The second level?

I’ve become a level-two Homebound Cultivator?

Doesn’t it take ten years to gain even one level of cultivation?

It has only been two months since I started cultivating, and I’m already a level-two Homebound Cultivator?

Oh, I almost forgot. A Homebound Cultivator’s advancement depends on their dwelling spirit. According to Luo Yuni, it doesn’t matter how long they cultivate for. If a cultivator fails to please the dwelling spirit, they will never advance.

That had led Li Banfeng to misunderstand, thinking that the dwelling spirit could only hinder one’s advancement.

Unexpectedly, a dwelling spirit could also assist in the advancement. The Gramophone had provided him with such a huge boost that he found it hard to believe it was real.

Ten years’ worth of cultivation!

Li Banfeng had been a Homebound Cultivator for less than three months. Yet, he had somehow, in the blink of an eye, just gained the equivalent of ten years of progress…?

Impossible!

Li Banfeng longed for cultivation power. He had even dreamed of reaching the tenth level and extending his lifespan by threefold.

However, there were no such things as free gifts in this world;
every gift came with a price.

It was like how pills could substitute for cultivation progress, but they were very expensive, and every pill carried poison.

Li Banfeng didn’t beat around the bush. He asked the Gramophone, “You’ve made me a second-level Homebound Cultivator. What do you want me to do in return?”

Hiss~

Sounding aggrieved, the Gramophone sang, “We are such a loving couple. Why must you say something so hurtful, dear husband?”

Li Banfeng’s mouth twitched. “And where was all that ‘love’ when you turned against me last time?”

Hiss hiss~

The Gramophone let out two cold scoffs. “Oh, dear husband, I don’t like hearing that. What couple doesn’t quarrel now and then? Couples fight at the head of the bed and make up at the foot. I only lost my temper for a moment. You can hit me or scold me if you wish, but don’t hold a grudge, all right~?”

Li Banfeng got up from the floor and brushed the dust off his clothes. “Fine, I won’t hold a grudge. Now, just tell it to me straight. What do you want?”

“Dear husband, all I want is you. Nothing else.”

“Say it. What do you want?”

“I’ve been nothing but devoted to you. Why do you refuse to see that?”

“Just say it already. What do you want?”

The Gramophone began to sob. “All my love and devotion, yet I can’t even earn a shred of my husband’s true affection…”

Li Banfeng put on his fedora. “If you still don’t talk, I’m leaving.”

The Gramophone stopped crying. “Dear husband, I’m hungry.”

Li Banfeng sat down on his bed, rubbing his face in silence for a long while.

My wifey. She’s hungry again.

Back in that aged forest deep in the mountains, Li Banfeng had lured a group of souls that Luo Yuni had controlled. The Gramophone had devoured them all and raised Li Banfeng’s cultivation by one level.

In the time since, Li Banfeng had fed the Gramophone plenty of fresh souls, including fifteen ghost servants with cultivation power. It appeared that the Gramophone had eaten her fill, so she rewarded him with yet another cultivation level.

Her appetite had been sated, but what was he supposed to do from here on out?

Souls weren’t exactly easy to come by.

“Dear wife, when will you ever stop eating? Didn’t you just eat yesterday?”

Hiss~

The Gramophone sneered. “Oh, dear husband, what kind of question is that? You ate yesterday. Does that mean you won’t eat today?”

Li Banfeng nodded. “Actually, I haven’t eaten today.”

“Then you must be hungry too. Go eat something, then buy some groceries and hurry back.”

“Groceries, groceries. Where am I supposed to get them? You really expect me to have souls to feed you every day like they’re groceries? Do I look like some homicidal maniac to you?”

Hiss~

Clang clang clang~

The Gramophone laughed coldly. “Dear husband, haven’t you already killed plenty?”

Li Banfeng snapped, “I’m not some homicidal maniac! Now that I’ve reached the second level, I should have a new ability, right?”

“There is a new ability, yes. Dear husband, listen to me c-c-carefully explain them~”

Li Banfeng blinked. “Dear wife, why are you stuttering?”

“Dear husband, add some oil for me, won’t you?”

Li Banfeng picked up the oil can, lifted the lid of the mechanism part of the Gramophone. The water in the water tank was boiling hot, and steam billowed out in continuous waves.

The Gramophone could do anything: clean the house, wash the clothes, even kill people. However, the one thing she couldn’t do was add oil to her gears.

“Dear wife, you can top up your candle fat yourself, so why can’t you add the oil?”

The Gramophone replied, “The candle fat goes into the front cabinet. That’s somewhere I can reach. But the oil for the gears has to go into the back chamber, and that’s somewhere I can’t touch.”

Li Banfeng finally understood.

So the front cabinet and the back chamber are two separate things.

Hiss~

The Gramophone cried out, “Dear husband, that’s not where I need oil…

“Dear husband, you must not touch that valve…

“Dear husband, that gear’s even more delicate! Dear husband, that screw doesn’t need any oil!

“Dear husband~

“Dear husband…”

The Gramophone called out again and again.

Then Li Banfeng finally closed the cover of the back chamber. He sat beside the Gramophone and said quietly, “Dear wife, tell me about the new ability, quickly. I’m listening carefully.”

Seeing his serious expression, the Gramophone asked, “Oh, my dear husband, why are you so serious again?”

Li Banfeng nodded. “I’ve always been serious.”

“Oh, my dear husband, are you feeling satisfied now?”

Li Banfeng nodded again.

“Just a few words, and you’re satisfied?”

Li Banfeng nodded once more.

The Gramophone fell silent for a long while. Then, with a slow tempo, she sang softly, “My husband, do you need your clothes washed?”

Li Banfeng nodded. “Of course I do.”

“Hooooo-yaaaaa~ You madman!” the Gramophone roared furiously, spewing smoke from all three of her horns. “Next time something like this happens, can’t you take the clothes out first? It’s always such a huge mess. Do you have any idea how tiring it is to wash your clothes?”

After changing into a clean outfit, Li Banfeng sat back down beside the Gramophone. “Dear wife, tell me about the ability. I’ll lean in to listen.”

“Don’t come so close. If you do, I’ll have to wash another outfit.”

The Gramophone puffed out a burst of steam to push him back. Then she told him about his new ability.

“The level-two ability is called Perceiving the Spirit’s Melody. It’s a cultivation of the ears.”

Another ear-related ability?

Li Banfeng picked up the gold earring that had been refined with Zhou Yujun’s corpse and asked, “Doesn’t this have the Clairaudient Ears ability? Now I’m learning another ear ability, won’t that overlap?”

“Oh, dear husband, they’re not the same at all. Clairaudient Ears let you hear things from afar, while Perceiving the Spirit’s Melody lets you hear more. There are many things in this world that have spirit essence. All spirit beings can speak, but ordinary people can’t understand them. However, if you focus your mind and listen with your heart, you’ll be able to hear the voices of spirit-bound entities.”

Li Banfeng liked the sound of this ability a lot.

It suited his Homebody nature perfectly.

Homebodies always heard more than others, like the soft whimpers of their figurines and the cries of their comic books. It was because they treated life with greater sincerity.

Li Banfeng pressed his ear against the Gramophone and listened intently.

Hiss hiss~

The Gramophone sounded a little nervous.

“M-my husband, what are you doing pressing your ear against my belly? Do you think I can get pregnant or something?”

Li Banfeng hugged the Gramophone and listened for a long time, but he did not hear the spirit essence’s melody. He asked, “Why don’t I hear the melody of spirit essence?”

Hiss hiss~

The Gramophone gave a mocking chuckle. “Dear husband, I can speak to you. You don’t need an ability to hear me.”

That’s true. I don’t need to listen to the voice of the Gramophone’s spirit essence.

What else has spirit essence?

Li Banfeng picked up the Arcane Crimson Lotus and listened carefully for a while, but he didn’t hear anything either.

“Dear wife, doesn’t this count as something with spirit essence?”

Hiss hiss~

The gramophone sighed.

“Crimson Lotus, that wretch, is a spirit-bound entity, but her level is too high, and she’s a bit shy. It is too early for you to be able to understand her melody, dear husband.”

So the bronze lotus’s level is too high? What else has spirit essence? Does the Pocket Dwelling have spirit essence?

Li Banfeng pressed himself against a wall, focused his mind, and listened closely.

The Gramophone let out a panicked cry, “Dear husband, you must not!”

Huff huff~ huff huff~

What’s that sound?

Buzzzzz~

Li Banfeng heard a deep, prolonged hum. His eyes rolled back, and he collapsed to the floor.

Dew beaded on the Gramophone’s surface like sweat. “This dwelling is truly unusual. No wonder Crimson Lotus, that wretch, is so cautious. She doesn’t dare fight me for real in here. Perhaps I was rather rash in tagging along with this madman and entering this place blindly.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep