Chapter 382: Celestial Deity, My Mere Food, Heavenly Pivot, Chess Sage Fruit, and Four Transformatio

Chapter 382: Celestial Deity, My Mere Food, Heavenly Pivot, Chess Sage Fruit, and Four Transformations

Whoosh—

The chaotic winds howled and roared, creating countless muffled thunderous sounds that shattered the air.

Zhang Xuan Lei's body was struck by a terrifying punch, and amidst the dazzling brilliance, nothing could be seen, as if all light was being blocked.

The temperature between heaven and earth became scorching hot, and the remaining water from the divine realm's water prison, which had not yet completely evaporated, was instantly dried up.

With one punch, Zhang Xuan Lei's body was smashed into the ground, and the force within his body exploded.

At the center of Zhang Xuan Lei's fallen body, the soft mud within a hundred zhang radius began to churn and fly, and patches of mud and stones, like countless arrows, shot out in all directions.

The many Pan Tao trees swayed endlessly, creating a clattering sound, and countless peach leaves fell.

Each peach leaf was caught in the powerful force, spinning and slicing like knife blades.

The shrine embedded in Zhang Xuan Lei's back violently trembled, and the next moment, an immense divine essence burst forth.

It was as if an embarrassed and furious will was trying to take form.

However, Li Che's agile body demonstrated his martial prowess, and within his chest, the long-dormant Dragon Elephant Vajra Fruit seemed to have completely revived at this moment.

Between heartbeats, a mighty fist intent surged forth!

With a single punch, Dragon Elephant Fusion!

An immense fiery furnace radiated heat, as if the Celestial Forge had poured out, unleashing a terrifying will to destroy heaven and earth, the ultimate manifestation of martial will.

Thus, with this punch, the temple deity that had invaded Zhang Xuan Lei's body let out a piercing scream.

Despite erupting with immense power to resist, it was still obliterated by a single punch.

Unable to block... completely unable to block...

Li Che's punch had reached the pinnacle of Absolute Apex in strength.

How could such power appear at the Hero Festival?

Boom!

The ground instantly caved in, creating an enormous pit, and the branches of the Pan Tao trees, protected by restrictive powers, flailed wildly.

Meanwhile, Zhang Xuan Lei's headless body was hammered into the pit.

Dust and smoke billowed, swirling wildly.

The shrine of the temple deity instantly detached from Zhang Xuan Lei's body and rose into the air. It was the shrine that Zhang Xuan Lei had nurtured for over forty years.

Now, it decisively abandoned Zhang Xuan Lei, seeking to escape.

The dead temple deity was utterly ruthless.

However, as the will of the temple deity within the shrine stirred, Li Che's punch forcefully suppressed it.

Boom!

Countless thunderbolts surged out of the shrine.

It seemed somewhat panicked.

However, an enormous hand, like a shield blocking the sun, covered the shrine with its intertwined blue veins and fingers resembling ferocious dragons.

"Summon Deity."

A faint voice, like that of the king of gods, coldly intoned.

In an instant, an immense force extracted the divine essence of the temple deity from the shrine.

It was like pulling a turtle out of its shell!

"Don't do this!"

"Ahhhh!"

The piercing scream gradually faded.

On the Heaven and Earth Chessboard.

A temple deity with spread wings, ugly in appearance, and controlling thunderbolts, hovered like a divine statue.

A Celestial Deity?

Merely food.

Li Che's robust body easily dealt with such an opponent. He didn't need to detonate the Mysterious Gate Divine Seed. With the simultaneous activation of the seven Mysterious Gate Divine Seeds, their combined power reached the pinnacle of Absolute Apex, enough to suppress both Zhang Xuan Lei and this temple deity.

"The temple deity of the Dark Heavenly Court is no true deity... This should be a Five Elders Rank Deity, a strange temple deity. But Zhang Xuan Lei only nurtured a will of the temple deity."

Li Che glanced at the temple deity's power extracted by Summon Deity.

Not a complete entity, but sufficient for his needs.

Since he hadn't finished consuming the power of the Golden Furred Dog Temple Deity, Li Che directly fed this temple deity to the Seven Emotions and Six Desires Divine Embryo for consumption.

The Seven Emotions and Six Desires Divine Embryo became insatiably greedy, and the shadows within the divine embryos opened their eyes one by one.

As the Seven Emotions Divine Embryo was formed by summoning temple deities with the Seven Emotions attribute, they were utterly greedy and had no resistance to consuming temple deities to enhance themselves.

Threads extended, piercing the body of this temple deity, consuming and extracting its divine essence.

Li Che glanced at it and then turned his attention elsewhere.

A Five Elders Upper Rank temple deity indeed posed little threat to him.

The brilliant light slowly dimmed.

The shining sun would eventually fade.

Li Che channeled a strand of the Three Pure Heavenly Origin Sun Kunlun Mirror's aura, like a hundred million-watt bulb, emitting a blinding light.

Glancing at Zhang Xuan Lei's corpse, Li Che flicked his finger, and a sword qi instantly erupted, slicing Zhang Xuan Lei's body to pieces, creating the illusion of being torn apart by sword qi.

Then, his body's pores and orifices seemed to erupt with a powerful force, swallowing countless intertwined blood and qi, leaving not a trace behind.

Subsequently, his body shrank rapidly, like a deflating balloon.

Moments later, his body returned to its normal state.

Donning the Ink Robe with Golden Lotus embroidery, Li Che's chest, his sleeves fluttering, stood with his hands crossed.

As if he hadn't just punched Zhang Xuan Lei to pieces.

Elegant and gentle, smooth as black jade.

The dazzling light slowly faded, and Li Che glanced at the corpses of the three Heroes of the Purple Mansion Divine Sect, sighing softly.

Originally, they still had a chance to leave alive. After all, unless Li Che lured the Ink City and gathered the three of them, the three of them could have directly left using the power of the Temple Deity's divinity from Xi Wang Mu's Temple.

However, in their determination to kill Li Che, they ended up burying themselves. Zhang Xuan Yu used the power of the Divine Realm to dig up the graves, ultimately burying the three of them.

Buzz—

The dazzling white light gradually dissipated, revealing the scene within the Peach Orchard.

Li Che's mind moved, and he manipulated Heaven and Earth Mimicry to pluck the peaches.

The enormous Heaven and Earth Mimicry, completely formed by divinity and spiritual energy, was not only incredibly resilient but also possessed terrifying strength. Under Li Che's control, it carefully plucked the peaches as if embroidering with a needle.

The protective beast of the peach orchard poked its head out, but after being glared at by Heaven and Earth Mimicry, it turned and ran, abandoning the peach it had guarded for countless years.

The beast had some sense of the situation, as it was even more self-aware than humans when it came to danger.

With the first peach in hand, Li Che approached the corpses of Zhang Xuan Lei, Zhang Xuan Yu, and Zhang Xuan He, taking their Heaven and Earth Jade and the peaches they had picked.

Four peaches floated above Li Che's shoulders, exuding an intense fragrance.

In fact, Li Che had also picked a peach with Yue Huanglong's Binding Spirit Chess Piece, and he had even sensed the Sunlight Kunlun Mirror, a Three Clearances-ranked Divine Armament, high above in the sky.

However, Li Che did not bring out that peach.

He needed one more peach to make five, enough to advance to the third round of the Hero Festival.

In the third round, he could obtain a Seven Thousand Year Peach, and to advance from the third round to the fourth, he only needed three peaches.

Four people could advance to the third round by obtaining three peaches...

Basically, they would have to sweep everyone else.

But at this moment, Li Che's heart was filled with eagerness. He wanted to visit the Seven Thousand Year Peach Orchard and the Nine Thousand Year Peach Orchard, not just for the Nine Thousand Year Peach.

He also wanted the Heaven and Earth Sun Kunlun Mirror hanging high in the sky!

Buzz—

The dazzling white light was blindingly bright, striking the eyes of every spectator, causing many to exclaim in surprise.

The Heavenly River Hairpin tore open the space, drawing a river that poured down a curtain of water, revealing a scene that seemed to be in trouble!

The dazzling light was too blinding, making it impossible to see what was happening in the peach orchard.

Li Che and Zhang Xuan Lei were at a critical point in their battle, and Zhang Xuan Lei, driven to madness by the deaths of Zhang Xuan Yu and Zhang Xuan He, had completely lost his mind. Like his son Zhang Yunlong, he had abandoned his humanity and offered his physical body to the Temple Deity.

Everyone's eyes widened, even the Emperor and Empress couldn't help but stare.

And then...

The white light dazzled, obscuring everything!

Nothing could be seen!

What was happening?

Zhang Xuan Lei, who had completely sacrificed himself to the Temple Deity, could perfectly borrow the Temple Deity's power, but no one knew what kind of battle prowess he could unleash. Could Li BanSheng withstand it? Would he be killed? Everyone was filled with regret and complained incessantly.

Even Xi Xi, standing at the edge of the White Jade Square, couldn't help but stomp her feet in anger.

"This is exactly what my father always talks about, isn't it? So annoying! Xi Xi wants to see the battle, to see the fight!"

Xi Xi cried out unhappily.

Lu Tai Bai's eyes flashed, and he was surprised. Was it really a coincidence that the white light appeared at such a critical moment?

"It's fading! The white light is fading!"

"We can see the scene! Everyone, look!"

"Is Li BanSheng still alive after fighting the Temple Deity? The Temple Deity is known for being invincible among peers, and the Purple Mansion Divine Sect, which nurtures the Temple Deity, can at least unleash half of the Temple Deity's power!"

The exclamations suddenly rang out, echoing from within and outside the Second and Third Cities of the Divine Capital.

When the white light completely dissipated, everyone saw Li Che, pale-faced and without Heaven and Earth Mimicry, searching the bodies of the three.

Li Che unceremoniously took the peaches and the Heaven and Earth Jade from their bodies.

With this scene, everyone knew the result, and they all fell silent.

Although they had already guessed this might happen, when Li Che truly killed Zhang Xuan Lei, it was like a thunderclap striking everyone's hearts.

On the ground, Zhang Xuan Lei's corpse was cut into pieces by sword energy, and blood covered the ground.

The frost grass, which would have devoured flesh and blood, had been obliterated by the terrifying attack, leaving no time to even handle the corpse.

"Dead?"

"Li BanSheng... fought three and killed them all?!"

"Hiss, this is the honest and upright Divine Falcon Half-Saint of the Heavenly Origin Divine Sect? I thought the Divine Falcon Master lacked combat experience?"

The exclamations couldn't be suppressed, echoing like waves within and outside the city.

The two Purple Mansion Divine Sect's Dragon Sons, Zhang Yuan Hu and Zhang Yuan Huang, were struck dumb, as if their souls had left their bodies.

However, the Purple Mansion Divine Sect's Grandmaster, Zhang Wu Ji, suddenly waved his dustpan and sighed lightly.

"Life and death have their own destinies. If Xuan Lei killed, he will be killed. It's just... the cycle of heaven."

The light sigh was like a spring breeze, stirring continuously.

But at this moment, the spectators, who were completely engrossed in the battle, didn't care about his sigh.

When someone dies, they are truly dead.

No one cares.

Li Che knew that his current situation was being watched by the spectators outside through the Heavenly River Curtain.

In the blink of an eye, Li Che effortlessly performed the Binding Deity technique on the three, successfully binding them twice.

Zhang Xuan He and Zhang Xuan Yu were bound as Binding Spirit Chess Pieces, but Zhang Xuan Lei failed. He had given up everything, forsaking his soul and offering it as a sacrifice to the Temple Deity. With the Temple Deity summoned, he could no longer be bound.

Li Che didn't mind; having one more Zhang Xuan Lei wouldn't make much difference.

As for the two Binding Spirit Chess Pieces, Li Che summoned them directly from Ink City with a thought.

The moment Zhang Xuan He was summoned, he began to struggle, furious and roaring incessantly.

Li Che, of course, didn't indulge him. He immediately threw him to the Binding Citizens of Ink City for a hearty meal.

It had been a long time since Li Che had encountered such an unaware bound deity.

On the other hand, Zhang Xuan Yu was quite clever and smart. She wisely chose to submit, and Li Che spared her life.

Her Divine Realm technique particularly intrigued Li Che.

Li Che hovered with four Immortal Peaches suspended around him, exhaling a powerful Heaven Earth Soul that shook the surroundings. The Trinity Unification of the Heaven Earth Soul, now comparable to a Divine Embryo Three Divine Transformations cultivator, granted Li Che a significant boost.

"Just one more..."

"Advance to the next round quickly, and then... get to know the Kunlun Mirror better."

Li Che's perception soared, allowing him to witness the battles throughout the Peach Orchard.

However...

Li Che's mind moved, and he locked onto someone.

"Oh?"

"What a coincidence..."

Li Che's expression became slightly odd.

He had encountered an old acquaintance—none other than the first hero of the Grand Ultimate Divine Sect, Liu Qing.

Liu Qing's body suddenly plunged into the darkness, his aura completely concealed. Li Che swiftly traversed the Peach Orchard, rushing towards Liu Qing's location.

Liu Qing was attempting to pluck the Immortal Peach, fighting with the guardian beast of the five-thousand-year-old peach tree. The guardian beast was not weak, and Liu Qing found himself evenly matched in their confrontation.

Liu Qing's hair fluttered as he spread his arms, and jade bottles containing pills flew into the air, shattering and releasing thick black smoke.

That was...

Poison!

The Grand Ultimate Divine Sect's master pill refiner was not only skilled in pill refinement but also in poison crafting.

As Liu Qing exhaled, the black smoke enveloped the giant snake guarding the peach tree like a black dragon.

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle—

The giant snake's scales corroded and shattered, its flesh seeming to fall off as the poison proved to be extraordinary.

However, Liu Qing was not satisfied.

"What a tough snake. My Bone-Eroding Black Smoke isn't toxic enough..."

Liu Qing watched as the black smoke dissipated, revealing the hideous snake rushing towards him.

With an extremely solemn expression, he took out a crimson jade bottle from the Heaven and Earth Jade.

A small pill, the size of a little fingernail, rolled into Liu Qing's palm.

"It seems... I have to use my ultimate poison."

"Blood-Burning Bone-Melting Pill!"

Liu Qing shouted, clenching his fist and instantly melting the pill into a liquid.

He slapped out his palm, and the liquid transformed into countless red droplets, shooting out like arrows.

Dense and unavoidable, there was nowhere to hide!

The giant snake couldn't dodge and was drenched in the red liquid, screaming in agony. In less than three breaths, its blood burned like flames, melting its bones, leaving only a soft snake skin and muddy blood behind."

Liu Qing heaved a sigh of relief.

It was successful!

Otherwise, with his limited combat skills, the outcome of a fight with this powerful snake would have been uncertain.

As for poisoning the snake, Liu Qing had no qualms. Poison was also part of his arsenal.

Suddenly, Liu Qing's body trembled as he sensed a terrifying threat of death from behind. He entered a defensive state, but...

No amount of caution could save him.

"Good poison, thank you."

A faint voice came and went in an instant.

Liu Qing felt a sharp pain in his head, and the scene before him spun. He collapsed to the ground, utterly defeated.

The familiar feeling of defeat overwhelmed him, and tears streamed down his face.

Defeated in an instant, crushed without even seeing his opponent...

Liu Qing felt his Dao heart shattered.

For the third time, he was defeated in an instant, without even getting a glimpse of his opponent.

He helplessly collapsed to the ground.

The Immortal Peach he had just plucked, still warm in his hand, was gone.

Moreover...

"Ah—my Grand Ultimate Divine Sect's poison pills! Ah!"

Liu Qing's tears flowed freely.

Was heaven's injustice directed solely at him? The familiar style, striking in the dark and instantly defeating him, left Liu Qing certain of his inferiority.

But the insult to his soul was unbearable.

He ran wildly through the peach orchard, driven to madness.

Then...

He arrived at a ruin.

He saw three corpses on the ground...

He recognized Zhang Xuan He and Zhang Xuan Yu...

Liu Qing calmed down.

"It's good to be alive."

He looked at the three fallen heroes of the Purple Mansion Divine Sect with a complex expression, then quietly withdrew from the Hero Festival competition without triggering Xi Wang Mu's divinity.

Liu Qing had an epiphany.

He just wanted to survive.

...

...

In the peach orchard.

Fierce battles raged across the land, the powerful aftermath wreaking havoc and devastation.

The Golden Furred Dog, the Jialuo Monk from the Thousand Chariots Great Buddha Kingdom, and the Jade Guanyin from the Southern Sea Bamboo Grove formed an incredibly formidable alliance.

The confrontation between Li Che and Zhang Xuanlei was no less intense.

The frosty grass on the ground had completely vanished, leaving behind a pitted landscape. Hot air wafted and intertwined, forming a hazy mist that rose into the air.

The Golden Furred Dog's golden fur stood on end, its eyes blazing with intensity, and its aura surged like that of a true ancient mythical Golden Lion King.

Across from it stood Shi Xuan, one of the three Heroes of the True Martial Divine Sect, his body drenched in blood, every pore exuding a thick, pungent scent of blood.

Gritting his teeth, he showed no sign of retreat, and from his eyes burst forth a dazzling golden light.

Divine Seed!

Mysterious Door Divine Seed!

And there were three of them!

Having already detonated two Mysterious Door Divine Seeds, Shi Xuan was now pushing himself to the limit, attempting to detonate the third one.

"Golden Furred Dog!"

"Come and fight!"

Shi Xuan clenched his fists, and a terrifying aura erupted from his body, causing the ground to tremble and shatter, turning into fine dust.

Shi Xuan's skin turned crimson, and his eyes became two white circles of intense light.

Puuu—Puuu—

His flesh continued to shatter, and his veins bulged as if they might burst at any moment, giving him the feeling that he was about to explode.

Detonating the third Mysterious Door Divine Seed...

This was a life-or-death gamble.

Just as Shi Xuan had been unwilling to detonate his fifth metal ring back then because he was facing Zhang Yuanlong, who was no ordinary opponent.

And now, the Golden Furred Dog he was fighting...

Was indeed a true barbarian from the Witch God Mountain.

But in Shi Xuan's eyes, all barbarians...

Deserved death!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

In the peach orchard, explosions continued to reverberate, and the soft sandy ground sent clouds of dust into the air.

Shi Xuan detonated three Divine Seeds, unleashing his full power as the first Hero of the True Martial Divine Sect!

In this moment, Shi Xuan even seemed to have touched upon the realm of the Absolute Peak Martial Sage.

Roar!

A terrifying sound wave exploded, and just as Shi Xuan was about to detonate the third Divine Seed, a true Golden Lion King struck him with a palm, slamming him into the ground and creating a terrifying crater.

The Golden Furred Dog, now in its Golden Lion King form, spoke with a hint of strangeness in its eyes, "It seems you've activated the three-in-one transformation..."

"With a three-person lineup, you defeated Li Che alone, obtained three peaches, and even found a slacker..."

The Golden Furred Dog exhaled.

But before it could finish, Li Che...

Had already kept his promise and advanced.

"No wonder he was so confident. He really is that strong!"

The Golden Furred Dog narrowed its eyes, perplexed by how a single Divine Embryo One Divine Transformation could make someone so powerful, but advancing was a tangible achievement.

The three of them, Shi Xuan and the others, had triggered the divinity of Xi Wang Mu, and they withdrew from the Deceptive Pavilion.

Thus ended their journey at the Hero Festival.

Jialuo held a golden staff in one hand and lifted a golden bowl in the other.

"Amitabha..."

"Patrons, please stop peeping and come out..."

Jialuo's bright red kasaya fluttered in the wind, and his gaze then swept towards a spot in the Peach Orchard.

Whoosh—

A fierce wind blew, causing the branches and leaves of the Peach Tree to sway continuously.

Then, from the depths of the forest.

Three figures slowly emerged from behind the massive trunk of the Peach Tree.

"Such a sharp-eyed monk, to discover our traces here!"

Ning Cai, the first hero of the Seven Treasures Divine Sect, held a glass-like divine weapon in his hand. It was this glass-like divine weapon that concealed their aura.

Beside Ning Cai were Gu Bajian, the first hero of Bashu Sword Pavilion, and Lu Shi, the first hero of Haoran Academy.

"Although it's embarrassing, you've just experienced a great battle, and for your advancement, we... had no choice but to take action."

Ning Cai spoke.

Gu Bajian, the swordsman of Bashu Sword Pavilion, remained silent.

He took a step and landed.

The long sword at his waist slowly emitted a brilliant humming sound!

In an instant!

The sword light, as white as snow, suddenly lit up, dazzling and bright, like mercury covering the sky and pouring down, flooding the surrounding fierce wind!

The sword light flickered, and then the sword's humming echoed! A single slash seemed to cut through the shadows beneath the hundred-zhang Peach Tree!

Li Che's advancement to the third round seemed to have inspired these heroes.

They unleashed their full power with their first move!

The sword light crisscrossed, cutting through all tangible objects!

Setting the stage for this battle!

...

...

Buzzing—

The air currents intertwined and tore open!

Countless Peach Trees with thick roots writhed like dragons in the soft soil, soaring and fluttering!

Then, a path was cleared for Li Che, and dense white misty immortal energy rolled and spread!

Li Che stepped onto the soil, as if pushed by the roots of the Peach Tree, and in just a moment, he arrived in a new Peach Orchard!

The Seven Thousand Year Peach Orchard!

Each Peach Tree soared into the clouds, towering three hundred zhang high, extremely tall, like a straight sword blade.

Li Che could feel that stepping into the Seven Thousand Year Peach Orchard, the temperature rose significantly!

Looking up, one could see that among the dense leaves, there was an extremely hot light pouring down.

It was as if this Peach Orchard was incredibly close to the vast sky and sun.

But Li Che knew that this vast sky and sun were actually the divine weapon of the Three Pures.

Li Che's heart couldn't help but feel excited. As the first person to enter the Seven Thousand Year Peach Orchard, Li Che sat down cross-legged. With a flick of his finger, Yue Huanglong's Binding Deity appeared again, distorted.

Li Che arranged for Yue Huanglong to use the same technique again to pluck the peach.

A Seven Thousand Year Peach could be secretly picked, and for Li Che, it was not bad.

Li Che spread out the Heaven and Earth Chessboard.

In his perception, within this entire Seven Thousand Year Peach Orchard, the number of Seven Thousand Year Peaches was also very scarce.

Only six Peach Trees bore Seven Thousand Year Peaches.

And each tree only nurtured one Peach, a total of six.

To be honest, it was a bit too few...

But thinking about the conditions for nurturing a Seven Thousand Year Peach, they must be extremely harsh.

Li Che wasn't greedy; picking one was enough.

Taking advantage of the Heavenly River Curtain not having found his location, Li Che directly arranged for Yue Huanglong to go and pick one.

Perhaps it was because they had changed Peach Orchards, but the same technique didn't immediately attract the killing light of the Kunlun Mirror.

Yue Huanglong's Binding Deity was willing to sacrifice itself, exchanging its life for Li Che, in return for a Seven Thousand Year Peach and a strand of Kunlun Mirror's aura!

【Seven Thousand Year Chilong Blood Peach】!

Just holding this Peach, Li Che felt his blood boiling!

"Good stuff!"

Li Che's eyes lit up.

His pure martial body was extremely eager...

Li Che didn't hesitate and decided to bite into the Peach right there in the orchard.

Of course, to be safe and prevent being mistaken for a thief and eliminated, Li Che spread out the Heaven and Earth Chessboard to provide some cover.

The Heaven and Earth Chessboard was refining the aura captured from Yue Huanglong's Binding Deity after being blasted by the light of the Kunlun Mirror.

At this moment, when Li Che summoned it, the chessboard emitted a faint rumble, as if triggering something.

In Li Che's chest, the 【Chess Sage】 Dao Fruit began to bounce wildly!

"Huff—"

"Suck—"

In the extremely quiet Seven Thousand Year Peach Orchard, with only Li Che present, his breathing caused a surge of wind and waves, and the leaves of countless Peach Trees rustled in the breeze!

Li Che's heart surged with excitement.

Success?!

He raised his hand and pointed at his forehead, the pineal gland.

In an instant.

The pineal gland vibrated, and the fifteen divine embryos simultaneously shook, their divinity boiling!

The flesh of his forehead tore open to the sides.

The Star-Plucking Pupil appeared, and within the pupil, countless lines seemed to weave and divide, forming a net!

Black and white light flickered in the Star-Plucking Pupil and his eyes, flashing on and off!

The flowing light was like a small river.

【Dao Fruit: Chess Sage (lv6, 0%)】

Chess Sage!

The stars and constellations shift!

The fourth transformation!

First update, it's not that Old Li is stuck here, because Old Li doesn't know what the fourth transformation of Dao Induction is. Everyone can say it, Old Li will take a peek, seeking monthly tickets, recommended tickets, and followers. There's more tonight, Old Li will continue writing! Thank you!

(End of Chapter)

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