Cultivators Under Heaven

Farming Cultivator, Joy Cultivator, Food Cultivator, Travel Cultivator, House Cultivator.

Li Banfeng had never heard any of these terms before.

Yet now, he needed to make a choice.

Monkey Qiu set Li Banfeng down and let him lean against a tree, half reclining. "He can't move right now. Give him a bowl of Soul Return Soup first."

"Give?" The Peddler shook his head. "I don't give things away for free."

Monkey Qiu felt around in the inner pocket of his suit. "I'll pay for the soup. I didn't bring much cash today, so put it on my tab for now."

The Peddler took a clay pot from the bottom shelf of the wooden cabinet, added herbs and water, then set it over charcoal to brew.

"Monkey Qiu, what's this kid to you? Why are you so good to him?" The Peddler picked up a fan and slowly fanned the charcoal fire.

"He gave me food," Monkey Qiu answered simply.

The Peddler asked again, "Who's paying for the initiation powder?"

"I will. He can choose whichever path he wants."

As he spoke, Monkey Qiu took a left hand from his pocket—a left hand that had been half eaten.

So it was him!

Li Banfeng suddenly understood. This Monkey Qiu was the person who had asked him for food on the train.

At the time, the man had kept his voice extremely low, and Li Banfeng had not been able to make out its tone.

Li Banfeng had given him two boxes of instant noodles. He had never expected the man to save his life because of it.

"Got any medicine? Help me reattach my hand." Monkey Qiu handed the left hand to the Peddler.

After examining the hand, the Peddler did not particularly want to get involved. "Aren't you familiar with that miracle doctor in Medicine King Gully? Go have him attach it. His skills are superb."

Monkey Qiu had originally planned to find that miracle doctor to reattach his hand. But since he had run into the Peddler, he did not want to owe the miracle doctor another favor.

Favors were not so easily repaid. The Peddler's prices were more straightforward.

Monkey Qiu smiled. "Since I'm already here, I'll trouble you with it."

"Your hand is already like this, and you still insist on coming to me!" The Peddler complained as he rummaged through the cabinet for medicinal plasters. "How much plaster will this take? Next time, tell your wife to gnaw on some meat and fool her stomach. Don't let her eat the tendons too..."

Half reclining beneath the tree, Li Banfeng watched the Peddler take out several plasters.

For the first time, Monkey Qiu pulled his left hand out of his trouser pocket.

More accurately, he had no left hand. What had been tucked into his pocket was only a bare wrist stump.

"Line it up yourself first!" The Peddler heated the plasters over the fire while Monkey Qiu held his left hand with his right, aligning it with the severed wrist.

Once the plasters were ready, the Peddler stepped forward and wrapped several around the break in the wrist, layer after layer, as though he were taping the hand back onto the wrist.

It was stuck on?

Could that possibly work?

Although Li Banfeng had seen many unimaginable things along the way, treating a severed hand like this still seemed far too child's play to him.

If they wanted to stick the hand back on, they should at least smear on some saliva!

That made Li Banfeng worry about his own condition. He could only take four or five breaths a minute now, and his heart was only beating a little over twenty times.

Wait, Monkey Qiu's pinky seemed to twitch.

Had he seen wrong?

He had not.

It was not just the pinky. All five of Monkey Qiu's fingers, including the ring finger that was nothing but bone, were moving slightly.

It had really reattached!

"It's just been reattached, so don't move it yet!" the Peddler warned. He then brought over some medicinal powder, spread it over Monkey Qiu's left hand, and tightly wrapped the hand in gauze.

"Don't let it touch water for ten days. Don't remove the plaster for a month. When we meet next month, remember to bring the money so we can settle the bill!"

Monkey Qiu nodded, climbed onto the rickshaw, and left.

He left!

What about me?

Li Banfeng looked nervously at the Peddler.

The Peddler checked the heat, picked up a rag to pad his hand, removed the clay pot from the charcoal fire, and poured the medicinal soup into a bowl.

"Little brother, time for your medicine." The Peddler took out a funnel and shoved it into Li Banfeng's mouth. Holding the funnel with one hand, he poured the soup in with the other.

Warmth surged through Li Banfeng's stomach. His eyelids grew heavy, and before long, he fell asleep.

An hour later, Li Banfeng opened his eyes. His body could move again.

The Peddler was busy with business. A young man of eighteen or nineteen was buying medicinal powder.

The young man was around five foot seven and weighed around one hundred seventy pounds. His face was as round and plump as his body.

Squinting his little eyes, he made his choice with a solemn expression.

"Food Cultivator! That's what I choose!"

"Fine!" With a wave of his hand, the Peddler opened a drawer in the upper shelf of the cabinet. Using a delicate little wooden spoon, he scooped out a small spoonful of powder, wrapped it in kraft paper, and handed it to the chubby youth.

The chubby youth handed the Peddler sixty thousand Huan Country Notes. He opened the packet and was about to put the powder in his mouth when the Peddler shouted, "Hold it!"

The chubby youth's eyes widened. "What are you doing? I paid! Are you trying to jack up the price?"

The Peddler sized him up without answering.

Behind the chubby youth stood a smartly dressed man who had also come to buy medicinal powder. He laughed at the youth. "You really don't understand anything. The Peddler is saving you!"

The man looked to be in his twenties. He wore a top hat and a suit, with a vest over his shirt and a tie at his collar. He was handsome and dashing, and five attendants and a Carriage Driver followed behind him. One look was enough to tell that his identity was far from ordinary.

The chubby youth turned around. "I paid for it. Why won't you let me take the medicine?"

The man looked at him with utter disdain. "Can you eat that medicine? It is a guiding agent refined from the countless efforts of sages from generations past. Its medicinal force is incomparably fierce. If you swallow it just like that, won't your intestines burst and your belly rot?"

The Peddler tidied up the cabinet. "This medicine is applied to the body, not eaten."

The chubby youth froze and held up the packet. "Where do I apply it?"

"As long as it touches flesh, anywhere will do. Wherever is convenient for you."

The finely dressed man behind him offered a reminder. "Choose somewhere with plenty of flesh. This medicine hurts terribly. I once saw an older sister apply it to her fat peach cheeks. Her peaches were more than a foot thick, yet the pain still left her unable to walk!"

"I'm not afraid of pain!" The chubby youth lifted his shirt, revealing his snowy white belly. "If I put it on here, I'll become a first-layer Food Cultivator, right?"

The Peddler shook his head. "You misunderstood again. This powder can only get you through the door. It cannot raise your level."

The chubby youth snapped, "Isn't that a scam? Such expensive medicine, and it can't even get me to the first layer?"

The Peddler closed the drawer, unwilling to explain.

The rich young man behind him grew impatient. "If you don't understand anything, find someone who does and ask them. Don't stand here making a fool of yourself! This is initiation powder. How could advancing in level be so easy? To reach the first layer, you have to pass a trial!"

The chubby youth looked utterly confused. "Pass what trial?"

The rich young man could not remember clearly either. "For Food Cultivators, I think you need to eat more..."

The Peddler said, "To reach the first layer as a Food Cultivator, you must eat twenty jin of food in one sitting."

"Twenty jin..." The chubby youth grew nervous. "How long is one sitting? If I eat all day, that still counts as one sitting, right?"

The Peddler shook his head. "What are you thinking? One sitting means one hour. Once an hour passes, it no longer counts."

Upon hearing that, the chubby youth was troubled. How could he eat twenty jin of food in an hour?

Seeing that the youth remained silent for a long time, the Peddler waved his hand, and the sixty thousand appeared in his palm again.

"If you regret it now, it's not too late. I'll refund your money."

The chubby youth gritted his teeth and slapped the medicinal powder onto his belly.

The powder vanished the instant it touched his skin. His face turned green, and he staggered beneath the tree to sit beside Li Banfeng.

"It hurts! It fucking hurts!"

"How much does it hurt?" Li Banfeng asked curiously.

"Worse than being burned alive. No, I can't take it anymore!" The flesh on the chubby youth's face quivered from pain.

The rich young man watched the suffering youth, his expression somewhat complicated.

"Since I have to suffer it sooner or later, then let it come!" The rich young man stepped before the Peddler. "I want Joy Cultivator powder."

The Peddler looked at the rich young man. "You don't seem short on money. Why take the path of a Joy Cultivator?"

The rich young man said, "Of all the paths, this one suits my heart best."

The Peddler smiled. "Why not cultivate as a House Cultivator? Lie at home and let your cultivation grow. Wouldn't that be nice?"

The rich young man shook his head. "I can't stay still. Enough talk. I want Joy Cultivator!"

The Peddler said, "Let me remind you: to advance as a Joy Cultivator, you need ten times a day. Not a single day can be interrupted, and you must keep it up for two months. Only then can you reach the first layer."

Ten times a day?

Li Banfeng was dumbstruck!

What was he supposed to do?

It could not be the kind of thing he was thinking of, could it?

For two months, ten times every day!

This rich young master was truly fierce!

"I know the rules!" The rich young man had his attendants bring over fifty thousand Huan Country Notes and handed them to the Peddler. The Peddler accepted the money, wrapped up a packet of powder, and gave it to him.

One attendant said from beside him, "Young Master, put it on your peaches. This medicine really hurts!"

The rich young man snorted. "Take off my trousers in front of so many people? What do you take me for?"

The rich young man undid the buttons at his collar and slapped the powder onto his chest.

The instant the powder entered his flesh, the rich young man's legs went weak, and he nearly fell to the ground.

Several attendants hurried forward to support him, but the rich young man waved a hand. "No need. I can stand."

He stumbled beneath the tree and sat beside Li Banfeng as well. Though beads of sweat rolled down him continuously, he gritted his teeth without making a sound.

Li Banfeng was utterly perplexed. "Friends, if this medicine hurts so much, why not wait until you get home before applying it? Then someone could look after you."

Qin Xiaopang had recovered considerably. Seeing someone even more ignorant than himself, his sense of superiority instantly burst through the roof, and he could not help laughing.

"You really don't understand anything. This is the Peddler's rule. If you buy initiation medicine from the Peddler, you must use it in front of him. You can only leave if there is no abnormal reaction within half an hour. Otherwise, if anything happens, the Peddler bears no responsibility."

Ma Wu looked at Li Banfeng's clothes and endured the sharp pain as he asked, "Friend, these clothes of yours don't seem to be from around here, do they?"

Qin Xiaopang found it strange as well. "Did you get off that train? I heard that everyone who gets off that train has been to the Nine Heavens Immortal Realm!"

Ma Wu shook his head. "Not the Nine Heavens Immortal Realm. He is from the Outer State. I have never been to the Outer State, but people in my family have. My surname is Ma, and I rank fifth in my family. Acquaintances call me Ma Wu. May I ask how the two of you are addressed?"

This young master came from a wealthy family, yet he had none of the airs of one.

Qin Xiaopang clasped his hands in greeting. "My surname is Qin, and I rank ninth in my family. Acquaintances all call me Qin Xiaopang."

Qin Xiaopang?

What did that have to do with ranking ninth?

Li Banfeng said, "My surname is Li, and I rank seventh in my family. Acquaintances all call me Li Qi."

"Five, seven, nine?" Ma Wu was stunned for a moment.

Qin Xiaopang laughed. "Consecutive odd numbers. That counts as fate!"

Perhaps it truly was this bit of fate that caught his fancy, for Ma Wu took the initiative to strike up a conversation. "Brother Li, which path did you choose?"

"Path?" Li Banfeng did not quite understand.

Ma Wu was stunned briefly, then understood Li Banfeng's confusion. "I remember now. In the Outer State, you do not call the paths of cultivation paths. You call them professions. And you do not call those who cultivate cultivators. You call them Dark Energy Users."

Dark Energy Users!

Li Banfeng had heard that term before. The people from the Dark Star Bureau who had hunted him were all Dark Energy Users.

That big-eyed man could ooze oil from all over his body. What profession was he?

He was probably a Food Cultivator, wasn't he?

He must have eaten a great deal of oil beforehand, which was why oil could seep out of his body.

He Jiaqing was very likely a Dark Energy User as well.

He could monitor people from afar. What profession was he?

So this so-called initiation was becoming a Dark Energy User.

What the Peddler sold was medicine that could turn one into a Dark Energy User.

He seemed to sell more than medicine. He also sold everyday goods.

An old man came to buy candles from him.

A child came to buy rock candy from him.

There was also a woman who brought her own porcelain jar to buy Snow Cream. She gave him a silver coin. After the Peddler verified that it was genuine, he filled her jar with a heaping spoonful.

While the Peddler was busy with business, Ma Wu asked again, "Brother Li, which profession did you choose?"

Li Banfeng shook his head. "I haven't decided yet."

Ma Wu took a water flask from an attendant and drank. Taking advantage of the slight easing of his pain, he offered Li Banfeng some advice.

"Since you have not made up your mind, do not act rashly. The Peddler only brought five kinds of powder. If none of them suit you, wait until next time. Once you choose a path, there is no medicine for regret."

Li Banfeng was even more astonished. "Farming Cultivator, Joy Cultivator, Food Cultivator, Travel Cultivator, House Cultivator—are there other choices besides these five paths?"

"Of course!" Qin Xiaopang showed a trace of excitement. "Literary Cultivator, Martial Cultivator, Poison Cultivator, Medicine Cultivator, Peeping Cultivator, Thought Cultivator, Insect Cultivator, Herb Cultivator, Smoke Cultivator, Wine Cultivator, Emotion Cultivator, Sleep Cultivator... A hundred paths in the world, ten thousand cultivators under heaven!"

PS: Thanks to Sun Zhi Bai. The glory of White Falcon County endures still.

Three updates today. There will be another chapter at midnight.

(End of Chapter)