Chapter 48

Si Mum Bai…… is heavily wounded.

Li Che murmured, his heart couldn't help but feel a bit eager, truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity; if he could find it, killing Si Mum Bai, who constantly wanted to use Xixi as a spirit child guide, would also set his mind at ease.

It can be said that Li Che and Si Mum Bai are irreconcilable enemies.

If he finds an opportunity to eliminate Si Mum Bai, Li Che will definitely not show any mercy.

Divine cultivator…… I've heard that only a Meridian Martial Artist can contend with one; now that I have activated the second form of the Dragon Elephant Vajra, I don't know if I can fight one.

Otherwise…… can a hundred Wood-passing Crows, taking turns bombing, blast it to death?

However, the main point of a divine cultivator is their strange methods; the reason a Meridian Martial Artist can contend with one is that a Meridian Martial Artist has qi and blood penetrating the six directions, a firm will, and closes the six senses, thereby being immune to divine influence.

Li Che shook his head slightly.

Wanting to kill Si Mum Bai…… is difficult.

This is the direct line of the Si clan, a prestigious family of Fēiléichéng; their cultivation is already formidable, and even though heavily wounded now, their surrounding security is top-notch.

Moreover, to kill Si Mum Bai, one must sneak into the Si clan's interior……

"Too dangerous."

The Si clan in Nei Cheng, I've heard there is a Si elder who has forged a Divine Foundation holding the fort…… I fear I may not return.

He suppressed his restless urge.

Divine Foundation cultivator…… he is now someone not to be provoked; he exists on a different level!

Li Che wasn't in a hurry; Xu You said that Si Mum Bai had almost been scattered of his divine nature, and would need at least a year or two to recuperate.

During this time, while improving his own strength, there are opportunities to strike.

Li Che now possesses the Blood Exchange Method; if he can formally step into blood exchange……

his chances would be greater.

……

……

After a night of commotion.

Xu Ji Mu diao Pu resumed its usual orderly routine.

The woodcarvers started taking jobs again, bustlingly transporting timber and finished carvings to earn some hard-earned money.

Li Che, as usual, carved woodcarvings, practiced martial arts, and secretly researched the making of high-difficulty mechanisms.

Of course, Li Che also kept his promise, each day leaving work early, returning to the courtyard, and teaching Zhang Ya martial arts.

Chen Lao had returned; for an old hand in the martial world like him, a trip to the big prison was nothing remarkable, leaving no psychological scars.

Light snow fluttered down.

Li Che went to a shop in Wai Cheng, sliced some braised beef, fetched a jar of old yellow wine, and returned.

In the courtyard, Chen Lao sat on a rattan chair, watching Xixi wobble as she assumed a horse stance, narrowed his eyes, and couldn't help but grin, showing his yellow teeth.

Xiao Chou Xi, keep your back straight, arms straight, and set your horse stance properly.

Chen Lao opened the gourd's lid and took a swig of wine.

Xixi, wrapped in a red jacket, her little face red from the cold, turned her head to the just-returned Li Che and tattled, "Dad, Grandpa Chen called me Xiao Chou Xi!"

"I'm not Xiao Chou Xi, I'm Xixi, Li Nuanxi!"

The little girl pouted after saying that.

Full of clever energy.

Li Che rubbed her head: "Then just become strong; later, when Grandpa Chen calls you Xiao Chou Xi, you can hit him back."

Xixi blinked her big eyes upon hearing that, nodding repeatedly: "Dad's right!"

Afterwards, Xixi puffed her cheeks and took her horse stance more seriously.

Li Che sat beside Chen Lao, the two drinking while watching Xixi assume her horse stance.

"Indeed a top-grade spirit child, her spiritual nature is abundant…… innately divine, her martial talent surpasses ordinary people; if not for her being too young to rush skin tempering, she could likely succeed at tempering her skin by age three."

"Unfortunately, I, Chen Lao, lack the method to nurture divinity, so I cannot let Xiao Chou Xi cultivate divinity early……"

Chen Lao felt a slight regret, looking at Xixi's face, reddened by the cold, his eyes gentle.

"This spiritual nature…… is both blessing and curse; if it weren't for you, kid, moving early into the woodcarving shop, this girl Xixi might have already been harmed by the Spirit Infant Sect."

"Now not only the Spirit Infant Sect has its eyes on her, but Si Mum Bai also has his eyes on Xixi……"

"In such a world…… it's hard to survive."

Chen Lao gulped down a mouthful of wine and let out a sigh.

Li Che remained silent.

"The world is hard to survive in……"

"As parents…… we can only do our utmost to protect our daughter; whoever wants to hurt her, even if it means death…… we will bite a piece of flesh from them."

Li Che picked up a piece of beef, put it in his mouth, and while chewing, slowly said.

……

……

Two months passed in a flash.

Listening-to-Rain Lane.

Small courtyard.

Heavy rain poured down, the world between heaven and earth a hazy blur.

Raindrops struck the black tiles, producing a pattering sound.

Inside the house, Li Che slowly circulated his qi and blood; the surging sound of flowing water rumbled like waves, as if tides were beating upon his tempered tendons and bones.

Second circulation of qi and blood, early stage of blood exchange……

Li Che rose from inside the house, his sturdy upper body bare, emitting steaming heat, he clenched his fist and swung it violently, the air letting out a whooshing explosion.

His explosive power is truly far greater than that of Bone Tempering!

「Two months' time, after stepping into the Blood Exchange realm, his qi and blood went from one transfer to two…… completing one blood transfer per month, reaching perfection at six transfers, only needing half a year. 」

Li Che's eyes gleamed, he felt a slight regret, the Blood Exchange method he had obtained was only six transfers.

The intermediate Blood Exchange method, perfected after six blood transfers; the Guo Zhan he had killed earlier was a martial artist who had perfected the six-transfer Blood Exchange method.

If it were the superior Blood Exchange method requiring nine blood transfers, one would need to perform nine blood transfers; the blood would be like mercury, containing far greater energy, and strength, speed, and physique would receive a higher level of tempering.

「Fortunately, from Chen Lao I learned that if the Blood Exchange method is perfected…… one can also switch to cultivation, building on the original six-transfer foundation to practice the superior Blood Exchange method and complete the nine blood transfers……」

「So, if there is an opportunity…… I should still obtain a superior Blood Exchange method. 」

Li Che stretched lazily, his bones and joints all crackling, the nine major tendons on his back quivered, containing formidable strength.

After wiping away the sweat from his training with a clean towel soaked in water, Li Che draped on his outer garment, sat in the chair, and took out the Tangji Jianji Yaowu.

Looking at those increasingly absurd and bizarre mechanisms, Li Che couldn't help but feel speechless.

「Of the twelve mechanisms recorded, the Wooden Transit Crow ranks eighth; going further back, they become ever more absurd and bizarre, existing only as a theoretical possibility…… however, the seventh-ranked mechanism, the Bodhi Blood Tears, is worth a try. 」

Bodhi Blood Tears, according to the description, requires extraordinarily skillful craftsmanship, time-consuming and laborious, but its lethal power…… is truly formidable!

Both vicious and powerful!

Li Che was very interested.

「The Tangji mechanisms…… Chen Lao doesn't know where he got this classic. 」

If he did not possess the Immortal Craft Dao Fruit, Li Che wouldn't even be able to understand it.

After closing the book.

Li Che closed his eyes to nurture his spirit.

Before him, a prompt slowly appeared.

……

【Name: Li Che】

【Bond: Li Nuanxi (daughter)】

【Dao Fruit: Immortal Craft (lv3, 9%), Dragon Elephant Purity (lv2, 15%), Immaculate Mind (LV1, 5%)】

【Divine Ability Prototype: Immortal Craft·Thousand Analysis Hand】

……

After more than two months, aside from the Dragon Elephant Dao Fruit which increased due to breaking through the Blood Exchange, the rest saw little improvement.

The growth of the Immaculate Mind remained slow; although Li Che daily absorbed and captured the wandering divinity between heaven and earth, because he used that divinity each day to tend to Xixi's body, it took two months to barely reach 5% maturity.

In cultivation, perseverance is key; the task is heavy and the road long.

Li Che had never been discouraged.

However, because he had long lacked a way to obtain divine arts, it gave Li Che a headache.

After tidying up, Li Che finished today's training, changed into clean clothes, held up an oil-paper umbrella, went to the restaurant to pack some food and drink, then headed toward the woodcarving shop.

However, just as he returned to the entrance of the woodcarving shop, he sensed that the shop's atmosphere was off.

The temperature of the whole shop seemed to have risen.

Li Che passed through the doorway and entered the shop.

He saw that before his workshop, a nanmu chair was placed.

On the chair sat a burly figure in black-red constable attire, sitting upright with a saber across his lap and a horse's stance.

Apparently noticing Li Che's return, the constable's eyes glanced sideways at him.

Li Che felt as if his eyes were scorched, as if endless fury roiled, and he saw behind that figure a wrathful Maitreya glaring furiously at the world!

「This one, Zhao Xuanhai……」

「Master Li, pleased to meet you. 」

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(End of chapter)