“`
Snowflakes drifted down, icy to the bone.
Yet Li Che’s heart was full of warmth and excitement.
The effect of the fourth Dao Fruit could be simply thought of as a type of surveillance, a guarantee of his daughter’s safety.
As long as the divine chess piece he had condensed was by Xi Xi’s side, should she encounter any danger, he could appear beside her in the quickest possible time.
For an old father, such a Dao Fruit… was the most reassuring of all.
In Fei Lei City, the Spirit Infant Sect’s threat had yet to subside.
It even showed signs of escalating, and Li Che was very clear that the Spirit Infant Sect must have inextricably complex entanglements with the City Lord’s Mansion.
“Spirit Infant Sect…”
Li Che’s eyes narrowed as he pinched the white chess piece condensed from divinity in his hand.
This menace, he didn’t know when it could be dealt with…
“Senior Li is investigating the main altar of the Spirit Infant Sect… I wonder if there have been any gains?”
“If the Spirit Infant Sect could be eliminated, it would naturally be a great thing for Fei Lei City, and parents with children could sleep more peacefully at night.”
Li Che exhaled deeply.
He continued to attempt research on the “Chess Saint” Dao Fruit within the workshop.
After condensing three white divine chess pieces, he was unable to condense any more, which meant that three chess pieces were his current limit.
“Only three chess pieces, huh… one for Xi Xi, and one to place on my wife is probably enough.”
“If the maturity of the Chess Saint’s Dao Fruit increases, the number of chess pieces condensed will also correspondingly increase.”
Li Che pondered thoughtfully.
With a thought, a flow of light appeared before his eyes.
…
[Name: Li Che]
[Bonds: Li Nuanxi (Daughter)]
[Dao Fruit: Immortal Artisan (lv3, 10%), Dragon Elephant Vajra (lv2, 49%), Pure Heart (LV1, 20%), Chess Saint (lv1, 1%)]
[Prototype of Divine Powers: Immortal Worker: Thousand Analyzing Hands]
…
Seeing the overall improvement on the panel, Li Che’s lips couldn’t help but turn up in an arc.
“Once I break through to Channel Opening in my martial cultivation, I should be able to bring the maturity of the Dragon Elephant Vajra Dao Fruit to 50%. It’s a pity that compared to “Immortal Artisan”, achieving lv3 for “Dragon Elephant Vajra” is indeed much more difficult.”
Stretching lazily, Li Che became increasingly hopeful about the future.
“What I mainly lack now is the divine secret technique, which is the primary means by which divine cultivators fight their enemies. The divine martial arts I obtained from Guo Zhan before can barely be used.”
Li Che had killed Guo Zhan, a Blood Exchange Expert sent by Si Mubai, and obtained the divine martial arts called “Angry Cry Hundred Ghosts Thunderstorm Arrows”, which did not belong to divine secret techniques, but rather to divine martial arts.
Compared to Si Mubai’s secret techniques blended with rainwater, unpredictable like ghosts and spirits, it was incomparable.
Regrettably, in the gifts from Si Mubai, Li Che did not find this secret technique.
However, after Li Che cultivated the “Angry Cry Supressing Ghost” divinity, he was able to practice the divine martial arts.
He has now mastered it to the level of minor accomplishment.
Divine martial arts are a bit more difficult than martial arts of blood and qi, requiring a test of one’s mastery over divinity, so, Li Che’s mastery speed was quite slow.
Converging his essence, qi, and spirit, Li Che completely concealed his divinity while releasing his blood and qi to the level of Bone Tempering Completion.
“Three years from beginner to Bone Tempering Completion… it’s not considered too exaggerated.”
Li Che chuckled.
At least it wasn’t exaggerated compared to the cultivation he was concealing.
He picked a piece of wood from the yard, dried it with his inner strength, and began the wood carving.
After reaching lv3 with “Immortal Artisan”, Li Che’s woodcarving skills were getting higher and higher, and he had already reached the level of woodcarving master, capable of bestowing divinity into the wood carvings!
Li Che focused intently as his carving knife flowed smoothly, wood chips flew, and silky patterns were outlined, forming a “Six-Armed Bodhisattva Fury Crying Lotus Sitting Statue”.
The divinity of heaven and earth seemed to be slowly attracted and adhered to by the wood carving.
After the carving was completed, Li Che used his inner strength to wash it, finishing the final step of the wood carving, and stored it within the Vast Space of “Pure Heart”.
This piece… Li Che kept it for himself, to be used when cultivating the “Angry Cry Suppressing Ghost” divinity, just as Si Mubai had done in his training.
According to the cultivation methods recorded in the “Nine Luminaries Angry Cry Suppressing Ghosts Nurturing Nature Record”, divinity could be cultivated from the heaven and earth by oneself, or it could be extracted and cultivated through items imbued with divine essence such as wood carvings, stone carvings, paintings, etc.
However, most used wood carvings primarily because many types of wood were inherently divine objects like Spiritual Wood.
Li Qingshan once casually mentioned to Li Che that even within the main sect of the Qian Yuan Divine Sect, there was a specially established “Wood Carving Ridge” that recruited woodcarving masters.
The divine wood carvings needed by sect disciples for cultivation were mostly created by the sect’s woodcarving masters.
After completing his daily carving, Li Che fiddled with the seventh-ranked mechanism “Bodhi Blood Tears” from “Tang’s Mechanism Essentials” for a while; although difficult, Li Che was almost finished with it.
Glancing at the sky, Li Che returned to the cottage in the workshop’s courtyard and took out the birthday gift he had prepared for Xi Xi.
“`
Li Che’s handmade “Twist Car” was hardly a challenge for him at the moment, but it was very nice because it could satisfy Xi Xi’s happiness.
He sneaked a play with the Twist Car in the yard.
Xi Xi was three years old now, and he, Li Che, had also become a 22-year-old Spirit Child…
A 22-year-old Spirit Child playing with a Twist Car shouldn’t be a problem, right?
After having his fill of play, Li Che carried the Twist Car and left the independent workshop.
First, he went to Golden Splendor Pavilion, ordered a table full of fine wine and dishes, and asked the Pavilion’s workers to pack it up and deliver it to his home in the Inner City.
The Li family had completely moved into the Inner City, and the financially robust Li Che had bought a duplex courtyard there.
Old Chen had also moved in to live with them.
Originally, Old Chen had lived in the Outer City for some peace and quiet, but now that Xi Xi moved to the Inner City, he couldn’t bear to be apart and wanted to follow.
After arranging Xi Xi’s birthday banquet, Li Che then went to Xu’s Divine Cultivation Institute to pick Xi Xi up from school.
…
…
“Daddy, what’s this?”
Xixi was held by Li Che, one hand around his neck, her big eyes curiously looking at the “Twist Car” Li Che was carrying in one hand.
“This is a birthday present Daddy made for Xi Xi, come and play with it.”
Li Che directly taught Xi Xi how to use it.
Behind them, Big Head Lu Chi’s eyes widened as he stretched his neck, watching Xi Xi happily twisting on the Twist Car, and couldn’t help feeling envious, wanting to give it a try.
“Lu Chi brother, do you want to try it?” Xi Xi said with a beaming smile, revealing her dimples.
At that moment, Lu Chi felt that Xi Xi was simply a fairy from the heavens.
However, sensing Li Che’s gaze as deep and terrifying as a Bull Demon from hell, Lu Chi’s scalp tingled: “I’m a big kid now, I wouldn’t play with childish toys!”
After speaking, Lu Chi turned his head away, fighting back tears of envy.
Xu You, dressed in a refined white shirt, followed gently behind, but there was a hint of worry between his brows.
“A Che, after celebrating Xi Xi’s birthday with her, I fear I’m going to be busy. The Mysterious Temple outside the city has erupted in turmoil again, evil creatures are rampaging, and many villages have suffered chaos. The Xu, An, and Yang families in the Inner City have formed a clean-up team, and I’ve been assigned to leave the city for the clean-up task.”
Xu You said with a wry smile.
On hearing this, Li Che’s brows furrowed: “You are from the direct lineage, and such a dangerous task… Why would they send you? Didn’t the Yang and An families send out members from collateral branches to lead the teams?”
Xu You shook his head helplessly: “I’m used to it…”
“It can also be considered a form of tempering.”
Xu You’s nature was just like that, too weak, never fighting or competing for anything.
“You should fight for it. As a direct lineage member, you should still hold on to the rights you ought to have,” Li Che advised.
Xu You continued to nod with a gentle smile on his face.
Li Che said no more, raised his hand, patted Xu You’s shoulder, and the “Chess Piece” condensed of [Pure Heart] Divinity silently infiltrated Xu You’s body.
Xu You didn’t even notice anything unusual and continued to chat and laugh with Xi Xi as usual.
Night fell.
In the courtyard.
The moonlight was cool and thin.
Li Che had gotten Old Chen drunk, who was insisting he wasn’t, and after seeing off his great-uncle cousin who had come to celebrate Xi Xi’s third birthday together, he sat down with Xu You under the eaves.
A stove boiled water, and in the boiling water, the green tea leaves tumbled.
A bowl of tea after wine is a joy fit for immortals.
Holding the crudely brewed green tea by Li Che, Xu You continued to discuss Xi Xi’s safety at the Divine Cultivation Institute with him.
“I’ve asked Nurse Momo to take care of it; she will personally come to the gate to pick Xi Xi up. Nurse Momo is an old-timer at the Divine Cultivation Institute and can be trusted. When you come to pick up Xi Xi, she will also escort Xi Xi and Lu Chi out of the Divine Cultivation Institute…”
With the threat of the Spirit Infant Sect yet to subside, Xu You dared not be careless and was deeply concerned for Xi Xi’s safety.
Li Che, drinking his hot tea, smiled and nodded, then stood up pretending to go to the inner room, and when he came back out, he had in his hands a half-meter-tall statue.
“Old Xu.”
“Take this ‘Three Immortals Riding Ox Pondering Sword Statue’ with you.”
Xu You was taken aback.
Instinctively, he put down his tea bowl and took the woodcarving.
The moment he touched the wood carving, he instantly felt the [Xuansi Liu Sword] Divinity inside him slightly boil.
This woodcarving… had such strong Divinity!
Surprised and incredulous, Xu You looked back at Li Che.
“Old Li, have you become a Woodcarving Master?”