Chapter 7 Four-armed Bodhisattva Holding a Child

It seems to be in stock!

This ancient book...may be of great help to the Dao Fruit of [Xian Gong]!

Li Che suppressed the vibration of the Dao Fruit in his mind and took a deep breath. Although his mind was agitated, he did not go to investigate.

With the sound of the gong being struck, everyone in the woodcarving shop put down everything in their hands, and the atmosphere became solemn.

The door of the yard was opened, the wind and snow poured in, and several figures swarmed in.

The two leading people, wearing fox cloaks and crowns on their heads, had sharp eyes and a strong charm. Just looking at them seemed to be breathtaking.

The two people had strong blood and qi, and the wind and snow did not touch their bodies. Even if they walked in the wind and snow, they were not even stained by a grain of snow.

These two people were the second and third shopkeepers of Xu's Woodcarving Shop.

On weekdays, the Xuji Woodcarving Shop in the outer city is managed by the third shopkeeper Xu You. The first shopkeeper Xu Heli and the second shopkeeper Xu Beihu are both in the inner city. Today, the second shopkeeper Xu Beihu came in person for the assessment.

Xuji Woodcarving Shop is definitely not weak in the inner city, and can even be called powerful. The main reason is these three shopkeepers, each of whom is a first-class expert with strong strength.

After entering the shop, taking off the fox cloak, the two sat upright on the master's chair and glanced at the apprentices gathered in the shop.

"The shop's woodcarving master assessment is once a year, and three people are recruited each time. After becoming a first-cut woodcarver, you can receive a fixed salary of five taels per month. After the finished woodcarving is sold, the shop will share 40%, and the rest will belong to you."

"Of course, after becoming a woodcarver, there will be an annual assessment. If you make one more cut, the shop will share 10% less, and the monthly salary will increase."

The third shopkeeper Xu You sat upright, his eyes swept, he was born fair and gentle.

On the other hand, the second shopkeeper Xu Beihu, as his name suggests, is majestic and sits upright, with a big waist and thick arms, his waist is like a bamboo, and his whole body is full of blood, like a blazing furnace.

After the third shopkeeper finished speaking, the second shopkeeper also spoke, his voice was like a bell, and the room seemed to be full of wind and waves as soon as he opened his mouth.

"Becoming a formal woodcarver in the shop, you are qualified to practice martial arts and cultivate internal strength. If you want to go further and higher in woodcarving, internal strength is indispensable. My Xuji Woodcarving Shop has been passed down in Feilei City for two hundred years. If you don’t have some fighting skills, you can’t keep this family business."

"In addition, choosing to participate in the assessment is equivalent to joining my Xuji Woodcarving Shop by default and becoming a member of Xuji. If there is betrayal, don’t blame us for being ruthless."

"I, Xu Beihu, hate traitors the most!"

The rough words resounded, like a tiger’s roar, shocking the hearts of every apprentice.

Li Che was also shocked.

"Now, those who are willing to continue to participate in the assessment, please come to register and receive the assessment wood."

After the second shopkeeper Xu Beihu's big stick was intimidated, the third shopkeeper Xu You's gentle words rang out like a spring breeze.

Many apprentices hurried to go in an orderly manner, registered their names, and received the wood.

"Xiao Li, go." Lao Chen smiled and drank a sip of wine, squinting his eyes.

After Li Che clasped his fists, he also went to register.

"Li Che?" The third shopkeeper Xu You, who was in charge of registration, raised his eyebrows and was slightly surprised when he saw Li Che really come to register.

A few days ago, Li Che came to find him, but he didn't take it seriously. After all, every year some porters envy the high income of woodcarvers and want to seek opportunities to participate in the assessment, but most of them give up after trying to carve wood carvings a few times.

It's still quite rare for someone like Li Che to really come to register for the assessment.

Is he ignorant, or... has real talent?

"There are precedents of porters becoming woodcarvers. I hope you can give me some surprises. Try your best." Xu You was gentle and encouraged.

Li Che nodded, picked a piece of wood, and stood on a workbench.

When all the examinees had chosen their wood, the third shopkeeper Xu You stood with his hands behind his back, glanced at everyone, and said lightly: "The test question for this woodcarving test is... a four-armed Bodhisattva holding a child."

The words fell.

The third shopkeeper lifted the red cloth wrapped in the woodcarving cloth on the table, revealing the true appearance of the woodcarving.

A four-armed Bodhisattva holding a child stood on the table, with four arms stretched out in different postures, one hand pinching a seal, one holding a jade bottle, and one hand pinching a ruyi, and finally holding a boy with a pigtail in his arms with his mouth open and smiling.

"Hiss——"

The sound of sucking in cold air came from the mouths of many apprentices.

This year's test questions... are so difficult? !

Even the old masters watching the excitement around were surprised.

In previous years, it was just an ordinary Bodhisattva statue, but this year, it has an extra child... and a requirement for four arms.

Every time a woodcarving has an extra arm, it will be much more difficult to grasp the overall situation, control the error rate, and test the carving skills.

Difficult, difficult, difficult!

Master Chen smacked his lips: "Little Li's luck is unmatched... It's so unlucky. This test question can't be passed even if you want to."

Li Che stared at the four-armed Bodhisattva statue, but he was slightly relieved...

Good luck!

It's the type he has touched before!

It's safe!

The "Nine Children Embracing Lotus" that Lao Chen carved for 150 taels before was already touched by Li Che, so Li Che learned to carve children. Secondly, the six-eyed Bodhisattva statue provided Li Che with the Bodhisattva carving technique...

The only shortcoming is... the four arms.

But with the lv2 level of Daoguo Xiangong, Li Che is confident that he can carve it!

"Well... there shouldn't be any problem carving it out, but I'm just a mover taking the test after all, so I can't be too high-profile, otherwise it's hard to explain. After all, wood carving skills require years of accumulation."

"So, I mainly need to work harder on the meaning, and secondly... I can let the wood carving level go a little."

Li Che thought hard and made a plan for his assessment.

He didn't need to hide his weakness, but the trump card needed to be revealed slowly, so this time, as long as he showed his talent in meaning, it would be enough...

Meaning, such a mysterious thing can only be attributed to talent.

If a porter showed carving skills that were not inferior to those of the master in the wood carving shop... it was hard to explain after all.

"The assessment time is four hours. When the time is up, all the knives will stop. Those who violate the rules will be disqualified. Do you understand?"

The second shopkeeper Xu Beihu stood up and issued a warning with a sense of oppression.

Many apprentices, including Li Che, responded.

"The assessment of Xu's woodcarvers in the outer city begins now!"

Xu Beihu waved his hand, and his full energy surged into the shop.

The four hours to carve the "Four-armed Bodhisattva Holding a Child" was very tight and not ample.

Therefore, the apprentices did not dare to waste time. Holding the wood, they began to gesture and draw shapes with ink lines.

These woods are all dried, which saves some steps.

Li Che put the wood on the workbench, reached out to touch it, and outlined the outer and inner contours in his mind. After a while, he began to use wolf hair to dip in ink and draw lines on the wood.

The workbench prepared tools such as axes, hammers, saws, files, etc. for roughing out.

The roughing out is actually to summarize the shape with concise geometric shapes. The overall concepts such as layers, dynamics, proportions, and center of gravity must be reflected in the roughing out.

The roughing out is very important and is also the place that tests talent the most.

After a while, the apprentices who had finished tracing the lines began to knock and chisel...

[Xian Gong] Dao Fruit vibrated, Li Che closed his eyes and opened them again, and his temperament seemed to have undergone a drastic change.

Lao Chen was holding a wine gourd on the side. When Li Che picked up the carving knife, his temperament changed. He was stunned and looked at Li Che, as if he was looking at... himself when he was young.

"This kid... he has a good temperament." Chen Dabao muttered.

However, as Li Che chiseled and outlined the rough draft, Chen Dabao narrowed his eyes.

The waste wood chips fell off, and the sharp blade penetrated into the wood, tearing the connections between the wood tissues and leaving traces.

The rough lines have already outlined the overall rough draft image.

Time is like sand between fingers, passing by bit by bit in the rustling sound.

The third shopkeeper Xu You walked with his hands behind his back, walking slowly and passing by each apprentice's workbench to check the progress and level of the apprentices.

Suddenly.

Xu You stopped and looked at Chen Dabao, who was standing still like a statue, and was slightly startled.

Following Chen Dabao's gaze, he saw the courageous mover Li Che.

"Looking so absorbed?"

Xu You was immediately curious. How could Chen Dabao, a senior four-knife master, stop and take notice...

Could it be that this porter is really good?

Xu You walked with his hands behind his back, approaching slowly, his eyelids drooping, his sight fell on Li Che's face, who was concentrating on carving, and then moved away.

Falling on the wood carving on the workbench...