Capital

"You've recovered this quickly?" Li Banfeng looked at the peddler beside him in astonishment. "More or less." The peddler was not pushing his cart, yet he walked with a brisk spring in his step, clearly having recovered a great deal. Li Banfeng looked back at the raging fire across the territory. "Did you see everything that just happened?" "I saw it," the peddler said, his tone carrying a touch of regret. "Old Xu really is something. Burning it all clean to the ground in a single fire. Even if that estate and those fields were fake, wouldn't it have been nice to leave them on the surface as cover?" Li Banfeng looked at him, baffled. "That's not what I'm talking about. I mean Zhang Wanlong cracked the Lock Cultivator powder. Doesn't that worry you?" The peddler nodded. "I'm quite worried for him, actually. What he did can't even be called a complete solution yet. The place was seventy percent locked, with thirty percent leaking out. If Old Xu came back around, he would definitely spot the flaws, and then Zhang Wanlong would be doomed." Li Banfeng grew even more perplexed. "So what do you plan to do?" The peddler said, "I helped him lock down the remaining thirty percent, so Old Xu won't see through it for now." Li Banfeng knew everything the peddler said was of vital importance, yet the way he framed things left him somewhat bewildered. With a wave of the peddler's hand, his cart rolled up before them. He pulled out two cushions, placing one on each side, and gestured for Li Banfeng to climb aboard. The two sat on the cart as it creaked along forward. Li Banfeng asked, "Someone is cracking the introductory powders of the cultivation paths, and you aren't worried?" The peddler nodded. "I am worried. It's hard to say what he might use the powder for. If he churns out a whole bunch of Gambling Cultivators, Poison Cultivators, Disease Cultivators, Fire Cultivators, and Insect Cultivators, things will get messy." "Then why don't you stop him?" The peddler handed Li Banfeng a bottle of soda. "Because you can't just stop someone from doing anything simply out of worry. Rare talents like that don't come around often." He popped open a bottle for himself, took a swig, and sighed in admiration. "Soda from Qishuiyao really is delicious. The first person to invent this soda was a Culinary Cultivator. Instead of studying ingredients, he focused entirely on flavor extracts. His master hated him to death back then and forbade anyone from mentioning this disciple. "Later on, when Qishuiyao's soda sold like wildfire, I bestowed upon that disciple the title of Culinary Cultivator Champion. Ever since, his master started hating me too, forbidding anyone from mentioning the peddler in his presence. "Old Xu suffers from the same defect. He's an extraordinary genius as well; all the techniques of Gold Cultivation, large and small, were created by him. But when it comes to Farming Cultivation, he has always clung to the rules set down by his founding master. "Not to say that what his founding master created was wrong, nor that he shouldn't pass down those cultivation arts, but Farming Cultivation hasn't changed at all over all these years, which has caused the path to slowly decline." Li Banfeng took a sip of the soda and rubbed his nose. It was plenty fizzy, and the taste was indeed wonderful. "You want Zhang Wanlong to bring some change to Farming Cultivation?" The peddler nodded. "You must give those who want to change things a chance." "But he's studying the formulation of the powders. That shakes the very foundation of Puluo Province." The peddler chugged the bottle empty and placed it back into the cart's compartment. "It's not as if my creations can never be altered. Nothing I make could possibly be entirely correct. Even if it's right now, it might not be right in the future. "I went to Zhang Wanlong's bamboo grove. He doesn't have ten-tendon iron tendon bamboo; he used eight-tendon, nine-tendon, and thirteen-tendon varieties. The powder produced from those is somewhat irregular, but only irregular powder can bring about change. "If the powder cannot change, the cultivation paths of Puluo Province cannot change. The Inner States and Outer States are both changing. If Puluo Province doesn't change, what will it rely on to survive? Tell me, isn't that the truth?" Li Banfeng offered the peddler a cigarette. "Suppose he truly creates a powder that brings endless catastrophe. How will you deal with it then?" "Naturally, I'll be the one to deal with it. If you're willing to do the business, you must be able to afford the losses. Where in this world is there a deal guaranteed only to profit?" The peddler lit the cigarette and passed the match to Li Banfeng. "The daolao ghosts could bring endless catastrophe, yet I still let Critic stay. Isn't it the same principle? "Speaking of the daolao ghosts, you can't wash your hands of it either. Critic told me that the daolao ghosts turning into what they are today is the result of your joint research." Li Banfeng fumed, "That's what he said? That shameless foreign devil!" The peddler gestured for him to calm down. "Since you put up the capital, you have to be able to shoulder both the profits and the losses. Now, unexpected variables have likely arisen with the daolao ghosts. As for the reason, you should have already guessed it." Indeed, Li Banfeng had guessed it. The cause lay with Zhang Wanlong. Li Banfeng shook his head repeatedly. "That's Critic's business alone!" "See, there you go getting worked up again!" The peddler smiled. "This business hasn't lost money. The change is still acceptable for now." Li Banfeng said, "Is the change in Lock Cultivation acceptable too? You mentioned in the Suihuang Plains that only after achieving great mastery in Lock Cultivation can one lock down a territory. If Zhang Wanlong really cracked the Lock Cultivator powder, how did he reach great mastery in such a short time?" The peddler nodded repeatedly. "Brother, I've pondered this for a long time too. For now, I can think of two possibilities. One is relatively easy to understand: the powder Zhang Wanlong concocted was impure, throwing off the order of cultivation and allowing him to learn incomplete high-tier techniques at a lower level." That was indeed easy to understand, but Zhang Wanlong's luck would have to be ridiculously good. Concocting the powder incorrectly and ending up with high-tier techniques as a result? How could such bargains exist? "What about the other possibility, the harder one to understand?" The peddler seemed uncertain of how to describe it. "You saw Yao Xin in the Suihuang Plains, right?" Li Banfeng nodded. "I saw him. A place that crucial, I naturally had to wait until he arrived before leaving." The peddler asked again, "Did Yao Xin tell you about the Iron-Bone Men?" "He did. Five hundred Iron-Bone Men, sweeping all before them." The peddler nodded. "One man holding off an army of thousands, and an army of thousands holding off one man—both are extraordinary feats. What do you think?" Li Banfeng thought for a long time. "An army of thousands holding off one man... what's so extraordinary about that?" The peddler suddenly looked up at the sky. "Something's come up at my house." Li Banfeng looked up at the sky as well. "What is it?" The peddler lowered his head and said, "Brother, let's make an agreement. In a moment, you get off the cart and go back inside your house, then come out ten minutes later." Li Banfeng was startled. "Why do that? What happened?" In a mysterious tone, the peddler said, "Brother, I don't want you knowing where my house is." Li Banfeng snapped, "Are you guarding against me like this? Is our brotherly bond not genuine?" The peddler waved his hands. "Our brotherly bond is genuine, but this house of mine is made of wood. If it gets burned down, it might be beyond saving." Li Banfeng looked up at the sky again. "A wooden house on top of that? Just how many houses do you have?" The peddler urged, "I do have quite a few houses, but none of them can stand up to fire. Don't look up for now. Remember what I told you just now: change is necessary, but you must be clear on which direction it takes. You must understand that some stakes are too high, and you might not be able to shoulder them." Li Banfeng climbed down from the cart and returned to the companion dwelling. When he stepped out ten minutes later, the peddler was long gone. Change was necessary, but one had to be clear on the direction. Li Banfeng looked toward the direction of Jianren Ridge. At Jianren Ridge, in Jingde Village, an eyeless black bear strolled leisurely out of a civilian house. Pus oozed from its eye sockets, but that did not mean it could not see; the images formed in its vision were merely different. It sensed something approaching, but could not yet pinpoint where the person was. The black bear stood on its hind legs and turned half a circle in place. A daolao ghost leaped up abruptly and severed the black bear's head. The headless black bear seized the daolao ghost, pulling its arms apart to tear the ghost in two. The two halves of the daolao ghost continued tearing at the black bear, short and thick arms sinking into its flesh. Watching from the side, Li Banfeng had not expected the bodies of the daolao ghosts to have become tough to such an extent. The two sides were still locked in combat when a swarm of daolao ghosts emerged from the farmland and joined the fray. They bit and ripped at each other, mangled limbs flying in all directions. Li Banfeng could not tell what they were fighting for. It did not seem to be for food; with flesh and blood covering the ground, not a single daolao ghost paused to feed. After fighting for over an hour, the battle finally drew to a close. A pack of daolao ghosts emerged victorious. Gathering some mangled remains from the ground, they headed up the mountain. Following the trail of remains, Li Banfeng encountered many daolao ghosts and witnessed many skirmishes. In the end, inside a cavern, he found Critic. "My friend! I knew you would think of me, I knew you would come to my aid!" Critic welcomed Li Banfeng with great warmth. Li Banfeng asked him, "What happened here?" Critic explained, "You know that I have two territories. One is Desong Cliff; although nothing grows there anymore, it still requires a certain level of human qi to be maintained. Beyond that, there is Rongku Mountain, the land I cherish most, for it is the symbol of our friendship. I have been laboring diligently there, which led to some negligence in my management of Daogui Ridge. As a result, unexpected variables arose, and those very variables triggered a degree of chaos." Li Banfeng sat across from Critic and said in all seriousness, "When you use a convoluted manner to explain a simple situation, it exposes one problem: none of what you just said is important." Critic lowered his head. "I am a foreigner; I am not very familiar with your language." "Then speak about what you are familiar with. Why did the daolao ghosts start fighting among themselves?" Critic said, "Because a faction of the daolao ghosts have followed my senior brother." "Wan Jinxian?" Li Banfeng thought for a moment. "I recall you telling me Wan Jinxian became a god, didn't he?" Critic nodded. "On his path to godhood, he seems to have gained new enlightenment, thereby evolving new abilities!" Li Banfeng stared at Critic. Critic did his utmost to look Li Banfeng straight in the eye. "Old Cui, tell me the truth. Did Wan Jinxian evolve on his own, or was there some other reason?" Critic replied calmly, "I have never deceived you. My senior brother possesses immense divinity..." "Farewell." Li Banfeng rose to leave. Critic rushed forward to block him. "It is like this: through an accidental channel, I obtained some powder. I wished to use this powder to bolster the combat strength of the daolao ghosts." "Powder of which cultivation path?" "Martial Cultivator." Li Banfeng nodded. "Now that sounds somewhat like the truth." Critic held onto Li Banfeng and said, "The friendship between us has always been exceptionally pure. I would never hide anything from you." "Where did you get the powder?" Critic said, "I bought some surplus stock from prominent families and nobility—" "Take care of yourself." Li Banfeng rose to leave again. Critic stopped him. "I bought it from Zhang Wanlong! He told me it was Martial Cultivator powder, and I didn't doubt him in the least!" "How much did you buy?" Critic pondered. "Purely in terms of dosage, it can be understood as an exceptionally large bulk purchase. The specific unit ought to be measured in gunny sacks." Li Banfeng stood dumbfounded for a long while. "You bought powder by the sack? What did you buy it with?" Critic remained silent for a long time. "With money." "Keep taking care of yourself." "Friend!" Critic gripped Li Banfeng tightly. "I truly cannot say another word about this! I promised Zhang Wanlong that I would not disclose the details." In truth, there was no need for him to say more; Li Banfeng already knew the remaining details. Critic had traded plant blight for the powder. The critical issue now was: why had Zhang Wanlong's powder turned Daogui Ridge into this? Critic brewed a cup of tea for Li Banfeng. "Forgive me for entertaining you with such inferior tea leaves, but you see my current predicament. To tell the truth, I am deeply vexed. I suspect Zhang Wanlong deceived me; what he gave me was not Martial Cultivator powder at all. "I rubbed the powder onto the daolao ghosts, and their combat capability indeed strengthened to a certain degree. But I never anticipated that the powder would not be fully absorbed. A portion of the daolao ghosts collected the residue and, during their worship of the divine, smeared it onto Wan Jinxian. "To this day, I still cannot comprehend their reason for doing so. Perhaps they revered Wan Jinxian so deeply that they wished to offer him their most treasured possession. "Yet the outcome was disastrous. Wan Jinxian mutated. I do not know how he broke through the disease lesions I placed on him. He can move, and he can fight. Leading a band of daolao ghosts, he is waging war against me, and he even holds a certain advantage." Li Banfeng glanced sideways at Critic. "Not telling the truth again, are you? With your cultivation today, how could Wan Jinxian possibly have the upper hand against you?" "I thought so too, but the reality is otherwise. He is a true daolao ghost; his mode of thinking is entirely identical to theirs. Compared to an imitator like me, his advantage is vastly superior. This has resulted in the number of his followers exceeding mine. "This is not merely the current situation—it is a trend. More and more will follow him. Friend, you should understand what 'more and more' entails." Li Banfeng realized the severity of the problem. Critic had used Zhang Wanlong's irregular 'Martial Cultivator' powder, causing Wan Jinxian's unexpected mutation, which led to the current turmoil on Daogui Ridge. Yet none of that was the core issue. The most critical point was that if Wan Jinxian won this war, the daolao ghosts would spiral completely out of control. Li Banfeng contemplated for a moment and said, "The best solution right now is to kill Wan Jinxian." Critic looked at Li Banfeng with great anticipation. "That is not my forte." Li Banfeng looked back at Critic. "What are you staring at me for? Why should I do this kind of thing for you?" "This is not my concern alone. This is a crisis for all of Puluo Province! You know the consequences if the daolao ghosts run amok." Li Banfeng smiled faintly. "Go tell that to the peddler." Critic grew frantic. "Do you truly want the peddler to resolve this? Is that truly your intention? To let all the effort and blood we poured into this go down the drain?" Li Banfeng walked to the cave entrance and looked back at Critic. "Rephrase that." Critic said earnestly, "Lend me a hand, and I will repay you." That phrasing satisfied Li Banfeng somewhat. Li Banfeng produced a covenant deed. "I'll get rid of Wan Jinxian for you. In return, you will do one thing for me in the future. As for what that thing is, I will inform you when the time comes, and you will have no right to refuse." "This is absurd," Critic shook his head. "If you genuinely wish to conclude a transaction, you must place the most basic constraints on the terms! That is the bare minimum of sincerity!" Li Banfeng shook his head. "I have no sincerity. Do you accept these terms?" "This is outrageous," Critic sighed. "I accept." Li Banfeng brought out covenant paper and drafted the covenant deed. Critic drew a map and laid out the strategy. "Wan Jinxian spends most of his time in the divine temple atop Sage Peak. Over three hundred daolao ghosts flank him, charged with guarding his safety. I can blend in among the daolao ghosts and use disease lesions to incapacitate those three hundred guards, creating an opening for you to deliver a fatal strike." Li Banfeng looked at the map, then at Critic. "If you have a way to bring down those guards, why not bring down Wan Jinxian directly? With him stripped of his numerical superiority, you have no reason to fear him." Critic said, "That is precisely what I was about to explain. Many changes have taken place within Wan Jinxian. Because he was an exceptionally brilliant Disease Cultivator to begin with, it is very difficult for me to defeat him in the short term using Disease Cultivator methods. Simple and brutal methods are equally difficult. For instance, if I chop off his head, he will not die immediately. On one hand, this is because he possesses the formidable physique of a daolao ghost; on the other, his severed head turns into a liquid mixture and is reabsorbed back into his body." Li Banfeng understood now. "The liquid mixture you're talking about is pus, right?" Critic reflected for a moment. "Not entirely accurate. There are other complex components inside, including a large amount of his brain tissue." Li Banfeng did not care much about those complex components; what he cared about was his opponent's identity. "Is this Wan Jinxian or Lühuazi?" Critic answered sincerely, "It is Wan Jinxian. I have protected Patriarch very well; he has not fallen into Wan Jinxian's hands for the time being. But the problem is that Patriarch also cultivated Martial Cultivation, which caused miraculous changes in his body. Therefore, I suspect there is a certain connection between Martial Cultivators and Disease Cultivators. Zhang Wanlong's Martial Cultivator powder had serious flaws, but that connection truly exists." Li Banfeng stared at Critic in horror. He now understood why the daolao ghosts' physiques had grown so formidable, and why their range was constantly expanding. "You aren't just studying daolao ghosts, nor are you just studying Disease Cultivators. You're studying the changes that occur when different cultivation paths combine?" Li Banfeng asked Critic earnestly. "Is your goal of wiping out all of humanity getting closer and closer?" Critic mulled over his phrasing. "Actually, I feel this has always been our joint effort—" "Don't speak such nonsense anymore," Li Banfeng cut him off. "Change always comes at a price. That's the capital, isn't it?" Critic genuinely did not understand this time. "Your language is rather complicated. Is there some metaphor here?" "No metaphor. Purely the literal meaning." Li Banfeng felt deeply the weight of the choice before him. "This capital... the stakes are a bit too high." Critic somewhat grasped his meaning. "You can place restrictions on me. We have a covenant deed between us. And you aren't the only one who can restrain me—there is the peddler, isn't there? Friend, we ought to look on the bright side. I am a rational person. I know what should be done and when. But Wan Jinxian is not like that. Choosing me is far better than choosing him." Li Banfeng recalled his past interactions with Wan Jinxian. "I don't know him very well either. Can you tell me what kind of person he really is?" *** "He was my finest strategist. Whenever he was around, no matter what I did, I felt completely at ease. Without him, we never would have secured this territory." In the midst of a barren gravel desert, He Jiaqing unearthed a fragment of a covenant deed. Datou asked, "This is the covenant deed Lu Dongliang kept for himself?" He Jiaqing nodded. "Lu Dongliang didn't want to go to the Inner States. Even though he had close ties with the people of the Inner States, the path he wanted to take was to seize rank by force and ascend directly above the clouds. That was why he was so eager for the Red Lotus; he wanted a top-grade elixir to help him complete his ascension. While all his attention was focused on the Red Lotus, Wan Jinxian seized the opportunity and incited Lu Dongjun to take his life." Holding the covenant deed, He Jiaqing gazed into the distance. "Actually, Lu Dongliang was quite good to Lu Dongjun. Over that mountain lies another piece of newland, prepared by Lu Dongliang for Lu Dongjun. If we're lucky today, we might find another covenant deed." Datou recalled the old newspapers he had read before. "The papers said the Lu family and the Chu family paid a horrific price to jointly reclaim a newland ten li across. I never expected Lu Dongliang to hold an entire newland himself—and more than one, at that." He Jiaqing laughed. "The papers said Chu Shaoqiang died in that land reclamation. When I investigated later, I thought Chu Shaoqiang had died at the hands of the Garrison Office. But when Chu Shaoqiang actually appeared before me, I wasn't surprised at all. A thing like the truth is far too much of a luxury for this world!" He placed the covenant deed into Datou's hands. "Lu Dongliang's and Lu Dongjun's territories, plus Bei Wushuang's, whose whereabouts remain unknown—three territories joined together make for quite a substantial domain. There aren't many great resources here; after all, this was merely a backup plan, far inferior to the territories selected before. But it is sufficiently secluded, which is a rare and precious advantage. There are several local spirits around here who are either senile and decrepit or lacking in combat power. With a bit of scheming, we can take all their covenant deeds into our hands. The subsequent task will simply be finding suitable reclaimers." Datou did not want to spoil He Jiaqing's spirits, but some matters had to be addressed honestly. "These covenant deeds are all only halves." He Jiaqing smiled with easy composure. "I'll go get the remaining halves. I know Chaoge has taken full precautions this time, but I will still bring the deeds back. Don't worry. If I make you a local spirit, I will never let you be manipulated by the Inner States." Datou nodded, cut open his palm, spilled his blood, and took control of Lu Dongliang's newland. Looking around him, He Jiaqing said with a smile, "There may be a few twists and turns, but as long as we don't lose heart, we'll keep moving forward."