The Local Deity

On the 18th day of the twelfth lunar month, the snow was particularly heavy.

On the sixteenth floor of the Peace Mansion, inside the main hall, Lu Dongjun and Chu Er finalized the deal for the Bai Le Men.

Eight hundred thousand Bai Le Men were transferred from the Lu Family's name to Chu Er Paramount Ballroom.

The land deeds, house deeds, and all business contracts of the Bai Le Men were transferred to Chu Er. The notary issued the documents, and reporters were present to report on the event.

Eight hundred thousand silver dollars— Chu Er had spent all his savings.

Apart from the mansion where she lived, all her other residences and all her land were sold off completely.

Besides her own business, she also bought back all the shares she had invested in other people's businesses.

She still owed more than 200,000 silver dollars in debt, but finally managed to take over the Bai Le Men.

With her causing so much trouble, is no one in the Chu family going to do anything about it?

And nobody really cares.

Chu Er's status is very different from other young ladies from wealthy families.

Five years ago, when the Chu family was working with the Lu Family to develop new land, the head of the Chu family, who was also Chu Er's father, was seriously injured and died. The Chu family is currently jointly managed by her eldest brother and two aunts.

After receiving a portion of the property, Chu Er independently managed her own business. For the past five years, she has paid a certain amount of Bonus Money to the Chu family every year. As for how Chu Er specifically manages her business, no one else is allowed to interfere.

Chu Er was very excited to have acquired the Bai Le Men, and he was still pacing around inside until late at night.

Actually, the Bai Le Men isn't very tall or very big, only three floors, but it's the landmark of Green Water City, a more dazzling landmark than the Peace Mansion.

The people of Green Water City may not envy the suits and ties in the Peace Mansion, but they will definitely yearn for the bright lights and bustling nightlife of the Bai Le Men.

The first floor is a restaurant with a banquet hall that seats six seats and more than a hundred private rooms of various sizes.

The second floor is the dance hall, which is the essence of the Bai Le Men. It has a Grand Ballroom, five round halls, and sixteen Famous Courtesan Room.

Needless to say, the Grand Ballroom is filled with band accompaniment, Song Queen perform, and jazz is the main genre. Classical music and popular modern music are also common. The Grand Ballroom of the Bai Le Men can accommodate thousands of people, and the annual queen of song and dance is selected from the Bai Le Men.

The rotunda is smaller than the Grand Ballroom, and each rotunda can accommodate about a hundred people. It is suitable for gatherings and is often referred to as a party in Outer State.

The Famous Courtesan Room are special; each room can accommodate more than a dozen people, and the famous performers will sing for the VIPs in their own private rooms.

Imagine being in a private box, where a top female Song Queen performs for just one person – what would that feel like?

If things go well, perhaps we can offer something else.

The Famous Courtesan Room for famous Song Queen are reserved for the diva. Song Queen Xia Yijun's private room is called Yijun Study. As long as Xia Yijun is still under the Bai Le Men, this private room will not change its name.

If Xia Yijun is fired from Bai Le Men or changes jobs herself, this private room will be taken over by someone else.

Of course, not every Song Queen can occupy a private room at the Bai Le Men. There are Song Queen year, but there's only one at the Bai Le Men.

Back then Song Queen Jiang Mengting had her own private room at the Bai Le Men, called Mengting Residence. Later, Chu Er offered a high price and poached her from the Bai Le Men.

Later, no one knows what methods Ma Wu used, but he managed to poach Jiang Mengting from Chu Er.

None of that matters now.

Now the entire Bai Le Men belongs to Chu Er!

Chu Er went up to the third floor of the Bai Le Men, which had a total of seventy-six suites. She opened the suite with the best view and watched the endless stream of pedestrians and vehicles on the street.

For a time, Chu Er had this illusion that the entire Green Water City belonged to her.

As things stand, Green Water City's most dazzling brand truly belongs to her.

Yang Yanzheng said from the side, "Miss, why don't we open for business today?"

Because Lu Dongjun has been embroiled in a series of troubles, the Bai Le Men has been closed for several days.

The newspaper just published today, and many people have already inquired about ordering food and rooms.

Bai Le Men is never short of business.

But Chu Er didn't want to open for business today.

"We can't rush things. The opening needs a good start. Let's pick an auspicious day, hold a Song Festival, and send invitations to all the major Lineage. We'll invite all the important and influential people!"

Yang Yanzheng frowned, but didn't dare to speak.

Chu Er has spent all his savings, and now he wants to hold Song Festival.

The important thing is to open for business as soon as possible and recoup our costs. Can't we wait until after the new year to Song Festival and the like?

Having received the young lady's instructions, Yang Yanzheng had no choice but to go and take care of them. Before he could even leave, Chu Er specifically instructed him, "Send a letter to Ma Wu, telling him he absolutely must come. I want to see if he's itching to come."

I'll talk to him about the price later. If he can make the Bai Le Men even more impressive, I'm willing to give Carefree Dock back to him!

Ma Wu was reading the newspaper in Blue Poplar Village when he saw that Chu Er had bought the Bai Le Men, and he almost dropped the newspaper.

Not good!

This crazy woman has really stirred up Wasp Nest. How could Chu Er, who has been navigating the business world for so many years, make such a mistake?

She desperately wanted the Bai Le Men.

In fact, Ma Wu could understand. If he were in Chu Er's position, he might also have taken over the Bai Le Men at all costs. The Bai Le Men was simply too tempting for a businessman.

Ma Wu was calculating how things would unfold when he soon came across a short story in the fourth edition.

The love-hate relationship between a down-on-his-luck young man and a lovestruck young woman.

Ma Wu hadn't noticed this novel before, but he did today.

The story's position has changed. It's not a short story; it's been serialized for several issues and is usually not prominently displayed. Today, it's on the front page of page four.

Location alone wasn't enough to attract Ma Wu's attention; the key was that the novel mentioned Blue Poplar Village.

Ma Wu read the contents of the novel. Although Ma Wu and Chu Er's names were not mentioned, it was a story about the two of them.

He flipped through old newspapers and found that as news about Chu Er increased, the novel's status also soared.

Today, the news of Chu Er's acquisition of Bai Le Men dominated the front page headlines, and this novel also rose to the front page of the supplement.

Ma Wu has to face the reality that, in the eyes of outsiders, his relationship with Chu Er is no longer so simple.

Chu Er stirred up Wasp Nest; will he be implicated?

As expected, it had a negative impact.

That evening, Ma Wu asked someone to buy him an evening newspaper, and was shocked to see a news item on the second page: Ma Junyang may be coming out of retirement to take up the banner of the Bai Le Men for the Chu family.

Who the hell started this rumor?

Who said I was going to take up the banner of the Chu family?

I don't even have the surname Chu, so why should I be her supporter? What's wrong with me marrying into her family?

Ma Wu had a premonition that wasps were coming.

No, we need to find a place to lay low for a while. The various Lineage could easily try to harm Ma Wu.

Although he had hired Zuo Wugang, a sixth-level martial arts practitioner might not be so reliable. Ma Wu was wondering where he should hide when he saw Li Banfeng, dressed in a suit and top hat, holding a Feather Duster, push open the door.

He dusted the snow off himself with Feather Duster, sat down by the fireplace, and warmed himself by the fire for a while.

Ma Wu exclaimed with delight, "Brother Li, you're finally back!"

Li Banfeng took a full eighteen days to get there; it took three days to go and half a month to come back.

The reason he's been back for so long is simple: he needs to take one Golden Essence Pill every day.

Having consumed a total of fifteen pills along the way, Li Banfeng gained four years, one month, and six days of cultivation. Adding this to the time he had accumulated before, he now has a total of sixteen years, eight months, and seventeen days of cultivation in his Travel Cultivator, getting closer and closer to the third level.

With three levels and twenty years of cultivation, even if Li Banfeng entered the sect at the age of ten and cultivated step by step, he would still need to be at least thirty years old.

Now in his early twenties, he has the third level of Travel Cultivator within reach, and the third level of House Cultivator is already in his grasp. If others knew this, they would worship him. If others knew this... Li Banfeng probably wouldn't live much longer.

This gave Li Banfeng an idea: he wanted to create a new place and try to avoid being seen by others.

The new land is perfect for cultivation. You can catch some wandering ghosts and ghosts to deliver food to your Wife, and find some rare birds and beasts to refine Pill Refining for Red Lotus. Travel Cultivator in dangerous places can earn you a lot of time without delaying your elixir supplements. Isn't this kind of life perfect?

Besides his spiritual practice, he also wanted to build a shelter in the new land, so that if any unforeseen circumstances arose, staying there would be a way out.

Li Banfeng had already planned it out on the way, but he lacked experience in land reclamation, so he had to discuss it with Ma Wu.

Ma Wu was initially opposed to it.

His upbringing instilled in him a deep prejudice against New Territories. In Ma Wu's view, New Territories was dangerous and should not be visited lightly.

After a few seconds of pause, Ma Wu suddenly came to his senses.

Wasn't he planning to go out and seek refuge?

Isn't Sun Hung Kai Properties one of the best options?

Going to new lands to reclaim wasteland used to be risky, but things are different now; they have Zuo Wugang in their hands!

Ma Wu pondered for a moment, then nodded and said, "I'll go get Big Support, and bring Zhen Jincheng and Cao Zhida along too. We'll form a team and go clearing the land!"

Li Banfeng shook his head and said, "Zuo Wugang can't go. If he leaves, there will be no one to oversee Blue Poplar Village, and I'm afraid someone will cause trouble."

With Zuo Wugang not going, Ma Wu felt a little apprehensive. "Relying solely on Zhen Jincheng and Cao Zhida might not be reliable enough for reclamation."

Li Banfeng shook his head slightly and said, "In my opinion, we shouldn't even bring those two."

"They're not taking any of them?" Ma Wu exclaimed in surprise. "Brother Li, you mean you're just going to rely on the two of us to clear the land?"

With one level of Joy Cultivator and two levels of Travel Cultivator, Ma Wu felt it was too risky for the two of them to go and explore the wilderness alone.

Li Banfeng said, "My idea is that you tell me the process of clearing the land, and I will clear the land myself. You don't even need to go."

"That won't do! Some things can't be explained clearly, I have to do it myself." Ma Wu is going to seek refuge in the new land, so I have to go with him.

"If you come with me, what about your cultivation?" Li Banfeng is Travel Cultivator, so walking Calculation Cultivator. Ma Wu is Joy Cultivator, so he definitely can't bring girls with him on this trip.

Ma Wu pondered for a moment and said, "I'll use pills to tide me over. The Golden Essence Pill I took before have given me a hundred days of rest. I can manage to clear the wilderness for at most a month, which is enough for recuperation.

Li Banfeng agreed, "Okay, let's go together. First, let's talk about the rules for clearing land. Shouldn't we prepare offerings first?"

Ma Wu nodded and said, "Offerings are easy to arrange, as long as there is food and drink. The more abundant the food and drink, the faster the Local Earth God in the wasteland will respond."

Li Banfeng thought this was easy, "Then let Little Chuanzi prepare, and bring all the best food and drinks we can offer."

"Brother Li, we should proceed according to our capabilities."

"What's wrong with being realistic about what we can afford? Is it because we can't afford it?"

"We can afford to provide food and drink, but I'm afraid we won't be able to withstand the onslaught. In this wasteland, within a hundred miles, there is usually only one Local Earth God."

If this Local Earth God accepts our offerings, he will reward us with a Land Block; the more offerings we make, the larger the Land Block will be.

Li Banfeng nodded happily and said, "Bigger is better, the bigger the better!"

Ma Wu shook his head. "A bigger one is good, but we still have to be able to accommodate it. The Local Earth God didn't give the land for nothing; we have to test it."

We shed blood on this Land Block, made the contract, and it will take effect in one day.

When pioneers enter Land Block, the Local Earth God summons various creatures from the surrounding area to attack them. If the pioneers can hold out for three days without crossing the boundary, the Land Block is theirs. In the jargon, this is called "testing."

Li Banfeng understood this rule. The old gatekeeper of Yu Family Stronghold had said that the pioneers and the owners of the new land did not necessarily have to be the same group of people. The owners of the new land would first go and spit blood to sign the contract, and the pioneers would only enter the new land the next day.

Ma Wu continued, "Land Block are generally divided into four categories. The smallest category is one li in diameter. The Local Earth God will summon ordinary beings to test them. Under normal circumstances, they only need to come three to five times to pass. Some lucky ones only need to come once, while others unlucky ones need to come more than ten times."

"These kinds of wastelands can be cleared by finding five or six first-level cultivators. If you really can't find any cultivators, finding dozens of strong men might also work, but too many people will bring other troubles. We'll discuss that on the way."

Li Banfeng recalled Yu Nan's Yu Family Stronghold in Xindi. Looking at it, it was less than a mile in circumference, and he guessed that some areas were not yet fully developed. It should be the smallest wasteland like this.

Ma Wu continued, "The second type of wasteland is three miles in diameter. This type of wasteland is much more difficult to conquer. The Local Earth God will summon more than a dozen different kinds of creatures every day to take turns attacking the explorers."

If you want to clear a three-mile radius of land, you'd need to hire a professional like Dabo Ensi to do the clearing. Dabo Ensi charges a lot of money, usually only provides guidance, rarely does the work himself, and even then, there's no guarantee the clearing will be successful.

Larger Land Block, about five miles in circumference, require at least an eighth-level cultivator to oversee them for any hope of cultivation. The Local Earth God send ruthless individuals; even Bagworm Moth Madam is not unusual among them.

The largest one was ten miles in circumference. I don't know the details of that one, but it's said that the Lu Family once joined forces with the Chu family to cultivate a ten-mile stretch of wasteland, but they failed. That's how the head of the Chu family died.

Brother Li, with our current strength, being able to clear a piece of wasteland only a mile in diameter is already a stroke of luck. Therefore, the offerings must be chosen appropriately.

If we prepare too many offerings, the Local Earth God will be pleased and grant us a Land Block ten miles in circumference, but any attempt to cultivate it will inevitably fail.

"If you fail, you fail. Just try again." Li Banfeng is very open-minded.

Ma Wu shook his head and said, "We can't do this again. If we fail to clear the land, the Local Earth God will look down on us. Within a hundred miles, neither of us can clear land again. We can't be the masters, and we can't be the clearers."

P. S.: What should I do if I encounter Bagworm Moth Madam while exploring the wilderness?