Chapter 21: A Chilling Convergence

Upon hearing this, Li Che’s eyes narrowed abruptly. A chill surged through his body, starting at his scalp and racing down his spine into every limb!

“That Prefecture’s head officer, Zhao Chuanxiong… something’s not right?!”

Li Che drew a deep breath.

Old Chen, cradling XiXi, wore a grave expression as he shook his head. “Of course, he might have picked up his intel from elsewhere, but I reckon Zhao Chuanxiong has issues.”

“For a head officer, such a glaring mistake is impossible. It’s more like…” Old Chen paused, squinting his eyes.

“…like those Lingying Sect disciples who left a Lingying statue at your door—a sort of ritual.”

Old Chen’s words weighed heavily on Li Che, igniting a fierce murderous intent deep within him.

According to Old Chen, it seemed Zhao Chuanxiong might be entangled with the Lingying Sect.

“The head officer of the Prefecture… could really be involved with the Lingying Sect?”

Li Che asked in a low, gravelly tone.

At this, Old Chen burst into laughter. “You say that because—rumor has it—the Grand Chancellor is even worshipping the Divine Buddha. Why shouldn’t a mere head officer mix with the Lingying Sect?”

After his laugh died down, Old Chen’s face turned grave. “The Lingying Sect originates from the Bizarre Temple… and their Divine Essence Technique is a huge lure for many martial cultivators.”

“The depths of the Lingying Sect are far greater than one might imagine.”

Divine Essence Technique?

Li Che felt a sharp shiver at those words.

“But as long as you stay inside Xu Ji’s Wood Carving Shop, you’ll be safer. These people wouldn’t dare act recklessly. I live next door and will keep a constant watch on you,” Old Chen assured.

“Lingying…” Old Chen murmured, shaking his head as he looked fondly at XiXi in his arms.

“Too much spiritual allure is hardly a blessing—it’s the root of all calamity.”

Wind and snow howled, whipping fiercely across the land and sky.

Li Che stood straight, his gaze fixed on Zhao Chuanxiong, who had vanished into the swirling blizzard.

Deep inside his chest, the Dao Fruit [Dragon Elephant Vajra] pounded fiercely, echoing with roars like that of a dragon and trumpets like an elephant.

“Old Chen, what level of cultivation does Zhao Chuanxiong have?”

Li Che squinted his eyes and inquired.

Old Chen, still holding XiXi, paused as a sense of déjà vu washed over him.

Li Che recalled having asked about Sun Changbiao’s cultivation before.

Yet, Old Chen harbored no doubt—after all, he had seen Li Che’s own cultivation progress.

“Zhao Chuanxiong, as the head officer of the Outer City Prefecture, isn’t weak. He’s likely reached the Bone Tempering stage, and during that recent clash, his Inner Strength probably touched a three-tier level. In the Outer City, he’s considered top-notch.”

“As for whether he has cultivated Divine Essence, I can’t say.”

Old Chen’s face turned even more serious. Zhao Chuanxiong’s skills were formidable; if he indeed had Divine Essence, even Old Chen feared he wouldn’t stand a chance.

Li Che nodded and exhaled slowly.

It seemed that taking down Zhao Chuanxiong immediately might be… a bit too challenging.

Of course, this was all Old Chen’s conjecture. The next step was to verify if Zhao Chuanxiong truly had ties with the Lingying Sect.

If he did…

then he had to be eliminated.

Otherwise, having such a powerful enemy constantly eyeing his precious daughter, XiXi, was nerve-wracking.

“Old Chen, didn’t you say you had an Inner Strength Technique to sell? Sell me one…”

……

……

Inside the woodcarving shop workshop.

Xu Beihu had his men move the wood prepared by the Si Family Young Master into his workshop.

It was a prime piece of aged nanmu wood.

Knowing Li Che’s cultivation was still low and he hadn’t refined his Inner Strength yet, Xu Beihu had already pre-dried the wood with Inner Strength so Li Che could begin carving immediately.

Li Che sat down and retrieved the design given by Xu Beihu—the ‘Nine-Headed Guanyin Statue for Calming Ghosts.’ Its intricate patterns were even more complex than he’d imagined.

The one-month deadline was already tight.

Studying the design carefully, he noted that Guanyin sported nine heads, each emitting a sorrowful wail—a motif drenched in melancholy.

After a long while, Li Che felt his emotions stir; his nose began to twitch, on the brink of tears.

Suddenly, his heart jolted and his eyes narrowed in alarm.

“Divine Essence… Divine Essence… it truly is eerie and terrifying.”

As Old Chen had mentioned, divine cultivation was one of the most profound and fearsome practices. Li Che was only just beginning to grasp its gravity.

He patted the large block of nanmu on the table, running his fingers over it as he mentally mapped out its dimensions, proportions, and angles.

Then, he picked up an ink brush and began sketching lines on the wood.

Once his outline was complete, he took out a carving knife. His eyes hardened as he centered himself and delivered the first cut.

……

……

Three days later.

In a courtyard in the Outer City.

Snowflakes danced from the sky, only to be torn apart by a forceful surge of qi before they could reach Li Che.

Li Che maintained a peculiar stance—his waist twisted nearly ninety degrees, his arms crossed, as qi swirled in a distinctive pattern.

Around him, invisible currents roared like a river in full flow, a tidal surge of raw power!

Li Che hadn’t triggered the Dragon Elephant Vajra’s transformation; he simply allowed the qi and strength stored in the Dao Fruit to burst forth.

“Xu’s Nine Tendon Technique.”

This was the Muscle-Opening Technique Li Che had picked up from the market.

It belonged to the intermediate tier of such techniques, far superior to the common lower-grade ones.

Much like the technique offered at Xu Ji’s, it was roughly of the same class.

Xu Ji, however, naturally had access to a higher-quality, top-tier muscle-opening technique reserved for his own disciples, never to be leaked.

In the market, such techniques were nearly priceless—unless a noble family fell and leaked their Body Refinement Technique, they were simply unattainable.

And a top-tier muscle-opening technique could easily be valued at over a thousand taels.

And that was just for muscle-opening; subsequent Bone Tempering or Blood Exchange techniques would be even more valuable!

Humming—!

A thick tendon tightened like a drawn bowstring, emitting a resonant hum as it snapped taut.

His skin flushed a deep red as a massive tendon, twisting like a coiled dragon, surged with overwhelming power.

Gradually, his body unwound and relaxed.

He exhaled deeply, as though burning away the falling snow with inner fire.

“Opening a major tendon is just the start—my strength has grown far beyond what I had when merely polishing my skin.”

A satisfied smile tugged at Li Che’s lips.

His eyes sparkled with renewed vigor.

[Dao Fruit: Dragon Elephant Vajra (lv1 10%)]

A prompt appeared on his mind.

With a successful tendon opening, the Dao Fruit’s maturity jumped by 5%, reaching 10%!

In other words, every major tendon opened boosts the Dao Fruit’s maturity by 5%. Xu’s Nine Tendon Technique requires nine openings in total.

Once the Dao Fruit’s maturity reaches 50%, the tendon opening is complete!

Li Che’s eyes shone brightly, his spirits lifted considerably.

With daily training and arduous practice, his Dao Fruit’s maturity would incrementally increase by 1%.

“That means if I train relentlessly for forty days…”

“…I can complete the tendon opening!”

To keep his practice under wraps, Li Che deliberately rented a spacious yard outside the shop for his training.

After all, the Training Ground at Xu Ji’s was too crowded for him to focus.

As his Dao Fruit was stimulated, qi burst forth and his skin flushed red; his body convulsed, and his back roared like a dragon.

Li Che savored the surge of the Vajra Transformation that followed his tendon opening…

“My strength is now immensely greater—almost doubled. Where one punch used to deliver a thousand-kilogram force, now it unleashes roughly two-thousand kilograms.”

“My speed and reflexes have improved as well; overall, it’s as if everything has doubled.”

Li Che grinned broadly, finally convinced that the Vajra Transformation was closely tied to his own cultivation level.

The stronger his cultivation, the greater the boost from his Dao Fruit!

“Two-thousand kilograms is modest for early Bone Tempering; perfected Bone Tempering is said to reach five-thousand kilograms, and the ultimate state can hit ten-thousand kilograms! The explosive power is terrifying…”

“Also, the Sisnake Inner Strength Technique I bought from Old Chen has successfully formed a thread of inner strength… With my Dao Fruit [Dragon Elephant Vajra], I become unrivaled in martial arts—the pace of my progress is incredible!”

Li Che beamed, raising his hand as an invisible current swirled around his palm like a small snake in a pond, brimming with raw explosive power.

Clenching his fist, the energy dissipated as quickly as it had appeared.

Li Che’s eyes glinted as his burly frame, clad in a tattered robe and topped with a bamboo hat, exuded a rugged charm.

He affixed a Wooden Carving Mask resembling a fierce Ox Demon to his face, instantly transforming his aura into that of a notorious outlaw dubbed the Ox Demon!

His murderous intent surged, radiating wild and formidable ferocity.

On this snowy night, the Ox Demon roamed free.