Chapter 69

The hurried footsteps stopped abruptly outside the courtyard.

Rainwater mixed with fine snow fluttered down from the high sky; Li Che took the page of the Meridian-Passing Method in his hand and stored it into his Cosmos Space, then turned his head to look toward the courtyard gate.

A soft knocking sound echoed; Li Che rose and opened the door.

Outside the door stood a burly figure wearing a bamboo hat, his qi and blood vast like blazing fire, and merely approaching him felt scorching heat.

His black hair flew about, muscles knotted, bones and tendons roared like a great python.

Standing there, he seemed to be silently furious, letting out a silent roar.

The burly figure knocked politely, which somewhat improved Li Che's attitude.

"Who are you, sir?"

"Master Li, I am Cao Qingyuan from the lord's manor," the burly man said, his gaze piercing, yet he quickly glanced inside the courtyard, seeing no one, his thick brows involuntarily lifting.

"Cao Qingyuan……" Li Che stared.

Immediately he clasped his fists and bowed: "Commoner Li Che, I pay my respects to the Young City Lord."

"Master Li, you're too polite; since you've become a woodcarving master, you are an honored guest of our lord's manor… My father specially sent me to ask you to lend your craft."

The burly man Cao Qingyuan returned the salute with a smile, his attitude quite modest.

However, the pressure Cao Qingyuan exerted on Li Che was immense, like facing an angry-eyed Buddha, his hairs standing on end at all times.

This was because Cao Qingyuan's emanating 【Furious Maitreya】 Divine Foundation divinity constantly stimulated Li Che.

Young City Lord of Fēiléichéng, Cao Qingyuan!

Divine Foundation cultivator!

The lord of Fēiléichéng, Cao Guang, has a son who has stepped into the Divine Foundation; this is no secret, and in earlier years there was talk of the Four Young Lords of Fēiléichéng, one of whom was Cao Guang's son Cao Qingyuan.

But once Cao Qingyuan forged his Divine Foundation, the title of the Four Young Lords of Fēiléichéng no longer suited him.

"Young City Lord, sorry, I have recently reached a critical point in tempering my bones, about to breakthrough the Blood Exchange pass, so… I might not be able to accept the lord's task."

Li Che politely refused Cao Qingyuan.

Cao Qingyuan didn't mind, smiling: "No problem, Master Li can focus on the Blood Exchange; as long as you finish this wooden statue within a month, it's fine."

"The design for the wooden carving is here, plus a deposit: first pay one hundred gold leaves, the remaining four hundred will be sent after Master Li completes the work."

A Divine Foundation cultivator came calling, his attitude was fairly gentle, and he did not demand forced completion within a time limit.

Li Che also understood this was a gentle means to block his path of refusal.

To refuse again would seem somewhat ungrateful.

Li Che thought it over, then did not refuse further, taking the design and the hundred gold leaves.

Seeing this, Cao Qingyuan's face instantly broke into a smile; he pressed down his bamboo hat, took a deep look at the independent workshop, then turned and left.

Looking at the wooden carving design in his hand, Li Che narrowed his eyes.

"Eighteen maidens holding lotuses, worshipping the Wrathful Mahā statue……"

……

……

Cao Qingyuan returned to the lord's manor.

Removing his bamboo hat, Cao Qingyuan slowly stepped into the room.

Although it was daytime, the whole room was very dim; white candles were lit, thick and close, laid out like steps, and beside each candle sat a thumb-sized wooden carving carved from red wood.

In the candlelight, each wooden carving seemed to be bleeding.

Between the flickering of the dim candles, yellow and green interchanged in a continuous loop.

Cao Qingyuan's heart felt as if it were clenched, and even as a Divine Foundation cultivator, he felt he dared not take a breath.

"That Li Che…… did he accept the order?"

A faint, hoarse voice came from deep within the manor; Cao Qingyuan respectfully performed the ritual: "Father, he accepted."

"Having accepted is good……"

"The Xu family had already sold him to our lord's manor; since he accepted the order, it saves you the trouble of having him captured."

"As long as he finishes the carving, that's enough……"

"Father, what if he accepts the order but doesn't carve?"

The room fell silent at once.

After a moment, a faint voice sounded: "He wouldn't dare……"

"Besides…… the Thousand Buddha Carving Feast still lacks three spirit children; the An family has one, the Yang family has none, but…… the Xu family's Divine Cultivation Institute still has two……"

"The Xu family has two?"

"One is precisely Li Che's daughter, and the other is a big-headed spirit child… hehehe, buy one get one free……"

"Did the Xu family agree?"

"The spirit children in the city have already been taken notice of by the Divine Sect; the Xu and An families can't keep them, so it's better to use them as bargaining chips."

"The Xu, An, and Yang families all wanted to reap the benefits… thus they withdrew from Fēiléichéng… therefore, they had no choice but to agree……"

"A bunch of foolish folk, coexisting with the temple deity…… what a fortunate thing that is?"

The hoarse voice echoed faintly, carrying a hint of disdainful sneer.

Cao Qingyuan fell silent at once.

"Zhao Xuanhai is dead; who should make the move?"

"Zhang Xiangyang or Zhou Ruoguan?"

After a long while, Cao Qingyuan frowned and asked.

The stillness inside the room was broken.

The hoarse voice reverberated.

Yang family.

……

……

Li Qingshan gave Li Che three days to impact the meridians.

Actually, he really gave more.

Inside the independent workshop.

Li Che first used the 【Chess Saint】 Dao Fruit, laying out a spiritual chessboard around, sensing the situation, confirming no issues, then began to impact the meridians.

The《Qianyuan Divine Sect Minor Circulation Meridian Method》that Li Qingshan gave is actually not complicated, no wonder he gave it readily, it's actually just theoretical content.

Specific operation still depends on the martial artist himself; Li Che has the 【Dragon Elephant Golden Vajra】 Dao Fruit, his foundation is extremely solid, although impacting the meridians is difficult, for Li Che it... yet has a smooth feeling as if water flows into a channel.

Falling snow flew down, and atop Li Che's head it was instantly twisted and flung away by an invisible force.

Li Che sat cross-legged in the courtyard, invisible airflow swirled around his body, presenting a spiral shape continuously rotating.

The qi born from blood and essence merges with internal strength, circulating the five viscera and six bowels, the extraordinary eight meridians, forming the Qianyuan Divine Sect's fixed minor circulation internal qi network, penetrating the six directions.

The strength of the fourth layer of internal strength, combined with the qi produced from impacting the meridians, becomes 'internal qi'.

Internal qi envelops the heart; as the heart contracts and expands violently, the outpouring internal qi follows beneath the skin, enveloping the fine, intricate minor circulation network of the five viscera and six bowels!

Li Che opened his eyes, as if bright radiance flashed and flickered.

He stood up, his bones and joints rang throughout his body, blood and qi circulation became faster and more massive, and the resulting strength became even more terrifying.

Exhale—

Inhale!

Between one exhale and inhale, the heaven and earth wind and snow swirled, as if qi merged with heaven and earth.

"Meridians, achieved!"

……

……

Three days passed in a flash.

After breaking through the meridians, Li Che used his abundant time to also cultivate the 【Amitabha Golden Robe】 divine secret technique, achieving minor accomplishment.

Zhao Xuanhai's divine chess pieces have been largely refined by Li Che; within the inner vision of the niwan palace, the 【Wrathful Amitabha】 divinity flows like a trickling stream, nurturing nature like a stream.

He glanced at the sky; today it was rare to clear up, no snow had fallen.

Although the air still carried a biting chill, there was a hint of warm sunshine, pleasant.

Li Che changed into elastic clothing, put on a straw hat, sat under the eaves, and slowly carved out a cute ox mask with a carving knife.

After the mask covered his face, he also inspected the poison-coated sleeve crossbow, Guanyin poison lotus, Bodhi blood tears and other mechanism hidden weapons, tallying the six thousand wooden ferry crows stored in the Qiankun Armory; Li Che then left the independent workshop reassured.

If it were before, Li Che would absolutely not be able to leave the city; being so far from Xixi, he wouldn't be at ease.

But with the 【Flying Lightning Chess Saint】, as long as the divine chess piece lands on Xixi, he can travel with peace of mind; at least when Xixi encounters trouble, he can sense it and rush over quickly.

With the daughter's safety secured, the old father can finally relax and attend to matters.

"Sleeping Dragon Elephant" restraint ability is becoming stronger.

Almost as if completely erasing one's own presence.

Easily left the inner city, then also left the outer city with weaker defenses.

Just left the outer city...

A stooped and short figure appeared silently.

Li Che glanced and saw that the comer was also dressed in black, wearing a cat-face mask.

"Senior Qingshan?" Li Che muttered from beneath his cute ox mask.

"It's me." came the reply from beneath the cat-face mask.

Li Che: "..."

Old man, why are you also wearing a mask?

Everyone is wearing masks...

Mask alliance?

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(End of chapter)