Chapter 396: This Old Man Knows How to Be Flexible

A halo of light appeared beside Li Banfeng, and the halo closed around him. It was neither round nor square; its farthest point was over five meters from Li Banfeng, while its nearest point pressed against his feet. The overall shape was irregular.

Bao Yingchen had never seen a halo of this shape, but he had seen this technique before. The instant he passed through the halo, his entire body was torn to bloody shreds, and he nearly fell to the ground.

This was a house-cultivator eighth-layer technique: Shut the Door, Bar the Gate.

How could this kid possibly use a house-cultivator technique?

A travel-cultivator cannot simultaneously cultivate as a house-cultivator.

Thinking too much was pointless—Bao Yingchen was already wounded and could no longer fight Li Qi.

But where could he run? Behind him was still the halo.

Using A Parting of Ten Thousand Miles could break Shut the Door, Bar the Gate.

But Bao Yingchen did not know how to use A Parting of Ten Thousand Miles.

Wasn't he a ninth-layer travel-cultivator? Why couldn't he use A Parting of Ten Thousand Miles?

There was an allusion here, one Li Qi did not know.

Bao Yingchen claimed his cultivation was no inferior to Lu Dongliang's, and he said this everywhere he went, because to his opponents it was an immense intimidation.

He and Lu Dongliang had indeed crossed hands, but he was an eighth-layer travel-cultivator. Relying on experience, he fought the ninth-layer Lu Dongliang for dozens of exchanges. Lu Dongliang did not wish to make an irreconcilable enemy of the Three Heroes Gate, so he held back, and the two were considered to have fought to a draw.

When Lu Dongjun stepped in to fight, he did not think so much and simply went all out. Bao Yingchen could not withstand him and was defeated by Lu Dongjun.

Fighting the two Lu brothers alone was the most glorious battle record of Bao Yingchen's life.

Although the story had many versions, the conclusion was always the same: Bao Yingchen's cultivation was no less than Lu Dongliang's.

This conclusion was hard to verify, because cultivation itself is invisible.

Who would have thought the moment to test Bao Yingchen had now arrived.

Li Qi had used Shut the Door, Bar the Gate, and Bao Yingchen was wounded. The only reasonable response was to immediately escape using the A Parting of Ten Thousand Miles technique.

If he didn't use it, it would prove he couldn't, prove his cultivation was not at the ninth layer. Li Qi would then go all out in the fight. Bao Yingchen was trapped within the boundary, unable to deploy his travel-cultivator techniques, and his life would be eighty percent forfeit.

A veteran of the Jianghu after all, Bao Yingchen faced the crisis without panic. He stepped forward, seemingly about to shove Li Banfeng.

He didn't know A Parting of Ten Thousand Miles—what was the point of shoving Li Banfeng?

This was intimidation. This was tactics.

This was telling Li Banfeng: I know A Parting of Ten Thousand Miles, I have ninth-layer cultivation, even wounded I have the strength to fight you!

I can escape at will, and I can shove you out, shove you to a designated spot, and put you in a desperate situation.

As long as he scared Li Qi, Bao Yingchen could buy time.

As far as Bao Yingchen knew, Shut the Door, Bar the Gate consumed a tremendous amount of stamina. With Li Qi's current cultivation, he definitely couldn't hold it for long.

Once he couldn't hold it anymore, the boundary would vanish, Bao Yingchen would successfully escape, call the people outside the door in, and then find a way to kill him!

This move actually worked—it truly did scare Li Qi.

Li Banfeng's current condition was not good either; his whole body ached terribly. He didn't dare to clash head-on with Bao Yingchen and could only retreat rapidly.

As he retreated, the halo moved with Li Banfeng and swept across Bao Yingchen's feet again.

Before Bao Yingchen could react, his body passed through the halo once more.

Going back and forth, he was wounded by the halo twice, with gashes all over his body, deep enough to expose bone.

Bao Yingchen looked up at Li Qi, speechless for a long moment.

This isn't a house-cultivator eighth-layer technique, is it?

How can this halo move?

Bao Yingchen spat out a mouthful of blood. This time he could no longer stay on his feet and collapsed flat on his back onto the ground.

"What's wrong with you?" Li Banfeng, gripping his scythe, walked over with a look of concern.

"Don't come any closer..." Bao Yingchen braced his hands against the ground and painfully dragged himself backward.

Bao Yingchen wanted to call for help, but he couldn't shout.

Li Banfeng walked forward, the halo moved with him, and passed through Bao Yingchen once again.

That was the third time.

The halo passed through Bao Yingchen's body for the third time.

Pierced straight through by the halo a full three times, Bao Yingchen had barely any flesh left on his body. His skeletal frame and writhing internal organs were all laid bare before Li Banfeng.

This time Bao Yingchen wouldn't be moving.

Li Banfeng casually picked him up and took out the key to the Portable Dwelling.

His wife was talking to the Portable Dwelling: "Old man, something feels off. Just now a burst of energy left the house—could it be..."

The Portable Dwelling coughed and said: "That should be it."

"Eighth-layer technique?" The phonograph's voice trembled slightly.

The Portable Dwelling sighed and said: "It's true what they say about a young couple knowing each other inside out. We really can't let this kid secretly learn techniques—once he learns them, he really dares to use them!"

"How did he manage to use it?"

"You know your man opened up business in two doors. He used the Yi Yi Gu Xing technique to raise his own level, and then forced it out."

The phonograph didn't believe it: "Old man, stop joking. To use the Shut the Door, Bar the Gate technique, one has to stay inside the house for months, not setting a foot outside, before the technique can be mastered. He runs around outside every day—where does he find the time to practice the technique?"

"I follow the key around, and the key has always been on him. Although he's not inside the house, he's right next to it, so the situation isn't all that different."

"That works too?"

The Portable Dwelling was silent for a moment, then said: "I'm not a man who doesn't know how to be flexible."

"Then when did he spill the blood?"

"Just now."

"After spilling blood, one has to temper oneself for several more months before gaining any resonance. Can blood that was just spilled count?"

Leaving Leaving Suishenju pondered for a moment and said: "I get along quite well with this madman. Sensing matters like this can be improvised…"

"Old man!" the gramophone barked. "You can't just improvise! Using a technique across layers will get someone killed!"

Leaving Leaving Suishenju said helplessly: "Girl, you can't see it. The situation was critical just now. If we hadn't improvised a little…"

Bang!

Li Banfeng threw Bao Yingchen into Leaving Leaving Suishenju.

The gramophone shouted: "Master, master, listen to me…"

Bang!

Li Banfeng didn't go in. He shut the door.

Outside the door there were still more than thirty tough men from the Three Heroes Gate, and in the background there were over a hundred people from Xiaoyao Stronghold. Li Banfeng still couldn't come back now.

Looking at Bao Yingchen's injuries, the gramophone confirmed that Li Banfeng had used an eighth-layer house-cultivator technique.

"Old man, what do we do?"

"I'll think of a way to call him back."

Woo-woo~ Leaving Leaving Suishenju sounded its whistle.

Li Banfeng didn't react.

Under the searing pain, Li Banfeng's consciousness grew fuzzy, and he didn't hear the whistle.

The gramophone shouted: "Open the door, I'll call him back!"

Leaving Leaving Suishenju got angry: "This isn't a bus station. You think you can just say 'open the door' and I open it?"

……

"Should we open the door?" a disciple of the Three Heroes Gate asked the Third Master, Yang Xingbo.

Yang Xingbo was also hesitating. The First Master had gone in quite a while ago, and suddenly there was no more movement inside.

A peeping-cultivator lowered his voice and said: "I heard someone say 'don't come over.' It sounded like the First Master's voice."

Yang Xingbo grew anxious: "Brothers, you are all pillars of the gate. At a critical moment, pillars cannot go soft. Follow me and storm the door!"

While speaking, Yang Xingbo swept his gaze over the crowd.

The men's veins bulged, their fighting spirit soaring.

This was a joy-cultivator's rallying technique. A group of people prepared to charge through the door.

Inside the door, Li Banfeng's expression was calm as he looked at the halo beneath his feet.

Although he still couldn't figure out the origin of this halo, since it could subdue Bao Yingchen, it would certainly be more than enough to hold off these people outside the door.

The halo flashed once and went out.

Li Banfeng was no longer calm.

How did it go out?

The Door-Shutting, House-Closing technique consumed a tremendous amount. In Li Banfeng's current state, the technique naturally couldn't hold up much longer.

The people outside were about to rush in. What to do?

Li Banfeng could enter Leaving Leaving Suishenju. If he worried he couldn't hide well enough, he could also think of a way to slip through the wall and escape. With Bao Yingchen gone, Li Banfeng had plenty of choices left.

But Li Banfeng had never once considered abandoning the hundred-plus people in the background.

He was taking stock of the magic treasures on his body one by one, pondering tactics, when he suddenly heard a scolding voice from outside: "Breaking into someone's home in the middle of the night—are you stealing or just plain robbing? The Three Heroes Gate has some standing in the world, so why do you always do these underhanded things!"

From the voice, it was an old woman.

The Street-Scolding Woman had arrived!

The old woman tottered up the stairs. She looked quite old, unsteady even on her feet, yet her scolding voice was still plenty loud.

Yang Xingbo was startled. He knew this old woman was no ordinary sort. He had planned to first ask clearly about her background, but the old woman kept on cursing, and her curses actually roused a surge of fury in Yang Xingbo.

How could she curse people so viciously?

He couldn't act rashly—she had techniques!

Yang Xingbo was still trying hard to stay calm, when a thought suddenly popped into his head.

"Hit her! She's cursing him like that and he still won't hit her? He's got so many brothers watching—how's he going to hold his head up after this?"

"Look at the way he carries himself, cringing and shrinking, like he wants to dig a hole and hide in it. His courage is completely broken. He wouldn't dare hit her!"

A pretty woman, around twenty-five or twenty-six, was muttering to herself beside the Street-Scolding Woman.

Li Banfeng heard the voice and smiled.

To others it looked like muttering to herself, but Li Banfeng knew clearly that this was two people talking.

Two-No-Guess had arrived. The two sisters shared one body but two heads, each speaking her own mind—only their true appearance was concealed by the Hundred Streams, Hundred Changes technique of Water-Surging Spring.

Yang Xingbo was a seventh-layer joy-cultivator and originally had a certain resistance.

But under the double provocation of the Street-Scolding Woman and Two-No-Guess, Yang Xingbo could no longer suppress his rage at all.

Actually, his choice wasn't wrong either. These two women, one old and one young, were clearly no pushovers. Whether he fought early or late, he was going to fight anyway. Striking first wouldn't put him at a disadvantage.

He first swept a glance at the Street-Scolding Woman and Two-No-Guess.

The Street-Scolding Woman was old and no longer cared about such things, so she wasn't greatly affected.

Two-No-Guess was in the flower of youth. After being glanced at like that, her body gave a shiver, and her legs couldn't help pressing together a little tighter.

Yang Xingbo shouted: "Go!"

A dozen or so of his men charged at the Street-Scolding Woman and Two-No-Guess. The old woman swung her cane and began to fight. Two-No-Guess held a long sword in her left hand and a curved blade in her right.

These three were not just good with their mouths—they had real skill in their hands. A fourth-layer body-cultivator had just closed in when the Street-Scolding Woman stabbed him dead on the spot with her cane.

A fifth-layer body-cultivator transformed into an emerald-green bristly caterpillar, covered in stinging hairs, and wriggled up close to Two-No-Guess.

Two-No-Guess recognized this bug. Its scientific name was slug moth caterpillar; they usually called this thing "foreign chili." Never let it touch you—once those stinging hairs land on you, the pain is excruciating.

Don't be fooled by the foreign chili's slow wriggling speed—when it strikes, it's not slow at all. A pair of sharp fangs, with its head darting in and out, kept biting at Two-No-Guess.

But he couldn't bite through—Liang Wucai was a Mind cultivator, and could always distract Song Lazi's attention at the critical moment.

Moreover, Liang Wucai's attacks were bizarre—the long sword in his left hand and the curved blade in his right had no connection whatsoever in their techniques. Song Lazi was exhausted parrying and got cut several times by Liang Wucai.

Fighting on like this wouldn't gain any advantage, so Song Lazi stopped trading blows head-on, stepped back half a pace, his body trembled, and bristles stood up all over him.

He drew in a deep breath, his massive body began to shake, and all the disciples of the Three Heroes Gate nearby scrambled away—Song Lazi's bristles were about to fly out.

Liang Wucai was also a little afraid. Even if he cut Song Lazi down with one slash now, getting stabbed by all those bristles would still make him miserable for a long time.

Watching Song Lazi shake faster and faster, a burly woman stepped in front of Liang Wucai, opened her great mouth wide, and swallowed Song Lazi whole.

That Song Lazi was about the size of a normal person, and not a single person around could figure out how that woman had managed to eat a worm that big.

"Spicy! Gloriously spicy!" Yumian Shala, the Two Shi Xiu, had arrived. She licked the bristles from the corner of her mouth and still felt it wasn't satisfying enough!

Dream cultivator Duan Wuchou had also arrived, with more than twenty ghost servants weaving back and forth among the crowd.

A Wu Xiu stepped forward and chopped off Duan Wuchou's head. Duan Wuchou paid it no heed, controlling his ghost servants and continuing the slaughter.

That wasn't her real head to begin with—she had no head. This was an illusion created by Shui Yongquan using the Tianhe Zhi Ji; after drinking a bit more water, it would grow back.

Baishou Lianna wielded a pair of battle-axes and fought the crowd. When his axes were blocked, he pulled out a pair of iron hammers. When the hammers were blocked, he pulled out a pair of wolf-tooth clubs…

The corridor descended into a chaotic melee. Yang Xingbo, the Third Master of the Three Heroes Gate, was looking for a chance to strike, when He Yuxiu leapt in through a corridor window and grabbed him by the hair.

"Old Seven!" He Yuxiu called out. "You alright?"

"I'm fine, nothing's wrong at all." Li Banfeng stood in the center of the great dance floor and let out a long breath.

He took out his key, opened the door to Leaving Leaving Suishenju, stumbled back into the room, and buried himself in the bed.

The phonograph said anxiously, "My lord, my lord, I told you not to secretly learn techniques—why won't you ever listen?"

Xiang Xiang Hongying murmured, "I think I finally understand what it means to have two doors open for business."

"Why bring that up now?" the phonograph said angrily. "Give me a hand here, I need to push him through his breakthrough!"

Xiang Xiang Hongying said, "He just advanced to the seventh layer, and now he's going up to the eighth—can his body take it?"

"What else can we do? He used a technique to cross layers. If he doesn't break through, he's just waiting to die!"

Xiang Xiang Hongying propped Li Banfeng up, and the phonograph sang tenderly, "Precious husband, bear the pain a moment—breakthrough's coming."

Li Banfeng was very confused.

"A breakthrough is a good thing, so why am I the one bearing the pain?"

PS: Dear readers, my lord, please give all your monthly votes to Shala!

(End of this chapter)