Chapter 19: Angry Cry Suppress Ghost, the Divine Technique

Nine-headed Guanyin Angry Cry Suppress Ghost Statue!

Xu Beihu spoke in a deep voice; after his words fell, the howling wind and snow seemed to vanish completely.

Angry Cry Suppress Ghost?!

Li Che's expression changed slightly.

He was no longer the novice who only focused on hauling timber; he also understood quite a bit about the art of woodcarving.

This vast Fēiléichéng is divided into Nei Cheng and Wai Cheng; Nei Cheng is prosperous like a dream, the place where the aristocratic clans that have thrived in Fēiléichéng for ages reside, and it is extremely wealthy and prosperous.

These aristocratic clans each have their own cultivation methods, and they also cultivate the rumored divine techniques.

In fact, each clan runs a woodcarving workshop, recruiting and nurturing woodcarvers, because the woodcarvings produced by those woodcarvers, if they possess sufficient spiritual essence, are of great benefit to clan cultivators who practice divine techniques.

Divine essence can be extracted from woodcarvings.

This is why the woodcarvings made by woodcarvers command high prices.

In the woodcarving workshops of Nei Cheng, there are always master woodcarvers presiding; the woodcarvings they produce are rich in spiritual essence, extremely precious, each piece worth hundreds or even thousands of gold.

Over the past year, Li Che has heard many sayings from Chen Lao.

Becoming a woodcarving master is not easy, because the spiritual essence of the carved wood must reach the level of overflowing and taking shape.

Li Che's Immortal Craft dao fruit has reached level 2, enabling the carved objects to possess intention and essence, but reaching master level still falls short; perhaps upon reaching level 3 he could achieve master standards.

The Si Clan will provide the statue's design; just go ahead and carve it.

Xu Beihu was tall and sturdy, his voice deep, as he stared intently at Li Che.

This is a rare opportunity, arising from your reputation built from carving statues before, because the intention and essence of your woodcarvings are rich, thus earning you this chance.

You needn't bear too much pressure; even if the carving fails and the finished woodcarving lacks sufficient essence, it's fine—you've only been a woodcarver for a year, still have room to grow, just treat it as practice.

Xu Beihu comforted him.

For a job paying five gold leaves, Li Che gritted his teeth; naturally he wouldn't let it pass.

"I'll give it a try," Li Che said, clasping his fists.

Seeing Li Che agree, Xu Beihu's mood brightened; he patted Li Che's shoulder and said, "The Si Clan's young master wants your woodcarving, likely to cultivate the divine technique; the Si Clan's divine technique is 'Angry Cry Suppress Ghost.' If you succeed, you'll never lack food or clothing, and you might even have a chance to reach the master level."

"Divine... Angry Cry Suppress Ghost." Li Che had heard of this from Chen Lao before.

Cultivation methods include body refinement, inner strength, and divine techniques; among them, divine techniques are the most mysterious, inner strength is precious, while body refinement is common.

Divine techniques have always been controlled by the aristocratic clans of Nei Cheng; outsiders simply cannot cultivate them.

Xu Beihu glanced at Li Che and said softly, "Divine techniques are commonly divided into seven meridians: joy, anger, worry, thought, grief, fear, and shock... Angry Cry Suppress Ghost belongs to the grief meridian; the divine technique is infinitely profound, yet it requires gradual accumulation of divine essence, which is not easy."

Xu Beihu said no more, staring deeply at Li Che: "Your talent for woodcarving is excellent; if you become a woodcarving master in the future, you may obtain the Xu Clan's divine technique, so... do not slack off."

Upon hearing this, Li Che quickly showed gratitude on his face, clasping his fists in salute.

Xu Beihu nodded in satisfaction, took out a folded sheet from his sleeve, and said, "This is the design for the Nine-headed Guanyin Angry Cry Suppress Ghost Statue; the deadline is one month. After a month, I will come to find you."

At that time, I will bring you to Nei Cheng to trade with the Si Clan's young master.

Li Che nodded and received the design.

……

……

After finishing his practice, Li Che tidied up the workshop and then left Xu Ji Mu diao Pu.

He made an excuse to go buy some yellow wine and slice some cured meat, but actually planned to check out the market in Wai Cheng; if Xu Beihu didn't come to teach the tendon‑opening and inner strength methods, he would have to figure it out himself.

Fortunately, the tendon‑opening method is merely a body‑refinement technique; although uncommon, it is not as rare as divine techniques.

Leaving the woodcarving workshop, he went to a side alley, confirmed no one was around, then activated the Dragon Elephant Golden Strength; his body stretched and grew burly, he took out a woodcarving mask, covered his face with it, wrapped himself in a coarse robe, and vanished into the long street.

The market of Fēiléichéng lies in the west of Wai Cheng, a not‑too‑dilapidated area where shanties stand in rows and the buildings are aged.

It looks quite run‑down.

But this is where Fēiléichéng's cultivators trade; most of them are adventurers from outside the city who slay demons and monsters, storm the Guiyi Miao, and obtain cultivation resources.

Cultivators spread a piece of torn cloth on the ground; that counts as a stall, where they display all sorts of odd trinkets and do business.

Li Che looked all the way over; his eyes shifted. This was his first time here, mainly because he had never cultivated before and dared not come, fearing he might lose his life for nothing.

After browsing many stalls for a long time, he finally stopped before a vendor similarly wrapped up tightly.

The similarity in demeanor gave Li Che a sense of safety.

"Fresh wares from the Guiyi Miao—are you interested?"

The stall owner glanced at Li Che, whose whole body was tightly wrapped, and said in a hoarse voice,

"Guiyi Miao…" Li Che fell silent; that place outside the city is extremely dangerous, and it is rumored that the Spirit Infant Sect's inheritance comes from the Guiyi Miao.

The vast Dàjǐng's constant turmoil is closely related to the Guiyi Miao that sprout up like spring shoots after rain, and to the rampant Xiejwu that flee from the Guiyi Miao when it loses control.

For martial cultivators, a subdued Guiyi Miao is a place to explore resources.

However, Li Che currently has little interest in the Guiyi Miao; he came to the market solely to seek a body‑refinement method.

"Do you have any body‑refinement methods for sale?" Li Che asked, lowering his voice to a hoarse tone.

"Body‑refinement method?" the merchant, sitting cross‑legged on the ground, raised his head in surprise upon hearing it.

"What level do you require?"

"Tendon‑opening," Li Che said.

Tendon‑opening?

The merchant's eyes flickered.

"I happen to have a Middle Vehicle Body‑forging Method salvaged from the Guiyi Miao south of the city; it can take one to the Tempering Bones stage. What do you think?"

Although Li Che's burly frame was imposing, the merchant showed no fear—what strength could a fellow who needs to buy a tendon‑opening method possibly have?

"I only need the tendon‑opening method," Li Che replied calmly.

Upon hearing that, the merchant wasted no more words, swiftly producing a blue‑covered old book from his bosom and handing it to Li Che.

After flipping through once and confirming that the Middle Vehicle meridian-opening method was correct, Li Che felt satisfied and closed the book.

If you have an internal strength method, you can also take it out to have a look.

Actually, Li Che didn't hold much hope for internal strength methods, but if it really came down to it, he could go find Chen Lao to buy one; Chen Lao had said before that he could sell him an internal strength method.

You're joking, sir; internal strength methods are mostly monopolized by the great clans. We small stall vendors cannot bear the guilt of selling such methods; once discovered, we couldn't possibly continue to make a living in Fēiléichéng.

The vendor shook his head.

Li Che felt a pang of regret, but he didn't mind: "Then I'll take this meridian-opening method."

The merchant raised five fingers: "Five hundred taels!"

Li Che chuckled, slowly rose to his feet, stalwart as a mountain peak, his qi and blood intertwining and surging wildly outward; the surrounding air grew viscous, an immense terrifying pressure crushing down on the other party as if the heavens were collapsing and the earth splitting.

This person thought he was a martial artist stuck at the perfection of skin-tempering, desperately needing a meridian-opening method, and thus tried to rob him by exploiting the situation.

Don't even mention it… he actually guessed correctly.

"One hundred taels, that's about right." Li Che said lightly: "Buying it to give to a junior is sufficient."

The merchant sensed this aura, his expression slightly changing; as someone who mingles outside the city and dares to enter the Guiyi Miao to compete for gains, he naturally had keen perception.

This brawny man's qi and blood were so vigorous that the pressure was hardly inferior to that of a bone-tempering martial artist, and his hands had even been stained with human life!

He was undoubtedly a ruthless thug who regarded human life as worthless as weeds!

A hand-copied, not particularly rare Middle Vehicle meridian-opening method sold for one hundred taels—anyway, it was a profit.

After all, he still had several more copies at home.

"Deal!"

The merchant immediately said sincerely.

Upon hearing that, Li Che threw down one hundred taels, then took the meridian-opening method, turned and left, disappearing into the market.

The merchant also swiftly bundled up his cloth and left his stall.

……

……

Having obtained the meridian-opening method, Li Che was in good spirits; he could begin opening his meridians tomorrow.

Leaving the market, he found a secluded spot, took off his coarse clothing, hid it properly, then leisurely went to slice some braised meat, pour some wine, went to the pastry shop to buy a box of osmanthus cake that Zhang Ya liked, and returned to the woodcarving shop.

The wind and snow rustled, fluttering across the sky.

Stepping on the thick snow covering the bluestone ground.

Li Che walked toward the road home.

However, his steps gradually halted; holding the braised meat, wine jar, and osmanthus cake, Li Che's brows slowly furrowed as he stared at the figure standing motionless at the gate of his own courtyard…

Half-smiling, the saber-bearing constable of the government office, Zhao Chuanxiong, stood there.