Hearing his words, Li Ming was speechless.

Father Fang continued, “I see you are quite wealthy, but you can’t be stingy. My son has the potential to become a sage. Right now, it only costs 300 coins for him to compose a poem on any object. Once he becomes a sage, he won’t be able to buy it whenever he wants. You must seize this opportunity.”

Li Ming rolled his eyes. Fang Zhongyong's father really kept talking about the potential of a saint. Even if he really was, he would probably be cursed to death by Fang Zhongyong's father.

Fang Zhongyong, standing to the side, remained silent, studying Li Ming's dragon-patterned wooden plaque to see what the words on it meant. It was clear that he was very focused.

Such incredible concentration for a child of only a few years old—truly a prodigy.

Li Ming withdrew his gaze, and just as he was about to invite Fang's father into the pavilion, he went in himself.

Once inside, Mr. Fang began to look around at the things in the pavilion. He quickly noticed a bowl on the table, his eyes lit up, and he picked up the chipped bowl.

He squinted, looking like a greedy person, and carefully examined the bowl.

Li Ming took a deep breath. Was Fang's father's judgment so sharp? He could see the extraordinary nature of the Boundless Bowl at a glance.

"What kind of broken bowl is this? It must be for feeding dogs. You can't put a dog's bowl on the table." Fang's father looked at Li Ming and said, "If they're mixed together, they'll easily get sick. Remember to be careful."

“This isn’t for feeding dogs,” Li Ming said.

"That's good." Father Fang breathed a sigh of relief, put down the bowl, and looked at Li Ming solemnly again, saying, "Remember, the dog's food bowl should not be mixed with the human's bowl, or it will easily get sick."

"Um."

Li Ming nodded. He wasn't stupid; how could he possibly mix a dog's bowl with a human's bowl?

Moreover, this is the Boundless Bowl, a powerful magic weapon capable of projecting images of all the heavens.

It's a bit broken, but it's very useful.

Seeing that Fang's father put down the bowl and continued to look at other things, he had to find a way to quiet him down for a while, so he quickly lit the incense burner on the coffee table that hadn't been used for a long time.

Wisps of smoke drifted out of the incense burner.

The fragrance from the incense burner had a calming effect on the mind, and soon Mr. Fang felt drowsy. He sat in the chair, dozed off, and soon fell asleep.

Li Mingcai breathed a sigh of relief, realizing that calming Fang's father down was a wise choice.

He walked out of the pavilion and onto the corridor, where he saw Fang Zhongyong sitting on the ground, studying the dragon-patterned wooden plaque in his hand. Not far away, a black dog was lying on the ground.

The black dog drooped its ears and stared at Fang Zhongyong with a look full of doubt, as if it couldn't see through the child.

Li Ming was about to go up and talk to Fang Zhongyong when he saw him fall backward in fright, his face turning pale.

The words on the wooden sign suddenly jumped, startling him so much that he flung the sign away.

Li Ming stepped forward and picked up the dragon-patterned wooden plaque, which displayed the number "23".

"Did I scare you?" Li Ming walked up to the child and said.

"It's alright." Fang Zhongyong wiped the sweat from his forehead and regained his composure.

"Can you guess what this is?" Li Ming pointed to the numbers on the dragon-patterned wooden plaque.

“No.” Fang Zhongyong shook his head, stared into Li Ming’s eyes, and said, “The wooden sign shows two characters. One character stays still, while the other changes. It’s a bit like knotted rope writing. I want to ask if the character that moves gets bigger or smaller.”

“It’s gotten smaller,” Li Ming replied. The number “24” had become “23”, so it was naturally smaller.

Fang Zhongyong said, "Then I should be able to guess what it is. It should be a timekeeping device, similar to a sundial."

Li Ming reached out and pinched the child's chubby cheeks, saying, "So smart."

Fang Zhongyong brushed Li Ming's hand away with a look of disgust, blinked, and said, "I've never seen a timekeeping device like this before. Who exactly are you?"

Li Ming smiled and asked, "Guess?"

Are you a saint like Confucius?

"Why do you say that?" Li Ming looked at him.

"Your aura and demeanor have a transcendent quality; you are definitely not an ordinary person."

“I am indeed no ordinary person; I am a saint.” Li Ming looked at him. “Do you believe me?”

Li Ming planned to fool the child, since claiming to be a saint was better than being an immortal. In the eyes of both Fang's father and Fang Zhongyong, saints were the most awesome.

He planned to deceive them by posing as a saint.

Fang Zhongyong laughed and said, "What saint claims to be a saint?"

"Doesn't your father always say you have the potential to be a saint?" Li Ming teased.

"I, this, this..." Fang Zhongyong blushed, feeling so ashamed, but there was nothing he could do. It was his father who said it, not him.

He quickly changed the subject, not wanting to bring up this topic, and said, "Could you tell me about the words on the wooden sign?"

"Do you like reading?" Li Ming asked.

"Yes." Fang Zhongyong nodded.

"Then why don't you study at such a young age and spend all your time going around with your father?"

“My father said I didn’t need to study, that studying was something only idiots did, and that I was a child prodigy who didn’t need to study.”

"Do you believe everything your father says?" Li Ming asked. "Have you ever considered that what your father said might be wrong?"

Fang Zhongyong shook his head, indicating he hadn't thought about it.

Li Ming looked at him, thinking that Fang Zhongyong himself was probably confused and just a little smarter than others. He was still in the early stages of enlightenment. Even a child prodigy could easily be led astray by his father.

“You are very smart, but you have to learn to rebel. If your father doesn’t let you study, you can try to rebel against him.”

"Do I want to be a rebellious son?" Fang Zhongyong looked at Li Ming. "I don't want to be a rebellious son who will be talked about behind my back."

“How can you call a scholar’s ​​actions rebellious?” Li Ming flicked his forehead, unable to suppress a laugh.

Fang Zhongyong shook his head again; he dared not disobey his father.

Li Mingdao said, "If you continue to be led by your father, do you know what the consequences will be?"

Fang Zhongyong shook his head.

Li Mingdao said: "You could write poetry at the age of five, and your writing was 'admirable'; at the age of twelve or thirteen, you were no longer worthy of your former reputation; at the age of twenty, you were just another ordinary person."

Upon hearing this, Fang Zhongyong's eyes widened, his gaze sparkling before dimming again, because he didn't quite believe it.

"Are you kidding me?"

"You think I'm bluffing you?" Li Ming looked at him and said, "I am a saint, how could I bluff you? I have already seen through your future."

"How is that possible?" Fang Zhongyong exclaimed in surprise, his large eyes filled with doubt.

Do you know why you came here?

"have no idea."

"That's because I am a saint. I'm here to guide you. If your father continues to be stubborn and you continue down this path, you will eventually become just another ordinary person. I couldn't bear to see such a promising child prodigy fall into ruin, so I specially brought you here to warn you."

"Really?" Fang Zhongyong asked, half believing and half doubting.

He gradually began to believe it; after all, he was still a child and easily fooled.

Li Ming chuckled inwardly as he continued to deceive Fang Zhongyong.

Suddenly, a heavy, angry voice came from behind.

"Nonsense."