Choosing a Dao Path

For most people of the Huan Kingdom, buying a house was the greatest challenge in the world, without question.

And it involved a very crucial question: where should the house be bought?

In Yuezhou City, or Medicine King Gully?

Forget Yuezhou City. Housing prices there could make people lose the will to live.

Why not simply buy a house in Medicine King Gully and live here from now on?

Li Banfeng looked at the green trees and red flowers around him. Living here did not seem impossible.

Housing prices in Medicine King Gully should not be too expensive.

Li Banfeng felt the two thousand yuan in cash in his pocket, estimating what kind of house two thousand yuan could buy.

The fare for that rickshaw ride just now had seemed to be five hundred yuan...

"Before they have a house, do House Cultivators have no special abilities at all?"

"You mean techniques?" Ma Wu thought for a moment. "There are still some techniques. After entering the path, even without a house, a House Cultivator's body will be stronger than an ordinary person's, and they can also conceal themselves from others."

"What does concealing oneself from others mean?"

"House Cultivators never draw attention. When mixed into a crowd, they are often overlooked. They can evade surveillance, and high-level House Cultivators can even evade the prying of Listening Cultivators."

Evading surveillance.

That would be very useful to me!

Li Banfeng leaned toward choosing the House Cultivator path. Qin Xiaopang reminded him from beside him, "Brother Li, if you choose House Cultivation, how will you make a living in the future? The people who choose House Cultivation all have money at home and never worry about food or clothing."

Li Banfeng glanced at Qin Xiaopang. "Do I look like the kind of person who worries about food and clothing?"

I really am that kind of person right now.

This truly was a troublesome matter.

Could House Cultivators not even go out to work?

Did they have to stay at home all the time?

If nothing else worked, I could find a remote job.

The question was whether this place even had internet access...

From the perspective of long-term development, the restrictions on House Cultivation really were rather great.

What about becoming a Travel Cultivator?

"Do Travel Cultivators have talents too?"

"Yes!" Ma Wu nodded. "Travel Cultivators can walk, and their legs are fast, but they must walk every day. Not walking is not an option. The higher their level, the farther they must travel. Therefore, Travel Cultivators have no fixed residence. Wherever they go is where they live."

Under the current circumstances, wandering everywhere every day would easily invite pursuit from the Dark Star Bureau.

From the perspective of long-term development, Travel Cultivators had no fixed home and faced the same livelihood problems, unless they had a profession like tour guide.

What about becoming a Joy Cultivator with Ma Wu?

Ma Wu heartily approved. "Brother Li, you look strong and sturdy. You would be well suited to becoming a Joy Cultivator. Joy Cultivators excel at befuddling minds and can heavily injure enemies without them noticing."

That was also a good way out.

But Ma Wu raised a very serious question.

"Brother Li, may I ask how your lover's physique is?"

A lover?

"Where would I get a lover?"

Ma Wu raised his brows. "If Brother Li is still single, then this will be difficult. A chance meeting of dew and rain is likely not a long-term plan."

This was a practical problem. Ma Wu did not lack women, but Li Banfeng did not have those conditions.

Go back to the university and find Teacher Song?

Li Banfeng could not possibly return to school in the short term.

Even if he went back, ten times a day was something Teacher Song could not manage!

As he weighed the matter, Li Banfeng came up with a bold idea. "Can I choose several Dao paths?"

Cultivate several Dao paths at once, claim all the talents first, then cultivate whichever path proved suitable in the future.

Qin Xiaopang shook his head and laughed. "How could there be such a good thing? You cannot even cultivate one Dao path properly, yet you want to cultivate several?"

Ma Wu did not laugh. He had heard of similar things. "Choosing several is certainly impossible, but choosing one additional path—cultivating two paths at once—has happened before.

"But such people were basically forced into it, and it was very difficult for them to achieve anything.

"Think about it: how much energy does cultivating one Dao path consume?

"A Food Cultivator has to eat at least five jin of food every day. If you add Wine Cultivation, you would also have to drink three to five jin of alcohol each day. Forget earning extra time; even cultivating step by step would be exceedingly strenuous."

Li Banfeng asked, "Must two Dao paths be cultivated at the same time? Can one of them not be abandoned?"

"Of course not! Once you choose two Dao paths, neither can be abandoned. If you cultivate only one and let the other fall behind, the cultivator will die because of it.

"Therefore, the two paths cultivated together must have similar traits and complement each other. If the two paths are dissimilar, the cultivator may very well drop dead on the spot."

Upon hearing this, Li Banfeng immediately gave up on the thought of dual cultivation.

If he had to attend to both Dao paths at once, such a choice was neither wise nor realistic.

Ma Wu was right. A person simply did not have the energy to cultivate two Dao paths at once.

And if Food Cultivation and Wine Cultivation still had some possibility of being cultivated together, eating and drinking were a classic case of similar traits complementing each other.

But among the Dao paths offered by the Peddler, there seemed to be none that complemented each other.

Ma Wu asked again, "Cultivating multiple Dao paths requires profound Dao Affinity. I wonder, Brother Li, how is your Dao Affinity?"

Li Banfeng said in surprise, "What is Dao Affinity?"

Seeing Li Banfeng's utterly bewildered expression, Ma Wu froze, and Qin Xiaopang froze as well.

"You do not even know what Dao Affinity is?" Qin Xiaopang was very surprised. "If you have no Dao Affinity, what are you buying medicine for? Is that not seeking death?"

Seeing that Li Banfeng still did not understand, Ma Wu explained, "Dao Affinity is one's foundation. To accumulate my foundation, I spent a great deal of money buying spring water from Wisdom Spring. I drank more than thirty liters altogether before my foundation was firmly established."

Qin Xiaopang snorted. "We are not rich. We tried plenty of folk remedies, large and small, and it took a full five years before we dared come buy medicine."

Li Banfeng still did not understand the concept of Dao Affinity. "Must Dao Affinity be acquired through special medicine?"

"Medicine?" Ma Wu felt that medicine was not quite the right word.

Xiaopang understood what Li Banfeng meant. "You do not necessarily have to take medicine. You can also go to particular places to accumulate Dao Affinity. Three Heads Junction can accumulate Dao Affinity!"

At the thought of Three Heads Junction, Li Banfeng shuddered.

Growing three heads for Dao Affinity was a little too poor a bargain.

Li Banfeng cautiously asked, "Must one have Dao Affinity?"

"What else? Do you think just anyone who comes to the Peddler to buy medicine can become a cultivator?

"Dao Affinity is an opportunity, an opportunity found once in ten thousand! Cultivators are dragons and phoenixes among the one in ten thousand people of this world!"

Dragons and phoenixes among men?

Was that not exaggerated?

I would guess that rickshaw puller was also a cultivator. Was he a dragon or phoenix among men?

Ma Wu looked at Li Banfeng. "I would not dare say dragons and phoenixes among men, and it would be best not to go to Three Heads Junction either. If you go, you may not come back.

"Leaving other matters aside, foundations are not something to trifle with. Brother Li, do you have Dao Affinity or not? Do not act recklessly if you do not. This truly concerns your life."

Li Banfeng pondered for a long time, then carefully asked, "Does being exposed to heavenly light count as Dao Affinity?"

"You were exposed to heavenly light?" Ma Wu, who had been clutching his chest all along, suddenly released his hand and stood up.

Qin Xiaopang stood up too. "When were you exposed to heavenly light?"

Li Banfeng recalled, "Around two in the afternoon."

Qin Xiaopang looked at the position of the setting sun, while Ma Wu took out his gold-cased Pocket Watch.

"Brother Li, how did you endure until now?" Ma Wu backed away several steps. Qin Xiaopang immediately followed him, standing at Ma Wu's side.

Li Banfeng gave a dry laugh and confirmed it once more. "If I was exposed to heavenly light and do not enter a Dao path, I will die?"

Ma Wu nodded. "Brother Li is correct."

Qin Xiaopang backed away another two steps. "Not only will you die, you may even drag others down with you. I should leave first."

Qin Xiaopang covered his stomach and staggered away into the distance. The Peddler called out, "It has not been half an hour yet!"

Qin Xiaopang waved his hand. "It is fine. Close enough is good enough."

Ma Wu's two attendants supported him as he prepared to leave as well. Seeing Li Banfeng still standing where he was, Ma Wu turned back and advised him, "Brother Li, hurry and enter a path. If you delay another step, you may explode.

"What you explode into is hard to say. How many people you may hurt is hard to say. This concerns life and death; it cannot be delayed."

Li Banfeng asked, "If one has been exposed to heavenly light, is their Dao Affinity considered profound?"

"Profound, exceedingly profound!" Ma Wu said as he walked away. "Brother Li, stop thinking about cultivating multiple paths. Preserve your life first!"

The two left one after the other, while the Peddler continued doing business.

A woman of around fifty bought a bottle of Snow Cream from him, then asked the Peddler for a small pinch and directly smeared it on her face.

"Do not begrudge it. I have to see whether this stuff is pure or not!"

The Peddler smiled. "What are you saying, Sister? Once you put on my Snow Cream, your skin will be so supple it could spring out water!"

"That sweet mouth of yours!" The woman smiled and turned to leave.

Snow Cream was an ancestral-grade skincare product.

It was not much different from modern face cream. Its primary function was to prevent dry, cracked skin. Li Banfeng had seen jars of Snow Cream in Old Woman Wu's room at the orphanage, and he had even smeared some on his own face.

And sure enough, this Peddler's Snow Cream was extraordinary. After the woman applied it, her face truly gained a little luster. That might have been why she had come into the wilderness to buy things from the Peddler.

Night was approaching, and all the customers had left.

The Peddler turned to Li Banfeng and asked, "Have you chosen? Soul Return Soup can only preserve your life for four hours. You do not have much time left."

After saying this, the Peddler waved his hand, and a row of drawers automatically slid out from the upper section of the cabinet, each containing powders of different colors.

He was urging Li Banfeng to take the medicine immediately.

There truly was not much time left. Li Banfeng had drunk the Soul Return Soup before three o'clock, and it was now nearing seven.

He had already made up his mind to choose Travel Cultivation.

Although he leaned more toward House Cultivation, buying a house was too difficult. For the sake of future cultivation, Travel Cultivation was the most reasonable choice.

"I choose Travel Cultivation..."

Before he had even finished speaking, someone suddenly shouted behind him, "I want Soul Return Soup! I want Soul Return Soup!"

Li Banfeng turned around and saw a figure who was both familiar and unfamiliar.

Familiar because he often appeared in the news.

Unfamiliar because this was Li Banfeng's first time seeing the real person.

The legendary sprinting champion Qiao Yuesheng rushed toward Li Banfeng with vigorous strides.

Under the setting sun, afterimages appeared behind his body.

Li Banfeng believed that at his current speed, he could definitely set a new world record.

But that was not the important point.

The important point was that he was charging straight at Li Banfeng, and he crashed directly into him.

Li Banfeng was sent flying from the spot by the collision, then hurtled toward the Peddler's cabinet.

The Peddler hurriedly pulled the drawers back, but he was still one step too slow.

Bang! With a muffled thud, Li Banfeng slammed into the cabinet.

Two drawers had not been pulled back in time, and medicinal powder scattered out.

The blue powder for Travel Cultivation and the golden powder for House Cultivation fell onto Li Banfeng's face. Unbearable agony struck, and Li Banfeng immediately lost consciousness.

The Peddler looked at Li Banfeng, then at Qiao Yuesheng before him.

Qiao Yuesheng grabbed the Peddler's shoulders, tears in his eyes. "I want Soul Return Soup! I want Soul Return Soup!"

Veins stood out clearly across his skin.

Some of those veins were slowly rupturing.

Qiao Yuesheng looked at the Peddler, his face full of pleading.

The Peddler looked at Qiao Yuesheng, his brow furrowing tighter and tighter.

After a long silence, the Peddler said in an icy tone, "You harmed his life, and you ruined my reputation. How should this debt be settled?"

PS: Dear readers, Salad wrote ten thousand words. Are you satisfied today?

(End of chapter)