Chapter 4: Immortal Artisan Upgrade, Bad News Arrives
The wood was offcuts he had brought back from the wood carving shop, just a small piece that no one paid much attention to when he took it home.
The carving knife was what he had prepared when he had yearned to take up wood carving on his own years ago, custom-made by the smith at the ironmonger's in the west of the city. It wasn't cheap for a set, and now, at last, it was proving useful.
The [Immortal Artisan]Dao Fruit pulsed and jumped, stirring a god-like sense of assistance that welled up within him.
Since it was a test of his skill, Li Che did not opt to use ink lines for outlining but went straight to carving. With the help of the Dao Fruit, he felt an intimate understanding of the "Six-Eyed Bodhisattva Statue" engraving, as if it were imprinted in his heart.
Just like with Master Chen, it was as if he had carved hundreds, if not thousands, of Six-Eyed Bodhisattva wood carvings, and practice makes perfect.
He had his own control over every aspect of carving the wood, from the outer to the inner spatial forms, to the force exerted with each cut.
However, since it was his first hands-on experience, there was still some rawness, but this rawness between his fingers, the carving knife, and the wood, was gradually smoothed out as the carving progressed and his skill improved.
The knife work gradually became more graceful, even developing a unique charm—an indication of mature skill.
Mature carving skills require a continuous accumulation of experience.