A Great Opportunity

Scholar Cultivators, Martial Cultivators, these are easy to understand.

Literary and martial arts can be considered cultivation.

Poison Cultivators, Medicine Cultivators, these are also skills, which is also understandable.

What's the deal with Smoke Cultivators and Wine Cultivators?

Li Banfeng asked, "Smoking and drinking also count as cultivation?"

"Yes, why wouldn't they? Whether it's smoking or drinking, as long as you can reach a realm, it's cultivation!" Qin Xiaopang said proudly, "Liu Erbo from our village has to drink five catties of wine a day. Later, we found out he was a second-level Wine Cultivator!"

Ma Wu expressed doubt about this: "What kind of living did your Liu Erbo make? Could he afford to cultivate as a Wine Cultivator?"

Being a Wine Cultivator isn't something just anyone can afford. Five catties of wine a day, how much money is that?

Qin Xiaopang retorted, "Liu Erbo was originally a winemaker!"

Ma Wu still doubted: "Even if he was a winemaker, how many catties of wine could he make in a day? He himself drinks five catties a day. Is the wine he makes himself enough for him to drink?"

Li Banfeng felt that Ma Wu was being a bit too serious. What if Liu Erbo owned a winery?

But unexpectedly, Ma Wu really latched onto it: "Wine Cultivators are rare. I want to go see your Liu Erbo. Where is he?"

Qin Xiaopang puffed out his chest and said, "He's dead!"

Ma Wu frowned: "How did he die? Don't tell me he drank himself to death!"

A Wine Cultivator couldn't possibly die from getting drunk.

Qin Xiaopang scratched his head: "You could say it had something to do with drinking, but you can't say he drank himself to death. That day, Liu Erbo got really drunk, jumped into the river, and then drowned."

Ma Wu snorted with a laugh: "Brother, it's not that I don't believe you, it's that what you're saying doesn't make sense. How could a second-level cultivator easily drown?"

Qin Xiaopang answered very seriously: "He couldn't easily drown. Liu Erbo jumped into the river and swam very happily. Originally, it wasn't a big deal. The villagers told him to hurry ashore, saying that ahead was the river mouth and the current was strong. Liu Erbo said he wasn't afraid no matter how strong the current was. He said he saw the Patriarch, and the Patriarch helped him change his path, making him a Water Cultivator."

"Water Cultivator..." Ma Wu stroked his chin and thought for a long time, "There is indeed such a path, but it's not common. Did Liu Erbo really become a Water Cultivator?"

"I don't know," Qin Xiaopang shook his head, "Anyway, I don't believe it, and neither do the villagers. To prove it to us, Liu Erbo deliberately swam to the place with the strongest and deepest current at the river mouth, and even plunged headfirst into the mud at the bottom of the river. By the time we pulled him up, his mouth and nose were filled with mud and sand, and he had long since stopped breathing."

Ma Wu sighed deeply upon hearing this, seemingly believing Qin Xiaopang's words: "Wine Cultivation, this path is too dangerous."

Li Banfeng asked, "How much did this Liu Erbo drink that day?"

Qin Xiaopang replied, "I heard they said he drank twelve catties."

No wonder he saw the Patriarch.

"Twelve catties? Can you even drink twelve catties of water?" Li Banfeng genuinely found it absurd, but thinking about this little fatty who also eats twenty catties of rice, he felt that this place was inherently absurd.

"Does a Wine Cultivator absolutely have to drink like crazy?" Li Banfeng wanted to understand more about the intricacies.

"Naturally, you have to drink like crazy, otherwise how do you earn time?" Qin Xiaopang looked at Li Banfeng with a serious expression.

"What does earning time mean?" Li Banfeng still didn't understand.

Xiaopang looked even more disdainfully at Li Banfeng: "How do you not know anything?"

Ma Wu was very patient and began to explain to Li Banfeng: "No matter which Dao Sect, once you enter the door, pass the trials, and gain a level, you have to cultivate from then on.

But if you cultivate step by step, each level increase takes ten years of time. That is, from the first level to the second level takes ten years. To cultivate from entry to the tenth level would take ninety years. Can you afford to wait?"

Li Banfeng didn't know how to answer.

He didn't know how big the leap was from the first level to the second level, how much benefit it brought, or if it was worth those ten years.

Ma Wu continued, "If you don't want to wait, you have to earn that time back. I don't know the rules for Wine Cultivators, but I've seen a first-level Food Cultivator eat five catties of rice every day. This is called cultivating step by step. If they don't eat enough, their cultivation will regress.

Eating ten catties of rice every day is called earning time. The extra five catties of rice can help him earn an extra day of cultivation. If he insists on eating ten catties every day, he can reach the second level in five years!

If he keeps eating double the amount, he won't need to persist for ninety years, but forty-five years, to cultivate to the tenth level."

"What are the benefits of cultivating to the tenth level?"

Ma Wu said, "In the entire Medicine King Gully, not even a sixth-level cultivator has appeared. As long as you cultivate to the seventh level, you'll be the boss of Medicine King Gully.

Let alone Medicine King Gully, even in the entire Pro State, tenth-level cultivators are few and far between. They are truly powerful figures!"

Li Banfeng wasn't very interested in being a boss: "If you cultivate to the tenth level, you'll be seventy or eighty years old. What does it matter if you're a powerful figure or not?"

"What's wrong with being seventy or eighty?" Ma Wu smiled. "Cultivating to the tenth level changes your life. Your lifespan is extended threefold.

If you could originally live to a hundred, now you can live to three hundred. Seventy or eighty, when converted by three times, is like being in your twenties. That's the prime of life!"

Cultivating to the tenth level grants a threefold lifespan!

That was a huge attraction!

Qin Xiaopang patted his chest and said, "From the day I was born, the neighbors all said I was blessed. I can definitely reach this tenth level of cultivation!"

Li Banfeng looked at Qin Xiaopang: "So, Brother Qin will have to eat five catties of rice every day from now on?"

"If I reach the second level, that won't be enough..." Qin Xiaopang looked a little worried as he said this.

He wasn't worried about not being able to eat it, but about not being able to afford it.

But he had already made his choice, because he knew he had no other strengths besides eating.

Li Banfeng asked, "If you cultivate to the ninth level, how many times will your lifespan be extended?"

"It won't be extended at the ninth level!" Ma Wu waved his hand. "Only at the tenth level can you change your fate. At the ninth level, you still have the lifespan of an ordinary person. If you don't cultivate to the tenth level in your lifetime, all your previous efforts will be in vain."

This was a bit harsh. Life couldn't be extended before the tenth level.

If you cultivated step by step, it would take eighty years to reach the ninth level. Even if you started cultivating at ten years old, you'd be ninety by the time you reached the ninth level. Would you still have the strength to continue cultivating then?

This was probably why cultivators wanted to desperately earn time and shorten their cultivation period. They all wanted to reach the tenth level within their lifetime.

"Is it like this for every Dao Sect?"

Ma Wu nodded, "Every Dao sect is like this. If you want to change your fate, you have to cultivate with all your might and strive for the tenth level and beyond.

Martial Cultivators have to train desperately every day, Scholar Cultivators have to study desperately, Food Cultivators have to eat desperately, and Joy Cultivators have to... well, you get the idea, desperately.

Of course, there are also shortcuts, like eating medicinal herbs, drinking medicinal soups, and taking elixirs. But those things are too expensive and not a long-term solution."

Li Banfeng thought for a moment and asked, "What about Farming Cultivators?"

Qin Xiaopang was taken aback. "Why choose Farming Cultivators? Is it because it's cheap?"

Li Banfeng was indeed thinking of the cost.

He only had two thousand yuan on him and couldn't afford the medicinal powder.

When Monkey Qiu left, he had promised to pay for the medicine, saying Li Banfeng could choose any Dao sect.

But Li Banfeng wasn't a shameless person. Earning back a life with two boxes of instant noodles was enough. Why should he let someone else spend so much money on him?

Ma Wu shook his head and said, "Brother Li, you must be careful with this. You can't be greedy for this cheapness. Medicinal powders don't have high or low value; they are all the wisdom of our predecessors. The reason why Farming Cultivator medicinal powder is sold cheaply is because no one buys it, because Farming Cultivators are the most arduous Dao sect."

"How do you say that?"

Ma Wu said, "I don't know what the situation is like in other states, but there should be farmers, right? You should know how hard farmers work.

Planting in spring and harvesting in autumn, working tirelessly every day – this is just the routine daily cultivation.

Spending all your effort to find good seeds and grow some rare flowers and plants is a way to earn time.

Brother Li, just think about the day you reach seventy or eighty years old. Can you still farm?

If you encounter wind disasters, floods, droughts, or locust plagues, and the harvest for the year is insufficient, not only will you not earn time, but your cultivation might also be damaged.

If you encounter enemies or bad people who come to steal, rob, or set a fire, you might have no harvest at all for the year. This is not just a loss of cultivation, but a threat to your life.

Brother Li, this path is too difficult. Be cautious, extremely cautious!"

It seemed Farming Cultivators were out of the question. Ma Wu was right; this path was indeed too hard.

Li Banfeng had a general understanding of Joy Cultivators and Food Cultivators.

"Then how do Travel Cultivators cultivate?"

"They just walk around!" Xiaopang could answer this question. "The more places you go, and the farther you go, the faster your cultivation grows and the more time you earn.

People who don't have a fixed residence all like to be Travel Cultivators!"

"What about Shut-in Cultivators?"

"Lying at home. The longer you lie down, the faster your cultivation grows!"

Li Banfeng was stunned. "You can cultivate by lying at home!"

"Yes, that's why Shut-in Cultivators are expensive!" Xiaopang looked regretful. "If I hadn't saved enough money, I would have chosen to be a Shut-in Cultivator. Ma Wu, I see you're a rich person, why didn't you choose to be a Shut-in Cultivator?"

Ma Wu shook his head and said, "I can't stand that boredom. Most of the year, I'd be staying in the house. It would bore me to death.

To be honest with you two, my favorite thing to do is 'joy'. If there aren't girls around, I can't last a day."

Li Banfeng said, "That's simple. Just bring girls to your house."

Ma Wu sighed softly, "That's not something you can just bring along. The mechanism of a Shut-in Cultivator is different from other paths. Their cultivation isn't earned by themselves alone; it's obtained together with a Home Spirit."

"What's a Home Spirit?" Li Banfeng was hearing quite a few new terms.

This question stumped Ma Wu.

"What exactly a Home Spirit is, I can't say for sure. Shut-in Cultivators rarely show themselves, especially after reaching a certain level. The number of Shut-in Cultivators you can meet is extremely small.

I only know that a Shut-in Cultivator needs to buy a good house. It shouldn't be too conspicuous, otherwise people will disturb them, and it shouldn't be too isolated, otherwise they won't have access to food and drink.

The house itself must have spiritual energy. If this spiritual energy is nurtured sufficiently and develops into a spiritual entity, that's the Home Spirit.

What this spiritual entity is, I don't know, but for a Shut-in Cultivator to advance, they must have a Home Spirit. This hurdle is quite difficult to overcome.

This thing, the Home Spirit, has a temperament. If a Shut-in Cultivator can please the Home Spirit, the Home Spirit can help the Shut-in Cultivator earn a lot of cultivation.

If they can't please the Home Spirit, their cultivation won't increase. If they anger the Home Spirit, there have even been cases of Home Spirits killing their masters, meaning they killed the cultivator."

Li Banfeng listened with wide eyes. Qin Xiaopang also listened very seriously. Shut-in Cultivation was indeed a mysterious path.

Li Banfeng asked, "Why would a Home Spirit get angry? How would it reach the point of killing its master?"

Ma Wu said, "I've only heard of this happening once, and that was in Medicine King Gully.

Home Spirits love cleanliness. When they encounter something unclean, they will try to clean it up. Therefore, Shut-in Cultivators must also diligently maintain their homes.

There was a Shut-in Cultivator in Medicine King Gully. This person was particularly sloppy. It wasn't just that he didn't tidy his house; he didn't wash his face, didn't bathe, didn't wash his hair, didn't wash his clothes, and didn't groom his beard and hair. He was always dirty.

The Home Spirit endured it, and even often helped him wash his clothes, wipe his face, cut his hair, and helped him tidy himself up a bit.

But this person didn't repent. Not only was he sloppy himself, but he also brought a group of sloppy friends who stayed in the house for many days.

Without the Home Spirit's permission, outsiders couldn't stay in the house. These people also made a mess of the house. The Home Spirit got angry. One night, it killed this cultivator and his group of friends, not leaving a single one!"

Qin Xiaopang shivered. He was usually a bit sloppy himself. "What happened to that Home Spirit afterward?"

"It stayed in the house and became an evil spirit. It's still harming people to this day."

"Doesn't anyone deal with this?"

"Who would? There are too many evil spirits. Who has the time to deal with this one?"

Listening to Ma Wu and Qin Xiaopang chatting, Li Banfeng fell into deep thought.

What path should I choose?

Is this important?

Very important, for the sake of saving my life.

According to the peddler, if I've been illuminated by the Heavenly Light and don't enter a path, I will surely die.

But if I just choose any path, won't my life be saved?

Isn't the purpose of my trip to save people? Is choosing a path important?

Of course it's important!

How rare is this opportunity!

I've offended the people from the Dark Star Bureau. They said they want to kill me. If I want to survive, I must learn some real skills to protect myself!

More importantly, there's the great dream of reaching the tenth level of cultivation!

"Good things are good things, and bad things are bad things. The principle is that simple," Li Banfeng murmured to himself.

Qin Xiaopang didn't hear clearly. "Brother Li, what are you saying about good things and bad things?"

Li Banfeng didn't answer.

What's happening now is a good thing. No matter how many extra factors there are, being able to gain extraordinary power and an extremely long life is a good thing.

Choosing a Dao Sect that suits me is an even better thing among good things.

But which Dao Sect is suitable?

I know too little about these Dao Sects.

"What abilities do the cultivators of each Dao Sect have?"

"That's complicated," Ma Wu said. "Martial Cultivators can fight, Scholar Cultivators can curse, Travel Cultivators can run, Food Cultivators eat and drink their fill, they have both techniques and strength."

Qin Xiaopang added, "Joy Cultivators can do it ten times a day, that's nothing to them!"

Ma Wu smiled. "It's not just that little bit of skill. Joy Cultivators are good at disturbing people's minds."

"What about Shut-in Cultivators?"

Ma Wu said, "Shut-in Cultivators are good at both offense and defense. It specifically depends on the Home Spirit's temperament. Outside their home, Shut-in Cultivators have average combat power among those of the same level. Inside their home, Shut-in Cultivators are invincible among those of the same level, and can even fight against someone one level higher!"

Shut-in Cultivators are that strong?

Should I choose Shut-in Cultivator then?

I can pay the money back to Monkey Qiu later, but where can I buy this house?