Among the Four Great Families, the Ma family was the fondest of acquiring land and had reclaimed the most newland. Having observed land reclamation before, Ma the Fifth possessed some experience.
Yet observing was just observing. Ma the Fifth had never experienced reclamation firsthand. With his family's wealth and clout, there was no need for him to take such risks; they always hired professional land reclaimers for tasks like this.
Even now, Ma the Fifth was reluctant to take risks. He leaned toward having Zuo Wugang take two guards to clear the land.
But Li Banfeng disagreed.
Aside from benefiting cultivation, this plot of newland would serve as a sanctuary for Li Banfeng and Ma the Fifth. Until Zuo Wugang gained his complete trust, Li Banfeng did not want him knowing the newland's location.
The same went for Zhen Jincheng and Cao Zhida; neither could come along.
Seeing Li Banfeng's firm stance, Ma the Fifth could only agree.
In truth, land reclamation was mostly a matter of luck. Ma the Fifth deemed the risk immense based on the Ma family's accumulated history with reclamation, but purely in terms of extreme edge cases, there had been instances where a first-tier cultivator successfully cleared land entirely single-handed.
Moreover, if danger arose, the worst that could happen was abandoning the attempt, which still offered a chance to escape—though one could never attempt to reclaim land within a hundred li again.
"In Puluo Province, as far as I know, the one with the most experience in land reclamation is the private detective Daboyins," Ma the Fifth said. "He once helped our family prepare the offerings. I still remember the types and quantities to some extent. Those things are easy to prepare, but we have to pick a location first."
Li Banfeng had two options in mind: first, the wasteland between Gourd Ravine and Wireworm River; second, the wasteland between Lesser Underworld and the Orange Grove.
In the end, the two chose the wasteland between Lesser Underworld and the Orange Grove.
Food was easy to replenish there—the oranges in the Orange Grove were edible, something Ma the Fifth was well aware of.
From Li Banfeng's perspective, he was on good terms with the orchard owner, meaning there would be someone to look out for them at a critical juncture.
With the location settled, what remained was Ma the Fifth's cultivation.
Bringing women along was out of the question, and Ma the Fifth had said the previous Golden Origin Pills would sustain his consumption for a while.
Li Banfeng also gave Ma the Fifth seven Xuanzhi Pills, allowing him to hold out for several more days should an unexpected mishap occur.
With all supplies in order, Ma the Fifth selected a pair of shoes imbued with spiritual power. They had thick soles with deep tread that could nearly double his usual speed, and he set out alongside Li Banfeng.
Before departing, Ma the Fifth entrusted Lanyang Village to Xiao Chuanzi and Zuo Wugang.
Day-to-day affairs were left to Xiao Chuanzi to manage, while unusual emergencies were handed to Zuo Wugang.
Xiao Chuanzi was somewhat anxious. "Fifth Master, I barely know how to read or write. Having me run the business—won't that turn into a joke?"
"How could that be a joke?" Ma the Fifth had great faith in Xiao Chuanzi. "It's already near year's end. The hunters are all staying home for the New Year, so there's not much business to begin with. Besides, you've accompanied me when purchasing and moving goods and picked up plenty of skills. It's time you practiced your hand at it."
Ma the Fifth truly trusted Xiao Chuanzi, but he felt a touch uneasy about Zuo Wugang.
Through their interactions over the past few days, Ma the Fifth had found Zuo Wugang to be a fine guard. Whenever troublemakers showed up in the village, a single order from Ma the Fifth was enough for Zuo Wugang to settle things immediately.
Yet if Ma the Fifth gave no orders, matters grew tricky. Zuo Wugang was not a man skilled at making decisions.
As they reached the village entrance, Li Banfeng saw Xiao Genzi scrounging for nightsoil.
In the freezing cold, nightsoil was hard to come by. Xiao Genzi carried two buckets on his back, drenched in sweat as he searched everywhere.
Li Banfeng asked in a low voice, "Did he advance a tier?"
Ma the Fifth nodded. "He told me yesterday he felt he'd reached the first tier. Cultivation comes with an intuitive sensation, so it's probably right."
"Even if he reached the first tier, carrying one bucket should be enough. You only carry two buckets at the second tier—didn't the peddler say so himself?"
Ma the Fifth said, "Xiao Genzi said carrying an extra bucket lets him accumulate an extra share of time."
Li Banfeng praised him repeatedly. "The lad has ambition."
Because he was traveling with Ma the Fifth, their progress was somewhat slower, but thanks to ample prior preparations, they encountered practically no obstacles through Gourd Ravine.
Red Mud Ridge went smoothly as well. Having traveled it once before, Li Banfeng found a largely safe route and, relying on a journey cultivator's sense of direction, successfully guided Ma the Fifth across the mire.
Wireworm River posed some trouble; Ma the Fifth lacked any tool capable of flight.
Li Banfeng did—he had the Judge's Brush given to him by the two ruffians.
Using the Judge's Brush to draw a circle on the ground, Li Banfeng and Ma the Fifth waited inside it for the brush's response.
After waiting over half an hour, the tip of the Judge's Brush twitched slightly.
To ordinary people, this would count as a response. But Li Banfeng possessed the technique of Perceiving Spiritual Voices; not only could he see the tip tremble, but he could also hear the Judge's Brush speak.
"Where to?"
Just two words, uttered in a voice so faint that one could scarcely make them out without listening intently.
Was this an artifact of a Sloth Cultivator?
Li Banfeng pointed the brush tip toward the opposite riverbank. The Judge's Brush fell motionless once more.
After waiting another half hour, the brush tip twitched again: "Stand firm."
Two words again.
The two waited for quite a while longer before a cloud of dust slowly rose beneath their feet, lifting Li Banfeng and Ma the Fifth as they took flight.
How high did they fly?
Less than two feet.
They were hovering practically flush with the ground.
The entirety of Wireworm River was teeming with wireworms.
Coiled and squirming one after another, they writhed directly beneath their feet.
Ma the Fifth's hair stood on end. "Brother Li, is this artifact of yours reliable? We can't fall in! If we drop down, it's over!"
Li Banfeng didn't dare claim the Judge's Brush was dependable either. All the way across, drifting sluggishly to the far bank in the dead of winter, both men broke out in cold sweat.
Still shaken, Ma the Fifth asked, "Which pathway does this artifact belong to?"
Li Banfeng had just been meaning to bring this up. "Brother Ma, do you know about the Sloth Cultivator pathway?"
Ma the Fifth nodded. "I know of it. It's a peculiar pathway whose core mystery lies entirely in the word 'lazy.' They have three maxims they constantly chant."
"Which three?"
"'First: if you can lie down, don't sit. Second: if you can sit, don't stand. Third: if you can stand, don't walk!'"
Li Banfeng stood dazed for a moment. Putting away the Judge's Brush, he pondered for a long while before asking, "Can people from this pathway actually fight?"
"You can't really say they can fight, but you can't say they can't either..." Ma the Fifth was at a loss for how to describe it. "Sloth Cultivators are rare. I saw one when I was fifteen. It was back in Haichiling. A Sloth Cultivator was set to fight a duel to the death against a Food Cultivator. They agreed on a place to meet, and the Sloth Cultivator was an hour late, infuriating the Food Cultivator to no end. Once they finally got ready to fight, the Sloth Cultivator just kept staring at the Food Cultivator, yawning nonstop."
"And then?"
"The Sloth Cultivator said he didn't feel like fighting anymore. The Food Cultivator began yawning along with him until his eyes could barely stay open. Cursing a few times, he also said he wouldn't fight. Both of them wandered off to find a place to sleep, and that was the end of it."
Li Banfeng halted his steps and turned to Ma the Fifth. "Is that what you rich folks call a duel to the death?"
"I didn't say it—they were the ones who said they were fighting to the death."
To think such a pathway existed in this world!
With Li Banfeng familiar with the way, Ma the Fifth barely managed to keep up. It took them six full days to reach Lesser Underworld.
Ma the Fifth's shoes did increase his speed, but Joy Cultivators were far too frail physically; he needed ample rest each day.
Li Banfeng was in no rush either. Pitching two tents, they rested separately. He consumed a Golden Origin Pill every day, which also required time to absorb, and every night he had to return to the Portable Abode to sleep.
When crossing Lesser Underworld, Li Banfeng was extremely cautious and explained the rules to Ma the Fifth in detail.
When they actually walked along the narrow path, Ma the Fifth was chilled to the bone with fright. Li Banfeng, feather duster in hand, walked calmly. The wind kept blowing south, proving everything was safe.
The journey of over a hundred li took more than five hours. Gripped by fear and exhaustion, Ma the Fifth collapsed onto the ground once they reached the wasteland, unable to get up for a long while.
After resting for two hours, the pair resumed their journey and selected their reclamation site beside a pine forest roughly thirty li from the Orange Grove.
Being close to the pine forest would make gathering building materials easy; if they built a log cabin later, they wouldn't lack timber.
Being fairly close to the Orange Grove offered convenient food replenishment, though it couldn't be too close. Li Banfeng didn't want to offend the orchard owner, nor did he want hunters visiting the grove to notice this plot of newland.
Ma the Fifth took a small table from his pack and began measuring out the position for the altar.
This was a critical step that had to be handled by Ma the Fifth personally.
A local spirit governed land within a radius of a hundred li; their domains bordered one another, but the boundaries were invisible.
If the altar were placed improperly—situated on the boundary between two local spirits' territories—it would draw the gaze of both local spirits simultaneously, inviting major trouble. Exactly what kind of trouble that would provoke, Ma the Fifth could not even fathom.
Ma the Fifth had accompanied his father to select plots several times and knew the essentials.
He scooped up a handful of earth, tested its texture, moved ten paces to the left, and scooped up another clump, kneading it carefully between his fingers.
After testing soil across several dozen spots like this, Ma the Fifth had a general grasp of things.
"Brother Li, the soil in these spots is soft and clayey—it should belong to the same local spirit. Let's choose our plot right here."
Li Banfeng nodded. Together with Ma the Fifth, he set up the altar and the offerings, then lit incense and candles.
The quantity of offerings was based on Ma the Fifth's past observations. When the Ma family cleared a plot of newland with a one-li radius, they had used only a single flagon of fine aged liquor. Ma the Fifth had prepared the offerings according to custom, daring neither to add nor subtract anything.
Ma the Fifth produced a covenant deed and read it aloud. There was only one fixed template for such covenant deeds, entreating the spirit for permission to establish a dwelling here.
The covenant deed burned to ash and, before long, was swept up by a whirlwind.
Using Golden Eyes Discerning the Minutest Detail, Li Banfeng surveyed their surroundings, wanting to see what kind of entity this local spirit Ma the Fifth spoke of actually was.
After watching for a moment, he suddenly saw a ball of blue-green flame hovering around the altar. The wine flagon wobbled twice, and the liquor inside quickly emptied to the bottom.
Ma the Fifth smiled. "Brother Li, it's done."
Li Banfeng didn't smile.
Was the local spirit a departed spirit?
Before long, a faint halo of light appeared on the ground in the distance. Ma the Fifth said to Li Banfeng, "Brother Li, look closely. That is the boundary of our plot. The spirit has accepted our covenant. Brother Li, it's time for you to spill your blood."
Whoever spilled blood upon the plot would become the master of the land.
Before setting out, the two had agreed that the first reclaimed newland would belong to Li Banfeng.
Li Banfeng drew a short blade, sliced open his palm, and let his blood drip onto the earth beneath his feet.
"Brother Li, the covenant is established. At this time tomorrow, the reclamation begins in earnest. We can guard this land ourselves, or we can hire others to help. But once reclamation starts, no one may step beyond the boundary line. As long as we hold out for three days, this land will be ours!"
Li Banfeng pondered for a moment. "Did you just say that no one may step beyond the boundary line?"
"That's right, not a single person. You have to recruit people you can trust for reclamation. The number doesn't matter, but they must be reliable. If you bring a hundred people to clear land and just one steps outside the line, the reclamation is a failure. That's why I said earlier that too many people can sometimes be a liability."
"So as long as one doesn't walk out of the boundary, nothing happens..." Li Banfeng caught a loophole in the rules.
If I duck inside the Portable Abode and don't come out, does that mean I never crossed the boundary?
If I sleep inside the Portable Abode for three days, won't the reclamation count as a success?
Thinking this through, Li Banfeng suddenly broke into a grin.
Chapter 144