Shan Chengjun was torn open from the crown of his head straight down to his navel. At the edges of the rift, flesh and blood sprouted and spread, while sinews and bones twined and knotted together. His body was rapidly repairing itself.
Li Banfeng unleashed Rushing Here and Darting There again, forcing Shan Chengjun's flesh and blood to pull in conflicting directions. Yet the moment the technique took effect, Shan Chengjun's body began rocketing backward in rapid retreat.
Li Banfeng had seen this before.
While under the influence of Despair and Sever Thoughts, Shan Chengjun would retreat from the battlefield with blinding speed whenever he sustained catastrophic damage.
Last time, Li Banfeng had not understood Shan Chengjun's condition; a brief hesitation on his part had allowed Shan Chengjun to slip away.
This time, Li Banfeng had no intention of letting him escape. Gathering every ounce of strength, he gave chase right on his heels.
The two bolted out of the Willow Gardens and burst onto the open thoroughfare.
A street vendor roasting sweet potatoes had no idea what was happening when he caught sight of Shan Chengjun sprinting backward down the street. Without breaking stride, Shan Chengjun grabbed the sweet-potato kiln and hurled it, coals, fire, and all, right at Li Banfeng.
The kiln itself was easy enough to dodge, and Li Banfeng sidestepped it cleanly.
With burning coals scattering across the air, Li Banfeng didn't bother dodging them. Wreathed in scorching smoke, he pressed on with the pursuit.
Stray coals showered the roadside, setting fire to several buildings. Crowds rushed about trying to put out the blaze, completely baffled as to what had started it.
Two blood-drenched figures tore down the street—one running backward, the other billowing with smoke—leaving onlookers entirely unable to tell who or what they were.
Passersby, stall vendors, and shop clerks all set aside whatever they were holding and lined the street to watch the spectacle.
Those whose cultivation had not reached a certain level could not even perceive the two figures clearly. All they could see was a sudden burst of dust and smoke accompanied by trails of blood splashed across the paving stones.
A man, driven by curiosity, wondered if it was really blood and stepped forward to touch it.
His wife pulled him back. "Don't touch it! What if it's poison?"
"So what if it's poison? What am I supposed to be afraid of?" The man was a ground level second-tier martial cultivator, tough enough that ordinary poisons couldn't topple him. He shoved his wife aside, crouched down, and dabbed at the blood. "It's blood! It really is blood!" he exclaimed, brimming with excitement.
That one touch was his undoing. Shan Chengjun's blood was not something anyone could casually handle.
The flesh on his fingertip instantly dissolved, laying bare the white bone beneath.
Tears streaming down his face, the man wailed in agonizing pain. Yet his flesh continued to peel away, climbing up the finger bones and threatening to swallow his entire palm.
Thinking fast, his wife seized a cleaver from a neighboring butcher stall and chopped off his hand in a single stroke, barely sparing his life.
"Even his blood is that terrifying? Who on earth were those two?"
"Who knows? We'd better steer clear! People like that could probably end our lives with a flick of a finger!"
Terrified as they were, people still couldn't resist stretching their necks to gawk.
Rounding a street corner, Shan Chengjun swept past a bookstall, scooped up a book, and flung it at Li Banfeng.
The book burst into fluttering leaves of paper that turned razor-sharp, swarming Li Banfeng from every angle.
Li Banfeng dodged the flying leaves with his footwork, while a wide swath of onlookers along the roadside was sliced and injured by the stray sheets.
Passing a tea stand, Shan Chengjun hoisted a massive copper kettle filled with scalding water.
Just as he was about to heave the kettle, Li Banfeng moved a step faster, casting Rushing Here and Darting There straight at him.
Shan Chengjun crashed to the ground, still clutching the kettle. Li Banfeng seized the opening to unleash Five Horses Dismembering the Household once more.
During this brief moment when both men paused in the street, onlookers finally caught a clear glimpse of them.
Shan Chengjun's skull was cracked wide open, his brains exposed for all to see.
The bystanders shuddered in horror, yet even in their terror, they couldn't help stealing another glance.
Li Banfeng had occasionally entertained the thought: if someone were to establish an orthodox path dedicated strictly to onlookers who loved spectacles, what should it be called?
That path would surely have no shortage of disciples—at least as many as the Food Cultivators.
Even with his skull split open, Shan Chengjun's body continued to dart about with astounding speed. Li Banfeng resumed the chase, the two weaving back and forth until they had traversed the entirety of Moxiang Shop.
Shan Chengjun plunged into a library. It had not opened for business yet, and there was no one inside. Li Banfeng darted in after him. After exchanging blows for only a brief moment, the library collapsed.
From the rubble, Shan Chengjun scrambled out first and ducked into a poetry club.
Li Banfeng did not follow him inside. The club was housed in a five-story pavilion, and voices reciting verses and matching couplets rose and fell within. If the building collapsed, there was no telling how many lives would be lost.
He waited outside for a moment, and sure enough, Shan Chengjun quickly rushed out and bolted straight for the vegetable market.
This was thanks to Li Banfeng's familiarity with Shan Chengjun. He knew Shan Chengjun was fleeing purely on unconscious instinct; otherwise, he would never have vacated the poetry club so readily.
Upon reaching the market, Shan Chengjun stopped running.
The technique had expired, and he regained full awareness. This was the escape destination he had predetermined.
Despair and Sever Thoughts was a technique Shan Chengjun utilized only in moments of extreme peril. If he sustained catastrophic wounds while in that state, it signaled that his very survival was at stake.
Therefore, he had woven an escape art into the technique: once his injuries reached a certain threshold, the unconscious Shan Chengjun would immediately disengage from battle and follow a fixed route to a designated rendezvous point.
In the newland, Shan Chengjun would have chosen the most secluded place possible. But within a city, he chose crowded areas.
Very few cultivators could push Shan Chengjun into a corner, and such individuals generally operated from the shadows, reluctant to show themselves openly in public. By rushing into crowds and blending in, Shan Chengjun stood a very high chance of making a clean getaway.
Yet today, he had never expected Li Banfeng to pursue him so relentlessly, all the way to this spot.
This put Shan Chengjun in a dilemma.
It wasn't that he feared a fight, but he had no desire to put himself on display before an audience.
"Li Qi, how about we change locations before continuing? It doesn't seem proper to have so many people watching, does it?"
*Boom!*
Li Banfeng stamped his foot, sending dust churning and shattered stones flying across the market.
It was a clear warning to the buyers and vendors to clear out immediately. If anyone still wanted to stick around and watch, they would bear the consequences themselves.
The crowd in the market practically evaporated, save for a stubborn few who couldn't bear to abandon their goods and frantically packed up their stalls.
Li Banfeng released his wine gourd, which spewed several blasts of flame toward them. Terrified, the vendors wasted no more time; clutching whatever valuables they could, they bolted as fast as their legs would carry them.
Shan Chengjun inspected the wounds across his body, then looked up at Li Qi. "I truly never imagined I could be beaten this badly by you. What sort of tricks did you pull? Mind explaining them to me?"
Li Banfeng shook his head. "Even if I told you, you wouldn't understand. Your brains are nearly dried out in the open air. I'd rather just demonstrate it for you again."
Shan Chengjun pressed his cracked skull back together, picked up a stray piece of hemp rope from a stall table, and tied it tightly around his head.
"Li Qi, must this really end with one of us dead today?"
Li Banfeng shook his head. "There's no 'one of us.' You are the one who must die."
Shan Chengjun looked Li Qi up and down, then glanced behind him. "You're wounded like this, and Little Train's legs are crippled too. What do you have left to fight me with?"
Li Banfeng chuckled. "You couldn't even beat me while using Despair and Sever Thoughts, and now you have the nerve to talk big?"
Shan Chengjun picked up a wine jug from the ground and rinsed his wounds with the liquor. "Li Qi, it's not that I couldn't beat you. Under Despair and Sever Thoughts, my body leaves the battlefield on its own once my injuries reach a certain point. If I had been fully conscious just now, you would have died by my hand long ago.
"Then again, both you and Yu Buzhuo know Fool cultivator techniques. Without Despair and Sever Thoughts, I would still have fallen prey to your schemes. So I'll admit, this fight isn't an easy one for me."
Li Banfeng nodded. "If you know it's not easy, then don't bother fighting. Just end your own life right now."
"No way, I'm not ready to die!" Shan Chengjun took a swig of wine and set the jug down. "Now that Yu Buzhuo isn't here, your Fool cultivator techniques probably aren't as polished. And I actually rather admire you, young man. How about this: I'll give you a dignified death.
"I'll kill you within three moves, and then I'll kill Yu Buzhuo. You two can be a pair in the afterlife. How does that sound?"
"Three moves?" Li Banfeng tipped his hat brim upward. "I'll give you thirty moves. Let's see who dies first."
As he spoke, Li Banfeng studied the wounds on Shan Chengjun's body. Now that the blood had been washed away, they were remarkably clear to see.
Shan Chengjun's injuries were mending at an astonishing rate.
Li Banfeng had activated both Boundary and Sit Back and Relax, yet even so, his own healing speed could not match Shan Chengjun's.
What kind of technique was this?
Shan Chengjun grabbed a few pastries, shoved them into his mouth, and mumbled around them, "Li Qi, I'll give you one last piece of advice. I only came here to take a covenant deed. If I can't get it, I'll simply leave. Pushing this to a fight to the death just isn't worth it."
Li Banfeng thought for a moment, then asked, "Was everything you just said the truth?"
Shan Chengjun nodded. "Of course. The honest truth from the bottom of my heart."
"No lies can be spoken on Blood Tooth Mountain, right?"
Shan Chengjun nodded again. "That's right! Every single word on Blood Tooth Mountain is the truth."
Li Banfeng pressed, "Then tell me: does your wounds healing so fast have anything to do with the Blood Tooth Monster? Does it have to do with Food Cultivators? You'd better not lie!"
"Of course it does! The Blood Tooth Monster is extraordinary at eating. After she eats, she can produce wonderful things, and she's made plenty of good stuff for me. So you see, this matter—" Shan Chengjun spat, then glared at Li Banfeng.
"Li Qi, you just used a Fool cultivator technique on me again."
"I didn't! You're being paranoid!" Li Banfeng wore an innocent expression.
"This isn't Blood Tooth Mountain. If you didn't use a technique, why would I have told you so much truth?" Shan Chengjun cracked his joints.
Li Banfeng replied, "Maybe it's just because you're too honest a man."
Shan Chengjun nodded. "True enough. I am an honest man. The twists and turns people like you play with make me sick. Let's fight right now! Remember: three moves, and your life is mine! If I use a single move more, consider it me bullying you!"
With that, Shan Chengjun thrust his hands directly into his own wounds, snapped off two of his ribs, and held one in each hand.
Li Banfeng looked at him with apparent horror. "If you're short on weapons, there's a butcher knife right beside you. There's no need to mutilate yourself like that."
Shan Chengjun brandished the ribs, pointing at Li Banfeng. "Three moves. Just three moves. Count them yourself."
At the fractured ends of the bones, Li Banfeng spotted bright red marrow. Unlike the ribs of ordinary men, Shan Chengjun's bones were packed with an extraordinary abundance of marrow.
His blood had been capable of invading the companion dwelling, and the quality of his bone marrow would only be superior to his blood. That was something Li Banfeng had to guard against at all costs.
Should he strike first, or wait for the man's first move?
Li Banfeng decided to seize the initiative, but Shan Chengjun's figure suddenly vanished.
He might have possessed an Illusion Cultivator treasure, or perhaps other tricks. Li Banfeng instantly pushed Golden Gaze Upon Autumn Down, Discerning Spiritual Sound, Exquisite Hundred Flavors, and Seeking Fortune and Avoiding Calamity to their absolute limits.
Peril closed in. Li Banfeng smelled the stench of blood first, heard the footfalls next, and by the time he caught sight of the figure, Shan Chengjun had already reached the chive stall.
The stall was a mere five paces from Li Banfeng, but those five paces were enough.
Acting first, Li Banfeng cast Sever Path to Open a Road, arranging the chives into a neat line that blocked Shan Chengjun's path.
Shan Chengjun failed to grasp Li Banfeng's intent. How could a bunch of chives possibly stop him?
He tore through the bundle of chives and lunged, thrusting the two ribs toward Li Banfeng's head. Li Banfeng did not dodge, yet the strike caught nothing but air.
He couldn't hit Li Banfeng. Instead, Li Banfeng planted a solid kick squarely into Shan Chengjun's face.
Shan Chengjun's cheek deformed under the impact. He scrambled to his feet to strike again, only to notice two stalks of chives standing upright in the dirt.
The entire purpose of Sever Path to Open a Road had been to plant those two chives upright. Now that Hundred Steps Traverse was complete, Li Banfeng could strike Shan Chengjun, but Shan Chengjun could not touch Li Banfeng.
Shan Chengjun reached down to pluck the chives.
Li Banfeng hooked his scythe into Shan Chengjun's spine. Taking advantage of the distraction, the glove darted forward and snatched both ribs from Shan Chengjun's hands.
Deprived of his weapons, Shan Chengjun tore the chives out with desperate fury. In the next instant, Li Banfeng brought down the blood-bearing clock pendulum, splitting Shan Chengjun's skull open once more.
He struck right along the existing fissure; after all, it had only just begun to heal and was far from solid.
The reason he chose the pendulum was so it could suck out Shan Chengjun's brain matter. Without a brain, let's see how he fights!
Then again, it was hard to say—without a brain, he might fight even more fiercely.
Regardless, draining it first was the right choice.
Just as the pendulum was about to touch Shan Chengjun's exposed brain, Li Banfeng's hand jerked upward on its own, aiming the pendulum straight at his own brow, and chopped downward.
On the verge of striking, the pendulum braked with all its might. "Master, what are you doing?!"
Li Banfeng grabbed his right wrist with his left hand. He had no desire to cleave himself, but his right hand was completely out of control, and its strength far surpassed his left.
Realizing something was wrong, the glove circled behind him and discovered a bone embedded in Li Banfeng's right shoulder—one of Shan Chengjun's ribs.
The glove hurriedly yanked the rib free.
Yet pulling it out came too late. Shan Chengjun's bone marrow had already seeped into Li Banfeng's flesh and blood.
The glove panicked. There had only been two ribs, and he had stolen both! Where had this third one come from?
Shan Chengjun pointed to his own rib cage. "Li Qi, guess how many ribs I have in total? You think you're the only ones allowed to play tricks?"
Shan Chengjun was the earliest martial cultivator in the world, and also the strongest.
He could turn anything into a top-tier weapon. If he wished to fight using his own ribs, he didn't need to prepare them openly in front of Li Banfeng; he could draw one whenever he pleased.
Yet precisely because he had deliberately extracted two ribs in front of Li Banfeng, he had locked Li Banfeng into a rigid assumption: that those two ribs were his only weapons, and once they were stolen, he would be unarmed.
Consequently, Li Banfeng had lowered his guard just enough to fall victim to the ambush from the third rib.
Shan Chengjun strode slowly toward Li Banfeng. "I said I'd kill you within three moves. Pulling the chives counts as one, planting the rib counts as two. That leaves one move. Guess how I'm going to make you die?"
Li Banfeng shifted his footing, still intent on fighting Shan Chengjun, but how could he fight in this state?
His right arm had rebelled. Not only did it refuse his commands, it actively sought opportunities to ambush him.
The marrow that had seeped into his right shoulder was continuously spreading. If it reached his spine, the right arm wouldn't be the only thing under foreign control.
Shan Chengjun picked up a cleaver from a meat stall and tested its edge. "You were right earlier. There are weapons everywhere. This cleaver is actually quite nice. I'll use it to chop you up.
"Why don't you know what's good for you? I offered to leave it at that, yet you clung to me like a ghost. Just look at what you are—how dare you tangle with me? Do you have any idea what an extraordinary stroke of luck it was to escape with your life from my hands?"
Shan Chengjun brought the cleaver down toward Li Banfeng's neck.
Li Banfeng tried to dodge with his footwork, but his right arm yanked him off course, breaking his stride. Shan Chengjun's blade remained pressed against his neck.
*Hiss!*
Shan Chengjun carved an incision into Li Banfeng's throat, grinning. "Does it hurt?"
The blade pressed closer once more. Li Banfeng attempted Carefree and Unfettered to slip away, but his right arm suddenly shoved forward, throwing his balance entirely off. The technique collapsed, and the edge stayed glued to his throat.
"I asked you, does it hurt?" Shan Chengjun opened a second cut on his neck.
Li Banfeng tried to use Viewing Flowers from Horseback to put distance between them, but his right foot tripped his left, sending him crashing directly to the ground.
Shan Chengjun's marrow had expanded its domain; Li Banfeng's right leg had fallen under its sway as well.
Li Banfeng sat on the ground, unable to stand.
Shan Chengjun plunged the knife straight into Li Banfeng's chest. "I'm talking to you! What, are you mute? Does it hurt or not?!"
The companion dwelling moved to rush forward and pull Li Banfeng inside. Shan Chengjun glanced at the dwelling with a sneer. "Feeling protective? Want to save him? Come on, then!"
Li Banfeng raised his left hand, signaling the dwelling to stay back.
Holding the cleaver, Shan Chengjun crouched down before Li Banfeng. "Do you want a quick death, or would you like to chat a bit more? Chatting with you is rather entertaining."
Li Banfeng smiled. "Let's chat another day. We'll leave it at this for now."
With a flick of his left hand, an object suddenly shot toward Shan Chengjun's eyes.
Shan Chengjun reached out and snatched it from the air. "Even at a time like this, you're still trying to use concealed weapons? Let's see what you threw."
He opened his palm to find a key.
Shan Chengjun inspected the key for a moment, then broke into a wide grin. "This is the key to that little train, isn't it?"
Li Banfeng said nothing, focusing all his attention entirely on the key and on Shan Chengjun.
Holding the key, Shan Chengjun walked several dozen paces away.
Constrained by its inherent nature, the companion dwelling was compelled to follow the key.
The old master opened the steam valve, vented the pressure, and locked the brakes down hard, refusing to let the wheels budge.
Shan Chengjun walked back, smiling at the companion dwelling. "Uncomfortable, isn't it? Don't want to come with me? Holding out here won't do you any good. Once he's dead, you'll belong to me anyway."
The companion dwelling retorted, "Belong to you? Why don't you piss on the ground and look at your own reflection? You think you're worthy?!"
Shan Chengjun tapped Li Banfeng's cheek with the key. "He can't even move anymore. Why bother protecting him? Even if you pull him into the train car now, you'll just be waiting for me to slaughter him."
As he spoke, Shan Chengjun turned and walked away with the key once more.
The companion dwelling whispered in an almost imperceptible murmur to Li Banfeng, "Don't worry, I can hold on. I'm just putting on a show for him. In a moment, I'll pull you inside, and you guide me away. We'll go as far as we possibly can."
The companion dwelling was not entirely bound to the key; if Li Banfeng entered it now, he could move the dwelling using his own intent.
Yet Li Banfeng had no intention of leaving. His eyes remained locked onto Shan Chengjun.
The key bore a spiritual seal. By taking an item carrying that seal, Shan Chengjun should have triggered the Mystic Light Evil-Slayer technique.
That technique would cost Li Banfeng some of his cultivation, but the terrifying might of the heavenly light could deal devastating damage to Shan Chengjun.
Just how badly it would wound him, Li Banfeng didn't know, but it was the only countermeasure he could think of right now.
The problem was that Li Banfeng had only learned half of the technique; the latter half was purely theoretical to him, never practiced.
Judging by the present situation, Mystic Light Evil-Slayer was clearly not going to trigger automatically.
Li Banfeng wanted to trigger it manually, channeling the power of disorder through the spiritual seal onto Shan Chengjun. Yet though he tried repeatedly according to the pointers Bronze Lotus had given him, none of them worked.
*Light up, damn it!*
*Why won't the heavenly light appear?!*
Shan Chengjun's figure suddenly vanished.
Where was he going?
From the distance came Shan Chengjun's mocking laughter. "Li Qi, are you getting anxious now that you can't see me? When you took my covenant deed back then, do you know how anxious I felt? Today, I'll let you taste that feeling for yourself."
He flashed into view right before Li Banfeng, only to vanish again an instant later.
On the surface, he appeared to be toying with Li Banfeng, but only a veteran of the battlefield would understand Shan Chengjun's true motive: he was guarding against Li Banfeng's hidden trump cards.
He had found the act of Li Banfeng throwing the key rather suspicious. If he rushed in to kill Li Banfeng now, he stood a high chance of walking straight into a trap.
So he chose to wear Li Banfeng down slowly, carving him to death blade by blade.
He had guessed correctly—Li Banfeng did indeed have several cards left to play.
Inside the companion dwelling, the second-chamber Shadow Cultivator was prepared for battle. Li Banfeng could summon him out at any moment, though the gap between his strength and Shan Chengjun's was vast.
Beyond him was Yuan Miaoping. Li Banfeng wasn't certain which faction Yuan Miaoping belonged to, but she probably wasn't aligned with Shan Chengjun—though that was merely an educated guess.
If Yuan Miaoping couldn't be counted on, the most extreme measure would be releasing Bronze Lotus and Lai Wuju.
Once those two emerged, they should be able to hold off Shan Chengjun, but what price would ultimately have to be paid was anyone's guess.
The safest method was defeating Shan Chengjun with Mystic Light Evil-Slayer. Yet Shan Chengjun darted to and fro, occasionally dashing in to land a slash or two on Li Banfeng before retreating instantly, making it impossible for Li Banfeng to keep his gaze locked on him for long.
"Master, movement!" Qiansi gave a warning; she had sensed Shan Chengjun's location.
Following Qiansi's guidance, Li Banfeng activated Golden Gaze Upon Autumn Down and caught sight of Shan Chengjun darting around the market entrance. His movements were blisteringly fast, and Li Banfeng saw only a fleeting afterimage—yet in that single instant, Li Banfeng planted a mark on him.
Just as Shan Chengjun was preparing to dash in for another strike to see if he could finish Li Qi off, he suddenly noticed his own body glowing brightly.
"Holding a Torch in the Night?" Shan Chengjun frowned. There was no point in hiding now.
Once struck by Holding a Torch in the Night, one's body emanated light; no matter where he hid in the vicinity, he couldn't escape Li Banfeng's sight.
Shan Chengjun strode up to Li Banfeng and asked, "Li Qi, you sure have learned plenty of obscure tricks, haven't you? Tou Youlu must be your master, right? What's the point of lighting me up like this? Afraid I'll run? I don't need to run! The one who should be running is you—"
As Shan Chengjun spoke, his tongue suddenly went numb, and a profound weakness washed over his entire body.
Li Banfeng stared intently at Shan Chengjun, noticing that the light radiating from him was extraordinarily blinding.
He had used Holding a Torch in the Night on He Jiaqing before, but He Jiaqing's glow had been nowhere near this intense.
Li Banfeng knew this light all too well. He had been bathed in it twice before.
Heavenly light!
Shan Chengjun was being illuminated by heavenly light!
Who was shining it on him?
Li Banfeng had an inkling that Mystic Light Evil-Slayer had somehow succeeded; he could clearly feel the resonance from the spiritual seal.
Yet when he checked himself, no mystic light was bursting from his body—he neither saw nor felt it.
The Heavenly Maiden?
Li Banfeng looked up at the sky. There was no mystic light falling from above either.
The mystic light blazing upon Shan Chengjun had no external source. Could it be bursting forth from the man himself?
"Old Seven, move!"
The companion dwelling cried out repeatedly, and Li Banfeng used Link Bridal Chambers to instantly return inside.
The old master cracked open a carriage window. He did not rush to drive away, since the key was still in Shan Chengjun's grasp.
Li Banfeng gazed out the window. Shan Chengjun was desperately trying to suppress the heavenly light raging within him. Panic seized the man as he tried to flee, but his body seemed entirely beyond his control. After barely taking two steps, his legs locked up stiff, and he pitched face-first onto the ground.
With that fall, Shan Chengjun lost control completely. His entire body flared with blinding brilliance, so dazzling that even through the carriage walls, Li Banfeng could barely keep his eyes open.
When the light finally dimmed, the vegetables in the market rapidly withered into charcoal, and slabs of beef and mutton detonated one after another, spraying gore in every direction.
To Li Banfeng's immense surprise, Shan Chengjun seemed relatively intact—at least his physical frame remained whole.
"No, I have to get the key back!" Li Banfeng pushed himself up, hopping on one foot toward the door.
The companion dwelling refused to open. "Ah Qi, use Sit Back and Relax first to neutralize Shan Chengjun's tricks!"
Sit Back and Relax had been active the entire time, but Shan Chengjun's marrow was proving exceptionally difficult to purge, leaving his right arm and right leg still completely unresponsive.
Shan Chengjun twitched on the ground, seemingly trying to get back up. Just as anxiety tightened Li Banfeng's chest, Shan Chengjun's appearance abruptly changed.
His thick, jet-black hair turned mostly white in the blink of an eye. His once-smooth skin shriveled into a withered mess, hanging loosely over an emaciated frame.
Judging by his looks, Shan Chengjun had previously appeared around fifty years old.
Now, his age was impossible to discern. Even the dried corpses that Gui Jianchou soaked in medicinal brews looked considerably healthier than he did.
Qiansi was baffled. "Master, how did he turn into that? What technique did you use?"
Li Banfeng had no idea what technique he had used either, but the companion dwelling seemed to see through it.
"He lost his cultivation. His cultivation right now probably isn't even enough to reach above the clouds."
The pendulum remained puzzled. "Why would he lose his cultivation? Master, what trick did you pull?"
Li Banfeng hadn't sorted out the mechanics yet, but the old master appeared to understand—partly because two new rooms had just appeared inside the dwelling.
"Ah Qi, Mystic Light Evil-Slayer normally converts one's own cultivation into mystic light to strike down enemies. But the technique you just unleashed is something I have never seen before. You converted Shan Chengjun's cultivation into mystic light."
Li Banfeng traced back the steps of the technique.
First, he had handed the key to Shan Chengjun, successfully triggering the spiritual seal.
Then he had tried to unleash mystic light, failing repeatedly.
After that, he had marked Shan Chengjun with Holding a Torch in the Night to light him up, and then the man had blazed completely—
Li Banfeng suddenly laughed. "I burned away his cultivation?"
The companion dwelling chuckled as well. "Yes! Burned it right up!"
"Then what are we waiting for? This time, we take his life for sure!" Hopping on one leg to the doorway, Li Banfeng ignored the old master's protests and barged right outside.
Yet once outside, he did not strike.
Because someone else had arrived.
Shan Chengjun staggered to his feet, only to find a woman standing before him.
He slowly raised his head. His eyes were failing him, and though he could make out a female silhouette, he could not see her face clearly.
"Shan Chengjun, do you remember how many times you slashed me back then?"
"How many slashes?" Shan Chengjun realized who she was. "You're Yu Buzhuo—"
Jiu'er looked up at Li Banfeng and asked, "Ah Qi, did the old master ever tell you why I live in Room Nine?"
Li Banfeng shook his head.
Jiu'er smiled faintly. "Because I chose that room myself. Do you know why I chose Room Nine?"
Li Banfeng shook his head again.
Jiu'er lowered her gaze back to Shan Chengjun. "Because he slashed me nine whole times. With every single slash, he asked me if it hurt. I remember every single one of them!"
Hearing this, Li Banfeng drew his scythe and handed it to Jiu'er.
Shan Chengjun looked at Li Banfeng. "Li Qi, I lost to you. I want to die by your hand. She isn't worthy."
Li Banfeng pulled down the brim of his hat and said to Shan Chengjun, "Pay back those nine slashes first, then we'll talk. If she can't kill you with nine slashes, then she truly isn't worthy. But if you can't survive those nine slashes, then the one who isn't worthy is you."
Shan Chengjun suddenly lurched upright, dragging his withered frame in a desperate bid to fight to the death.
With one stroke, Jiu'er severed his right leg. With a second stroke, she severed his left leg.
"Old scoundrel, does it hurt?" Jiu'er patted Shan Chengjun's cheek with the flat of the blade.
Shan Chengjun collapsed, clawing a handful of dirt and sand in an attempt to retaliate.
Jiu'er sliced off his left hand with one stroke, then severed his right hand with another. She picked up the companion dwelling's key and handed it back to Li Banfeng.
"Old scoundrel, I'm talking to you! Does it hurt or not?! Are you mute?!"
Deprived of his limbs, Shan Chengjun still struggled to rise. Jiu'er swung the scythe again: the fifth strike severed his spine, the sixth severed his throat, and the seventh and eighth gouged out both of his eyes.
Shan Chengjun had lost his eyes, but tears were streaming down Jiu'er's cheeks.
"Ah Qi, do you see? Those nine slashes all fell upon me once. Exactly like this!"
Li Banfeng pulled out a handkerchief. "Don't cry."
"I have to cry!" Jiu'er wailed at the top of her lungs. "Shan Chengjun, this life of yours is finished, and your next life is gone too!"
With one final slash, Jiu'er took Shan Chengjun's head.
Her sobs warped into an agonized wail, and blood began to weep from her eyes.
A vast cloud of dust drifted down over the market, blanketing Shan Chengjun's corpse.
Chapter 812