The Fifth-Layer Journey Cultivator Technique

Li Banfeng sorted through the shredded clothing on the ground, hoping to find a magical artifact or a spiritual item. Mind Cultivators possessed decent perception, but they were not skilled in close combat. Since Wu Decheng dared to come as an assassin, he had to have had at least one offensive spiritual item on him. To Li Banfeng's disappointment, however, after searching for a long time, he found nothing except a floor full of scraps. Could an elder of the Pure Observance Society truly possess no good belongings at all? Unwilling to believe it, Li Banfeng searched through the pile once more, and this time his efforts bore fruit. Amid the heap of rags lay a single yarn work glove. What was a yarn work glove? It was the ordinary kind most commonly used by laborers. This one was quite old, stained with grease and oil, and so crumpled up among the shredded fabric that it was genuinely hard to spot. Was this a magical artifact? It didn't look like one. Li Banfeng gave it a couple of shakes. He didn't sense the slightest trace of spiritual energy, though he did shake loose a small cloud of dust. Even so, he didn't throw it away. Wu Decheng was an elder of the Pure Observance Society; a man of his standing would never work on a construction site, so carrying such a glove made no sense. Was he using it to conceal his fingerprints? Did anyone in Puluo Province even bother doing that? Even if he really needed to hide fingerprints, he would need a pair of gloves, and presumably a cleaner pair at that. Li Banfeng brought the glove over to the gramophone. "Wife, does this thing have any spirituality?" The wife picked up the glove with her stylus and observed it for a good while. "No spirituality to speak of. It's just a tatty old glove." Could it truly be just a tatty glove? Li Banfeng pondered for a moment, then carried the glove into the second room and presented it before the Red Lotus. The Red Lotus gave no reaction. Li Banfeng sat down beside her and said in a gentle voice, "A-Lian, look how thin you've gotten lately. Hurry and eat this to nourish yourself." *Eat this?* *Are you joking?* *You stuff every piece of trash into my face!* The Red Lotus still ignored him. Li Banfeng grew indignant and carried her into the main room. "Wife, this wench won't listen to me. I told her to eat the glove, but she refused. Let's bring out the household discipline." "My, my, Husband, you're having this wench eat a glove?" The gramophone chuckled, then adopted a stern tone. "Wench! Whatever Husband tells you to do, you do! How dare you pick and choose!" As she spoke, clouds of steam enveloped the Red Lotus. The Red Lotus was not truly afraid of a beating, but she was currently refining Wu Decheng's corpse; fighting the gramophone right now might cause something to go awry. Left with no choice, the Red Lotus parted her petals, and a whirlwind arose from the lotus core, preparing to draw the glove inside. The glove drifted a few inches closer to the lotus core, then suddenly sprang into the air, leaping clear of the whirlwind's reach. The Red Lotus froze in shock. The wife was dumbfounded. A cotton work glove with seemingly no spirituality had actually managed to dodge the Red Lotus's whirlwind? What was more, when it disguised itself as an ordinary glove, neither the wife nor the Red Lotus had noticed a shred of spirituality in it! "My, my, Husband, this thing possesses no small amount of spirituality!" The gramophone spewed steam in an attempt to subdue the glove, but the glove darted between the vapor currents with blistering speed and astonishing agility. Seeing this, the Red Lotus opened six of the seven holes in her lotus core—the remaining hole was still refining Wu Decheng. Six whirlwinds twisted and coiled like swimming serpents, weaving up and down, yet they still could not catch the glove. Seizing the right moment, the wife coordinated with the Red Lotus to corner the glove against the wall. With nowhere left to run, the glove had whirlwinds to its left and steam to its right. After a brief standoff, the glove darted to the right. The wife used her steam to pin the glove down securely. The glove still wriggled, searching for an opening to escape. The steam grew denser and denser, coalescing into a seal. Being sealed by the wife was better than being devoured by the Red Lotus; the glove had made the right choice. And making the right choice proved that the glove possessed intelligence—and no small amount of it. This was a magical artifact! Reinforcing the seal, the wife asked, "What is your origin?" The glove kept quiet. The gramophone raised the temperature of the steam. "I asked, what is your origin?" The glove sneered. "A bit of torture and you expect me to talk? You take me for a spineless coward?" By the sound of it, the voice belonged to a middle-aged man. The gramophone increased the heat once more, and the glove sneered again. "I am a journey cultivator artifact, called Fly With the Wind!" *A journey cultivator.* Li Banfeng's eyes lit up. "A journey cultivator!" The wife flew into an instant rage, all three brass horns billowing steam simultaneously. As the temperature spiked sharply, the glove wailed in agony. "What's wrong with journey cultivators?! Did we wrong you somehow?!" "Our enmity is deep as the ocean!" The wife's voice turned pitch-black with malice. Li Banfeng hurried to intervene. "Wife, journey cultivator artifacts are hard to come by. Why not leave it to me?" "If Husband wants journey cultivator methods, having that wench Hong Ying is enough! There's no need to keep another scourge around!" The steam grew hotter still, and the glove screamed, "Wait! I have something to say! I'm not—" The wife refused to hear another word; she wanted nothing more than to burn the glove to ashes. From the side, Hong Ying laughed heartily. "Vicious hag, your grudge is with me. Why drag in innocent bystanders? Do you plan to slaughter every journey cultivator under the heavens?" "Kill one, and there's one less!" Hong Ying was rather smug. "Vicious hag, seeing you mad with rage yet completely unable to do anything to me—that pathetic look on your face truly warms my heart." *Skrrrch—* The gramophone gouged a scratch into the record, generating static and noise. "Warms your heart?" The gramophone fell silent for a moment, then burst into loud laughter. "Wench, is this glove your lover? You're using reverse psychology to trick me because you want me to let him go?" "Reverse psychology? Do you think I'd bother?" Hong Ying laughed back. "If you're going to kill him, hurry up and do it! See if I feel the slightest bit of grief once he's dead. If I so much as frown, consider it your victory!" "Do you know him or not?!" The gramophone ground her teeth, her stylus stabbing into the glove and tearing up and down, threatening to shred it to pieces at any moment. Hong Ying replied, "Of course I know him! So make sure you don't kill him. Keep him here and interrogate him thoroughly—maybe you can pry loose some secrets from back then." The gramophone roared, "Wench! You dare bluff me?!" Hong Ying chuckled. "Vicious hag, bluff you how? Kill him if you want, spare him if you don't! Whatever you do, I'll be laughing. Watching you twist yourself in knots and suffer only makes me laugh harder!" "*Hoo-yah!*" The gramophone bellowed furiously, smoke puffing from all three horns again. Li Banfeng hurried to soothe her. "Wife, calm your anger. If you get angry, you'll be playing right into her hands." *Whoosh—whoosh—* The steam cooled abruptly. The large brass horns, which had glowed red-hot, slowly returned to their original color. "My, my, Husband, your humble servant was only playing with her. Why would I be angry? A tatty glove isn't worth my fury." "My wife truly has a broad mind—let me feel just how big your belly is." Li Banfeng gently stroked the wooden casing. The gramophone giggled, and her stylus eased up slightly, granting the glove a brief moment of respite. After laughing, the wife asked the glove, "You said earlier that you had something to say. You may speak now." Panting for a moment, the glove pointed a finger toward Hong Ying. "That spear—I don't know her." Hong Ying put on an affected tone and drawled, "Claiming you don't know me—isn't that practically giving the game away? How do you expect that vicious hag to believe you?" The gramophone chuckled coldly. "I believe him. In fact, I believe him completely; I don't doubt him in the least. "Husband, journey cultivator artifacts are indeed rare, but his intelligence is remarkably high, and his level is likely not low either. With Husband's current cultivation, you might find it difficult to master him. Let us keep him stored at home for now, to be dealt with at a later date." Li Banfeng looked solemn. "Wife, we cannot trust him too easily. He might not truly belong to the journey cultivation path. Allow your husband to test him first." "How does Husband wish to test him?" Li Banfeng glared at the glove and demanded harshly, "Do you know the techniques of a journey cultivator?" The glove answered, "Which layer's technique do you want to know?" "Start by telling me the fifth-layer technique!" The glove replied, "The fifth-layer technique is called 'Viewing Flowers on a Galloping Horse.'" Looking at flowers while riding a horse? What kind of technique was that? "Stop talking nonsense! Do you take me for a fool?" The gramophone said, "Husband, on this matter he hasn't lied. Viewing Flowers on a Galloping Horse is indeed the fifth-layer journey cultivator technique." Li Banfeng shook his head. "Merely knowing the name could mean he heard it somewhere else. What is this technique actually used for?" The glove said, "While moving at high speed, anyone upon whom your gaze fixes will turn into a blooming flower." Li Banfeng was taken aback. "A person you look at turns into a flower? Isn't that just a magic trick?" "Putting it that way isn't wrong either. The person locked under your gaze suffers bursting flesh and blood, blooming like a flower." Take one look, and the person explodes? Li Banfeng scoffed. "And you claim you aren't talking nonsense! If there were truly such a formidable technique, wouldn't fifth-layer journey cultivators be invincible under heaven?" The glove wagged a finger. "It sounds formidable, but it tests one's cultivation and innate talent to the utmost. An ordinary fifth-layer journey cultivator using this move can only kill a white lamb; against even a first-layer cultivator, it might not take effect. Furthermore, this technique consumes a tremendous amount of energy. Killing a single person might drain seventy to eighty percent of a fifth-layer cultivator's stamina. Just think about it: if a fifth-layer journey cultivator wants to kill a white lamb, they have countless methods at their disposal—why would they resort to this technique? Out of ten thousand journey cultivators, more than nine thousand nine hundred are unwilling to use it; at most, they pull it out occasionally to scare people. Put bluntly, it's an embroidered pillow—fancy on the outside, useless on the inside." Hearing this, Hong Ying sneered. "That's because they don't grasp the essentials." The wife sighed with mixed feelings. "That wench Hong Ying does happen to possess that one-in-ten-thousand talent. Her energy is boundless, so she has no fear of exhaustion, and she wields Viewing Flowers on a Galloping Horse with consummate skill." Li Banfeng was startled. "Then if she were to look at me one day..." Hong Ying spat, "Bah! Shameless lunatic! Do I have fucking eyes?!" The gramophone laughed uproariously. "Back then, it was precisely to guard against this trick of yours that I destroyed your pair of peepers! Do you hate me? Bwahaha!" Li Banfeng looked at the glove. "You might have just seen this technique somewhere else. That doesn't prove you belong to the journey path!" The wife said, "Husband is right. Let's see if he knows the essentials of the technique." Li Banfeng gave the casing an affectionate caress. The glove answered, "The essence of Viewing Flowers on a Galloping Horse lies in the 'galloping horse' and the 'viewing flowers.'" Li Banfeng asked, "Must one ride a horse to execute the technique?" The glove wagged its finger again. "It has nothing to do with horses. What is meant by 'galloping horse' is moving swiftly. When a journey cultivator executes the technique, they must move so rapidly that the opponent cannot see their form at all. If the target catches sight of even the slightest glimpse, the technique will fail." Not even the slightest glimpse? Li Banfeng remarked, "Then how fast would one have to run? Wouldn't that run the journey cultivator to death?" The glove said, "That is precisely why the technique consumes so much energy. The other essential lies in 'viewing flowers': while galloping, one must fix their gaze upon the enemy, and their visual force must be immense. Before the technique succeeds, the line of sight cannot waver by even a hair's breadth." Li Banfeng lapsed into silence. Running at top speed while keeping the eyes locked... And needing "visual force"... What was visual force? This technique was indeed troublesome to use. Li Banfeng pressed on, "Merely naming a fifth-layer technique isn't enough to prove you belong to the journey path. Tell me about the sixth-layer technique!" "The sixth-layer journey cultivator technique is called—" The glove suddenly found a gap in the steam and was just about to break free when it was snagged once more by the stylus. "Hold on! I'll talk—" Before the glove could finish, the wife sealed it shut. "This artifact is far too sly. Husband truly cannot master it." "Truly impossible to master?" Li Banfeng was reluctant to let it go. The gramophone said, "Think about it, Husband: when that old bastard fought Husband just now, why did he keep this artifact hidden on his person without ever using it? Why didn't he wear it directly on his hand? Most likely because this glove is disobedient, or because its cost is too high. His cultivation was no lower than Husband's, which shows just how difficult this artifact is to control. An artifact you cannot master should not be carried on your person; not only is it useless, but it will also invite disaster." Wu Decheng had indeed groped around inside his clothes back then; at the time, he was probably calling out to the artifact. This magical artifact was indeed hard to control, but since it was in his hands now, there was no need to rush. He could always find a way to pry out the sixth-layer technique later on. PS: Does a glove have to be worn on the hand? Can't it be worn somewhere else?