Chapter 4 Immortal Works Upgrade, Bad News Arrives

The wood was a scrap he brought back from a wood carving shop. It was just a small piece and no one cared about it.

The carving knife was prepared when he wanted to learn wood carving by himself. He asked a craftsman from a blacksmith shop in the west of the city to make it specially. The whole set was not cheap. Now, it finally came in handy.

[Immortal Work] The Dao Fruit leaped and a feeling as if divine help surged into my heart.

Since it was just a trial run, Li Che did not choose to use ink lines to outline the shape, but directly used the knife. With the help of Daoguo, Li Che felt that the carving shape of the "Six-eyed Bodhisattva Statue" was completely engraved in his heart.

Just like Master Chen, he has carved the Six-eyed Bodhisattva wood sculpture hundreds and thousands of times, and practice makes perfect.

When cutting every part of the wood, he has his own control over the spatial image from the outside to the inside, and the amount of force used when cutting.

However, since I was doing it myself, I was still a little awkward. But this awkwardness in the connection between my fingers, the carving knife and the wood was slowly smoothed out as I progressed in carving and gained proficiency.

The knife skills gradually became more graceful, and even developed a unique charm, which was a sign that the skills had reached maturity.

Mature knife skills require continuous accumulation of experience.

But Li Che seemed to have touched the "Six-Eyed Bodhisattva" through the Dao Fruit of [Immortal Craftsmanship], and was slowly absorbing Master Chen's many years of carving knife skills like a sponge.

The sharp carving knife rubbed against the wood and made a rustling sound.

The oil lamp flickered and crackled, and debris fell down. In Li Che's palm, a miniature "Six-eyed Bodhisattva Statue" the size of a palm with prominent edges and corners gradually took shape.

Although it has not been polished and the edges and lines are extremely rough, the shape has already emerged like a masterpiece of nature!

After coaxing Xixi to sleep, Zhang Ya, who was standing by, was amazed when she saw Li Che carving out a rough draft of the statue in just a short while.

Looking at Li Che who was immersed in the carving, Zhang Ya did not dare to disturb him and could only suppress the curiosity in her heart.

She didn't sleep either. She sat beside the bed, quietly watching Li Che carving intently under the oil lamp.

As he looked at her, his eyes became slightly blurred, the corners of his lips pursed, and a smile blossomed.

She thought her husband might have given up woodcarving a long time ago, but she never expected...

My husband never gave up and has been working hard to learn. Now... he has a surprise for her! "I wonder if you can become a woodcarver in a woodcarving shop, even as an apprentice... Then you don't have to work so hard every day to carry heavy wood and woodcarvings."

Zhang Ya's wish is simple and plain. She just hopes that her husband can easily earn money to support the family.

Li Che, who was immersed in the carving, soon came to his senses, because the six-eyed Bodhisattva statue was already carved and there was no need to use a knife anymore, although it had not been polished and was not considered a finished product.

But Li Che was extremely happy.

Suddenly, he seemed to sense something and his mind moved.

[Tao Fruit: Immortal Work (lv1, 10%)]

Huh?!

Li Che's eyes lit up, and he found that the experience-like hint in the suffix of Daoguo [Xiangong] had increased a little.

"If I carve a piece of wood, can I gain experience? Is it similar to proficiency?"

"Or maybe it was because I touched the wood carving of the Six-Eyed Bodhisattva, learned the carving techniques of the Six-Eyed Bodhisattva, and successfully carved it, so I got a 10% improvement?"

From this perspective, this fruit... can actually be understood as a fruit that has just been formed but is not yet ripe.

Only under his slow ripening can the true power of the Tao Fruit be unlocked.

Li Che couldn't help but guess in his heart.

Unfortunately, I didn't bring any wood back, so I couldn't try it right away.

He could only suppress his curiosity. He stood up and stretched, then saw his wife Zhang Ya leaning against the head of the bed, taking a nap with her eyes closed.

Li Che knew that his wife was waiting for him to sleep together, and his heart couldn't help but warm.

It was a freezing cold day, so he quickly blew out the oil lamp and pulled his wife, who had been awakened, into bed.

It was snowing heavily outside.

It fell on the roof which was covered with thick snow, making a slight sound.

Accompanied by excellent sleep.

…

…

The next day, Li Che went to work at Xuji Woodcarving Shop as usual.

"Master Chen, can I take this piece of scrap back to practice?"

During the break, Li Che came up to Master Chen, looked at the scraps of "Flower Quliu" that fell from the carving, and couldn't help but speak.

Master Chen's beard was covered with sawdust. He glanced at Li Che and said, "Are you planning to learn wood carving? You are thoughtful and have the talent, but it's a pity that you are a little old. However, it's good that you have this intention. You can take the scraps from my carvings as you like."

Li Che has been working for Master Chen for some years, so Master Chen's attitude towards Li Che is naturally much more tolerant.

Li Che was delighted and thanked him quickly, then began to select scraps that could be used for training.

Master Chen took a look, smiled silently, shook his head, and continued to calm down and began to carve "Nine Sons Embracing Lotus".

Li Che collected the selected waste materials, wrapped them in cloth and placed them in his workstation, then ran to the yard, using the excuse of adjusting the moved wood carvings to touch them.

[Immortal Craftsmanship] Daoguo trembled slightly. This time, he touched a wood carving called "Spring Fills the Universe". It required extremely delicate carving and patience. The carving outlined the lifelike leaves and depicted the artistic conception of spring.

After Li Che touched it, a familiar feeling came over him.

It’s as if I see a female woodcarver, holding a carving knife, engraving the world, with her fingers pointing at the universe, and spring blooming from the wood.

A lot of information about the techniques and skills of the "Spring in the Universe" wooden sculpture came to my mind.

Li Che was delighted. Just like touching the statue of "Six-eyed Bodhisattva", he also learned a kind of wood carving.

However, when he touched other wood carvings, Daoguo no longer reacted, obviously he had to study a certain number of times every day.

In the next few days, Li Che studied the [Xiangong] Daoguo.

The Immortal Craftsmanship of All Things, God's Hand, Unparalleled Skills! Touching the statues will allow you to learn the techniques and skills of wood carving. For each wood carving, the experience value will increase by 10%, but it will only provide experience once. In other words, Li Che needs to learn and carve ten kinds of wood carvings to upgrade the Immortal Craftsmanship to level 2...

There is no wrong version in the 1619 book forum!

After figuring out the use of the Dao Fruit, Li Che felt that there was hope for the future! ...

…

The days go by.

A month passed quickly.

Xixi is one month old now. Her bright eyes are blinking. In her cradle, she is waving her chubby little hands, looking at the world with curiosity.

Li Che took a rattle he made by himself and teased Xixi, making the little girl giggle non-stop.

Xixi loves to laugh and has dimples when she laughs, just like her mother.

Zhang Ya, who was standing by, was mending old clothes. Watching the interaction between the father and daughter, her eyes sparkling with tenderness and satisfaction.

"My husband, how is your proposal to become a woodcarving master going?"

Zhang Ya asked curiously.

Li Che has been carving various kinds of wood carvings every night this month, which dazzled Zhang Ya. She realized how exquisite her husband's craftsmanship is.

In her blind worship, she even felt that her husband was much better than the apprentices in the wood carving shop, and was even not inferior to the wood carving masters.

"The third shopkeeper said... I have to follow the rules. He asked me to take the woodcarving level test with those students who paid to learn woodcarving. Only after passing the test can I move into the shop and become a woodcarving master."

Li Che teased Xixi, causing her to stretch out her little hand to grab the rattle, while answering Zhang Ya's questions.

Zhang Ya nodded, pursed her lips and said firmly: "My husband will definitely be able to do it!"

Li Che smiled, full of energy and confidence in his eyes.

My heart was moved.

[Tao Fruit: Immortal Work (lv2, 8%)]

After a month of unremitting touch on various wood carvings and working overtime at night, he finally upgraded his Dao Fruit to level 2.

The lv2 level of Immortal Craftsmanship Dao Fruit improves Li Che in terms of meaning. The wooden sculptures he carves can incorporate his own strong meaning into them.

Moreover, Li Che's hand skills have become extremely powerful, and his five fingers are extremely flexible. Not only carpentry, but also some difficult mechanical tricks, Li Che is confident that he can easily set up.

After playing with Xixi for a while, Li Che went out to prepare for work.

The wind and snow have subsided a lot, and the cold winter is coming to an end.

But the air was still icy and chilly.

As soon as I walked out of the house, I saw a familiar figure in the distance. He was holding a pipe, frowning, and wearing a tattered Confucian robe and a long coat, walking hurriedly towards me.

"Uncle."

Li Che shouted.

After learning that Xixi was not pregnant, the uncle, who was influenced by the patriarchal ideology, had not visited Xixi for a month. However, the aunt came once and gave some eggs to Zhang Ya to nourish her body.

"Che'er, are you ready to go to work? That's just right." The old scholar's brows were still furrowed, and had not relaxed.

Li Che nodded, and saw the old scholar holding a pipe in his mouth. He hesitated for a while before speaking, "Che'er, have you heard?"

"Grandma Lei who delivered Xiaoya..."

"Killed several kids..."

"I heard that...the ones killed were all the babies she had delivered!"

(End of this chapter)