The knife peddler was trapped by Li Banfeng within the Boundary. Li Banfeng charged straight forward alongside his shadows.
He did not know why such a formidable Blade Cultivator had appeared in Huangtu Town, nor why this place was so vital.
Yet of one thing Li Banfeng was certain: so long as he held even the slimmest shred of a winning chance today, he could not allow the knife peddler to seize this inn.
This knife peddler served the Sage. If he took the inn, he might take Huangtu Town.
And if the Sage took Huangtu Town, this place would become the next Jianrengang!
Li Banfeng knew this Blade Cultivator's combat power surpassed his own. But clashing within the Boundary, where Li Banfeng had activated Sit Back and Relax, made him the master of this domain, giving him the upper hand in every method.
The knife peddler, by contrast, was constrained at every turn. By his own estimate, his techniques were reduced to thirty percent of their power and his physical prowess to fifty percent, while his exertion during the clash had doubled compared to normal.
Yet he was not panicked. To fight a Dwelling Cultivator at their doorstep was a cost that had to be paid; the knife peddler understood this all too well.
Relying on the speed of a Travel Cultivator, Li Banfeng led his shadows in a fierce assault against the knife peddler. Even with such enormous advantages, however, Li Banfeng still could not bring him down.
The man was no slower than Li Banfeng. Through multiple clashes, whether moving first or reacting second, after a moment's deadlock, he always managed to seize the initiative.
His combat methods were no less varied than Li Banfeng's. A Blade Cultivator excelled at both range and close quarters, and flourished when outnumbered. While locked in combat with Banfeng Three, the knife peddler's blade techniques could still lash out at Li Banfeng's true body at any second.
As for combat experience, there was simply no comparison—the knife peddler surpassed him by leaps and bounds. Exactly when Li Banfeng meant to engage in melee and when he meant to use a technique, the peddler saw right through it.
The most difficult thing to deal with was his basket of knives. Armed with a sickle, Banfeng Three had clashed against that boning knife for a long while, only to be punctured with over a dozen holes, light shining through him from top to bottom.
That sickle from the basket didn't falter either; a single blade traded blows back and forth with two shadows, Banfeng Zi and Banfeng Chou—and that was only because Banfeng Zi had a solid Dwelling Cultivator foundation and could withstand the punishment.
Most infuriating of all was that kitchen cleaver, clinging close to the knife peddler's body, capable of both offense and defense. Several times Li Banfeng closed in, only to be driven back by that cleaver.
Watching from the side, Banfeng Two couldn't help but shake his head. Old Jia's tactics were plainly wrong.
Did he think that just because he held a Dwelling Cultivator's advantage inside the Boundary, he could brawl toe-to-toe with the man?
What were Blade Cultivators built for?
They were masters of lethal close combat; even Martial Cultivators might not gain the upper hand against them. How could you fight him like this without suffering losses?
Spotting an opening, Banfeng Two stomped out with Treading Ten Thousand Rivers.
The knife peddler had long been keeping an eye on Banfeng Two. The moment he saw him raise his foot, he knew Treading Ten Thousand Rivers was coming; with a slight shift and dodge, he evaded the technique entirely.
Li Banfeng, his back turned to Banfeng Two, failed to dodge in time. His clothes tore apart, leaving his back a bloody mess.
Banfeng Two offered a dry laugh. "That wasn't how I planned it."
Li Banfeng looked back, gritting his teeth. "You make sure to write that one down on your tab!"
Taking advantage of Li Banfeng's injury, the knife peddler slashed down a swath of shadows, on the verge of breaking through to the edge of the Boundary.
As long as he broke past the Boundary, he had any number of ways to take Li Banfeng's life.
Several tables suddenly moved in front of him, blocking the knife peddler's path. The knife peddler knew this was the Travel Cultivator technique Sever the Path to Forge a Way.
How could broken wooden tables in an inn ever stop him? The knife peddler swept his arm, cleaving down with a blade, but the table swiftly dodged aside to evade the strike, then shifted back into place to continue barring his way.
The knife peddler froze. How could tables in an inn possess such spiritual awareness?
Could this be another Dwelling Cultivator technique?
Upon these tables was Li Banfeng's most adept technique: Recounting Family Treasures.
The knife peddler had indeed thought of Recounting Family Treasures. At first, he felt it defied reason; this technique shouldn't be executed so quickly.
Yet on second thought, for Li Banfeng to deploy a Dwelling Cultivator Boundary in this inn proved that it was extremely close to his dwelling, or perhaps was his dwelling itself, and these tables and benches were likely his furniture.
Here, his reasoning was mistaken.
The reason Li Banfeng could use Recounting Family Treasures so swiftly came down to two things: first, he was truly masterful with the technique; second, the tables and chairs utterly loathed this knife peddler. During their clash, more than half of the inn's furniture had been chopped to pieces by the man.
Even infused with spirituality by Recounting Family Treasures, these tables couldn't truly stop the knife peddler. Yet relying on that momentary delay, Banfeng Zi threw himself forward, wrapping around the peddler for dear life, and a crowd of shadows dragged and hauled the knife peddler right back.
The price paid was steep. From head to toe, the knife peddler was covered in razor-sharp edges; the shadows suffered severe injuries.
Banfeng Two seized the chance to vanish from the knife peddler's line of sight, turning back to fix his gaze on the peddler's form.
Wait, where did the knife peddler go?
The knife peddler's silhouette still darted back and forth across the inn, but he moved so swiftly that Banfeng Two could not lock onto him.
Banfeng Two glanced over at Li Banfeng, intending to coordinate tactics.
Li Banfeng, locked in fierce combat with the knife peddler, shuddered all over. Banfeng Two hastily averted his eyes; if Li Banfeng got detonated by Viewing Flowers from Horseback, the feud between them would run deep.
The technique was indeed hard to land, but so long as they remained within the Boundary, the advantage belonged to Li Banfeng. Under the siege of the shadows, the knife peddler sustained numerous injuries, bone visible in several wounds.
The wounds were not the critical issue; the dire problem facing the knife peddler was that this man's shadows were multiplying.
"Is that the Dwelling Cultivator technique Body and Shadow Comforting Each Other?" the knife peddler did not forget to ask amid the slaughter.
Banfeng Two answered in Li Banfeng's stead: "Not a Dwelling Cultivator technique, but a Shadow Cultivator one! It's called Shadow Following the Form!"
Even as he spoke, Banfeng Two twisted his body, curled his limbs, burrowed into the floor, and began ambushing the knife peddler's shadow.
Through this observation, Banfeng Two realized that the knife peddler's footwork and movement had virtually no openings, but he did not adequately guard his shadow.
This was natural; no one paid excessive attention to their own shadow in the heat of battle. But for Banfeng Two, it was an opportunity to exploit.
Seeing a shadow slithering across the floor, the knife peddler instantly widened the distance between himself and Banfeng Two. He countered the Shadow Cultivator technique, but the response was somewhat clumsy.
He avoided Banfeng Two, but drew close to Banfeng Chou and Banfeng Yin.
Li Banfeng swapped places with Banfeng Chou. Dwelling Cultivators had the innate talent of being easily overlooked. A Dwelling Cultivator at the fourth layer above the clouds mingling among shadows—the knife peddler failed to notice him right away.
By the time he spotted Li Banfeng, it was too late. Li Banfeng hooked his sickle into the peddler's shoulder, while Banfeng Two pinned the peddler's shadow to the floor.
The knife peddler tried to struggle, but Li Banfeng gave him no opening. Working in tandem with Banfeng Two, they twisted—*crack!*—and snapped the knife peddler's arm bone.
The knife peddler twisted his shoulder, seeking to wrench his arm free, but the Tang dao struck like lightning, shearing close along the shoulder and severing his right arm entirely.
The knife peddler shuddered violently; this blow had wounded him deeply.
With the situation turning against him, he first had to shake off Li Banfeng. Swinging the cleaver in his left hand, he cleaved Banfeng Two, dispelling the Shadow Following the Form technique. From the stump of his severed right arm, a bayonet sprouted, slashing through Banfeng Three as the latter pressed the attack.
The severed arm on the floor transformed into three pudao broadswords. One cleaved Banfeng Zi in two, while the remaining two slashed toward Li Banfeng.
These two blades were too fast and struck from angles too vicious for Li Banfeng to dodge easily. The projector flared with light, using its Withering technique to claim one pudao.
The clock pendulum bounded out, using a Mind Cultivator technique to force the second pudao to swerve.
Yet the remaining pudao suddenly vanished without a trace.
The knife peddler frowned. Where did that blade go?
Behind Li Banfeng, the glove hopped a few times, having pinned and subdued the pudao.
"Fine magical treasures!" the knife peddler praised.
In the blink of an eye, Banfeng Two, Banfeng Three, and Banfeng Zi each split into two, rising to their feet and silently staring at the knife peddler.
The knife peddler gave a low laugh. "Young lad, what remarkable luck you have. You cultivate both Dwelling and Travel, and you even know the technique of Heavenly Union!
"A person like you should have built great achievements. What a pity you crossed the wrong person. You think having a technique of Heavenly Union makes you untouchable? Let me show you how I unravel this technique."
Li Banfeng was in no mood to hear his chatter and pressed the slaughter alongside his shadows.
Fending them off, the knife peddler pulled out a straight razor, shaving his head clean in a few swift strokes.
Flourishing his hair across the room, a single hair pierced through Banfeng Three's body, severing one of his arms.
"Not good!" Banfeng Three cried out, and a wave of hair threads shot through his body, slicing Banfeng Three into scattered shreds on the floor.
Li Banfeng led six shadows in besieging the knife peddler. Swirling around the shadows like a tempest, the hair threads minced the bodies of Banfeng Four and Banfeng Chou before they could dodge.
Li Banfeng roared, borrowing his lady's Sound Cultivator technique to unleash a piercing shriek.
Disrupted by the sound, the knife peddler's reflexes dulled for a split second. Li Banfeng moved in for a surprise strike, only for a lock of hair to beat him to it, burrowing under Li Banfeng's clothes.
Banfeng Zi instantly swapped places with Li Banfeng. In the blink of an eye, Banfeng Zi's form was sliced into several pieces.
Just as Li Banfeng regained his footing, he watched his shadows get shredded one after another. By the time all the hair threads settled to the floor, apart from Banfeng Zi and Banfeng Two who could barely piece themselves back together, all the remaining shadows had been cut into shreds.
A surge of awareness gathered in Li Banfeng's mind, sending back a single message: these shadows could not recover anytime soon.
Through brute force and relentless hacking with Blade Cultivator techniques, the knife peddler had dismantled Li Banfeng's technique of Heavenly Union.
Worse yet, Li Banfeng had been maintaining Body and Shadow Comforting Each Other, Sit Back and Relax, Expand the Domain and Open the Frontiers, and Close the Doors and Bar the Gates all this time; the strain was immense, and he was on the brink of collapse.
A weakened Banfeng Zi lowered his voice: "The hair has fallen; he cannot draw it back up. The Master said: he too has reached the end of his strength."
Banfeng Zi was not wrong. The knife peddler had exhausted himself too greatly to sustain the technique on the hair, nor did he want to keep fighting Li Banfeng within the Boundary. He knew Dwelling Cultivators recovered quickly within their domain; prolonging the stalemate would only put him at a greater disadvantage.
Yet he still failed to step beyond the Boundary. Tables, chairs, plates, and dishes converged into a solid wall; battered and covered in wounds, Banfeng Two barred him once more with Sever the Path to Forge a Way.
The knife peddler turned back, glaring at Li Banfeng. "Do you have any idea who I am? I left you a path to live—can't you tell?"
Li Banfeng walked toward the knife peddler with a grin. "Just now you promised to sell me a knife on credit. Where is it?"
"You want a knife that badly, do you?" The knife peddler slashed at Li Banfeng, intending to dash past the Boundary while Li Banfeng dodged.
Even now, he firmly believed he had plenty of ways to kill Li Banfeng, but continuing to brawl within the Boundary was the height of folly.
To his shock, Li Banfeng did not dodge. He took the strike head-on, while swinging the Tang dao back to slash the knife peddler in return.
Li Banfeng was well aware that the moment the knife peddler stepped out of the Boundary, his own life would most likely end, without even the chance to retreat into the companion dwelling.
The knife peddler stumbled, nearly losing his footing, and whipped around to deliver another slash.
Li Banfeng still did not dodge, hacking back with his sickle.
Back and forth they traded blows, simply hacking into each other.
After a moment of trading chops, the knife peddler sensed something was wrong.
He realized he had slipped into madness.
This was a Dwelling Cultivator's domain, where Dwelling Cultivators recovered faster. Trading slashes like a pair of lunatics would never work in his favor.
The knife peddler narrowly evaded a blade from Li Banfeng, raising the cleaver in his left hand to execute him.
*Splurt!*
From left shoulder to left ribs, a massive chunk of the knife peddler fell to the floor.
This was not a cut; the knife peddler felt as though someone had ripped a massive piece clean off him.
"What technique is this?" The knife peddler stared at Li Banfeng in bewilderment.
"Drawn and quartered by five horses—ever heard of it?" Li Banfeng's eyes were bloodshot, grinning incessantly at the knife peddler.
The knife peddler's wound exposed his internal organs, from which a dozen knives of varying lengths sprouted forth.
Doing this carried a heavy price, but he had no choice.
The knife peddler did not know Li Banfeng's origins, but he knew he had to slay this madman immediately. This madman had too many tricks; the longer the attrition dragged on, the worse it was for him.
Li Banfeng fully intended to grind him down until he could hold out no longer, then figure out a way to drag him into his dwelling.
The tactics were crystal clear, and Li Banfeng executed them flawlessly. His next step was to invoke Sprawling Compound to borrow strength—whether from his lady or Hong Ying, each bit of borrowed strength added another chance of victory.
Holding his sickle and Tang dao, Li Banfeng prepared to continue the slaughter, when a chill of profound dread washed over him, and the sickle nearly slipped from his fingers.
"Damn it, where did a Dwelling Cultivator come from? Scraped me with a Boundary!" A bald, burly man over two meters tall entered the inn. When crossing the Boundary, it was as if he had stepped on a nail.
It stung, but only for a brief second.
Judging by that single moment of crossing the Boundary, this man's physique and fortitude were not inferior to the knife peddler's.
The knife peddler looked toward the man. "What took you so long?"
The burly man chuckled. "Before terms were settled, why would I come? Just to fool around with you for nothing?"
*You lot?*
*They have others?*
The burly man and the knife peddler looked toward Li Banfeng together.
Li Banfeng's expression went blank.
How could he fight now?
Winning was out of the question.
Even the odds of escaping seemed nonexistent.
Banfeng Two whispered in Li Banfeng's ear, "Old Jia, in a moment Banfeng Zi and I will hold both of them off. You run for the companion dwelling with everything you've got. No matter what, you have to get back inside."
"How are you going to hold them off?"
"Never mind how! Don't worry about recalling us, and don't worry about keeping the key hidden. You just find a way to get back alive."
"If I go back, what happens to you?"
Banfeng Zi said, "The Master said: never mind what happens to us. Stay alive, and avenge us!"
The moment the words fell, Banfeng Two charged the burly man, while Banfeng Zi charged the knife peddler.
With a sweep of the burly man's hand, the moment he brushed Banfeng Two, Banfeng Two went flying backward.
Just as Banfeng Zi rushed before the knife peddler, the burly man kicked him hard against the wall.
Midair, Banfeng Two strained with all his might to lock his gaze upon the burly man.
The burly man was struck by Banfeng Two's Viewing Flowers from Horseback, yet took negligible damage, merely ending up with a bruise on his face.
"That actually stung, damn it." Wiping his face, the burly man reached out to grab Li Banfeng.
He wasn't fast. Li Banfeng dodged aside and was about to find an opening to counter when the knife peddler's cleaver slashed down. Li Banfeng blocked the cleaver with his sickle, only for a blade to press across his throat.
The knife peddler clapped his hands together, seeking to manipulate the blade to sever Li Banfeng's head.
The Tang dao shoved the blade away, but a billhook slashed toward Li Banfeng's chest.
Li Banfeng dodged the billhook, only to feel a searing pain atop his head as the burly man's palm locked onto his skull.
This was their coordinated tactic: the knife peddler had driven Li Banfeng right into the burly man's grip.
The burly man grinned. "I have a technique called Pulling Turnips. You grip the head, twist left, then wrench right, and pop the skull right off. Haven't used it in ages; think I'll give it a try."
The knife peddler urged, "Quit the nonsense. Kill him already."
The burly man frowned, snapping at the knife peddler, "I saved your skin, so you'd better mind your tongue with me. Look closely at his clothes—he might be someone of importance. If we take him alive, His Majesty will surely reward us."
The knife peddler fumed, "We don't have time! Get on with business!"
"Won't hold up business," the burly man said, turning to Li Banfeng. "Are you Li Seven?"
Li Banfeng said nothing, gripping the burly man's wrist and hauling with all his might. He used Heart Arrowing Home, trying to drag the man into his dwelling.
It didn't work.
He couldn't budge him.
The burly man possessed monstrous strength; Li Banfeng couldn't move him an inch.
The glove hopped out, attempting to steal the burly man's tendons.
If it could pluck the tendons from his hands, Li Banfeng might truly have a chance to escape.
But the burly man's tendons were coiled far too tightly; the glove yanked twice, unable to pry them loose.
With a sweep of his massive hand, the burly man swatted the glove far away, leaving it sprawled flat on the ground.
The Judge's Brush struck toward the burly man's wrist, only to be spotted by the knife peddler; the pointed boning knife and two scimitars converged on the brush, locking it in a skirmish.
The liquor gourd and old teapot leaped out together, one splashing wine and the other spitting tea, dousing the burly man's face.
The burly man wiped his face; neither tea nor liquor had any effect on him.
The Tang dao had already delivered its three strikes and could not leave its scabbard. The sickle hacked relentlessly against the burly man, failing to leave even a scratch.
Banfeng Zi tried to swap positions with Li Banfeng, attempting it twice without success.
Li Banfeng's stamina was depleted, and Banfeng Zi was on the verge of collapsing.
The projector rose behind Li Banfeng, its intense light flashing and making the burly man blink.
The glove struggled to its feet, leaped up, and jabbed right into the burly man's eye.
Blood streamed from the burly man's left eye.
He sent the glove flying with a punch. "Where did all these trinkets come from? I'm sick of playing around with you. I'll ask you one more time: are you Li Seven?"
Li Banfeng remained silent.
The knife peddler readied his blades. "I told you, stop wasting time. If you ruin our mission later, let's see how you explain yourself."
The burly man stopped him. "You can't touch him. I'm the one who caught him; I won't let you steal the credit."
The knife peddler raged, "Then rip his head off already! Take it back and identify him at your leisure!"
The burly man nodded. "Fair enough. A head is still worth plenty."
Li Banfeng still tore and pulled with all his strength, but could not break free.
The magical treasures fought desperately, yet none could save him.
Anything that drew near the burly man was instantly swatted away.
If only the old master were still conscious and able to adapt, how wonderful that would be.
The burly man moved to twist his wrist, preparing to wrench off Li Banfeng's head, when his strength suddenly evaporated.
"Pulling Turnips—is it twist left first, or twist right? I seem to have forgotten."
At the sound of this voice, the knife peddler trembled all over.
Looking up, a bloodstained Peddler was squatting upon the burly man's shoulder.
The burly man's voice quavered. "We're comrades... Back then we agreed to part on good terms. You promised."
"Yes, I did," the Peddler nodded. "But I also said, once you threw your lot in with the Inner States, never set foot in Puluo Province again. You haven't forgotten that part, have you?"
"I was just passing through! I'll leave right now—" The burly man let go of Li Banfeng, his hands reaching up to grab the Peddler.
He seized the Peddler at his neck, trying to tear him off, but could not budge him.
"Leave right now?" The Peddler chuckled. "Too late."
The knife peddler charged the Peddler, but Li Banfeng seized him from behind, and the two tangled together.
The Peddler and the burly man grappled in a contest of strength, their bones creaking and popping.
After a prolonged stalemate, the Peddler cupped the burly man's head, twisted left, then wrenched right, snapping the head clean off the neck.
Blades sprouted across the knife peddler's body, seeking to skewer Li Banfeng to death.
The Peddler stepped up before the knife peddler and placed a hand on his head.
Whatever technique the Peddler used, the knife peddler was rendered utterly immobile.
With a smile on his face, Li Banfeng stood before the knife peddler.
The knife peddler bellowed, "Ganging up on me—what kind of heroes are you?!"
Li Banfeng smiled. "When the two of you were jumping me just now, why didn't you bring that up?"
The knife peddler thought for a moment, then shouted again, "I never went all out against you! Seeing you were a young lad, I held back! I went easy on you the whole time!"
"Is that so?" Li Banfeng nodded. "Seeing how old you are, I'll go easy on you too. I'll spot you an arm—I'll kill you with one hand!"
The knife peddler opened his mouth to argue, but Li Banfeng swung the sickle and lopped off his head.
Two severed heads rested on the floor. The two men stood catching their breath for a long while.
Li Banfeng helped Banfeng Zi up and recalled him to his side.
He walked to the corner, picked up the glove, and tucked it into his robes.
He gathered up the magical treasures one by one, then tried to summon Banfeng Two back with a technique.
After a few attempts, Li Banfeng swayed unsteady on his feet.
He lacked the strength to summon him; Banfeng Two gave no response for a long while.
The Peddler made a gesture toward his own shadow to head out. His shadow departed, and before long, returned supporting Banfeng Two back to Li Banfeng's side.
Li Banfeng took back Banfeng Two and Banfeng Zi, opened the companion dwelling, and brought all the splintered tables, chairs, and benches from the inn back inside.
The Peddler asked, "You're taking these too?"
Li Banfeng nodded. "These are my family treasures. They fought alongside me against the enemy."
Having finished moving the furniture, Li Banfeng sat on the ground, removed his fedora, and wiped the blood from his head. The hat had been crushed out of shape by the burly man's grip, and Li Banfeng felt as if his own head had been deformed as well.
The Peddler pulled out two rolled cigarettes, handing one to Li Banfeng and keeping the other for himself.
Li Banfeng produced a lighter, lighting the Peddler's cigarette, then his own.
The two sat in silence, each taking a drag.
Li Banfeng glanced at the Peddler. "Where did you run off to?"
The Peddler spat out a bit of tobacco. "Had a fight. There were a lot of them."
Li Banfeng asked, "Did you win?"
The Peddler nodded. "Won."
Li Banfeng asked again, "Did you turn a profit?"
The Peddler thought it over. "Didn't lose, at any rate."
They both took another drag and smiled.
After smiling for a while, Li Banfeng asked, "Who were these two?"
The Peddler pointed at the burly man. "That is the Strength Cultivator Champion."
The Champion of a whole cultivation path—an impossibly lofty status.
To escape with one's life from such a figure was an honor in itself. Li Banfeng still found it hard to believe: "A Champion, truly?"
The Peddler rummaged through the burly man's clothes for a moment and fished out a silver coin. On the front were carved two characters: *Strength Cultivator*. On the back were two characters: *Champion*.
"I minted this silver coin with my own hands. I made three in total for the Strength Cultivator Champion; he seized one by his own ability." The Peddler tucked the coin into his pocket, then pulled out another silver coin.
"I made this one too. Here, take it." The Peddler handed the silver coin to Li Banfeng.
Li Banfeng took the silver coin and inspected it. On the front was written *Dwelling Cultivator*, and on the back, *Champion*.
Holding the silver coin, he looked up at the Peddler.
The Peddler gave Li Banfeng a slight nod.
Li Banfeng clasped the silver coin in his hand for a long time, then slipped it into his pocket.
"And who was that one? The Blade Cultivator Champion?" Li Banfeng pointed toward the knife peddler.
The Peddler pondered for a moment. "He is indeed the Blade Cultivator Champion, but that title is rarely mentioned."
"Even 'Champion' isn't mentioned?" Li Banfeng asked. "Then what title does he go by?"
The Peddler said, "The Blade Patriarch."
Chapter 697