“Si Mubai… is gravely injured.”
Li Che murmured, his heart stirring with a rare opportunity. If he could find and eliminate Si Mubai, who was so fixated on using Xi Xi as a Spirit Child catalyst… it would bring him peace.
One could say that the relationship between Li Che and Si Mubai was one of life-and-death enmity.
If Li Che found an opportunity to take down Si Mubai, he certainly wouldn’t show any mercy.
“Divine Cultivator… I’ve heard that only Channel Opening Martial Artists can contend with them. Now that I’ve activated the second state of ‘Dragon Elephant Vajra,’ I wonder if I could fight him?”
“Otherwise… could a barrage of a hundred Wood Ravens possibly bombard him to death?”
“However, the main thing about Divine Cultivators is their cunning methods. The reason Channel Opening Martial Artists can contend with them is their thorough qi and blood circulation and unwavering will, sealing away the six senses to avoid the influence of Divinity.”
Li Che shook his head slightly.
Killing Si Mubai… would be very difficult.
This was a direct descendant of the Si Family, one of Fei Lei City’s noble families; he had impressive cultivation, and even with severe injuries, the security around him was top-notch.
Moreover, to kill Si Mubai, one would have to infiltrate the Si Family’s inner workings…
“It’s too dangerous.”
“Inside the Inner City, there’s an Old Master Si who has established a Divine Foundation… I’m afraid it would be a one-way trip.”
He suppressed the eager emotions swirling within him.
A Divine Base Cultivator… He couldn’t afford to provoke such a being now—they were existence on a whole different level!
Li Che was not in a hurry. Xu You said that Si Mubai had nearly had his Divinity shattered and would need at least a year or two to recuperate.
During that time, while improving his own strength, there would be chances to seize the right moment.
Now that Li Che had acquired the Blood Exchange Method, if he could truly step into the realm of Blood Exchange…
The odds would be even greater.
…
…
After a night of turmoil.
Xu’s Wood Carving Shop resumed its usual, orderly routine.
The Wood Carvers started to take on commissions again, bustling about as they transported timber and finished wood carvings to earn their hard-earned money.
As usual, Li Che was carving wood, practicing martial arts, and secretly studying how to create complex mechanisms.
Of course, Li Che also fulfilled his promise, finishing work early every day to teach Zhang Ya martial arts in the courtyard.
Old Chen had returned, and for someone seasoned in the martial world like him, a trip to the dungeon wasn’t anything rare; it left no psychological shadows.
Light snowflakes gently drifted down.
Li Che had gone to the Outer City to get some braised beef and brought back a jug of old rice wine.
In the courtyard, Old Chen sat on a wicker chair, watching Xi Xi awkwardly holding a horse stance, and couldn’t help but grin, showing his yellow teeth.
“Little Stinky Xi, keep your back straight, arms straight, get your horse stance right.”
Old Chen lifted the gourd’s lid and took a swig of wine.
Wrapped in a red jacket, Xi Xi’s little face was red from the cold. She turned to Li Che, who had just returned, seeking justice: “Daddy, Grandpa Chen is calling me Little Stinky Xi!”
“I’m not Little Stinky Xi, I’m Xi Xi, Li Nuanxi!”
The little girl even pouted after saying so.
Her spirited manner was in full display.
Li Che rubbed her head: “Then you just have to become strong, and next time Grandpa Chen calls you Little Stinky Xi, you can fight back.”
Upon hearing this, Xi Xi’s big eyes twinkled as she nodded vigorously: “Daddy is right!”
Then, with puffed cheeks, Xi Xi took an even more serious stance in her horse stance.
Li Che sat next to Old Chen, and the two of them drank while watching Xi Xi practice the horse stance.
“She truly is an Upper Class Spiritual Child, full of vitality… Born with Divinity, her talent in martial arts is also above average. If it weren’t for her being too young to undergo Skin Refinement, she might be able to succeed by the age of three.”
“Unfortunately, I, Old Chen, don’t possess a method to cultivate Divinity, so I can’t help Little Stinky Xi cultivate Divinity ahead of time…”
Old Chen expressed his regret, his eyes softening as he watched Xi Xi’s reddened little face.
“This vitality… can be a blessing or a curse. If it weren’t for you, lad, moving into the wood carving shop early, Xi Xi might have already been victimized by the Spirit Infant Sect.”
“Now not only the Spirit Infant Sect but also Si Mubai have set their sights on Xi Xi…”
“In such times… it’s hard to survive.”
With a gulp of wine, Old Chen uttered a sigh of emotion.
Li Che remained silent.
“The world is hard to live in…”
“As parents… we can only do our utmost to protect our daughter. If anyone tries to harm her, even at the cost of our lives… we must take a piece out of them.”
Li Che added a piece of beef to his mouth and chewed slowly as he spoke.
…
…
Two fleeting months passed in a hurry.
Ting Yu Alley.
The small courtyard.
Heavy rain poured down, casting a hazy veil between heaven and earth.
Raindrops hit the black tiles, creating a rhythmic pitter-patter sound.
Inside the house, Li Che was slowly maneuvering his blood and Qi, with the thunderous sound of rushing water reverberating powerfully as if tides were crashing over his tempered sinews and bones!
“Blood and Qi Two Moves, initial stage of the Blood Change…”
Li Che stood up from inside the house, his well-built upper body bare and emitting waves of steam. He clenched his fists and swung fiercely, causing the air to burst with a whooshing boom.
The explosive power was indeed much stronger than that of bone tempering!
“Two months have passed since stepping into the Blood Exchange Realm. I have gone from one to two moves of blood maneuvering… completing one blood move per month, to reach Six Moves perfection only takes half a year.”
Li Che’s eyes sparkled, but he felt slightly regretful; the Blood Exchange Method he had acquired was limited to just six moves.
The Middle Vehicle Blood Exchange Method, perfected after six moves, was what Guo Zhan, the man he had killed, had accomplished—a martial artist who had mastered the Six Moves Blood Exchange Method to perfection.
If it were the Nine Moves Superior Blood Exchange Method, nine blood moves would be required, with the blood as heavy as mercury and containing even more immense energy, thus enhancing one’s strength, speed, and physical toughness to an even higher level.
“Fortunately, I learned from Old Chen that once the Blood Exchange Technique is perfected… It’s possible to switch, building on the original six moves to continue and complete the nine blood moves of the Superior Blood Exchange Method…”
“So, if I have the chance… I must get a Superior Blood Exchange Dharma.”
Li Che stretched lazily, his entire body creaking with the nine robust muscles on his back vibrating, filled with formidable power.
After wiping off his training sweat with a clean towel, Li Che donned his outer garments and sat down in a chair, taking out “Tang’s Mechanism Essentials.”
As he looked at those increasingly absurd and strange mechanisms, Li Che was somewhat at a loss for words.
“Among the twelve recorded mechanisms, Wood Raven comes in at eighth. Going further up, they become even more ludicrous and peculiar, with only theoretical possibilities of creation… However, the mechanism ranked seventh, ‘Bodhi Blood Tears,’ seems worth a try.”
Bodhi Blood Tears, as per the introduction, requires an extremely ingenious technique, time-consuming and laborious, yet its lethality… is truly formidable!
Both ruthless and powerful!
Li Che was very interested.
“Tang Family Mechanism… who knows where Old Chen got this book from.”
If not for possessing the Immortal Artisan Dao Fruit, Li Che wouldn’t even understand it at all.
After closing the book.
Li Che rested with his eyes closed.
In front of his eyes, details slowly emerged.
…
[Name: Li Che]
[Bonds: Li Nuanxi (daughter)]
[Dao Fruit: Immortal Artisan (lv3, 9%), Dragon Elephant Vajra (lv2, 15%), Pure Heart (LV1, 5%)]
[Prototype of Divine Powers: Immortal Worker: Thousand Analyzing Hands]
…
Over the course of two months, aside from the Dragon Elephant Dao Fruit, which improved due to the Blood Change breakthrough, the other increases were not significant.
The growth of Pure Heart was still slow. Although Li Che captured and absorbed the free divinity between heaven and earth every day, since he was also using divinity to comb through Xi Xi’s body daily, only barely managing to push it to 5% maturity in two months.
Persistence is key in cultivation, a heavy responsibility with a long path.
Li Che was far from discouraged.
However, the lack of a way to acquire Divine Methods did give him some headaches.
After tidying up, Li Che ended his daily cultivation, changed into clean clothes, and, with an oil-paper umbrella in hand, went to pack some food and wine from a restaurant. He then headed towards Xu’s Wood Carving Shop.
Yet, upon arriving at the entrance of the wood carving shop, he sensed that something was off about the atmosphere of the place.
The temperature inside the shop seemed to have risen considerably.
Li Che passed through the entryway and entered the shop.
There, in front of his workshop, stood a Nanmu chair.
Sitting astride it in a wide stance was a burly figure clad in black and red official robes.
Noticing Li Che’s return, the officer’s eyes shifted slightly, glancing over.
Li Che felt as if his eyes were scorched, an endless fury boiling within them as he saw an image of the Wrathful Maitreya glaring down upon the human world from behind the figure!
“I am Zhao Xuanhai…”
“Master Li, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”