Chapter 30: Twilight Encounters

Li Che returned to the Woodcarving Shop. The sky had gradually turned dark.

During a heavy snowfall, dusk came much earlier than usual.

He arrived at his own courtyard, where lights illuminated the space and XiXi was playing with Old Chen.

Old Chen adored XiXi so much that whenever they played outside, he would use his Inner Strength to warm a patch of ground, driving away the biting cold so the little girl could play happily without catching a chill.

“Back already? How was the Inner City? It must have been eye-opening,” Old Chen said with a smile.

“The Inner City is as bustling as you’d imagine—worlds apart from the Outer City,” Li Che replied, unable to deny its splendor.

Old Chen scoffed, “Those living in the Inner City come from prominent families or, at worst, minor clans. They always manage to secure a much better living environment.”

“But the Outer City is a melting pot—a mix of migrants, refugees, and locals. The elites of the Inner City couldn’t care less about the masses,” he added.

The topic grew heavy, and knowing that Old Chen had once fled to Feilei City himself, Li Che chose not to press further.

He offered Old Chen a jar of fine wine from the Inner City.

“This is exquisite wine from Jinhuang Pavilion in the Inner City. I brought you an entire jar—and it wasn’t cheap, costing five taels of silver!”

Old Chen’s face lit up. “I knew you had a good heart, kid!”

Eagerly, he broke the seal on the jar and gulped down a hearty swig, releasing a burst of potent aroma throughout the courtyard.

Old Chen drank deeply, his face flushed with warmth.

“Delicious! Jinhuang Pavilion’s wine is simply delightful!”

“Grandpa… XiXi wants a sip too,” Old Chen heard as he finished his drink. He felt his coat tugged and turned to see little XiXi, her wide, innocent eyes fixed on him.

Kids are naturally curious—they want to taste everything they can.

Li Che burst into laughter, scooped up XiXi, and dashed back inside.

Night had fallen.

Zhang Ya, having carefully arranged the gourmet dishes Li Che had brought from the restaurant, invited Old Chen to dine with her. The Inner City’s flavors were so irresistible that even Old Chen helped himself to two extra bowls of rice.

“Honey, I earned five Gold Leaves this trip. Here, take four, and I’ll keep one for myself,” he said with a smile.

Li Che cheerfully produced the day’s earnings from his wood carvings to share with his wife.

Zhang Ya, with ruby lips, gazed at her husband under the soft glow of the lights, her heart trembling with contentment and delight.

Things were finally looking up.

Earning five Gold Leaves at a time—these were days she had never dared to dream of.

After dinner, she tucked XiXi, who had been playing all day, into bed.

As the night deepened, a profound silence took hold.

A worn-out Zhang Ya soon drifted into a deep sleep.

Li Che, draped in his thin robe, adjusted the quilt for his wife and daughter before quietly leaving the room for his study.

He didn’t start studying or crafting the other mechanisms from Tang’s Mechanism Chronicle.

Instead, he raised his hand, and beneath the oil lamp his arm—smooth as jade—suddenly exuded a hazy, jade-colored vapor.

Within the mist, delicate, fiery-red serpents seemed to slither.

If he hadn’t restrained it with Thousand Analysis Hand, that divine essence might have burrowed into his brain, corroding his consciousness and driving him into delirium with rage.

“So domineering, so terrifying… so eerie,” he murmured.

Li Che’s expression turned extremely solemn.

A weight settled in his heart—this was merely a wisp of the divine essence of the Spirit Infant Cult Leader, entrusted within the wood carvings. If this small fragment existed, one could only imagine how powerful the Spirit Infant Cult Leader truly was!

It was a menacing threat looming over him—more terrifying than Lei Chunlan!

Only by growing stronger—steadily and continuously—could he hope to protect XiXi from the threat of the Spirit Infant Cult Leader.

“And what about the Si Family… Lei Chunlan appearing with them—could it mean that the deaths of those infants are connected to the Si Family?”

“Could it be for the sake of cultivating divine essence?”

Li Che furrowed his brow, his face etched with grave seriousness.

This world was far darker and nastier than he had imagined.

Taking a deep breath, Li Che steadied himself and resumed his studies.

“This wrathful divine essence has now coalesced in my arm. If I unleash the White Tiger Turbulent Wind Fist, perhaps I can harness its power for my own use!”

Li Che’s eyes brightened as he quickly deduced how to utilize the divine essence extracted by Thousand Analysis Hand.

Closing his eyes, he attuned his spirit to the jade-like divine energy within his Thousand Analysis Hand…

Suddenly, Li Che jolted his eyes wide open, feeling the Dao Fruit, Dragon Elephant Vajra, pulsating violently in his chest!

A resounding roar of dragons and trumpeting of elephants filled his ears!

The divine essence siphoned by his Thousand Analysis Hand was being completely drained, like a heated current with each pulsation of the Dao Fruit!

Li Che was utterly astonished.

A prompt appeared before his eyes.

[Dao Fruit: Dragon Elephant Vajra (lv1 60%)]

Li Che’s breath hitched as his eyes shone with vibrant excitement!

Could the Dragon Elephant Vajra Dao Fruit really absorb divine essence to accelerate its ripening?!

Divine essence…

What an incredible boost!

……

……

The next day.

Li Che rose early and headed to the Training Ground at Xu Ji Courtyard.

His cultivation had matured to a perfected Skin Polishing stage, and he was diligently striving to unlock Tendon Burst.

The Training Ground buzzed with its usual fervor.

After some practice, Xu Beihu arrived, trudging through the biting wind and snow.

“Master Li, could you come over here?”

Xu Beihu’s gaze fell on Li Che as he spoke in a deep tone, then led him into the inner room.

Li Che understood all too well why Xu Beihu had come, yet his expression remained unruffled.

Inside the room, a charcoal stove burned brightly; boiling water hissed as tea leaves swirled in the pot.

Once the water had boiled and the tea had steeped three times, a rich aroma filled the air.

Xu Beihu pressed his two fingers together and slid the tea cup in front of Li Che.

“Master Li… Lei Chunlan is dead.”

Sipping his tea swiftly, Xu Beihu murmured in a low tone.

Li Che took a sip, but the tea felt as if it scalded his tongue. In a flurry of fumbling, his eyes lit up with surprise, “What? Lei Chunlan… is dead?”

“She was fine just yesterday… how did she die?”

Xu Beihu continued to watch Li Che intently, his brows furrowing at the genuine shock on his face.

It was said that Sun Changbiao’s death was linked to Li Che—apparently because he had been eyeing his daughter.

As for Lei Chunlan, her death was also connected to Li Che—but the true culprit behind both was the mountain-like brute, Ogre.

Ogre could easily dispatch guards with perfected tendon techniques, a clear sign that his strength had reached a Bone Tempering level—far beyond the simple, steady, and honest Li Che.

Lowering his voice and glancing around, Li Che whispered, “Second Shopkeeper… could it be that Young Master Si killed Lei Chunlan?”

“Rumor has it that Lei Chunlan had done unspeakable atrocities, having killed many children barely a year old… and that the Si scion is cultivating divine essence in a wrathful style…”

Xu Beihu said, “…”

“Stop spouting nonsense!”

“Don’t go spreading such talk outside. Si Mu Bai has no reason to kill Lei Chunlan.”

Xu Beihu was truly at a loss for words. He had intended to test Li Che, but never expected him to directly suspect the Si Family.

Surely, the Si Family would never do such a thing, but…

Xu Beihu fell silent, a chill running down his spine. Perhaps it wasn’t the Si Family—or even the Xu Family—but who knew if other prominent clans might intervene?

Shaking his head, Xu Beihu’s face grew stern. “We need to discuss this matter with the elders in the Inner City and our clan,” he said.

Xu Beihu had come today mainly because Li Che’s cultivation had broken through to perfected Skin Polishing, and now he was here to impart the Muscle-Opening Technique.

“Many thanks, Second Shopkeeper!” Li Che exclaimed as he accepted both the Muscle-Opening Technique and the Inner Strength Technique from Xu Beihu.

Both techniques were of mid-grade quality—no different from what Li Che had purchased in the market. As Old Chen had said, unless you were admitted to Inner City Xu Ji, it was hard to obtain high-quality martial arts.

To his delight, besides the Muscle-Opening Technique and Inner Strength Technique, Xu Beihu also taught him a martial skill.

“Xu Ji Eight-Link Bone-Shattering Spear!”

It was a spear technique that required a weapon, though if one’s body was sufficiently resilient, it could even be executed bare-handed.

Li Che couldn’t take his eyes off it, reading over the instructions again and again.

Seeing Li Che’s delighted expression, Xu Beihu smiled broadly, patted his shoulder, and encouraged him to further hone his woodcarving skills in preparation for becoming a master woodcarver.

After Second Shopkeeper Xu Beihu left,

Li Che practiced the Xu Ji Eight-Link Bone-Shattering Spear at the Training Ground. Thanks to the boost from Dragon Elephant Vajra, his martial aptitude soared, and after just one morning of hard training, he had grasped the basics of this mid-grade spear technique.

Returning to the workshop, he first took on a woodcarving commission then headed out to select timber from the yard.

Li Che was always in the habit of choosing the perfect wood for his carvings himself, leaving the heavy lifting to the laborers—it was, after all, their job, and he didn’t wish to deprive them of their livelihood.

Snow and wind tumbled down from the sky,

swaying as they descended.

Li Che directed the laborers as they moved the timber, preparing to return to the workshop.

That’s when he spotted his Uncle Li Liang, clad in a scholar’s robe with a large overcoat, hurrying over under the escort of a guard, bowing as he rushed.

“Uncle?”

Upon seeing him, Li Che couldn’t help but call out.

At the sound, Old Scholar suddenly looked up, his dark eyes bloodshot and his spirit teetering on the brink of collapse.

The moment he saw Li Che, the old man couldn’t hold back his tears.

“Ah Che, please help Uncle…”