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

Fei Lei City, Inner City.

An independent workshop courtyard.

Li Che sat cross-legged.

The cold air condensed the moisture in the sky, and the falling snowflakes, landing on his shoulders, silently melted and evaporated.

He slowly opened his eyes, and the air currents in the entire courtyard surged wildly.

His bones collided with a roaring sound, his blood circled vigorously, like a mountain torrent bursting, a muffled sound transmitted from beneath his skin!

"Blood Exchange Nine Shifts, the real Blood Exchange Great Perfection..."

Li Che's eyes blazed, and the breath he exhaled was sharp as a knife.

"And my Inner Strength..."

Li Che lifted his hand, and a hot stream tumbled in his palm, while on his arm, four black lotus flowers bloomed.

"Prison Lotus Subduing Ghost Internal Force... Fourfold Heaven!"

The powerful Inner Strength rolled like tides, merging into his blood, greatly bolstering his force.

Blood Exchange Nine Shifts, combined with Inner Strength of Fourfold Heaven...

Today's Li Che, even without activating [Dragon Elephant Vajra], could unleash power close to the Channel Opening stage with just his horizontally refined physique. If he activated the Dragon Elephant Vajra, with its unparalleled horizontal refinement, his burst of power could reach the peak of Initial Stage of Meridian Opening at the Qi Vessel Level!

The Meridian Connection Realm is divided into several smaller realms: Qi Channels, Mysterious Vein, and Divine Vein.

Meridian Cultivators can spar with those cultivating like a lamp-nurturing nature.

If one reaches the Mysterious Vein level, horizontal refinement becomes more terrifying, and even Divine Cultivators nurturing nature like a stream can be challenged.

As for Divine Pulse Martial Artists, they stand at the very pinnacle of the Meridian Connection Realm, their bodies and blood as strong as refined steel, a breath in and out like a roaring dragon, using their blood to nurture essence, capable of competing with a Divine Cultivator who is like a river-nurturing nature.

And above the Divine Pulse Martial Artists are those known as Grandmasters, exceedingly rare!

Even though most Divine Cultivators assist physical cultivation with their Divinity to speed up advancement, most of those with riverlike nurturing nature only achieve the initial Meridian Opening Qi Channels level in their horizontal refinement.

A few may reach the Mysterious Vein, but there are even fewer at the Divine Vein level.

Even among Divine Cultivators, to cultivate a Divine Vein requires decades of daily arduous cultivation and practice. Having enjoyed the rapid ascent from Divinity, how could they have the patience to polish and refine?

"Besides blood and Inner Strength..."

Li Che's eyes sparkled, his greatest gain in the past half year.

With a clench of his five fingers, Divinity howled out from his palm, the sobbing cry swirling around with his every move.

Angry Cry Suppressing Ghost!

The [Nine Luminaries Angry Cry Suppressing Ghost Nourishing Nature Record] of the Si Family had been completely cultivated by Li Che, and he had successfully reached the "Nurture Nature like a Lamp" stage!

Most importantly, Li Che had discovered a minor use for [Pure Heart].

That is, Pure Heart could conceal and hide the aura of Divinity he cultivated, just like Dragon Elephant Vajra.

It disguised him as an ordinary person who had never cultivated Divinity.

"The Divine Foundation Fragment from Elder Master Si... If I could completely refine it, I might be able to advance to the 'Cultivation as Riverlike' stage."

"However, even with the help of Pure Heart, it will take some time."

Li Che pondered, summarizing his current overall strength.

The improvement was undeniably tremendous!

The him of today, if he met Si Mubai again, would not need to resort to a sneak attack, he could simply smash him to pieces outright!

A long breath he exhaled, and the wind howled.

After organizing his thoughts about his cultivation.

Li Che looked up, the snowflakes gently falling from the sky, landing on his cheek, melting, feeling extremely cold.

"Today... Xi Xi turns three."

A mutter.

Thump, thump, thump!

Suddenly, the world fell into a sudden silence.

In Li Che's chest, wave after wave of intense pulsations came, as Dao Fruits [Immortal Artisan], [Pure Heart], and [Dragon Elephant Vajra] began to beat energetically.

Before his eyes... familiar images slowly emerged!

The vast and profound earth, a sacred tree towering into the clouds, sprouted from the ground, its leaves quivering with shimmering light!

A multicolored fruit, overflowing with luster, projected the images of Xi Xi's growth over the past year.

Her black hair fluttering in the wind.

Li Che's eyes shone brightly.

Unknowingly...

Another year had passed.

A year of protection and anticipation, finally bearing fruit today.

Xi Xi at three, the fourth Dao Fruit...

Has arrived!

...

[Your daughter turned three, lively and clever, growing up safe and sound, and obtained the Dao Fruit "Chess Saint"]

...

Before my eyes, prompts slowly emerged, interwoven with flashing lights.

The Fourth Dao Fruit!

Following the Immortal Artisan, Dragon Elephant Vajra, and Pure Heart, the expectation for the fourth Dao Fruit swelled within Li Che's heart.

Even though he already possessed three, when it came to Dao Fruits... he never deemed them too many.

Each Dao Fruit brought him great aid, be it in life, on the martial path, or in the realm of divinity.

Yet he had no clue what role the fourth Dao Fruit would play.

Thus, it brought Li Che the thrill of opening a mystery box.

However, as soon as the name of the fourth Dao Fruit appeared, Li Che was somewhat taken aback.

"Chess... Chess Saint?"

Li Che's brow furrowed slightly, and the joy on his face seemed to momentarily freeze.

He, Li Che...

Was not really good at playing chess.

He could play connect-five, but as for other forms of chess, besides knowing the rules, he was mostly ignorant.

[Chess Saint (Dao Fruit): Heaven and earth as chessboard, divinity condensed into pieces, from Tianyuan to start, moves according to the heart.]

As his spirit slightly fluctuated, the introduction of the [Chess Saint] Dao Fruit quietly surfaced before him.

"Heaven and earth as chessboard, divinity condensed into... chess pieces?"

"From Tianyuan to start, moves according to the heart?"

Li Che silently felt a wave of confusion, as if, despite the description, he still didn't quite understand the specific principle at work.

As expected, anything related to chess was always mystifying.

But Li Che wasn't completely clueless: "Divinity condensed into chess pieces..."

With a thought, the Dao Fruit of the Pure Heart pulsated, and in an instant, pure white divinity burst forth, swirling in Li Che's palm.

The divinity crafted from the Pure Heart had no other special attributes, only the pure, flawless divinity.

Hum hum hum—

The divinity lingered, and slowly... it coalesced into a white chess piece right in front of Li Che.

It radiated a pure white glow, floating above Li Che's palm.

A flicker of curiosity appeared in Li Che's eyes, and the next moment, he raised his hand to grasp the chess piece.

In an instant!

It was as if a drop of water had fallen onto the serene surface of a lake, causing ripples to spread in concentric circles.

Li Che only felt his spiritual perception suddenly heighten, and in a flash, half of Fei Lei City was perfectly replicated in his mind like a high-definition map.

The crisscrossing lines intertwined, sketching out a chessboard that enveloped half of Fei Lei City!

Li Che's eyes narrowed slightly...

This scene was as if he had activated a satellite view, overseeing half of the city!

Although the people in the city, their conversations, and actions all appeared very blurry to him, if he was willing to invest more divinity, he could receive increasingly clear feedback.

"You call this... Chess Saint?"

"Master Go-chess Saint?"

Li Che was genuinely surprised by the function of this fourth Dao Fruit...

He looked at the fingers holding the chess piece.

Suddenly, with a flick of his finger, the chess piece, condensed from the pure divinity of the Pure Heart, shot out dozens of meters from the yard and landed at the garden gate.

The [Chess Saint] Dao Fruit vibrated slightly.

The next moment...

Li Che felt a blur before his eyes, and when his vision cleared, he discovered... that he had moved from the center of the courtyard to the spot where the chess piece floated by the gate.

"Moves according to the heart..."

Li Che stood silently at the entrance of the garden, as snowflakes fluttered down from the sky, only to be shredded into dust by an invisible divinity.

He toyed with the divine chess piece held between his fingers.

A smirk couldn't help but curl up at the corner of his mouth.

"Chess Saint, what is a Chess Saint... To control everything within the chess game, that is the saint within the chess, everything within the board, all under my observation."

"Heaven and earth as chessboard, divinity condensed into chess pieces..."

If he were to let Xi Xi carry this chess piece with her...

"My heart wanders, moves according to the heart."

Doesn't that mean that if Xi Xi were within his chessboard's sensing range and any safety threat arose,

he could appear by Xi Xi's side in an instant with the quickest teleportation speed if he wished?

From now on...

In the face of danger, eliminate the danger, if there's a threat... annihilate the threat!

He no longer had to worry about Xi Xi's safety!