Traversing a Thousand Mountains in Thought.
Taken literally, it meant journeying across thousands of mountains and rivers through thought alone, thereby gaining cultivation.
When it came to this eighth-tier technique, Li Banfeng had practically figured it out on his own, because the technique of Traversing a Thousand Mountains in Thought inherently dovetailed with the properties of the companion dwelling.
Whenever Li Banfeng thought of a location while inside the companion dwelling, the dwelling could carry him there. In the process, because his own presence moved along with it, his cultivation grew to a certain degree. Even if the underlying principles differed, the process and result were rather similar.
This also explained why, back in Moxiangdian, Li Banfeng hadn't walked a single step yet could still feel his cultivation rising.
He had been reading travelogues non-stop, traversing thousands of mountains and rivers within their pages, thereby completing his daily cultivation in an alternative way.
It seemed this technique was meant for increasing cultivation.
"Yingying, now that we have this technique, does that mean we journey... I mean, you journey cultivators won't need to run around everywhere anymore?"
Hong Ying shook her head. "It isn't that simple. Our pathway is unique. A journey cultivator must travel among thousands of mountains and rivers. But at times, a cultivator isn't able to leave the house.
"For instance, when I was in the military, taking a single step out of the barracks without permission would get me flogged with wooden paddles by this vile wench. Delaying cultivation for long like that inevitably invites cultivation backlash.
"The technique of Traversing a Thousand Mountains in Thought can make up for some of the deficit, thereby neutralizing the risk of backlash. But with your current cultivation, Qilang, you can't make up too much. Compensating for twenty or thirty percent is already quite an achievement; the rest you must still travel on foot yourself."
Li Banfeng lowered his head. "I'm not a journey cultivator. I'm just borrowing the technique."
Hong Ying caressed his cheek. "Qilang, stop hiding it. My heart aches just looking at you. How about we find a private spot to talk in detail, somewhere this vile woman can't hear?"
Smack! Smack!
Infuriated, the gramophone struck Hong Ying with ten whole slaps of the paddle.
Hong Ying rubbed her backside for a long while, caught her breath, and continued, "I have seen many journey cultivators treat Traversing a Thousand Mountains in Thought merely as a means to make up for lost cultivation. That is a misconception.
"Thought may traverse a thousand mountains, and a thousand mountains may be traversed by thought. The true brilliance of Traversing a Thousand Mountains in Thought lies not in making up for cultivation, but in combat tactics."
Combat tactics?
This technique can be used in battle?
Li Banfeng envisioned the scene in combat:
Engaged with an enemy, he would first unroll a painting, gaze at it, and then bolster his cultivation...
That hardly seemed viable.
"Yingying, I don't follow this combat tactic."
Hong Ying snapped her head up, exuding an imposing aura.
Li Banfeng sprang to his feet, assuming Hong Ying had gone mad, and hastily readied himself for a fight.
Hong Ying's long hair fluttered, as if she might launch a surprise attack at any moment.
To be safe, Li Banfeng took two steps back, when suddenly a brush of peril struck from behind.
Glancing back out of the corner of his eye, the hairs on his neck stood on end.
He couldn't take another step back.
Less than five centimeters behind his heels yawned a sheer precipice dropping into an abyss, with birds flitting around the rock faces.
"Is this an illusion?" Li Banfeng asked Hong Ying.
"It's no illusion. If you fall, you will genuinely be smashed to pieces." Hong Ying pulled Li Banfeng back, and the cliff behind him vanished instantly. "This cliff was a perilous precipice I passed through during a war in my earlier days. I just moved it here. This was a true relocation. This is what it means that a thousand mountains can be traversed by thought."
"Moved it here?" Li Banfeng was stunned. "You moved a cliff into the companion dwelling?"
Hong Ying shook her head. "What was moved wasn't the cliff itself, but its perilous terrain. We journey cultivators excel at fighting in treacherous landscapes. If you bring that treacherous terrain onto the battlefield, you can seize the upper hand against your enemy."
So the crucial element of Traversing a Thousand Mountains in Thought was treacherous terrain. Li Banfeng asked, "Then why isn't it called the Technique of a Thousand Perils and Hazards?"
Hong Ying smiled. "Because sometimes the relocation is real, and sometimes it's fake. And what you bring over might not necessarily be perilous terrain—sometimes it's rouge and powder."
"What would you bring rouge and powder for?" Li Banfeng asked, puzzled.
"Watch closely, Qilang!" A heady fragrance of cosmetics assailed his nostrils. Li Banfeng looked around; this time he saw no sheer precipices or hails of blades and spears, but a bevy of alluring, unclothed women.
"What's the point of this?" Li Banfeng asked.
Hong Ying replied, "This method can be used against lechers. On the battlefield, every single one who laid eyes on this scene ended up dead under my blade. It never fails."
The women vanished in the blink of an eye. Li Banfeng asked, "Was that a real relocation too?"
Hong Ying shook her head. "No, that was a phantom relocation. You can't learn phantom relocation yet, Qilang."
Li Banfeng pondered for a moment. "What's the difference between the two?"
"True relocation brings over an actual location. When you saw the cliff just now, Qilang, did you hear birds chirping?"
"I did. I even saw a few birds."
"That proves there were indeed birds on the cliff at the time. To use true relocation, you must have seen the place yourself and know where its perils lie. By focusing your mind on it, you bring the genuine scene and the true hazards onto the battlefield, making the technique succeed.
"The second time, I used phantom relocation. Those maidens didn't exist in reality; they were concocted from my imagination. That technique already touches upon things above the clouds. You can't learn it for now, Qilang."
Imagination?
Li Banfeng recalled the image just now. One of the maidens had even been conducting business from both doors.
"Yingying, what are you usually thinking about?"
Hong Ying stammered, "J-just... just random thoughts."
The gramophone sneered. "Back in the military, she read Tianxiang Cihua every single day, unable to put it down. What else do you think she's usually thinking about?"
Hong Ying protested, "I read that book for the sake of fighting wars! To seize the initiative on the battlefield!"
"For fighting wars..." The gramophone scoffed. "Next time I ought to yank down your pants and paddle you bare, just to see if you have any shame left!"
Phantom relocation could conjure whatever came to mind, which was tantamount to reshaping the combat environment at will.
What a formidable technique!
Even if he couldn't learn phantom relocation, true relocation seemed plenty useful. Li Banfeng had crossed no small number of perilous places himself.
With an ingratiating look, he said, "Yingying, demonstrate the technique one more time. Tomorrow I'll have a pair of gold earrings made for you."
"Qilang, it's not that I don't want to teach you, but you must give me time to recover. In my current physical state, I can only use Traversing a Thousand Mountains in Thought three times a day at most. Using phantom relocation just now took too heavy a toll, so I'm afraid I can't manage another attempt today."
Li Banfeng grew anxious. "You used it too fast just now. I didn't see clearly!"
"Qilang, even if I recovered to my peak, the technique wouldn't be much slower, and right now my physique is in even worse shape.
"With true relocation, I can hold it for three breaths at most right now. With phantom relocation, barely more than one breath."
Three breaths meant six or seven seconds.
A bit more than one breath was about three seconds.
That was far too brief, and in all likelihood Li Banfeng wouldn't even be able to sustain it that long.
Seeing Li Banfeng fall silent for a while, Hong Ying consoled him, "Don't fret, Qilang. Let's learn the essentials first. We'll practice right here just to spite this vile wench."
The gramophone wasn't angry; she was worried about something else instead. "Precious husband, you know about the technique of Parting Across Ten Thousand Li. By relying on Willful Course, you could force your way to a higher tier.
"Don't blame your humble servant for speaking out of turn, but skipping tiers to use a technique could truly cost your life. Husband, you must never be reckless again."
Li Banfeng smiled. "How could I do something like that? Besides, Parting Across Ten Thousand Li isn't of much use anyway."
Hong Ying was displeased at once upon hearing that. "You can't say that! Parting Across Ten Thousand Li is tremendously useful!"
Li Banfeng pulled up a chair, sat down, and asked earnestly, "I really don't believe it. What's it actually good for?"
Hong Ying said, "The key to this technique lies in—"
The gramophone really yanked down Hong Ying's trousers and swung the paddle in a vicious beating. "Blabbermouth! Blabbermouth! So much loose talk! Tomorrow I'll paste your mouth shut with starch glue!"
...
Li Banfeng spent the entire day studying and attempting to relocate something, but failed to bring over a single thing.
When evening fell, he took Chuanzi with him and boarded a train for Heishipo. Not long after they departed, a newly recruited crew of bricklayers arrived at the Qijun Restaurant.
One of the bricklayers asked the foreman, "Do you know where Seventh Master is?"
The foreman frowned. "What do you want with Seventh Master?"
"My family has run into trouble. I wanted to ask Seventh Master for help."
The foreman actually went to inquire for him. Having worked under Li the Seventh for quite a while, he was familiar with Li the Seventh's character. Whenever someone beneath him met with difficulties, regardless of their status, if Li the Seventh could help, he would certainly lend a hand.
The next morning, the foreman found the bricklayer and said, "You're out of luck. Seventh Master had business and left on last night's train."
The bricklayer was startled. "Left? Where did he go?"
The foreman's brow furrowed. "Is that any of your business?"
The bricklayer hung his head and fell silent. The foreman added, "All right, if Seventh Master isn't around, go see Fifth Master. If Fifth Master isn't here, Chief Zuo will do as well. Those are the rules under Seventh Master. If they can help you, they won't shirk."
The bricklayer nodded and ran off to the side to mix mortar.
When lunchtime came, the bricklayer had vanished, not even collecting his half-day's wages.
...
Upon reaching Heishipo, Li Banfeng headed straight for the newspaper office.
Heishipo had undergone some changes. Li the Seventh and Ma the Fifth had taken over most of the local businesses, offering far higher wages than before.
With money in their pockets, the workers could afford to buy things. Numerous shops had sprung up along the streets, and the book and newspaper trade was booming more than ever.
The Yelaixiang office was still in that old factory, but the layout had changed considerably. The front courtyard housed the boiler room and printing press.
The first row of workshop buildings had been converted into the sales department, where folding newspapers, binding magazines, packaging film reels, dispatching goods, and keeping tally all took place.
The second row was a film studio dedicated to shooting motion pictures and photographs.
The third row was relatively quiet—the office area for the wordsmiths. Editors and reporters wrote their copy here, and Bai Qiusheng, Yuwen Qi, and the others also worked in this space.
Li Banfeng walked around the newspaper office and frowned. "Why is it so cramped?"
Bai Qiusheng smiled. "Seventh Master, our business isn't what it used to be. Thirty percent of all the book and newspaper trade in Heishipo is in our hands. As business grew, so did our staff, so naturally the space feels small."
Li Banfeng said, "If there isn't enough space, go buy more! If you need money, just tell me!"
Yuwen Qi said, "Seventh Master, our place isn't small at all. You won't find another newspaper office this large in all of Heishipo."
"You call this large?" Li Banfeng said, displeased. "I just checked the workers' quarters—eight people crammed into a single room. Look how packed it is!
"Buy up those surrounding buildings. Everyone must have their own room.
"And another thing: bring me every newspaper and magazine from the past three months."
Returning to the companion dwelling, Li Banfeng carried a thick stack of newspapers into Room Six and examined them one by one. He read until the early morning hours without noticing anything out of the ordinary.
He read the magazines for a while longer. The girls looked pretty and their poses were quite inventive, but Li Banfeng still grew sleepy.
Heishipo clearly lacked the powerful order of Moxiangdian, and Li Banfeng lacked that intense desire to study. Room Six had a bed, so after washing up briefly, Li Banfeng went to sleep there.
Two hours later, the door slowly drifted open. The projector floated inside, training its lens on the newspapers on the desk.
Under the cast of its light, nearly half the stack of newspapers vanished. The projector then silently slipped out of Room Six.
Li Banfeng sat up from the bed, watching the door in silence.
A faint light seeped through the crack beneath the door; he knew the projector was right next door.
When he had first taken in the projector, it could barely move at all, capable only of projecting images at a fixed angle.
After staying in the companion dwelling for a time and consuming plenty of good things, the projector learned to move, though it had been extremely clumsy—clumsier even than the music box.
Now, the projector could not only fly, but did so with great agility. There had to be a reason behind this.
Why did it take the newspapers?
Holding a grudge against me, deliberately defying me?
The matter was likely not so simple.
Using the technique of Perceiving Spiritual Voices, Li Banfeng listened for a moment. There seemed to be some activity in Room Five, a faint, slurred murmur as though someone were speaking, but he couldn't make out the words.
The Thread-Hook Earring wasn't on him, and Li Banfeng wasn't in a rush at that moment, so he rolled over and went back to sleep.
The next day, Li Banfeng stepped out of the companion dwelling and found Bai Qiusheng. "In Heishipo, besides our Yelaixiang, which other newspaper has a big reputation?"
Bai Qiusheng said, "There used to be Yiganliang, but that paper is in a slump now. Their content is too crude and direct, so fewer and fewer people read it.
"Currently, the only one that rivals us is Manchunxiang. Their work really has some craft to it. Of the book and newspaper trade in Heishipo, we hold thirty percent, they hold twenty, and the remaining fifty is split among everyone else."
Yuwen Qi said, "Seventh Master, do you plan to take down this newspaper office? I've been itching to make a move on them for ages. Those bastards have no shame.
"Whenever we put out a special issue, they follow suit. When we include an illustrated supplement, they include one too. Whatever we do, they copy, constantly working against us."
Li Banfeng chuckled. "Give and take—that's what makes business. If you crush Manchunxiang, maybe tomorrow a Manqiuxiang will pop up. If we wipe out everyone else's livelihood, wouldn't we just become tyrants?
"Go buy a set of Manchunxiang from the past three months too. Get as many as you can find. If you really can't find them all, just get the last two days' worth."
Li Banfeng didn't press the matter, knowing this wouldn't be easy to pull off; tracking down back issues of someone else's paper was tough. But Bai Qiusheng didn't find it difficult at all. He instructed his subordinates to make the purchase, and before long, the newspapers were brought back—three months' worth, without a single issue missing.
Li Banfeng was somewhat surprised. "Where did you buy these?"
The subordinate replied, "At the Lu Family Bookshop! They carry everything, though their prices are a bit steep."
The Lu Family Bookshop again?
Did he open another branch?
Li Banfeng nodded. "One of these days, I'll go pay that Lu Family Bookshop a visit myself."
Carrying the newspapers back into the companion dwelling, Li Banfeng read for another entire day, yet still found nothing extraordinary.
Where on earth did the power of the written word in Heishipo manifest? Aside from bosoms, peaches, and doorways, the bulk of these papers contained nothing else.
Li Banfeng could discern no sign of an underlying order.
Tidying up the papers, Li Banfeng slept in Room Six again that night, but this time he kept the Thread-Hook Earring with him.
Come the early morning hours, the projector entered the room once more. Its lens swept across the newspapers on the desk, and half of Manchunxiang vanished as well.
The projector silently slipped back into Room Five, where a faint light still flickered through the crack under the door.
Li Banfeng put on the Thread-Hook Earring and pressed his ear against the door to listen closely. Finally, he heard the projector's voice.
"Does it look good?"
Who was it talking to?
"Oh my, this is so shameful!"
Who was that?
Cold sweat broke out on Li Banfeng's brow.
Inside the companion dwelling, he had just heard the voice of an unfamiliar woman.
Chapter 457