Grandpa Train said he would take Li Banfeng out of the Inner States. Li Banfeng asked excitedly, "How are we going to get out?"
*Chug, puff—*
Grandpa Train looked at Li Banfeng. "The train is departing soon. Are you buying a ticket first, or getting an upgrade after boarding?"
Li Banfeng blinked. "Wait, weren't we just talking about... Never mind, I'll buy a ticket first."
There was no reasoning with Grandpa Train.
Li Banfeng produced three hundred dollars. "I'll take a sleeper."
Grandpa Train grew displeased. "Do you still want to get out or not?"
"Of course I do!"
"If you buy a sleeper, can you still get out?"
Did those two things have any necessary connection at all?
Li Banfeng pulled back one banknote. "I'll buy hard-seat instead."
Grandpa Train took the money. "Board the train!"
Li Banfeng climbed onto Grandpa Train's back. Grandpa Train pulled his whistle and dashed forward, carrying him along.
This time, Grandpa Train moved very slowly.
"Dear passengers, the next stop is the dreamscape of Ms. Wang Chunfang. As everyone knows, Ms. Wang Chunfang is an exceedingly kind person. Passengers are encouraged to pay close attention to the scenery outside the window."
This person named Wang Chunfang was indeed exceptionally kind. She was extremely friendly toward others and hoped they would treat her with the same goodwill.
Unfortunately, such things only ever existed in dreams.
The dream was entirely ordinary, yet Grandpa Train repeatedly urged Li Banfeng to pay attention to the scenery outside.
Wang Chunfang's dreamscape was a bright patch of flowers. Beyond the flowers lay a black boundary line, and on the other side of that line stood an ancient city, with an army of thousands drawn up below in full battle array.
"Next stop is the dreamscape of Mr. Feng Xiqing. Mr. Feng Xiqing is an outstanding general who has achieved countless military exploits."
Li Banfeng caught sight of Feng Xiqing. The man did not look like an ancient commander at all; judging by his clothes, he seemed more like a student from the Outer States.
Clearly, he harbored a dream of being a martial hero.
Beyond the ancient city lay another boundary line. On the far side stretched a vast ocean, where a robust, handsome man used a fish gig to spear a marine fish with unerring precision.
Holding up the spear, the man sang loudly amid the wind and waves.
It seemed he wanted to be a brave sailor.
Truth be told, his build and movements truly carried the air of one.
Grandpa Train said, "This is the dreamscape of Mr. Lü Daping. Mr. Lü Daping's greatest dream is to become a fish."
A fish?
The protagonist wasn't the sailor?
Li Banfeng looked at the fish on the prongs, thinking to himself, *Doesn't Dream-Tethering Tower forbid nightmares?*
Perhaps being impaled by a spear wasn't a nightmare to him?
After passing through more than a dozen dreams in succession, Grandpa Train blew his whistle and shouted, "The train is about to enter a tunnel. Passengers, please hold on and stay seated for your safety."
Just as Li Banfeng was about to duck his head, the surrounding scenery abruptly vanished, plunging into vast emptiness once more.
Grandpa Train asked Li Banfeng, "Did you see clearly just now?"
Li Banfeng replied, "I saw a bit of everyone's dreams."
"I didn't tell you to look at the dreams! What's so interesting about those?!"
Not the dreams.
Li Banfeng pondered for a moment. "You wanted me to look at the boundaries between the dreams?"
Grandpa Train nodded. "Those are the real exits of Dream-Tethering Tower. Can you break through?"
Li Banfeng recalled the width of the line and shook his head. "That line is too narrow. I'm afraid I can't make it through."
"If I widen the line a bit, can you make it out?" Grandpa Train waved his hand, and a three-meter-square slab of rock appeared in the dream.
He drew a black line on the rock, then wiped it with his hand, widening it to over a foot across.
"Can you pass through this?"
Li Banfeng checked the thickness of the rock—only about ten centimeters.
"Using the Unimpeded Passage skill, I should be able to get through."
"Give it a try."
With a Half-Step, Li Banfeng moved beside the rock, activated the skill, and slammed headfirst into the stone.
He nearly split his head open.
Even though they were in a dream, Li Banfeng felt the pain vividly.
Grandpa Train stared at him in utter bewilderment. "Is that how you've always used Unimpeded Passage? Our pathway's Unimpeded Passage uses skill techniques to pass through obstacles. To put it simply, it's wall-phasing, not ramming a wall with your head!"
Li Banfeng pressed his lips together and forced a smile. "I didn't mean to ram it. Something went wrong with the technique just now."
The issue was likely due to the dream.
Inside a dream, one's legs sometimes failed to exert force.
While running, the effect wasn't very obvious, but before executing Unimpeded Passage, one had to initiate it with a Half-Step. The Half-Step just now had clearly malfunctioned.
Grandpa Train made the rock a little thinner. "Try again."
Li Banfeng charged toward the wall once more. This time he did not crash into it, realizing in advance that the technique would fail.
Grandpa Train shaved the rock down further. "Try again."
He tried once more, yet still failed.
Grandpa Train stopped modifying the rock. Looking at Li Banfeng, he shook his head. "You'd better not leave. Just stay here and keep me company. You don't have your heart set on leaving at all."
Li Banfeng assumed a serious expression. "That isn't true. We're in a dream, and I can't summon my strength."
"It really isn't easy to exert strength in a dream, but you didn't even try. Look at your footwork just now—that didn't look like an escape at all; it looked like someone pulling a rickshaw!"
Li Banfeng answered honestly, "My footwork really was learned from someone who pulled a rickshaw."
"Thighs driving the calves—that running style has endurance, but it isn't fast enough. If you want to escape the Inner States, you need the footwork of a vanguard charging into battle! One line behind your heels is a bottomless abyss; fall half a step behind, and you'll be smashed to smithereens. Do you understand?"
Li Banfeng shook his head. "Not entirely."
He truly didn't understand.
Ever since coming to Puluo Province, he had always enjoyed the speed advantage of a journey cultivator. This was the first time anyone had told him he wasn't fast enough.
Grandpa Train furrowed his brow. "You have fifth-layer cultivation, don't you?"
"Just reached the fifth layer."
"Can you use the fifth-layer skill?"
"Viewing Flowers on a Galloping Horse? I've heard of it, but haven't used it. That skill isn't very practical."
"Who said it isn't practical?"
"The fifth-layer skill consumes too much. With my current cultivation, at most I could take down a white lamb. It isn't worth it."
Grandpa Train's brows shot up as he glared at Li Banfeng. "That's because you're using it wrong! I'll demonstrate it for you—I guarantee you'll blossom, and blossom beautifully!"
"No blossoming!" Li Banfeng flatly refused. "Could you please guide me on what that vanguard charging footwork actually looks like?"
Grandpa Train tapped the ground with his toes and instantly phased straight through the stone slab. "Did you see that clearly?"
It would have been a wonder if he could see it clearly.
Without explaining, Grandpa Train phased back and forth through both sides of the slab. "Look, I'm through. Look, I'm back. Look, I blew my whistle. Look, I'm puffing smoke. Do you understand now?"
After several passes, Li Banfeng began to discern something.
Toes driving the balls of the feet, balls of the feet driving the ankles, ankles driving the calves, calves driving the thighs—his footwork was completely reversed from what Li Banfeng was accustomed to.
Grandpa Train pointed at the rock. "Give it a try!"
Li Banfeng got to his feet, but after only two paces, he tumbled straight to the ground.
Running like this disrupted his entire body's coordination. How was he supposed to execute any skill?
Grandpa Train glanced at Li Banfeng and blew his whistle. *Choo-choo—* "Departing now! Passenger, hurry up and board!"
"Board what?!" Li Banfeng said in exasperation. "I haven't mastered the footwork yet. How am I supposed to get out?"
"You're still thinking of getting out?" Grandpa Train's gaze turned sharply piercing, sending a chill through Li Banfeng.
*Was this his ocular power?*
Grandpa Train let out a blast of his whistle. "They can't see me right now, but soon they'll send people looking for me. Once they find me, where are you going to run? Charging into battle, fall half a step behind and you're smashed to pieces! Did you hear me clearly or not?!"
Li Banfeng got up, pulled down the brim of his hat, and charged at the rock once more.
He recalled the scene in the valley when Qiu Luoye had pursued him.
Back then, falling half a step behind truly would have meant being crushed to pieces.
*Thwack!*
As he neared the rock, Li Banfeng's feet tangled up, and he tumbled.
Grandpa Train shook his head. "Not fast enough, nowhere close!"
Li Banfeng picked himself up and charged again.
*Bang!*
This time he reached the rock, but before he could activate the skill, his entire body slammed into the stone slab.
Grandpa Train stroked the stone slab distressedly. "It cracked!"
Li Banfeng snapped, "Why are you fretting over a rock?!"
...
In the vast emptiness, time held no meaning. Having practiced over and over an unknown number of times, a battered and bruised Li Banfeng finally phased through the rock.
Whether he was genuinely injured or not was unclear; after all, this was a dream.
Having succeeded only this once, Li Banfeng wanted to practice a couple more times, but Grandpa Train sensed trouble brewing. Taking Li Banfeng onto his back, he dashed back onto the wilderness where dreams intertwined.
"They might be sending people. Let's find another place to talk."
After wandering the wilderness for a long while and observing countless dreams, Grandpa Train sounded his whistle once more. "Dear passengers, the train is about to pass through a tunnel. Please hold on and remain seated."
The two plunged back into the emptiness. Grandpa Train asked, "Do you remember where the boundary is?"
Li Banfeng stretched his limbs. "I remember. Let's practice twice more."
Grandpa Train shook his head. "There's no time. They're about to find us. They can't do anything to me, but there's no telling what might happen to you. We'll set off again in a moment, and the second you see an opening, dash straight out. If you can break through the rift between dreams, it proves your physical body is still in Puluo Province. But if you break through only to find yourself in another dream, there's no hope; you definitely won't get out."
Li Banfeng felt a twinge of concern. "Once I get out, how can I tell whether I'm in Puluo Province or still in a dream?"
Grandpa Train chuckled. "You're my brother. Are you still worried you won't be able to tell?"
As they spoke, rustling sounds drifted to their ears.
Li Banfeng barked, "Who's there?"
The rustling stopped dead. Grandpa Train's face darkened. "A dog has come."
Li Banfeng barked again, "What kind of dog?"
There was no reply.
Grandpa Train said, "A dog that wants to be a local spirit!"
Li Banfeng glanced at Grandpa Train. "Isn't it a bit uncalled for to describe a local spirit like that?"
"What's uncalled for about it?" Grandpa Train scoffed. "If you manage to return to Puluo Province, remember above all: do not take any pills. Rest well for a couple of days. You've been running around the Inner States for so long that your cultivation is bound to surge once you return. Your body might not be able to withstand it."
Li Banfeng asked in surprise, "I entered the Inner States within a dream, and my cultivation can still grow?"
Grandpa Train chuckled. "In our pathway, once you reach a certain level, you aren't walking on mere ground anymore. The sixth-layer skill of our pathway is called Severing Paths to Open Roads. Its core principle is to sever where there is a path and open a road where there is none; the means to cut paths and forge roads depend entirely on intent."
Li Banfeng said, "I've only just reached the fifth layer. Isn't it a bit early to learn a sixth-layer skill?"
"Not early, not early at all."
As they spoke, the rustling sounds resumed.
Grandpa Train said, "Board the train. I'll deal with the dog. You only get one chance—whatever you do, don't drop the ball!"
Chapter 283