After speaking, Dick Chen took a step forward.
He was just three steps away from the hundred-meter boundary. Dick Chen took two steps without any reaction from the home cultivators.
On the third step, Dick Chen directly crossed the boundary. Before his foot even landed, a Feather Arrow flew toward his face.
Dick Chen dodged the Feather Arrow and took a step back.
The arrow had been shot by Wu Yongchao.
A second Feather Arrow was nocked, still aiming for Dick Chen’s head.
Dick Chen shouted, "I’m Chen Weixin! I’m your Fortress Lord! Why are you pointing your weapons at your new Fortress Lord?"
Wu Yongchao replied, "Iron Gate Fort has only one Fortress Lord! The Fortress Lord of Iron Gate Fort is not named Chen Weixin! The people of Iron Gate Fort only listen to the Fortress Lord!"
These were the rules of Iron Gate Fort, three iron laws set by Li Banfeng.
All the home cultivators understood these words clearly.
Dick Chen said, "I am now your Fortress Lord because I am here, and your Fortress Lord is not!"
Wu Yongchao said, "Whether the Fortress Lord is here or not, he is still our Fortress Lord. Alive, he is our Fortress Lord; dead or turned into a ghost, he is still our Fortress Lord."
Dick Chen frowned and said, "What kind of logic is that?"
Wu Yongchao explained the logic to Dick Chen, "You have to recognize your wife in bed and your shoes when you get out. You have to know the way back when you leave the fort, and you have to recognize the Fortress Lord when you enter it. We recognize our Fortress Lord; whatever else you say is useless. Dare to take one more step forward, and I will take your life today!"
Don’t underestimate these home cultivators. They had already demonstrated a certain level of combat prowess while following Zhou Anju. Later, Li Banfeng invited the Mountain Bandits from Flying Eagle Mountain. With the dedicated cooperation of those bandits, the home cultivators had trained to achieve higher combat proficiency.
Li Banfeng, hidden in the shadows, was very pleased with the current performance of the home cultivators.
Dick Chen gauged the distance to the Steam Gate and signaled his Servants to charge forward with him.
His Servants followed behind him, albeit hesitantly.
Dick Chen rolled his eyes upward, his eyelids closing, then swiftly opened them again.
Thirty of his Servants performed the same actions: first closing their eyes, then opening them. Upon opening their eyes, they no longer hesitated. Heads held high, they marched in neat steps towards the Steam Gate.
Li Banfeng didn’t quite understand what was happening.
Wu Yongchao ordered a counterattack. Home cultivators of the First and Second Layers didn’t have set Techniques, so the lower-level home cultivators employed various combat techniques. Those with long-range combat abilities took action: some, like Wu Yongchao, used bows and arrows; others threw Flying Darts, used slingshots, or even resorted to throwing Stones.
While these combat techniques might seem crude, their lethality was not insignificant. When facing the Mountain Bandits of Flying Eagle Mountain, Wu Yongchao’s arrows never missed, each one piercing a head.
But today, his arrows were not as accurate. More precisely, the enemy dodged too quickly. The arrows could only graze their cheeks, wounding their skin, but never hitting a vital spot.
Everyone else faced a similar situation. Dick Chen, with his thirty followers, quickly reached the side of the iron gate.
Wu Yongchao ordered the steam valves opened. Scalding Steam blew out, horribly burning the skin and flesh of the enemies at the front.
But they seemed to feel no pain.
One by one, they charged to the front of the Steam Gate, grabbing the smooth, scalding door panel, trying to pull the Steam Gate open.
What happened next was even stranger.
The Steam Gate was driven by a Steam Engine, and its exterior surface didn’t even have handles. Yet, without much apparent effort, these thirty people managed to pull the gate open.
CREEEAAAK!
A crack appeared in the Steam Gate.
Wu Yongchao was shocked and quickly instructed the Craftsman Cultivators to increase the firepower of the Steam Engine.
The Craftsman Cultivators shouted, "The pressure gauge is about to burst, but the gate itself isn’t producing any Gong!"
Wu Yongchao didn’t understand Craftsmanship Methods and couldn’t grasp the Craftsman Cultivators’ explanation. He could only command the other home cultivators to defend the gate with all their might.
In the midst of the chaos, as Dick Chen and his group were about to breach the fort, Li Banfeng, hidden on the hillside, took out his Teapot and poured a full pot of tea toward the enemy.
The tea landed, and a barrier formed, with more tea bubbling up from the ground.
The Teapot’s properties were extremely effective against low-level cultivators, but stopping Dick Chen proved to be an enormously difficult task.
Li Banfeng was trying to buy the home cultivators some time to prepare their next response.
The home cultivators quickly calmed down. Since the gate had been compromised, they had to prepare for street fighting. Home cultivators of the Fourth Layer and above promptly took out stone carvings, clay sculptures, and scrolls, readying the Golden House Hidden Beauty Skill.
However, Li Banfeng hadn’t anticipated that the Old Teapot’s barrier would be breached so quickly.
The thirty enemies, soaking in the tea with their ankles burnt down to the bone, simply pushed their hands against the barrier until it gradually disappeared.
Li Banfeng still couldn’t figure out the reason when he suddenly saw the Teapot fly up, its spout aiming straight at him.