Shared Script, Shared Rules; A Word Becomes Reality

A pebble the size of a fingertip hit the back of Ren Wenlie was slightly off-center, so his condition was okay, but a hematoma appeared on the back of his head.

Qu Jingzhang took several solid blows, and his skull was fractured.

Realizing they had been ambushed, Qu Jingzhang quickly turned around, Ren Wenlie took off running.

The reason why the two responded differently had nothing to do with their cultivation level; it was mainly due to their experience.

Qu Jingzhang had met Travel Cultivator and knew that he could no longer turn his back on Li Banfeng, or he would be doomed.

Ren Wenlie had also met Travel Cultivator and knew he shouldn't turn his back on Li Banfeng, but his experience was focused on Qu Jingzhang. He was familiar with Qu Jingzhang's temperament and knew that Qu Jingzhang would definitely turn around and fight to the death.

Seeing Ren Wenlie run away, Qu Jingzhang panicked and turned to run as well, but dared not turn his back to Li Banfeng.

If Ke Dexiu were to Travel Cultivator one-on-one, his chances of winning would be extremely slim.

It's too late to run now; Ren Wenlie has already run far away, and this bearded man will definitely target the person closest to him.

Qu Jingzhang struggled to make two moves, then made another foolish decision.

He wanted to reason with Li Banfeng.

If it were just a matter of physical strength, he might have been able to hold out a little longer. But at this point, if he still wanted to rely on technique, Li Banfeng wouldn't give him that chance.

"Young man, listen to me..."

Puff!

Qu Jingzhang's head fell to the ground, and Tang Blade sneered, "Every Strike Takes a Head."

After saying that, Tang Blade flew back to Li Banfeng's side.

Li Banfeng caught up with Ren Wenlie in two strides, and was about to strike with his knife when he suddenly heard Ren Wenlie shout, "Do Not Pursue a Desperate Foe!"

What's the meaning?

Are you going to bring up morality with me again?

Do you think that just because Dexiu shouts a few slogans, he's all-powerful?

I could withstand your techniques just now, but now, in this panic, I can say that I can't withstand anything.

Li Banfeng swung his knife again, but missed.

Li Banfeng was startled, unsure whether the problem was with the knife or with his own hand.

After making another cut, they discovered that the knife and their hands were fine; the problem was with their feet.

Li Banfeng slowed his pace. Ever since he heard Ren Wenlie's words, "Don't Do Not Pursue a Desperate Foe, "Li Banfeng's steps had unconsciously slowed down.

This is not a constraint from moral bottom lines, nor is it a manipulation of will.

This is a fact, a fact that suddenly emerged: Li Banfeng's speed was limited, and he could not catch up with Ren Wenlie.

Ren Wenlie carried his escape magic weapon; his long robe billowed up in a whirlwind, carrying him away into the forest in no time.

Li Banfeng returned to the cave, pondering the battle that had just taken place.

It is certain that these two people were sent by a sage, but their identities still need to be carefully analyzed.

If they are disciples of a sage, then it proves that this sage truly possesses some strength, and we must be constantly on guard when we fight him in the future.

If they were assassins hired by a sage, things would be easier to handle. However, according to Li Banfeng's experience, virtuous cultivators generally do not act as assassins, and the chances of two virtuous cultivators acting as assassins together are even lower. This Daoist sect is clearly not suited for this kind of work.

And what technique did that person who just ran away use?

With the cry of "Do Not Pursue a Desperate Foe," his pace slowed automatically. This shouldn't be a trick of Dexiu, Li Banfeng didn't feel any guilt at the time.

He originally intended to return to his Portable Abode to ask his Wife, but Xiao Yeci to have witnessed the fight just now and recognized the technique.

"My Benefactor, that person just now used the Scholar Cultivation Technique —the one that Shared Script, Shared Rules."

"How many layers of technique are there?"

"The Third Layer Technique is an extremely difficult skill for literary cultivators to master. When a cultivator speaks a sentence, the opponent must understand it clearly and grasp the underlying principle. Then, the sentence becomes a law, a constraint, and a rule that both parties must follow."

"Third Layer Technique?" Li Banfeng was taken aback. The old man was clearly a virtuous cultivator, yet he could use Third Layer Technique.

Xiao Yeci had indeed heard of such cultivators. "My Benefactor, it is said that literature and virtue are inseparable. There really are cultivators who cultivate both literature and virtue."

Judging from the strength of the technique used by the person who was practicing the Seeing Virtue, Think of Equaling It, the person's moral cultivation should be around level five, and his literary cultivation should be above level three. Such a person is really not easy to deal with.

Li Banfeng then asked Xiao Yeci, "Besides the Third Layer Technique, what other techniques of Wenxiu do you know?"

"There's also a second-level technique, 'A Word Becomes Reality,' which can turn a false thing into a true thing by using a true thing."

Li Banfeng shook his head repeatedly. "I don't understand."

Xiao Yeci explained carefully, "This is indeed difficult to understand. I've only heard a few examples from my seniors. One of them was about a scholar and a virtuous person fighting. The virtuous person was old and asked the scholar to give him three moves."

Wenxiu admitted that Dexiu was getting old, and quoted an ancient poem, "White hair three thousand feet long." As a result, Dexiu grew a head of long hair, not exactly three thousand feet long, but still over ten meters long.

During their fight, Dexiu tripped over his own hair and was then killed by Wenxiu.

The idea of hair growing three thousand feet long is a myth, but the ancient poem about it did exist. Using the real to make the false seem real is called "A Word Becomes Reality."

This time, Li Banfeng understood.

He had seen this technique before.

When Three Heroes of Iron Yang attacked Decency Village, Du Shuping, a sixth-level scholar, used this technique.

He said, "Treading Through Iron Shoes, Finding Nowhere," which directly revealed Zuo Wugang's true nature.

Xiao Yeci continued, "The skill of 'A Word Becomes Reality' is only a second-level skill, but it is just as difficult to learn as Third Layer Technique, and even more difficult."

Furthermore, using second- and Third Layer Technique requires a certain level of cultivation. If the difference in cultivation level is too great, no matter how many fancy moves you make, the techniques will be useless.

The Scholar Cultivation Technique is not easy to learn, but once you master it, you'll be truly amazing!

How many masters like this does that sage have under his command?

If we used all of this to Pill Refining...

Thinking of Pill Refining, Li Banfeng took out a Golden Essence Pill and ate it along with Blue Leaf Pill.

One Golden Essence Pill is equivalent to a hundred days of cultivation. Li Banfeng calculated the pills he had taken over the past few days, plus the time he had accumulated from Running East and West, and his Travel Cultivator was probably about to reach the fifth level.

However, Li Banfeng still didn't know what the fifth level of skill was.

Does anyone know the fifth level of the Travel Cultivator skill?

It seems that person isn't too far away.

Once the Travel Cultivator advances to the fifth level, combined with the House Cultivator, they will reach the Tenth Layer. Will Tenth Layer cultivator be able to defeat that saint?

That sage's disciple cultivated both literary and moral virtues, and he himself was likely a practitioner of both. If he were to combine his cultivation levels as well, he would most likely surpass mine.

Since he has such great strength, why hasn't he attacked me yet?

Don't want to bully the weak?

That's nonsense. Bullying the weak is the most important survival rule for big shots.

Are they bound by certain rules and cannot attack ordinary people?

Like the character Insect Chief, who attacked the people of Sea Eat Ridge, he was immediately dealt with by the Peddler.

It's possible, but the two things are not the same in nature.

The Insect Chief had killed tens of thousands of people in Sea Eat Ridge, so the Peddler naturally wouldn't let him off the hook.

But if this saint only accepted Li Banfeng, the Peddler would most likely not care, as he couldn't possibly manage such a matter.

What other reasons could there be?

Li Banfeng hadn't figured it out yet, so he took Qu Jingzhang's body back to Pill Refining.

Ren Wenlie returned to Sage Peak to report back, describing the battle that had taken place in Benefactor Stronghold from beginning to end.

He was basically telling the truth, but he exaggerated some aspects. After all, Qu Jingzhang had risked his life, and he was the only one who came back. If there were no unexpected factors, then it could only prove that they hadn't done their best.

The sage remained in the inner room, where the sounds of panting echoed in waves, never ceasing.

After calming down a bit, the sage asked, "You said you didn't know he was Travel Cultivator, so you suffered because of him? Now that you know he's Travel Cultivator, dealing with him shouldn't be too difficult, right?"

"There are still some difficulties..." Ren Wenlie was sweating; he didn't want to face his fellow apprentice, the Peddler, again.

The sage scoffed, "After all that talk, it's still clear that your methods are inferior to his. I knew this person's background wasn't so simple."

Ren Wenlie wiped his sweat and said, "Then let the other senior brothers..."

He meant that he was useless and suggested that the master replace him with someone else.

The sage agreed with his idea, "Let your eldest brother go. Shixiang is too old; you should accompany him."

"My senior brother..."

"Heh," the sage chuckled, "What, you're looking down on your eldest brother? He raised you children from the bottom up, have you all forgotten that kindness?"

Ren Wenlie felt a pang of guilt and didn't dare say anything more. He ran to the top of Sage Peak to ask his senior brother for help.

The eldest brother lived alone without any servants. Ren Wenlie knocked on the door for a long time but heard no response, so he simply pushed the door open and went in.

With no one in the front yard, Ren Wenlie entered the main courtyard.

There was no one in the main courtyard, and no one in the back courtyard either. Ren Wenlie finally found his senior brother Cong Shixiang in the east courtyard.

The overweight Cong Shixiang was catching insects under the sun.

He took a small knife and made a cut on his arm.

Peeling back layers of aged skin, Cong Shixiang groped around in the fat deep within the skin for a moment, then pulled out a maggot about the size of his little finger.

This maggot has a long, slender rat tail and is covered with a layer of dark yellow grease.

Cong Shixiang threw the maggot into the fire in front of him. The maggot struggled for a while, and the oil on its body emitted puffs of white smoke.

Cong Shixiang suddenly felt a tickle again, so he took the dagger and held it behind his ear.

Ren Wenlie stepped forward and said, "Senior brother, I'll help you catch the bugs. Give me the knife first, or you'll cut off your own ear."

"Hmm, hmm..." Cong Shixiang squeezed out two sounds of response from his throat, and then handed the knife in his hand to Ren Wenlie.

The metallic smell of the knife, combined with the fishy smell of fat and the unique fishy smell of maggots, created a distinctive flavor.

Ren Wenlie endured the smell and cut open Cong Shixiang's flesh piece by piece, digging out the maggots one by one.

We can't dig too much, otherwise Cong Shixiang will have too many wounds, which will affect his combat effectiveness.

When the maggots in the fire were about half-cooked, Cong Shixiang took one out and handed it to Ren Wenlie.

Ren Wenlie waved his hand and said, "Senior brother, you eat."

Cong Shixiang stuffed the plump worm into his mouth. He had no teeth, so he held it in his mouth for a while, savoring the taste, and then stretched his neck and swallowed it.

There was a hole in his throat, and Ren Wenlie could clearly see the insect slide down.

Cong Shixiang ate with great satisfaction; he enjoyed the taste.

After eating all the insects, Cong Shixiang stood up from the fire, his dry eyes fixed on Ren Wenlie.

Ren Wenlie took two steps back, trying to keep his distance from Cong Shixiang: "Senior brother, let's go down the mountain. Master has a task for us to carry out."

"Heh, heh..." Cong Shixiang chuckled twice and followed Ren Wenlie out of the mansion.

P. S.: How did this old man end up looking like this?