Chapter 175: Chapter 8 Carving Arts, Carving a Sword (7K, Guaranteed Combined Chapter)_4
You should know, the demons holding grudges against the Li Family have accumulated countless over the past thousand years.
From the moment he stepped out of the Li residence, the news had already spread. Such sensational events, the grudgeful demons would naturally be the first to know.
Along the way, his figure was under the watchful eyes of countless demons.
It was Feng who shielded him from all of this.
That day’s sky filled with heavy snow, yet not a single flake landed on the young man fleeing from home—it was all blocked by that lean and withered figure.
This kindness, Li Hao found hard to express with words.
At this moment, Li Hongzhuang also returned to the campfire.
She looked somewhat exhausted. After releasing the Unwithering Strength, she couldn’t use it again in the short term unless she forcibly went against her blood flow, but that would cause permanent hidden injuries and become a barrier to reaching higher levels.
It seemed like an ability that depleted resources, yet its effects were extremely powerful. Not only could it save lives in critical moments, but it could also greatly enhance combat power.
Equivalent to having two lives.
Moreover, in the Unwithering state, her strength never dried up, flowing endlessly, allowing her to freely execute some extremely exhausting peerless techniques, each move a deadly strike, and her combat power could surge manifold!
“How did you manage it? Did Li He distract one for you?”
Li Hongzhuang sat down and immediately asked, still skeptical and disbelieving that Li Hao could kill two Immortal Great Demons on his own.
“You’re overthinking it.”
Li Hao said indifferently.
Unless it was a life-and-death situation, Li He wouldn’t make a move. He knew what that man in town was thinking, trying to use the cruelty and danger of the Heavenly Gate Pass to force him to return, to bow his head, and to change his temperament and personality.
But if he changed his temperament, would he still be himself?
He had been like this since birth, in both his past and present life, for decades.
If they couldn’t stand it, then there was no need to see each other.
After all, which true father would dislike his own child?
And besides.
He had said he would rather die outside than die in that courtyard.
Li Hongzhuang sized up Li Hao, observing the young man’s calm and composed face, unperturbed by the changes, and aside from the demon blood that stained him, he seemed hardly injured.
At the Heavenly Human Realm, to slay an Immortal without a scratch—would the seventh brother even know about this?
Even in the Divine General Mansion, accustomed to geniuses, such a feat if spoken aloud might not be believed by many!
“Can you roast meat again?”
Li Hongzhuang suddenly asked.
Li Hao raised an eyebrow and glanced at her, just as he heard a rumbling sound coming from her stomach.
Li Hongzhuang’s face, however, showed no embarrassment, and she said indifferently, “I just released the Unwithering Strength, which consumed some of my body’s energy. This is quite normal.”
So it seemed even a Three Immortals Peak would be a glutton… Li Hao muttered to himself but didn’t refuse. After the battle ended, with demon corpses strewn everywhere, he looked around and selected two.
Then, borrowing Ren Qianqian’s spare sword, he quickly cleaned them, removing the innards and blood, flinging them outside the encampment.
He chose parts that were both fatty and lean, marinated them with salt and other seasonings, reignited the campfire, and began to roast the meat over the flames.
Too bad, my Cooking Art hasn’t reached Spiritual Awakening, my experience points… Li Hao sighed inwardly, holding the two sharp fangs in his hand, an idea suddenly struck him.
Could sharpening these fangs into a sword be considered a Carving Artistic Skill?
Although he hadn’t thought of deliberately enhancing his Carving Skill before, if he could incidentally gain some carving experience, he could accumulate three Skill Points even before advancing to a deeper State of Mind in carving.
If that were the case, mastering one more Artistic Skill at the Spiritual Awakening level, his movement technique could advance further.
With that thought, Li Hao immediately called for a stone and started to grind the boar demon’s fangs on it.
“What are you doing?”
Li Hongzhuang asked, puzzled.
Li Hao replied, “I’m missing a sword, trying to see if I can fashion one out of this.”
“…Even if you were to grind this stone to dust, it’s unlikely to wear down this demon fang,” said Li Hongzhuang.
“Do you have a method?”
“You ran away from home without even bringing a sword?” Li Hongzhuang couldn’t help but express her incredulity.
Wandering Jianghu unarmed, that’s something only second uncle would do.
But he is, after all, a master of boxing!
With just a finger, he can break swords, chop through knives, penetrate precious armor, and outmatch all weapons.
Li Hao couldn’t be bothered to engage with her any further; it seemed that none of these martial artists had any insight, always bringing up the most inconvenient topics.
However, Li Hongzhuang’s words did hold some truth; grinding his teeth on that broken stone wasn’t effective at all.
Li Hao thought for a moment, his gaze landed on Li Hongzhuang’s sword’s edge, but he quickly dismissed the idea.
He scanned the surroundings and soon found the bodies of two Heavenly Human Realm Great Demons. He searched their bodies, removed their sharp claws, teeth, and horns, and brought them back to the campfire.
Using a beast’s horn, Li Hao began to rub and etch the boar demon’s tusks.
As he employed his immense arm strength with continuous friction, gradually the horn and the boar’s tooth both began to show signs of wear, their shapes starting to change.
[You have gained an understanding of the Carving Arts]
[Carving Experience +18]
[Carving Experience +21]
Messages leapt out in front of him, recording this new artistic skill followed by a stream of carving experience points one after another.
Indeed… Li Hao thought with a surge of surprise.
Before long, his carving experience had risen to 100 points.
The Carving Arts advanced from the 0th Stage to the 1st Stage, earning him an additional skill point.
What a pity, his movement technique had just reached the third stage and needed a state of mind to continue improving.
For now, Li Hao could only save them up to use later; if he suddenly achieved a cooking-related spiritual awakening, he could even use them on his already sixth stage Physical Body Path, stepping into the Three Immortal Realms in one fell swoop.
“You really are stubborn,” Li Hongzhuang said, shaking her head upon seeing Li Hao’s relentless effort, and commented, “This kind of grinding is useless.”
“I know.”
Just as his Carving Arts had advanced to the first stage, a flood of basic knowledge about carving had emerged.
Li Hao was also aware of how foolish his previous attempts at grinding looked, understanding how complex the task of polishing was, especially with such hard materials.
The best method for carving would either be an extremely sharp carving knife or softening the material.
Forcing a grind was simply being hard-headed.
The only method to soften the tusks at the moment would be to use fire.
Ordinary flames might not even suffice, as the tusks contained the concentrated energy and natural patterns accumulated over centuries by the beast, making them impregnable.
Luckily, Li Hao, with a cooking-related state of mind, had conceived a Fire System Skill, the Zixiao Palm.
The technique contained extremely scorching flame power, its intricacies likely of an upper-tier cultivation technique level.
All this was thanks to the “Ignite” insight that came with the Cooking Arts at the sixth stage.
However, Li Hao hadn’t learned any palm techniques himself.
Boxing and palm techniques were distinct, like swords and sabers. Li Hao didn’t have enough skill points, and since it’s better to master a few than dabble in many, he practiced boxing and not palm techniques.
This was his only palm technique, used primarily for igniting fires for cooking.
At this moment, Li Hao absorbed energy from the surroundings into his palms, which instantaneously turned a dark purple hue, shrouded with intense purple flames.
The fire covered part of the tusk, slowly roasting it.
“The cultivation techniques you learn are quite varied,” Li Hongzhuang noted with a slight raise of her eyebrows.
She had glimpsed a bit of her second uncle’s influence in Li Hao’s boxing technique earlier, recognizing it as a top-notch peerless technique.
In addition, Li Hao’s swordsmanship was also impressive.
The speed of his movement technique during the chase was at the peak of the Grandmaster Realm within the Heavenly Human Realm.
And now, he surprised her with palm techniques, and even his cooking smelled delicious…
How did this kid’s mind develop? At just fourteen, where did he find the energy and time? Could it be he started cultivating inside Auntie Seven’s womb?