A Thousand Gold, Ten Thousand Gold, Ten Thousand Times Ten Thousand Gold

The Wife woke up and asked about the source of the fragrance.

Li Banfeng didn't offer much explanation and opened the box.

"My Wife, the elixir has been successfully refined."

The Wife looked at the pill, then smelled its fragrance, and exclaimed repeatedly, "This pill, this pill, this is the Profound Essence Pill!"

Profound Essence Pill?

"What are the effects of this pill?" Since my Wife already knows, I might as well ask her directly.

"Hey, my love, it definitely won't work for you. You're House Cultivator, and your cultivation advancement depends on your Little Slave." As she spoke, the record player's voice trembled slightly.

She was so excited.

Li Banfeng said, "What effects would it have on ordinary cultivators? I need to explain that clearly to them in order to get a good price."

"It has no effect on ordinary cultivators, and it has no effect on those below the Tenth Layer!"

Below the Tenth Layer, it has no effect.

Li Banfeng glanced at the outer room and sensed that something was wrong.

"My Wife, who should I sell this pill to?"

"Such a person is hard to find, my husband. Don't take this pill out with you; its fragrance might bring trouble."

Li Banfeng nodded and said, "I wrapped it in so many layers because I was afraid the aroma of the medicine would dissipate."

"Not enough, far from enough, my Little Slave. I smelled this fragrance as soon as I woke up. There are no noses outside that are more sensitive than Little Slave."

Li Banfeng fell silent.

The fragrance can't be contained at all; it will be discovered as soon as it goes out, and even by ruthless people.

He couldn't understand Red Lotus's intentions.

"Hey, my husband, this elixir is wonderful!" The Wife's mouth was full of mist.

"Hmph!" Li Banfeng suddenly laughed.

The record player asked in surprise, "Why are you laughing, sir?"

Li Banfeng sighed, "In the end, it all comes down to the affection and loyalty between us, a proper married couple!"

Da da da~ Tai~

"My lord, why are you suddenly saying such pleasing things?"

"My Wife, can you take this pill?"

"Of Little Slave I can eat it, but such a good pill shouldn't be wasted on Little Slave. If you ever encounter danger, you can use it as a bargaining chip..."

Don't you really want to eat the record player?

I still really want to.

But she was worried that Li Banfeng wouldn't give it to her.

If you don't give it to me, I'll just take it?

You can't steal it.

We can't let this crazy man suffer too much.

This madman risked his life to obtain the Insect Chief's head; I consumed its spirit, and those bastards also got a share. This pill must be left to the madman no matter what.

This thing is enough to buy him a Hundred Li Land, enough to make him a Local Earth God.

But if I take this pill, I can...

No, you can't steal it, you can't...

"My lord, please keep this elixir safe. When a better opportunity arises, you may..."

Li Banfeng handed the pills to the record player.

"Husband, are you giving this to me?"

Li Banfeng nodded. "Yes, for my Wife!"

Huff~ Huff~

The record player remained silent for a long time.

"My lord, such a precious elixir, Little Slave should keep it for now. I thank you for your kindness, Little Slave..."

Li Banfeng said firmly, "If there's anything good, it should be given to my Wife. One must cherish one's own Wife!"

Huff~ Huff~

There was a slight tremor between the steam jets.

"My lord, do you know how valuable this pill is? It's a priceless treasure."

Li Banfeng smiled and said, "Whether it's a thousand pieces of gold, ten thousand pieces of gold, or even ten million pieces of gold, I won't feel bad at all if my Wife eats it."

Huff! Huff!

Steam billowed out continuously, swirling around Li Banfeng.

"Husband, are you telling the truth?"

"My Wife, every word I say comes from the bottom of my heart!"

Huff! Huff!

"If you're lying to me, I won't let you off the hook."

"If what I just said was a lie to my Wife, may I die a horrible death!" Li Banfeng placed the pill next to the needle.

The record player held the pill up with two styluses, which trembled incessantly.

Is this madman being sincere?

"Eat quickly, my Wife."

It's true.

The record player was carefully placed in the water tank.

Steam rose, and the record player blushed red.

Has the elixir taken effect?

The record spun rapidly on the tray, accompanied by the pipa and guzheng, while the erhu played melodiously.

An old Yue Dong song lingered in Li Banfeng's ears.

"My darling,

Suddenly in front of me,

I was breathing heavily.

I'm moved by you.

I hope you can discover that

In return, I present a string of love tokens.

My Darling

"My lord~"

"My Wife!" Li Banfeng thought his Wife, who was blushing all over, was very beautiful.

"Good husband!" the Wife called out, and used a wisp of steam to lift Li Banfeng and stuff him into the mouth of the large trumpet.

"What are you doing? No..."

What's going on here? Is it for a promotion?

You cannot be promoted now!

Li Banfeng's Travel Cultivator is only three levels. If he advances to the fifth level of his House Cultivator, he will face a backlash in his cultivation.

After struggling for a while, Li Banfeng pulled his head out of the loudspeaker.

"My Little Slave ~" the record player said unhappily, "I just wanted to be intimate with you, why are you avoiding Little Slave?"

"Being intimate? Isn't it for a promotion?"

"Oh dear husband, you've only just advanced to the fourth level. If you were to advance again so soon, how could my body possibly handle it?"

It wasn't a promotion after all.

This startled Li Banfeng.

"My Wife, please get rid of this fragrance on me first."

"My husband is so thoughtful~" the Wife replied, exhaling steam to remove the smell from Li Banfeng, then exhaling another cloud of steam and embracing Li Banfeng for a long time.

The Red Lotus is in the outer room, its leaves trembling as if it is gritting its teeth.

When Li Banfeng arrived at Ma Wu's Land Block, he saw Ma Wu standing in front of the wooden house, looking very nervous.

Three moths perched nearby, silently watching Ma Wu's wooden hut.

"Seventh Brother, we have guests."

With such a long-standing tacit understanding, Li Banfeng instantly understood Ma Wu's expression.

"Has the Local Earth God arrived?"

Ma Wu nodded. "The guest's name is Shui Yongquan. He wants to discuss war with us."

Shui Yongquan, what a good name.

Li Banfeng recalled the scene where this Local Earth God could spit out rain.

Upon entering the wooden house, Li Banfeng saw this Local Earth God.

It wasn't a cluster of will-o'-the-wisps; the Local Earth God manifested in human form—a middle-aged man around fifty years old.

He was of medium build, slightly thin, with a hunched back, a receding hairline, thick eyebrows, small eyes, and a bulbous nose. When he smiled, his wrinkles piled up, giving him a very approachable appearance.

This is completely different from the Local Earth God that Li Banfeng had imagined.

"Gentlemen, I apologize for disturbing you. I have come here specifically to apologize. I encountered a problem earlier and just told Brother Ma Wu. I was unable to help Brother Li Qi in time when he asked for assistance. Please forgive me."

Why are you being so polite?

After apologizing, Shui Yongquan looked at Ma Wu.

Ma Wu turned his head and looked at Li Banfeng.

Li Banfeng stood up and said, "It's nothing, don't worry about it. Chuanzi, see the guest out."

Well...

Are you seeing them out already?

The Shui Yongquan is in an awkward position.

Chuanzi also felt that Seventh Master was being a bit too rude.

But Ma Wu understood that Seventh Brother's response was correct; the rude one was not him, but Shui Yongquan.

Li Banfeng came to Ma Wu to discuss countermeasures against the Local Earth Horn, but the Local Earth God didn't even give him time to discuss it and came directly to his door.

This was because he was experienced and caught the young man off guard.

Li Banfeng wasn't fooled. He first sent the Local Earth God away and then discussed things with Ma Wu.

The Shui Yongquan refused to leave.

"Brother Li Qi, you're too hasty. I haven't finished speaking yet."

"Didn't you say you came here specifically to apologize? This matter is over, we brothers don't care. Chuanzi, see the guest out!" Li Banfeng insisted on seeing the Local Earth God off.

Shui Yongquan chuckled twice and said, "Let's leave the past aside for now. There's a big matter in our territory right now that we'd like to discuss with you two."

Despite his shamelessness, Shui Yongquan still told the story.

The Land Block of land Shui Yongquan is called Water Spirit Forest, and the Land Block next to it where the Local Earth God, Qiu Luoye is called Fallen Leaf Plain. These two Land Block are closely adjacent, and the two Local Earth God have been friends for many years.

Last year, a few pioneers came and set up an altar, but because they didn't know the proper etiquette, they placed it on the border between two Land Block of land.

Such a thing is very rare. Shui Yongquan felt that this matter should be taken on a first-come, first-served basis, so he arrived first and took the person in.

This incident angered Qiu Luoye, and the two began to become enemies.

At the beginning of the year, people came to reclaim the land again, right on the border, and once again, the Shui Yongquan were the first to appear.

Qiu Luoye refused to agree and directly snatched the pioneer away, almost leading to a fight between the two.

Just today, another group of land clearing people came and started clearing land on the boundary of the two Land Block. Shui Yongquan acted quickly and snatched them away again.

Qiu Luoye struck even faster, directly injuring the Shui Yongquan.

Shui Yongquan demanded an explanation from Qiu Luoye, but Qiu Luoye refused and instead challenged Shui Yongquan to a war.

After recounting the events, Shui Yongquan sighed, "These things are usually only known to the local leaders. I genuinely admire you two young brothers, so I'll make an exception and tell you."

Li Banfeng frowned and looked at the Shui Yongquan.

You're making an exception for me? What a great favor!

I can't be bothered to listen to this nonsense.

Can two Local Earth God really fight over something so trivial?

Ma Wu listened quite attentively. "Senior Shui, I'd like to ask, aren't there many people coming to your esteemed land to reclaim wasteland?"

"Well, how can I put it!" Shui Yongquan said somewhat ashamedly, "Due to the obstruction of the Iron Wire River and Little Underworld, not many people can come here."

Since I took over the Water Spirit Forest, only two heroes have successfully reclaimed it.

Just the two of you?

Li Banfeng looked at Shui Yongquan: "Senior, you're not talking about the two of us, are you?"

Shui Yongquan looked at the two with approval. "Indeed, you two are talented young men!"

He has no shame in speaking. How can he talk about such a shameful thing so openly? Is he Pan Dehai's junior brother?

Shui Yongquan himself felt ashamed. He took a sip of tea and continued, "Brothers, your methods of clearing land are quite unique. I am a very easy-going person and I didn't hold it against you. If it were a different plot of Land Block, this matter would probably not be so easy."

Here we go again, trying to curry favor.

It's only because nobody wants to come to your place that you don't bother with us.

Because the area was sparsely populated, the two Local Earth God got into a dispute over who would be the pioneers.

Disputes are understandable, but they shouldn't warrant a war; there must be other grudges between the two.

Li Banfeng, tired of listening to his grumbling, said, "Let's get down to business. Are you trying to get us both involved in this war?"

"Great!" Shui Yongquan praised, raising his eyebrows. "Since Brother Li Qi asked, it seems you've agreed."

Who invented this?

What does it mean that asking means you've already agreed?

Shui Yongquan was a scoundrel, Li Banfeng would accompany him to the very end.

"Yes, we've agreed! We brothers will do our utmost to defend these two plots of land, each a mile long."

That's correct; we answered that we had joined the war.

"Brother Li Qi, do you mean to just stay put?" Shui Yongquan was very disappointed. "With your talents, if you just stay put, you might miss out on a great opportunity."

Ma Wu shook his head and laughed, "Senior, you flatter us. We brothers are not very talented, and we have only been in the Daoist sect for less than a year."

"Why be modest?" Shui Yongquan smiled deeply, taking out a map from his pocket. "This is the entirety of the Water Spirit Forest. Please take a look."

Water Spirit Forest and Fallen Leaf Plain share a border of thirty-seven li. Along this thirty-seven-li boundary are high mountains and treacherous peaks, with only two passes, making it a crucial route for military advances.

This valley is called Hundred Vine Valley. It is a ten-mile-long mountain stream, narrow and winding, with steep terrain on both sides, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack.

This cave is called the Hundred Foot Cave. It has countless branching paths, but only one connects the two sides. If one guards the key points inside, one man can hold off ten thousand.

As he spoke, Shui Yongquan kept glancing at Ma Wu.

Why does he always look at Ma Wu?

Because Ma Wu has visible combat power.

The three Bagworm Moth Madam were lying outside. Although they were far inferior to the Local Earth God, they were among the strongest Strange Monsters.

Shui Yongquan continued, "If you can defend one of the roads, I'm willing to give you ten miles of land. You two talented individuals, do you have the courage to give it a try?"

P. S.: Want to give it a try?