Chapter 38: A Frostbound City Under Siege

A vast, relentless snowfall blanketed everything; the cold had frozen the world to a thick layer of ice.

The heavy, immaculate snow weighed down every street in the Outer City. Yet the common folk still braved the biting wind and snow, working and setting up stalls just to earn a few extra copper coins, buy firewood, and survive this murderous winter.

Li Che, planning to practice in a rented courtyard in Tingyu Alley, made his way along Long Street in his padded coat and conical hat. Throughout the city, many households hung white banners, and the sound of weeping drifted hauntingly through the blizzard.

These were the homes of families that had lost their children—ever since the recent surge in Lingying Sect activity.

Once forced into the Outer City, they were treated like wolves among sheep, becoming even more ruthless.

Even the grand courtyard of the Yang Family in the Inner City had been stripped of its gifted children.

It seemed the whole city had become increasingly strange and oppressive.

Although Feilei City had its officials, the Outer City’s chief, Zhao Chuanxiong, was a devotee of the Lingying Sect. How could ordinary citizens possibly resist?

And who would stand up for them?

No one.

Even the prominent families in the Inner City had only managed to expel the Lingying Sect—they dared not provoke them completely.

Mainly because the Lingying Sect was deeply entrenched, even intertwined with the Bizarre Temple. Perhaps it involved some of Feilei City’s most influential figures.

“According to Old Xu, the Lingying Sect’s claws have even reached the noble families in the Inner City, preying on their gifted children—the very foundation of their lineage…”

“Yet those families have only expelled the Lingying Sect rather than starting an all-out war… Clearly, they are wary of something.”

Treading through the falling snow and sinking into deep drifts, Li Che noticed a woman, numb from the cold, mechanically burning paper money at a doorway.

On Long Street, devotees of the Lingying Sect marched in tight formation, shouting slogans with wild zeal—a stark contrast to the resigned, desperate woman.

“This damned world, this cursed Lingying Sect… my son, oh my son…”

The woman stared blankly at the receding procession before suddenly breaking down, crying out with a piercing, heart-wrenching wail.

Li Che stood rooted to the spot, coldly watching the fanatical cultists trample along the street.

He slowly closed his eyes.

He couldn’t help but think that without a Dao Fruit, he might end up as numb and powerless as that woman.

The thought stirred a strange sense of empathy within him.

In this world, no one comes to their aid.

No one.

Li Che opened his eyes; he simply could not.

After all, he had a family—a lively, adorable daughter—and far more responsibilities.

Before he knew it, Li Che found himself back at the small courtyard in Tingyu Alley.

This was the place he rented in the Outer City.

In the snow-dusted courtyard, he set up a bamboo chair, pulled a thin wooden board from his pocket, and took out his trusty carving knife.

Unhurried and deeply focused, he began to carve.

The soft sound of the knife scraping the wooden surface mixed with the scattering wood shavings and the howling wind and snow.

Before long, a Cute Cow Mask emerged from the wood.

Since XiXi was born under the sign of the Ox, Li Che had grown accustomed to wearing a Cute Cow Mask.

Placing the mask on his face, Li Che lifted his head, his eyes blazing with a cold, unbridled intensity from beneath it.

Things Li Che dared not do…

Ogre could.

Matters Li Che was forbidden to pursue…

Ogre could.

The reckless abandon Li Che refrained from…

Ogre embraced it fully!

“Lingying Sect devotees… already have their names marked in my little ledger. Now… it’s time to settle scores.”

Ogre muttered under his breath.

The entire city was shrouded in the oppressive influence of the Lingying Sect.

Time for your old grandpa Ogre to… relieve the pressure!

I seek not justice, but unbridled chaos!

……

……

Inside Feilei City’s Inner City…

Jinhuang Pavilion.

The curtains billowed in the breeze.

Within a suspended pavilion, a furnace burned red-hot, keeping the interior at a comfortably balanced warmth.

Si Mu Bai sipped his tea, while across from him sat several figures wearing child masks. Despite the furnace’s warmth, the room exuded an icy, grim aura.

“That Ogre—we never meant to trouble him, yet he’s back in action. Over the past half-month, he’s struck repeatedly, killing several Lingying Sect cultists who were searching for gifted children in the city!”

“Beheading, severing arms, and nailing the corpses to the wall with his signature crossbow arrows… his methods are shockingly brutal!”

“Is this justice? Does he fancy himself a hero? Ridiculous… in this world, heroes never live to see another day!”

A girl’s mask with a smiling face emitted a chilling tone, as piercing as a bone-scraping knife against white plaster.

Si Mu Bai let out a heavy sigh as he looked at the demonic figures hidden behind each mask.

“Rest assured, that Ogre… is destined to die.”

“Come here, all four of you. This matter… certainly needs your assistance.”

With that, Si Mu Bai beckoned towards a corner.

His assistant, the blood-transfusing strongman Guo Zhan, immediately crouched down and approached.

“Go now. Let Zhao Chuanxiong take action…”

“My Yunshen Diao is only missing that superior gifted child; we cannot delay any longer…”

……

……

Inside the small courtyard in Tingyu Alley.

Fresh from dispatching Lingying Sect cultists, Ogre returned using his ‘Sleeping Dragon Elephant’ technique to steady his breathing.

After tidying up, Li Che sat cross-legged and began his daily Divine Essence cultivation.

The Pure Heart Dao Fruit pulsed gently, its beat like a contracting and expanding heart, as pristine divine essence from the heavens converged like enchanted sprites, flowing in like slender streams into the Pure Heart.

【Dao Fruit: Pure Heart (LV1 3%)]

Li Che opened his eyes, furrowing his brows as he exhaled slowly.

“Although the Pure Heart Dao Fruit can absorb divine essence from the heavens, my lack of the Divine Essence Technique means my absorption efficiency is painfully low…”

“Up until now, I’ve barely managed to push its maturity to 3%… and it’s getting slower by the day.”

“I really need to get my hands on a Divine Essence Technique to study.”

Li Che pondered these thoughts.

That idea had lingered in his mind for a long time, growing ever more insistent.

Sadly, Divine Essence Techniques were virtually unobtainable in the markets.

Such techniques were prized treasures, even among the elite families of the Inner City.

Even as a master woodcarver recognized by the city’s aristocracy, one had to pass rigorous trust tests before being granted even a lower-tier Divine Essence Technique.

“So, to acquire a Divine Essence Technique, I must find a way through the elite families…”

For now, he set aside thoughts of the Divine Essence Technique.

Li Che’s eyes hardened with determination.

【Dao Fruit: Dragon Elephant Vajra (LV1 90%)]

Li Che stared in amazement at his Dao Fruit, which had surged from 70% to 90% maturity in just half a month.

“Could fighting, killing… be boosting its maturity even further?”

He murmured to himself.

Since Ogre’s return, Li Che had slain countless vicious Lingying Sect cultists by harnessing his Dao Fruit’s ‘Sleeping Dragon Elephant’ and the Vajra Transformation.

Most battles were overwhelmingly decisive—even foes at the Bone Tempering stage rarely lasted more than a few rounds against him.

A fortunate surprise: all that combat had accelerated his Dao Fruit’s maturation.

A spark of anticipation flickered in Li Che’s heart.

And as his Dao Fruit matured further…

so did Li Che’s Bone Tempering cultivation reach perfection.

“My Bone Tempering is complete… In external training, I still lack a Blood-Transfusion Technique, and although my Inner Strength has long reached the Triple Heavenly Stage, without a Superior Inner Strength Technique it’s nearly impossible to break into the Quadruple Heavenly Stage…”

“Divine Essence Technique, Blood-Transfusion Technique, Superior Inner Strength Technique… sigh, where on earth can I find them?”

Li Che massaged his temples, feeling a dull headache.

As the head honcho of Xu Ji’s Wood Carving Shop, his wealth was considerable.

Yet even money couldn’t buy everything he desired.

After a quick tidy-up, Li Che braved the wind and snow, heading toward Xu Ji’s Wood Carving Shop.

In his mind, he pondered how he might acquire both the Divine Essence Technique and the Blood-Transfusion Technique.

Walking steadily, he reached the door of Xu Ji’s Wood Carving Shop.

As he proceeded, he sensed that something was off.

At the doorway, two squads of constables in red-black uniforms, knives hanging at their belts, stood guard.

From inside the shop, Zhao Chuanxiong—whose name was recorded in Li Che’s little ledger—escorted a captive out.

Seeing the figure being led by Zhao Chuanxiong, Li Che’s face darkened instantly.

“Old Chen?”

PS: Tuesday’s PK is a make-or-break day for second-round recommendations. Please keep reading! Just tap through to the final chapter to see the rankings. Many thanks from Old Li!