The Overlord of Puluo

The Western-style house had just been repainted, and its walls were very white. Against them, Greenwater Beggar’s smile, smeared with green pus, looked strangely sinister and cheerful at the same time.

Greenwater Beggar really did have reason to smile. At this distance, Chu Shaoqiang had little chance of surviving a head-on fight with him.

Disease Cultivators were extremely difficult to deal with. Unless someone had a much higher cultivation level or followed a special cultivation path that could counter their abilities, fighting one head-on was dangerous. Even at the same cultivation level, it was hard to win. This was something all the high-level cultivators in Puluo Province knew.

Chu Shaoqiang walked down the stairs one step at a time. Looking at Greenwater Beggar, he said, ”There is something about what happened back then that I have always wanted to ask you. Why were you so sure I wanted to take Greenwater Bay from you?”

Greenwater Beggar blinked as if recalling the past. ”There were four great families and four family heads. Back then, everyone thought Lu Dongliang had the highest cultivation, but it was actually you. Your cultivation level is above level nine, and you used certain Artificer Cultivator abilities to hide much of your cultivation. Even a land deity at level one of the Cloudborne Layer would be no match for you. I knew all of that.”

Chu Shaoqiang frowned. ”So being the strongest made me guilty? I never said I wanted to take Greenwater Bay. Why did you try to kill me?”

Greenwater Beggar laughed. ”If I waited until you said it outright, would I still be alive to hear it? You would have sent me to my grave long before then. Have you forgotten how I got Greenwater Bay in the first place? I took it from someone else too.”

Chu Shaoqiang shook his head. ”There was a misunderstanding. Back then, I really never...”

Greenwater Beggar squeezed one of his sores until it burst. Dark green pus sprayed out, cutting Chu Shaoqiang off. ”Stop stalling. Artificer Cultivators have countless tricks at their disposal. The longer you drag this out, the more it works in your favor.”

Chu Shaoqiang stopped, seemingly to avoid Greenwater Beggar’s pus. ”The more time a Disease Cultivator has to prepare, the better their chances of winning. So you lose nothing by taking some time to catch up.”

Greenwater Beggar shook his head. ”My Daoist path is all about striking fast and catching the enemy off guard. I don’t need that much preparation.”

”Catching people off guard, sure. But are the methods of your Daoist path really that fast?” Chu Shaoqiang said as he shook his head. ”Greenwater Beggar, the methods of your Daoist path are very deceptive. Disease Cultivators are powerful, but speed isn’t what makes them dangerous.”

”What really makes a Disease Cultivator dangerous is how small their attacks are. A disease nidus is too small to see or trace. It appears without warning. No one knows when a disease nidus will take hold, how it gets into the body in the first place, or how to stop it.

”That is why so many people misunderstand how disease works. There is a saying that illness strikes like a collapsing mountain, so people assume disease sets in very quickly. The truth is that a disease nidus is not particularly fast. It is simply so small that it catches people completely off guard.

”The pus you squeeze out and the sores covering your body are all things I can see. There’s no need to worry about those. What I should be worried about is a disease nidus too small to see. Those are the ones that are truly impossible to avoid.”

As soon as he finished speaking, fine white flakes began drifting through the hall of the western-style house.

Invisible germs were caught in the flakes and killed. Their remains clung to the fine particles and slowly settled out of the air with them. The harsh alkaline sting made Greenwater Beggar’s cheek twitch.

”What enchanted artifact is this?” Greenwater Beggar looked around, trying to find the source of these flakes.

”It’s not an enchanted artifact. It’s just slaked lime.” Chu Shaoqiang caught one of the ”snowflakes” from the air and rubbed it into fine powder.

Upon hearing that it was slaked lime, Greenwater Beggar looked around at the walls. The once smooth white walls had become mottled as large amounts of slaked lime rapidly flaked off.

Chu Shaoqiang said, ”Disease nidi are tiny, small enough to slip through even the smallest gaps. When I fought you back then, I built three layers of defenses, but I still couldn’t keep you out.

”I never forgot that fight. All these years, I have been thinking about how I could beat you. Eventually, I realized something. I couldn’t beat you by trying to be faster, nor could I rely on a perfect defense. No matter how tightly I defended myself, something would always get through.

”If I wanted to beat you, I had to make my own methods just as small as yours. So I stopped focusing on weapons and turned my attention to dust.”

The ”snow” in the hall suddenly thickened as Greenwater Beggar released even more germs into the air.

The slaked lime reacted at once. The particles broke down into even finer dust, spreading more densely through the room.

Chu Shaoqiang did not even need to give an order. The lime dust could react to Greenwater Beggar’s germs on its own and fight them directly. The skill behind his Artificer Cultivator methods made Greenwater Beggar nervous. What worried him even more was that Chu Shaoqiang had figured out the key to Disease Cultivators.

It was true that what made Disease Cultivators so dangerous was how small their attacks were.

Greenwater Beggar caught a handful of the falling lime powder and rubbed it between his fingers. ”You really think this stuff will do you any good?”

Chu Shaoqiang froze for a moment. ”You think these lime particles are bigger than the disease nidi you create?”

Greenwater Beggar said, ”The things you can see are not actually considered small.”

Chu Shaoqiang smiled. ”Exactly. Some of the lime is so fine you cannot even see it. Take a good sniff. Can you smell that alkaline scent? Does it not feel like it is about to burn right through your lungs?”

The lime powder fell thicker and thicker, like snow, forcing Greenwater Beggar to coat his entire body in pus.

There was an endless supply of lime powder inside the house. Every speck of lime dust was one of Chu Shaoqiang’s spirit-bound items, almost as tiny as the germs themselves.

Now, every speck of dust was fighting the germs. The lime was highly alkaline, and the germs could barely fight back against it.

Greenwater Beggar had walked straight into a trap. He should never have entered this house. Now that he wanted to leave, it would not be so easy. The pus coating his body was already caking and hardening.

Chu Shaoqiang had already disappeared into the falling lime powder, but his voice still came through. ”I have said everything I needed to say. Greenwater Beggar, it really is time for us to settle this. If my memory serves me correctly, you should have one more move to use. You can send yourself to the Place That Must Not Be Named. It would be your last chance. Fortunately, I am very interested in the Place That Must Not Be Named, so use that move right here in front of me. You get to escape with your life, and I get the chance to study it properly. We both get what we want.”

Greenwater Beggar did not move. The lime had completely covered him, turning him into a snowman. He did not want to open the portal to the Place That Must Not Be Named. It was simply too precious. And even if he opened it now, there was no guarantee he could escape. Chu Shaoqiang might take the Place That Must Not Be Named away from him and along with his deed and contracts.

Standing amid the swirling lime dust, Chu Shaoqiang quietly watched Greenwater Beggar. ”I didn’t expect you to be this stubborn. In that case, I will have to send you on your way.”

A sudden gust swept through the room, driving the lime dust tightly against Greenwater Beggar’s body. The pus covering him hardened completely. Beneath it, his skin stiffened and cracked.

Below the skin were flesh and bone, and deeper still were his organs. Before long, lime had worked its way through Greenwater Beggar from head to toe, leaving his entire body dry and rigid.

Chu Shaoqiang lit a cigarette, then casually tossed the lighter onto Greenwater Beggar.

Bang!

The lighter struck Greenwater Beggar and shattered his body. His dry, brittle remains broke apart like a plaster statue, scattering across the floor.

Was this Greenwater Beggar’s corpse? Yes. This was the body of Greenwater Beggar’s main form. Chu Shaoqiang had prepared far too thoroughly. From the moment Greenwater Beggar entered the house, there had been no chance for him to escape. The lime powder had completely hardened his body until it was almost like stone.

But was Greenwater Beggar really dead? Chu Shaoqiang was not so sure.

Outside the courtyard, several support hooks were still standing at their assigned positions.

One of the support hooks’ heads suddenly exploded. Bright green pus sloshed around inside his body cavity.

Chu Shaoqiang grabbed a handful of lime powder and flung it through the window. It landed neatly on the support hook. At the same time, the pus inside the support hook’s body quickly gathered together and formed a little green figure just over a foot tall. In the next instant, it vanished from Chu Shaoqiang’s sight.

Greenwater Beggar came back to life? Why did he disappear suddenly? He had entered the Place That Must Not Be Named, or what people in the Outer Provinces called the hidden dimensional space. To Chu Shaoqiang, uncovering the truth behind the hidden dimensional space was far more valuable than simply killing Greenwater Beggar.

Thinking about the hidden dimensional space made Chu Shaoqiang feel thoroughly annoyed.

The pair of Judge’s Brushes I got could bring me into the hidden dimensional space too, at least to some extent, and that fool Huaijun actually went and gave them away! I should never have handed the family business to him. Huaiyuan would have managed it far better.

Greenwater Beggar had vanished so quickly that Chu Shaoqiang had barely seen what happened inside the hidden dimensional space. Still, that did not matter much. There was lime powder on Greenwater Beggar, and as long as it remained on the Greenwater Beggar, Chu Shaoqiang could find him.

More importantly, Greenwater Beggar was terribly weak. He could not hide in the Place That Must Not Be Named. Sooner or later, he would have to come back to the normal world to recover his strength. And the moment he came back, he was finished.

***

At Beyond Borders Hospital, Cedric sat in his office, lightly tapping his fingers on the desk. He was feeling very nervous as he could sense this powerful enemy approaching.

However, he had no choice. He had to face this enemy.

Cedric put on a mask and opened the office door. A man in a grayish-white overcoat and matching fedora was standing just outside.

Cedric asked politely, ”Sir, are you here to see me?”

Chu Shaoqiang was a little surprised. By all rights, this foreigner should not have been able to see him.

Did the Greenwater Beggar warn him? No! This guy really can see me. I can tell from the way he’s talking and looking.

Chu Shaoqiang looked past Cedric. ”I am not here for you, but the person I am looking for is in this room.”

Cedric glanced behind him. ”Are you looking for a patient? This is my office. If you want to find a patient, you should go to the wards.”

A single ”snowflake” drifted down through the air and landed in Chu Shaoqiang’s palm. That confirmed it. Greenwater Beggar was somewhere inside the room.

Chu Shaoqiang smiled. ”I don’t want to kill you. At least, not yet. Step aside, and none of this will have anything to do with you.”

Cedric shook his head. ”I am sorry, but this office, and in fact this entire hospital, is my private territory. I cannot let you pass.”

Chu Shaoqiang’s smile did not change. ”Then I can’t let you live. You really are dense.”

Fine flakes of lime drifted slowly through the air. This was not Chu Shaoqiang’s house, but Cedric was not Greenwater Beggar and the lime powder Chu Shaoqiang had brought with him was more than enough to kill him.

A layer of green blisters swelled across Cedric’s body. Many of them quickly burst, spraying fluid through the falling lime.

Chu Shaoqiang could sense Greenwater Beggar’s presence in that fluid.

This foreigner can actually use Greenwater Beggar’s power? Chu Shaoqiang thought.

Chu Shaoqiang became more cautious, but his face showed nothing. ”So you’re a Disease Cultivator. You really want to fight me? I didn’t expect your Daoist path to have someone this loyal.”

Cedric replied, ”I am indeed a loyal person and I would gladly sacrifice my life for my Daoist path.”

Chu Shaoqiang nodded. ”I can grant you that wish.”

Cedric remained standing at the doorway. ”Don’t be so hasty. I believe you are a loyal man too. You were sent here by the Inner Provinces. If your owner doesn’t want to offend a friendly nation, I would recommend that you keep your hands off me.”

The word ’owner’ sounded especially grating to Chu Shaoqiang. His cheek twitched, and the smile slowly faded from his face. ”Foreign devil! Who the heck do you think you are?”

Cedric replied calmly, ”I am nobody important, but this is my hospital and I own this place. There are plenty of spirit-bound items and enchanted artifacts here. They aren’t meant for fighting. They are used for communication. If you force your way into my territory, I will fight you with everything I have. If you kill me, word will get out immediately, and a lot of trouble will follow. I suggest you think carefully before you act.”

Chu Shaoqiang was silent for a moment, then left Beyond Borders Hospital.

Cedric took off his mask and sank into a chair, breathing heavily for a long while. He had been terrified. Ever since the Peddler helped him bring Greenwater Beggar’s power under control, Cedric had never felt his life threatened so strongly.

A little green man just over a foot tall slowly appeared on the desk.

”Chu Shaoqiang has changed. The Inner Provinces changed him too much,” The little green man said with a sigh. ”If this were the old Chu Shaoqiang, you’d already be dead. That’s exactly why I refuse to go to the Inner Provinces, no matter what.”

Cedric bowed to the little green man. ”O Great Ancestral Cultivator, I love you. My loyalty to this Daoist path will never change.”

The little green man laughed. ”I trust you. You had the guts to stand up to Chu Shaoqiang, so you have certainly proved yourself. What level are you at now?”

”I am still at level seven.”

The little green man placed his right hand on his left shoulder and gave it a hard twist, snapping off his own arm. He handed it to Cedric. ”Eat this. It will take you to level eight.”

”O Great Ancestral Cultivator, I thank thee for the gift!” Without hesitation, Cedric ate the arm.

The little green man nodded. ”I got another job for you. Go to Vilefolk Hillock and deliver something nice to that bastard for me. If you get it done, I will send you straight to level nine!”

Author’s Note:

PS: The Place That Must Not Be Named or hidden dimensional space is a concept that first appeared in Chapter 400, when Liao Zihui used the hidden dimensional space to evade Li Banfeng’s sneak attack.