Chapter 70: Three-Eyed True Lord's Guiyi Miao, They All Died

The wind outside the city seemed much colder, blowing past the body, taking away heat, piercing into the spine.

Li Che wore the Cute Ox Mask, silently watching Li Qingshan, who wore the Cat Face Mask.

Masked person facing masked person, the atmosphere seemed somewhat harmonious.

"What are you looking at? What I learned from you brat, I used to be an upright and proper sort..."

Li Qingshan clasped his hands behind his back and said lightly.

Wearing the mask, he seemed to become much more aloof, his emotions a bit unruly.

The mask obscured the face, giving a sense that one could release the emotions hidden deep inside.

Just like Li Che, each time he donned the Cute Ox Mask, his body and mind felt utterly relaxed, doing anything, killing anyone… became unrestrained, without limits.

"Meridian Opening achieved? Three days… not bad."

"In that case, entering the Guiyi Miao for a look gives us some confidence."

"Go quickly and return quickly; we must leave the temple before nightfall."

Li Qingshan spoke in a deep voice; the next instant, he tapped his toe, and a surging force burst from his foot, the little old man's body turning into a straight black line, shooting forward on the snowy official road.

Li Che's body swayed; the internal qi surging after breaking through the Meridian Opening flooded his legs, and he quickly caught up.

Whoosh—

The fierce wind howled and shot forth, the airflow rushing past both sides of the mask!

The scenery outside the city flashed by in the eye like lightning.

The little old man's speed was extremely fast; Li Che found it rather taxing to keep up, after all, he had not yet used the Peerless Horizontal Tempering of the Dragon Elephant Vajra, yet he followed silently.

Actually, Li Qingshan, racing ahead, was already astonished in his heart.

"The foundation is extremely solid, having entered the meridians, the internal qi is vast and enduring… indeed not bad."

Li Qingshan felt admiration in his heart.

"He is indeed a fine seedling; with just this martial talent, even if Li Che weren't a twenty-two-year-old spirit child, Li Qingshan would still be willing to guide him into the Divine Sect."

The two raced for about an hour.

Li Qingshan then eased his speed.

His body paused, then he lightly landed on an old pine branch laden with snow; beneath the Cat Face Mask, his two eyes glimmered.

Li Che closely followed, likewise controlling his internal qi, imitating Li Qingshan's posture as he landed on the old pine.

Li Qingshan glanced at Li Che: "If you enter the Primordial Origin Divine Sect, you'll likely become my disciple; therefore, since we've come to the Guiyi Miao, let me bring you here for some prior training."

Li Che said nothing more, nodded, lifted his gaze to look ahead, and saw the temple whose view was obscured by the dense forest, a corner of its flying eaves revealed, the vermilion lacquer like smeared fresh blood.

"This Guiyi Miao is of Ten Capital Level; it's best to enter such a temple during the day, for at night the temple god becomes restless, and once awakened, it's not easy to deal with."

"I was once restrained by that awakened temple god for two months… quite vexing."

"When the temple god awakens, it releases divinity; that divinity corrodes the surrounding creatures, causing them to mutate and become Xiejwei controlled by divinity. The Xiejwei of a Ten Capital Guiyi Miao have no Divine Foundation level, so it's not a big problem—you should be able to try clearing them."

"This will also let you consolidate your meridians and blood."

Upon hearing that, Li Che said no more, his body swayed, and he charged toward the front dense forest.

Controlling internal qi, treading snow without trace.

As if parting the veil of the dense forest that blocked the view, a solitary temple instantly came into Li Che's sight.

The temple's carved beams and painted pillars, flying eaves with upturned corners, were covered in black tiles stained with plain white snow, somewhat dilapidated; the vermilion lacquer spread across the walls and eaves seemed to exude a pungent bloody odor.

Li Che's gaze fell on the temple's main door; shifting upward a little, he saw a signboard.

Inscribed upon it: Three-Eyed Wrath True Lord Spirit Child Branch Divine Temple.

Just a glance, and Li Che felt the wrathful divinity in his inner vision of the mud pill begin to stir, as if it wanted to drift uncontrollably into that Guiyi Miao, leaving his body!

However, Li Che circulated his divinity method, reclaimed control of his divinity, and with the Immaculate Heart in his chest throbbing, he broke free of this bond.

And at the instant he broke free of the bond, Li Che's pupils contracted.

Unaware, he had already appeared at the gate of the Guiyi Miao, even one foot lifted, nearly stepping into the temple!

Countless streams of black qi spread from the temple, entwining around his foot, icy and piercing to the bone!

In the distance.

The little old man standing on the pine branch, wearing the Cat Face Mask and ready to strike, let out a sound of surprise.

"On first contact with the Guiyi Miao, he actually managed to break free of the temple god's pull on divinity by himself… what formidable willpower!"

Before the temple.

After Li Che broke free of the Guiyi Miao temple god's divinity pull, the black qi entwined around his legs was washed away by his qi and blood.

Next, Xiejwei surged out from the Guiyi Miao.

They were a crowd whose bodies were shrouded in black qi, with black spiderweb-like membranes intertwined, eyes rolled back—corpses!

They were extremely fast and well-defended, but now Li Che had opened his meridians, his internal qi achieved initial success, his combat power grew ever stronger, and having mastered the White Tiger Chaotic Wind Fist of the Transformation Realm, he easily dealt with these Xiejwei.

After smashing those Xiejwei into bloody pulp on the ground, the little old man Li Qingshan appeared beside him in a flutter.

"Not bad; these Xiejwei are the temple's elite guardians. The corpse Xiejwei guarding a Ten Capital Guiyi Miao all possess Blood Exchange Realm strength, their bodies even stronger than Blood Exchange, feeling no pain—they are the bodies of many temple-exploring martial artists who died, transformed by the temple god's corruption."

After Li Qingshan gave a brief introduction.

He then lifted his head to glance at the sky, signaling Li Che to keep up.

The two stepped into the temple interior.

Inside the temple…… it was extremely dim, no light at all, yet there were red candles lined up on both sides, lit and burning faintly, illuminating the temple.

And what made Li Che's scalp tingle in this temple was…… it was filled with wood carvings.

They were child wood carvings of various forms—some holding lotuses, some holding plums, some with piled hands lifting a wrathful Buddha, some surrounding a smiling Perceiver of Sounds making a finger gesture……

The faces of these child wood carvings were vividly lifelike—some laughing loudly, some fearful and sorrowful, some shouting angrily, some clutching their throats in painful retching, some with male and female children entwined……

The Seven Emotions and Six Desires, a myriad of forms in wood carvings stood everywhere.

"This..."

Li Che took a deep breath, and immediately recalled the woodcarvers conscripted by the city lord's mansion to carve wooden sculptures.

"Worship the temple deity." Li Qing Shan said expressionlessly.

"The old man said the time left for Fēiléichéng is not much, so it is like this..."

"Someone worships the temple deity, paying... the divinity of the whole city, while someone... can then take advantage to gain benefits."

"The Dàjǐng Town Temple Office, the Divine Sect's temple-breakers, actually... sometimes the suppressing and the breaking are of the human heart."

Li Che's pupils narrowed; though he did not fully understand, he realized this worship was certainly not a good thing.

It only benefited a small part of the people, sacrificing the majority.

Li Che clenched his fingers, his tendons twitched, and his inner qi coiled around his palm.

"You want to destroy these wooden carvings? I advise you not to... these wooden carvings are linked to the temple deity; if you destroy one, you will awaken the sleeping deity. The old man finally lulled it to sleep, and you would wake it again..."

"The old man can leave, but you... will likely be beaten to death by the temple deity and then become a loyal guardian corpse."

The inner qi Li Che was about to unleash instantly retracted.

The small old man beneath the cat-face mask glanced at Li Che: "Do not fight inside the Guiyi Miao... anything connected to the temple deity cannot be easily destroyed; provoking the deity is very dangerous."

"Especially this temple deity is not ordinary... the Three-Eyed Wrathful True Lord Spirit Child branch deity shrine, indeed a branch deity shrine..."

"Branch deity shrine?"

"Meaning this temple deity is very likely a divine offshoot formed from the divinity of a high-ranking temple deity."

Li Qing Shan, after all coming from the Divine Sect, had studied the Guiyi Miao and gave Li Che some popular knowledge.

"Especially the 'Three-Eyed True Lord' temple name... indeed somewhat frightening, making one involuntarily recall the Four-Guard level Guiyi Miao suppressed by the main sect of the Qianyuan Divine Sect, where the deity inside... held a slender divine dog and grasped a three-pointed two-edged divine weapon, the Three-Eyed Temple Deity!"

Li Qing Shan whispered: "When dealing with temple deities, we must be cautious..."

Upon hearing this, Li Che's pupils shrank slightly, his mind buzzed—this description... why does it feel so familiar?

"Forget it, no need to say more, you brat have become the Ten Districts Woodcarving Master? You still have roughly two hours; you should carefully observe the temple deity... Woodcarving masters wishing to advance need to observe the deity's divine aura, which is also an extremely risky profession."

Li Qing Shan said.

"Senior... will the temple deity awaken? Is it still alive?"

Li Che asked.

Li Qing Shan paused.

Beneath the cat-face mask, his eyes were deep and gloomy.

"They are all dead."

"Only dead gods can... awaken from the Guiyi Miao."

After the words fell, he tapped his toes on the ground, and the small old man's figure drifted toward outside the temple.

"In two hours, the old man will come to fetch you..."

"Remember, do not damage the surrounding sacrificial wooden carvings, remember, remember!"

The Guiyi Miao instantly fell silent.

After Li Qing Shan left, Li Che stood like a straight spear, an inexplicable sense of dread surging from all directions.

【Innocent Heart】 throbbed, pure and flawless divinity surged, dispelling the dread.

Li Calmed down, beneath the bovine calf mask, his eyes shone brightly.

He gazed upon the deity statue placed on the altar.

Three-Eyed Wrathful True Lord Spirit Child!

The spirit child deity's forehead bore a vertical eye, angry gaze straight ahead, robes fluttering, hair flowing, bare feet stepping on lotus, fists clenched...

Li Che stared intently at the deity, examining it closely.

The throbbing speed of 【Innocent Heart】 in his chest grew faster and faster...

Yet Li Che had not observed the deity, capturing its divine aura.

In his mind...

A extremely bold idea flashed.

"【Chess Sage】 can combine with 【Immortal Craft】 divine ability nascent form Thousand Analysis Hand to extract divinity from the dead, then condense it into divine chess pieces..."

"The temple deity... a dead god also counts as the dead."

"Can I draw out his divinity?"

The thought just arose.

Li Che immediately put it into action, silently leaping onto the altar holding two large red candles.

Standing on tiptoe, crouching before the spirit child deity statue, beneath the bovine calf mask, his eyes shone brightly.

Toward the spirit child deity's head...

He slowly extended his hand.

ps: Guiyi Miao was originally a concept from a previous book, after revision reintegrated into this book, continue seeking reads, seek monthly tickets, seek recommendation ticket support!





(End of chapter)