Heading Toward Tiger Mountain

"Fifth brother, do you know what Old Land is?"

Ma Wu nodded and said, "I know Old Land. It's a good place to make money."

How can I make money?

"He makes his money like this, first he gets that thing, and then... Hey, Seventh Brother, let's talk this over, can we send the band out first?"

Ma Wu could no longer tolerate it. While the two were discussing matters in the Council Hall, Li Banfeng brought in a band to play music on the side.

Even if you're skilled, it's fine, but the drummer is off-key and the horn player is out of tune.

Li Banfeng knew the band wasn't very good, but the key was to create a good atmosphere. "Just make do for now, I'll recruit a few more people in a few days."

"Don't you still have a record player? Why don't you use that record player to play songs?"

"That record player has another use, I'll tell you in a bit, let's talk about the Old Land first."

Ma Wu couldn't stand it anymore. "Seventh Brother, what I'm about to say are all money-making secrets. Are you sure you want them to hear this?"

Li Banfeng immediately kicked the band out; things that needed to be kept secret couldn't be left ambiguous.

Ma Wu began introducing knowledge about the Old Land. Compared to Zuo Wugang, his expression skills were much better. His conceptual introduction was basically the same as Wife's, but the focus of his expression was different. He talked about how to make money.

"Making money in the Old Land is quite different from making money in the new land. In the new land, you take things from objects, both living and dead, Old Land, you take things from the spirit, which includes life and etherealness."

Li Banfeng had heard of both the words "living spirit" and "ethereal spirit," but Ma Wu was clearly not trying to express the meaning of the words themselves.

"In the Old Land, human life is gone, only ghostly energy remains. For countless years, the souls of the dead have lingered in the human world, and can live in the Old Land without restriction."

These wandering souls, having lingered in their Old Land for so long, becoming increasingly unrestrained, will begin to change their minds, starting to see themselves as human beings.

Once the spirits of the dead identify themselves as human, they forget the methods used to guard their souls. Over time, their souls will slowly dissipate, leaving only their spiritual essence. This spiritual essence is called ethereal, and ethereal essence is an excellent material for crafting magical artifacts and Spiritual Object.

Li Banfeng understood this.

Before Red Lotus could refine a magical artifact, she had to have her Wife consume her soul to retain her spiritual essence. This way, the artifact would be marked with her essence, making it easier to control.

Ma Wu continued, "Some souls don't stay in their Old Land for long, or they are born with the ability to protect their souls; their souls still exist, and these are called living beings."

These kinds of creatures cannot be used to refine magical artifacts and Spiritual Object. Even if they were, they wouldn't obey commands, but they are a dangerous place in the Old Land.

There's a saying among hunters, "I'd rather spend ten years in new land than a single day in Old Land," meaning that Old Land is far more dangerous than new land.

Most of the otherworldly beings in the new land lack intelligence, and even those who do possess it are ultimately inferior to humans. Furthermore, these otherworldly beings are subject to the restrictions of the Local Earth God, and dare not do anything too outrageous.

The Old Land is different. The ethereal beings there have slightly less intelligence than humans, while the living beings there have intelligence comparable to humans. However, because they live longer, many living beings possess higher intelligence than mortals.

Hunters who venture into the Old Land face a near-certain death, and most lack the means to collect ethereal items.

The Thorn Swallow Pearl we hunted before were excellent for capturing spiritual beings, but a single high-quality pearl could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. How could an ordinary hunter afford that?

Even if one possesses a magical artifact capable of capturing spirits, and even if the hunter is clever and skillful enough, even if he does capture a spirit, he may not necessarily make any money.

Li Banfeng frowned and said, "You still can't make money? As far as I know, even a single Spiritual Object costs tens of thousands of silver dollars, not to mention magic treasures."

"Spiritual power is the essence of magical artifacts and Spiritual Object; it's sure to fetch a good price. In Huan Country Notes, selling it for a hundred thousand or so wouldn't be unreasonable."

Ma Wu nodded and said, "It can sell for a hundred thousand or so, but we'll have to pay a toll."

Bandits inhabited the Old Land, guarding all the key transportation routes. Hunters who entered the Old Land and wanted to leave had to pay a toll. If they couldn't pay, they could exchange the spiritual energy they had collected for it.

A hunter went into the Old Land and returned empty-handed; he had suffered a huge loss.

If he only manages to collect one ethereal spirit, that spirit must return to the Mountain King.

"Seventh Brother, if you want to go hunting in the Old Land, don't even think about it. We're not short of money, and we're not going to take the risk."

Li Banfeng shook his head and said, "I didn't want to hunt, I just wanted revenge. I got some information from the Three Heroes of Iron Sheep."

Lu Xiaolan is now a big swindler on Iron Sheep Mountain. Iron Sheep Mountain sent her to raid our territory, and they almost succeeded. This revenge must be taken.

If we don't report it, they'll come back, and they'll be even more ruthless.

Li Banfeng was absolutely certain of this.

Lu Xiaolan will not give up; for Red Lotus's sake, she will continue to pester her.

Ma Wu was silent for a moment, then nodded and said, "This grudge must be avenged, but the key is how to do it."

If the bandits of Iron Sheep Mountain are right in front of us, we must fight them to the death.

If they come out of the Old Land, we'll have a chance to make our move.

But if they hide in the Old Land, there's nothing we can do.

Back then, the He Family was searching for a giant demon in the Old Land when they passed through Iron Sheep Mountain without informing Rong Yeguang, and as a result, the demon was stolen.

Li Banfeng asked, "What is a dahlia?"

"The Great Demon is also a type of ethereal spirit. It is a special ethereal spirit formed by the aggregation of dozens or hundreds of dead spirits over a long period of time."

It was no easy feat for the He Family to capture a giant ape. Enraged by the He Family theft, they led an attack on Iron Sheep Mountain, but after half a month of fighting, they failed to take it.

That's the He Family. If even they can't handle it, what can we do?

Those bandits have lived in the Old Land for years; they know the roads, the people, and the rules. To attack their stronghold in the Old Land is pure fantasy.

"I have to go. Even if I can't beat them, I need to find out where they live so I can teach them a lesson later." Li Banfeng was really determined to go after Iron Sheep Mountain.

"I really don't know where Iron Sheep Mountain is. I'll have to ask someone."

Ma Wu went to inquire about Iron Sheep Mountain, while Li Banfeng pushed the record player and began pulling out hooks from the Land Block.

He first placed the record on the tray, wound it up fully, positioned the stylus, turned on the switch, and started the record player to go at full speed.

"Hypocritical, hypocritical, why be hypocritical? If you want to see, then look carefully and see clearly..."

Li Banfeng dashed across the warehouse, while Chuanzi stood frozen in place, muttering to himself, "What's wrong with Seventh Master?"

Bang! Something in the warehouse exploded.

Amidst the singing, a hook was pulled out.

Little Genzi is preparing the golden juice. The previous speculation was correct: the combination of the alien's golden juice and the ordinary person's golden juice produced a very subtle change.

His cultivation progress is accelerating, and he is already preparing to buy a third bucket from the Peddler.

There's a high-quality lump in front of me, hot enough and pure enough, without too many impurities.

Just as Little Genzi was about to go over, Li Banfeng rushed over first.

The high-quality lump was flattened by Li Banfeng.

Little Genzi was very regretful, but seeing the shoe prints on it, he still reluctantly accepted it.

"What's wrong with Seventh Master? Why is he so dashing today?"

That's really cool.

A large windmill hangs behind the record player, spinning continuously. How could it not be cool?

Not only is the record player cool, but the songs are cool too.

"Pretending to be Serious" is a must-have song in every dance hall. The melody and lyrics are catchy, and most importantly, the Wife sings it with great energy. Her playful and cute voice resounds throughout the entire Land Block.

Li Banfeng covered most of the Land Block of land in the time it takes to play a song.

After playing a song, the record player needs to rest for three days. Li Banfeng counted and found that he had removed six hooks along the way.

These must have been left behind by Lu Xiaolan when she sneaked in; she really went to great lengths.

It's too difficult to guard against peeping during repairs; we'll have to step up our cleaning efforts in the future.

Li Banfeng returned the record player to Portable Abode, then spent half a day exploring the surrounding area alone, accumulating enough cultivation points. Li Banfeng walked to Zuo Wugang's door and pushed it open to go inside.

Zuo Wugang was practicing martial arts with a centipede girl. The two were fighting fiercely, going in and out several times. Judging from the situation, it should have just begun.

Li Banfeng avoided the topic for a moment.

Less than a minute later, the centipede girl was gone.

Li Banfeng entered the house and asked, "Do you know where Iron Sheep Mountain is?"

Zuo Wugang was getting dressed. He knew the Three Heroes of Iron Sheep, and Li Banfeng thought he knew the location of Iron Sheep Mountain.

But he truly didn't know. "Seventh Master, the Lu Family and Iron Sheep Mountain did business together several times back then, all Proper Land. I was an underling and met them a few times."

Later, on one occasion, the goods delivered by Iron Sheep Mountain were of questionable quality; there were living beings mixed in with the ethereal ones. A dispute arose between the two sides, resulting in several battles. I had fought against the Three Heroes of Iron Sheep, so I recognized them.

"Did the Lu Family win in the end?"

"They didn't win! Those bandits from Iron Sheep Mountain don't follow any rules. When they gain the upper hand, they fight to the death, and when they suffer losses, they run back to their Old Land."

The Lu Family didn't want to get entangled with them in their Old Land, so the matter was eventually dropped.

Seventh Master, those bastards came to our territory and caused trouble. I know you can't swallow this insult.

But you absolutely cannot go to the Old Land to fight them. Don't be fooled by the fact that their leader is at the sixth level and their cultivation is comparable to mine. There are all sorts of people and all sorts of tricks on that mountain. Anyone who goes there will suffer a great loss.

Both the He Family and the Lu Family suffered losses on Iron Sheep Mountain.

Iron Sheep Mountain is truly something else!

How did Lu Xiaolan manage to find such a powerful backer?

Li Banfeng became even more interested in Iron Sheep Mountain.

He returned to his Portable Abode and asked the record player, "Wife, where is Iron Sheep Mountain?"

"Husband, what are you going to do at Iron Sheep Mountain?"

"Going to clear my head." Li Banfeng thought he had come up with a good reason.

Sizzle~

The Wife was silent for a moment before saying, "Oh, my Little Slave, I remember there's a place called Iron Sheep Mountain, but I only remember it's in the Old Land. Little Slave really can't remember how to get there."

"My dear husband, listen to Little Slave. If you want to go to the Old Land to clear your mind, you'll have to wait until your cultivation has improved a bit more."

I don't know if my Wife really doesn't remember, but I can't get any information out of her.

Li Banfeng returned to the Council Hall and continued practicing the band.

The band learned that Li Banfeng liked the song "Pretending to be Serious," so they practiced it in the Council Hall for an entire afternoon.

This is insane, the whole Land Block is insane.

The warehouse manager sang as he weighed the items.

The accountant sang as he counted the money.

Yanzi and Aqin sang while they were fighting.

Ma Wu hummed as he walked back, and said to Li Banfeng, "Seventh Brother, there's a hunter in our area who claims to know where Iron Sheep Mountain is."

Li Banfeng was pleasantly surprised. "Where is he? Show me!"

"I don't know if he's telling the truth or not, Seventh Brother, we really can't be rash about this."

"It's alright, let's see."

Ma Wu instructed his men to lure the hunters to a Land Block about a mile away, where it would be relatively safe.

On the way, Ma Wu asked Li Banfeng, "Should we give this Ten Li Territory a name?"

Li Banfeng nodded and said, "I've made up my mind, I'll call it Decency Village."

Ma Wu thought for a moment and nodded repeatedly, saying, "This name is good."

The hunter's name was Sun Tiecheng. He was over fifty years old, dressed simply, and had an honest face.

Upon seeing Li Banfeng and Ma Wu, the hunter quickly bowed. Li Banfeng immediately asked about the location of Iron Sheep Mountain, to which the old hunter replied:

"That depends on whether you two gentlemen are leaving from the outside or the inside."

Li Banfeng frowned and asked, "What do you mean, 'outside' and 'inside'?"

Ma Wu said, "He's referring to the new land and the Proper Land."

Sun Tiecheng said, "If we take the Proper Land, the journey will be smoother until we reach the Old Land. But with my legs, it will take me half a month to walk there."

If you travel from Xindi, it will only take one day to reach your destination.

The hunters can reach it in a day.

If Li Banfeng were to leave, would it only take an hour to get there?

"Brother, what sect do you belong to?"

"Travel Cultivator, third floor."

What a coincidence?

Ma Wu said to the hunter, "Draw a map for us and tell us how to get there."

The hunter drew a diagram, but Li Banfeng couldn't understand it after it was finished.

The hunter was also in a dilemma. "Sirs, I can't draw, I can't write, and I've hardly ever held a pen before."

"This one will do, it'll have to do," Ma Wu put away the map and gave Sun Tiecheng two silver dollars. "Hurry up and ship the goods, and get out of here as soon as you're done."

Ma Wu really didn't want Li Banfeng to go to the Old Land; he didn't even want to bring the hunter with him.

But if you don't bring him along, it will seem like you don't care about Li Banfeng's matter. If Li Banfeng finds this hunter later, it will make Ma Wu seem like he's being dishonest.

This is the right way to handle it now. Draw a diagram, you understand it but not quite, and it's still in Ma Wu's hands. We can discuss the trip to Iron Sheep Mountain later.

The hunter returned to "Decency Village," sold his goods there, and without lingering, headed deeper into the new land.

After half an hour and walking five or six miles, Sun Tiecheng suddenly felt someone following him. He turned around and saw Li Banfeng behind him.

"Sir, what are you going to do..." Sun Tiecheng was very nervous.

Li Banfeng frowned slightly. "Aren't you a third-level Travel Cultivator? You're not walking very fast either?"

The hunter wiped his sweat and said, "Sir, with you following behind, I dare not walk too fast."

Li Banfeng pulled out thirty silver dollars and stuffed them into the hunter's hand. "I need to go to Tieyang Village, can you show me the way?"

P. S.: Old Land is more interesting than new land!