Chapter 91: Divine Weapon Mask, Ox Horse Face, and Another Hero【Seek Monthly Ticket】
Crack!
Above the sky shrouded in dark clouds, electric snakes tore through the void, winter thunder exploded with a boom.
The pouring wind-snow and heavy rain pattered down into the mortal realm.
The broken straw hat's eave, raindrops fell in succession, then were evaporated dry by the mighty qi and blood!
Cao He felt only the divinity within his body, unable to even circulate it—this was a rank-level suppression of divinity!
This Divine Foundation is far above his rank!
Nine Luminaries level, or perhaps Eight Extremes level?!
Boom!!!
Cao He only felt his head buzz with a deafening explosion.
Originally, when the Ox Demon appeared before him, Cao He was surprised but felt no worry, even feeling the Ox Demon was oblivious to life and death.
After all, Cao He and Yang Jing were vastly different; Yang Jing's Divine Foundation had its will devoured by divinity, lacking any battle consciousness, thus he fell to the Ox Demon's path and was killed by a hidden weapon.
Cao He's mind was clear, his divinity abundant; although he suffered a minor wound from Li Qing Shan, his qi and blood cultivation slipped slightly, yet his divinity remained overwhelming!
A mere Ox Demon—if he dodges its hidden weapons, what other tricks does it have?
However……
Feeling the Ox Demon's aura right before him.
That scorching sensation, like blazing flames burning, rendered his inner 【Wrathful Amitabha】 divinity unable to surge!
"Div... Divine Foundation?!"
His eyes nearly bursting, he stared at the Ox Demon beside him; beneath his horse-face mask, Cao He's expression was deeply moved.
Not……
How could the Ox Demon be a Divine Foundation?
How could it possibly be a Divine Foundation cultivator?!
Wasn't he always just a qi-and-blood martial artist?!
Looking behind the Ox Demon's head, that exalted presence emitting a powerful oppressive aura of divinity, faintly Cao He seemed to hear countless wrathful howls.
His divine sense seemed to perceive a lofty seated figure, a vertical eye opening in its brow, an immensely towering existence of extreme wrath!
"Your divinity……【Three-Eyed Wrathful True Lord】?!"
"No…… no! This is impossible!"
Cao He let out a near-mad exclamation!
Three-Eyed Wrathful True Lord……
In the entire Fēiléichéng, wasn't only Cao Guang able to successfully cultivate it?
Cao Guang repeatedly offered sacrifices to the Guiyi Miao of spirit infants outside the city, thereby obtaining the Divine Foundation method, and only then forged the Nine Luminaries top-grade Three-Eyed Wrathful True Lord Divine Foundation!
How could the Ox Demon before him possess such a Divine Foundation?
At this moment, Cao He's mind raced wildly, even considering that the Ox Demon before him might be Cao Guang in disguise.
But soon this ridiculous notion was dismissed by him.
A chilling killing intent poured forth from the Ox Demon.
Cao He's thoughts returned; his hairs stood on end, he bit his tongue sharply, the pain bursting from the tip let him instantly regain his senses.
With a sharp whistle, the 【Wrathful Amitabha】 divinity on his surface gathered and intertwined into the 【Amitabha Golden Robe】!
The Ox Demon gripped the Piercing Shock Spear, already striking down fiercely!
With a loud 'crack'!
Terrifying force surged, air currents roiled!
The defense condensed from the Amitabha Golden Robe, such a divine secret art, was easily pierced in an instant; the Divine Weapon Gleaming Blood Piercing Shock Spear ruthlessly stabbed into Cao He's body, tearing his shoulder apart!
"Not good!"
Cao He's heart pounded wildly!
Intense pain nearly made him lose his reason; surging inner qi and divinity gushed forth from that blood-colored spear.
He directed his divinity with his divine sense; in an instant, the spears behind him rose with howls, like barbs, piercing toward the Ox Demon!
Although the Ox Demon's Divine Foundation suppressed his own in rank, it was not a pure suppression of cultivation realm by Divine Foundation over nurturing nature.
Thus, Cao He could still resist a bit!
But also……
Just a single time.
Li Che's eyes twitched; the next moment, after reaching level 3 of the 【Dragon-Elephant Vajra】, he activated for the first time the second stage Fury-Eyed Vajra state!
Instantly, Li Che's body shuddered, the sound of metal clashing resonated in his bones and tendons, like a thunderclap exploding!
His already sturdy frame swelled again, bulging with robust strength by a full circle and more!
His eyes shone even brighter, like the brightest star between heaven and earth!
The exposed skin resembled molten iron cast, thick cords like flood dragons trembled, his fingers hooked like claws, gripping the Piercing Shock Spear that thickened with his physique!
Unparalleled in horizontal training, the ultimate physique!
Fury-Eyed Vajra!
It matches even better with the 【Three-Eyed Wrathful True Lord】 Divine Foundation!
Fury-Eyed matches Wrath!
Like a volcano's roar erupting under extreme suppression!
Bang——!
Rolling qi waves, the Piercing Shock Spear piercing Cao He's body shuddered violently, bursting forth with tremendous force!
The surging, turbulent airflow churned, mixed with the strong stench of shattered flesh and blood!
Cao He let out a muffled grunt, and the spear's force exploded repeatedly inside his body.
Eight Consecutive Bone-Shattering Spear!
Top-tier martial technique!
Reached the pinnacle of transformation!
Eight successive eruptions of internal qi within his body left even Cao He, who possessed profound meridian qi and blood cultivation, feeling as if his insides had been stirred into muddy water!
His five viscera and six bowels, flesh, tendons, and iron bones were all smashed into bloody fragments!
An unstoppable force……
It simply cannot be blocked!
This is a demon ox?!
Immense fear, killing intent, and resentment all exploded within Cao He's chest!
Divinity pushed to the extreme, coiling like a poisonous snake upon the spear thrusting toward the demon ox.
Yet it was easily flicked away by the demon ox with a snap of its fingers.
He drew his spear.
He swept it horizontally and smashed down!
In an instant, a tremor made it bloom like a peacock's tail, countless spear shadows engulfing Cao He.
Cao He roared in anger, yet had no power to resist, and was instantly smashed down from the roof, plummeting at high speed toward the blue‑stone ground.
Mid‑air, his entire body's tendons and bones had already turned into rotten flesh.
With a bang……
It burst into a sky‑filling blood mist!
When Cao He fell to the ground, he was already dead; the divinity within his divine foundation lost its restraint and frenziedly devoured his flesh and blood, causing the pulped flesh on the ground to continue twitching strangely.
Boom!
A spear‑light point landed, and his divine foundation exploded with a boom, shattering into pieces.
Finally, only a fragment of his divine foundation remained, and the writhing pulp fell still.
A crisp 'pat‑pat' sound.
The blood‑soaked, red‑fruit‑shaped desire‑flesh Guanyin wooden statue smashed to the ground and slid far away.
Icy snowflakes mixed with piercing rain fell upon the ground, pat‑patting as they soaked the wooden carving.
Li Che drifted down, his eyes behind the mask sweeping over the wooden carving.
He clenched his five fingers, and the wooden carving shot forth, landing in his hand.
His palm suddenly turned jade‑colored, with a hazy jade aura.
Thousand‑Split Hand activated!
……
【Wooden carving (Nine Luminaries inferior grade): desire compared to corpse‑flesh Guanyin】
【Craftsmanship: carved from tenth‑grade spiritual wood 'Linghua Liu', infused with six‑desire divinity, the divinity of desire, containing corpse‑curse power, able to condense a corpse‑curse seal, lock onto a target, accompany during sleep, and enhance lust】
……
Li Che's eyes suddenly turned cold and stern.
Six‑desire divinity?
Corpse‑curse seal?
This horse‑faced divine foundation cultivating the 【Wrathful Amitabha】 divinity likely came from the city lord's manor, this node scouting outside the house.
He apparently intended to place this flesh‑Guanyin wooden statue and then leave, clearly planning to use the corpse‑curse power within the statue.
"A corpse‑curse seal, just a mark? It seems they intend to stamp this corpse‑curse seal onto Xixi!"
Killing intent surged in Li Che's eyes.
Without a doubt, this must be the method of City Lord Cao Guang.
Li Che closed his eyes; the Chess Saint's Dao fruit trembled slightly, making his thoughts exceedingly clear, and he gradually analyzed the cause and effect.
"Cao Guang is unwilling, unwilling to let a top‑notch spirit child slip away right under his nose, but because Li Qing Shan is in the city, he dare not act openly."
"Thus he crafted this statue to imprint a mark on Xixi……
"It seems more like selling a favor, so is he selling this favor to the people of the prefectural city? Corpse‑curse power is a method of the Corpse God Sect, meaning there are also Corpse God Sect strongholds in the prefectural city!"
Li Che drew a deep breath, clenched his five fingers tightly, and in an instant the wooden carving exploded with a boom into countless wood chips.
A stream of black qi spewed from the carving like a poisonous snake, coiling around Li Che's jade‑tinged Thousand‑Split Hand arm.
He coldly gazed at this strand of corpse‑curse power.
Li Che's expression showed no emotional fluctuation; when he killed Cao He, this strand of corpse‑curse power had already burrowed into his body.
Unlike divinity, it exuded a faint, eerie strangeness.
【Chess Saint】 Dao fruit trembled slightly.
In an instant……
This strand of corpse‑curse power was then drawn by the Chess Saint's Dao fruit into the chessboard.
It resided within one black, three‑eyed Wrathful True Lord spirit‑infant temple‑god divinity chess piece after another.
Corpse‑curse power…… trembled, daring not to move.
Clearly, the temple‑god rank…… lies above it.
After suppressing this strand of corpse‑curse power,
Only then did Li Che dispel the Wrathful Vajra Transformation, walk to Cao He's corpse, and begin skillfully harvesting the divinity chess pieces, then proceed to search the body.
【Wrathful Amitabha】divine nature, total condensed into nine divine nature chess pieces, all are of the initial divine foundation grade.
Li Che's 【Three-Eyed Wrathful True Lord】divine foundation, also not polite, directly trembled, began to devour the divine nature chess pieces, accelerating the consolidation wheel.
Besides that, there is also a medium-grade Qiankun Jade, same grade as the Yang family elder's piece, its internal space naturally extremely large; Li Che impolitely collected it.
Cao He's earlier counterattack's four spears were also taken by Li Che impolitely; under Thousand Scrutinizing Hand's perception, though these spears are not divine weapons, their material is special, able to conduct divine nature, thus also precious.
Finally, his gaze fell upon that horse-face mask.
"Huh? Not broken?"
Li Che was astonished; just now, with the Furious-Eyed Vajra Transformation plus the divine weapon Piercing Shock Spear, he executed the Eight-Link Bone-Shattering Spear Technique, its power so great that even Cao He, a Profound Pulse martial cultivator's flesh, turned into minced meat.
This mask…… actually not broken?
Li Che picked up the mask.
Thousand Scrutinizing Hand activated, information flooded into his mind.
……
【Divine Weapon (Ten Metropolises Top Grade): Wrathful Horse Face】
Craftsmanship: forged from tenth-grade spirit wood "Horse-Face Pine", carved by master artisans; it can slightly enhance wrathful divine nature, alter one's aura, hardness extremely high, can preserve appearance.
Wielded by: Wrathful Divine Nature Technique, cultivation of nature like river and above.
……
Another divine weapon?
Although it's only a Ten Metropolises divine weapon, after all it's a divine weapon; to be called a divine weapon makes it extremely precious.
Li Che actually found it hard to put down; the mask divine weapon…… is strange.
Taking off the cute ox mask, putting on the wrathful horse face, Li Che indeed felt his divine nature circulation smoother by a bit.
Quite miraculous, but Thousand Scrutinizing Hand quickly analyzed the mask's manufacturing craft.
With Li Che's skill, it can easily be replicated.
"Actually, I could also upgrade my cute ox mask."
Li Che gave a light smile, then turned his head and glanced toward the lord's manor.
He pointed his sword and drew a line in the rain curtain before him.
Immediately, a porcelain vial fell into his hand, scattering powder onto the corpse of Cao He he had killed; slowly, the corpse turned into a pool of blood, washed away by the rain.
This is the "Corpse-Dissolving Powder" Li Che personally prepared using the Immortal Craft method; looking at it now, the effect is quite good.
Level 3 Immortal Craft, indeed skill is excellent.
He tapped his toes, his figure suddenly shattered the wind and rain and vanished without a trace.
……
……
Lord's Manor.
Wind and rain sudden, electric snakes surged wildly.
Light flickered intermittently, making the pitch-black interior interweave light and dark.
He sat cross-legged on the futon.
Before him lay a bowl of blood and a statue of the Three-Eyed Wrathful True Lord's spiritual infant.
He clasped his palms together, his body suffused with intertwining smoke.
Slowly, the blood in the bowl drained drop by drop, as if drunk dry by that wooden carving.
Finally, when the blood in the bowl was completely drained.
Cao Guang's brow seemed to sprout a vertical eye, suddenly opening, a dim black light burst forth, injecting into the wooden carving.
With a bang, the wooden carving shattered into pieces, a thick divine nature surged out from the shattered carving, bringing screams and wrath, swallowed by Cao Guang's divine foundation wheel!
Cao Guang's face flushed slightly, he licked his lips, then returned to calm.
"Spirit child blood…… indeed a great tonic."
"The devoured divine nature is tremendously abundant, truly delicious."
"If it were a supreme spirit child, it must be even more delicious!"
Cao Guang opened his eyes, a hint of regret flickered in his depths.
Unfortunately, this supreme spirit child can only be given to those fellows of the prefectural city.
Suddenly.
Cao Guang's expression shifted slightly, his figure instantly shot out, tearing through wind and rain, standing upon the roof.
His eyes fixed firmly on the direction of Li Che's house.
His breath rose and fell, immensely heavy.
A trace of sorrow mixed with anger welled up from his heart.
"Second Uncle……"
"The Thousand Buddha Carving Feast is about to begin…… you old…… didn't make it in time……"
Cao Guang took a long breath, suppressing the fluctuating divine nature.
To silently kill his second uncle Cao He, a cultivator at the initial stage of divine foundation, in the vast Fēiléichéng, aside from Li Qingshan and himself Cao Guang…… there is no one else!
Cao Guang clearly received intel: Li Qingshan, on the eve before leaving Fēiléichéng, went to meet his old lover.
Thus, he dared to let Cao He handle matters.
It was merely handling affairs, with no intention to act against Li Nuanxi.
But he never expected……
Just such a small movement, Cao He was still beaten to death by Li Qingshan.
The people of the Divine Sect are still as overbearing as ever!
His five fingers clenched into a fist, letting the icy winter rain pour down on his body.
"Li Qingshan!"
……
……
"Ah-choo!"
Inside Xu Ji's Divine Cultivation Institute.
Li Qingshan was holding Granny Mu, who was asleep, when he suddenly let out a big sneeze.
He narrowed his eyes: "Two surges of wrathful divine foundation aura fluctuated…… appearing then disappearing—what are they up to?"
"How bizarre."
"If we're going to hold the Thousand Buddha Sculpture Feast, we should wait until I leave Fēiléichéng to organize it, right?"
"Go ahead, go ahead…… I already feel it, the divinity that rushed down from the mountain…… is getting closer and closer."
Li Qingshan narrowed his eyes.
……
……
The next day, dawn broke.
The rain and snow hadn't stopped.
The courtyard where Li Che's family lived became much livelier.
Uncle's family had packed their luggage, big and small bundles ready, piled onto the cart, and arrived early outside Li Che's home.
Li Che had already arranged the caravan, which had long been waiting outside the alley.
"Husband, do we really not need to bring these?"
Zhang Ya felt very reluctant about many things in the courtyard, wanting to pack them up and take them along, even unwilling to discard pots, pans, bowls, and utensils.
"We can buy these again in the prefectural city; it's inconvenient to bring them on the road."
Li Che rubbed Zhang Ya's head.
"Moving from Wai Cheng to Nei Cheng, then from Nei Cheng to the prefectural city…… I thought our days would keep getting better, but I never imagined they could be this good…… It feels like a dream, worrying that waking up would make it all fake."
Zhang Ya leaned into Li Che's arm, the couple standing in the empty courtyard.
Li Che also felt a surge of emotion in his heart.
Indeed, even he had never imagined……
Because of his daughter's birth, everything changed.
"Daddy, can we bring the twisty car?"
Xixi was also packing her belongings, the little girl feeling reluctant as well.
"Sure."
Xixi instantly became happy.
Since we had already packed things a few days ago, today we just need to load everything onto the cart.
The escort chief of the prefectural city caravan walked over briskly, clasping his fists respectfully toward Li Che: "Master Li, everything is packed; we're about ready to depart, right?"
This caravan is not a local Fēiléichéng one; its headquarters is in Jīnguāng prefectural city, the journey to the prefectural city is not short, passing many towns along the way and even entering wild mountains and ridges; traveling with a caravan makes it safer.
If Li Che were traveling alone, he could simply set off, but after all, he has his family in tow.
"Chief Escort Qian, thank you for the trouble."
Li Che returned the salute with a clasped fist, handed him a red envelope, and said with a smile.
This caravan's Chief Escort Qian is a meridian martial artist in the Pulse-Passing realm, quite strong; he is a person of the prefectural city, merely escorting the caravan to Fēiléichéng.
"Master Li, you're too polite—taking payment for work is just right." Escort Chief Qian He was quite respectful toward Li Che.
A woodcarving master, whose status is not low even in the prefectural city.
Li Che held up an oil-paper umbrella, helping Xixi, Zhang Ya, and big-headed Lü Chi onto a carriage; inside the carriage burned a charcoal stove, dispelling the severe cold, and with soft materials laid out, it was very comfortable.
Li Che himself had another carriage, its interior stacked with plenty of timber, saying that on the road he could carve woodworks inside the carriage, then sell them for profit upon reaching the prefectural city.
Of course, this is just Li Che's excuse; he wants this carriage merely for convenience in his affairs.
However, Li Che has now inherited the Yang family's wealth, so he is hardly short of money; thus renting an extra carriage is no big deal.
Chen Lao and Uncle's family were in the carriage behind.
The wheels rolled, crushing the blue stone pavement that rippled with concentric circles.
Lifting the curtain, Zhang Ya pressed her lips together, gazing wistfully at the courtyard.
"Depart!"
After everyone had boarded, Escort Chief Qian He rode a fine horse, a knife at his waist, a bamboo hat on his head, and waved his big hand.
The convoy slowly set off, proceeding slowly along the blue stone long street.
Perhaps they knew Li Che was about to leave Fēiléichéng.
Thus many woodcarvers from the Xu family workshop came to see them off.
In the crowd, Li Che also saw Zhao Xuan, Wang Zhengping, and others with whom he used to train martial arts.
Nowadays, they too have stepped into the Pulse Opening realm and entered Nei Cheng.
"Daddy, why didn't Uncle Xu You come?"
Xixi leaned against the carriage window, not seeing the person she wanted to see, she instantly turned her head and asked Li Che disappointedly.
"Your Uncle Xu You might be busy; when he has free time later, he'll come to the prefectural city to see you. You should cultivate diligently, and then surprise him quietly."
Li Che stroked Xixi's head and said with a smile.
Xixi imagined that scene… and felt energized, nodding their small head heavily.
Li Che, however, gazed at the rain‑curtained long street, his eyes slightly narrowed.
Xu You…… why hasn't they come?
Unable to bear parting, or is there some other secret?
……
……
City gate.
A carriage also slowly drove out, the coachman wearing a bamboo hat lashing the reins heavily.
The horses stepped forward, galloping quickly.
Inside the swaying carriage, Li Qingshan sat comfortably leaning against the cushion.
By his side was Mu Popo of the Xu family.
Mu Popo struggled a bit, couldn't break free, and let him grope Mu Popo.
"The City Lord Cao Guang's Thousand Buddha Sculpture Feast—just looking at it feels fishy… it's probably related to those missing spirit children; aren't you going to stop it?"
"Li Qingshan, you used to hate evil like an enemy, didn't you?"
Li Qingshan took Mu Popo's hand: "Don't rush."
Mu Popo struggled a bit, couldn't break free, and let him grope Mu Popo.
Li Qingshan gazed out the carriage window at the misty green mountains and waters, and smiled.
"If I don't leave, how dare Cao Guang hold a sacrifice?"
"If he does hold a sacrifice, then I'll have an excuse…… to beat him to death."
Upon hearing that, Mu Popo instead relaxed.
Their eyes flashed with strange light repeatedly.
As I said, this is her Qingshan brother who hates evil like an enemy.
"Just you alone?"
Mu Popo seemed to think of something, and asked with some worry.
Li Qingshan smiled.
"Probably……"
"There's also…… a hero."
ps: Ten‑thousand‑word update, seeking monthly votes, seeking recommendation votes, seeking reading support! Lao Li is working hard, setting a small goal, striving for excellence, everyone don't hoard books! Please vote!
End of Chapter
