Chapter 28: Dharma Master Spirit Infant, drawing in and devouring divinity

Intense killing intent, nearly solidified, wrapped in the wind and snow, howled and slammed into the face!

Who… who is this?

Lei Chunlan's expression changed abruptly; just as she was about to add some charcoal, her action froze.

The whole courtyard was instantly enveloped by a grim killing intent, and countless snowflakes in mid‑air burst apart.

Li Che stood upon the artificial hill, his eyes beneath the mask indifferent and cold.

「Who?! 」

In the courtyard.

The guard sent by the Si family to protect Lei Chunlan had been sitting in the snow‑covered pavilion, eyes closed, taking a brief rest.

The moment Lei Chunlan sensed the killing intent released by Li Che, he snapped his eyes open, a flicker of shock in his heart, never expecting someone to dare commit murder inside the Golden Glory Pavilion!

Clenching his fist, he drew the long saber at his waist, shot forward into the wind and snow, and saw the burly, bear‑like figure standing on the artificial hill.

That bovine mask, combined with the overwhelming killing intent, looked utterly eerie!

「How bold of the thief! To dare commit murder inside the Golden Glory Pavilion—this person is a guest of our Si family; step back, and we will pursue no further! 」

This guard stood tall, gripping his long saber; his qi and blood intertwined, his major tendons trembling and resonating, producing a booming sound!

He was a guard who had achieved Perfection in Opening the Tendons.

Li Che glanced at the guard indifferently… Opening the Tendons?

He tapped his toes lightly, drifted down onto the accumulated snow in the courtyard, step by step his towering, mountain‑like form left no footprints.

Li Che took a heavy step, the face beneath his bamboo hat suddenly lifted, his cold eyes fixed on the guard who had drawn his saber.

The guard's heart jolted; he opened his mouth to speak, but the raging airflow had already slammed violently into his face!

He couldn't utter a single syllable as a tremendous pressure crashed down from heaven to earth!

Li Che was too fast; the moment his foot struck the ground, the erupting force flung the snow within several zhang around him into the air!

The qi‑blood pressure crushed down like a ferocious dragon!

Just as the guard swung out his drawn saber, he saw a fist thrust straight as lightning!

The broad‑shouldered, mountain‑like ox demon erupted with internal force in that punch, roaring forth like a white tiger in the snow, like a venomous snake flicking its tongue!

Dong—

With a crisp clang, the long saber was instantly knocked away!

The overbearing force lashed like a whip, striking the guard's chest; he felt his heart and chest collapse instantly, organs rupturing, and he spat a mouthful of blood.

「Quenching… Quenching Bone…」

The guard's eyes widened, his complexion shifting dramatically.

As a guard of the Si family, his skills were not weak; even if he truly had Quenched Bone, he could hold out for a moment…

Yet he was instantly slain by the ox demon before him…

Quenched Bone Perfection!

With a burst of force, his arms trembled; the guard was instantly smashed by the terrifying power, his bones and tendons exploding, his body flung backward.

Yet Li Che stepped forward, his speed even greater as he caught up to the guard, hooking and pulling with his five fingers…

The guard's eyes merely narrowed, and he saw the myriad puffs of snow mist exploding before him instantly split in two by a sharp qi.

A silent tearing sound, the air was severed and exploded!

Hot blood sprayed across the snow; the guard realized his body had been sliced open, he collapsed to the ground, blankly watching the remaining half of his own body.

His eyes gradually dimmed, losing their luster.

Perhaps you were merely upholding your duty as a guard, but since you blocked him and protected her… you must die.

Li Che's body instantly left an afterimage, treading snow without trace, he leapt into the eaves.

Everything happened too fast—from Li Che's attack to the guard being defeated and sliced in half…

Just a few breaths.

Li Che strolled like a leisurely walk in a quiet courtyard, from afar to beneath the eaves.

Lei Chunlan had just turned, intending to flee indoors.

Poof poof poof!

Two wooden crossbow bolts whistled forth, instantly piercing Lei Chunlan's both knees, preventing her escape; she collapsed to the ground, blood flowing and pooling into a hollow.

「You… ah… you…」

Lei Chunlan's face turned pallid, terror bordering on despair.

Although she had joined the Spirit Infant Sect, she was merely an ordinary old woman, possessing no cultivation…

The mountain‑like oppressive pressure instantly wrapped in a raging airflow and lunged fiercely.

Lei Chunlan, pressed until she sweated profusely from head to toe, could not even draw a breath.

「Spare my life… please spare my life…」

「I… I am just an old woman, nothing but a bunch of old bones…」

Lei Chunlan lay on the ground, desperate and miserable.

Just moments ago she was dreaming of a lofty, wonderful life; now she had fallen into a miserable fate where life and death were beyond her control.

Life's great rises and falls are nothing more than this.

Li Che looked at her indifferently, feeling no sympathy; when she killed those children, did she ever have a moment of mercy?

When she set her sights on Xixi… when had she ever shown mercy?

Suddenly.

Lei Chunlan's eyes flashed with ferocity as she drew from her bosom a palm‑sized, blood‑stained wooden figurine of a Spirit Infant and hurled it violently at Li Che.

「Spirit Infant Master, protect me! 」

The wooden effigy was thrown toward Li Che, its speed not fast.

Li Che could easily dodge it with just a sideways shift.

However, the wooden effigy floating in midair suddenly seemed to come alive, its eyes snapping open as it glared angrily at Li Che!

A surge of extreme fury welled up from Li Che's heart, like an uncontrollable flame seeking to completely engulf his mind and burn away his consciousness!

"Divine nature?!!"

Li Che's heart jolted.

This wooden effigy contains divine nature and possesses offensive power!

What a fellow, this Lei Chunlan... in the Infant Spirit Sect, she could actually be valued so highly?

An ordinary woman actually hides such means!

Hum—

In his chest, the Dao Fruit 【Dragon Elephant Golden Body】 violently trembled.

As if a divine dragon roared long and a demonic elephant trumpeted!

The nameless anger that had arisen in his mind instantly dissipated like smoke, everything returning to calm.

Li Che's eyes regained their clarity and brightness; facing the wooden effigy, he raised his hand, the arm bare in the air turning a pure jade-white hue, a jade-colored mist spurting from his pores.

A nascent divine ability...

Immortal Craft·Thousand Analysis Hand!

Li Che suddenly grabbed the wooden effigy.

Absorb the divine nature!

Li Che only felt his palm grow hot; the divine nature contained within the Infant Spirit wooden effigy was drawn out completely by his arm!

Bang!

The wooden effigy exploded, shattering into countless wood fragments!

Lei Chunlan stood frozen in place...

That was a life-saving item given to her by the Dharma Master, obtained by having the Dharma Master seek countless infant lives' blood in exchange.

The Dharma Master said, even a bone-tempered martial artist... this wooden effigy could handle.

Yet now, the wooden effigy bestowed by the Dharma Master was actually crushed to pieces!

Lei Chunlan despaired.

She still wanted to beg for mercy, but Li Che, having regained his senses, worried she might have a trump card, and aimed at her head with a series of 'pfft pfft pfft', firing three rounds of sleeve crossbow bolts.

He shot her through and through.

Having no time to savor the taste of divine nature, Li Che also knew he must make a quick escape.

Nei Cheng is not Wai Cheng; experts abound, and among the experts of the great clans, there are terrifying powerhouses who have even broken the Blood Exchange Pass and stepped into the Meridian Passage.

Of course, the most frightening are those cultivators of the great clans who have cultivated divine nature...

He took out a crumpled wanted poster, long since withdrawn by the authorities, which was about Lei Chunlan.

He glanced at Lei Chunlan's miserably dead corpse.

Li Che only felt a pent-up qi in his chest suddenly erupt.

The long-standing worry finally eased somewhat.

Although he knew this matter wasn't over, killing Lei Chunlan didn't mean Xixi was completely safe.

That Infant Spirit Sect, that Infant Spirit Dharma Master...

They still hung like a blade over his head, making it hard for him to rest or eat.

But killing Lei Chunlan at least let Li Che breathe a sigh of relief.

He threw out the wanted poster, Li Che shot a wooden arrow from his sleeve crossbow, pinning the poster beside Lei Chunlan's corpse, the blood staining the paper red, as if stained with Lei Chunlan's sins.

……

……

White curtains swayed in the gentle breeze.

Si Mu Bai, who had just cultivated divine nature, was in high spirits, sipping tea with Xu Beihu and chatting about divine nature, feeling quite content.

Xu Beihu and Si Mu Bai chatted for a while, then rose intending to take their leave.

Suddenly.

A figure darted in quickly, appearing beside Si Mu Bai.

It was one of Si Mu Bai's guardians, a powerful martial artist of the Blood Exchange Realm.

At this moment, this martial artist's complexion was somewhat strange, brows tightly furrowed, carrying a hint of oddity and worry.

Si Mu Bai glanced at him: 'What's the matter... so flustered, what propriety is this?'

That powerful Blood Exchange martial artist glanced at Si Mu Bai and spoke in a low voice.

"Young master... Lei Chunlan is dead."

Si Mu Bai lifted the teacup that had just been brought to his lips, and instantly... froze.

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(End of chapter)