Chapter 39: Wind Rising on the Plain

Li Banfeng had a wonderful dream all night, in which a goose feather was constantly tickling his ear.

Stepping out of the Portable Abode, Li Banfeng realized it was already noon again and that he needed a way to tell time. Once he returned to Yuezhou, all these matters would be easily resolved; a mobile phone would suffice. It was getting late, and he wasn't sure if he could still buy a train ticket.

Li Banfeng strode out of the Portable Abode and walked several hundred meters down the street when he suddenly felt a strange sensation in his body. Li Banfeng couldn't quite describe what it was. He scanned the street for any kind of vehicle—a horse-drawn carriage or a rickshaw, anything would do. As he looked around, he noticed pedestrians occasionally glancing at him.

*What are they looking at me for?* He was dressed impeccably in a suit and leather shoes, topped with a fedora.

The pedestrians weren't malicious; they were simply curious. *Strange, how did I know they weren't malicious? Why were there so many strange reactions today?*

The pedestrians indeed had no ill intent; they weren't looking at his attire but at Li Banfeng's unusually fast pace. He wasn't running; he was just walking casually down the street with his hands in his pockets. Yet, his feet were moving in a way that propelled him forward at an astonishing speed, along a path incomprehensible to ordinary people. By the time Li Banfeng noticed the anomaly, he had already reached the end of the street.

*I didn't mean to walk so fast...*

Watching the houses on both sides of the street rapidly recede, Li Banfeng tried his best to control his steps. He hadn't consciously exerted any effort, nor did he feel the slightest fatigue. His legs, however, seemed to have motors, unable to stop unless he hit the brakes. Even with the brakes on, they were difficult to control. Li Banfeng could stand still, but as soon as he took a step forward, he seemed to rush ahead at twenty miles per hour.

*This isn't good. How have I forgotten how to walk normally? Was this caused by the poisonous mist from Bitter Mist Mountain? Was this a temporary symptom or irreversible damage?*

Despite his best efforts to control himself, Li Banfeng still reached the edge of Ligou in a very short time. He had intended to find a quiet place to practice controlling his legs, but as he passed a large banyan tree, a rickshaw beneath it caught his eye. *First, take a rickshaw to the train station, buy a ticket, board the train, enter the Portable Abode, and then train my legs.*

While he pondered, his legs kept moving, covering another few dozen meters. Li Banfeng then had to backtrack with difficulty to stop in front of the rickshaw puller and ask, "How much to the train station?"

The rickshaw puller took a puff of his pipe, looked up at Li Banfeng, and chuckled, "You're going to the station; do you still need a ride?"

Li Banfeng stared at the rickshaw puller for a moment. He recognized this puller; Monkey Qiu had hired him before, the one with "fiery wheels." This was the man who had pulled Li Banfeng from the station to the peddler's location, for which Monkey Qiu had paid a full five hundred.

The rickshaw puller was right; the station wasn't far from Ligou, and at Li Banfeng's current speed, he could get there in the blink of an eye. But Li Banfeng didn't know the way.

The puller stood up, pointing to the dirt road ahead: "Follow this road north for three and a half li, turn east for two li, then north again for less than one li until you reach a fork. Walk another two li from there, and you'll be at the train station."

Li Banfeng shook his head. "Too troublesome. I'll take the ride."

The puller, still with the cigarette in his mouth, said, "What's troublesome about that? You've already reached the first level of Travel Cultivation; surely you can find your way?"

Indeed. This bizarre speed wasn't caused by the poisonous mist from Bitter Mist Mountain; it was a result of his Travel Cultivation advancing to a new level. *Why had his Travel Cultivation advanced?* Because Li Banfeng had stayed in a dangerous place for an entire day and night. While on Bitter Mist Mountain, the choking poisonous mist had disoriented him, making him forget the peddler's warning: staying in a dangerous place for a day and a night leads to an advancement in Travel Cultivation. Bitter Mist Mountain was indeed a dangerous place, which meant Li Banfeng had passed the Travel Cultivation test and become a first-level cultivator.

His Travel Cultivation advancing was a good thing. However, it shouldn't advance too quickly, or it would face a backlash from his Home Cultivation. But there was nothing he could do; the Portable Abode couldn't produce 'Home Spirits', preventing his Home Cultivation from advancing. For a while, his Home Cultivation would inevitably be suppressed by his Travel Cultivation. All Li Banfeng could do was try to control the gap between the two.

"Why didn't I feel anything yesterday?" Li Banfeng murmured to himself.

The rickshaw puller asked, "When did you pass the first level?"

"The day before yesterday, on Bitter Mist Mountain," Li Banfeng answered truthfully.

The puller chuckled, "Passing the day before yesterday and reaching a new level today is quite fast. Most people have to wait three to five days. Young man, you have good fortune. You should hurry to the station."

Li Banfeng said to the puller, "I'm too lazy to walk. Since you're pulling a rickshaw here, aren't you going to take the business?"

The puller was momentarily stunned. "You insist on taking my rickshaw? Do you know my prices? Others charge eight yuan, but I'll need two hundred from you."

"Two hundred? I'll pay!" Li Banfeng pulled out two hundred banknotes and handed them to the puller. Li Banfeng felt a certain familiarity with this rickshaw puller, and he was convinced that paying two hundred yuan was the right decision.

The puller felt the texture of the banknotes and chuckled, "Alright, but I'm warning you, my rickshaw will get there in the blink of an eye."

"Can you go a bit slower?" Li Banfeng made what seemed like a very unreasonable request.

The puller understood Li Banfeng's meaning. "Going slower is possible, but the slower I go, the higher the price. Five hundred yuan for 'two characters'—do you agree?" "Two characters" referred to two digits on the clock face, indicating a ten-minute ride.

Li Banfeng nodded. "Agreed."

The puller sighed, "Such a juicy offer, I can't refuse. Get in."

Li Banfeng got into the rickshaw, and the puller, seemingly unhurried, started walking north.

Li Banfeng asked, "What level of Travel Cultivation are you?" He could tell the puller was a Travel Cultivator. The first time he rode with him, the puller had already demonstrated his abilities, though Li Banfeng hadn't understood the concept of Travel Cultivation back then.

The puller didn't answer. "For five hundred yuan, you want to ask about my cultivation level? Do you think that's fair? Those 'two characters' pass quickly; ask something else."

"Do Travel Cultivators normally walk this fast?"

"Do I look like I'm walking fast?" the puller replied. As he spoke, he walked step by step at a normal human pace.

"But why am I walking so fast?"

The puller explained, "The way you were walking just now is called 'Wind from Level Ground,' a skill of first-level Travel Cultivation. Newly ascended Travel Cultivators can't control the strength in their feet. It takes more practice to master the ebb and flow."

"How do I practice?"

The puller pointed to a hand pump well by the street. "Have you ever used a hand pump? Before, walking was like pumping water with your arms, splashing it out. Now, you need to control your strength so the water flow is thinner than a hemp rope. Only then can you walk like an ordinary person."

*Thinner than a hemp rope?* "That sounds difficult to control."

"There's a knack to it. First, you rein in the strength from your hips, inching forward little by little. Then, you rein in the second burst of strength from your kneecaps, moving forward by extending your hips. Next are your ankles, then your toes. You rein in the strength section by section. As long as you're perceptive enough, you should get the hang of it in about a day."

Li Banfeng gave a wry smile. "After reaching a new level, I have to learn how to walk again?"

"Don't complain about the trouble. You'll stumble and fall quite a bit at first. But once you master the trick, walking sixty or seventy li in an hour will be effortless."

With that speed, completing the basic daily cultivation of twenty li would take less than half an hour. But the problem was...

"Is twenty li a day enough for a first-level Travel Cultivator?"

"Not enough!" The puller shook his head repeatedly. "If you're walking in ordinary places, you need at least fifty li a day."

*Fifty li?* *That's not a big problem.* "What do you mean by 'ordinary places'?"

"Streets and alleys, those are ordinary places."

"What about 'unordinary places'?"

"Go up mountains—the steeper, the better. Going into water works too—the deeper, the better. There's a muddy swamp in Lanqing Village; if you can walk two li through it, that day's cultivation is sufficient. On Yangcha Mountain, there's a Blade Ghost Ridge. If you walk one li along that ridge, not only is your cultivation met, but you can also save up a day's worth of time. The essence of Travel Cultivation lies in its perilous nature. The more dangerous the terrain, the faster your cultivation advances."

Li Banfeng was deeply impressed. "On Bitter Mist Mountain, cultivation must advance very quickly, too?"

The puller shook his head. "I advise you to go there less often. People ascend and descend haphazardly; you have no idea how many lives have been lost on that mountain. It's pure luck that you came back alive. You're truly fortunate to have survived exposure to 'Heavenly Light'. With such good fortune, you should cherish your life. It's not worth risking such a good life for a few coins."

"Going to Bitter Mist Mountain was also for money, and money is always hard to earn," Li Banfeng said, feeling deeply about this.

The puller shook his head with a smile. "There are plenty of easy ways to make money. Pulling a rickshaw is good business. Last time I took you on that urgent trip, I earned five hundred in one go. Today, another five hundred. I hear that this year, major pharmacies are only paying twenty-five yuan per snake-spot chrysanthemum. You tell me, whose money is easier to earn?"

By his account, the rickshaw business certainly seemed more profitable.

The puller chuckled, "You look down on this profession, thinking pulling a rickshaw is shameful. But I look down on you daredevils; I think your lives are cheap."

Li Banfeng didn't argue about professions with the puller, instead asking, "How should I find suitable places for cultivation? Places that are somewhat dangerous, but not overly so?"

The puller answered succinctly, "When it comes to dangerous places, you must act according to your strength. As for dangerous people, keep your distance. Bitter Mist Mountain is both a dangerous place and full of dangerous people; you should never go to such a place!"

"How do I distinguish between dangerous places and dangerous people?"

"Travel Cultivators can sense danger; this is called 'seeking fortune and avoiding calamity.' It's a technique exclusive to first-level Travel Cultivators, allowing you to discern not only dangerous places but also dangerous people."

Li Banfeng's eyes lit up. "A first-level Travel Cultivator has two techniques?"

PS: November 1st, Salad is asking for votes from all esteemed readers.