The Overlord of Puluo

Qiu Luoye agreed to having more of his land activated, and Li Banfeng brought the workers into his territory that same day.

More than a thousand people had come to activate the land. Without proper supervision, the situation could easily descend into chaos. They might start fighting over the plots before the work even began.

Fortunately, Li Banfeng had planned everything in advance. He handed out maps during the journey, with the available plots clearly marked. He had also used the Film Projector to show everyone footage of the land. They were given three days to choose their plots, and if several people selected the same one, it would go to whoever had chosen it first.

They had seen the maps and the footage, and Li Banfeng had explained everything that needed explaining. Even so, once they arrived at Qiu Luoye's territory, some people still asked to change their plots.

Were they allowed to? Of course. They could choose a piece of land outside the plots Li Banfeng had marked out and become landowners in their own right. However, they would receive no reward, and they would have to cover the cost of activating the land themselves.

Once the plots were settled, the land activators prepared their offerings that same day. Qiu Luoye responded to them one by one, and the trials of worthiness began the following morning.

However, having more than a thousand workers did not mean they could activate more than a thousand plots.

Some formed teams of three or five to activate a plot half a kilometer across. Others gathered in groups of thirty, fifty, or even more than a hundred to tackle a plot one-and-a-half kilometers across.

Li Banfeng did not care how they formed their teams. He paid them according to the size of the land they activated, and how they divided the money afterward was their own concern. However, he still had to weed out those who lacked any real ability and had only come to cause trouble.

A few had barely any cultivation yet insisted on activating a one-and-a-half-kilometer plot alone. Li Banfeng sent every one of them home along the way. He had no time to waste on them.

Some refused to leave and demanded to argue their case. Li Banfeng responded by sending all these people straight to heaven, where they could serve as fresh meat for some waiting spirits.

For this trial of worthiness, Qiu Luoye ordered the aberrant creatures under his command to hold back as much as possible. He wanted to give every group the best possible chance of successfully activating their land.

The first day went smoothly, and every land activator passed the trial on the first day. By the following morning, however, more than a hundred people had failed and been driven from their plots.

Li Banfeng looked through the group and found several experienced land activators among them. Five of these experienced land activators had formed a team to activate a plot half a kilometer across. Yet a single aberrant creature had forced them out in less than five minutes.

Li Banfeng called over their leader, quietly gave him some compensation, and asked what had happened.

The leader was Zhao Yongtian, a man in his early forties. "I am a level-three cultivator. My team includes one level-two cultivator and three at level one, so activating a plot half a kilometer across should have been more than manageable.

"We planned to finish this plot first and at least recover our expenses. Then, if Master Qi thought we were capable, we would take on a few more plots and earn some extra money. But a jujube tree came into the plot this morning and started swinging its branches at us. None of us could handle it. I told you it drove us out in five minutes because I was afraid you would laugh at us. The truth is that it took less than half a minute."

What cultivation level does that jujube tree possess? Li Banfeng thought. Surely it was above level four.

Meng Yuchun had once explained that an aberrant creature whose cultivation barely reached level four could enter a half-kilometer plot to conduct the trial of worthiness, but only when the land deity had an especially strong hatred of land activators.

Anyone stronger was forbidden from entering the plot to conduct the trial. Doing so would violate the contract. What was Qiu Luoye playing at? Had he deliberately sent in someone above level four? Did he want the land activation to fail?

Li Banfeng frowned and went straight to find Elephant Qiu. When he reached Qiu Luoye's residence at the foot of Elephant Mountain, he found Qiu Luoye gripping a jujube tree and cursing at it. A large group of aberrant creatures had gathered around them.

Li Banfeng stepped forward. "Big Bro Qiu, what happened?"

Qiu Luoye gritted his teeth. "Old Qi, stay out of this. I'm hacking this bastard to pieces."

The jujube tree showed no fear. "Go on, then. Chop me up. I have followed you for so many years, Master Qiu. Don't you dare hold back."

Qiu Luoye was about to strike when Li Banfeng stopped him. "Explain what happened first."

"There's nothing to explain!" Qiu Luoye snapped. "This wretched tree is level five, yet it went into a half-kilometer plot to conduct the trial of worthiness. Wasn't it deliberately trying to ruin everything for me?"

Li Banfeng turned to the jujube tree. "Why did you do it?"

"To stay alive!" the jujube tree shouted. "If you give all the land to them, where are we supposed to live?"

Shui Yongquan had been watching from the side. He sighed. "You have pushed things too quickly."

He was right. The problem had arisen because the land was being activated too fast.

If land activation took place only ten times a year within a territory, it would cause little disruption. A careful land deity could gradually reduce the number of aberrant creatures by sending some to other territories, and the rest would barely notice any change.

There were more than a thousand land activations happening at Qiu Luoye's territory, and now another thousand people had arrived at once. The aberrant creatures were already densely packed together, and their living space had suddenly been cut down even further. Rebellion was inevitable.

Qiu Luoye did not care about any of that. He still wanted to chop down the jujube tree and make an example of it. The other aberrant creatures refused to be intimidated. "Master Qiu, if you are going to kill him, then kill all of us too!"

As the argument grew more heated, Qiu Luoye finally lost his temper. "Fine! I will grant your wish today and send every last one of you on your way!"

Li Banfeng stopped him again. "What happens to the aberrant creatures once the entire territory has been successfully activated?"

This was something Li Banfeng had long been concerned about, since he would eventually face the same problem himself.

Once every part of a territory had been activated, the New Land would become Proper Land, and Proper Land had no aberrant creatures.

"I will find somewhere for them to go!" Qiu Luoye said.

Shui Yongquan shook his head. "And how exactly are you going to do that? If you spread it out over eighty or a hundred years and moved them away little by little, it might be manageable. But you have activated more than thirty percent of your plots in a single year. Where can you possibly send them all? To my territory? I can't support them."

Qiu Luoye spat to the side. "Just listen to you. Who said I was sending them to you? I have plenty of friends. I can send them anywhere."

Shui Yongquan laughed. "Go ahead and try. See whether anyone dares take them in. If you bring hundreds or even thousands of your subordinates into another person’s territory, how are they supposed to know what you are planning? If the two of you ever fall out, wouldn't they be worried about your people attacking from within while you strike from outside?"

Qiu Luoye swung his trunk in fury. Once he lost his temper, he could barely think straight. He seized the jujube tree again and was about to kill it when Li Banfeng stepped forward and whispered a few words in his ear.

Qiu Luoye froze. "Old Qi, does such a place really exist?"

"It does. Leave this to me."

Qiu Luoye flicked his trunk. "All right. You talk to them."

Li Banfeng said to the aberrant creatures. "Everyone, please hear me out. I can find you a new place to settle, and I promise you will be treated well! Those willing to come with me can leave in three days. As for those who want to stay, don’t worry! Big Bro Qiu will not mistreat you if you are staying."

It was the perfect arrangement for both Li Banfeng and Qiu Luoye. Qiu Luoye had somewhere to send the aberrant creatures, while Li Banfeng gained the extra manpower his territory badly needed. It was up to the aberrant creatures to make their choice.

From the way Qiu Luoye was doing things, he clearly intended to turn the whole territory into Proper Land. If the aberrant creatures had the sense to plan ahead, they should follow Li Banfeng and find themselves a good place to settle.

Staying was not a bad option either. Their living space had shrunk, but there would be more trials of worthiness, which meant more chances to gain cultivation. As long as they followed the rules, Qiu Luoye would never be stingy with cultivation rewards.

At least the aberrant creatures had a choice now and all of them went home to think about what to do next.

Two days later, the trials ended. More than a thousand land activators had activated over a hundred plots. Li Banfeng paid their rewards on the spot and told them they could stay and activate more land if they wanted to earn more money.

About twenty percent of land activators left while the rest decided to stay.

It was hard to earn land activation money. They earned every coin with their lives on the line. However, Li Qi paid well. They had come this far and they were willing to take the risk again and earn one more reward!

Qiu Luoye asked Li Banfeng, "Old Qi, can you really afford this? I might not have paid much attention to worldly affairs these past few years, but even I can see that your plan is costing a fortune."

"It’s fine. I can handle it!" Li Banfeng’s jaw trembled as he spoke.

This was burning through money! Cartload after cartload of gleaming silver dollars was hauled into this land. If business had not been going so well, Li Banfeng would never have dared spend so freely.

The remaining workers continued activating the land, while Li Banfeng led more than a hundred aberrant creatures toward his own territory.

These creatures had grown used to an easy and sluggish life. They had no wish to earn cultivation through trials of worthiness. All they wanted was a quiet place where they could spend their days in peace. They had seen where things were heading in Qiu Luoye’s domain, so they had planned ahead and chosen to leave with Li Banfeng.

However, Li Banfeng’s territory was just dreadfully far away from everything, and the creatures grumbled almost every step of the way.

"Master Qi, where exactly are you taking us? This isn’t masterless land, is it? We won’t go there if it is. No one hands out cultivation in a place like that."

Li Banfeng smiled. "It has an owner. The land deity there is wonderfully kind, generous, and easy to get along with."

When they reached the territory, Li Banfeng told the aberrant creatures to spread out and find places to settle. However, not one of them moved.

"Master Qi, where is the land deity? Please invite him out so we can sign contracts with him first."

This part was easy enough, but Li Banfeng had no idea how such a contract with aberrant creatures should be written. He was scared that he would expose himself, so he ran all the way to Meng Yuchun's house and asked her to teach him.

The contracts were surprisingly complicated. The first section recorded the circumstances behind the agreement, including the date, the parties involved, and the reason they had come to this territory.

The second section laid out the aberrant creatures' obligations. They had to obey the rules of this territory and could not leave them without permission. They also had to follow the land deity's orders and fight on his behalf when necessary.

The third section covered their rights, specifying the circumstances under which they would receive a share of cultivation.

While looking through the contracts Meng Yuchun had written for other aberrant creatures, Li Banfeng noticed one particular clause: "Those who distinguish themselves in battle before the mirror shall be richly rewarded."

Li Banfeng asked Meng Yuchun, "What does 'those who distinguish themselves in battle before the mirror' mean?"

Meng Yuchun shook her head. "You don't need to include that."

Using her contract as a reference, Li Banfeng drafted one of his own. He then went back home and had everyone help make copies.

Although Hong Ying could not see, her calligraphy was remarkably good. Wifey read the contract aloud beside her while Hong Ying wrote. In no time, she had completed more than a dozen copies. Her strokes were bold and full of character, yet still graceful and pleasing to the eye.

Glove was fast too. His handwriting was a little messy, but he could finish thirty or fifty copies in the blink of an eye.

Li Banfeng was curious to see what Judge's Brush's calligraphy looked like, and Judge's Brush was just as eager to show off.

Judge's Brush struggled to straighten himself, then flew over to the table. He spread out a sheet of contract paper, dipped his tip in ink, and was just about to start writing when Glove and Hong Ying finished writing all the copies of contracts needed.

Li Banfeng looked at him. "There is no rush. You can take your time."

"Hmph." Judge's Brush wiped the ink from his body and went off to rest.

However, Li Banfeng could not let Judge's Brush rest yet. He would need his help when he met his new subordinates.

He first had Film Projector set the scene, a task it was already quite familiar with. Then, he borrowed some of Hong Ying's imposing aura. As long as he negotiated with her beforehand, she had no problem lending it to him. Finally, Li Banfeng instructed the aberrant creatures to wait at a designated location.

Taking advantage of a Wanderlust Cultivator's speed, Li Banfeng reached the designated location ahead of them and concealed himself. He then had Liquor Gourd slowly spray out wine, creating a mass of green flame to serve as the local land deity's manifested form.

Once everything was ready, Li Banfeng gave Judge's Brush the order. "Fly."

Half an hour later, Li Banfeng finally managed to rise into the air, though he hovered less than a foot above the ground.

Li Banfeng drifted over to the waiting crowd without saying a word. The more he talked, the greater the chance that someone would realize something was not quite right.

He pulled a contract from his robes and flicked it toward the troublesome jujube tree. Li Banfeng never missed from five meters away, and the contract landed neatly before it.

He handed out the rest in the same fashion. No one complained until a bull-headed man looked over his contract and shook his head. "This is wrong. It isn't the same as Master Qiu's contract!"

Li Banfeng had never wanted to say a word, but of course there had to be one troublemaker in the crowd. Surely it was perfectly normal for two contracts to look slightly different. Why did this fellow have to make such a fuss over it?

Li Banfeng lowered his voice to a deep rasp and asked, "What is different about it?"

"Master Qiu's contract looks much finer than this one!" The bull-headed man pulled another contract from his robes. It was the one Qiu Luoye had returned to him.

Li Banfeng took the contract and examined it. It was written on a proper scroll that was made from fine materials. The scroll looked exquisitely crafted.

Li Banfeng was impressed. Who would have thought that a rough fellow like Qiu Luoye could be so particular about his contracts? The writing inside must be far more detailed than his own.

He unrolled the scroll and saw that there were only eight enormous words on it: "From now on, you follow me, Qiu Luoye!"

Below the eight large words was the bull-headed man's bloody hoofprint.

The bull-headed man shouted, "I recognize the character ye on Master Qiu's contract, but I cannot recognize a single word on yours! Yours is clearly nowhere near as good. You are not trying to cheat us, are you?"

You only know one character. Is that something very impressive? Li Banfeng thought and looked at the jujube tree. "Can anyone else here read?"

The jujube tree gave a cold snort. "Old Bull is impressive. I cannot even recognize the character ye."

Everyone nodded eagerly, praising Old Bull for being such an impressive fellow.

Feeling a sense of helplessness, Li Banfeng read the contract aloud from beginning to end.

***

Once all the contracts had been signed, Li Banfeng brought them back to the Pocket Dwelling.

Wifey looked them over. "Husband dear, these aberrant creatures will provide both human auras and fighting strength for the territory. Once you reach the Cloudborne Layer, they will become the core of your power base. But a little over a hundred is far too few. You should find many more."

Find more? Li Banfeng muttered inwardly. Sure! Qiu Luoye has nowhere to put them anyway, so I will just take them all!