaking with such conviction and couldn't help but nod along, finding his points quite reasonable.
When Han Li's speech paused, Guang Ling noticed the child was observing his expression, eyes flickering, clearly ready to change his stance if he saw a negative reaction.
Only then did Guang Ling realize that while the boy made some valid points, reasoning with him, a Titled Douluo, was somewhat unnecessary—because he didn't have to be reasonable at all.
By now, his initial anger had dissipated unconsciously. At the very least, he no longer had the intention of giving a harsh first impression. Thinking back to how this little rascal had directly called him "Teacher," he knew it was another display of the boy's cleverness.
His temperament was relatively lively, and for a moment, watching the boy in front of him, he felt a bit of excitement. If he had to face a well-behaved child in the future, he wasn't sure if he had the patience to teach them.
"Alright, you pass. Now, formally become my disciple."
Guang Ling, amused, looked at the boy opposite him. Seeing the joy on his face, he shook his head.
"Greetings, Teacher."
Han Li quickly walked to the table, poured a cup of tea, and respectfully handed it to Guang Ling, feeling a sigh of relief. Although things had deviated a bit from his expectations, he had finally secured strong backing.
"Good." Guang Ling looked at him with satisfaction, took the cup of tea, drank it all in one go, and pointed to a chair nearby. "Sit."
Han Li then realized his back was already a bit damp. He simply turned the chair around, straddled it, and leaned on the backrest, looking directly at Guang Ling.
As he turned, Guang Ling noticed the marks on the back of his clothes, and his smile grew wider. He liked this boy's personality even more. It seemed he wouldn't be bored in the future.
"You have quite some guts. Keep it up in the future," Guang Ling teased him.
"Forgive me, Teacher. I wanted a higher starting point, so I had to take a gamble. Even if I lost, no one would deliberately hold it against a child, right?" Han Li responded with a sheepish smile. Having achieved his goal and knowing they would spend a lot of time together in the future, he chose to be honest.
"I'm a bit curious. If the Spirit Hall's reaction hadn't met your expectations, what were you planning to do?" Guang Ling asked casually.
"Four days later, I would go to the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Clan," Han Li answered honestly.
Guang Ling was taken aback, momentarily at a loss for words as he looked at his disciple.
After a while, he continued, "You are quite clear-headed. It seems I came just in time."
"At your young age, you already know what you want. That's very good. Can you tell me why you think this way?"
Han Li suddenly felt a sense of déjà vu. After organizing his thoughts, he earnestly said, "This is a world where the weak are prey to the strong. I want to become powerful. Even if not the strongest, I want to be among the strongest. That way, no one can easily take away what I want."
Guang Ling listened to a little kid confidently telling him that he wanted to be the strongest. He smiled. But when he heard the latter part and remembered the information about his parents, he fell silent. He wasn't good at comforting people.
Was he thinking about his parents? Guang Ling couldn't help but wonder.
As Han Li spoke, he noticed Guang Ling suddenly lower his head, which puzzled him. Hmm? Why did the Teacher become emo? Did I say something wrong? He swallowed the follow-up words, "to rule the world while drunk with beauties on my knees," and closed his mouth.
A wonderful misunderstanding thus arose. It wasn't until several years later, after taking the blame countless times, that Guang Ling finally realized how foolish he had been to believe the boy's half-truths back then.
Seeing that the atmosphere had become heavy, Han Li was about to say something when suddenly, a knock on the door interrupted the silence in the room.
"Young Master, may I come in? Master Ma and Brother Su are here. They said they have something to discuss with you," Xiu'er's voice came from outside the door.
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