His robes hooked onto the Judge's Brush, Li Banfeng flapped his arms, soaring along in triumph.
He was thoroughly convinced that he was a local spirit—a local spirit who could fly.
The Judge's Brush wanted to curse at him, but couldn't be bothered to speak; carrying him through the air was hard work enough.
Under the cover of the projector, Li Banfeng flew silently beside the offering table.
He picked up a bottle of peach blossom wine from the table and gulped it down.
Youtao couldn't see Li Banfeng, but when she saw the wine being drunk, she was overjoyed.
Next came the shedding of blood.
Youtao said to Xiaofeng, "This is the plot where you'll be taking refuge. You should shed the blood."
Xiaofeng nodded. Just as she took the knife and was about to prick her palm, an imposing pressure suddenly bore down on them, weighing on both of them so heavily that they couldn't lift their heads.
"Hu-ya-ya-ya-ya—!" Li Banfeng let out a roar, scaring both of them into trembling violently.
Youtao lowered her voice. "The local spirit doesn't seem to want you shedding the blood."
Xiaofeng looked baffled. "There's such a thing?"
"I'll do it instead. We're never apart anyway." Youtao pricked her palm and sprinkled the blood. Li Banfeng felt another jolt of heart palpitations.
This bout of palpitations didn't frighten Li Banfeng; instead, it excited him even more. He was now all the more certain that he was the master of this land.
There was still one day left before the trial began.
Li Banfeng prepared to summon all the living spirits in his domain, select suitable anomalies from among them, and test Youtao and Xiaofeng.
This moment was of utmost importance to Li Banfeng. If Youtao passed the trial, his land would welcome its very first trace of Heavenly Light.
He picked up an earthworm from the ground and said with absolute earnestness, "This is a major event, understand? We're clearing land, understand? We're about to have a wonderful future, understand?"
The earthworm squirmed incessantly in Li Banfeng's hand.
The Judge's Brush snorted. "Give me back my seed money."
Li Banfeng looked at the earthworm in his hand and suddenly couldn't be bothered to talk to it anymore.
Once the laziness set in, the Fool Cultivator art dissolved with it, and Li Banfeng's head cleared considerably.
He couldn't go find anomalies to test the land reclaimers himself. If he really did that, his identity would be exposed immediately.
He had to get Meng Yuchun to do it for him.
Li Banfeng found Meng Yuchun. She wore a troubled look. "To be honest, I don't know your domain that well. I'm afraid those anomalies won't listen to me..."
"Going back on your word, are you?" Li Banfeng yawned. "We signed a covenant deed, forgot? I saved your life, forgot? Retribution comes to those who forget kindness, you know that?"
Meng Yuchun blushed crimson. "I'll go, alright..."
Upon arriving at Li Banfeng's domain, Meng Yuchun called over two of her closest sisters, Hongdie and Huangdie, to help spread the word. They informed the anomalies across the territory that someone was coming to clear land, and anyone interested in conducting the trial should register their name with her to receive a reward after the deed was done.
Rubbing his eyes and fighting off sleepiness, Li Banfeng asked, "Where's Xiaodie?"
Back then, Xiaodie had been seduced by the Opera-Beckoning Matron and leaked some of Meng Yuchun's secrets. Taking advantage of Xiaodie pupating into a cocoon and transforming into a butterfly, the Opera-Beckoning Matron had disguised herself as Xiaodie and scouted out Meng Yuchun's residence.
Meng Yuchun sighed. "She was young and didn't know better, having only just transformed into a butterfly. We were sisters after all, so I left her corpse intact."
Li Banfeng looked at Meng Yuchun. "Did you hang her in your room?"
"Not in the room. I hung her at the mouth of the cave. The wind is stronger there, so it's drier."
Li Banfeng sighed, wanting to say something, but he couldn't be bothered.
Dwelling Cultivators had few friends, and they treated their friends with utmost sincerity.
Yet one must never trample on that sincerity; a Dwelling Cultivator's wrath was something a person might only experience once in their lifetime.
Before long, Huangdie and Hongdie returned.
Their expressions were rather awkward; the anomalies here hadn't shown them much respect.
They had spread the word, and on Meng Yuchun's territory, whether the anomalies wanted to go or not, they had to give the two a proper, courteous response.
They were friends of the local spirit; matters of respect and propriety had to be upheld.
Yet on Li Banfeng's territory, the anomalies hardly paid them any mind.
Most of the anomalies didn't know them.
The few anomalies that did recognize them paid Meng Yuchun no heed.
Some anomalies were unaware of past events and still thought the local spirit here was Lord Mountain-Uprooter.
Other anomalies knew Lord Mountain-Uprooter was gone, but regarded this as masterless land and didn't view Meng Yuchun as their local spirit.
Li Banfeng yawned again, seemingly unconcerned. "Don't worry. It's a venture where you keep your principal and can't lose; someone's bound to try their luck."
For an anomaly, testing a land reclaimer meant fighting if they could win, and leaving if they couldn't.
If they won, they earned a chunk of cultivation; if they lost, there was nothing to fear either—as long as they weren't reckless, they wouldn't get injured, much less lose their lives, meaning there was basically no loss at all, unless they ran into peculiar sorts like Ma the Fifth and Genzi.
Thus Li Banfeng wasn't worried that no anomalies would show up; he was worried about something else.
That night, Youtao turned in early inside her tent to rest up for the coming reclamation.
In the dead of night, half-asleep and with no sense of the hour, she suddenly heard Xiaofeng muttering under her breath, "There really is one, I'm not lying to you, there really is..."
Youtao opened her eyes. "There's what?"
Xiaofeng pointed at a corner of the tent, trembling all over. "There's really a snake here. Did it come to test us?"
Startled, Youtao glanced toward the corner. Sure enough, there was a snake inside the tent, two fingers thick and over two feet long, blood-red all over, with a black stripe wrapped around the middle of its body.
This was a black-finned snake unique to the newlands, and extremely venomous.
The snake was clearly red, so why was it called a black-finned snake?
That was because the red body was a puppet, and the black-striped portion was the snake's true body. Without knowing this, attacking the snake's body directly would cause it no harm, while giving it an opportunity to strike back.
Youtao had some experience, and she kept her eyes fixed on that black stripe.
She channeled a Joy Cultivator art, causing the blood to rush to the black-finned snake's head. Sensing the threat, it promptly slithered out of the tent.
Letting out a long breath, Youtao said to Xiaofeng, "Next time you see a snake, tell me sooner. You have cultivation too—how could you be too terrified to even shout?"
Xiaofeng lowered her head, her eyes welling with tears, and said aggrievedly, "I'm just useless, always dragging you down."
Youtao sighed and pulled Xiaofeng into her arms. "What are you crying for? Can't I scold you a little? It's my fault for spoiling you. Go to sleep now. We have plenty of tough battles ahead over the next three days."
By noon the next day, the first anomaly to conduct the trial arrived at the boundary.
It was a stalk of bamboo, complete with stem and leaves, hopping and skipping its way into the plot.
Li Banfeng had encountered this kind of anomaly during his own land reclamation and hadn't thought much of it at the time. Bamboo was hollow inside; as long as there was an opening, even Ma the Fifth could easily take it down.
Youtao, however, held no advantage against bamboo.
After fighting for over an hour, Youtao and the bamboo were evenly matched.
Meng Yuchun took Li Banfeng into the air, keeping their figures concealed as they watched the battle in silence.
Youtao's cultivation hadn't advanced; she was still at the first tier, and this bamboo was at roughly the same level.
To Meng Yuchun, two rookies pecking at each other really wasn't worth watching, yet the more she watched, the stranger she found it.
"Is that woman a Dwelling Cultivator?" Meng Yuchun pointed at Xiaofeng.
Li Banfeng couldn't be bothered to answer, merely nodding.
Meng Yuchun frowned. "This girl ought to have attained a tier, but perhaps because she's been away from home for too long, her combat strength is flagging."
This explanation sounded reasonable, yet the ensuing battle left Meng Yuchun even more puzzled.
Not only was Xiaofeng unable to help, she proved to be a constant liability. Several times, Youtao fell into dire straits just trying to save her.
If she didn't know how to fight, couldn't this girl at least dodge?
After fighting for three full hours, the bamboo was finally driven off by Youtao.
Panting heavily, Youtao slumped on the ground, unable to stand up.
Meng Yuchun shook her head and sighed. "With abilities like this, they dare come reclaim land? I'm afraid they might not even last until tomorrow."
Li Banfeng asked Meng Yuchun, "Can a local spirit interfere with land reclamation?"
Meng Yuchun was startled. "You want to help them? It's possible, either the hard way or the soft way.
"The hard way is taking action in secret to drive off the anomalies coming for the trial, but this must be done discreetly, or else next time someone clears land, no anomaly will be willing to lend a hand.
"The soft way is offering the anomalies some benefits so they just go through the motions and call it a day.
"However, those benefits are tricky to balance. What anomalies care about most is cultivation. If you give too much, it's unfair to the anomalies that actually put in work; if you give too little, they won't easily concede defeat—after all, their reputations are at stake."
Li Banfeng nodded. Meng Yuchun had grown quite a bit.
Under Li Banfeng's influence, many land reclaimers had arrived in Meng Yuchun's territory, allowing her to accumulate considerable experience and learn a great deal from the seasoned anomalies in her domain.
Li Banfeng asked again, "What if I don't attack the anomalies?"
Meng Yuchun blinked in confusion. "Then who are you going to attack? Surely not these two young women?"
Li Banfeng didn't answer, asking another question instead. "Can you divine the future?"
Meng Yuchun shook her head. "No, I can't."
"Have you ever seen a Dwelling Cultivator who can divine fortunes?"
"That I have seen. I know a dwelling spirit who was exceptionally skilled at divination, and she once passed her divination arts on to her Dwelling Cultivator. But how well the Dwelling Cultivator learns it depends on their own cultivation tier."
Li Banfeng pointed at Xiaofeng. "What tier of cultivation do you think she has?"
"Clumsy as she is, I'd say she's at the first tier at most."
"Could a first-tier Dwelling Cultivator rely on divination arts to seek good fortune and avoid calamity all the way, evade powerful enemies, and escape several hundred li?"
"That would be far too difficult," Meng Yuchun said, taken aback for a moment before asking in turn, "You shouldn't be asking me this. Isn't seeking good fortune and avoiding calamity an art of you journey cultivators?"
Li Banfeng shook his head. "Difficult—truly difficult. Relying on methods to seek good fortune and avoid calamity alone, I doubt even I could pull it off.
"The one pursuing Xiaofeng is her own dwelling spirit. Her dwelling spirit is bound to be far better at divination than she is, and would definitely be able to calculate where they fled.
"Neither Dwelling Cultivators nor Joy Cultivators excel at running for their lives. How did they manage to flee all the way here?"
Meng Yuchun asked in surprise, "You suspect there's trickery between the two of them?"
"Not two—one. I trust Youtao," Li Banfeng said. "That's why I asked you: can a local spirit attack a land reclaimer?"
Meng Yuchun shook her head. "That won't do. The local spirit and land reclaimers have a contract. If you lay a hand on them, it's equivalent to breaching the covenant."
"What happens if the covenant is breached?"
"I can't say for certain what the exact consequences are, but you'd better not do it. Besides, once word gets out, no one will ever come to your domain to clear land again."
Li Banfeng frowned slightly. "Looks like this won't be easy to handle. Can I find an obedient anomaly to act on my behalf?"
"That is possible, but the anomaly's tier can't be too high. They only want a one-li plot, so the anomalies we send out are generally at the first or second tier.
"Some local spirits who harbor a special hatred for a particular land reclaimer will send a third-tier anomaly to conduct the trial, and some anomalies that barely reach the fourth tier could also give it a try."
"I'm afraid third- or fourth-tier anomalies won't be enough."
Meng Yuchun shook her head repeatedly. "If higher-tier anomalies enter the plot, it's equivalent to breaching the covenant."
Li Banfeng kept his eyes fixed on Xiaofeng.
Seeing Li Banfeng's grave expression, Meng Yuchun realized the situation was out of the ordinary as well. "If this woman really can conceal her cultivation so deeply, we truly need to find someone ruthless to deal with her.
"I have two roaming anomalies under me who signed covenant deeds with me. They can't run wild on my territory, but once they go to another domain, they still won't be bound by the rules of land reclamation."
Li Banfeng smiled. "I think I know those two."
PS: When dealing with Lord Mountain-Uprooter, Li Banfeng helped Meng Yuchun subdue two roaming anomalies; see Chapter 319 for details.
Chapter 373