When Li Banfeng opened his eyes, an exceptionally beautiful woman was cleaning his wounds.

Halfway through, the woman praised, "This little thing is quite lively!"

Li Banfeng hurriedly sat up, put on his clothes, and looked at the woman. "Do we know each other?"

The woman smiled. "You just activated a wasteland in my territory, and now you're saying you don't know me?"

"You're the local land deity?"

The woman nodded. "My name is Meng Yuchun. What's yours?"

"My name is Li Qi. These details should have been written in the contract."

"I've prepared the contract. Write your name down."

Li Banfeng wrote his name and pressed his handprint on it. Then he burned the contract and sprinkled his blood over the plot.

"These were all things that should have been done before the land activation."

Meng Yuchun explained, "I'm different from other local land deities. This has always been the rule for land activation here!" 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

"How many people have activated land here before?"

"Just you. That's why I said this has always been the rule."

Li Banfeng looked at the woman before him. "Don't you think this rule is a little too sloppy?"

Meng Yuchun shook her head and smiled. "It's been more than half a year since I became a local land deity, but you're the first living person to enter my plot. This place is already so deserted. If I still fuss over all those useless rules and restrictions, who knows when I'll ever see something come to fruition?"

This place is indeed deserted.

Li Banfeng looked around and asked, "Why did you insist on choosing a place like this then?"

"Do you think I got to choose? Whatever place the Inner Provinces assigned me, I had to take it."

The origins of local land deities were exactly what Li Banfeng wanted to know about.

Meng Yuchun spoke with a blunt openness, even more so than Qiu Luoye. As long as he treated her sincerely, he should be able to get some answers.

"Did you have to go to the Inner Provinces to become a land deity?"

"Yes. How else would you ascend a layer?"

Ascend a layer?

Li Banfeng asked, "What level is your cultivation now? It's fine if you don't want to say. I know I shouldn't casually ask about someone else's cultivation."

Meng Yuchun smiled. "Even if I didn't say it, you should've been able to guess. I'm only at the first level. I've only been in the new land for half a year. In a lousy place like this, how many levels could I possibly have gained?"

Li Banfeng had not guessed it at all. "What do you mean by first level?"

Meng Yuchun froze. "Your cultivation level isn't low, but you really don't know much, huh. I'm definitely not at level one of the Terranean Layer."

Level one of the Terranean Layer? I think I heard that somewhere before.

Right, the rickshaw driver mentioned it.

The first time he rode in the rickshaw driver's cart at Medicine King Gully, Monkey Qiu had asked the driver about his cultivation. The driver had said he was a level-one cultivator of the Terranean Layer. Back then, Li Banfeng had still been a Bleater, so he had not paid much attention to the way the man phrased it.

Thinking back on it now, Li Banfeng realized "Terranean Layer" did not refer to a single level but to a particular stage of cultivation. In Puluo, at least within the scope Li Banfeng was familiar with, all cultivation levels were possibly still within the first stage, the Terranean Layer.

"Then what layer are you currently at the first level of?" Li Banfeng asked.

Meng Yuchun answered, "The Cloudborne Layer. Stop trying to trick information out of me. I'm not your master, and I'm not your wife either. Why should I teach you so much?"

Li Banfeng sat beside Meng Yuchun and replied very sincerely, "I'm good at activating land. In the future, I can activate plenty more wasteland here. Give me a few more pointers, and I'll be able to do a lot for you later."

Meng Yuchun rolled her eyes at Li Banfeng. "What use is it if only you activate land here? The human presence in my territory won't rise!"

"It can rise. I know plenty of people who are good at activating land. I'll bring them all here. Little by little, this place can slowly become a Proper Land."

Meng Yuchun frowned. "Why should I trust you?"

"If you don't trust me, we can draw up a contract. Within one month, I'll bring people here to activate more land. Isn't that much better than the over half a year that you spent waiting here without seeing anyone?"

Meng Yuchun thought for a moment. "Well, your cultivation level isn't low anyway. There are some things you'll find out sooner or later. I'll tell you what I can, but don't push me on what I can't say."

Li Banfeng nodded. "Let's start with level one of the Cloudborne Layer. Does a cultivator have to cultivate to level ten of the Terranean Layer before advancing to level one of the Cloudborne Layer?"

"Of course. And it has to be a fully formed level ten of the Terranean Layer."

"What does 'fully formed level ten' mean?"

Meng Yuchun explained patiently, "To advance from level nine to level ten, you have to undergo a life-and-death tribulation. If you successfully endure the tribulation, you can ascend to the Cloudborne Layer. Only after that can you go to the Inner Provinces, and only after going to the Inner Provinces can you advance to level one of the Cloudborne Layer."

"What if I fail to endure the tribulation?"

"Then things will become troublesome, though it depends on how badly you fail. To successfully endure the tribulation, your body has to be destroyed, while your soul ascends intact and unharmed.

"That said, it isn't over just because your soul is damaged. You may still have a chance of recovering. If less than twenty percent of your soul is damaged, it can still be repaired through various methods. Once it has fully recovered, there is still a chance for you to go to the Inner Provinces.

"If your soul is more than twenty percent damaged but less than fifty percent damaged, it becomes very difficult to repair. Souls like that wander about all over Puluo and are called Wounded Demonic Fiends. They are among the strongest vengeful spirits in Puluo. Since they can survive in the world for a long time, that at least counts as a decent ending.

"If more than fifty percent of your soul is damaged, it will slumber within the earth until it slowly dissipates. A small number of these souls will be nourished by dwellings and become dwelling spirits. Dwelling spirits like that are rare. For a Homebound Cultivator, encountering one is a blessing."

Li Banfeng nodded repeatedly in agreement.

Wifey is definitely above level ten. I'm so blessed to have her. Who could possibly compare to me?

Li Banfeng asked, "What if your soul is completely damaged?"

Meng Yuchun froze. "You mean... if your soul is damaged, but your body remains?"

Li Banfeng nodded.

"Those are Ruptured Cocoons, the most miserable kind. People like that used the wrong sequence of actions to endure the tribulation and became walking corpses. They can't die, but they aren't truly alive either. They even get kept like a utility animal."

Li Banfeng had seen a Ruptured Cocoon in the past. In the Sage's eyes, the eldest senior brother from Vilefolk Hillock was probably just a utility animal that could fight.

Li Banfeng asked another question. "After successfully enduring the tribulation and reaching the Inner Provinces, does you then advance to level one of the Cloudborne Layer?"

"No. Reaching the Inner Provinces only means you've ascended to the Cloudborne Layer. It's like a cultivator who has just entered a Daoist path. There's no level yet, and your lifespan remains the same as an ordinary person's."

"Your lifespan doesn't change? Isn't it supposed to become three times longer?" Li Banfeng asked. This was different from what he knew.

Meng Yuchun shook her head. "That's a common misconception. To gain three times the lifespan, you need to advance to level one of the Cloudborne Layer. And to do that, you need a reward from the Inner Provinces."

You still need a reward?

"How do you obtain a reward?"

At this question, Meng Yuchun hesitated. She did not want to speak plainly about the workings of the Inner Provinces.

"I don't want to say it. Can I show you instead?"

Li Banfeng could not understand what she meant. "How?"

Meng Yuchun wore a bitter smile. "Perhaps because I am old now, I no longer know shame."

She turned around and loosened the long robe she was wearing. The robe slowly slid down to below her knees.

Li Banfeng saw her fair skin and the dense scars covering it.

Meng Yuchun said, "You see this? This is how a reward is earned. Unlike other women, I would never let them have my body; I would never serve them like that. I'd rather become a bruiser or even a servant. But whether you're a servant or a bruiser, they treat you no differently from a utility animal.

"I can't count how many beatings I took, and I can't even remember how many years I was beaten before I finally earned my reward of advancing to level one of the Cloudborne Layer and attaining the right to become a local land deity."

The corner of Li Banfeng's eye twitched. He first asked Meng Yuchun to put her clothes back on, then he asked, "How did you endure it?"

"What else could I have done? And that wasn't even the hardest part. The hardest part was... was..." Meng Yuchun paused for a moment before continuing. "They killed my dwelling spirit. Right in front of me. They swallowed my dwelling spirit whole. I was a coward. I didn't even dare make a sound."

Li Banfeng and Meng Yuchen fell silent for a long while.

Then Meng Yuchun lowered her head and said, "I shouldn't have told you this. They don't allow us to talk about them. But I haven't spoken to anyone in so long. In the Inner Provinces, no one was willing to speak to me. After I came here, I couldn't even find a living person."

Li Banfeng sighed. "So you're a Homebound Cultivator."

Meng Yuchun nodded. "Every Homebound Cultivator in the world hates Wanderlust Cultivators, so I was quite heavyhanded with you."

Li Banfeng lowered his head and rubbed the space between his brows.

He had always worked hard to raise his cultivation level, always envisioning that he could one day reach level ten and gain three times his lifespan. But what was the price behind that threefold lifespan—to become someone's utility animal? Was that something he could accept?

"After you reached level one of the Cloudborne Layer, you returned to Puluo?" Li Banfeng asked.

Meng Yuchun nodded. "I came back. They bestowed me with a New Land and made me a local land deity. I could have chosen not to return. If you've earned their favor, you can stay in the Inner Provinces as a servant and continue cultivating."

"Who would want to stay on as a servant?"

"There are many people who want to become servants. But it still depends on whether they're willing to perform that act of charity and let those people stay."

Li Banfeng did not get it. "What's so good about being a servant?"

"If you stay in the Inner Provinces, you can continue advancing your cultivation."

"And if you don't stay in the Inner Provinces, you can't?"

"You can, but you need human presence." Meng Yuchun pointed at the surrounding wasteland. "A land deity's cultivation relies on human presence. The stronger the human presence, the faster their cultivation grows. But look at this place. Does it look like it has any human presence? A level-one Cloudborne cultivator usually has a lifespan of around three hundred years. Pills can extend it somewhat, but at most, it won't exceed five hundred years. By the time I die of old age, I'm afraid I still won't reach level two of the Cloudborne Layer."

Li Banfeng asked, "Will your lifespan increase when you reach level two of the Cloudborne Layer? Or does your lifespan only change when you reach level ten?"

Meng Yuchun shook her head. "I don't know. I don't even know whether the Cloudborne Layer has ten levels. I don't even know what level two of the Cloudborne Layer is like. No one ever told me. In the Inner Provinces, I was no different from a utility animal. No one would waste words on a beast."

Did all land deities become land deities this way? Did those entities that are stronger than land deities go through the same thing? The Peddler, Grandpa Train, Granny Bitter—did they all have similar experiences?

That can't be! With their temperaments, how could they possibly have gone to the Inner Provinces and become servants?

Li Banfeng asked, "Is it impossible to reach the Cloudborne Layer without going to the Inner Provinces?"

"It's possible!"

Meng Yuchun said only two words, but Li Banfeng immediately perked up.

"How?"

"Steal and rob."

Li Banfeng shook his head. "I'm an upright man, so let's talk about robbing first."

"Robbing means taking from a land deity. You rob them of their standing, their identity, and their cultivation."

Li Banfeng immediately turned serious. "How?"

Meng Yuchun said, "Do you know the land deity of Greenwater Bay, Greenwater Beggar?"

"No, but I've heard of him."

"He robbed someone to get his cultivation. He did it when he was at level nine of the Terranean Layer.

"Greenwater Bay was originally called Beggar Bay. It wasn't his territory, but the domain of a Beggar Cultivator named Yuan Shoulü.[1]

"When Greenwater Beggar was at level nine, he defeated Yuan Shoul, who was at level two of the Cloudborne Layer. He stole the role of the local land deity and devoured Yuan Shoulü's cultivation and standing. That allowed him to advance to level two of the Cloudborne Layer while preserving both his soul and body, making him the fiercest land deity!"

Li Banfeng rubbed his chin, unable to figure out how that had happened.

A cultivator at level nine of the Terranean Layer defeated a cultivator at level two of the Cloudborne Layer? How many levels did he skip? How did he win that fight?

1. His name translates to “long-robed skinny donkey”. ☜