A meeting would mean life or death.
Who could have imagined that when Li Banfeng had first arrived in Yaowanggou, the peddler and the Heavenly Maiden had almost come face-to-face, separated only by a single backpack?
If they had truly met back then and the peddler had killed her, Puluo Province's Boundary might not have held, and a flood of Inner States weaponry would have stormed into the province.
And if the peddler had not killed the Heavenly Maiden, what would the consequences have been then?
Without the peddler, Puluo Province's predicament would have been even more unthinkable.
After downing twelve bowls of Soul-Returning Soup, Li Banfeng managed to drag himself upright. Before his breath even evened out, dizziness overwhelmed him, and he sank back onto the cart, once again unable to move.
The peddler frowned. "Don't go thrashing about. For now, the mortal vitality inside you has only been temporarily drawn together. If you exert yourself the wrong way, it could detonate all over again. If you get blown up a second time, even I won't be able to save you."
"I drank so much Soul-Returning Soup, and it still can't dissipate all this mortal vitality?" Li Banfeng asked.
The peddler shook his head. "To resolve mortal vitality, you have to advance. There's no other way."
Li Banfeng took it in stride. "Then I'll advance. With you here, there's bound to be a way."
The peddler inspected Li Banfeng's physical condition. "Not yet. You can't move right now, and you certainly can't leave this cart. You have to wait until the mortal vitality is completely coalesced and stabilized before you can advance. If it won't hold together, you'll have to drink more Soul-Returning Soup.
"For advancing as a Travel Cultivator, I can give you a hand, but my method is somewhat dangerous, and in your present state, you might not be able to endure it.
"For a Dwelling Cultivator, my hands are tied. Dwelling Cultivators must be inside their dwelling and use the methods of a dwelling spirit to complete their advancement."
Li Banfeng was deeply curious about the peculiar nature of Dwelling Cultivators. "Why are Dwelling Cultivators so unusual? Why must a Dwelling Cultivator have a dwelling spirit when advancing? Why do Dwelling Cultivators have to learn techniques from their dwelling spirit?"
The peddler looked somewhat perplexed as well. "Ever since the Heavenly Maiden created the lineage of Dwelling Cultivators, those have always been the rules. I've never figured out the reason behind it, and she refused to tell me."
The Heavenly Maiden had created the lineage of Dwelling Cultivators.
"Did Dwelling Cultivators appear very late?" Li Banfeng asked.
"Not late at all!" The peddler shook his head. "Dwelling Cultivators were the fifth lineage to emerge. For any person, the most urgent necessities are food, clothing, shelter, and travel.
"Back then, I thought what people wanted most was to eat. Once full, they needed clothes; once warm, they needed a place to live. So I figured Dwelling Cultivators ought to have been the third lineage. But I never imagined my deduction would be flawed. Once people are full, they don't necessarily care about clothes—they'd rather do other things. And if they have nothing to eat and nothing to do, they start thinking about stealing. So Joy Cultivators and Thief Cultivators got ahead of Garment Cultivators and Dwelling Cultivators."
Li Banfeng considered the timeline. In Puluo Province, rarely did anyone split hairs over dates and chronology, but this time, Li Banfeng sensed a glaring contradiction. "Didn't you only meet the Heavenly Maiden during the war?
"Every lineage in Puluo Province has to pass through your hands to be recognized. If that's the case, Dwelling Cultivators could only have come about after you two met—meaning after the war began. That can hardly be considered early."
The peddler chuckled. "Who told you the Heavenly Maiden and I only met during the war? If we didn't have an acquaintance beforehand, why would she have helped me when the fighting started? On account of my handsome face?"
Li Banfeng scoffed. "Since you're out here selling, you're bound to have some assets of your own."
The peddler turned, grabbed a funnel, shoved it into Li Banfeng's mouth, ladled out a bowl of Soul-Returning Soup from the pot, and poured it down his throat.
"Mmph—didn't I already drink twelve bowls?" Li Banfeng shouted indistinctly. "Why more?! Hot! That's too hot!"
"Junior Brother, it seems to me your mortal vitality is coalescing too slowly." Setting down the bowl, the peddler sat under the willow tree and gazed into the sky, seemingly lost in memory.
"I knew her long before that. Back then, I was just an ordinary sundries peddler. Every day I would push my cart past her front door and catch a glimpse of her..."
A gust of wind blew past. The peddler looked back at Li Banfeng. "Have you made up your mind? Are you advancing as a Dwelling Cultivator or a Travel Cultivator?"
Li Banfeng pondered for a moment. "Which do you think is more suitable?"
The peddler glanced at Li Banfeng's bandages. "You're injured, so advancing as a Dwelling Cultivator is safer. It causes less harm to the body. Once you advance, your physique will become sturdier, and when you subsequently advance as a Travel Cultivator, you'll be able to withstand the torment."
Li Banfeng gave a bitter smile. "These wounds all over me came from advancing as a Dwelling Cultivator. But speaking of which, why did you have me cultivate both lineages in the first place? Don't tell me it was an accident—with Qiao Yuesheng's meager cultivation, there was no way he could have crashed into your cart."
The peddler added some water to the medicine pot. "It was out of necessity. If you weren't a Dwelling Cultivator, you could never have controlled the Little Train. And without the Little Train, there was no way you could have kept her suppressed."
"You thought far too highly of me," Li Banfeng said. "Me, a freshly initiated Dwelling Cultivator who hadn't even attained a tier—how could I suppress an entity like the companion dwelling?"
The peddler took some Tiger Balm and smeared it over Li Banfeng's face. "Everything bought from my hands comes with a covenant deed. Even if it was only verbal, the Little Train still had to honor the agreement."
Li Banfeng thought about it, then asked, "Then why have me cultivate as a Travel Cultivator on the side as well?"
"To save your life." The peddler picked up a bottle of soy sauce and forced two mouthfuls down Li Banfeng's throat. "Carrying the Heavenly Maiden all by yourself, if you had stayed rooted in one place, you would have been dead for certain."
"Back then, you actually cared whether I lived or died?" Li Banfeng was somewhat baffled. "I brought the Heavenly Maiden back to Puluo Province. That was practically an apocalyptic catastrophe for the province."
The peddler shook his head. "It wasn't your fault."
"Do right and wrong matter that much?"
The peddler nodded. "To me, it matters a great deal. Right is right, and wrong is wrong. You didn't know why you were struck by sky-light, nor did you know what you were carrying on you.
"When Ma Junyang and Qin Tianjiu arrived, I listened to the three of you talk, and only then did I realize you knew nothing about Puluo Province.
"You were plainly a scapegoat. You shouldn't have lost your life over this. It's as simple as that."
A breeze swept through, setting the wind chimes on the cart chiming softly.
Li Banfeng tested his left hand, moving it with great care. "Did you never think of finding someone else to take over the Red Lotus? Someone you knew better, someone you could trust more?"
The peddler replied with complete frankness, "I did. But back then, there was no suitable candidate. The one who came with you was Monkey Qiu. If I had handed the Heavenly Maiden to Monkey Qiu, cautious as he is, he would have insisted on opening the pack to inspect it. The moment he unzipped it, the Heavenly Maiden and I would have come face-to-face, and everything would have been finished.
"Even if I used a few tricks to stop him from opening the backpack, someone of Monkey Qiu's steadfast loyalty would surely have surrendered the Heavenly Maiden to Lu Dongliang. And Lu Dongliang's disposition is impossible to predict—no one knows what he would do. He might even have handed the Heavenly Maiden over to the Inner States."
With his left hand moving reasonably well, Li Banfeng moved his right hand. "Qiu Zhiheng wasn't the only one present back then. The Rickshaw Man was there too."
"You mean Che Wushang?" The peddler couldn't help but chuckle. "Brother, do you have any idea how potent his skill in Seeking Fortune and Avoiding Calamity is? There's no way he would have agreed to it. If I had so much as breathed a word to him, you'd never have seen him in Puluo Province again."
Li Banfeng tentatively pushed himself up, and the peddler lent him a supportive hand.
"And after that, you never thought of finding someone to replace me?"
"I did," the peddler said, as honest as before. "I sought you out many times afterward. Truth be told, I always wanted to find a suitable person to take the Heavenly Maiden off your hands. It would have set my mind at ease, and you could have lived in peace—it would have been good for both of us. But later developments left me with no choice."
"Why no choice?"
The peddler took out a packet of nuts and handed it to Li Banfeng. "I couldn't find anyone more suitable than you. Every time I thought I had found someone better, in the end I discovered that none of them were as suited as you."
Chewing on the nuts, Li Banfeng asked, "Why was I the most suitable?"
"Because you are the most reliable." The peddler held a pair of tweezers, carefully selecting from a jar of medicinal lozenges. "For a long time, I refused to trust anyone. But from the bug trouble at Haichiling to the toad crisis at Moxiangdi, I realized that I could trust you."
The peddler handed Li Banfeng two lozenges—one orange-flavored, one cantaloupe-flavored.
Li Banfeng swallowed the lozenges and felt the stiffness in his joints ease.
"Get off the cart and give it a try," the peddler said.
Li Banfeng stepped down cautiously, only to feel his strength vanish. Swaying on his feet, he could barely maintain his balance.
The cart possessed some unknown mechanism; Li Banfeng realized it had played a major role in keeping him upright until now.
"Try walking," the peddler prompted.
Li Banfeng tentatively moved forward, stumbling and shuffling for a few paces before collapsing onto the ground.
The peddler seemed reasonably satisfied with the overall result. "The mortal vitality has coalesced, but the effects of the Soul-Returning Soup are limited. You need to hurry and advance. Have you decided which lineage to advance in?"
Li Banfeng sensed the volume of mortal vitality inside his body.
He had absorbed far too much mortal vitality this time. Advancing in only one lineage might not disperse it all. "It's hard to choose, so I won't choose at all. I'll go home and advance in both lineages at once!"
The peddler froze for a second, then broke into a smile. "Anyone else wouldn't be able to pull it off, but you're different. Your life is tough."
Li Banfeng raised an eyebrow. "Just how tough do you think my life is?"
"Tougher than mine!" The peddler retrieved two boxes of Xuanyun Pills from the cart and handed them to Li Banfeng. "These are all the pills I have left. Take them all."
Li Banfeng put away the pills, and the two bid each other farewell.
The peddler cautioned, "If you truly intend to advance in both lineages at once, take extra care!"
Li Banfeng laughed. "You said yourself that my life is tougher than yours, and I trust you!"
Returning to the companion dwelling, his wife hurried over to greet him. "Just now, the Old Master said something happened to you. Husband, how are you?"
Li Banfeng kissed his darling wife. "Darling wife, I need to advance once more."
"Advance again?" she gasped in shock. "We only just advanced!"
Li Banfeng was equally helpless. "I ran into the Heavenly Maiden's stone statue, and my mortal vitality is overflowing. There's no other way."
Zhao Xiaowan knew the consequences of an overabundance of mortal vitality. After weighing the matter at length, she said to Li Banfeng, "Husband, advance as a Travel Cultivator this time, and leave Dwelling Cultivator for later. If you go to Ling'er again, she'll have to use those shears—"
Li Banfeng shook his head. "I'm advancing in both lineages at once. There's too much mortal vitality this time—advancing in just one might not be enough."
"Advance in both at once?" Zhao Xiaowan's eyes went wide. "Husband, you must not!"
"It can be done. Didn't I advance both lineages together when I broke through to Above the Clouds?"
"That was different, Husband! This is advancing to Cloud Six!"
"It'll be fine. Back then I was still at ground level. Now I'm at Cloud Five, and my physique is far stronger."
"Then you can't advance as a Travel Cultivator first—that blockhead Yingying can't be relied upon, after all." Knowing Hong Ying as she did, and considering the painful lesson from when Banfeng had broken through to Above the Clouds, Zhao Xiaowan knew that even if he completed the advancement under Hong Ying's assistance, his body would be left in an extremely weakened state, making a subsequent Dwelling Cultivator advancement nearly impossible.
Her judgment, too, was that he should advance as a Dwelling Cultivator first. "Are you going to look for A'yu, Husband, or find Ling'er?"
This required careful consideration.
Going to Jiang Ling'er seemed safe on the surface, but Li Banfeng's old wounds had yet to heal. If she took the shears to him again, it could prove fatal; and even if he survived, his injuries wouldn't recover anytime soon.
Having to advance as a Travel Cultivator immediately after Dwelling Cultivator ruled out Jiang Ling'er completely.
Turning to A'yu would mean far gentler methods.
Yet after being burned last time, Li Banfeng couldn't shake the feeling that A'yu wasn't trustworthy.
He felt that anyone under his own roof was far more trustworthy than A'yu.
Besides, there was an expert right at home whose understanding of Dwelling Cultivators ran much deeper than A'yu's.
Li Banfeng made his way to the Fifth Chamber, frightening the Fifth Chamber girl into darting deep into the flower bushes.
She worried needlessly; Li Banfeng hadn't come for her.
Sitting down beside the Copper Lotus, Li Banfeng smiled. "Who would have thought I already knew you before I even came to Puluo Province?"
The Copper Lotus spread its leaves. "What's so surprising about that? We met back in the campus supermarket."
Li Banfeng sighed with emotion. "Indeed. Ever since coming out of that supermarket locker, I've carried you on my back, A'yu carried you on her back, the Thief Cultivator grandmaster carried you on her back, and I carried you again. You really do love being carried around, don't you?"
The Copper Lotus's leaves paused slightly, then brushed against Li Banfeng's cheek. "Wherever did that come from? When did A'yu ever carry me? And who is this Thief Cultivator grandmaster you speak of?"
"Still playing dumb?" Li Banfeng laughed. "The renowned Heavenly Person—not long after I arrived in Puluo Province, I heard your name. I spent so long wondering what kind of person you were, never imagining you were living right here in my house."
The Copper Lotus withdrew its leaves, seemingly gripped by fear. "A'qi, is your illness acting up again? That's quite terrifying to hear. I'm merely a pill-refining tool, and the Heavenly Person is my master. You mustn't mix us up so carelessly."
"Truly?" Li Banfeng scooped up the Copper Lotus. "The peddler is right outside. Shall I take you out to see him?"
The tips of the lotus leaves trembled, and its voice lost its gentleness. "Why would I see him?"
Li Banfeng said, "They say the Red Lotus was forged through the joint efforts of the peddler and the Heavenly Maiden. He counts as half a master to you. Are you completely devoid of sentiment?"
With that, Li Banfeng carried the Copper Lotus toward the door.
The Copper Lotus cried out, "Old Seven, A'qi, Qilang! Let's not go out! The peddler and I have some history—we cannot meet! Listen to me first! What in the world do you want?!"
Before they even reached the main room, the Copper Lotus was drenched in condensation from sheer fright.
"Nothing much," Li Banfeng said. "I need to advance."
"Didn't you just advance?"
"I took one look at your stone statue, and my mortal vitality is about to burst. You have to guide me to Cloud Six."
The Copper Lotus spoke in a soft, coaxing tone, "A'qi, I can't help you with this. I've never been a dwelling spirit, and I don't understand advancement. I'm just a lotus—wait, Qilang, don't be hasty! Don't walk outside! I give in, all right?! First call that wench Hong Ying over!"
"Why call Hong Ying?" Li Banfeng asked.
The Copper Lotus said, "Hong Ying is your dwelling spirit. To advance as a Dwelling Cultivator, you have to rely on her. She's also the champion of Travel Cultivators, so she can assist with your Travel Cultivator advancement as well."
Li Banfeng called Hong Ying over while his wife watched from the side.
Hong Ying puffed out her chest, looking full of bravado. "Qilang, don't be afraid. I'll help you advance!"
Seeing Hong Ying like this, Zhao Xiaowan couldn't set her mind at ease.
Li Banfeng asked the Copper Lotus, "Now, how do we advance?"
The Copper Lotus spread its leaves and scrutinized Hong Ying. "Well... in this situation, how should we go about it..."
A Dwelling Cultivator's advancement relied on the methods of a dwelling spirit.
A Travel Cultivator serving as a dwelling spirit was something even the Heavenly Maiden had never seen.
Hong Ying snorted. "Looking down on me? I've been a dwelling spirit for someone else before! Back when Qilang advanced, I always said I didn't know how, but that was because Xiaowan was there and it wasn't my place to interfere!"
This was no empty boast. During her time at the Iron Fortress, Hong Ying had indeed served as a dwelling spirit for Steward Lao He. It was precisely because Li Banfeng defeated Lao He that he had the chance to obtain Hong Ying.
"How did you help Lao He advance back then?" Li Banfeng asked.
Hong Ying thought about it. "The method was actually quite simple: I hooked the tip of my spear into his back and ran all over the place using Flash Step."
Jiu'er chimed in from the side, "A spear-tip like yours could easily kill someone. How on earth did that fellow Lao He survive?"
Hong Ying reflected on this with some emotion: "Back then I was both deaf and blind, but my hands had some restraint, so I did my best to steer clear of vital points."
Jiu'er thought it over. "Is the back of the heart not a vital point?"
Hong Ying added, "Dwelling Cultivators have tough bodies. After lying in bed for two or three months, he was back on his feet."
Jiu'er still didn't understand. "Why would hooking him and running around like that allow him to advance?"
The Copper Lotus rubbed its center with a leaf, seemingly discerning the underlying principle. "Flash Step traverses between realms, slipping in and out within the Unnamable Dimensions. The tier of the technique isn't particularly high, but its command over the force of the unnamable is remarkably pure.
"Advancement is ultimately about smoothing and channeling. A'yu kneads it, Jiang Ling'er snips it, and Hong Ying weaving Li Qi in and out might well work just as well.
"However, Above the Clouds is different from ground level after all. When applying Flash Step, there must be some technique involved. We'll experiment as we go."
"Easy enough!" Hong Ying let down her hair, revealing the sharp spear-point.
His wife grabbed a stool and swung it at her. "Impudent girl! What are you using that for?! Hold Husband in your arms and run!"
Hong Ying gathered Li Banfeng into her arms.
After careful deliberation, the Copper Lotus said to Li Banfeng, "Tell the Little Train to open the doors to every room."
Li Banfeng gave the word, and the companion dwelling naturally complied.
With the doors to all the rooms open, the Copper Lotus instructed Hong Ying, "Every three paces, execute a Flash Step. Go from the main room straight through to the Thirteenth Chamber, and then—wait, don't just run off! Take me along with you!"
Hong Ying took off at a sprint, carrying Li Banfeng.
The Copper Lotus still needed to observe Li Qi's condition and hopped anxiously behind, unable to keep pace with Hong Ying.
Jiu'er scooped up the Copper Lotus and chased after them all the way to the Thirteenth Chamber. The Copper Lotus watched Li Banfeng the entire time and spotted faint signs of advancement, though they were not very distinct.
A Flash Step every three paces seemed to lack sufficient frequency.
The Copper Lotus considered this and said, "Execute a Flash Step every two paces. Try it again."
Hong Ying immediately obeyed, sprinting from the Thirteenth Chamber back to the main room.
Cradled in Hong Ying's arms, Li Banfeng convulsed incessantly.
The advancement was surging too violently; now the frequency appeared too high.
The Copper Lotus called out again, "Execute a Flash Step every two and a half paces—"
"Nonsense!" Hong Ying snapped furiously. "How could that be easy? Where am I supposed to find half a pace?!"
Zhao Xiaowan offered a suggestion: "Try alternating—once every three paces, then once every two paces."
This wasn't easy either. Shifting Flash Steps while running was only manageable thanks to Hong Ying's consummate mastery of the technique.
Li Banfeng slipped from Hong Ying's embrace, his body wracked by spasms.
The left half of his face was smiling, the right half was twitching, one leg kicked out to the side, and the other stepped forward.
"Yingying, why don't we switch tactics? Let me carry you instead."
Hong Ying's face flushed crimson as she roared at the Copper Lotus, "It's all because of your rotten ideas, you wench!"
The Copper Lotus kept quiet—the last idea had come from Zhao Xiaowan.
Yet the method Li Banfeng suggested might actually work. The Copper Lotus leaped onto his shoulder. "Take turns running! Hong Ying will Flash Step every two paces, and A'qi will do it every three paces—"
Before it could finish speaking, the Copper Lotus nearly tumbled off Li Qi's shoulder.
Li Qi's cultivation was unstable, and his spasms grew increasingly violent.
"Do you have Xuanyun Pills?" the Copper Lotus asked.
Zhao Xiaowan took out a pill, wondering how much he should take, when the Copper Lotus urged, "In this critical moment, take a whole one first!"
Would a whole one be too much?
After a moment's hesitation, Zhao Xiaowan fed the entire pill to Li Banfeng.
Li Banfeng settled down slightly, and following the Red Lotus's directions, he and Hong Ying supported each other, taking turns running forward.
Hong Ying scooped up Li Banfeng—two paces, one Flash Step, smooth and effortless.
Li Banfeng scooped up Hong Ying—three paces, one Flash Step, but failed to execute it.
His technique was not as practiced as Hong Ying's; only after stumbling for several paces did the Flash Step take effect.
Though it was a bit slower, the signs of advancement were clearer than before. The Copper Lotus's reasoning was sound.
Jiu'er spotted the knack. Bringing over some ink, she marked the floor. "Yingying, don't run in a straight line. Stride side-to-side—it'll make it easier for A'qi to execute his Flash Step."
Li Banfeng had initially learned Flash Step for dodging, making him far more accustomed to lateral strides.
Jiu'er's trick genuinely worked. Li Banfeng's Flash Step grew smoother and smoother, and the momentum of advancement became increasingly pronounced.
Zhao Xiaowan glanced at Mengde on the wall; it was currently seven in the evening.
Two hours passed. After the pair traversed back and forth through the companion dwelling who knew how many times, Li Banfeng began convulsing again.
The Copper Lotus said to Zhao Xiaowan, "Feed him another Xuanyun Pill."
Sweat beaded across Zhao Xiaowan's forehead, and her hand trembled as she held the pill.
The Copper Lotus urged, "Hurry and give it to him! With the physique of a dual Cloud Five, he can endure it!"
Swallowing another pill, Li Banfeng recovered somewhat. The two continued alternating Flash Steps, yet the momentum of advancement weakened.
"Flash Step isn't working anymore," the Copper Lotus muttered to itself. "Looks like we need to switch methods. Little Train, shut all the room doors."
The companion dwelling did not respond.
"Old Master, shut the doors," Li Banfeng said.
All the room doors in the companion dwelling closed. The Copper Lotus said, "Hong Ying will use Flash Step, and Li Qi will use Unimpeded Passage. Continue alternating the force of the unnamable, and let's see if that produces results."
Sure enough, results showed; the momentum of advancement returned.
The companion dwelling grew slightly anxious. Not wishing to disturb Li Qi, it whispered to Zhao Xiaowan, "They're not going to use One Force Breaks Ten Thousand Torrents in a moment, are they?"
Zhao Xiaowan didn't know how to answer. She didn't trust the Copper Lotus, and she worried about Li Banfeng's condition.
After another hour, Li Banfeng began convulsing once more.
By ten o'clock the following night, Hong Ying collapsed onto the bed, unable to get back up. Li Banfeng's face was deathly pale, wracked by uncontrollable spasms.
Holding Li Banfeng in her arms, Zhao Xiaowan asked Hong Ying, "Yingying, can you still hold on?"
Hong Ying gasped for breath on the bed. "If he can advance, I can hold on. But when on earth is he going to advance?!"
The whole family turned their gaze toward the Copper Lotus. In a somber tone, Jiu'er demanded, "A'qi should have completed his advancement long ago. Are you hiding something?"
The Copper Lotus waved its leaves. "He should have advanced by now! I don't know the reason either! I've been helping him this whole time! I never meant to harm him—harming him does me no good whatsoever!"
As they spoke, Li Banfeng began inhaling frantically, each breath deeper than the last.
Jiu'er looked toward Zhao Xiaowan. "Xiaowan, are there any pills left?"
There were pills left, but Li Banfeng had already consumed eight in total. Taking any more would surely lead to disaster.
Clutching Li Banfeng tightly, Zhao Xiaowan shouted, "Old Master, head to the Jade Emerald Tower and find Ling'er! I shouldn't have trusted the Red Lotus! I must have lost my mind—how could I have ever believed her?!"
Before the companion dwelling could move, Li Banfeng's body underwent a drastic transformation.
From his cheeks to his torso and out to his limbs, Li Banfeng emaciated at a rate visible to the naked eye.
His cheekbones jutted higher and higher, his sunken cheeks pressed tight against his teeth, his eye sockets hollowed deeply, and the rims of his eyes seemed on the verge of pulling away from his eyeballs.
Li Banfeng reached out an emaciated arm and gripped Zhao Xiaowan's hand.
Jiu'er grabbed the Copper Lotus's leaves. "What on earth is happening?!"
The Copper Lotus thought for a moment. "Try the Outer States neutralizing agent! It should work!"
"How is that any different from the pills?!" Jiu'er fumed.
"The neutralizing agent is milder! At the very least, it can keep him clinging to life!"
As Jiu'er brought the neutralizing agent over, Zhao Xiaowan suddenly calmed down. She looked up at the glove. "Is there any mortal vitality left?"
The glove's body swelled, and it spat out a pouch of small effigies.
Zhao Xiaowan placed the effigies atop Li Banfeng's head.
Jiu'er cried out in alarm, "How can that be?! The mortal vitality in him was already about to burst!"
Zhao Xiaowan shook her head. "It won't burst. His mortal vitality is insufficient!"
When all was said and done, Zhao Xiaowan knew Li Banfeng best.
During previous advancements, Li Banfeng had experienced a shortage of mortal vitality, and back then, Jiang Ling'er had used yang energy to make up the deficit.
The present situation was remarkably similar, though as for why his mortal vitality was insufficient, Zhao Xiaowan couldn't fathom the reason.
One effigy after another was sucked dry by Li Banfeng. The glove spoke up, "Mistress, no need to worry. We have plenty in stock."
Stock was indeed plentiful; the mortal vitality accumulated in Santoucha earlier had not yet been exhausted.
As more and more mortal vitality was absorbed, Li Banfeng gradually recovered. Though still a bit leaner than before, he had at least regained his usual vitality.
Utterly exhausted, Li Banfeng fell asleep in Zhao Xiaowan's arms.
The Copper Lotus let out a long breath. "This time it's finally done."
Zhao Xiaowan looked up and asked, "What is done?"
The Copper Lotus replied, "The advancement succeeded!"
"Which lineage advanced?" Zhao Xiaowan pressed.
The Copper Lotus thought it over. "Dwelling Cultivator definitely succeeded—my method couldn't possibly be wrong. Travel Cultivator... perhaps that succeeded as well. We've been using Travel Cultivator techniques for a full day and night."
The dwelling spirit was a Travel Cultivator, using Travel Cultivator techniques to advance in Dwelling Cultivation while pulling Travel Cultivation along with it. The logic was entirely sound.
Zhao Xiaowan confirmed once more, "Are you saying he advanced a tier in both Dwelling Cultivator and Travel Cultivator?"
The Copper Lotus swayed its leaves. "Most certainly. Most certainly—"
Chapter 789