The Real Deal

Santoucha, the Underground City, Soil Market. Qiao Yi finished writing a letter and called out, "Shangyou, go deliver this—" Holding the letter, he paused for a moment and fell silent. Nian Shangyou had been missing for a long time; word of him had ceased all the way back at Duoque Mountain—Heroes Mountain. In all likelihood, he had fallen in battle. Setting the letter back on the desk, he sat in silence for a good while before shouting, "General He!" He Jiaqing, who had been standing at the door, walked in. The Prince of Anshun had recommended He Jiaqing to serve as the Vanguard General, but Qiao Yi insisted that He Jiaqing still needed seasoning. Anxious and impatient, the prince had sent He Jiaqing directly to Qiao Yi, stating that the man should be seasoned by Qiao Yi's side. The prince's intention was glaringly obvious: he was telling Qiao Yi that he was promoting his own man, and practically demanding to know whether Qiao Yi would give him that face. Vanguard General was out of the question; Qiao Yi still did not trust He Jiaqing. But since the Prince of Anshun had sent him over, Qiao Yi simply kept him around to do odd jobs. He Jiaqing knew how to bend and stretch. He genuinely and willingly took up the role of an errand boy, handling everything from delivering letters and passing orders to sweeping floors, serving meals, and standing guard. Yet his status as a general dogsbody was not quite like Nian Shangyou's. Nian Shangyou had been able to discuss crucial military and administrative affairs with Qiao Yi, whereas He Jiaqing possessed no such privilege. He could only stand outside the door, awaiting orders. On this point, Qiao Yi actually admired He Jiaqing somewhat. Back then, Shu Wanjuan had been fiercely loyal to Qiao Yi, but had Shu Wanjuan been assigned such menial duties, he would never have agreed. He Jiaqing, however, had not only agreed, but performed every task with utmost diligence and responsibility. Qiao Yi handed the letter to He Jiaqing, instructing him to take it to the Vanguard Battalion. Watching He Jiaqing's receding figure, Qiao Yi was silent for a moment before a faint smile crossed his face. "A thief is a thief in the end. Let's see how long you can hide." *** Santoucha, Sea Market. Six soil-transport barges sailed across the sea. Ahead, a line of warships intercepted them, and a squad of sailors boarded to conduct an inspection. These sailors belonged to the Shang State navy. Dan Buda brought the vessel to a halt and stood obediently at the bow alongside Chu Shaoqiang, the two of them looking like a pair of honest, simple boatmen. On the other barges stood plenty of crew hands, all obediently standing in place; none of these crewmen were living people, but figures sculpted from mud by the Heavenly Maiden. While Chu Shaoqiang looked calm on the outside, his heart was practically hammering out of his chest. Dan Buda appeared nervous on the surface, but her mind was completely at ease. By the time the sailors disembarked, she had not broken a single drop of sweat. Chu Shaoqiang marveled, "Are you truly not afraid?" "What is there to fear?" Dan Buda grabbed an orange, peeled it, and popped a segment into her mouth. "This doesn't count as thievery; it counts as fencing stolen goods. Fencing goods is business, and I've never been scared when fencing goods. Doing business has to be open and aboveboard—you can't be sneaky and secretive about it!" Chu Shaoqiang looked out over the sea, where numerous vessels could still be seen in the distance. "All the boats heading from Huantu Island to the port are transporting troops. Ours is the only barge hauling soil. Isn't pulling up to shore like this a bit too conspicuous?" Dan Buda shook her head. "Ever since the Underground City had the Soil Market and Sea Market, the two places have held a tradition of soil exchange. Bringing soil from Huantu Island to the Soil Market is the most natural thing in the world. As long as Qiao Yi hasn't ordered a ban on soil exchange, no one will stop us." Chu Shaoqiang asked, "And what if Qiao Yi did ban it?" Dan Buda glared at him. "If he had banned it, would we have made it this far? That bunch just now wouldn't have let us pass!" The six vessels sailed all the way to the port. Chu the Second took the opportunity to disembark and, under Li Banfeng's cover, returned alone to the Mortal Market. Yuan Miaoping and the projector joined forces to cast an illusion, leaving the appearance of the barges on the water while releasing six horse carriages from inside to continue on toward the Soil Market. Along the road to the Soil Market, patrols were still questioning travelers. Seeing carriages laden with earth, one soldier grew a bit suspicious: "Weren't all the soil carriages requisitioned to transport soldiers? Why are these wagons still hauling earth?" A soldier beside him saw nothing amiss. "Don't you need to eat? The Underground City will be our territory from now on. If we don't exchange the soil, we can't grow crops. Without crops, we'll have to eat coal chunks." "It's not like coal chunks are inedible. That stuff staves off hunger!" "We ate coal at home, and if we come to Puluo Province just to keep eating coal, what was the point of putting in so much effort to fight a war?" "I'm just worried about their wagons..." "Master Qiao never said soil transport wasn't allowed. A while ago, when heavy reinforcements were arriving, ships and wagons were used for the troops first. Now that troop traffic has slowed, sparing a few boats and wagons to haul earth is completely normal, isn't it? What are you fretting about?" The six carriages arrived at the fields together, and Dan Buda personally unloaded the soil from the wagons. Six wagonloads of earth covered several thousand mu of farmland! Though the Soil Market was vast, having so many fields piled high with fresh earth—with numerous mounds over ten feet tall—was bound to arouse suspicion. Chu Shaoqiang went pale with fright. "With this much dirt, how can we possibly hide it?" Dan Buda was not worried in the slightest. Inside one of the towering dirt mounds, she located the shrine. Li Banfeng was seated in the center of the shrine, while over ten thousand daolao ghosts had burrowed into the soil. Dan Buda said to Li Banfeng, "We've reached the Soil Market. Call that bitch out to cover this up." Li Banfeng summoned both the Heavenly Maiden and Yuan Miaoping. Dan Buda stuck out her tongue. "Calling Yuan Miaoping out would've been enough. Who said anything about looking for *her*..." Looking at the endless expanse of dirt, Yuan Miaoping adjusted her antenna. "Good thing this is the Soil Market. Anywhere else, I wouldn't have been able to cover it up." "No matter, I'll help you." Tucking her hair behind her ear, the Heavenly Maiden drew a bucket of clear water, mixed some mud, and shaped a little house. Li Banfeng recognized the methods of a Dwelling Cultivator, but this house was far too slapdash: "Can this even serve as a dwelling?" Looking at the mud hut, the Heavenly Maiden didn't know how to answer for a moment. "It can, and it can't. If we're talking about right now, this house has no foundation and lacks spirituality, so it certainly can't serve as a dwelling. "However, over time, once its spirituality is replenished, a foundation will naturally form. Slowly, it will come to resemble a dwelling, and perhaps even give birth to a dwelling spirit." The Heavenly Maiden swiftly performed a technique. Assuming she was about to create a Boundary, Li Banfeng hurriedly stopped her: "It's not time yet." The Heavenly Maiden had not made a Boundary. "In this battle, I follow your lead. Once you set the time, I'll lay the Boundary, and only upon receiving your command will I trigger it. "The technique I just used is called Disdain. It was originally an innate talent of our path, but after enhancing the methods, it evolved into an above-the-clouds technique." As a Cloud Six Dwelling Cultivator, Li Banfeng naturally understood what she meant. The mechanics of this above-the-clouds technique closely resembled a Dwelling Cultivator's talent for being overlooked; a Dwelling Cultivator could make themselves easily ignored, and could do the same for people and things around them. The Heavenly Maiden had pushed this talent to its limit, causing a specific thing across an entire region to be disregarded. That the soil in this area was overlooked did not mean it could not be seen. Rather, anyone passing by would feel that having dirt in the Soil Market was perfectly ordinary and not worth noticing. Li Banfeng found this intriguing. Gazing around, he noticed no substantial change in the surrounding soil, but the terrifying aspect of the technique lay precisely in that absence of change. If Li Banfeng had merely passed these fields along a rural road, and had not come with the deliberate intention of scouting, he truly wouldn't have sensed anything out of the ordinary. "Teach me this technique another day." The Heavenly Maiden nodded. "If you want to learn, I can teach you. But this technique has limited utility. To use Disdain, the context must be sensible and plausible. "The reason we can hide this earth is because the Soil Market is supposed to have soil, making the dirt easy to conceal. But if you moved an entire mountain here, flaws would definitely show. "Never mind a whole mountain—even hauling in a pile of rocks might fail to stay hidden. Most of the rocks are covered by dirt, but for those that can't be buried, we'll still need Yuan Miaoping to step in." Shouldering Yuan Miaoping, the Heavenly Maiden darted back and forth across the fields. Whenever they encountered rocks that couldn't be buried, she had Chu Shaoqiang grind the stone surfaces flat to serve as screens, projecting illusions onto them. Still uneasy, Li Banfeng swapped A'yu over from Hulu Village. A'yu marked out several noticeable flaws for Yuan Miaoping to patch up. In a cave, Li Banfeng found Lühuazi. As the master of Disease Cultivators, Lüshui Beggar commanded his own faction on Daogui Ridge. Under his lead were over twenty thousand daolao ghosts, all capable of fighting, but the deal between Lühuazi and Li Banfeng had yet to be finalized. "Old Seven, if you pay three tenths of the coin, I give three tenths of my strength. If you pay seven tenths, I give seven tenths. That's the rule of doing business." The battle could be fought, but different approaches came with different price tags, and Lüshui Beggar refused to haggle down his price. Li Banfeng frowned. "But your asking price is too steep!" "Steep? I don't think it's steep at all!" Lüshui Beggar worked himself up for a moment, his eyes reddening as he looked at Li Banfeng with a face full of sorrow and grievance. "Never mind the past—just look at Critic! "Critic is a sensible boy with fine talent and dedication to his cultivation. With the pus formed from my own blood, mouthful by mouthful, I nurtured him until he reached above the clouds! You saw the results with your own eyes! "Just how precious is my pus? And now, for your sake, how much of it will I have to expend? Calculate it yourself—is my price really steep?" Li Banfeng still felt the deal wasn't worth it. "Not all pus is the same. What you fed Critic was the essence, but what you're using this time might not be anything decent!" "What it is, don't you already know? Didn't I demonstrate it for you?" Lühuazi stretched out his arm, found a ripe boil, and squeezed out a glob of white pus toward Li Banfeng. "Here, have a taste, see if the quality isn't top-notch." Li Banfeng kicked Lühuazi. "Why the hell would I taste that? Keep your pus safe and stop fooling around; we're running short on it as it is." Lühuazi grinned. "So the deal is settled?" Li Banfeng shook his head. "Not settled yet. We'll decide once the fighting starts!" Lühuazi grumbled impatiently, "You're just not straightforward. Back when the Peddler did business with me, he always sealed the deal on the spot!" Let him say what he liked; Li Banfeng refused to take the bait. Over these past days, Li Banfeng had realized something: many of the situations the Peddler had faced simply had no real solutions. After helping the Heavenly Maiden and Yuan Miaoping properly conceal the dismantled Daogui Ridge, A'yu joined Li Banfeng and Zhao Xiaowan in heading to the Soil Market to inspect the layout of every enemy encampment. This was the final reconnaissance before the battle, and none of the three dared to show the slightest carelessness. At eight in the evening, the three returned to the dismantled Daogui Ridge, ready to deploy the forces. Standing amid the earthen mounds, Zhao Xiaowan spat out a large horn. Steam continually puffed from its flared bell, yet not a sound could be heard. An above-the-clouds technique of Sound Cultivators: Great Sound Is Soundless. This sound possessed directional targeting; those meant to hear it caught it deafeningly loud, while those not meant to hear it caught nothing at all—unless the listener happened to be an exceptionally powerful Peeping Cultivator. Before long, the dirt churned and surged as over ten thousand daolao ghosts clawed their way out of the soil. Gathering in a circle, they stared silently at the Daolao God of War. Dressed in a black suit, black shirt, and black fedora, feather duster in hand, Li Banfeng danced a war dance to the archaic rhythm of his lady's war song. A'yu still didn't quite understand. "Can daolao ghosts even understand Zhao Xiaowan's war song?" The Heavenly Maiden saw no issue. "Art is universal. I can feel the courage and conviction within this song." A'yu glanced at the projector, then turned to the Heavenly Maiden and said, "Don't pick up that film projector's way of talking in the future. He films anything and everything; he has no shame." With the dance finished, Li Banfeng gave the Heavenly Maiden a nod. It was time to prepare the Boundary. With eyes shut tight and posture upright, the Heavenly Maiden slowly rose into the air after a brief moment. Chilly winds blew in gusts, whipping her long hair about as she gradually sensed the perimeters of the Soil Market. A'yu flew up beside her to help smooth out certain details along the border. Erecting a Boundary around the Soil Market required not only formidable power, but also precise control. Several hours later, the Heavenly Maiden opened her eyes and gave Li Banfeng a slight nod. "The Boundary is complete. It can be triggered at any time." It was not yet time to activate the Boundary, but neither could it be delayed for too long. This was a Boundary erected on short notice; maintaining both its potency and its precision meant that, whether triggered or not, it continuously drained the Heavenly Maiden's strength. Li Banfeng employed the technique Body and Shadow Comforting Each Other, first summoning twelve Earthly Branch shadows. Each of them brought along ten additional Dwelling Cultivator shadows, leading a force of one thousand daolao ghosts into separate operations. Leading one thousand daolao ghosts, Banfeng Zi marched over twenty li until the faint silhouette of a Totem Army encampment appeared. The camp was not overly large; according to markings on the map, it held around five thousand men. Banfeng Zi immediately divided the thousand daolao ghosts into ten squads to assault the enemy camp from different angles. Each of the ten squads had a different route and objective, planned in advance by Zhao Xiaowan. Leading an elite detachment of over a hundred daolao ghosts, Banfeng Zi took the lead in approaching the enemy camp. Just over three li away, he could advance no farther. His Dwelling Cultivator talent was formidable and could extend to those around him, but this was an enemy military base equipped with roaming patrols, guard posts, and watchtowers. With Banfeng Zi's abilities alone, safely sneaking a hundred daolao ghosts into the camp was impossible. Zhao Xiaowan had formulated the tactics beforehand, and all hundred-plus daolao ghosts burrowed underground. Flattening himself to the earth, Banfeng Zi waited quietly. Before long, commotion erupted inside the camp. Banfeng Yi was responsible for luring the enemy. Leading over a hundred Travel Cultivator shadows, he charged into the camp, slew two Totem Army soldiers, and turned on his heel to flee. With Sever the Path to Forge a Way combined with Unimpeded Passage, when the Travel Cultivator shadows wanted to leave, the Totem Army found it genuinely hard to stop them. Banfeng Yi bolted toward Banfeng Zi's position, hundreds of Totem Army soldiers in hot pursuit. Upon reaching the rendezvous, Banfeng Yi did not linger for a second, leading his shadows straight toward the next encampment. With a long howl from Banfeng Zi, the hundred-plus daolao ghosts burst from the ground and clashed with the Totem Army. In terms of individual combat prowess, the daolao ghosts were far inferior to the Totem Army, but their physiques were exceptionally tough, allowing them to hold the soldiers in a deadlock for quite some time. The Totem Army inside the camp hastily dispatched reinforcements, but the daolao ghosts lying in ambush revealed themselves one after another, repeatedly ambushing the relieving forces. The Totem Army sent out over three thousand troops in succession. After more than half an hour of fighting, the thousand raiding daolao ghosts were nearly wiped out. The Totem Army suffered roughly a hundred casualties, while the rest sustained only minor injuries. Given the constitution of the Totem Army, such superficial wounds were barely worth mentioning. Upon returning to camp, the commanding officer drafted a battle report and forwarded the situation to Qiao Yi. The twelve routes of Earthly Branch shadows, commanding twelve contingents, raided twelve Totem Army camps respectively. Each camp was hit by ten squads, and more than a hundred squads operated under distinct tactics meticulously drafted by Zhao Xiaowan. The tactical planning had indeed been spot-on, yet once the surprise raids ended, very few of the ten-odd thousand daolao ghosts remained, while the Totem Army suffered little loss. On the surface, the operation seemed like a heavy defeat. Yet the moment Qiao Yi received the reports from each encampment, he realized catastrophe was at hand. "Why would daolao ghosts appear in Santoucha? Why are they in the Soil Market? Who let them in!" Qiao Yi demanded harshly of He Jiaqing. He Jiaqing wore a blank look, indicating he had no idea. He was an errand boy for Qiao Yi, not for the entire army; scouts and sentries were completely outside his purview, so he truly could not be blamed for this. Qiao Yi ordered He Jiaqing to visit the camps to investigate the situation. Leaving Qiao Yi's residence, He Jiaqing dispatched his subordinates to inspect the various camps instead. He Jiaqing truly didn't know the origin of the event, but he knew the consequences. Being wounded by a daolao ghost was never as simple as a mere injury. He would never go near any camp that had suffered an ambush by daolao ghosts. Before long, his men sent back reports one after another: soldiers across the encampments were breaking out in symptoms such as vomiting, dizziness, and festering wounds. When the news was reported to Qiao Yi, he asked He Jiaqing without a moment's hesitation: "What is the status of the Bandit-Subduing Battalion?" This Bandit-Subduing Battalion referred to the newly formed battalion, composed of fully trained Tempering Battalion troops integrated with elite Totem Army soldiers. Unlike the scattered Totem Army encampments, the Bandit-Subduing Battalion was stationed at the center of the Soil Market under tight guard; without Qiao Yi's explicit order, they never mobilized for battle. He Jiaqing answered briefly, "The Bandit-Subduing Battalion suffered no enemy assault. No soldiers in their camp show symptoms." Upon hearing this, Qiao Yi instantly commanded He Jiaqing, "Order the Bandit-Subduing Battalion to assemble and head for the port. Evacuate the Soil Market immediately." He was abandoning the Totem Army; Qiao Yi only cared about preserving the Bandit-Subduing Battalion. After He Jiaqing left, Qiao Yi remained uneasy and sent over a dozen more messengers to relay the order to the Bandit-Subduing Battalion. Some might have thought Qiao Yi overly cautious, that sending so many runners for a single order was excessive. He Jiaqing did not think so at all. The daolao ghosts had introduced a plague into the Soil Market; no matter how anxious one became now, it was entirely justified. Back then, Critic had led daolao ghosts to wipe out Qianliangfang in a single night, and shortly afterward, he had destroyed Desong Cliff. If Qiao Yi moved even a step too slow, the Bandit-Subduing Battalion could be wiped out at any moment. Fortunately, the Bandit-Subduing troops were well trained and finished assembling in less than half an hour. Qiao Yi summoned He Jiaqing once more. "Order the other encampments to stand by in place. None may abandon their posts without authorization." This was telling the other soldiers to stay in their camps and await death, so they wouldn't wander out and ruin his plans. Leading the Bandit-Subduing Battalion, Qiao Yi set out at once toward the port. The navy was mobilizing ships at the port. Learning of Qiao Yi's arrival, Admiral Lu Tangsheng hurried off his flagship to greet him. Once ashore, after taking barely two paces, Lu Tangsheng froze. Not far ahead of him, the sand and silt on the ground seemed slightly altered; amid the earth lay a haze of dust, stretching along the coastline to both sides. Qiao Yi also sensed something was wrong. He ordered an Arrow Cultivator to loose a testing arrow. The shaft flew out a hundred paces before disintegrating into a puff of smoke and vanishing. "A Boundary!" Lu Tangsheng blanched. Desperate to explain himself yet not daring to take half a step forward, he could only shout from where he stood, "My lord, this humble officer kept watch over the port all night and truly noticed nothing amiss before this!" Lu Tangsheng had indeed noticed nothing amiss, because the Boundary had only just been activated. Li Banfeng was watching from the sidelines, waiting to see Qiao Yi's next move. Qiao Yi remained silent for a long time. He had already deduced that the entire Soil Market was encircled by a Boundary. Yet Qiao Yi did not panic. He immediately ordered the army to turn back toward Sanlipu, redirecting their march deeper into the Soil Market. Lu Tangsheng stood on the shore, at a loss as to what to do next. Right ahead lay the Boundary; unable to follow them into the Soil Market, he could only remain at the port and continue marshaling ships. Watching the army march toward Sanlipu, Li Banfeng knew what Qiao Yi intended to do: there was a water well there, and inside the well was a passage—a way out of the Soil Market. Li Banfeng took out his makeshift telephone and first contacted Chu the Second: "Tell Old Train to get ready to come to the port and take down the Inner States navy." Chu the Second rushed to pass the message. Li Banfeng then swapped Yuan Miaoping out from the companion dwelling: "Tell Lühuazi to go to Sanlipu. Inform everyone to set an ambush there." Yuan Miaoping immediately delivered the message, and Li Banfeng brought out the Heavenly Maiden next. "Use the technique Golden House Hiding a Beauty to shape some mud figurines. Disguise them as couriers and send word to every encampment, saying Qiao Yi is withdrawing the army via Sanlipu! Tell them to bring all the wounded and evacuate the Soil Market alongside the Bandit-Subduing Battalion!" The Heavenly Maiden calculated the distance between the various encampments. "Making couriers isn't difficult, but time is tight. I'm afraid the messengers won't run fast enough." Li Banfeng called over a dozen Travel Cultivator shadows. "Each of you carry one messenger and run for all you're worth!" The Heavenly Maiden fashioned several couriers, though she still felt slightly dissatisfied. "Most couriers Qiao Yi employs are familiar faces. If I send these strangers, I'm afraid they won't necessarily fool them." "They will!" Li Banfeng said with absolute confidence. "Plague is rampant in those camps; the survivors already have one foot in the grave. Now that someone is pointing them toward a way out, how could they refuse to take it?" *** Sanlipu was over seventy li from the port. The Bandit-Subduing army marched at tremendous speed, and after more than an hour, they were less than five li away. The vanguard suddenly ground to a halt. There were Peeping Cultivators in the army, and they noticed fresh mud on the ground in no small quantity; from vanguard to rearguard, fresh mud lay underfoot across almost the entire army. The Heavenly Maiden's heart tightened. The ambush had been arranged too hastily: they had concealed the pits, but failed to conceal the excavated dirt. Fresh mud meant someone had dug pits in the earth. Judging by the volume of mud, a great many pits had been excavated. Where had so many pits come from? Qiao Yi knew that daolao ghosts had the habit of burrowing into the earth, as the Totem Army shared a similar trait. If the daolao ghosts burst out from underground right now, the entire army could contract the plague. Li Banfeng was already preparing to command the daolao ghosts to rise and fight when he heard Qiao Yi bark, "Form the Thousand Men Striving in Concert Formation!" The Bandit-Subduing army possessed extraordinary combat discipline, able to form a rock-solid array on almost any terrain, and a sturdy battle formation could temporarily ward off pestilence. The Heavenly Maiden shook her head at Li Banfeng, signaling him not to act rashly. Under the formation's protective enhancements, releasing the daolao ghosts now would be suicide; they wouldn't stand a chance of harming the Bandit-Subduing troops. Qiao Yi's response had been swift, but the critical question was: after forming the array, what could he do? Just stand here indefinitely in formation? The plague was sweeping through the Soil Market, and no one knew when it might spread to this very spot. The Prince of Anshun grew anxious. "Master Qiao, what good does forming an array here do? Hurrying to Sanlipu is the only sensible thing!" Qiao Yi hesitated as well. The Thousand Men Striving in Concert Formation possessed a marching variant, but compared to a stationary stance, a marching formation was far weaker defensively. If they marched now and the daolao ghosts burst straight from underground, who knew how many soldiers would catch the plague? Yet remaining frozen in place was no solution either. Li Banfeng stood watching from nearby, waiting to see when the Bandit-Subduing army would move. The instant they made a move, the daolao ghosts would spring forth and unleash contagion. After waiting a moment, Qiao Yi issued an order: the vanguard would submerge underground to slay the daolao ghosts. This move stunned the Prince of Anshun, and it stunned Li Banfeng as well. The Prince of Anshun found it completely irrational. Daolao ghosts were creatures one sought to avoid at all costs; why actively engage them? Receiving the order, the vanguard wavered. Many soldiers had already caught wind of the rumors; none wanted to walk to their deaths. Qiao Yi repeated the command: "Disobey and be executed without mercy!" The Prince of Anshun urged, "Master Qiao, if you push them too hard, I fear mutiny!" The prince's worry was well founded. The vanguard consisted entirely of Totem Army troops; when it came to loyalty, they could not compare to the Tempering Battalion. Qiao Yi feared mutiny too. Yet right now, he had no other choice. "Your Highness, the number of daolao ghosts is finite." Hearing this, the Prince of Anshun grasped Qiao Yi's intention: Qiao Yi was writing off the vanguard completely. Of the fifty thousand Bandit-Subduing troops, the vanguard numbered over ten thousand. He was sending them underground to root out and slaughter the daolao ghosts to the last, sacrificing those ten thousand men entirely. Once the daolao ghosts were wiped out, the remaining thirty-odd thousand could still be preserved! This tactic exceeded the expectations of both Li Banfeng and Zhao Xiaowan. Totem Army soldiers could be forged anew once lost, but daolao ghosts could not be replaced once slain. If they failed to wipe out the Bandit-Subduing Battalion entirely, this battle would be a catastrophic loss! Under the threat of military discipline, the vanguard burrowed underground in droves. The center and rear armies held firm in their battle array, waiting for the daolao ghosts to be exterminated before resuming their march. Layers of blood seeped up through the ground. The daolao ghosts were no match for the Totem Army in combat power, suffering grievous casualties in the blink of an eye. At this critical juncture, Li Banfeng parted the Boundary and, bringing his companion dwelling with him, charged straight into the center army of the Bandit-Subduing forces. The companion dwelling aimed to scatter the formation, creating an opening for the daolao ghosts to strike. Li Banfeng repeatedly executed Rush East and Scramble West, forcing soldiers in key positions out of alignment. The Lady of the Fifth Chamber devoured several commanders whole one after another. Zhao Xiaowan chanted in a low voice, disrupting communication and coordination among the troops. Hong Ying unleashed Tread Over Ten Thousand Rivers again and again, doing everything she could to shatter the formation. Jiu'er embedded her own formation into the Thousand Men Striving in Concert Formation, constantly eroding the enemy's defensive strength. The family shared ample rapport, and their methods appeared effective, yet they could not hold out for long. Before the steadfast formation of the Bandit-Subduing army, they could lose their lives at any moment. The Heavenly Maiden looked for an opportunity to draw close to Qiao Yi, intending to take his life first. A'yu stopped her from behind. "There are too many Thought Cultivators around Qiao Yi. Your mind isn't clear; get any closer and you'll definitely go mad." "Then let me go mad! I'm going to avenge him!" Pushing A'yu aside, the Heavenly Maiden moved to charge forward, but Yuan Miaoping dashed into the enemy formation a step ahead of her. The display on her screen instantly distorted as hundreds of channels crammed into a single image. In the center of the display, Yuan Miaoping trembled, her face pale, teetering on the verge of collapse. Yet before long, the distorted, chaotic picture split into a hundred tiny screens. Each screen aired a different program, and each program represented a thought projected by a Thought Cultivator. Yuan Miaoping had forcibly brought order to the tangled mess of thoughts. "Next up is our midnight special programming! Welcome, viewers, and enjoy the show!" Biting down on her ponytail, Yuan Miaoping began rapidly swapping the positions of the small screens. The surrounding Thought Cultivators first went dull-eyed, and then their movements dissolved into chaos; some soldiers even began turning on one another. Yuan Miaoping relied on her own strength alone, forcefully turning the psychic output of the Thought Cultivators against one another. "Now!" A'yu cried out. The Heavenly Maiden instantly surged toward Qiao Yi. The other soldiers couldn't perceive her presence at all. By the time the Heavenly Maiden reached Qiao Yi, a long blade had appeared in her hands, sweeping straight for his throat. *Crack!* Qiao Yi's neck didn't break. Instead, the neck of a nearby soldier snapped, and three heads fell to the ground together. The Heavenly Maiden froze, then came to her senses. This was a trait of the Thousand Men Striving in Concert Formation. The formation actively protected the commander; so long as Qiao Yi stood at the core of the array, the formation would sacrifice others' lives to preserve his. Glancing around, the Heavenly Maiden spotted Qiao Yi reappearing at the edge of the rearguard. Now that he was no longer at the core of the array, the formation definitely couldn't shield him. The Heavenly Maiden closed in on Qiao Yi once more. Dozens of blades unsheathed around him, aiming to chop him into mincemeat. Under the flurry of blades, several soldiers were indeed hacked to bits, yet Qiao Yi slipped away again. He Jiaqing had used the Thief Cultivator technique Steal the Beams and Replace the Pillars to swap Qiao Yi away. From the moment he noticed the Thought Cultivators behaving abnormally, He Jiaqing had raised his guard. Seeing Qiao Yi abruptly displaced, he knew an expert was targeting him. He hadn't sensed the Heavenly Maiden's approach either, nor had he even seen her strike; driven purely by a Thief Cultivator's instincts, he had simply acted to relocate Qiao Yi first. Yet this swap threw him too far afield: Qiao Yi went straight from the rearguard all the way to the vanguard. With her cover blown, the Heavenly Maiden was besieged by the Bandit-Subduing army, making it temporarily impossible to assassinate Qiao Yi. But Qiao Yi's position was hardly advantageous either—he was far too close to the daolao ghosts. Pus and blood continuously surged from the ground. While He Jiaqing helped Qiao Yi dodge with all his might, Li Banfeng let out a series of muffled roars, and the daolao ghosts lurking beneath the earth sprang up all at once. The Thought Cultivator corps was thrown into disarray, and combined with Li Banfeng's relentless assaults, the Thousand Men Striving in Concert Formation as a whole began to fray. Seizing the opening, Li Banfeng unleashed the daolao ghosts, prepared for a bloody clash. Most of the Bandit-Subduing troops still maintained their ranks; releasing the daolao ghosts at this moment would still leave them unable to defeat the enemy, yet Li Banfeng was holding another card up his sleeve. Lühuazi burrowed out of the earth, abruptly leaping right up to He Jiaqing. The moment their eyes met, He Jiaqing had half a mind to ditch Qiao Yi right then and there. Over all this time, He Jiaqing's cultivation had improved considerably, yet he still loathed the sight of Lüshui Beggar. "Jiaqing, how long has it been since we last met?" Lüshui Beggar flung a handful of pus right at He Jiaqing's face by way of greeting. He Jiaqing dodged in haste, but Qiao Yi failed to evade, catching a splatter of pus across his body. Li Banfeng shouted to Lüshui Beggar, "Huazi, the deal is on! Give a hundred percent of your strength, and I'll pay a hundred percent of the coin!" "A straight shooter!" Lühuazi roared with laughter. Glancing back at the daolao ghosts clawing out of the dirt, he gave the direct command to charge. The majority of the Bandit-Subduing army maintained their array, with only a small portion of soldiers wounded by daolao ghosts. The situation seemed unfavorable, yet Lühuazi was full of confidence. Scampering up to He Jiaqing once more, he chuckled and asked, "Do you know what fate befalls someone wounded by a daolao ghost?" "They catch the plague." He Jiaqing swiftly put distance between himself and Lühuazi, unsure why he was asking this. Lüshui Beggar shook his head. "More than just catching the plague." He Jiaqing thought for a moment before adding, "And within three to five days, they turn into a daolao ghost." Lühuazi nodded. "Don't you think three to five days is far too long?" He Jiaqing froze. "What do you mean?" Lühuazi looked at He Jiaqing with a smile. "Critic is my best student, not just because he's talented, but because he likes to put his mind into researching things whenever he faces something. "That daolao ghosts are remnants of the former dynasty is something I've known for a long time. When he researched the former dynasty's curse arts, I studied along with him and learned quite a bit. "There's plenty of other knowledge here that I can't explain to you right now—not just curse arts, but witchcraft from Inner Amikan. Critic's cultivation path was drawn from witchcraft. "You only need to know one thing: three to five days is far too long. I think *right now* is the best time!" Lühuazi flung a shower of pus, spraying it over the wounded Bandit-Subduing soldiers. After about two minutes, the bodies of those soldiers swelled and contorted violently. Their limbs and facial features rapidly degenerated, transforming into three-headed daolao ghosts that He Jiaqing had never seen before. From a distance, Li Banfeng shouted, "Huazi, I knew you had it in you!" He Jiaqing stared at Lüshui Beggar in utter shock. Lüshui Beggar smiled at He Jiaqing. "I think I've got it in me too. Turning into a daolao ghost is pretty wonderful—why don't you give it a try?" As he spoke, Lüshui Beggar lifted into the air, darting back and forth across the sky as rich, thick pus rained down like a downpour.