Chapter 348: The Battle of Jinbing

Li Banfeng didn't know why Xiaogenzi was there, and Xiaogenzi himself didn't know why he had come.

The old man, carrying a bucket, looked at the Green Water Beggar.

The Green Water Beggar smiled faintly. Hundreds of festering sores erupted on his body, growing until his skin could no longer contain them. One by one, the sores burst open, and from each emerged a tiny, emerald-green figure, about the size of a fingertip. These figures, flapping their wings like angels, flew towards the old man.

"Well, well, Greenie, you go straight for a killing move," the old man said unhurriedly, still teaching Genzi. "Genzi, watch closely. These little things may seem to fly slowly, but if you move, they'll immediately cling to you.

"Unless you have the movement techniques of a Traveler Cultivator or a Thief Cultivator, other Taoist sects absolutely cannot dodge them. So, we must parry them, using this move: Golden Light Waterfall!"

As the tiny figures flew closer, the old man took out a scoop, dipped a small amount from the bucket, and with a casual flick of his wrist, a shimmering golden waterfall descended from the sky, blocking all the incoming figures outside its flow.

Greenie was taken aback. This old man had good insight.

He was right. These tiny figures appeared to fly slowly, but they possessed a certain intelligence. If their target dodged or fled, they would suddenly accelerate and pursue.

Now that their frontal path was blocked by the golden waterfall, Greenie controlled the figures, attempting to bypass the waterfall and attack from the side.

The old man scooped out another small amount from the bucket, moving his wrist with wide, sweeping motions, and flung the liquid out.

The liquid transformed into thousands of golden droplets, and the old man continued teaching Genzi: "This technique is called 'Speckled Golden Light!'"

Each speck of golden liquid seemed alive, rapidly flying after Greenie's figures.

Li Banfeng covered his nose, sighing repeatedly, "This is true flight!"

As the golden liquid landed on the figures, they wailed loudly, green pus oozing from their bodies. Gold and green merged, and amidst their screams, the figures, along with the golden liquid, turned into thick smoke.

Greenie was secretly startled.

These figures, formed from pus, were the refined essence of his technique.

Surely, what was in this old man's bucket wasn't essence, was it?

Had they simply cancelled each other out?

Greenie was mistaken. They hadn't just cancelled each other out; there was more golden liquid than figures. The remaining golden specks, like arrows, flew directly towards Greenie's face.

Greenie showed no fear. He picked up Lin Dexing, who was beside him, and used him as a shield, parrying the incoming specks up and down.

Greenie's skill was truly remarkable; not a single golden speck landed on him; Lin Dexing blocked them all.

This golden liquid wasn't just foul-smelling; if it touched skin, it would corrode straight to the bone. Lin Dexing's face was pockmarked with large holes corroded by the liquid, and his clothes were burnt to shreds.

Greenie tore the skin on his face, and blood and pus seeped out, mixing together.

He was about to unleash another technique, but the old man gave him no chance. The waterfall, suspended in mid-air and glowing with dazzling golden light, shifted horizontally towards him.

This was troublesome. There was nowhere to dodge, and parrying would be difficult.

Greenie once again picked up Lin Dexing, turning his shield into a spear. He parried left and right within the waterfall, carving out a path and bursting through.

The old man exclaimed, "Excellent spear work! Genzi, look closely; this person has a foundation in martial cultivation."

The waterfall was about to hit Elder Yao's house, making Pan Dehai nervous, so he quickly hid inside the house.

Li Banfeng was also nervous; the house had just been renovated.

The old man waved his scoop, and the waterfall vanished, transforming into a giant golden dragon that charged towards Greenie.

"Genzi, this is called 'Golden Dragon Emerging from the Mountain!'"

The golden dragon, radiating a full golden halo, roared towards him. Even the slightest touch could cause fatal injury.

Greenie indeed had a martial cultivation foundation. Wielding Lin Dexing like a monstrous python, he engaged in battle with the golden dragon.

The old man, holding his scoop, scraped some dry material from the bottom of the bucket.

This time, he was going to invest heavily. The old man's veins bulged as he exerted force: "Genzi, this is called 'Golden Mountain Submerged!'"

Genzi had been watching intently, but he never saw the old man fling the scoop.

The scoop exerted force invisibly within the bucket, and at the same time, the earth trembled.

Beneath Greenie's feet, the ground cracked open, golden light erupted, and a mountain peak slowly rose.

This was difficult to counter.

Greenie tried to jump to dodge, but his feet couldn't find purchase. The mountain felt soft and very sticky.

A slight misstep, and if he sank in, he would be lost forever.

Li Banfeng was utterly amazed.

He felt he had a significant blind spot in his cultural knowledge.

Previously, he had always believed the key element of 'Golden Mountain Submerged' lay in the word "water."

How had he never considered that the key element could also be in the word "gold"?

Greenie couldn't evade the golden mountain. The pus on his body solidified, forming green wings.

The wings flapped, carrying Greenie into the air.

For every inch he flew higher, the golden mountain grew an inch taller. After flying over eight feet high, Greenie couldn't ascend any further.

Above him, a golden dragon descended, pressing down on Greenie and attacking him.

As Greenie was maneuvering around the golden dragon, he suddenly heard the old man shout, pulling his scoop out of the bucket.

"Golden Mountain Submerged"—they had the gold, but where was the water?

The water was coming!

The top of the golden mountain suddenly collapsed slightly, revealing a fist-sized opening, and a stream of golden liquid erupted from it.

Greenie dodged, but the golden stream pursued him.

Greenie used Lin Dexing to parry, while the golden dragon continued its assault from above.

Greenie suddenly sneezed: "Achoo!"

A strong gust of wind blew, dispersing the golden dragon and deflecting the golden stream.

The old man exclaimed, "Good sneeze!"

Li Banfeng was startled.

Why "good sneeze"?

Greenie's countermeasure seemed to have worked fine.

The golden stream quickly regained its direction, and the golden dragon resumed its original form.

Greenie wanted to sneeze again to completely dispel the golden stream and golden dragon.

But the sneeze wouldn't come, and Greenie realized he had fallen into a trap.

There was golden liquid in the air, very fine and invisible, normally imperceptible.

But this time, Greenie perceived it.

This was because one had to inhale deeply before sneezing.

When Greenie sneezed earlier, he had inhaled, drawing in a large amount of the golden liquid.

The first inhalation hadn't felt like much, but with the second intake, Greenie felt something burning inside his body, fiercely scorching his internal organs.

How ruthless!

Infuriated, Greenie cried out and vomited a stream of pallid, steaming matter.

The steaming vomit rapidly evaporated, transforming into a white mist that diffused into the air.

The old man said to Xiaogenzi, "He's trying to spread disease."

"This person is disgusting!" Xiaogenzi cursed Greenie.

Xiaogenzi wasn't scared; having followed the old man for so long, he knew the old man would surely have a way to deal with it.

The old man lit a pipe, took a deep puff, then poured the glowing red ash into the bucket. The golden liquid inside the bucket began to boil, emitting clouds of golden vapor.

The golden vapor swirled, merged with the white mist, and dissipated as smog in the wind.

Greenie coughed twice. This wasn't an attempt to release disease; it was the golden liquid burning in his lungs.

Could he continue fighting?

He could use the disease within his lungs to neutralize the golden liquid.

But Greenie didn't want to fight anymore. His opponent was too strong; continuing the battle would likely result in severe injury.

He wanted to leave, but the golden dragon and golden stream in front of him wouldn't let him.

Greenie, after all, was a seasoned veteran. In this critical moment, he showed no signs of panic.

He first raised his body temperature until his skin was burning red. All the golden liquid that came near him rapidly evaporated.

Using this protective layer, Greenie swung Lin Dexing, first batting away the golden dragon, then charging towards the golden mountain. He jammed Lin Dexing's head into the mountain opening, immediately blocking the golden stream.

The opening in the mountain was only fist-sized, making the blockage somewhat forced, but fortunately, the mountain itself wasn't too hard.

Seizing this opportunity, Greenie flickered and vanished.

Because the mountain opening was blocked, pressure inside the golden mountain abruptly increased, and with a pop, Lin Dexing was blasted out.

Lin Dexing flew into the sky and disappeared from sight.

Xiaogenzi asked the old man, "Grandmaster, aren't you going to pursue him?"

The old man sighed, "Greenie has true skill. If we push him to desperation, he would be difficult to deal with."

"What about the other one?"

The old man glanced outside the courtyard and smiled, "Don't worry about the other one. It's the person inside the house we should be worried about."

Pan Dehai was currently inside Elder Yao's room.

He stood by Elder Yao's bed, a grim expression on his face, and said, "Don't say I didn't warn you beforehand. I'm going to dig up your deed now."

Elder Yao lay on the bed, unresponsive.

Pan Dehai continued, "I'm not joking around. I'm really going to dig it up. Medicine King Gorge is a good place, and I'd like an extra piece of territory. Since you don't need it anymore, why not give it to me?"

Elder Yao still didn't stir.

Pan Dehai was silent for a moment, then sat on the edge of the bed.

He fumbled in his embrace for a long time, pulling out a thin stick.

"I bought a sugar figure on the way."

Pan Dehai fumbled in his embrace several more times, pulling out some broken pieces of sugar. "It was a perfectly good sugar figure, but that bastard Lin Dexing broke it.

"If you put it together, it's still edible, and it's really sweet. Do you want some?

"You're not getting up, huh? You're not eating, huh?

"If you don't eat it, I will. I'm not kidding, I'm really going to eat it."

Genzi stood in the courtyard and asked the old man, "Grandmaster, who is he?"

"He is Pan Dehai, the local deity of Gluttony Ridge."

"And the one lying down?"

"He is Yao Xin, the local deity of Medicine King Gorge."

"Are they friends or foes?"

"It's hard to say," the old man shook his head. "Do you still remember the disaster at Gluttony Ridge?"

"I remember."

"Pan Dehai was unscrupulous, trying to spread Gluttony Ridge's insect plague to other territories. Because of this, he fought several battles with the surrounding local deities. However, he never laid a hand on Medicine King Gorge.

"During that disaster, among all the local deities, only Yao Xin helped Pan Dehai, sending him insect-exterminating medicine for Gluttony Ridge. How much enmity or favor there is between them, I really can't say."

Lin Dexing stumbled down the mountain. All the skin on his body had peeled off, and more than half of his flesh was gone.

His brains sloshed within his holed skull, pieces of his internal organs occasionally fell out, and all his bones were dislocated.

Reaching halfway down the mountain, Lin Dexing tripped, lost his balance, and fell to the ground.

His eyes were severely damaged, and his vision was poor, so he couldn't see what had tripped him.

He tried to struggle to his feet but couldn't stand. He was trapped in a net.

This was Tu Yinghong's net, originally intended to capture Li Banfeng, but which the glove had pilfered.

Lin Dexing tried to struggle, but he was too severely injured, and the net tightened around him.

Li Banfeng took out Prince Chun's horsewhip and savagely beat Lin Dexing. Lin Dexing wailed loudly, smoke rising from his body, until he stopped moving completely. Only then did Li Banfeng stop.

The glove stood on the ground, balancing on its thumb and middle finger, then raised its index finger and swayed its 'head,' saying, "Boss, the stuff I brought back, it's all good quality, right?"

Li Banfeng nodded. "Well done. You get top credit for this battle; you'll be heavily rewarded!"

"Thank you, Boss, but..." Seeing Li Banfeng pull out keys and open the portable dwelling, the glove froze.

"Boss, you're not thinking of taking this thing home, are you?

"Boss, couldn't we just deal with him here?

"What are you doing? You insist on taking him home? This—

"No way! The smell is too strong! If I'd known, I wouldn't have given you the net!"