Chapter 310

On the twelfth day, Li Banfeng led the group to Meng Yu's territory.

Last night's heavy rain flooded Cao Zhida's tent; he seemed to have caught a chill, speaking to Li Banfeng with a thick nasal tone: "I tell you, those hunters really didn't get the better end of this deal—this dump, who'd want to be lord here?"

Li Banfeng said: "I'll tell you this: after reclamation succeeds, you must come regularly to tend the land. Letting it lie fallow is forbidden—it's the Lord of the Land's rule, written into the contract."

Cao Zhida grimaced: "Seventh Master, isn't this cruel? Why not just surrender and admit we failed the reclamation?"

"You can't surrender during reclamation here. You fight until death or victory."

The hunters panicked: "That's impossible! If you can't win, you can't win—don't throw your lives away!"

Li Banfeng nodded: "I'll speak with the Lord of the Land—this rule is too unreasonable."

At Li Banfeng's plot, the giant toad was inspecting the posts of the mountain wolf and golden eagle. Li Banfeng was satisfied and slipped him five pills: "As long as you do your duty, you'll get one each month—this is your advance."

The giant toad puffed out his chest: "With those words from Seventh Master, not a single mosquito will fly into your territory!"

Zzzzz~

As he spoke, a mosquito actually flew right up to them.

The giant toad shot out his tongue and swallowed the mosquito on the spot.

With dozens of people suddenly arriving on the territory, Meng Yu soon arrived.

Unlike other Lords of the Land, she didn't appear as a ghostfire—she revealed her true form right before everyone.

The hunters stared, dumbfounded.

Where did this beauty come from?

Is she a rogue spirit?

If all rogue spirits looked like this, they could've made Fifth Master's legend too.

Meng Yu wanted to say she was the Lord of the Land, but Lords of the Land never revealed themselves so openly.

Li Banfeng, fearing the hunters would be frightened, introduced her: "This young lady is the emissary sent by the Lord of the Land."

Emissary?

There are emissaries during reclamation?

Never seen one before.

Since Seventh Master said she was an emissary, the hunters naturally didn't doubt— they crowded forward, introducing themselves.

"Sister, I'm useless at everything else, but reclamation? I'm the best. In Lanyang Village, I'm second to none."

"Don't listen to him—Fifth Master is first in Lanyang Village, and after him, it's me!"

"They're all blowing smoke—I'll say something serious: I've done reclamation for over ten years, never failed once."

Cao Zhida shouted: "What's going on? You've got one-tenth the skill and you're bragging like you've got twelve—embarrassing!"

The hunters resented it, but none dared defy Cao Zhida.

Cao Zhida stepped forward, bowing: "Miss, I'm an expert in reclamation—tell me how much land you want, and I'll handle it."

Meng Yu beamed: "Ten li?"

Cao Zhida slapped his chest: "Leave it to me."

The hunters froze in shock, retreating far away.

Ten li?

Isn't that suicide?

Even Li Banfeng was stunned.

"What do you mean 'leave it to you'?" Li Banfeng grabbed Cao Zhida and said to Meng Yu, "We can't reclaim ten li—maximum one li."

"Only one li?" Meng Yu looked disappointed.

Cao Zhida told Li Banfeng: "Seventh Master, the Lord of the Land sent an emissary—we must follow her lead. That's adapting to local customs."

Li Banfeng stared at Cao Zhida, frowning.

What's wrong with Old Cao?

Meng Yu is beautiful, yes, but Cao Zhida was once a branch manager of the Lu family—he's seen plenty of beauties. He shouldn't be acting like this.

Li Banfeng pulled Meng Yu aside and whispered: "These people are mine—I'm in charge. They can reclaim at most one li."

Meng Yu thought a moment: "Fine—one li each…"

"Not one li each—only one li total!"

"Fifty people reclaiming just one li?" Meng Yu refused. "Li Qi, are you mocking me?"

Li Banfeng wasn't mocking Meng Yu—he'd recruited these hunters, none knew each other, and he didn't know their cultivation levels. He wanted to test them with one li first.

Meng Yu asked: "If you do it this way, who becomes the landlord?"

Li Banfeng said: "Whoever proves most capable—who can bear the burden of the land. The rest won't come empty-handed—I'll pay them fairly for their labor. If someone truly has the strength to reclaim alone, we'll adjust later."

Meng Yu reluctantly agreed, but Cao Zhida refused—he insisted on reclaiming his own plot.

Meng Yu was willing, Cao Zhida was willing—Li Banfeng had no more grounds to argue.

As before, everything was kept simple: Meng Yu marked the boundaries and began the trial immediately.

After three days of fighting, both plots were reclaimed.

These fifty-odd hunters all had reclamation experience—reclaiming one li wasn't hard.

But Cao Zhida struggled—he fought alone for three days, sustaining many wounds.

Meng Yu admired him greatly: "Among all these men, you're the most capable."

That remark backfired.

Cao Zhida slapped his chest: "Miss, give me three more li—I'll show you my true skill!"

Li Banfeng grabbed Cao Zhida: "Are you mad?"

Cao Zhida looked calmly at Li Banfeng: "Seventh Master, I always follow your orders. Just this once, let me prove myself to Miss Meng."

Li Banfeng said: "Do you want fame more than your life?"

"I don't care," Cao Zhida shook his head. "As long as I can stay by Miss Meng's side, I'm willing to die here."

Cao Zhida was determined to reclaim the land—no one could stop him.

The giant toad leapt forward and said to Li Banfeng: "Seventh Master, this man's eaten sweet snot."

Li Banfeng snapped: "Nonsense! Snot's salty!"

"I don't mean literal snot—I mean a kind of rogue spirit. According to texts, it's called the Qingshang Slug."

"Rogue spirit? One that doesn't answer to the Lord of the Land?"

"A rogue? Someone who doesn't obey the local deity?"

The toad puffed his cheeks: "You're right, rogue spirits don't answer to the Lord of the Land—and they're all high-level. The Qingshang Slug forms when the souls of several emotional cultivators fuse together. Over time in new land, they lose their ghostly form and take on the body of a slug, sneaking into lovers' nostrils."

"Cao Brother clearly has feelings for Miss Meng—he's been infected by sweet snot. This is serious now."

Li Banfeng looked at Meng Yu: "Doesn't she know about this rogue spirit?"

"Guk-guk, as far as I know, when she was human, she rarely came to new land, and now she's only been Lord of the Land for less than a year. Sweet snot is rare—she likely doesn't recognize it. Besides, the only symptom of sweet snot is excessive attachment—no other signs. Most people can't tell. I only suspected because Cao Brother's nose sounded stuffy."

"Is it deadly?"

"Depends. Cao Brother is deeply in love; Miss Meng has no feelings. Even if we stop his reclamation, he'll die of lovesickness eventually."

Cao Zhida's gaze never left Meng Yu. Li Banfeng asked the toad: "Can he be saved?"

"Since you asked, I'm willing to try. Success depends on his own fate. Can you get him to sleep?"

Getting Old Cao to sleep wasn't easy—he'd fought for three days without rest, yet he was wide awake.

Li Banfeng sent everyone away and took out Ling Miaoying's music box.

He wound it up, turned the little figure so its face faced Cao Zhida.

This was the method his wife taught him.

He flipped the switch. The figure paused, locked onto Cao Zhida, then began to rotate slowly.

A gentle piano melody drifted toward Cao Zhida. After a moment, he fell asleep.

Li Banfeng put away the music box. The toad leapt to Cao Zhida's side, extended his tongue toward his nose.

A long tongue wriggled on Cao Zhida's nostril, its tip splitting into two antennae.

The antennae brushed the nostril opening—another pair emerged from inside.

Li Banfeng put away the music box; the toad leapt to Cao Zhida's side and stuck out its tongue toward his nose.

It really was this rogue spirit.

The slug slowly crawled out. The giant toad made no sound.

Until the slug had emerged halfway, the toad whipped his tongue, seized it, and dragged it from Cao Zhida's nose.

Was that it?

The slug oozed out bit by bit, and the giant toad made not a single sound throughout.

Cao Zhida was saved—but now the toad was in danger.

The Qingshang Slug was an expert at parasitism—it could burrow into the toad's nose in an instant.

The toad had prepared—he flicked his tongue, flinging the slug to the ground.

Had Li Banfeng not heard the toad's description, he might've crushed it underfoot.

But if he'd stepped on it, the slug might not die—it was a fusion of emotional cultivators' souls, likely splitting into several smaller slugs to torment other beings.

Li Banfeng had made special preparations.

If not for the giant toad's description of this slug's traits, Li Banfeng might have stepped on it and crushed Wan Chuan.

But if he had simply stepped on it, the slug might not have died—it is a collective of emotional cultivation souls, and could easily split into several smaller slugs to plague other living beings.

Li Banfeng made special preparations for this.

The slug landed and sensed a woman standing before it.

The woman's eyes shimmered with tenderness, gazing at the slug on the ground with deep affection.

Without hesitation, the slug surged toward the woman and leapt up into her nostril.

Li Banfeng gave the giant toad an elixir as payment and signaled for it to leave quickly.

The toad immediately jumped away, and Li Banfeng took the projector back to his personal quarters.

The woman was an image projected by the projector.

When the projector shut off its lens, the image vanished, and the slug plopped onto the ground.

The Lady used a needle to pierce the slug, bound it with steam, and sang joyfully: "Qing Shang Slug—this is a precious thing!"

The two needles moved up and down, swiftly dismembering the Qing Shang Slug; six soul fragments of cultivation, male and female, cried out at varying pitches as they entered the trumpet's mouth in turn.

The steam dissipated, leaving only a clump of mucus on the ground. Li Banfeng brought over Honglian: "Eat."

Honglian didn't mind at all—she cleaned up the mucus completely.

Li Banfeng sighed: "You really aren't picky."

Huh-chi~

The Lady sang: "Of course she isn't picky—this thing is exceedingly rare. Husband, you can't let her eat it all. I still left some spiritual essence inside—she must refine it into a spiritual artifact!"

Spiritual artifact.

What should she refine it into?

Li Banfeng counted his weapons.

The scythe cannot be reforged lightly—it suits him perfectly.

The shovel also suits him well; no need to consider remaking it for now.

What other weapon would be suitable?

Li Banfeng scanned the room; the gloves clutched Tang Dao, trembling.

For this bit of snot, Li Banfeng would never reforged a magic treasure.

There was one pair of weapons he had never used comfortably.

The Mandarin Duck Daggers—too complex. Li Banfeng placed them before the Bronze Lotus, which pouted for a long time before finally accepting them.

When the lotus heart bloomed, Li Banfeng noticed that Ling Miaoying's lotus seed had fully ripened.

He peeled it out, waited a moment, and six Jin Yuandan exploded forth.

The previous exchange had still been effective—at least this time, the result was truly Jin Yuandan.

"Ah Lian, isn't this number a bit low?"

PS: Banfeng had always known the numbers in his heart.

(End of Chapter)