Steam Era: The Lord of 'Puluo' Chapter 1250 601: The Road to Fool's City

Li Banfeng officially became a Crazy Cultivation cultivator and is now running a business with four gates.

To be honest, he was unsure about it. He had never heard of anyone having four cultivation levels and was clueless on how to deal with it if one of them backfired.

"Sister, to tell you the truth, I still have many Taoist Sects in me. If I had known our Taoist Sect required applying medicinal powder, I would have seriously reconsidered, because dealing with a cultivation backlash isn't easy."

Ah Yi asked, "Are you at the Above the Clouds' Third or Fourth Layer? Reaching this level means you don't need to worry."

Li Banfeng was pleasantly surprised, "Reaching this level means there's no backlash?"

Ah Yi smiled, "Don't worry, brother. A backlash is inevitable."

"Sister, I am not hoping for a backlash..."

"Don't worry, our Taoist Sect is very gentle. Cultivators above the clouds have strong lives; even if there's a backlash, it won't be life-threatening."

"This Taoist Sect is gentle?" Li Banfeng laughed bitterly, "Is the result of a backlash going mad?"

"Going mad is a good thing! The crazier we get, the higher our cultivation level, so there's nothing to worry about with backlash.

Brother, we never have to worry about anything in the future. The essential principle of our Taoist Sect is never to hold onto what you don't want to do, and never to wait on what you do want to do. By understanding these two sentences, you can solidify the foundation of our Taoist Sect."

"Just these two sentences?"

"Don't underestimate these two sentences. In our Taoist Sect, maybe not even a single person has truly comprehended them."

"Not even a single person?" Li Banfeng looked at Ah Yi.

Ah Yi nodded seriously, "Even counting me, the Grandmaster of this Taoist Sect, not a single person. The difficulty here is beyond your understanding because you don't yet know the deeper meaning of these sentences,

Originally, you should have stayed in the village for ten years or so, but you insisted on leaving. Now you only have three days; even if you are talented, who knows how much you can comprehend in these three days.

This is your decision; I never worry about others' affairs. How you cultivate in the future depends on your own destiny."

...

The next morning, Li Banfeng followed Ah Yi to the gourd belly.

In the gourd belly lived people who had signed the Contract Book.

These people reside in three villages, the first being Buwu Village.

Upon entering Buwu Village, Li Banfeng saw a girl in her twenties sitting at the doorway wiping her tears.

Ah Yi introduced the girl to Li Banfeng.

Her name was Ami. She lived in the countryside, and her father went to the city to work. After earning money, he found another woman to live with.

Her mother, upon hearing the news, remarried and left her and her younger brother with their elderly grandfather.

The grandfather gambled and got his leg broken in a fight, rendering him bedridden and in need of expensive medical care.

Her younger brother got into a fight and was sentenced to three years. He hasn't been released yet, and there are huge compensations pending.

She was bearing all this alone, working three jobs and spending all her earnings on paying off the debts. Even twenty bucks was too much for a new piece of clothing, but no matter how much she scrimped, she couldn't fill such a hole.

A friend suggested a quick-money job to her, and when she was about to make up her mind to do it, Ayun brought her to Gourd Village.

There was a place where she could escape from everything outside; this was her blessing.

Living in the Gourd Waist for half a month, she was at the point of deciding whether to stay or leave.

According to the rules of Gourd Village, she had two choices: either stay and cultivate properly in Gourd Village, or leave and never return.

Ami chose to stay. She couldn't bear to go back to such a life, but even after living here for more than a year, she cried at least once a day.

She couldn't let go of her grandfather or her brother.

Seeing the village chief approach, Ami quickly wiped her tears, lowered her head, and stood at the doorway.

Ah Yi, looking serious, scolded Ami, "You useless thing, all you do is cry every day. With you crying like this, how can the field still have a harvest?"

Ami dared not speak, and from behind Li Banfeng, a shadow appeared.

He struggled to retract the shadow and sincerely asked Ah Yi, "What does her crying have to do with the field's harvest?"

Ah Yi glared at Li Banfeng, "Isn't it obvious? With her crying every day, she's surely pouring tears into the fields."

Li Banfeng still didn't understand, "Does pouring tears into the fields affect the harvest?"

"Of course, it does! Tears are all saltwater. If you water the fields with saltwater, how could the crops grow? Look at Gourd Head's fields; the harvest is abundant all year round. Now look at hers — how much grain can she harvest in a year?"

This isn't right?

"The amount of grain you harvest annually depends on farming techniques, right?"

Ah Yi shook her head, "There are no farming techniques, only Crazy Cultivation."

"Can Crazy Cultivation determine the growth of crops?"

"Of course it can. It's one of the three major techniques of our Taoist Sect, called Five Grains Harvest. However, brother, your cultivation level is still shallow, and you probably can't learn this technique yet."

There are many Crazy Cultivation techniques that Li Banfeng couldn't understand, but this girl, Ami, was indeed going hungry. Despite working hard, her field's yields were poor, and her rice jar was almost empty.

"Anyway, she hasn't entered the Taoist Sect, so I shouldn't be concerned with her. Let her cry here until she dies!" Ah Yi turned and left.

The village chief's wife pushed a cart, seized the opportunity to enter the courtyard, and placed a bag of sweet potatoes next to Ami's wall.

Ami hurriedly waved her hand and said, "Uncle, please don't give me food, or the village chief will scold you again."

The village chief's wife smiled, "Child, keep it to eat. The village chief scolds me because she cares. She couldn't bear to see you go hungry either."