As a father, I just want to quietly watch you live a long life

In the courtyard, the briskly cold snowflakes silently fell.

Quietly laying a pristine white coat upon the earth.

Li Che's lips slightly curled up with a trace of a smile, his mind sinking inward.

There, he saw another Dao Fruit, colored like a rainbow glazed over, hanging from the Dao Tree that rises out of the vast land.

The third Dao Fruit!

After "Immortal Artisan" and "Dragon Elephant Vajra," this was the third one!

"Immortal Artisan" improved Li Che's skills, and "Dragon Elephant Vajra" enhanced his horizontal refinement strength, making his physique unparalleled and his martial talent soar!

Despite this, Li Che was still unable to deduce what the third Dao Fruit might be.

He felt the anticipation and excitement of opening a mystery box.

["Pure Heart (Dao Fruit): The mind is pristine, like a bodhi, untainted by dust, cultivating the nature without blemish."]

With the fluctuations of his mind, the hints and introduction regarding "Pure Heart" emerged before his eyes.

"The mind is pristine... as if a bodhi."

"Untainted by dust, cultivating the nature without blemish..."

Li Che muttered the introduction, his breath gradually quickening.

"Cultivating nature... cultivating divinity?"

Cultivation in this realm is divided into three types: body refinement, Inner Strength, and Divinity!

Divinity is the most difficult, but also the most mysterious and powerful.

To cultivate Divinity, apart from needing a Divine Cultivation Method, one also needs to train both the body and Inner Strength to a powerful degree, in short, body refinement and Inner Strength... are but preparations for cultivating Divinity.

Li Che once curiously inquired with Xu You about the content of Divine Cultivation, and Xu You did not conceal it.

"Body refinement must reach the Blood Exchange level, only at the Blood Exchange Realm can one stimulate the organs with blood to absorb and store Divinity, and Inner Strength needs to reach the Three Heavens level to cultivate Divinity."

"What is Divinity? All things under the heavens possess spirit, but humans alone have divine charm, which is Divinity. Absorbing and training Divinity, transcending the mundane world, is the very source of humanity's primacy!"

Xu You introduced to Li Che.

"Human Divinity can be divided into the Seven Emotions and Six Desires: joy, anger, sorrow, thought, grief, fear, shock—each of the Seven Emotions is a major category of Divinity, the Six Desires can be distinguished as well, but the Seven Emotions Divinity is more communal."

"Each major category of Divinity can be further divided into branches, each of which is a possible foundation for crafting the Divine Base; for example, the Si Family's 'Angry Cry Town Ghost' Divine Base belongs to the 'Divinity of Sorrow.' Similarly, the 'Terrifying Trace of Light' Divine Base of Divine Catcher Zhang Xiangyang in the Inner City Yamen belongs to the 'Divinity of Fear' branch."

A breeze stirred, ushering the chill of winter cold.

Li Che felt the recently obtained Dao Fruit "Pure Heart," and with the stimulation, his six senses seemed to grow sharper, able to catch the Divinity that freely roamed between heaven and earth.

In his eyes, many Divinities glowed faintly, like fireflies in the night sky, fluttering ceaselessly, gradually accumulating around him, and diffusing into his body.

Finally, it accumulated within the Pure Heart.

"Can the Dao Fruit 'Pure Heart' let me cultivate Divinity?"

Li Che was pleasantly surprised.

Xu You had said that Divine Cultivators with their combat strength far surpass those who had cultivated body and Inner Strength. If they managed to forge a Divine Base, it would be extremely terrifying; unless facing Grandmasters of Channel Opening, other warriors would easily be crushed.

Divine Methods are incredibly precious, the foundation of an entire lineage. Even Xu Ji would rarely impart a Divine Method to outsiders, and even if one became a Woodcarving Master, what one would get was merely the Lower Divine Method.

"Xu You had educated me on the realms of Divine Cultivation; the first realm is Nurturing Nature, a Minor Accomplishment in Nurturing Nature is not weaker than Blood Exchange, and with Nurturing Nature to Perfection, one can even fight a Meridian Martial Artist.

The second realm is Divine Base, forging the root of Divinity, shedding worldly nature, and even a Meridian Martial Artist can be suppressed!"

Li Che took a deep breath, recalling the information about Divinity that Xu You had mentioned.

...

["Name: Li Che"]

["Bonds: Li Nuanxi (daughter)"]

["Dao Fruits: Immortal Artisan (lv3, 5%), Dragon Elephant Vajra (lv1, 70%), Pure Heart (lv1, 0%)"]

["Prototype of Divine Skills: Immortal Worker: Thousand Analyzing Hands"]

...

Before his eyes, the panel popped up.

This past year, since Dao Fruit "Immortal Worker" reached lv3, its progress had become increasingly slow. Of course, it was also because Li Che had devoted more time to the martial path.

However, the main reason was the extreme difficulty of the mechanisms Li Che intended to create.

"Tang's Mechanism Essentials" detailed twelve mechanisms, three of which were relatively basic, and Li Che had already completed them.

The remaining nine all involved qi and blood as well as Inner Strength, and even... touched upon Divinity.

Therefore, the difficulty skyrocketed. Fortunate to have the assistance of the lv3 "Immortal Worker" Dao Fruit and coupled with the collection of materials, after a year, Li Che finally succeeded in creating the seventh-ranked mechanism in "Tang's Mechanism Essentials".

"Wood Raven," ranked seventh in "Tang's Mechanism Essentials," was a mechanical beast painstakingly crafted by Li Che.

As for his physical cultivation, the martial talent elevated by the "Dragon Elephant Vajra" Dao Fruit enabled Li Che's own cultivation to advance from Complete Meridian Opening successfully into Bone Tempering.

The Bone Tempering Realm required a painstaking effort, which aside from daily practice and endurance, also needed plenty of dietary supplements.

Li Che's Bone Tempering Method was scavenged from the marketplace, called the "Eighteen Tiger Bone Refining Method," which cost him eight hundred taels, also sold by the merchant who sold him the "Xu Family's Nine Tendon Technique".

Regrettably, the merchant didn't have the ability to obtain a superior Internal Strength Technique.

He rose amidst the snowstorm, all his bones crackling loudly, reminiscent of firecrackers exploding, throwing a punch that thrust forward like a spear, appearing to split the very air!

The martial technique "White Tiger Chaotic Wind Fist" had already been mastered by Li Che to a master level, just half a step away from reaching the Transformation Realm.

Any martial technique can be divided, according to the level of mastery, into beginner, Minor Accomplishment, Major Accomplishment, Master, and Transformation Realm!

Once the Transformation Realm is achieved, it can even draw on the Divinity between heaven and earth, greatly enhancing the power of the martial technique!

"Bone Tempering Great Achievement, Master level boxing technique, and Master level Bone-Shattering Spear..."

"Now, even without invoking "Dragon Elephant Vajra Transformation," my cultivation in Feilei Outer City belongs to the top tier..."

A smile appeared at the corner of Li Che's lips.

But that was only in Feilei Outer City. In the Outer City, a Quenched-Bone Warrior could strut proudly; however, in the Inner City... not to mention the juniors of the major noble families who were nurtured with dietary supplements from a young age and cultivated with superior methods.

Whether in body refinement or Inner Strength, they were far superior to Outer City martial artists, after all... it was only in the Blood Exchange Realm that Divinity could be nurtured, and one could become a Divine Cultivator of the Nature Nurturing Realm.

"If I were to invoke Vajra Transformation... I wonder if I could crush a Blood Exchange Warrior?"

Li Che pondered, as he had never clashed with one and wasn't quite sure how strong a Blood Exchange Warrior was.

The immense burst of physical strength brought about by the Vajra Transformation should be able to reach the level of "One Force Breaks Ten Thousand Laws."

"It's a pity that the enhancement from Dragon Elephant Vajra is too slow. To reach lv2, perhaps my own martial cultivation needs to break through to the Blood Exchange level..."

After toying around with the "Xu Family's Eight Consecutive Bone-Shattering Spears" in the courtyard for a while longer, Li Che sat down cross-legged, calming his mind, ready to start exploring the effects of the Dao Fruit "Pure Heart."

He sat on the ground, letting the falling snow accumulate on him without moving.

His spirit sank, immersing into the pulsating Dao Fruit "Pure Heart."

It was as if another heart had emerged within his body, its faint thumping connecting to the Divinity between heaven and earth.

A quarter, two quarters, three quarters of an hour...

Li Che's mind became crystal clear, akin to an old monk deep in meditation.

Snow had piled up thickly around his body.

An hour later.

Li Che finally opened his eyes, a faint white light flickering from the depths of his eyes.

[Dao Fruit: Pure Heart (lv1, 1%)]

Although he had no Divine Method and had not practiced a Divine Cultivation Method, Pure Heart could help him absorb the Divinity of heaven and earth, somewhat serving as a Divine Cultivation Method.

"The Divinity I've cultivated is pure and spotless, flawless and unblemished, not belonging to any lineage of Divine Methods..."

Li Che's brow furrowed involuntarily...

"So this... how should it be categorized?"

"In the future... what kind of Divine Foundation should I forge?"

Suddenly, Li Che seemed to think of something, his eyes flickering slightly...

With every beat of his heart, ambition surged wildly!

ps: Asking for Monthly Tickets, asking for support in following the story! A new PK has started, and it seems a bit fierce. Please don't just collect and nurture the book! Old Li gives his thanks!