"Trained to this degree, and Broadening the Bridal Chamber still only counts as seventy percent mastered?" Li Banfeng had already linked the companion dwelling with the Yucui Building, and he felt he had pushed this technique to its limit.
Jiang Ling'er shook her head slightly. "One of your dwellings entered another dwelling, and you merely built a bridge between them. You were taking an easy shortcut from the start."
The words had barely left her mouth when Li Banfeng heard a burst of laughter: "Hehehe!"
The laughter came from the companion dwelling.
Then he heard two coughs, and a woman's voice rang out beside his ear. "Little girl, that's not how it works. That doesn't count as him entering."
It was the Yucui Building speaking.
After so many days, the companion dwelling and the Yucui Building seemed to have become well acquainted.
Li Banfeng thought about it and realized she had a point. If the companion dwelling and the Yucui Building were connected, stepping through indeed took substantial advantage of that fact. He said to Jiang Ling'er, "If I step back into the courtyard and can still travel between the two houses, that will prove I've mastered it."
Jiang Ling'er shook her head. "The courtyard isn't far enough."
"I'll leave the Marquis's Manor."
"Still not far enough."
"Then I'll leave Boundless City."
"Still not far enough."
Li Banfeng was baffled. "Just how far counts as far?"
Jiang Ling'er asked, "Do you still remember the cloud I made for you up in the sky?"
"I remember!"
"Go up onto that cloud and build a house. If you can use Broadening the Bridal Chamber to connect the Yucui Building with that house on the cloud, only then can you be said to have learned the essence beyond seventy percent."
Li Banfeng considered the distance and shook his head repeatedly. "That's a bit too difficult."
Jiang Ling'er sighed. "That's why I said your technique is only seventy percent mastered. It's only good for bluffing laymen."
Her words were unpleasant to hear, but she was speaking the truth.
Thinking back to the house on the cloud belonging to the peddler, which could send Li Banfeng directly to the Dark Star Bureau—if what the peddler used truly was Broadening the Bridal Chamber, then Li Banfeng's current strength might genuinely be at only seventy percent.
Li Banfeng asked, "If I connect to a house on the cloud, would that be close to a hundred percent?"
Jiang Ling'er shook her head. "Far from a hundred percent. It only counts as eighty percent."
Li Banfeng's eyes widened. "Even that is only eighty percent?"
Jiang Ling'er said, "Though you've reached the clouds, you're still within the territory of the Shang State. Eighty percent is already quite a lot."
Thinking carefully, that was indeed the truth.
The Heavenly Maiden's technique of Connecting Bridal Chambers could cross the boundary between Puluo Province and the Outer States.
"If I can travel from the Inner States to Puluo Province, would that count as a hundred percent?"
"Still no," Jiang Ling'er replied, still shaking her head.
Li Banfeng was at a loss. "Then what on earth counts as a hundred percent? Is there no end to learning this technique?"
Jiang Ling'er put down the needle and thread in her hands. "Just two dwellings alone will definitely never reach a hundred percent. I don't know if you've heard an old saying: in all dao sects under heaven, the road narrows the farther one walks; only Dwelling Cultivators walk a path that grows ever wider."
Li Banfeng pondered for a long time. It rang a faint bell, yet he couldn't recall who had said it.
The one who had actually said it was Red Lotus. At the time, Li Banfeng had been concentrating on performing his technique to manipulate Mister Kongfang's coins, so he hadn't paid much attention.
Now that Jiang Ling'er brought it up, Li Banfeng grew curious. "What does that saying actually mean?"
Jiang Ling'er thought for a moment and gave Li Banfeng an example. "Take the most despicable cultivators in the world, Travel Cultivators, for instance—"
Li Banfeng pulled out his feather duster.
Jiang Ling'er was stuck for words.
Suddenly, the Yucui Building spoke up: "Son-in-law, don't make things difficult for my girl. She lacks tact with words; please bear with her.
"Take Travel Cultivators, the dao sect closest to us, as an example. Travel Cultivators emphasize journeying across the world, reaching the ends of the earth, going everywhere without exception.
"That is the foundation of a Travel Cultivator's cultivation.
"Yet there are perilous places in this world that one is simply not meant to tread. To advance their cultivation, Travel Cultivators are bound to trek through such dangers, and one day they will inevitably reach a dead end in their practice.
"The same holds true for other sects. Poison Cultivators must ingest all the world's poisons, and sooner or later they poison themselves to death. Joy Cultivators must partake of all the world's pleasures, and sooner or later they exhaust themselves to death.
"Food Cultivators will eventually burst from overeating, Wine Cultivators will drink themselves to death, Thief Cultivators will be beaten to death, and Gambling Cultivators court death every single day. Scholar Cultivators and Martial Cultivators seem to have viable paths, yet year after year of tempering the mind or flesh and bone—who can endure such suffering indefinitely? If they tire of it one day, their cultivation may drive them mad.
"Even Sloth Cultivators cannot escape calamity. When their laziness reaches a certain point, they don't even want to breathe. In the end, they merge with all things between heaven and earth, and life and death become indistinguishable to them."
"Hmph!" The Judge's Brush snorted at his waist.
Li Banfeng asked, "Why are Dwelling Cultivators different?"
The Yucui Building said, "Because Dwelling Cultivators have dwellings and dwelling spirits. The dwellings and dwelling spirits protect them, bearing all myriad perils on their behalf.
"A dwelling can be built bigger and bigger, and a Dwelling Cultivator might own more than one. While Travel Cultivators seek to traverse the entire world, Dwelling Cultivators strive to possess the world under heaven. Which path is wider should be obvious."
Possess the world under heaven?
That was grand talk indeed.
Li Banfeng didn't dwell on ruling the world for now; he only wanted to master Broadening the Bridal Chamber thoroughly.
Following Jiang Ling'er's advice, he prepared to take a trip up to the cloud.
He pushed open the room door and went down the stairs, thinking he would return to Room Thirteen of the companion dwelling, but in fact, he ended up on the first floor of the Yucui Building.
No matter. Li Banfeng retrieved the key to the companion dwelling on the first floor and had the Luo sisters steer Boundless City, taking him to the cloud he had used during his advancement.
Using the Cloud Gate technique to reach the cloud, Li Banfeng returned to the companion dwelling and tried to establish a connection with the Yucui Building.
Five hours later, Li Banfeng returned to the main room with bloodshot eyes. He had failed.
Zhao Xiaowan consoled him, "Husband, you can't rush this. Setting the distance so far right from the start, how could it be learned so easily?"
Hong Ying also chimed in, "Brother Seven, having Broadening the Bridal Chamber seventy percent mastered is enough. After every bridal chamber session, hasn't it always chilled Xiaowan's heart?"
Li Banfeng pondered the connection. "Wife, do you think Joy Soil would work?"
His wife slapped Hong Ying with her board. "You've completely led him astray, you little minx!"
Li Banfeng retrieved some Joy Soil from the cabinet, ate a little, and went back to Room Thirteen to practice the technique.
This was experience he had gathered back in school: on the night before an exam, when one was so sleepy they could barely keep their eyes open, they still had to study. Concentrating energy on a particular spot could effectively stave off exhaustion.
He tried for another two hours until he could barely stand steady.
His wife urged, "Husband, you can't keep using the technique. Pushing like this is dangerous!"
Li Banfeng sensed the danger too, but he found that the technique's resonance was drawing closer and closer to him.
Danger ahead, yet charging forward regardless—wasn't that precisely Dogged Persistence?
Under the impetus of Dogged Persistence, Li Banfeng's perception grew keen, and his grasp over the technique became much finer.
His fingernails continuously probed the wall until he finally touched a seam.
His wife came forward to assist, coordinating with Li Banfeng to push the crack open together. Behind the door appeared a flight of stairs.
The staircase was slightly indistinct, as if not entirely solid. Li Banfeng reinforced his technique and took a step onto the stairs.
Thump!
Li Banfeng's legs gave way, and he slid down the stairs.
It wasn't a problem with the staircase; Li Banfeng was simply exhausted.
Zhao Xiaowan helped Li Banfeng up. "Husband, how about returning home to rest a while first?"
Li Banfeng waved his hand. "No going home. We go upstairs first and let Jiang Ling'er see what kind of talent I truly have!"
Zhao Xiaowan coaxed, "Ling'er speaks without guile. Husband, don't stoop to her level!"
"Today I'm going to show her! Help me up the stairs!"
Zhao Xiaowan supported Li Banfeng as they ascended. Walking up these stairs felt a bit off.
This definitely wasn't the staircase of the Yucui Building. The Yucui Building's stairs were covered in red carpeting, with exquisite carvings and decorations on the balustrades and handrails. This flight of stairs had no railings or handrails, only bare wooden planks.
In fact, the first time Li Banfeng had gone from the companion dwelling to the Yucui Building, he hadn't walked the Yucui Building's original stairs either; that passage hadn't been as delicate as the Yucui Building's, but neither had it been as crude as the stairs before them now.
Li Banfeng had assumed that earlier staircase was a passage between the little train and the Yucui Building—the train's fixtures were kept as minimalist as possible while the pavilion's furnishings were relatively ornate, making that staircase a blend of the two.
The stairs before them were neither minimalist nor ornate. The wooden planks were quite wide and creaked loudly underfoot; Zhao Xiaowan genuinely feared that an errant step might snap the boards in two.
Reaching the second floor, they saw no doors, only an empty room.
There was no furniture inside, only thick layers of dust, looking as though no one had lived there for over a decade.
Zhao Xiaowan looked at Li Banfeng and asked, "Husband, where did you hide Ling'er?"
Li Banfeng frowned. "The way you say that makes it sound like I harmed her!"
This was clearly not the Yucui Building. Yet Li Banfeng couldn't understand why using Connecting Bridal Chambers had brought him here.
Zhao Xiaowan tapped on the walls and checked the floorboards. Li Banfeng was somewhat speechless. "Precious Wife, are you worried I hid Jiang Ling'er's corpse here?"
"How could that be!" Zhao Xiaowan gave a dry laugh. "I know my husband isn't that kind of person."
Feeling along the wall, she pushed open the room's window. A beam of sunlight streamed in, brightening the space.
"Though it's an old house, it would be quite nice with a little tidying up. And the yard is rather large, with plenty of trees. The way these trees grow... Husband, these trees don't seem to be growing out of the ground."
Li Banfeng came to the window and looked out.
Outside was a grove of woods that looked quite familiar.
Leaping through the window, he dropped into the trees and looked up at the entire building.
It was a three-story wooden structure: the first floor had five wooden cabins—two large and three small; the second floor had three—one large and two small; the third floor had two—one large and one small. Ten wooden cabins were linked together in differing architectural styles, clearly not crafted by the same hand, but rather pieced together through some construction technique.
This was indeed Li Banfeng's house, a house he had almost forgotten.
Why had he ended up here?
"Wife, where is that big ring of keys I brought home back then?"
Hearing this, his wife realized where they were. "This is the house the peddler gave you?"
Li Banfeng nodded.
Zhao Xiaowan wanted to step out through the front door to take a look, but the door was locked tight.
"Husband, the keys to this house are all kept in our home. This humble servant didn't bring them along."
Li Banfeng said, "Then let's hurry home and get them."
"The key to our home is still on the cloud in the Shang State."
Li Banfeng stood dazed for a long time.
Only then did he remember: he had come from the Shang State.
Zhao Xiaowan leaped down from the third floor to Li Banfeng's side, looking pleasantly surprised. "I recall my husband saying that the house the peddler gave you is in Hulu Village!"
Li Banfeng nodded. It was indeed in Hulu Village.
Zhao Xiaowan still found it hard to believe. "Husband has such skill! Using Connecting Bridal Chambers, you actually linked all the way to Hulu Village!"
Linking to Hulu Village was an entirely different concept from linking to Boundless City.
Hulu Village was no ordinary place; under Ayi's control, it could traverse between the Inner States, the Outer States, and Puluo Province.
Currently, only the companion dwelling could achieve such a feat, and even then, only after acquiring eight sets of tracks.
The result of this execution of Broadening the Bridal Chamber was no less impressive than transferring straight from Puluo Province to the Dark Star Bureau.
His wife looked deeper into the woods. This cloud was vast, with streams winding through the forest and numerous rare flowers and exotic herbs.
"The place the peddler gave my husband is truly a fine dwelling."
Li Banfeng nodded. "Tonight, let us enter the bridal chamber right here, Wife."
Mentioning the bridal chamber stirred anticipation in his wife, but taking a look at Li Banfeng's state, she reckoned the Joy Soil had already worn off.
"For such a wonderful place, shouldn't we find a dwelling spirit?" His wife changed the subject.
Li Banfeng pondered. "Who would be suitable to be a dwelling spirit in Hulu Village?"
His wife suddenly remembered something. "Husband, since we're already in Hulu Village, should we drop by Ayi's place?"
This was an important matter. His wife was acquainted with Ayi and knew her temperament; entering Ayi's domain without giving notice could easily breed resentment.
Li Banfeng was considering this problem as well.
Giving notice was easy, but explaining how they had entered was not.
Li Banfeng possessed a jade token granting entry to Hulu Village, but Ayi was exceptionally cautious; every time anyone entered the village, someone guided the way.
This time, with no guide, Li Banfeng had appeared directly inside. That would be impossible to explain away.
"Wife, we'd better not see Ayi."
Zhao Xiaowan understood the difficulty, but how were they to resolve their current predicament? "Husband, if we don't go see Ayi, how do we leave Hulu Village?"
To leave Hulu Village, someone from the village had to escort them out.
Caught in a dilemma, Li Banfeng took his wife and leaped back through the window into the wooden house. "However we came, that's how we'll go back."
His wife looked at him with heartache. "Husband, you're going to use the technique again?"
"Wife, do you have any more Joy Soil?" Li Banfeng felt he was nearing total exhaustion.
Zhao Xiaowan punched Li Banfeng lightly. "Would I carry such a thing on me?"
Li Banfeng sighed. "Without Joy Soil, I'll just have to push through by sheer force."
Sitting in the wooden house, Li Banfeng repeatedly pictured the appearance of the Yucui Building. Yet due to sheer fatigue, whenever he moved to activate Broadening the Bridal Chamber, his mental image of the building blurred.
"Wife, give me a reminder by my ear."
"What does my husband want this humble servant to remind you of?"
"Remind me of what the Yucui Building looks like."
"This..."
This put his wife in a tight spot.
The projector was recuperating at home and hadn't been brought along.
If her gramophone body were here, she could still play a film. But Zhao Xiaowan was using her puppet body, so she could only imitate sounds.
Her lips parted, and Li Banfeng first heard the sound of needle and thread pulling through fabric.
Rustle, rustle...
Next came the sound of shears.
Snip, snip...
Li Banfeng looked at Zhao Xiaowan. "Precious Wife, isn't that a bit too perfunctory?"
Zhao Xiaowan had a helpless expression. "Husband, you can't blame this humble servant. Ling'er rarely makes any noise normally."
Jiang Ling'er was a quiet person; the sounds his wife could imitate were very limited.
Li Banfeng attempted the technique several times without success, feeling a rising headache.
Thinking back, it still seemed strange: he had clearly intended to return to the pavilion, so how had he ended up in this wooden building? Were the two very similar?
Looking around, there were indeed similarities: both were wooden structures, both were multistory buildings. Although this wooden house was older, it rested atop a cloud.
What kind of similarity was being atop a cloud? The Yucui Building wasn't on a cloud.
Yet when performing the technique, Li Banfeng had gone up to the cloud in the Shang State and entered the companion dwelling.
The environment!
The environment above the cloud resembled his current environment.
The surrounding environment influenced the technique of Connecting Bridal Chambers!
If he could create an environment here resembling the Yucui Building, the success rate of Connecting Bridal Chambers would increase dramatically.
"Wife, imitate the needle and thread again."
His wife did her utmost to recreate every sonic detail, mimicking even Jiang Ling'er's subtle habits when pulling needle and thread to lifelike perfection.
After imitating for several minutes, his wife felt the sounds overlapping and crisscrossing, as if someone were truly beside them threading and stitching.
Had she heard wrong?
Possessing the means of Discerning Spiritual Sound, how could she hear wrong?
Following the sound, she looked over—and there sat Jiang Ling'er right beside them, embroidering.
Zhao Xiaowan was startled. "Husband, did you swap Ling'er out of the pavilion?"
Li Banfeng didn't answer. The moment was critically pressing; the duration of Mind Traversing a Thousand Mountains was limited.
"Wife, hold tight!" Scooping Zhao Xiaowan into his arms, he leaped out the window again. When they landed, Zhao Xiaowan saw Jiang Ling'er once more.
Broadening the Bridal Chamber had succeeded again. Li Banfeng had returned from Hulu Village to the Yucui Building—this time, truly back.
Jiang Ling'er looked up at Zhao Xiaowan, then turned to Li Banfeng. "Being able to bring a dwelling spirit along does show some skill, but it's still only eighty percent."
Zhao Xiaowan hopped down from Li Banfeng's arms. "Ling'er, that is no mere eighty percent skill. I'm not boasting on my husband's behalf, but this time was definitely ninety percent."
Jiang Ling'er didn't believe it. "I heard the old lady say that to train Broadening the Bridal Chamber to ninety percent, no matter how great one's talent, it takes about twenty years."
Zhao Xiaowan hugged Li Banfeng and planted a fierce kiss on his cheek. "That was because the old lady lacked talent! Don't keep bringing her up from now on. My husband is far better than her!"
"My wife has the best eye!" Li Banfeng also planted a fierce kiss on Zhao Xiaowan's cheek.
Jiang Ling'er's left cheek twitched, and her right cheek contorted slightly. She wanted to spit at them in disgust, but couldn't find a pretext to do so.
***
Qiu Luoye drank two cups of wine and, his face flushed red, said, "When we went to catch Brother Wheels earlier, I didn't hold back at all. With the deep friendship between Brother Wheels and me, I nearly had a complete falling out with him over your business. So tell me, what should we do about this?"
Ayi said nothing, her face fraught with worry, as though something weighed heavily on her mind.
Qiu Luoye frowned. "Did you hear what I said? I put in so much effort and invested so heavily for you—isn't it about time you let me go home?"
Ayi retorted angrily, "Why should I let you go home? Did you catch him?"
Qiu Luoye said, "Failing to catch him is due to your own lack of ability. Why pin the blame on me?"
Ayi tilted her chin up, raising an eyebrow. "I'm pinning it on you, so what? You got a problem with that?"
Qiu Luoye set his wine bowl down. "Going back on your word, are you? Do you think I'm easy to bully?"
Ayi said impatiently, "I'm not in the mood to bicker with you over this. Someone seems to have entered Hulu Village."
Qiu Daxiang froze, then asked, "Did someone go hunting?"
Hulu Village periodically took in groups of people; Qiu Luoye knew of this and called it "hunting."
Ayi corrected him, "That isn't hunting, that's saving people! What just happened wasn't saving people, and someone who's rescued couldn't possibly walk out on their own."
Qiu Luoye grew a bit worried as well. "Could it be that Brother Wheels has come knocking at your door?"
Ayi looked at Qiu Luoye. "Does he have that kind of ability?"
"What do you think?" Qiu Luoye took a sip of wine. "If Brother Wheels's body were whole, there'd be nowhere in this world he couldn't reach. You've been pressing him relentlessly; you definitely pushed Brother Wheels too far."
Ayi lowered her head, looking somewhat aggrieved. "How have I been pressing him relentlessly? My heart toward him is completely sincere."
"Whether it's sincere or not, nobody knows," Qiu Luoye sighed. "What Brother Wheels's temperament is like, you should know full well. When he's good, he's truly good; when he's ruthless, he disowns even his own kin.
"Last time when you chased him all the way to the Outer States, I already felt something was amiss. After Brother Wheels returned from the Outer States, his temperament changed drastically, and he can even use many artisan cultivator methods now. I'm truly afraid—"
Before he could finish, he saw Ayi bowing her head, wiping tears, and sobbing.
Qiu Luoye asked, startled, "What are you crying for?"
Ayi wept through her tears, "If I'm gone, you have to stay a widower for me."
Qiu Luoye spat. "Don't talk such dismal nonsense."
Ayi cried even more mournfully, "My heart toward you is completely sincere! You must never forget me!"
Seeing her cry like this, Qiu Luoye felt unsettled as well. "Don't talk about that for now. Have some food, drink a bowl of wine. I was just wildly guessing; it might not even be Brother Wheels. Stop crying first."
Ayi sobbed, "You're about to leave, so what am I supposed to do? Eighteen Wheels definitely won't spare me!"
Qiu Luoye held a chicken leg to her lips. "Don't cry. How about I just don't leave?"
"Fine!" Ayi stopped crying immediately, chased it with wine, and ate the chicken leg.
Qiu Luoye sat to the side, speechless for a long time.
***
Li Banfeng took paper and brush and noted down the essentials of Broadening the Bridal Chamber one by one.
In truth, there weren't many essentials—only two.
First, one's state of mind had to be crystal clear. If one wanted to burrow into the Yucui Building, its image had to appear clearly within one's mind.
Second, the technique required imposing power—the strength and conviction that the dwelling was within one's grasp to manipulate at will.
These past two days, Li Banfeng had been polishing the technique with Jiang Ling'er. He had refined the precision of Broadening the Bridal Chamber, but the force was lacking; to transition between different dwellings, the technique had to possess sufficient intensity.
These two essentials were easy to state, but if one followed Jiang Ling'er's method of step-by-step cultivation, it truly wouldn't take anything less than twenty years.
Li Banfeng, however, did not cultivate that way.
To train his state of mind, he used Mind Traversing a Thousand Mountains: whichever dwelling he wished to go to, he moved that dwelling right over, keeping his mind absolutely clear—the only drawback was the short duration, requiring his actions to be swift.
To train the imposing force, he used Dogged Persistence: full of power, striking quickly—the only issue being that Dogged Persistence was sometimes difficult to trigger.
His wife looked at Li Banfeng's notes and chuckled. "Using Travel Cultivator methods to cultivate Dwelling Cultivator techniques—in this world, my husband is probably the only one."
Li Banfeng rehearsed it several more times until he could execute and retract the technique with effortless mastery, winning over Jiang Ling'er in the process.
"Ling'er, teach me the final ten percent of the technique as well," Li Banfeng said with a chuckle. "I won't treat you poorly!"
Jiang Ling'er refused, and Li Banfeng grew displeased.
Zhao Xiaowan urged, "We're all family here. Why are you still holding back?"
Jiang Ling'er shook her head. "I'm not holding back. I don't know the final ten percent. I only heard the old lady mention once that the final ten percent cannot be practiced in one's own home; it must be practiced in someone else's home."
Li Banfeng was stunned. "Go to someone else's home and broaden the bridal chamber?"
Jiang Ling'er nodded, but could offer no further explanation.
Zhao Xiaowan seemed to understand. "If this technique can even be used in someone else's home, then it truly is formidable."
Li Banfeng expressed some concern: "I don't want to harm other Dwelling Cultivators just to practice a technique."
Zhao Xiaowan understood Li Banfeng's nature as well. "Naturally, my husband must grasp the propriety with care."
The two discussed it for several hours and settled on two destinations.
The first was to seek out Meng Yuchun. Meng Yuchun's cultivation was high; cooperating with Li Banfeng's practice would yield even more pronounced results.
The second was to go to Tiemen Fort. Tiemen Fort had many people, offering more choices for cultivation.
Deciding between these two places was difficult. After weighing them repeatedly, Li Banfeng decided to draw lots.
He shut off Discerning Spiritual Sound, Exquisite Hundred Flavors, and Golden Eyes of Keen Detail completely. He had his wife make two paper balls, and with his eyes closed, drew directly.
Feeling one of the lots, Li Banfeng shuddered several times in succession.
Unfolding the paper ball, he saw written on it: Tiemen Fort.
Hong Ying chimed in from the side, "Brother Seven, I see you shivering all over. Is Seeking Fortune and Avoiding Calamity giving you a premonition? You can't go to that place, Tiemen Fort."
Li Banfeng looked at the paper ball in his hand, his brow tightly furrowed. "I have to go. I am their fort master."
Chapter 755