Steam Era: The Lord Chapter 23 - 19 Incompatible as Water and Fire2

Chapter 23: Chapter 19 Incompatible as Water and Fire_2

Li Banfeng scratched the back of his head, feeling that the Peddler’s words made sense. "Let’s not talk about Dark Matter first."

The Peddler continued, "The so-called exposure to Heavenly Light, in the words of you folks from the Outside Provinces, is called a Dark Matter Ray Flow. Dark Matter is everywhere, but so Dark Matter is rather special. In the terms of the Inner Nine States, this is called a burst of Taoist Fate. If you ingest Taoist Fate correctly, it won’t be too harmful to the body, but a burst of Taoist Fate that’s too violent is not sothing ordinary people can withstand. Those hit by the burst will have their bodies rapidly explode, and the residual Taoist Fate can even continue to harm others. So, if you want to live, you need to Enter the Path as soon as possible and use the dicinal Prir for Entering the Path to guide the Taoist Fate in your body in a certain direction..."

The Peddler explained the chanism of Heavenly Light in the simplest language he could, and Li Banfeng quickly grasped the key essence.

Dark Energy Users, also referred to as Cultivators in this place, are actually extraordinary beings who have undergone mutations after being invaded by special Dark Matter.

The mutation is chaotic and most likely fatal.

But the Peddler’s dicine can guide the chaotic mutation toward an orderly one.

Ingesting small and regular amounts of Dark Matter, like Ma Wu and Qin Xiaopang, slows the erosive mutation. Only when the mutation reaches a certain level can they use the Peddler’s dicine to be guided into becoming Dark Energy Users.

But Li Banfeng encountered a Dark Matter Ray Flow, and his body was eroded by a large amount of Dark Matter in a short ti, posing a direct risk of exploding on the spot, so imdiate guidance was imperative.

There are many kinds of dicine, guiding different directions and paths, hence resulting in different supernatural abilities.

Li Banfeng’s body contained enough Dark Matter to choose any path, and barely managing to choose two similar paths was also possible.

But he chose two opposite paths.

Yet, this wasn’t Li Banfeng’s choice!

Li Banfeng’s eyes widened as he exclaid, "Where is Qiao Yuesheng, the Bird Person who bumped into

just now? This is all his..."

The Peddler pointed at a straw mat beside him. "Are you talking about him?"

Li Banfeng hadn’t noticed the straw mat next to the Peddler before, assuming it covered so miscellaneous items.

Now, with his pointing, it seed to wrap a person.

Li Banfeng asked in surprise, "This is Qiao Yuesheng?"

The Peddler nodded. "This matter started because of him; he has already given

enough compensation. And since you had an accident at my booth, I am also responsible, so I must give you compensation as well. It’s part of doing business. From your condition, it seems you’ve survived the initial stage of Entering the Path, but the cultivation ahead will be very tough for you. According to the characteristics of a Traveling Cultivator, even if you don’t seek to advance your cultivation level, you must walk at least twenty miles every day. And according to the traits of a Ho Cultivator, you must return ho at least once a day and stay there for at least two hours."

Li Banfeng calculated the ti. "That doesn’t seem difficult!"

It truly wasn’t. Going out for a walk, twenty miles—think of it as a slow jog for ten kiloters. Going ho to sleep, or reading novels or watching dramas—two hours was simply too easy. In this light, these two Taoist Sects didn’t seem so incompatible after all.

The Peddler shook his head. "This is only the beginning of your cultivation. As you reach higher levels, the Traveling Cultivator has to travel further, and the Ho Cultivator has to spend longer at ho. Soon, the two will beco incompatible. Moreover, once a Traveling Cultivator advances to higher levels, they cannot always stay in one place. Since a ho is fixed, a Ho Cultivator cannot wander everywhere. Therefore, these two Taoist Sects are natural enemies. Of course, that’s for later; we’ll find a solution then. For now, there’s another difficult task: for a Traveling Cultivator to advance to the First Layer, they must spend a day and a night in a dangerous place. This can be troubleso. A Ho Cultivator must go ho every day; one day away from ho could an sudden death. How can you stay away for that one day and night?"

Li Banfeng blinked and asked, "What does ’a dangerous place’ an?"

The Peddler looked shocked. "Haven’t you been to school? You don’t know what a ’dangerous place’ is? It’s a place where your life could be taken at any mont."

"How is such a place defined? Sleeping in the middle of the road could also an being crushed to death by a car at any mont!"

The Peddler nodded. "That’s actually a pretty good idea. You can try it in the middle of the road, and if your cultivation level acknowledges it, you really could rise a layer!"

"My cultivation level can acknowledge it?"

"Why not? Your cultivation level is now a part of you. You have perception, so naturally, it has perception too. Have you decided to sleep on the road?"

"I was just saying..." Li Banfeng fell into deep thought.

Ho Cultivators must return ho every day.

But what about soone like

who has no ho?

I never had a ho to begin with, so which ho are you asking

to return to?

Upon this realization, Li Banfeng asked directly, "Currently, I have no residence and no ho to return to. Even if I sleep rough on the outside, that doesn’t violate the rules of Ho Cultivation, right?"

The Peddler nodded. "You’re not wrong there."

Upon hearing this, Li Banfeng chuckled. "Then that settles it. I’ll head to a dangerous place first, survive a day and a night, beco a First Layer Traveling Cultivator, and then buy a house. Wouldn’t that resolve the issue?"

The Peddler shook his head. "That won’t work."

"Why not?"

"That would an abandoning Ho Cultivation. Dual Cultivation requires proficiency in both practices. If you give up one of them, you’ll lose your life."

Li Banfeng hastily said, "I haven’t given up. I will cultivate as a Traveling Cultivator first, then cultivate..."

"What’s the use of just talking about it?" The Peddler interrupted Li Banfeng bluntly. "Your cultivation level is a part of your body; your actions represent your intentions. You’ve cultivated Traveling Cultivation to the First Layer, and your cultivation level has achieved so success. Yet, you don’t even have a suitable house, and your Ho Cultivation hasn’t even gotten on the right path. Doesn’t this amount to abandoning Ho Cultivation?"

"That sounds a bit far-fetched, doesn’t it? That’s not my intention!"

The Peddler shrugged. "It’s no use telling . If you don’t believe it, you’re more than welco to give it a try."

"Give it a try... that’s not sothing I can try," Li Banfeng sank into deep thought once more, then gritted his teeth and said, "I might as well not advance in level and just bide my ti, waiting until I find a solution!"

"Like him?" The Peddler lifted the straw mat, revealing the mangled corpse of Qiao Yuesheng.

To call it ’mangled’ was an understatent. It was a ss of flesh.

If the Peddler hadn’t previously ntioned this was Qiao Yuesheng, Li Banfeng wouldn’t have recognized him at all.

"How did he end up like this?"

The Peddler covered the straw mat again. "He was a Dark Energy User, a glutton—that is, a Food Cultivator. Compared to Traveling Cultivators, Food Cultivators aren’t particularly swift, but as long as they’re well-fed, they’re much faster than ordinary people. According to the rules of the Outside Provinces, Dark Energy Users are not allowed to participate in sports competitions; that’s considered cheating. But this lad, for fa and profit, went all in. Dark Matter cannot be observed, and no one could detect his cultivation, but he was worried that soone would notice sothing off about him. As a Food Cultivator, he needed to eat 2.5 kilograms of food each day. Afraid of exposing himself, he dared not eat, nor dared he gain levels. He kept using his innate body talents but didn’t cultivate using the correct thods. Just as you said, he kept at it, wasting away until he ended up like this. You can’t keep stalling. You need to advance either your Ho Cultivation or Traveling Cultivator path to a certain level. If you delay for too long, your fate will be the sa as his."

"Does cultivating to the First Layer an I can stop?"

"No. Even if you’re not ambitious, you can’t neglect the daily basics of cultivation."

Li Banfeng looked at the straw mat covering the corpse. "Until when do I have to continue cultivating?"

"There’s no end," the Peddler shook his head. "From the mont you chose this path, you’re destined to follow it for a lifeti."

Li Banfeng looked up at the Peddler. "Then what do you suggest I do about this problem?"

The Peddler looked back at Li Banfeng. "There are two roads for you to choose from. The first one: find a dangerous place to settle down, and I’ll provide you with a house."

PS: Thanks to Torchbearer for the deadly constellations!

Two updates today, the next is at 5 PM.