The Overlord of Puluo

He Jiaqing’s grandpa He Caiyuan suddenly appeared and ordered He Jiaqing and the Greenwater Beggar to leave the area as soon as possible.

He then demonstrated the power of One Word Worth a Thousand Gold. Honestly, He Jiaqing had never seen this ability display such terrifying power before and he was a little scared. However, he didn’t leave. Greenwater Beggar had even less intention of going anywhere. At this point, he couldn’t possibly be persuaded to leave with just a few words.

He Caiyuan sighed. ”There’s no shame in having no real ability, but... Never Overestimate Your Strength.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, four enormous words appeared in the night sky: Never Overestimate Your Strength

”Never” and ”Overestimate” flew toward the Greenwater Beggar, while ”Your” shot toward He Jiaqing.

Cedric quickly adjusted his position and put as much distance as he could between himself and the Greenwater Beggar. Li Banfeng had told him before that the Greenwater Beggar had a habit of using other people as weapons.

Sure enough, the Greenwater Beggar spun around and reached for Cedric, only to grab empty air. He had no other weapon on hand either. He had even burned off his own clothes. Snapping a branch from a tree, he smashed one of the incoming words apart. The next word had more letters, however, and even after two attempts, he still could not break it.

The word attacking He Jiaqing was even harder to deal with. ”Your” could change the shape of its letters as it attacked. The stem of the ”Y” stretched into a long weapon, while part of the ”r” broke off and flew at him like a concealed projectile.

As for the last word, He Caiyuan toyed with it in his hand for a moment before casually flicking it toward the depths of the forest. ”There is another one who does not know his own limits!”

Li Banfeng saw the word flying toward him and quickly raised the Tang Saber to block it.

Bang!

The word ”Strength” struck with tremendous force, knocking the Tang Saber straight out of Li Banfeng’s hand before charging toward him.

Li Banfeng dodged with Traceless Quick Step, then spun around and countered with Treading Through Ten Thousand Rivers. Broken stones slammed into the word ”strength,” throwing up clouds of dust. The word was slightly damaged, but it kept chasing after him.

After fighting Murong Gui twice, Li Banfeng had already gained some experience battling words and characters. Fighting a single word sounded ridiculous, but he did not dare let his guard down.

He activated Severing Paths to Forge a Way to clear the way, causing a rock on the ground to rise up and block the word.

Bang!

The rock shattered against the word ”Strength.” By then, Li Banfeng had adjusted his angle. He used Treading Through Ten Thousand Rivers again and finally smashed the word apart.

Outside the forest, the Greenwater Beggar broke ”Overestimate” apart with his branch.

He Jiaqing kept stealing letters from ”Your” until the word finally fell apart.

He Caiyuan chuckled. ”You still want to fight? Ants cannot topple hophornbeam. How pitiful and laughable.”

”Ants cannot topple hophornbeam” was another four-word phrase, and the words went after the three opponents in the sequence just like before.The first two words went after the Greenwater Beggar, while ”topple” flew toward He Jiaqing. As for ”hophornbeam,” it disappeared deep into the forest in search of Li Banfeng.

These four words had quite a number of letters, and they could split apart to attack separately. ”Hophornbeam” was especially troublesome, as the word itself could break into three separate words. The three of them did have ways to deal with these words, but they could not keep fighting like this.

It would take a great deal of energy to destroy a single word. However, such a word was so easy for He Caiyuan to create. He did not even need to write them down. All he had to do was say them.

If this dragged on, the three of them would eventually be exhausted to death. After fighting with the word ”hophornbeam” for a while, Li Banfeng finally used the unusual trick he had prepared earlier.

He planted a seed together with the potion. The Film Projector understood at once and used light and shadow to hide where the seed had landed.

”Hophornbeam” split into the three words ”hop,” ”horn,” and ”beam,” closing in on Li Banfeng from every direction. At that moment, the seed broke through the soil and rapidly grew into a cabbage. A toad popped out from inside it and let out two croaks.

The moment Chu Shaoqiang and He Caiyuan heard the croaking, they were both startled. He Caiyuan rushed into the forest at once, leaving Chu Shaoqiang behind to fight the Greenwater Beggar and He Jiaqing.

He knew exactly where the willow tree was and sprinted straight toward it. Deep in the forest, he found a toad crouching on the ground.

The toad was a little smaller than Ge Junma, but otherwise looked exactly like him. There was no time to verify his identity in such an urgent situation, and He Caiyuan did not dare take any chances. Wang Fuqi, the Spycraft Cultivator, was dead, cutting off communication between the inside and outside. He Caiyuan had no idea what condition Ge Junma was currently in.

He Caiyuan called out tentatively, ”Lord Ge?”

The toad did not answer.

Li Banfeng raced around the willow tree as the Judge’s Brush leaped out. It pierced through ”hop,” then drove straight through ”horn.”

The two words immediately lost their will to fight. They slowly drifted down through the air before fading away completely. That left only ”beam.” Li Banfeng lured it toward the toad, and the word slammed straight into its body.

”Croak!”

The toad burst apart, scattering pieces everywhere. He Caiyuan immediately called the word ”beam” back.

If one looked carefully, one would see that although the pieces were all green, what had been smashed apart was a cabbage instead of a toad. However, He Caiyuan was so nervous that he froze for a moment.

”You lapdog!” Li Banfeng cried out. He swung the Teapot, sending tea splashing onto the ground. Two barriers rose around He Caiyuan.

As the tea quickly surged upward, He Caiyuan remained perfectly calm. He spoke a single word. ”Open!”

The barriers that the old Teapot prided itself on shattered instantly, and the tea receded with them.

Li Banfeng’s figure flashed, and he immediately broke into a sprint. He was going to use Passing Flowers on Horseback.

He Caiyuan shouted, ”Chase!”

The word ”Chase” pursued Li Banfeng wherever he ran. It acted as He Caiyuan’s eyes, keeping his vision locked firmly onto Li Banfeng.

This was the power of a Cloudborne Layer cultivator. Li Banfeng had no way to escape He Caiyuan’s sight.

”Kill!” He Caiyuan spoke again, and the word ”kill” followed close behind ”chase.” One of its letters stretched into a weapon and stabbed Li Banfeng in the left shoulder.

From there, the fight became simple for He Caiyuan. A few more words would be enough to surround Li Banfeng and kill him.

At that critical moment, Cedric rushed up to He Caiyuan and shouted, ”Old sir, I love you!”

He undid his shirt and bared his chest. There was a tattoo across it, but it was not made of words. Instead, it consisted of a series of lines spiraling outward from the center.

He Caiyuan pressed a hand to his forehead and staggered slightly. Cedric’s tattoo was not just there to express his love. The spiraling lines had given He Caiyuan vertigo.

He Caiyuan shouted, ”Heal!”

The word ”heal” appeared on He Caiyuan’s forehead, and the dizziness vanished in an instant.

Li Banfeng used Treading Through Ten Thousand Rivers several times in succession and finally destroyed the word ”chase.” After two exchanges, the Judge’s Brush pierced through ”kill.”

The word ”kill” fell and Li Banfeng disappeared from He Caiyuan’s sight.

Boom!

He Caiyuan’s chest jolted, and his body swayed.

Cedric burst the blisters on his skin and seized the chance to fling a spray of fluid onto He Caiyuan. A rash quickly broke out across He Caiyuan’s body. Cedric was overjoyed. This meant he had finally seized the initiative in the fight.

When Li Banfeng appeared behind He Caiyuan, He Caiyuan shouted, ”blades!”

More than a dozen long sabers shot toward Li Banfeng’s face. The Judge’s Brush desperately tried to block them, but Li Banfeng had no time to dodge. One blade cut across his face, while several more wounds opened across his body.

Boom!

Li Banfeng forced his way through the barrage of long sabers and unleashed Treading Through Ten Thousand Rivers. Blood spilled from He Caiyuan’s mouth and nose as he collapsed to the ground.

We won? Li Banfeng and Cedric were both overjoyed, but then He Caiyuan’s corpse suddenly exploded. It transformed into the word ”clone” before vanishing without a trace.

Cedric froze, unable to understand what had just happened.

Li Banfeng figured it out, but the realization left him just as stunned. The man they had exhausted themselves to kill was just He Caiyuan’s clone.

Outside the forest, the Greenwater Beggar and He Jiaqing kept pressing forward, leaving Chu Shaoqiang in a difficult position. Then He Caiyuan’s actual form appeared and activated Counting Ink Blots to Find the Lines.

A vast mass of words surged toward He Jiaqing and the Greenwater Beggar in no apparent pattern. He Caiyuan led Chu Shaoqiang through the safe gaps between the words and lines, then stood to the side and quietly watched the battle.

Chu Shaoqiang asked with concern, ”How is Lord Ge?”

He Caiyuan shook his head. ”I didn’t see Lord Ge. There was just a madman in the forest who fooled me with an illusion.”

While He Caiyuan spoke, he casually waved his hand and sent out a large mass of words flying into the forest and attacking Li Banfeng and Cedric.

He Caiyuan reminded Chu Shaoqiang, ”Get the tool for opening the door ready. Don’t waste any more time on these ants.”

The Greenwater Beggar and He Jiaqing managed to break apart the words attacking them, but both had used up a great deal of strength.

Li Banfeng and Cedric also destroyed the words around them and both of them were now covered in wounds.

He Caiyuan waved his folding fan and sneered. ”Still want to fight?”

He Jiaqing knew they could not keep going. The difference in strength between him and his grandfather was simply too great. So far, He Caiyuan had probably used less than half of his full strength.

The Greenwater Beggar was still not willing to give up. If this had been his own territory, where he could quickly recover his strength, he would still have been confident in fighting He Caiyuan. However, this was not his territory and he could not recover that way here.

The Greenwater Beggar shouted toward the forest, ”Retreat!”

Cedric was unwilling to give up as well. As far as he was concerned, the founding cultivator was still in far too good a condition. It would be difficult to send him on his way anytime soon.

The Greenwater Beggar urged him, ”Hurry up and go!”

Cedric called back, ”I am going, I am going. It’s only a business deal. We have to stay alive if we want to see it through to the very end!”

Cedric was reminding Li Banfeng that they wouldn’t be able to fish in this troubled waters and their business here was over.

The Greenwater Beggar disappeared into the Place That Must Not Be Named. He Jiaqing glanced toward the forest before disappearing as well.

Cedric waited for a moment. He wanted to leave together with Li Banfeng, but Li Banfeng went back to the willow tree.

Cedric didn’t understand and called out, ”This is just a business.”

Li Banfeng did not respond. He tore off several strips of the adhesive tape Ling Miaoying had given him and quickly wrapped them around his wounds.

Cedric waited a little longer, then sighed and turned to leave.

As he left, he thought, One day, I will unleash a plague and kill every person in this world. But if one person has to survive, I hope it’s you. Li Qi, stay alive.

***

The Greenwater Beggar’s group had all left, leaving Li Banfeng alone in the forest. Now he had to face Chu Shaoqiang and He Caiyuan by himself and it sounded like a joke.

Li Banfeng ran a hand over the Tang Saber and the Tang Saber said, ”My lord, we can’t beat them.”

Li Banfeng patted the Glove. To which, the Glove said, ”Boss, these bastards are all fighting with written words. I have got all this strength, but nowhere to use it!”

After making sure all his enchanted artifacts were still with him, Li Banfeng lowered the brim of his hat and stood silently beneath the tree. He could faintly smell a familiar fragrance in the air. It was the scent of ink. The scent was not coming from any particular place. This faint aroma had always lingered in Ink Fragrance Shop. Li Banfeng had not been used to it when he first arrived, but now he thought this smell was very good.

The Judge’s Brush spoke. ”Qi, you go. I will fight them.”

Li Banfeng shook his head. Ink Fragrance Shop was too important. No matter what happened, he could not hand this territory over to them.

The Judge’s Brush tried to carry Li Banfeng out of the garden, but Li Banfeng caught it and spun it once in his hand. ”I am not leaving. We will fight them.”

***

”See the guests out!”

From outside the forest, He Caiyuan sent over another great mass of words.

Li Banfeng raised the Tang Saber and activated Homebound Heart and Thickset Body.

The Judge’s Brush flew in front of Li Banfeng and fought with all its might.

The Liquor Gourd spewed fire. The old Teapot splashed tea. The Sickle circled overhead. The Pendulum guarded Li Banfeng’s chest, while the Glove held a yue-axe and protected his back.

***

Inside the Pocket Dwelling, Wifey anxiously asked how the battle was going. The smell of blood drifted through the house, and Wifey’s voice began to tremble. ”Sir, please let me out. I am begging you.”

The Pocket Dwelling sighed. ”The Old Train once said that Ink Fragrance Shop was extremely important. Even now, I still don’t understand what makes this place so important. Perhaps Qi does?”

Hong Ying said anxiously, ”What is the point of talking about that now? Let me out and fight them!”

The Pocket Dwelling fell silent for a long time before slowly speaking. ”Hong Ying, prepare for battle.”

The Pocket Dwelling actually broke its own rules! Clearly, Li Banfeng was in an extremely dire state!

The Gramophone shouted, ”Sir, let me go!”

The Pocket Dwelling replied, ”You can get ready for battle. Hong Ying will go first.”

Hong Ying asked no questions. She quickly put on the armor Tu Yinghong had given her, tied her hair tightly, tucked it beneath her iron helmet, and stood at the entrance of the Pocket Dwelling.

The Gramophone said, ”I made a new spear. Take it with you.”

Hong Ying shook her head. ”I am a spear myself. Why would I need another one?”

The Gramophone snapped, ”Are you disobeying orders? What are you going to do out there, ram them with your head? Take the spear!”

***

Li Banfeng knocked back a large wave of words, but his steps faltered and he nearly fell. Just then, he felt the phone against his chest vibrate. He wanted to answer it, but it did not look like he would get the chance.

From outside the forest, He Caiyuan called out, ”Madman, why are you still here? What are you trying to do? Just who do you think you are?”

Li Banfeng wiped the blood from his face and smiled. ”You damned lapdog. And just who do you think you are?”

”Li Qi?” Chu Shaoqiang recognized Li Banfeng’s voice.

He Caiyuan laughed. ”So you are Li Qi. You are someone who deserves to die. Whatever happened with Qiu Luoye must have had something to do with you. Tell me the truth, and I will spare your life.”

”The truth?” Li Banfeng laughed again. ”Call your owner over. A mere lapdog like you isn’t even worthy of hearing it.”

The word ”lapdog” sounded so insulting that it grated on his ears.

He Caiyuan’s face darkened. ”Even on the day you die, you still won’t understand just how ignorant you are. You have no idea who a man should live for, or to whom he should devote his loyalty. You will never understand what a sorry sort of man you really are, or just how insignificant you really are!

”DEATH CANNOT REDEEM YOU!”

He Caiyuan used his folding fan to write out four words: DEATH CANNOT REDEEM YOU.

He actually wrote it this time. They were not spoken into existence, nor had they been summoned.

As He Caiyuan wrote, his wrist trembled slightly. His anger had gone into those four words, along with the full force of his extraordinary skill. The four words flew into the forest. Wherever they passed, entire rows of trees were reduced to ash in an instant.

Chu Shaoqiang made his move as well. He commended two enchanted artifacts to follow the four words ”DEATH CANNOT REDEEM YOU” into the forest.

One was a set of shackles. If Li Qi was still alive, it would bind him. The other was a wooden coffin. If Li Qi was dead, it would take his body away for burial.

Li Banfeng sensed the danger closing in and prepared to defend himself with a Wanderlust Cultivator ability.

This attack was clearly different from the ones before. If he could not block it, he would retreat into the Pocket Dwelling first, then come back out and continue fighting the two of them.

The phone was still vibrating against his chest, but Li Banfeng had no time to answer it.

Only Luo Zhengnan could call this phone, but whatever news Luo Zhengnan had did not matter right now. Li Banfeng would keep dragging out the fight until he had nothing left. No matter what, he could not let Ink Fragrance Shop fall into their hands.

Inside the Pocket Dwelling, the door opened a crack and the Pocket Dwelling shouted, ”HONG YING! OUT FOR BATTLE!”

Hong Ying pushed the door open and was just about to step outside when it slammed shut again with a bang. ℯℯ𝑙.

Hong Ying stared at it in confusion, then snapped, ”You old thing, you slammed the door on my hand! What are you doing?”

The Pocket Dwelling shouted, ”I regret it!”

”You damned old thing!” Hong Ying cursed. ”You are going back on your word! What about Darling Qi?”

The Pocket Dwelling said, ”Someone’s here.”

The Gramophone anxiously asked, ”Who?”

Dong... Dong... Dong... Dong!

The rattle drum sounded four times. The four enormous words, ”DEATH CANNOT REDEEM YOU,” shattered into pieces.

The two enchanted artifacts vanished on the spot, disappearing to parts unknown.

Chu Shaoqiang tried to flee, but his feet would not move.

He Caiyuan shuddered. Then he heard someone speaking right beside his ear. ”He’s my brother. What sort of man do you think he is?”

He Caiyuan wanted to speak, but he couldn’t open his mouth. He wanted to write, but he couldn’t move his hand. He could hear the Peddler’s voice ringing in his ears, ”Who do you live for? Who do you devote your loyalty to? Is it this thing?”

THUD!

The corpse of a huge toad dropped into the garden and fell right in front of He Caiyuan.