Chapter 46

Heavy snow fluttered down, and the air turned cold and still again.

Using the Sleeping Dragon Elephant to restrain his breath, Li Che, merged into the darkness, indifferently watched Zhao Xuan, who had leapt out, stunned and speechless by the scene.

This woman, who began martial arts training with him at the same time, has only just achieved skin-tempering perfection, while Li Che... with one hand could knock down a hundred Zhao Xuans—no problem at all, utterly no threat.

Yet she actually dared to summon her courage and run onto the battlefield of the blood-exchange martial artists; although it was after the battle, the danger level remained high.

Having confirmed that Zhao Xuan came with the intention of collecting the hero's corpse, and not as some backup plan of the Spirit Infant Sect.

Li Che shook his sleeve, loosening the sleeve crossbow that could at any moment blast Zhao Xuan's head, and withdrew silently and without a sound.

The active ability granted by the Dragon Elephant Golden Strength Dao fruit faded away, and a strong sense of fatigue and weakness suddenly welled up in his heart.

It felt as if his essence, energy, and spirit were being drained dry.

The improvement brought by the second stage of the Furious-Eyed Golden Vajra is enormous—external training leaps unparalleled, more like a transformation of one's life form!

The effect is excellent, the burst extremely strong… but the consumption is equally enormous.

Li Che now felt his qi and blood somewhat depleted; after using Thunderbolt Explosion to kill the three Spirit Infant Sect blood-exchange masters, his legs felt a bit weak.

However, he has now also achieved perfected bone-tempering in his body refinement, with extremely strong recovery; when he darted back to his own courtyard, his legs were no longer weak.

Using the Sleeping Dragon Elephant to restrain his breath, he circled his own courtyard three times consecutively, and only after confirming there were no hidden Spirit Infant Sect disciples did he dart back into the courtyard like a ghost.

He took off his bloodstained clothes, removed his mask, Li Che exhaled a mouthful of turbid air, and directly darted into his own woodshed.

He dumped out all the filth wrapped in the clothes of a Spirit Infant Sect blood-exchange martial artist who had been blasted to pieces.

This was the harvest from looting corpses after this battle!

Li Che's emotions were unusually stirred, and he unconsciously rubbed his hands.

Anyone who often kills should know that looting corpses after killing is a very good habit for wandering the martial world.

Looting corpses—this was his first time; after previous killings, he actually forgot to do this important thing.

It's just that his experience in the martial world is insufficient—he's young, too young...

Li Che shook his head.

The loot wasn't much—just a few bottles and jars, two small booklets, and from a Spirit Infant Sect blood-exchange martial artist he found a thumb-sized wood carving of a Three-Headed Six-Armed Furious-Eyed Spirit Infant.

Li Che, his emotions surging, began to take inventory.

Eighteen gold leaves, plus three silver notes worth five hundred taels... This wave, I've caught the enormous wealth—worthy of a blood-exchange martial artist, I'm truly rich!

Li Che's eyes lit up; even though he had become the genius woodcarver of Xu Ji Mu diao Pu, gaining so much wealth in one go still made his scalp tingle with excitement.

Silver notes are hard to deal with, but... there are plenty of people in the market willing to buy them, usually at a discount.

Besides that, there were many bottles and jars; Li Che glanced over and saw that many were medicines for treating injuries and for nourishing qi and blood.

Among them, when a porcelain bottle was tipped out, it revealed a round pill exuding a rich, pungent bloody smell.

Li Che puzzled over it for a while, with no clue; just sniffing it, he sensed his qi and blood surging inside.

This is what I picked from Guo Zhan's corpse... it's probably not an ordinary pill.

Hmm, I'll have a chance to ask about it at the market.

Li Che put away the pill, his gaze finally falling on the two books, and he began rubbing his hands together in anticipation.

He picked up the first book, which had been taken from a Spirit Infant Sect blood-exchange martial artist.

He opened the first page; before his eyes, six large characters leapt into view.

Six-Step Blood Exchange Method!

This is a blood-exchange method!

Moreover, it is not an ordinary, low-grade Three-Step Blood Exchange Method.

Six-Step Blood Exchange belongs to the middle-grade Blood Exchange Method.

Blood exchange requires nine steps of qi and blood, achieving qi and blood like mercury and marrow like gold and stone—only then is it perfected.

This at least solves the urgent need, though it's not a Divine Method—but Divine Methods are precious anyway, so not obtaining one is normal... With this blood-exchange method, I can now begin to attempt blood exchange.

Li Che wasn't too disappointed, after all, his currently revealed cultivation is just initial bone-tempering; if he wants to get a blood-exchange method from Xu Ji, he must first achieve perfected bone-tempering.

According to normal timing, it would probably take two or three years...

Two to three years from initial bone-tempering to perfected bone-tempering—combined with the setting of a genius martial woman, it's still reasonable.

His gaze shifted, falling on the book taken from Guo Zhan's body.

After turning the page, Li Che's pupils suddenly contracted!

It is neither a Divine Method nor a blood-exchange method...

... but a martial art!

... and not an ordinary martial art...

... but a Divine Martial Art!

Grief-Wail Hundred Ghosts Wind-Thunder Arrow!

……

……

The blue-stone long street outside Xu Ji Mu diao Pu.

Extremely dry, even somewhat scorching, slightly radiating heat; the snowflakes drifting down from the sky evaporated upon contact with the brick stones, as if they were red-hot irons, before they could reach the ground.

Several figures drifted over, all wearing wooden child masks, hands behind their backs, landing on the houses flanking the long street.

Hahaha, the Furious Wrath Prince, a divine foundation method of the Four Sovereigns level, actually appears in Fēiléichéng...

Is this... an opportunity from my sect?

Hahaha, the Dharma Lord also cultivates wrathful divinity; this child's divinity has not yet formed a divine foundation, and if he could be devoured by the Dharma Lord... the Dharma Lord might have a chance to advance further, condensing the divine apparition of a Three-Headed Six-Armed Furious Wrath Spirit Child.

A figure wearing a smiling mask spoke, his tone full of laughter, impossible to suppress.

However, tonight's Bull-Catching plan is a total failure; Si Mu Bai also suffered heavy injuries, and the Nine Luminaries level Grief-Wail Ghost-Suppressing, upon encountering the Furious Wrath Prince, was simply strung up and beaten, hahaha... too tragic.

If it weren't for that old gentleman of the Si family who forged a divine foundation stepping in…… Si Mubai would be skinned and have his tendons ripped out, hahaha……

As an ally, I should feel sympathy and sorrow for Si Mubai, so why do I want to laugh…… but I can't stop myself, hahaha……

The remaining few, their gazes behind the masks were extremely stern, basically too lazy to pay attention to that figure who couldn't stop laughing.

Ox Demon…… there's someone behind him! No wonder he suddenly appeared in Fēiléichéng, disrupting our sect's major affair……

So-called heroes, indeed they all have hidden hands pulling the strings……

Several people spoke with heavy voices, because the Ox Demon couldn't be dealt with, and the one behind the Ox Demon capable of manifesting a divine foundation like the 'Furious Prince' was even more mysterious and unfathomable, causing panic and unease.

The figure wearing the smiling child's mask, however, burst out laughing as he spoke.

Hahaha, why do you bother with all that? Isn't the Ox Demon supposed to be a hero?

Someone is propping up a hero to appear, just to stabilize the people's hearts, give them a psychological pillar, unwilling to let the citizens of Fēiléichéng collapse so quickly……

And smearing a hero's reputation…… is the easiest!

That 'Furious Prince' may not be weak, but he hasn't forged a divine foundation, so what's there to fear?

Once the Ox Demon is discredited, the people lose their so-called hero's pillar, hahaha, then those behind him will have to use more means to make up for it; the more people who intervene, the sooner they'll inevitably surface.

……

……

After tallying the spoils and hiding the dirty items, Li Che returned from the woodshed to the courtyard, rubbing his body with cold snowballs to dispel the bloody smell, only then stepping into the house.

Inside the house, the lights were blazing!

His wife Zhang Ya nervously gripped the 'Wood Ferry Crow', remembering Li Che's instructions on how to use the mechanism.

Upon seeing that the returning person was her own husband, her tightly wound nerves finally relaxed.

She hurried over in a few steps, came to Li Che's side, circled him, examined him closely; seeing that Li Che had no injuries, she breathed a sigh of relief, then flung herself into his embrace, tightly wrapping her arms around his waist.

As if to vent all the unease and anxiety of the night.

It's fine.

Li Che gently patted his wife's tender shoulders, feeling her slight trembling, and spoke in a soothing tone to comfort her.

Zhang Ya nodded lightly.

The couple thus embraced in silence, while Xixi lay sprawled on the bed, kicking off the blankets and snoring loudly, resembling a gifted present……

Within the whole house, the warmth rising from the charcoal stove dispelled the severe cold, making the atmosphere extremely cozy.

After a long while.

Li Che felt the lovely person in his arms shift slightly, but saw Zhang Ya raise her pretty face, her eyes filled with resolve.

Husband……

I want to practice martial arts.

(End of chapter)