The Overlord of Puluo

Greenwater Beggar was a beggar, and "since you have already given it..." was the setup for the Beggar Cultivator ability Making Insatiable Demands. If a famous beggar suddenly came out with a line like "Since you have already given it," any reasonable person would assume he was using a Beggar Cultivator ability. However, Chu Shaoqiang knew very well that the Greenwater Beggar was not a Beggar Cultivator.

Wang Fuqi had been tricked. He should never have touched anything that the Greenwater Beggar touched.

Wang Fuqi's right hand was already rotting away. Without hesitation, he drew his dagger and severed his arm at the elbow.

The Greenwater Beggar smiled. "Not enough."

He was right. Even after Wang Fuqi cut off his forearm, the decay continued creeping up his upper arm. Wang Fuqi's face changed in horror. He swung the dagger again and hacked off the entire arm at the shoulder.

The Greenwater Beggar chuckled again. "Too late."

The arm fell away, but the rot had already reached Wang Fuqi's body. The disease nidus spread rapidly through him.

Chu Shaoqiang lowered his eyes. "Greenwater Beggar, you are here early."

The Greenwater Beggar merely smiled without saying a word.

Cedric spoke from the side. "We didn't want to come this early either, but your friend was stupid enough to offer up his life. We couldn't exactly turn down such an easy piece of business."

Chu Shaoqiang frowned slightly. "Foreign devil, this isn't your territory. If you die here, no one will even see it. And you are still in the mood to talk business with me?"

Cedric shrugged and said nothing more.

Business. This was the key word in what he had just said. It had not been meant for Chu Shaoqiang. Cedric wasn't sure whether the person he intended it for was here, but this was the only hint he could give.

The business had begun.

The Greenwater Beggar smiled. "My disciple isn't wrong. This companion of yours really is a little stupid."

Wang Fuqi shouted toward Chu Shaoqiang, "Lord Chu, save me! Grrrgl..."

Boom!

Before he could finish, his vocal cords rotted away, reducing his voice to a low, hoarse bubbling sound. There was no saving him now, and Chu Shaoqiang knew it.

In the blink of an eye, Wang Fuqi's entire body rotted through and collapsed. Pus splattered everywhere, drenching Chu Shaoqiang.

If even a little of it seeped through Chu Shaoqiang's skin, it would be enough to kill him.

The Greenwater Beggar sighed. "You two really do suit each other. Neither of you is particularly bright."

Chu Shaoqiang looked at the Greenwater Beggar with a mocking smile. "You haven't changed much since back then. If the Outer Provinces hadn't stepped in, I wouldn't have suffered such a big loss because of you."

Flakes of lime fell from Chu Shaoqiang's body, taking Wang Fuqi's pus with them. Chu Shaoqiang himself was completely unharmed.

The Greenwater Beggar was not surprised. Chu Shaoqiang had always been careful, so it made sense that he would stay on guard at all times.

Cedric saw this and quickly burst the blisters on his face. Green fluid sprayed toward Chu Shaoqiang.

Chu Shaoqiang waved a hand, and fine bits of lime blocked the fluid.

"Your disciple is just as arrogant as you are. At least you have some real ability. He just doesn't know his own limits," Chu Shaoqiang said and did not even bother looking at Cedric again.

The Greenwater Beggar smiled. "He's young and hasn't seen much of the world. It's only natural for him to get nervous when he sees an important man like you."

𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

Cedric kept bursting the blisters on his face, spraying more fluid at Chu Shaoqiang.

He really did look flustered, but that was part of his plan. He only wanted to make the Greenwater Beggar and Chu Shaoqiang start fighting as soon as possible.

Cedric wanted to fish in troubled waters. Now both the water and the fish were here. As for the land deity of this territory and the people from the Inner Provinces, he did not care about them at all.

Faced with Cedric's repeated provocations, Chu Shaoqiang naturally wasn't going to just keep defending. The lime around his body turned into a thick cloud and swept toward the Greenwater Beggar and Cedric.

The Greenwater Beggar warned Cedric, "Get out of the way if you don't want to die."

Cedric quickly dodged aside. The Greenwater Beggar rubbed his nose and sneezed. The powerful gust scattered the cloud of lime.

Meanwhile, the festering sores covering Greenwater Beggar's body swelled one after another and split open. Instead of pus, tiny round heads poked out through the ruptures, each with a pair of enormous eyes that darted around in every direction.

They were dragonfly heads. One dragonfly-like disease nidus after another crawled out of the sores, spread its wings, and took flight.

The lime could hardly stop disease nidi as big as dragonflies. Even if it killed some of them, it would make little difference. If even a single dragonfly managed to land on Chu Shaoqiang, it would be a serious threat.

Chu Shaoqiang calmly took off his scarf and tossed it into the air.

The scarf rapidly expanded, a layer of sticky adhesive spreading across its surface. Like a giant sheet of flypaper, it caught every disease nidus in the air.

While the scarf trapped the dragonflies, Chu Shaoqiang secretly controlled the lime, steadily pushing the lime flakes closer to Greenwater Beggar.

Greenwater Beggar burped. His stomach was churning. A surge of sour fluid rose from his stomach. He spat some of it out, coating his entire body, then held the rest in his mouth to seal off his nose and mouth.

It was a precaution specifically meant to counter Chu Shaoqiang's lime. Protected by the acidic fluid, Greenwater Beggar endured the lime and rapidly closed in on Chu Shaoqiang.

He had trained as a Martial Cultivator, and Chu Shaoqiang did not dare lay a hand on him. Once Greenwater Beggar got close enough to fight at arm's length, the odds would be very much in his favor.

When he was less than five meters from Chu Shaoqiang, a burst of flame suddenly engulfed him.

A Fire Cultivator?

The raging flames melted through the shell formed from his pus, allowing layer after layer of poison to seep into Greenwater Beggar's body.

A Poison Cultivator too!

Thick, sticky fluid seeped from Greenwater Beggar's body, and the flames were just about to go out when a basin of cold water came splashing down from above and extinguished the fire first.

Who just helped Greenwater Beggar? There had been no need for anyone to put out the fire. The help was unnecessary.

Greenwater Beggar was still wondering what had happened when an elderly voice sounded beside his ear. "You accepted my water. Stand right where you are!"

A Devotion Cultivator!

Once someone accepted something from a Devotion Cultivator, payment was due whether they liked it or not. The Devotion Cultivator knew better than to demand Greenwater Beggar's life outright. He knew exactly how dangerous Greenwater Beggar was. So instead, he used his ability to seize control of Greenwater Beggar's knees.

At once, both of Greenwater Beggar's joints went horribly stiff, as though they had turned into stone. His legs would not bend. They would not move at all.

The Fire Cultivator rapidly wrapped Greenwater Beggar with flames from head to toe. Greenwater Beggar, however, was made of sterner stuff. He wrenched his own knees apart with brute force, snapping the joints, then simply grew the bones back and healed them almost at once. A moment later, his joints were no longer under the Devotion Cultivator's control.

His feet had barely touched the ground when they sank straight into a patch of mud. Down he went. Ankles first, then knees, then waist.

A Mud Cultivator too?

Counting Wang Fuqi, whom Greenwater Beggar had just killed, Chu Shaoqiang had brought five helpers along.

All five helpers had been hiding in the shadows, their presence concealed by one of Chu Shaoqiang's enchanted artifacts. Greenwater Beggar had not noticed a single one of them.

The moment Greenwater Beggar sank into the mud, Chu Shaoqiang approached with a small bag of cement in hand.

This cement had been prepared especially for Greenwater Beggar. The instant Chu Shaoqiang poured the cement on the Greenwater Beggar, it would harden rapidly and lock his entire body solid. Once that happened, he wouldn't be able to escape even if he turned himself into pus.

The bag was already coming down over Greenwater Beggar's head. There was nowhere left to dodge.

Then Chu Shaoqiang suddenly felt a chill in his palm. His fingers grabbed empty air.

Where was the cement? It had vanished!

Li Banfeng hid behind a tree and faintly heard Glove murmur in admiration, "Nice work."

"He Jiaqing?" Chu Shaoqiang's first thought was He Jiaqing. He had only recently suffered at He Jiaqing's hands in Kinless Township.

"Jiaqing, come out! I saw you ages ago!" Chu Shaoqiang called out in a bluff. The truth was that he had no idea where He Jiaqing was hiding.

He Jiaqing did not fall for it. While everyone was still busy surrounding Greenwater Beggar, he simply emptied the entire bag of cement over the Mud Cultivator instead.

The Mud Cultivator thrashed desperately, trying to shake himself free. Cement was especially deadly to someone like him. It attacked the very structure of his body, hardening and ruining the mud that made him what he was.

He Jiaqing flung cement in every direction, forcing Chu Shaoqiang's helpers to scatter.

Greenwater Beggar seized the chance. Two long strands of mucus shot from his nostrils and stuck fast to Chu Shaoqiang.

Chu Shaoqiang was protected by lime, so he wasn't scared at all. Greenwater Beggar had never intended to hurt Chu Shaoqiang with the two strands of mucus. He only needed something to pull against so he could wrench himself free from the mud.

Two pairs of pincers flew from Chu Shaoqiang's robes and ripped the strands off his back. However, he was too slow. Greenwater Beggar had already gotten the leverage he needed. With one violent pull, he tore himself out of the mud.

Greenwater Beggar let out a roar, spraying pus in every direction.

Chu Shaoqiang had ways to withstand it, and the other helpers had ways to dodge.

The Mud Cultivator was the only one in real trouble. Cement clung to his body and slowed him to a crawl, leaving him unable to dodge the spray of pus. Only a tiny drop struck his forehead, but at once his head felt as though it were splitting apart.

It was not merely a feeling. His head really was splitting open!

Greenwater Beggar seemed almost careless when he attacked, but there was nothing careless about the result. Every strike was meant to kill.

The Mud Cultivator's skull cracked apart under the terrible pain. A moment later, his brain matter began to boil, bursting from the opening in a grisly spray.

Without it, the Mud Cultivator remained standing for a few seconds longer. Then, little by little, all signs of life faded from him.

His body, however, was not completely dead yet. Chunks of flesh sloughed off and, together with the remains of Wang Fuqi, the Spycraft Cultivator, turned into hundreds of "slugs" that writhed away in every direction. The slime they left trailing across the ground spread everywhere, and anyone who touched it would be infected with Greenwater Beggar's disease nidus.

Even Chu Shaoqiang found that difficult to guard against. He scattered a ring of lime around himself and made a safe zone.

The Fire Cultivator was not afraid. Whatever came near, he burned. The Devotion Cultivator was clever. He hid close to the Fire Cultivator.

The Poison Cultivator and the Fire Cultivator had never gotten along particularly well, so he had no intention of going anywhere near him. To avoid the slugs, he moved beneath a willow tree instead.

Weird. I don't think there was a willow tree here.... The Poison Cultivator thought and immediately sensed that something was wrong. There might be an ambush hidden in the tree. Greenwater Beggar might have brought more than one helper.

The Poison Cultivator had a very simple way of dealing with possible ambushes. He did not bother checking and simply released poison. If his guess was right, he would come out far ahead. If it was wrong, he would lose nothing.

Layer upon layer of poisonous mist surged from the Poison Cultivator's body and was just about to rise toward the treetop when two slugs, each carrying Greenwater Beggar's disease nidus, slid across the snow toward his feet.

The Poison Cultivator dodged at once. He was extremely agile and easily leaped over a faint ring of light, avoiding the slugs on the ground.

Wait. Did I just leap over a ring of light? Where did the light come from?

When avoiding danger, anything strange was best avoided as well. Otherwise, it might trigger a hidden trap. This was based off his fighting experience and his instinct.

What the Poison Cultivator could not understand was why, after jumping over the ring, he felt as though a layer of skin had been stripped from his body.

Before he could work out who had attacked him, Li Banfeng suddenly appeared and flashed past in a blur.

So fast. Greenwater Beggar brought in a Wanderlust Cultivator! The Poison Cultivator's thoughts raced, and he reached a conclusion almost at once. The many wounds covering his body had been caused by Treading Through Ten Thousand Rivers. And now, Passing Flowers on Horseback was being activated, which meant that he needed to keep his eyes on Li Banfeng.

The Poison Cultivator endured his injuries and, relying on years of combat experience, kept his eyes firmly fixed on Li Banfeng. His right hand swelled as every drop of poison in his body gathered into his palm, ready to deliver a killing blow.

He was a level-ten cultivator. Like Guo Jinshi and Tian Dasong, he was waiting for the chance to earn a great enough achievement to advance to the Cloudborne Layer.

He had a realistic sense of his own abilities. He knew there was no chance he could kill Greenwater Beggar, and even if Ge Junma were rescued, the credit would not fall to him.

However, if he could kill one of Greenwater Beggar's helpers, he could then get the chance to advance to the Cloudborne Layer. That alone could be enough to earn his promotion, secure him a place in the next investiture, and finally send him past the ring of light again.

Another ring of light...

It was beginning to feel like a nightmare for the Poison Cultivator. He had kept Li Banfeng locked in his sights, waiting for a chance to strike back while still guarding against the Greenwater Beggar. He never expected another ring of light to sweep beneath his feet.

Before he could even figure out where the strange light was coming from, another layer of flesh was stripped from his body.

This time, the injuries were serious. As the Poison Cultivator staggered, the ring of light suddenly swept back and forth beneath his feet several times.

Every back-and-forth counted as two strikes. After several passes, it was as though countless blades had carved through him more than a dozen times. Covered in wounds from head to toe, the Poison Cultivator could barely move.

Li Banfeng activated Returning Home Like an Arrow. He hooked his sickle into the Poison Cultivator's skull and dragged him back into the Pocket Dwelling.

"Wifey, this one's a Poison Cultivator. He's a little spicy, so eat him slowly."

The Gramophone had no appetite at all. "Husband dear, the battlefield is dangerous. You must be very, very careful."

Author's Note:

PS: Greenwater Beggar teamed up with He Jiaqing, while Chu Shaoqiang brought five helpers of his own. Three of the five helpers are dead now. Cedric was right. Greenwater Beggar really did come better prepared for this fight.

Many thanks to Alliance Leader Lamp-Bearing Star of Life and Death, an old friend of mine, for all the trust and support along the way.