The Overlord of Puluo

Boom!

A thunderous boom erupted, blasting apart a wide swath of the surrounding cabbage people.

Bao Yingchen stomped his feet twice in quick succession. The first one was a feint while the second one was the real deal.

If Li Banfeng dodged again like earlier, he would survive. He would just be severely injured.

However, he didn't dodge. He remained at the same spot.

Bao Yingchen's foot crashed into the ground behind Li Banfeng, blasting out a massive crater.

Stones and dirt flew everywhere. Li Banfeng's suit was torn to shreds, yet when the dust settled, he did not have a single new wound on his body.

Bao Yingchen froze for a moment. Is he wearing some kind of exceptional armor?

He was wrong.

Li Banfeng was not wearing any armor. He had endured the blow head-on with the ability Homebound Heart and Thickset Body.

The possibility never even crossed Bao Yingchen's mind. By all conventional reasoning, it was impossible for a Wanderlust Cultivator to possess a Homebound Cultivator ability.

Li Banfeng spun around, raised the pistol, and aimed straight at Bao Yingchen's forehead. He pulled the trigger six times in rapid succession.

Click! Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!

Five shots rang out. Li Banfeng had been lucky enough to fire five bullets, but not one of them struck Bao Yingchen.

Bao Yingchen had dodged them all.

The pistol belonged to Ling Miaoying, and its bullets could chase after the target. Under normal circumstances, it should have been impossible to dodge.

Bao Yingchen, however, had spent his whole life rolling about in the jianghu. He had encountered countless pistols, including more than a few whose bullets could track their targets.

He knew that such pistols had blind spots where their bullets could no longer follow.

Bao Yingchen easily dodged the chasing bullets, and as he moved, he could not help thinking about Li Qi.

I wonder what kind of good fortune this Li Qi came across. He has a full beard, but he does not seem very old. Even so, he already has so many spirit-bound items and enchanted artifacts, and his cultivation is very high too.

For someone his age, though, that might not be a good thing. High cultivation level should be a blessing, but Li Qi has gained too much power too quickly. He is still too young to control it properly.

Young men are often like this. Once they become strong, they think they can act boldly in front of their elders.

Using the pistol was a bad move. It made him lose his advantage at the worst possible moment. This mistake alone showed how little experience he has. He did not even know which ability to use at the right time.

Now his pride and lack of experience are going to cost him his life.

Bao Yingchen easily dodged all five bullets. He activated Traceless Quick Step and appeared right in front of Li Banfeng. He raised his foot, ready to activate Treading Through Ten Thousand Rivers again. This time, he had no intention of giving Li Banfeng another chance.

Boom!

The instant Bao Yingchen lifted his leg, Li Banfeng struck first. His foot slammed into the ground with a deafening crash. Broken rocks burst from the earth and struck Bao Yingchen.

Bao Yingchen froze. Blood streamed from dozens of fresh wounds, and some of it splashed across Li Banfeng.

When it came to mastery of the ability, Li Banfeng was no match for Bao Yingchen. If they both used the same ability at the same moment, Bao Yingchen would always be faster.

However, if Li Banfeng prepared beforehand, the result would be totally different.

If one of the bullets had hit Bao Yingchen, Li Banfeng would have considered it a stroke of good luck. However, he had never counted on that happening. In Puluo Province, trusting a pistol to save his life through luck alone would have been very foolish.

Moreover, with Bao Yingchen being a Wanderlust Cultivator, it was reasonable that he could rely on his speed and experience to dodge the bullet.

Li Banfeng had fired the five shots to buy himself more time. If the bullets missed, Bao Yingchen would surely rush straight at him. Before he even rushed forward, Li Banfeng had already activated Treading Through Ten Thousand Rivers and was waiting to welcome him with it.

Since Grandpa Train had personally taught Li Banfeng how to use his footwork, his Treading Through Ten Thousand Rivers was every bit as powerful as Bao Yingchen's.

Bao Yingchen wiped away the blood just as Li Banfeng stamped down again.

Suddenly, Bao Yingchen disappeared. Li Banfeng immediately moved his feet and disappeared as well.

I mustn't slow down, Li Banfeng thought. He's about to use Passing Flowers on Horseback. He might be able to kill me if I slow down.

For a while, Bao Yingchen could not pin down Li Banfeng's position, and his strength began to drain rapidly.

Li Banfeng was also using Passing Flowers on Horseback, but his version relied on the train footwork Grandpa Train had taught him. Because of that, it did not consume nearly as much energy.

Bao Yingchen used the rickshaw driver footwork that Wanderlust Cultivators commonly used. However, those steps did not work well with Passing Flowers on Horseback and drained his strength at an alarming rate. This was why the ability was of little practical use to most Wanderlust Cultivators.

However, Bao Yingchen was very experienced. He knew how to support it with other abilities and make it work.

Li Banfeng was weaving through the crowd when three cabbage people and two members of the Three Heroes Sect suddenly closed in around him.

This was no tactic of the Three Heroes Sect. This happened because Bao Yingchen had activated Severing Paths to Forge a Way.

Li Banfeng usually used Severing Paths to make a path out for himself. Bao Yingchen could do more than that. He could also use it to close off every road his opponent might take.

The five people surrounding Li Banfeng had not moved together by chance. Bao Yingchen had forced them into position. Once they blocked Li Banfeng's path, it became much easier for Bao Yingchen to pin him down.

Li Banfeng had plenty of ways to break free from the five of them, but none were fast enough.

In the blink of an eye, Bao Yingchen had locked onto him. At the same time, he slipped behind the crowd and was about to disappear from Li Banfeng's sight.

Just when Bao Yingchen was about to blow Li Banfeng into pieces with the ability Passing Flowers on Horseback, Li Banfeng suddenly roared, "HU-AARARARARARARARA~ "

It was the ability Deep Court Domain! The cry came out so sharp and desperate that Bao Yingchen could not help blinking twice.

Li Banfeng used this tiny pause to activate the Path of Unhindered Steps and crossed straight through the two cabbage people.

Bao Yingchen lost sight of him, but he had already activated Passing Flowers on Horseback. The three cabbage people and both members of the Three Heroes Sect exploded instead.

Seeing what had happened, the members of the Three Heroes Sect quickly moved away from the fight. They had no wish to die, and they did not want to get in their Big Boss's way.

On the other hand, the cabbage people had no such realization. They were still waiting for Li Banfeng to control them.

However, Li Banfeng had no time to control them. Bao Yingchen stayed right on his heels, giving him barely a moment to catch his breath. He tried to use Deep Court Domain to borrow an ability from Hong Ying, but he could not reach her.

Although the Gramophone and Hong Ying were both technically his dwelling spirits, Li Banfeng and Hong Ying had never come to understand each other the way he and the Gramophone did. Perhaps they were not close enough, or perhaps there was some other reason. Whatever the cause, unless the two of them had agreed on it beforehand, it was very difficult to borrow abilities from Hong Ying using Deep Court Domain.

Fortunately, Bao Yingchen could not use Passing Flowers on Horseback again so soon. The use of it earlier had drained too much of his strength. But now that the members of the Three Heroes Sect had retreated, Bao Yingchen no longer had to hold back when using Treading Through Ten Thousand Rivers.

Boom! Boom!

Bao Yingchen activated Treading Through Ten Thousand Rivers again and again as he tore through the crowd. Within minutes, the cabbage people had been reduced to scraps scattered across the ground, yet Li Banfeng was nowhere to be found.

Yang Xingbo, the third-in-command, hurried over. "Big Bro, where did that brat go? "

"Where did he go? " Bao Yingchen was breathing heavily. He turned a suspicious look on Yang Xingbo. "The fight went on for that long, and you never once came over to help? "

Yang Xingbo quickly defended himself. "Big Bro, the two of you were moving too fast. I really couldn't find a chance to step in! "

During a fight between high-level Wanderlust Cultivators, it was indeed hard for anyone else to interfere. Yang Xingbo was a level-seven Hedonism Cultivator, and speed was hardly his strong suit. If he activated the wrong ability at the wrong moment, he might end up making things worse for Bao Yingchen.

However, Bao Yingchen did not see it that way. He trusted no one, and to him, Yang Xingbo's actions just now were deeply suspicious.

"Take the men straight upstairs and find Li Qi. Once you spot him, surround him and wait for my order. "

Yang Xingbo pointed at Freewind Wharf. "He hasn't escaped? He is still in there? "

Bao Yingchen narrowed his eyes on the building. "He made all these preparations because he intends to stake his life on one final fight. He knew we were coming and still did not leave, which means he cannot. "

Yang Xingbo glanced at the mangled remains of the cabbage people. "These were his preparations? "

Bao Yingchen nodded. "These must be enchanted artifacts made by an Artificer Cultivator, most likely some sort of puppet. Li Qi also has the abilities of a Sound Cultivator. I cannot tell whether he cultivates a second Daoist path or is using another enchanted artifact, so be careful. "

Yang Xingbo was feeling a bit scared. "Big Bro, why not set fire to Freewind Wharf and smoke Li Qi out? "

"No! " Bao Yingchen's face darkened. "A fire that large would draw attention from every direction and throw the whole area into confusion. The messier things become, the better it is for Li Qi! "

Yang Xingbo looked helpless. "Then should I send a few men to block the back door? "

Bao Yingchen shook his head. "They would not stop him. "

Before the words had even left his mouth, Bao Yingchen circled the entire Freewind Wharf building and used Severing Paths to Forge a Way to seal every back and side door.

Yang Xingbo led the men toward the main entrance, only for Bao Yingchen to block that as well.

Yang Xingbo turned around and asked, "Big Brother, you have blocked the front door too. How are we supposed to get inside? "

"Idiot! " Bao Yingchen barked. "Do you want to march through the front door and step straight into a trap? We go from here! "

He strode up to the wall and gave it a tremendous kick. A perfectly square hole opened in the brickwork, as neat as though someone had cut it out with a ruler. Bao Yingchen had really mastered Severing Paths to Forge a Way.

His suspicions had also been correct. Before they arrived, Li Banfeng had planted traps at both the front and back doors. Unfortunately for him, Bao Yingchen simply made a new door through the corridor wall, leaving every one of those traps completely untouched.

While the cabbage people were keeping the Three Heroes Sect members busy, Li Banfeng had intended to draw out his fight with Bao Yingchen for a while longer.

However, when the cabbage people could no longer hold the enemy back, Li Banfeng had no choice but to stop fighting Bao Yingchen. If he stayed, he would have to face Bao Yingchen, Yang Xingbo, and more than thirty other strong fighters at the same time.

He hurried into the main dance hall and told everyone to hide at once.

Cao Zhida panicked when he saw Li Banfeng covered in wounds. "Master Qi, where can we hide now? We might as well fight them! "

Fight them? Li Banfeng thought. With what?

We only have a dozen support hooks. You are the strongest among them, and you are only a level-three Martial Cultivator. The others are level one or level two. Sending them against the Three Heroes Sect would be sending them to their deaths.

The rest have no cultivation at all. Bao Yingchen will just have to stamp his foot once, and almost everyone here will die.

At the crucial moment, Jiang Mengting's pants dried, and she regained much of her composure.

She shouted out loud, "Listen to me! Go backstage. The backstage area at Freewind Wharf is large, and the door to the backstage is hard to find! "

The backstage entrance was not on the stage. It was through a side door in the main dance hall.

Everyone hurried backstage. Jiang Mengting paused to ask, "Master Qi, you will not abandon us, will you? "

Li Banfeng shook his head.

Jiang Mengting said, "As long as you are here, we are not afraid. "

Once everyone was safely hidden, Li Banfeng took out the Film Projector and placed it beneath the seats. He used the projected image to hide the side door in the wall.

He felt the key in his pocket. If he wanted to hide, he could enter the Pocket Dwelling at any time. However, Li Banfeng did not go back into the Pocket Dwelling. Instead, he took out the steel wire.

It was a spirit-bound item Ling Miaoying had given him. It had originally been used to suspend actors during filming, a technique known in the Outer Provinces as stunt-wire rigging.

The steel wire was extremely strong and required no anchor point. With the press of a button, either end could attach itself firmly to any surface. A switch on the control box retracted the steel wire.

Li Banfeng fixed one end to the wall beside the door and the other to the floor. He ran the steel wire back and forth between them until it formed a crisscrossed web.

The top of the web lay flat against the wall, while the lower section stretched across the floor, reaching more than three meters from the wall at its farthest point. If Bao Yingchen used Path of Unhindered Steps to burst through the wall, the steel wire would surely cut him. As for how badly wounded he would be, it would depend on what other methods he used to protect himself.

At this moment, blood was still running from Li Banfeng's wounds, mixing with the sweat on his skin and dripping onto the floor.

The injuries were not serious, but they felt really painful. Li Banfeng wiped the blood from his face and silently watched the walls and doors of the main dance hall.

He had to hold them off for as long as he could. All he could do now was hope that Ma Wu and the others arrived soon.

Before long, Yang Xingbo and his men reached the doors of the main dance hall. The doors were shut, and Yang Xingbo had no idea what might be waiting on the other side.

One of his men was a Spycraft Cultivator. After listening carefully to the sounds inside, he was sure that Li Qi was in the hall.

Still, Yang Xingbo did not make any reckless moves. He waited for Bao Yingchen's order.

Bao Yingchen came to the doors and stood there for a moment. Then he called into the hall, "Brother Li Qi, come out. Let us settle this matter here and now. "

Li Banfeng laughed. "If it were that easy to settle, why did you bring so many men to find me? "

"The Chu Family hired us to do a job, so naturally we had to do it, " Bao Yingchen replied. "That is how a sect works. But how far we take the matter is up to us. Both sides have suffered losses tonight, which is enough to say we have done our part. Even the Chu Family cannot find any fault in us. Brother, surely you understand what I am offering. "

Bao Yingchen's words did sound reasonable. When the Three Heroes Sect had sent Chubby Qin to cause trouble at Ma Wu's film set, they had known when to stop. It seemed to fit the way they usually did things.

Even so, Li Banfeng did not believe him. The situation tonight was clearly nothing like it had been during that time.

Bao Yingchen continued, "I genuinely want to be your friend. To be honest, I have not met an opponent like you since I fought the Lu Family three years ago. I lost that fight, but afterward, the Lu Family and I became friends. Let us call tonight's fight a draw. I would like to be your friend. "

Bao Yingchen was trying to distract Li Banfeng.

Li Banfeng was quite happy to keep talking, since every word bought him a little more time.

He asked, "Big Boss, how did you lose that fight? Was it Lu Dongliang who beat you? Tell me the details. "

Bao Yingchen smiled. "Actually, I did not lose to Lu Dongliang. To be honest, my cultivation is no weaker than his. I lost to Lu Dongjun. Everyone says he is simple-minded, but once he steps onto a battlefield, he is full of tricks. He beat me so thoroughly that I have nothing to complain about. Brother Li Qi, I feel the same way after fighting you tonight. You have earned my respect. I must have you as my friend! "

Li Banfeng did not respond. It seemed like he felt tempted.

Bao Yingchen's plan was simple. If he could talk Li Banfeng into coming out, he would lure him into the open and kill him. The men under his command were some of the Three Heroes Sect's best fighters, and he had no wish to lose too many of them.

However, if he didn't manage to convince Li Banfeng, he would stop caring about losses. He would send his men charging into the hall to take the first attack, then wait for a chance to kill Li Banfeng himself.

And now, it seemed like Li Banfeng was wavering, which meant that he couldn't let his men interfere anymore. This could be a good chance to finish the fight quickly.

Bao Yingchen seized the moment and activated Path of Unhindered Steps to enter the main dance hall.

Actually, Li Banfeng had never felt any hesitation. He knew perfectly well that Bao Yingchen had no intention of making peace.

Danger closed in without warning. Li Banfeng did not reach for the key and gave up the idea of hiding inside the Pocket Dwelling.

If he went in, the hundred or so people at Freewind Wharf would certainly die, and there was no guarantee that his key would remain hidden afterward.

He knew the danger, but still chose to step forward stubbornly.

He decided to risk everything in one final fight.

He was ready to activate Treading Through Ten Thousand Rivers and used Stubborn Step to push his strength to a higher level. He meant to kill Bao Yingchen with a single strike.

However, Bao Yingchen was an old and cunning fighter. The moment he burst through the wall, he saw the wire rope stretched across his path.

Bao Yingchen activated Path of Unhindered Steps again and passed through the web of wire rope with only some minor injuries.

After he passed through the web of wire rope, he did not rush straight at Li Banfeng. He knew Li Banfeng was ready for him, so he used his speed to circle around behind him instead.

Li Banfeng spun around and tried to activate Homebound Heart and Thickset Body again. But this ability could only be used once a day, and he had already used it.

Could he really force the activation a second time? There was no time to wonder. He would have to take the chance. His level had risen, so perhaps he could activate this ability one more time.

Li Banfeng pictured the Pocket Dwelling in his mind and imagined himself becoming just as solid and unbreakable as his home.

The moment Li Banfeng tried, the ability Homebound Heart and Thickset Body failed. A terrible pain tore through his body, and his steps slowed.

This is bad! Like fatally bad!

The moment Bao Yingchen saw him slow down, he was delighted. He stepped forward, passed through a ring of light, and appeared right in front of Li Banfeng.

Wait a minute... Bao Yingchen thought. What was that light?

Bao Yingchen shuddered. A layer of flesh was stripped from his body, leaving him badly wounded on the spot.

He glanced at the halo behind him, and in his shock, a terrifying possibility came to mind: the natural enemy of every Daoist path.

Was that the Hermit's Lockdown? This is a level-eight ability of a Homebound Cultivator? How could he possibly activate a Homebound Cultivator ability...

Author's Note:

PS: Li Banfeng is now in terrible pain, and even he has no idea what just happened.