The snowflakes were instantly shredded, exploding into powder.

    Li Qingshan, wearing a cat-face mask, hunched over as he exited the Mysterious Temple.

    He leaped onto a lush and verdant pine tree, straight as a spear.

    Under the black cat-face mask, two eyes flickered with a ghostly glow.

    "Li Che, lad, his mind drawn in and settled within, has observed the divine for two hours. Hopefully, the youngster can withstand it and not be harmed in spirit by the Temple God''s divinity..."

    Li Qingshan muttered to himself.

    Then he turned his head towards the distance, only to see a figure in a white robe, with a white mask on, slowly walking through the snowy forest, with loose hair fluttering in the snow.

    On the smooth and polished white mask, no facial features were delineated.

    The newcomer had several statues hanging around his waist, each the size of a palm, carved with children''s images, some worshipping Buddha, some crying, each with a unique and vivid expression.

    However, few possessed divinity; clearly, none were from the hand of a master.

    "You''ve appeared again..."

    "Time and again, do you wish to battle me once more today?"

    The man in the white mask said, his voice somewhat hoarse.

    Li Qingshan narrowed his eyes, focusing on the wood carvings hanging on the man''s waist: "Sacrificing to the Temple God... you''ve really got some nerve, huh?"

    The man sighed softly and shook his head: "It''s just a desperate attempt at a cure in dire straits... If it were you, wouldn''t you do the same?"

    "After all, we are just minor cultivators from the countryside, not the heaven''s chosen of the Divine Sects with resources abound, nor the Divine Weapons Reserve supported by the Imperial Court''s Divine Arsenal. Everything we have... we must fight for ourselves."

    "Sacrificing... is also a gamble."

    Li Qingshan shook his head and did not say much more.

    Everyone who does evil finds a justification of their own, and others cannot sway their thinking.

    "Come on, old man. Though most of my divinity has not descended the mountain, it''s more than enough to entertain you."

    Boom—!

    Countless snowflakes burst from the ground as Li Qingshan''s body became entwined with divinity, and behind the man in the white mask rose a millstone-like Divine Base.

    The two engaged in battle.

    Li Qingshan intentionally or unintentionally veered off the battlefield, clashing towards the deeper parts of the mountain woods.

    ...

    ...

    Inside the Mysterious Temple.

    The candlelight flickered incessantly.

    Li Che''s heart throbbed, this was the boldest thing he had undertaken thus far.

    Bolder even than the first time he had decided to kill.

    However, his impulsiveness was not a whim; after all... he had "Flying Thunder Chess Saint." Should something feel amiss, he could trigger the Dao Fruit, instantly teleport to the chess piece anchor point within the city, and leave.

    Li Qingshan had said that Temple Gods of Tenth Capital Level Mysterious Temples corresponded to Divine Base Realm and, although they were far stronger than typical Divine Base Cultivators.

    But now, Li Che believed that beings at the Divine Base level... probably couldn''t block his Dao Fruit''s ability.

    With this thought, Li Che''s gaze became fierce.

    His fingers opened and closed, gradually pressing down.

    And landed on the "Three-Eyed Wrathful True Lord Child Statue," full of wrath.

    In an instant, an extremely hot sensation spread from within his palm, as if what he had grabbed was not a statue but a red-hot branding iron, forged and tempered a thousand times!

    Li Che''s eyebrows knitted together tightly, his mind exceedingly cautious.

    His arm glowed with a jade color, shrouded in a hazy mist.

    The Prototype of Divine Powers, Thousand Analyzing Hands!

    In faint and indistinct glimpses, it seemed that strands of divinity were being siphoned from the Temple God statue, beginning to condense into the shape of a chess piece.

    But...

    Compared to condensing the Divine Chess Piece from the deceased Zhao Xuanhai, it was much more difficult.

    Li Che might fail as a son, but Old Chen had his Dawn Treasure.

    The following day.

    After sending Xi Xi and Lu Chi to the Divine Cultivation Institute, Li Che went to his private workshop.

    Having reached the Qi Channels stage in martial cultivation, the usual practice was to train by mobilizing the body''s blood and Qi, gathering Qi in the five viscera, circulating the Minor Circulation, and accumulating and strengthening the Inner Qi, which were the primary direction for this stage of practice.

    It was similarly a grind.

    Even the cultivation of Divinity was not neglected, practicing the "Wrathful Maitreya" Divinity and refining Zhao Xuanhai''s Divine Chess Piece. It must be said that Li Che''s Divine Cultivation progressed at an incredibly fast pace.

    The stream of Divinity within the Inner Scene of the Energy Center was constantly growing.

    Once he had completed a series of daily essentials.

    Li Che put on a wide-brimmed hat and a Cute Bull Mask, transforming into the Bull Demon. His mind touched the "Chess Saint" Dao Fruit, and through the anchor point placed under the altar of the Mysterious Temple, he observed the situation inside the temple. Only then did he activate the Flying Thunder Chess Saint''s teleportation.

    With a clench of his hand, Li Che held a white chess piece.

    But his figure had already arrived inside the dim "Three-Eyed Fierce True Lord Spirit Child Mysterious Temple."

    The temple was extremely quiet, filled with the pungent smell of candle fire.

    Li Che rubbed his hands together and floated up to the altar, beginning to siphon the Temple God''s Divinity.

    It took roughly two hours to siphon half of a Divine Chess Piece.

    It would take two days to gather a complete piece.

    This efficiency was heaven and earth compared to when he siphoned Zhao Xuanhai''s Divinity.

    Days passed by, one by one.

    Ten days drifted by like grains of sand between the fingers.

    Having made a promise to the Young City Lord Cao Qingyuan regarding the wood carving, Li Che didn''t have the slightest inclination to start carving.

    Having learned the purpose of the City Lord''s Mansion''s conscription of Woodcarving Masters to carve statues, Li Che no longer had the heart to carve.

    Inside the Mysterious Temple.

    Li Che deftly jumped onto the altar and stared at the "Three-Eyed Wrathful True Lord Child Statue" that seemed both angry and aggrieved for a while.

    "Old buddy, I''m here again..."

    Striving to condense the fifth Temple God Divinity Chess Piece today.

    "I''m about to finish refining Zhao Xuanhai''s Divine Chess Piece... and my current ''Wrathful Maitreya'' Divinity has barely reached the ''Cultivation as Riverlike'' level. Afterward, I won''t have Zhao Xuanhai''s Divine Chess Pieces to refine."

    "Fortunately, this Temple God''s Divine Chess Piece also belongs to the lineage of ''Wrath Divinity''..."

    "I just don''t know how much more I can fleece from this Temple God''s Divinity. Is it enough... for me to forge a Divine Foundation?"

    Li Che flashed a radiant grin.

    Familiarly reaching out towards the almost varnished head of the Child Temple God, he began to condense his hand motion.

    ...

    ...

    Dark clouds piled up layer upon layer.

    The atmosphere was claustrophobic and oppressive, with electric dragons tumbling amidst them.

    Cold raindrops poured down from the sky, pelting the ground, exploding into mist, and shrouding the human world.

    In the Inner City, the Xu Family.

    Outside the Divine Cultivation Institute.

    Electric light revealed one tall, dark shadow after another. They were dressed in black, wore wide-brimmed hats, and donned children''s masks, moving silently through the rain.

    "The Xu Family''s Divine Cultivation Institute... still has two Spirit Children."

    "Old Xu of the Xu Family has already struck a deal with the City Lord''s Mansion... agreed to turn a blind eye..."

    A tall figure adjusted his wide-brimmed hat.

    "Heh? Two Spirit Children? Since we''ve come... naturally, we should take away all the Spirit Children of Xu Family''s Divine Cultivation Institute."

    "Act quickly, capture them and leave, and deliver them to the City Lord''s Mansion."

    "Once this matter is settled, our Yang Family can organize our clan to immediately withdraw from Fei Lei City."