Chapter 37

Li Che hummed a little tune, his mood extremely pleased; he deliberately went to the braised meat shop west of the city, specifically cutting two jin of pork head meat, planning to have a good drink with Old Xu and Chen Lao tonight.

Having just obtained the third Dao fruit, his means of establishing himself in this world increased somewhat, and his mood naturally became extremely good.

Snow drifted down the long street.

Because Xixi's birthday falls in the cold winter, whenever her birthday approaches, heavy snow accompanies it.

The biting chill pierced to the bone, but Li Che now had achieved great success in tempering his bones, his qi and blood vigorous, so he naturally feared no cold.

Suddenly, Li Che's scalp tingled slightly; in his chest, the newly obtained Dao fruit 【Immaculate Heart】 throbbed.

Li Che stopped in his steps, his brows furrowing.

It was a … feeling of being watched.

The face beneath the bamboo hat suddenly lifted; raising his gaze, he saw in the distance, amidst the wind and snow on the long street, an old man leading a child with Nezha braids, staring blankly at him.

Li Che immediately felt a hint of doubt; on this busy street with people coming and going, why would this old man stare solely at him? Surely he wasn't eyeing the pork head meat in his hand?

Li Che also looked back, seeing that the old man leading the Nezha-braid child had shifted his gaze.

Finding it strange, Li Che's heart instantly became wary.

However, Li Che was merely wary in his heart; as they passed each other and walked away, the old man made no move.

Only then did Li Che relax, feeling he had been overly cautious, almost about to note this old man in his little notebook.

……

……

"Master? What's wrong?" Lü Chi sensed his master's oddness and involuntarily asked.

The old man closed his eyes, dispelling the 【Gazing Nature Technique】, shook his head, feeling deep regret and sorrow.

"What a pity… truly a pity…"

"Flawless and immaculate, pure as water, like a blank sheet…"

"In heaven and earth, there actually exists such pure white nascent divinity…"

"Such divinity has tremendous malleability; alas… the one possessing such divinity is actually a youth, and merely a meridian-opening martial artist, ultimately too old."

"A spirit child in his twenties? Strange."

"Spirit children and spirit infants cultivate divinity differently from ordinary martial artists; they are innately endowed with divinity, so from the start they can step onto 【Nurturing Nature】, nurturing their own divinity; upon reaching adulthood, most can achieve the level of 'Nurturing Nature like a lamp,' making it possible to assault the divine foundation before thirty, and before the sixty-year cycle they may hope to condense a divine appearance."

The old man shook his head; using the Gazing Nature Technique on Li Che, he had seen that pure white divinity, and indeed… his heart stirred a bit.

Alas, the divinity was not in a tender child, but in a rough-hewn man.

"He's somewhat old, and his martial cultivation has only just reached the meridian-opening stage, far from marrow‑washing; before thirty, wanting to forge a divine foundation would be difficult."

"Such divinity, wasted."

……

……

Returning to Xu Ji Mu diao Pu, Li Che still had that old man on his mind.

It was quite eerie, vaguely giving him a strong sense of crisis; the Dao fruit's warning was certainly not without reason.

Fortunately… Li Che always valued harmony in his dealings with others, and had never gotten into any messy trouble.

"Fēiléichéng is becoming ever more chaotic, with various forces and all kinds of strongers… emerging endlessly."

Li Che shook his head.

Returning to the courtyard, Xixi was under Xu You's instruction, cultivating her divinity.

"Xixi is a spirit child, brimming with divinity; learning to nurture it early and laying a solid foundation benefits her future, and for divinity cultivators, the age milestones are crucial."

Xu You wore white robes, a sword at his waist; seeing Li Che return, he smiled and said.

"Ah Che, the shop has organized a guard squad, all made up of the wood‑carving masters; you too must join the patrols. I've assigned shifts to each wood‑carving master, separating yours and Chen Lao's, so as to ensure Xixi's safety."

If Chen Lao and Li Che were both to leave at the same time, Xixi's safety would have no guarantee; Xu You made this arrangement precisely out of that concern.

Night fell.

Xu You and Li Che walked side by side, patrolling the snow‑covered lanes of the Xu Ji estate, guarding and protecting the safety of the many wood‑carving masters' families living within the estate.

Li Che bore a long spear; his ostensible martial art was the 'Xu Ji Eight‑Link Bone‑Crushing Spear'. He now suitably displayed his cultivation—meridian‑opening perfection combined with consummate spear technique—earning him the reputation of a 'genius' within Xu Ji.

Having trained martial arts for two years, from skin‑tempering to meridian‑opening perfection, he was naturally outstanding.

"Two days ago, the Yang family's manor set up in the Wai Cheng wood‑carving shop by the Nei Cheng Yang clan was breached by the feral disciples of the Spirit Infant Sect……"

Xu You rested his hand on the sword hilt, gazing at the dark sky, and spoke in a low voice.

Li Che's heart jolted; he truly hadn't known this news.

"Spirit Infant Sect's feral disciples… so audacious?" Li Che said in a low voice.

"The Spirit Infant Sect has many strong ones; after being driven out of Nei Cheng, they stationed themselves in Wai Cheng, now targeting the spirit children of each household there…… In the Yang family manor, several wood‑carving masters were killed, and one spirit child in the manor was abducted in the raid."

Xu You's five fingers clenched tightly, veins bulging.

"Because… word has come that Divine Sect cultivators are descending the mountain to head for Fēiléichéng."

"The Spirit Infant Sect must act before the Divine Sect cultivators set foot in Fēiléichéng; otherwise… the truly promising seedlings will surely be taken away by the Divine Sect cultivators."

"So, these days, the Spirit Infant Sect has gone completely mad."

"Nei Cheng Xu Ji… won't they send strong ones to garrison Wai Cheng?" Li Che frowned, unable to hold back his question.

Upon hearing this, Xu You fell silent.

"Nei Cheng Xu Ji……"

"It's not a big problem; we can hold out on our own……" Xu You forced a smile.

But Li Che saw a hint of sorrow and helplessness on his face.

……

……

Flying Thunder Nei Cheng, Golden Splendor Pavilion.

A breeze passed through the hall, the curtains rose and fell.

A figure bowed, walking respectfully along the corridor, and shortly arrived at a hanging pavilion inside the Golden Splendor Pavilion.

At the center of the pavilion, a brazier was boiling water.

Si Mubai sat on a chair, beside him a beautiful woman with light makeup, extremely lovely, gracefully brewing tea, displaying her tea art.

"Young master, Zhao Chuanxiong has arrived."

A low voice came from outside the door.

Then, Zhao Chuanxiong, dressed in casual attire with a knife at his waist, stepped into the pavilion.

"Lord Si, what do you summon me for?" Zhao Chuanxiong said with a fawning smile, his tone somewhat humble.

Although he was a court official, he was merely the constable of Wai Cheng, and naturally lacked confidence when facing the Si family's direct line young masters.

"I heard... you fought the Ox Demon and survived?"

Si Mubai sipped the tea brewed by the beautiful tea maiden, not even glancing at Zhao Chuanxiong below, and said lightly.

Zhao Chuanxiong heard this, stunned for a moment, never expecting that Si Mubai had summoned him for such a topic.

His expression quickly changed slightly.

Because, he initially sought the Ox Demon as the vice incense master of the Spirit Infant Sect, joining forces with the Eight Trigrams Staff martial artist to battle the Ox Demon...

Si Mubai...... knows his identity?

Zhao Chuanxiong's heart jumped, his face twitched.

"Rest assured, your identity is no longer a secret; not only yours, but I know the identities of many within your Spirit Infant Sect."

Si Mubai finished his tea, playing with the jade teacup, a half-smile on his face.

"I have cooperation with your sect leader; I have shown full sincerity, and your sect leader will naturally reciprocate. The sect leader promised to carve a second-tier 【Nurturing Spirit Eagle】 for me, but it requires a spirit child as a catalyst..."

Zhao Chuanxiong heard this, his face showing difficulty: "Lord Si, do you want me to find another spirit child in Outer City and send it over?"

"But Lord Si, in Wai Cheng these past two years, spirit infants and spirit children have mostly been depleted; the remaining children have extremely poor divinity, ordinary, utterly useless."

"Not long ago, even the spirit child of the Yang family manor was taken away..."

"So to find another spirit child would take some time, perhaps waiting for a new batch of infants to be born to be certain."

Zhao Chuanxiong exhaled a breath.

Si Mubai: "Inside Xu Ji Mu diao Pu... isn't there still a top-grade spirit child?"

Zhao Chuanxiong immediately thought of Li Che, and of how a sect member had died in the woodcarving shop because of that top-grade spirit child that caused the sect leader to manifest a three-headed, six-armed wrathful Spirit Infant image.

"You mean... the daughter of Xu Ji's woodcarver Li Che?"

Zhao Chuanxiong said tentatively.

Si Mubai played with the teacup, his expression indifferent and cold: "Are there any other top-grade spirit children?"

Zhao Chuanxiong's face twitched: "Don't hide it, Lord Si... I suspect the murderous Ox Demon may have some connection with Xu Ji."

"I..."

Si Mubai waved his hand: "No need to say, I know what you fear..."

"This past year, you've stayed deep and rarely gone out, never traveling alone, all to avoid the Ox Demon, right?"

"You initially used the widow of Sun Changbiao as bait, luring the Ox Demon to kill, which also counts as having fought the Ox Demon; after the Eight Trigrams Staff wielder died, you were frightened..."

Zhao Chuanxiong wasn't embarrassed either; for survival, what's there to be embarrassed about?

Besides, look at that Eight Trigrams Staff—does it still have any embarrassing leverage?

If life is gone, then nothing remains.

"Based on the Ox Demon's several attacks, it seems targeted at the Spirit Infant Sect, and also has some connection with Xu Ji."

"This Ox Demon probably originates from Xu Ji."

Si Mubai leaned on a yellow pear wood master's chair, his long fingers lightly tapping the table.

"I'm also curious... just who in Xu Ji is this Ox Demon?"

"Who could freely enter and exit the inner and outer cities, and have perfected bone-tempering cultivation? It couldn't be Xu Helie, nor Xu Beihu, and certainly not the third son of the Xu family..."

"Regardless of who it is, except him, it's acceptable."

Si Mubai's eyes seemed both crying and smiling as he looked at Zhao Chuanxiong.

"Get the job done for me, and I'll eliminate the Ox Demon for you."

"Since the Ox Demon wants to kill you so badly, just let it come and kill you."

Zhao Chuanxiong's face instantly darkened, his heart... quite moved!

"If he could truly get rid of the Ox Demon, he could indeed live without worry."

"The Ox Demon must die, otherwise he truly cannot rest; the sight of the Eight Trigrams Staff wielder's death is vivid, like a nightmare."

Zhao Chuanxiong's eyes flickered...

But his heart still felt some fear...

After all, Si Mubai's so-called elimination of the Ox Demon...

"It's damn using him as bait to fish!"

"No, it's fishing for the ox!"

He has survived this long, but now he fears...

"If the ox isn't caught, his bait... will be eaten first!"

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(End of chapter)