Chapter 441

Sun Sun Tiecheng taught Li Li Banfeng the essentials of the "Iron Evidence Like a Mountain" technique.

He called for Tiger and told him to get medicine for Li Li Banfeng.

Li Li Banfeng shook his head: "No medicine needed; it will be fine in a while."

"Still need to bandage it."

"No need; this blood is fresh, can't waste it." Li Li Banfeng placed the pendulum on his back.

Seeing Li Li Banfeng's bleeding stop, Qiu Qiu Luoye laughed: "Shall we have two drinks?"

"Sure!"

Qiu Qiu Luoye looked at He He Yuxiu: "Are you Old Seven's sweetheart?"

He He Yuxiu blushed slightly: "You... if you say so, then yes."

Qiu Qiu Luoye praised: "This is good. Looking at this physique, she's definitely good at bearing children."

He He Yuxiu looked at Li Li Banfeng quite proudly: "Look, Brother Qiu says so too."

Qiu Qiu Luoye looked at Chu Er: "I didn't think much of you before, but looking at you today, you're alright; you've got guts."

"I don't," Chu Er shook his head shyly.

Qiu Qiu Luoye shouted to the group of three-headed people: "Everyone, those who are wounded, come to me for treatment; I have top-quality medicine. Those who aren't wounded, let's have a drink together; I have plenty of good wine. I was a bit too guarded against you all before; that was my fault, Old Qiu. We were all from the same sect originally; let's drink to our heart's content today!"

Same sect?

Actually, the three-headed people were considered failed physical cultivators, but Juanzi had never heard other physical cultivators call them "same sect."

Everyone was stunned for a moment and looked at Li Qi.

Li Qi smiled: "Not enough wine, right? I'll call people to get some from the foot of the mountain!"

Qiu Qiu Luoye brought out all the good wine he had saved over the years, and the three-headed people returned home to bring plenty of wine and food.

Learning that Li Qi was fine, Ma Wu was overjoyed and called people to send wine up from the foot of the mountain.

Everyone set up tables in the forest, drinking and eating to their heart's content.

Since reaching the tenth layer, Qiu Qiu Luoye hadn't had a proper New Year.

This New Year was spent very well, but it might also be his last one.

Mengzi toasted Qiu Qiu Luoye, and Qiu Qiu Luoye downed it in one gulp.

Juanzi toasted another, and Qiu Qiu Luoye downed that one too.

Little Mountain toasted another, and Qiu Qiu Luoye couldn't drink anymore: "Even children can drink this much? Drinking with you all is unreasonable; three of you drinking against one of me!"

Watching Qiu Qiu Luoye stagger, Li Li Banfeng frowned slightly.

He He Yuxiu lowered her voice and said: "Chu Shaoqiang was beaten away, but the contract is still held in the hands of the Inner Continent. I'm afraid Old Qiu won't be able to pass this barrier. The Inner Continent holding the contract is equivalent to holding his life. Your sister here..."

"It's younger sister."

He He Yuxiu coughed, looked around to make sure no one was there, and continued: "Your younger sister here isn't in a hurry to be promoted, just because I don't want to go to the Inner Continent to be a slave."

Li Li Banfeng put down his wine bowl and sighed: "Is there no other way?"

He He Yuxiu shook her head: "I can't think of a way. Why don't you go ask that sweetheart of yours!"

"Which one..."

She was talking about Xiao Yeci.

Li Li Banfeng really went to ask.

Xiao Yeci had indeed read many books recently, but the records about contracts in the books were far too scarce.

This matter couldn't rely on Xiao Yeci; he still had to ask my lady.

Li Li Banfeng found an opportunity, returned to the Personal Residence, and told the record player the whole story.

"My precious lady, I really can't understand this. Qiu Qiu Luoye has two contracts; even if the Inner Continent destroyed one of them, Big Brother Qiu shouldn't have lost his status, let alone be wounded like this."

The record player said: "My precious husband, Qiu Qiu Luoye's first contract was given by the Inner Continent, or did he snatch it from someone else?"

"Given by the Inner Continent; Qiu Qiu Luoye is a local deity appointed by the Inner Continent."

"That makes it difficult."

Li Li Banfeng asked: "What is the difference between a contract given by the Inner Continent and one snatched away?"

"As far as Little Slave knows, contracts made by the Inner Continent contain a portion of the cultivator's flesh and blood. There is a curse technique here; as for the specific curse, Little Slave doesn't know. Little Slave has only heard some rumors: if a local deity appointed by the Inner Continent doesn't listen to the Inner Continent's orders, the Inner Continent will destroy the local deity's contract, and the local deity will lose their life because of the curse technique."

Li Li Banfeng was silent for a moment: "Promoted from ninth layer to tenth, go to the Inner Continent to be a dog; reach the first layer of Cloud-Ascending, sent to a new land; accumulate enough popularity in the new land, go to the proper land, and the Inner Continent comes to pick the peaches. Even if you snatch a contract, it's no use; there is still a curse technique following behind. My precious lady, once a person walks this path of the Inner Continent, is there really no chance to turn things around?"

My lady sighed: "Husband, local deities who walk out of the Inner Continent don't dare to mention the Inner Continent; they are truly afraid. As long as the Inner Continent makes some moves on the contract, they can take their lives. Qiu Qiu Luoye is still alive now; his contract hasn't been completely destroyed, but it must have been partially damaged by the Inner Continent, which is why he is so severely wounded."

Li Li Banfeng thought of an idea: "I will go now and dig out Big Brother Qiu's contract, and we will find a way to repair it; then Big Brother Qiu's wounds will be healed."

"My precious husband, you can't dig this out lightly; it will cost cultivation. He is severely wounded; if he loses cultivation and can't get it back, he will really lose his life."

Li Li Banfeng couldn't understand: "He has obtained Madam Madame Wuqin's contract; why would he still lose cultivation?"

"Contracts have a primary and secondary order. The contract snatched from Puluo Continent only had blood sprinkled on it, but the contract brought from the Inner Continent not only had blood sprinkled on it, but also carried flesh and blood, having a deeper relationship with the local deity. If husband digs out Qiu Qiu Luoye's Inner Continent contract now, Qiu Qiu Luoye's cultivation will definitely drop once first; relying on the snatched contract, it might be possible to get it back. But if he can't get it back, and Qiu Qiu Luoye is still severely wounded, I'm afraid his soul will fly away and scatter."

Two possibilities: one where he can get it back, and another where he loses his life directly.

"Is the hope of getting it back high?"

My lady said: "According to common sense, there isn't even a one-percent hope. The key is that doing this is useless. Husband, digging out Qiu Qiu Luoye's contract now and repairing it won't help. The two contracts are connected; if the contract here is repaired, the Inner Continent will see it and will inevitably destroy it again. We are repairing it here, spending all our efforts, but if they want to destroy it, it's just a matter of moving their hands. This is equivalent to treating Qiu Qiu Luoye's wounds, only to let them torture him again after he's healed; repeating this over and over is just making Qiu Qiu Luoye suffer in vain."

This line of thinking was wrong from the start.

"My precious lady, is there any other way?"

The record player recalled for a long time and said: "Little Slave once heard a rumor: a local deity who really didn't want to be manipulated by the Inner Continent used some means to slowly lower their cultivation, stabilize their soul, and eventually turned into a Wounded Demon Fiend."

"Turning into a Wounded Demon Fiend can get rid of the curse technique?"

"In theory, it is possible. From ninth to tenth, a person must discard their physical body and become a wandering soul; from tenth to Cloud-Ascending, the Inner Continent will reshape the cultivator's flesh and blood, and the wandering soul becomes a person again. The curse technique is in this flesh and blood given by the Inner Continent. Turning into a Wounded Demon Fiend is equivalent to turning back into an evil spirit, discarding the flesh and blood, and naturally getting rid of the curse technique. But this method still won't work for Qiu Qiu Luoye. Lowering cultivation while wanting to stabilize the soul requires very delicate means; I'm afraid Qiu Qiu Luoye can't learn it. Moreover, this requires a year or half a year or even longer; Qiu Qiu Luoye can't wait. The Inner Continent might take action against him at any time. If he forces a reduction in cultivation, Qiu Qiu Luoye still won't be able to hold on."

Li Li Banfeng sat on the edge of the bed, looking up at the ceiling, silent for a long time.

My lady persuaded from the side: "Husband, don't be angry; let's think of another way."

Li Li Banfeng said: "Must think of a way as soon as possible; he really can't wait. Let's repair the contract first."

My lady comforted: "Husband, don't be impatient..."

Li Li Banfeng said again: "What's the use of repairing the contract? My lady is right; this is letting Big Brother Qiu suffer in vain. Think again if there is any other path."

"Husband, what's wrong with you..."

Li Li Banfeng said again: "What other path can there be? As long as the contract is still in the Inner Continent, the path is blocked."

"Husband, don't be like this..."

Li Li Banfeng said again: "Isn't that local deity who turned into a Wounded Demon Fiend also a path? At least he got rid of the Inner Continent's curse technique."

Li Li Banfeng said again: "What kind of path is that? After finally struggling to the proper land, now he has to be an evil spirit again? Besides, forcing a reduction in cultivation, Big Brother Qiu still won't be able to hold on."

Li Li Banfeng said again: "Didn't you say it could be gotten back?"

Li Li Banfeng said again: "Didn't my lady say there isn't even a one-percent hope? What were you listening to?"

Li Li Banfeng said again: "Maintain order in the venue and speak in turn!"

The record player sprayed steam to wrap around Li Li Banfeng: "My precious husband, don't scare me!"

Li Li Banfeng hugged the record player and said: "My lady, if we dig out Big Brother Qiu's contract, force a reduction in Big Brother Qiu's cultivation, let him turn into a Wounded Demon Fiend, discard his flesh and blood, get rid of the curse technique, and then use Madam Madame Wuqin's contract to get his cultivation back—is this move feasible?"

The record player pondered for a moment and said: "It is feasible in theory, but he cannot turn into a Wounded Demon Fiend. If you want to get the cultivation back, you have to pass three barriers, and there can't be the slightest mistake in these three barriers. The first barrier is the Soul-Leaving Barrier: that is, when the cultivation drops from Cloud-Ascending to the ground, the soul must separate from the physical body once. After digging out the contract, some local deities separate on the spot, while others have to wait for a few days. Soul-body separation, to put it bluntly, is dying once. This is extremely painful, and the soul will be damaged by at least twenty percent. If there is fear and panic, the damage will intensify. Once the damage exceeds twenty percent, he will turn into a Wounded Demon Fiend, and the cultivation won't be able to come back. Qiu Qiu Luoye is severely wounded, and will lose his life because of this. In this barrier, the soul damage must be kept under twenty percent; only extremely intelligent and strong-willed people can survive it. Among ten thousand people, you won't find one such person."

Li Li Banfeng couldn't understand: "Extremely intelligent and strong-willed—why can they survive it?"

"Extremely intelligent people can distinguish between body and soul very clearly. They know that what dies in this moment is only the body, not the soul. They must firmly believe that they haven't died. Even at the moment of life and death, there is not the slightest fear or panic in their hearts. Ask Qiu Qiu Luoye if he can do this?"

Regarding strong will, Li Li Banfeng had absolutely no doubts.

Regarding being extremely intelligent, there was a bit of a gap.

And he had to distinguish between the concepts of body and soul.

Qiu Qiu Luoye definitely couldn't distinguish these two characters; as for these two concepts, could he explain them clearly to him?

Qiu Qiu Luoye might be able to learn embroidery, but such complex concepts, he definitely couldn't understand.

"My lady, give Qiu Qiu Luoye some medicine to make him fall asleep directly, so he won't have fear and panic. Do you think this move will work?"

My lady shook her head: "Husband, at the moment of soul-leaving, if he falls asleep, he will never wake up again; the soul will perish together with the body."

Medicine won't work either.

At the moment of life and death, firmly believing that one hasn't died—this method seems to have been seen somewhere.

Indeed seen it.

The difficulty of this barrier is too great; it must be studied carefully, let's put it aside for now.

Li Li Banfeng asked again: "What about the second barrier?"

"The second barrier is Rebirth, but it is even harder than the first. The difficulty lies in rapidly growing back the flesh and blood that was lost. Only then can the damaged soul be nurtured, and only then can he rely on the contract to get back the lost cultivation."

Growing flesh.

Qiu Qiu Luoye's wounds heal quickly, but if he starts from zero, does he know how to grow this flesh and blood?

Who can teach him?

Who knows how to grow flesh?

After pondering for a moment, Li Li Banfeng rubbed his cheeks, adjusted the angle between his eyebrows, and revealed a smile full of tenderness.

He entered the second room and saw Hong Ying who was applying makeup.

He took the eyebrow pencil from Hong Ying's hand and said softly: "Xue Yingying, I'll draw it for you."

Hong Ying smiled shyly, picked up the lipstick, wrote the character "Cheap" on Li Li Banfeng's face, and said softly: "Seventh Young Master, speak quickly if you have something to say!"

PS: Xue Yingying is angry; Li Li Banfeng needs to show more sincerity.

(End of chapter)

Sun Sun Tiecheng smiled; he had already seen the root of the method.

Actually, this method wasn't difficult. Li Li Banfeng took some stored blood from the blood-containing pendulum and injected it into Yan Yan Cuier's body using the "Body Building" technique. With blood in her body, her face could naturally turn red.

Actually, not only did her face turn red, other parts of her body also became ruddy, but Yan Yan Cuier wouldn't let others see. She said that from now on, except for Li Qi, she wouldn't let anyone see.

Tang Tang Changfa hummed: "If you don't let people see, how will the book apartment do business in the future?"

Yan Yan Cuier hummed: "Has our book apartment ever really done business? Have I ever done business in my life? How come I don't remember?"

Tang Tang Changfa's face twisted for a moment, and he stopped talking.

People who came to this book apartment from outside the city had all been shaved of their flesh and blood.

Even in the City of Fools, no one dared to come to the book apartment for entertainment.

This book apartment had never successfully done business.

Dressing up and going out to greet guests, could they really be welcomed in?

Practicing singing songs and learning to brew tea every day, and at night, the sisters would exchange bed skills—could these really be used?

Not to mention them, how much business could the restaurants and inns outside do all year round?

Hanging a sign outside the door was just to have a livelihood for themselves.

Creating such a business without business was to have a thought.

Having a thought was to firmly believe that they were still alive.

This matter must not be broken. If even this was broken, even with Tang Tang Changfa's high cultivation, I'm afraid he wouldn't be able to resist.

Yan Yan Cuier had a ruddy complexion, and naturally became much more beautiful. Yan Hong and Yan Qing'er were both very envious, but how long this blood could last depended on how Yan Yan Cuier maintained it.

Having received a lot of care from Yan Yan Cuier these days, Li Li Banfeng promised that next time he came, he would bring more blood for Yan Yan Cuier.

Sun Sun Tiecheng was quite satisfied with Li Li Banfeng's technique: "Go find Qiu Qiu Luoye, the Soul-Leaving Hurdle should be passable, but don't be in a hurry to take action."

"The Rebirth Hurdle and the Guarding Land Hurdle cannot have the slightest mistake. Try to prepare thoroughly, and don't be careless about the details."

"But thoroughness is thoroughness, don't drag it out too long. Three days have already passed, and it's estimated that the Inner Province will come up with some new tricks within a day or two."

Sun Sun Tiecheng knew the process of passing the three hurdles very well.

Li Li Banfeng never asked people to do things for nothing. Previously, Sun Sun Tiecheng teaching him techniques was the reward for passing the test. This time, the price for teaching the technique should be calculated separately.

He bowed deeply and said: "Big Brother Sun, is there anything I can do for you? If one thing isn't enough, just say a few more."

Sun Sun Tiecheng really wanted Li Li Banfeng to do something. He looked at everyone in the book apartment: "Who among you wants to go out and broaden your horizons?"

Li Li Banfeng immediately understood: "Those who want to go, follow me."

Tang Tang Changfa lowered his head and said nothing, and the young ladies didn't speak either.

Sun Sun Tiecheng looked at Yan Yan Cuier. Yan Yan Cuier bit her lip; she wanted to follow Li Qi, but after thinking for a long time, she still didn't speak.

They all wanted to go out and see, but they were also afraid to go out.

Sun Sun Tiecheng sighed: "You bunch of useless people, what will you do when the time comes?"

"Old Seven, keep your wits about you when fighting the Inner Province, don't be careless, take care of yourself."

"Thank you, Big Brother, for the reminder. I will keep this friendship in my heart, and when it's time to repay it, I won't be ambiguous."

Li Li Banfeng ran like the wind, running all the way from the new land back to Seven Autumn City.

Ma Wu had already prepared the medicinal herbs, and Li Li Banfeng sent them all into the Leaving Suishenju, letting the Copper Lotus refine the pills.

The previous agreement was for two days. Li Li Banfeng spent three days learning the craft and nearly a day on the road. A full four days had passed, and Qiu Qiu Luoye should have gotten familiar with Madame Wuqin Township's territory.

Qiu Qiu Luoye also had confidence: "As long as I've been there, I can remember it."

Li Li Banfeng took Qiu Qiu Luoye for a walk. Just after leaving Ma Junyang Avenue, Qiu Qiu Luoye's condition became a bit wrong.

"There's an alley here. After passing through the alley, there's a river. Across the river, there's someone selling soy milk. Their soy milk is quite good."

Li Li Banfeng looked at the alley Qiu Qiu Luoye mentioned: "Big Brother, did you take this road to drink soy milk across the river?"

Qiu Qiu Luoye nodded: "It's this alley, it can't be wrong."

"Big Brother, this is a dead end."

"Could it be that I remembered wrong? Is it the alley next door?" Qiu Qiu Luoye scratched his scalp, and sweat broke out on his face.

It wasn't that he wasn't attentive; he had been wandering around Madame Wuqin Township for the past few days, but he really couldn't remember the road.

After leaving the town, Qiu Qiu Luoye started to lose his way.

Li Li Banfeng recalled some popular science programs he saw in the Outer Province, which once said that elephants have excellent memories, especially good at remembering roads.

Qiu Qiu Luoye didn't seem very similar to an elephant in this regard.

Li Li Banfeng returned to the Leaving Suishenju. Red Lotus had already refined the pill for growing flesh and blood.

The first and second hurdles were ready, but the third hurdle had become the most serious problem. Li Li Banfeng told the record player about Qiu Qiu Luoye's condition, and the record player gave a conclusion:

"My dear Husband, in this situation, even if he passes the first two hurdles, it's of no avail. He is not familiar with his territory, and the territory itself is not large. Even if he gets his cultivation back, he won't be able to stabilize it. Once the cultivation is back and then drops again, Qiu Qiu Luoye will inevitably die on the spot."

Let Qiu Qiu Luoye wander for a few more days?

Two days might be of no avail. Letting him wander for a month or so might show improvement.

Li Li Banfeng still remembered Sun Sun Tiecheng's exhortation. He seemed to know the Inner Province very well. He said don't be in a hurry, Qiu Qiu Luoye was indeed fine. He said don't drag it out too long, it's estimated that the Inner Province would take action soon.

The knife was hanging over his neck, how long could he wait?

Li Li Banfeng pondered for a long time and said: "Don't wait, take action tonight."

PS: What exactly does the peddler owe Sun Sun Tiecheng? Why was it such a coincidence that he was met by Li Li Banfeng?

No matter how the world changes, I love my readers the most!

(End of chapter)