Chapter 9: New Beginnings at Xu Ji’s Wood Carving Shop

“Are you planning to move into the wood carving shop?”

“Now that you’re a master woodcarver, you naturally can… However, there are some formalities to complete. I’ve ordered someone to expedite the paperwork. In a few days, you can come see the workshop.”

Shop Manager Xu You was greatly impressed by Li Che’s talent.

The carvings he created were full of meaning. Such talent was extremely rare and coveted in any wood carving shop.

Only through such skills could a woodcarver hope to become a master!

So his request for Li Che was accepted without hesitation – even eagerly so.

A genius always deserves a genius’s treatment.

“Thank you, Manager Xu,” Li Che said earnestly while clasping his fists.

Xu You nodded and, along with Xu Beihu, vanished into the snowy winds.

Li Che exhaled a long breath, a smile forming on his face. Moving into the wood carving shop meant far less threat from the Lingying Sect.

Back at the shop, he grabbed his bamboo hat and received his monthly stipend for becoming a woodcarver – five taels of silver.

Shop Manager Xu announced that from now on, this day of the month would be payday.

Amid the admiring and awed glances of the apprentices, Li Che packed his things, ready to go home and share the joyous news with his wife and daughter.

But before leaving, he sidled up to Master Chen with a cheeky grin.

“Master Chen, may I take some scrap wood home to practice my carving?”

Chen Daba, sipping gourd wine, grinned: “Li Che, from now on you’re one of our shop’s woodcarvers. Since you and I are close, don’t call me Master Chen – just Old Chen.”

“Take as much material as you like. If you prefer, you can even choose from the scraps in the workshop, as long as they aren’t huge pieces – they’re all good for practice.”

Chen Daba had clearly recognized Li Che’s talent – it was important to nurture good relations.

At their age, one could only be considered a respected craftsman, careful not to make enemies.

“By the way, call me over when you’re picking out the scraps. I’d like to take a look – we could be good neighbors,” Old Chen joked.

……

……

Joy lifts the spirit.

Li Che was in high spirits. Becoming a master woodcarver meant an increased wage and a brighter future. Wealth and a good life for his wife and daughter were no longer out of reach.

He walked along the long street of Outer City, treading on piled white snow, entered the shop, grabbed two taels of wine, then cut some pork head meat and braised beef, setting off toward home.

As dusk settled, the streetlights became sparse.

From a distance, Li Che spotted the faint glow of an oil lamp from his Earthen House.

His mind wandered to the sound of his adorable daughter XiXi babbling as she learned to speak, and a smile tugged at his lips.

Standing before the Earthen House, he reached out to call his wife Zhang Ya to open the door.

But suddenly, something caught Li Che’s peripheral vision. His breath hitched as the air around him seemed to freeze.

His neck, as if stiffened, slowly twisted.

His eyes rested on the bottom left of the wooden door where, atop a thick layer of snow, sat a small palm-sized wooden carving, placed silently.

It depicted a child with three heads and six arms sitting on a lotus pedestal, its face broken between a smile and a smirk, with its eyes flickering open and shut.

After staring for a long time…

Li Che began to hear what sounded like a child’s laughter and cries in his ears!

“Spirit Infant Cult Leader?!”

Li Che’s face darkened as he scanned his surroundings, his furious eyes brimming with menace.

Had he just attracted unwanted attention?!

After all, XiXi was barely one month old!

Lei Chunlan!

Where are you?! Show yourself!

Yet all was silent except for the falling snow and the tentative babble of XiXi from inside.

He reached out and grabbed the wooden carving – it was nothing more than an ordinary piece of wood…

But it sent out a very different signal that instantly froze the joy in his heart.

It was as if a thief, before stealing, had marked his territory.

Perhaps that was exactly what the other party intended.

With a grim expression, Li Che thought for a moment, then tossed the Spirit Infant Wooden Carving into the woodpile. He planned to take it to the shop the next day to inquire further.

Only after all was done did his smile return.

Home… should always be a place of good news rather than worries.

“Honey, you’re back?”

Zhang Ya opened the door as the wind and snow rushed in. Seeing Li Che carrying wine and meat, her eyes lit up with delight.

She knew her husband must have had some wonderful news to share.

When she learned that Li Che had become a woodcarver at Xu Ji’s Wood Carving Shop, she couldn’t help but cheer like a young girl. Embracing him tightly, she bounced with excitement, setting Li Che’s heart aflutter.

“Honey, tonight we must celebrate properly!”

Zhang Ya lifted her smooth chin, beaming with joy.

Li Che wrapped his arm around her and replied with a sly smile, “So, how do you plan on celebrating?”

Seeing his smirk, Zhang Ya instantly realized his mischievous intent, and her pretty face flushed a soft red.

Li Che then took out the five taels of monthly pay he had received earlier and informed her of his plan to move into the wood carving shop.

Zhang Ya was taken aback; though the idea of moving made her uneasy, she didn’t press for details.

Wherever her husband went, she and their daughter would follow.

Besides, Zhang Ya knew that the wood carving shop was far safer than their current place…

After dinner, Zhang Ya put little XiXi to bed early, and it was only then that the couple carefully indulged in a passionate moment.

On the bed, Zhang Ya’s dark hair spread out as she drifted into a deep sleep.

Meanwhile, Li Che, feeling refreshed, sat by a flickering oil lamp and pulled out Tang’s Mechanism Chronicle he had borrowed from Old Chen.

The Dao Fruit [Xiangong] began to tremble once more.

With enlightened eyes, Li Che started to peruse the book, studying its contents intently.

It detailed various ingenious mechanisms – some of which were lethally powerful.

As he read on, Li Che, with the insight granted by the Dao Fruit, became completely absorbed by the ingenious designs and brilliant creativity.

However, the book only recorded a total of twelve mechanisms. Nine of them required inner energy and divine essence to craft.

At that moment, Li Che decided not to consider them.

He opted instead to create the remaining three mechanisms – ones that could be made without inner energy or divine essence – namely, the “Sleeve Crossbow,” “Guanyin Blood Lotus,” and “Thousand Silk Spider.”

He gathered some scrap wood he had brought back from the shop to begin crafting the Sleeve Crossbow.

Mainly because it was somewhat similar to his original design for a crossbow, so he could start building it right away.

The sound of the carving knife slicing through the wood and the rustle of wood fibers filled the night…

Until the first rays of dawn tore through the darkness, covering the snow-laden land.

At last, Li Che completed the delicate and compact Sleeve Crossbow!

【Dao Fruit: Xiangong (lv2 19%)】

The moment he finished, a surge of knowledge about the Sleeve Crossbow’s techniques flooded his mind, while a prompt flashed before his eyes.

Li Che’s eyes lit up; he was thrilled to discover that crafting the Sleeve Crossbow had boosted his Dao Fruit’s maturity by 10%!

He began referring to that percentage as the Dao Fruit Maturity. Once it filled up, the Dao Fruit would evolve – much like achieving a breakthrough in cultivation.

“Is the boost given based on the mechanism’s difficulty?” Li Che wondered curiously.

Originally, progress with the Dao Fruit was slow, which had made him anxious.

But now it seemed he had found another way to enhance it.

However, there were only a few mechanisms documented, and Li Che couldn’t help but feel a twinge of regret.

“But since the Mechanism Chronicle details twelve mechanisms, if I craft them all, it should be enough to raise Xiangong to Lv3!” Li Che’s eyes gleamed with excitement as his heart raced.

There was still hope!

Having mastered the Sleeve Crossbow techniques, Li Che was eager to test them. If he could harness his inner energy and blood, the crossbow’s power would soar even higher!

But a glance at his sleeping wife and daughter made him stifle his impulse.

He got up, stretched, and felt his bones crackle with each movement.

Perhaps it was the influence of the Dao Fruit – despite an all-nighter, he felt refreshed and energized.

He tucked the Sleeve Crossbow into his sleeve. Though the wooden crossbow and its crude arrows weren’t very durable, the sharpened wooden tips packed a punch and were light enough to craft on the fly.

After arriving in the kitchen, Li Che prepared breakfast.

Yet his gaze involuntarily fell on the Spirit Infant Wooden Carving he had tossed into the woodpile.

Frowning, he paused to ponder before suddenly shaking his head.

“No, I can’t leave XiXi and her mother in the Earthen House… it’s not safe.”