Looking at Chu Yunlong lying on the ground, Li Banfeng felt terrible.
He was a good man. He'd even said he would buy me a train ticket...
This place was so desolate that wild beasts might be lurking nearby. Li Banfeng could not bear to leave Chu Yunlong's corpse exposed in the wilderness, so he decided to take him back to the Portable Abode and use the Copper Lotus to refine pills.
After entering the Portable Abode, Li Banfeng lit the candlestick and placed Chu Yunlong's corpse beside the Copper Lotus.
He was very curious. What exactly was the process of turning a corpse into pills?
Hisss~
The Copper Lotus sensed Chu Yunlong's presence, and its petals slowly unfurled one by one.
Why could it sense Chu Yunlong?
Was it because Chu Yunlong had cultivation?
I have cultivation too. Why hasn't the Copper Lotus turned me into pills?
Was it because it had recognized me as its master?
Or did it only recognize the dead and not the living?
Hiss~
What was that sound?
Li Banfeng turned to glance at the gramophone. It seemed to have just vented a little steam.
I didn't light a fire, did I?
As he was wondering, the candle flame trembled, and a whirlwind swept through the Portable Abode.
Chu Yunlong's gray suit and white shirt shattered one after another. Even the Forward Hat on his head tore into strips of cloth.
The naked corpse twisted and warped without cease, eventually turning into a lump of paste-like congealed fat that entered the Lotus Heart of the Copper Lotus.
The Copper Lotus's petals immediately closed, its body covered in a halo of light. It was refining pills.
Tattered scraps of cloth littered the floor. Among them, Li Banfeng found a dagger—a finely made dagger that even came with a sheath.
He drew the dagger from its sheath. A chill of cold brilliance rushed toward him, proving that it was a rare and excellent weapon.
Quite a haul!
Li Banfeng was just about to examine the dagger carefully when another whirlwind rose in the Portable Abode.
The whirlwind still came from the Lotus Heart, and a powerful force snatched the dagger from Li Banfeng's hand.
Li Banfeng tried to grab the dagger back, but his hand was still a step too slow.
The dagger turned into paste and was swallowed into the Lotus Heart as well.
Was Gold Rimmed Glasses' fan swallowed the same way?
The fan had been refined into a rust-red pill. What would this dagger be refined into?
Li Banfeng instinctively clutched his sickle and shovel tighter, but after thinking it over, those two items had appeared near the Copper Lotus many times before, and the Copper Lotus seemed to have no interest in them.
What standards did the Copper Lotus use to select its materials?
Though he regretted losing the dagger, Li Banfeng continued searching through Chu Yunlong's belongings.
He found Chu Yunlong's wallet.
He carefully opened it, afraid that the Copper Lotus would swallow the banknotes inside.
He had nearly forgotten. Yesterday, he had brought back over two hundred thousand from Steward Feng, and the Copper Lotus had not touched any of it.
It was a lotus that did not love money.
Chu Yunlong's wallet contained 1,226 yuan, 8 jiao, and 2 fen in banknotes, along with six silver dollars. Li Banfeng pocketed the banknotes and casually tossed the silver dollars onto the bed.
While the Copper Lotus was still refining pills, Li Banfeng considered his current situation and his future plans.
The first question was, how could he return to Yuezhou?
Li Banfeng did not know what a travel permit was. Buying a train ticket through official channels would be very difficult.
The second question was, after returning to Yuezhou, how should he deal with the Dark Star Bureau?
Even if he found a travel permit, bought a ticket, and returned to Yuezhou, could he shake off the Dark Star Bureau's entanglement?
Clearly, he could not.
As long as the Copper Lotus remained in Li Banfeng's hands, he could never escape Xiao Zhengong's pursuit.
The third question was whether he should hand over the Copper Lotus in exchange for his own safety.
Li Banfeng quickly rejected that idea.
Because handing over the lotus would not keep him safe at all.
And who would he give it to?
He Jiaqing?
He Jiaqing was lying in the hospital and probably had not even woken up yet.
Even if he woke up, could he protect this Copper Lotus?
Give it to Third Uncle?
Or simply hand it straight to Xiao Zhengong?
Those two definitely wanted the Copper Lotus, but they definitely did not want anyone else to know it was in their hands.
In other words, the moment Li Banfeng handed the Copper Lotus over to them, they would immediately kill him to silence him.
Xiao Zhengong had already proven Li Banfeng's deduction through his actions. His order to the Big-Eyed Man was to shoot Li Banfeng dead, while his order to the Jiang Xiang Gang was to kill Li Banfeng and bring the treasure back.
From beginning to end, Xiao Zhengong had never intended to leave Li Banfeng a way out.
The Copper Lotus absolutely could not be handed over, but he still had to return to Yuezhou.
In Yuezhou, Xiao Zhengong did have some misgivings, while Medicine King Gully was clearly far wilder than Yuezhou.
But to return to Yuezhou, he first had to obtain a travel permit. Where was he supposed to get one?
Did Qin Xiaopang have connections?
Did Steward Feng have a way?
Li Banfeng plucked two bluish-green Lotus Seeds. The first quickly burst open, producing a rust-red iron bead exactly like the Rust Pill he had seen before.
At the sight of the Rust Pill, Li Banfeng's scalp went numb. He hurriedly threw the pill onto the ground.
Though he had moved quickly, Li Banfeng still felt a faint sting in his palm. This thing's toxicity and corrosiveness were far too strong. Even now, Li Banfeng had the urge to test it personally.
The previous Rust Pill had been refined from the fan. This Rust Pill should have been refined from that dagger.
Li Banfeng carefully put the Rust Pill into the eyeglass case. The two Rust Pills lay quietly inside, without any reaction to each other.
After a while, the second Lotus Seed burst open.
Li Banfeng peeled away the seed, and after it burst open, two completely crimson pills appeared.
Two?
When Gold Rimmed Glasses and Hu Gaozi had been refined, each person had only produced one pill.
This time, why had refining Chu Yunlong alone produced two pills?
Gold Rimmed Glasses and Hu Gaozi had entered the Dao Path, yet were cultivators without a level.
Chu Yunlong had produced more pills. Could it be because his cultivation was higher than theirs?
In other words, Chu Yunlong was very likely a first-layer cultivator.
But this first-layer cultivator was not very strong!
Could it be because I never gave him room to show what he could do?
"Brother Yunlong, I'm sorry. Next time—next time, I'll definitely let you show what you can do."
Li Banfeng swept the scraps of cloth scattered across the floor into a corner of the room, then lay on the bed and continued considering his options.
Since he could not return to Yuezhou anytime soon, he had to find a way to survive in Medicine King Gully for a while.
He was not short of money. At the very least, food and drink would not be a problem.
His living conditions needed to improve as much as possible, and he also needed to add more furniture.
He should try not to go out for the next couple of days. Chu Yunlong was dead, and the Jiang Xiang Gang's people would definitely be searching everywhere for him.
But he could not stay indoors either.
What was he supposed to do about his cultivation?
He had to walk fifty li every day. That was a necessary condition for a first-layer Travel Cultivator.
Should I just walk around inside this little room?
Li Banfeng got up and paced back and forth through the room.
Pacing in such a cramped space was extremely difficult for Li Banfeng. If he controlled his strength even slightly poorly, he would slam straight into a wall at more than twenty miles an hour.
By Li Banfeng's estimation, he walked back and forth in the Portable Abode for at least five hours, leaving himself bruised and battered.
He had basically brought his legs under control, but Li Banfeng could sense that his cultivation had not increased in the slightest.
Walking in circles in one small room clearly could not earn his own recognition. No matter how many steps he took, it did not count as a Travel Cultivator's cultivation.
But it was not suitable to go out now!
How wonderful it would have been if I could have become a pure House Cultivator from the start!
There was no helping it. This house could not produce a Home Spirit, and a House Cultivator's cultivation was destined never to reach a high level. In the future, he would still have to focus on being a Travel Cultivator.
Of course, Li Banfeng also remembered the Peddler's instructions. The gap between House Cultivator and Travel Cultivator could not exceed three layers. Once he returned to Yuezhou, he had to buy a house as quickly as possible. Even if it was small, he still had to nurture a Home Spirit.
That was all for later. Right now, he had to get through the foundational cultivation of a Travel Cultivator.
Li Banfeng left the Portable Abode and retrieved the key from the rubble of the abandoned farmhouse.
Dressed in a beige suit and wearing a black top hat, Li Banfeng pulled the brim low and sped through the wilderness.
Night had fallen. The abandoned village was empty and deserted. At first, Li Banfeng restrained his steps with all his might, but once he left the deserted village and reached an open plain, he no longer held back. He ran as fast as his legs could carry him, racing freely.
For a Travel Cultivator, running was an immensely pleasurable thing.
There were no roads in the wilderness, but to Li Banfeng, roads were everywhere. Running wild without restraint brought satisfaction and release from the inside out.
After running for more than an hour and passing several villages in succession, Li Banfeng felt a response from his cultivation. Today's foundational cultivation was enough.
He did not stop. He continued racing forward.
It was not because he had not run to his heart's content. It was because he was hungry and needed to find something to eat.
This was not difficult for him, because he remembered the roads. He remembered every place he had passed.
When he reached the entrance of a village, Li Banfeng looked at the stone stele there. Three words were written on it: Changliu Village.
There was still one household in the village with its lights on. Li Banfeng walked to the door, preparing to ask the owner for something to eat.
More precisely, it could not be called asking. It should be called buying.
This was the method Qin Xiaopang had taught Li Banfeng.
Calming himself, Li Banfeng carefully sensed his surroundings. Finding no danger, he knocked on the door.
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(End of chapter)
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