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Chapter 16: All the Cultivators in the World

Agrarian Cultivation, Bliss Cultivation, Gastronomic Cultivation, Travel Cultivation, Domestic Cultivation.

Li Banfeng had never heard of these terms before.

Now, he had to make a choice.

Monkey Qiu set Li Banfeng down, letting him lean against a tree in a semi-reclined position. "He can't move right now; give him a bowl of Soul-Reviving Soup first."

"Give it away?" The peddler shook his head. "I don't give anything for free here."

Monkey Qiu felt his inner suit pocket. "I'll pay for the soup. I didn't bring much cash today, so I'll owe you for now."

The peddler took a clay pot from the lower shelf of his wooden cabinet, added herbs and water, and set it over charcoal fire to boil the soup.

"Monkey Qiu, what's your relationship with this kid? Why are you being so good to him?" The peddler fanned the charcoal fire unhurriedly with a fan.

"He gave me food," Monkey Qiu replied simply.

The peddler asked again, "Who's paying for the initiation powder?"

Monkey Qiu said, "I'll pay. He can choose any path he wants."

After saying that, Monkey Qiu took a left hand out of his pocket—a left hand that had been half-eaten.

So it was him!

Li Banfeng suddenly realized that this person named Monkey Qiu was the one who had asked him for food on the train.

At the time, the man's voice had been so low that Li Banfeng couldn't distinguish its timbre.

Li Banfeng had given him two boxes of instant noodles, and he never expected that this man would save his life in return.

"Do you have any medicine? Help me reattach my hand." Monkey Qiu handed the left hand to the peddler.

After looking at the condition of the left hand, the peddler was reluctant to deal with it. "Isn't that miraculous doctor from Medicine King Gorge a friend of yours? Go to him; he's highly skilled."

Monkey Qiu had originally planned to go to the miraculous doctor, but since he had encountered the peddler, he didn't want to owe the doctor another favor.

Favors were hard to repay, and the peddler's prices were straightforward.

Monkey Qiu smiled. "Since I'm already here, I'll just ask you."

"Your hand is like this, and you still insist on coming to me!" The peddler grumbled as he rummaged through his cabinet for plaster. "How much plaster will this take? Next time, tell your wife to just gnaw on some meat to trick her stomach; don't eat the tendons too..."

Li Banfeng lay semi-reclined under the tree, watching the peddler take out several plasters.

Monkey Qiu then took out his left hand from his pants pocket.

To be precise, he didn't have a left hand; what he had in his pocket was only a bare left wrist.

"Align it yourself first!" The peddler heated the plaster over the fire. Monkey Qiu, holding the severed hand in his right hand, aligned its broken end with his severed wrist.

Once the plaster was heated, the peddler stepped forward and wrapped several pieces around the broken joint of the wrist, layer upon layer, as if taping the hand onto the wrist.

Stuck together?

Could that really work?

Although Li Banfeng had witnessed many unbelievable scenes along the way, this method of treating a severed hand seemed far too childish to him.

To stick a hand back on, you'd at least need some spit!

This also made Li Banfeng worry about his own condition. He could only breathe four or five times a minute, and his heart beat just over twenty times.

Wait, Monkey Qiu's little finger seemed to move.

Was I seeing things?

No, he wasn't.

Not just his little finger; all five of Monkey Qiu's fingers, including a ring finger that was nothing but bone, were moving slightly.

It really worked!

"It's just reattached, don't rush to move it!" The peddler cautioned. He then brought some powdered medicine, applied it to Monkey Qiu's left hand, and immediately wrapped it tightly with gauze.

"Don't get it wet for ten days, and don't remove the plaster for a month. When we meet next month, remember to bring the money so we can settle the bill!"

Monkey Qiu nodded upon hearing this, got into a rickshaw, and left.

He left!

What about me?

Li Banfeng watched the peddler with trepidation.

The peddler checked the heat, picked up a rag to protect his hand, took the clay pot off the charcoal fire, and poured the medicinal soup into a bowl.

"Young man, time for your medicine." The peddler took out a funnel, placed it in Li Banfeng's mouth, held the funnel with one hand, and poured the soup in with the other.

A warm current surged through Li Banfeng's stomach. He felt his eyelids grow heavy and soon fell asleep.

An hour later, Li Banfeng opened his eyes. His body could move again.

The peddler was busy with business. A young man, eighteen or nineteen years old, was buying medicine powder.

The young man was about 1.7 meters tall and weighed around 85 kilograms. His face was as round as his body.

He squinted his small eyes and made his choice with a solemn expression.

"Gastronomic Cultivation! I've chosen it!"

"Good!" The peddler waved his hand, opened a drawer on the upper level of his cabinet, scooped out a small spoonful of medicine powder with a distinctive wooden spoon, placed it on a piece of kraft paper, wrapped it up, and handed it to Little Fatty.

Little Fatty handed sixty thousand Huan Kingdom notes to the peddler, then opened the powder and was about to put it into his mouth when the peddler called out, "Wait!"

Little Fatty glared. "What do you want? I've paid! Are you trying to raise the price now?"

The peddler scrutinized Little Fatty but didn't respond.

Behind Little Fatty stood a well-dressed man, also there to buy medicine powder. He chuckled at Little Fatty. "You really don't understand anything. The peddler is saving you!"

The man appeared to be in his twenties, wearing a fedora, a suit, a vest over his shirt, and a tie. He was handsome and dashing, and behind him were five attendants and a chauffeur, indicating his unusual status.

Little Fatty turned around and said, "I paid the money. Why can't I take the medicine?"

The man looked at Little Fatty with disdain. "Can you even eat this medicine? This is an initiating agent prepared by generations of ancestors with countless efforts. Its potency is incredibly strong. If you just eat it like that, won't your intestines rupture?"

The peddler, tidying his cabinet, said, "This medicine is for external application, not for consumption."

Little Fatty was stunned. Holding the medicine packet, he asked, "Where do I apply it?"

The peddler said, "As long as it touches the skin, you can apply it anywhere convenient for you."

The well-dressed man behind him advised, "Choose a fleshy area; this medicine hurts a lot.

"I saw a woman who applied the medicine to her plump buttocks—her buttocks were over a foot thick, and she still couldn't walk from the pain!"

"I'm not afraid of pain!" Little Fatty lifted his shirt, revealing his pale stomach, and said to the peddler, "Applying this will make me a first-level Gastronomic Cultivator, right?"

The peddler shook his head. "You've misunderstood again. This powder can only initiate you; it won't advance your level."

Little Fatty angrily said, "Isn't this a scam? Such expensive medicine, and it won't even get me to the first level?"

The peddler closed the drawer, unwilling to explain further.

The rich man behind him grew impatient. "If you don't understand anything, find someone who does and ask them, don't make a fool of yourself here!

"This is just an initiation powder. Advancing levels isn't that easy. To reach the first level, you have to pass a test!"

Little Fatty looked puzzled. "Pass what test?"

The rich man also couldn't quite remember. "Gastronomic Cultivation, I think it requires eating a lot..."

The peddler said, "To reach the first level of Gastronomic Cultivation, you need to eat twenty catties (about 10 kilograms) of food at one time."

"Twenty catties..." Little Fatty was a bit nervous. "How long is 'at one time'? Does eating for a whole day count as one time?"

The peddler shook his head. "What are you thinking? 'At one time' means within an hour. It doesn't count after an hour has passed."

Upon hearing this, Little Fatty was stumped. How could he possibly eat twenty catties of food in an hour?

Seeing that Little Fatty remained silent for a while, the peddler waved his hand, and the sixty thousand notes reappeared in his palm.

"If you regret it now, it's still not too late. I'll refund your money."

Little Fatty gritted his teeth and slapped the medicine powder onto his stomach.

As the powder touched his skin, it quickly vanished. Little Fatty's face turned pale, and he staggered to the tree, sitting down next to Li Banfeng.

"It hurts, it hurts so much!"

"How much does it hurt?" Li Banfeng asked curiously.

"It hurts more than being burned by fire; I can't take it anymore!" Little Fatty's face twitched uncontrollably from the pain.

The rich man watched the suffering Little Fatty, his expression somewhat complex.

"It's going to hurt anyway, so let's get it over with!" The rich man approached the peddler. "I want the Bliss Cultivation powder."

The peddler looked at the rich man and asked, "You don't seem to be short on money, so why do you want to take the Bliss Cultivation path?"

The rich man said, "This path suits me best."

The peddler chuckled. "Wouldn't it be better to practice Domestic Cultivation and increase your cultivation level by just lying at home?"

The rich man shook his head. "I can't stay put. Let's not talk anymore, I just want Bliss Cultivation!"

The peddler said, "Let me warn you: to advance in Bliss Cultivation, you need to do it ten times a day, without interruption, and you must persist for two months to reach the first level."

Ten times a day?

Li Banfeng was dumbfounded!

What kind of activity was that?

It couldn't be what I'm thinking, right?

Two months, ten times every day!

This young master is certainly vigorous!

"I understand the rules!" The rich man had his subordinate bring fifty thousand Huan Kingdom notes, which he handed to the peddler. The peddler took the money, wrapped a packet of powder, and gave it to the rich man.

An attendant beside him said, "Young Master, apply it to your buttocks. This medicine really hurts!"

The rich man snorted. "Do you think I'm the kind of person who would take off his pants in front of so many people?"

The rich man unbuttoned his collar and slapped the medicine powder onto his chest.

As soon as the powder touched his skin, the rich man's legs went weak, and he nearly fell to the ground.

Several attendants behind him stepped forward to support him, but the rich man waved them off. "I don't need you. I can stand."

He stumbled to the tree and sat down next to Li Banfeng. Though sweat poured from him, he gritted his teeth and made no sound.

Li Banfeng was truly puzzled. "My friends, since this medicine hurts so much, why didn't you wait until you got home to apply it? That way, you'd have someone to look after you."

Little Fatty had recovered considerably. Seeing someone even more ignorant than himself, a sense of superiority instantly swelled within him, and he couldn't help but laugh.

"You really don't understand anything! This is the peddler's rule.

"If you buy initiation medicine from the peddler, you must use it in front of him. You can only leave if there are no adverse reactions within half an hour; otherwise, the peddler bears no responsibility for any issues that arise."

The rich man looked at Li Banfeng's attire, and enduring the severe pain, asked, "Friend, your clothes... it seems you're not from around here?"

Little Fatty also looked at him strangely. "Did you come down from that train? I've heard that those who come from that train have been to the Nine Heavens Immortal Realm!"

The rich man shook his head. "Not the Nine Heavens Immortal Realm, but people from Outer Provinces. I haven't been to Outer Provinces myself, but someone in my family has.

"My surname is Ma, and I'm the fifth child in my family. Acquaintances call me Ma Wu. May I know your names?"

Though this young master came from a wealthy background, he was not pretentious.

Little Fatty clasped his fist and said, "My surname is Qin, and I'm the ninth child in my family. Acquaintances call me Qin Little Fatty."

Qin Little Fatty?

Does that have anything to do with being the ninth child?

Li Banfeng said, "My surname is Li, and I'm the seventh child in my family. Acquaintances call me Li Qi."

"Five, Seven, Nine?" Ma Wu was momentarily stunned.

Qin Little Fatty chuckled. "Consecutive odd numbers—that's a kind of fate!"

Perhaps genuinely charmed by this connection, Ma Wu initiated conversation. "Brother Li, which path have you chosen?"

"Path?" Li Banfeng didn't quite understand.

Ma Wu paused for a moment, then understood Li Banfeng's bewilderment. "I remember now. In the Outer Provinces, the path of cultivation isn't called a 'path'; it's called a 'profession.' And cultivators aren't called 'cultivators'; they're called 'Dark Energetics.'"

Dark Energetics!

Li Banfeng had heard of this concept before. The people from the Dark Star Bureau who were pursuing him were all Dark Energetics.

That big-eyed man could ooze oil from his body. What was his profession?

It should be Gastronomic Cultivation, right?

He must have eaten a lot of oil beforehand, which is why oil could seep from his body.

He Jiaqing was likely also a Dark Energetic.

He could monitor from a distance. What was his profession?

So, what was called 'initiation' was actually becoming a Dark Energetic.

What the peddler in front of him was selling were potions to become Dark Energetics.

He seemed to sell more than just potions; he also sold daily necessities.

An old man came to him to buy candles.

A child came to him to buy rock candy.

And a woman brought her own porcelain bottle to buy vanishing cream from him. The woman gave him a silver coin, which the peddler verified, then filled the woman's bottle with a large spoonful.

While the peddler was busy with his business, Ma Wu asked again, "Brother Li, which profession have you chosen?"

Li Banfeng shook his head. "I haven't decided yet."

Ma Wu took a water flask from his attendant, took a sip, and, while the pain slightly eased, advised Li Banfeng:

"Since you haven't decided yet, don't act rashly. The peddler only carries five types of medicine powder. If you don't find any satisfactory, just wait for next time. Once a path is chosen, there's no going back."

Li Banfeng was even more surprised. "Agrarian Cultivation, Bliss Cultivation, Gastronomic Cultivation, Travel Cultivation, Domestic Cultivation—are there other choices besides these five paths?"

"Of course!" Qin Little Fatty's expression held a hint of excitement. "Literary Cultivation, Martial Cultivation, Poison Cultivation, Medicine Cultivation, Scrying Cultivation, Thought Cultivation, Insect Cultivation, Plant Cultivation, Smoke Cultivation, Alcohol Cultivation, Emotion Cultivation, Sleep Cultivation... A hundred paths in the world, ten thousand cultivations beneath the heavens!"

PS: Thanks to Falcon White. White Falcon County's glory remains.

Three updates today, with one more chapter at midnight.

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