Chapter 436: Because This Is Our Home

He Yuxiu and her group had tied down Tian Dasong, and the fact that Chu Huaiyuan had come to fight Chu Shaoqiang to the death tied him down.

Meanwhile, Guo Jinshi was in an extremely dire situation. Li Banfeng had bitten through his throat, and his ability One Word Worth a Thousand Pieces of Gold was about to lose effect.

Seeing Guo Jinshi lying motionless, the Tang Saber prepared to take his head. However, an invisible force suddenly separated Li Banfeng and Guo Jinshi. Guo Jinshi was moved toward Chu Shaoqiang, while Li Banfeng was forced back dozens of meters.

Li Banfeng thought, What ability is this? Did Guo Jinshi use A Parting Across Ten Thousand Miles?

At the same time, He Yuxiu and the others were also separated from Tian Dasong. The chaotic melee had turned into the two sides standing apart.

Now Li Banfeng knew what kind of ability it was. The person who used the ability had not been Guo Jinshi; it had been Chu Shaoqiang.

The Gramophone had told Li Banfeng that Artificer Cultivators had a Cloudborne ability called Halt the Battle and Divide, which could rapidly separate friend from foe in the middle of a melee, provided the enemy forces had cultivation levels far below his own.

What was the utility of this ability? For most cultivators, it did not have much utility, but for Artificer Cultivators, it was extremely useful.

Artificer Cultivators feared surprise attacks the most. Without adequate preparation, they could easily use the wrong tactics and even be defeated by lower-level cultivators. Halt the Battle and Divide could buy an Artificer Cultivator time to prepare for their next moves. Additionally, Artificer enchanted artifacts and spirit-bound items could harm friend and foe alike on the battlefield, so Halt the Battle and Divide prevents the Artificer Cultivator's allies from being caught in the crossfire.

The Gramophone had said that if an Artificer Cultivator used this ability, it meant their cultivation level was at level three or above of the Cloudborne Layer. However, as long as their level was not higher than the Cloudborne Layer, the ability could only be used once within a short period.

Li Banfeng's mouth was covered in blood as he looked at Guo Jinshi. Seeing the Literary Cultivator lying on the ground on the verge of death, Li Banfeng figured he would not recover anytime soon.

Li Banfeng was dead wrong.

Guo Jinshi wrote four characters on his own body, forming the phrase "Withered Wood Revives in Spring." Then he slowly began to recover. It was not a speedy recovery process, but it was fast enough that the progress was visible. Li Banfeng had gouged out both of Guo Jinshi's eyes earlier. To restore his sight, Guo Jinshi wrote the character for "eye" above his left eye socket. His eyebrow split open, and an eyeball appeared inside the slit.

If this dragged on, Guo Jinshi would soon recover his combat strength. All of Li Banfeng's efforts might go to waste.

Li Banfeng wanted to charge over and finish Guo Jinshi off, but the power of Halt the Battle and Divide remained in full effect. With his current cultivation level, he could not break through it.

Chu Shaoqiang looked over at Li Banfeng's side and asked, "Why are you doing this? I came here to find the local land deity, Qiu Luoye. What does this have to do with you?"

Li Banfeng replied, "Today, you're looking for Qiu Luoye, and it has nothing to do with me. But tomorrow, you'll come looking for me, and it'll have nothing to do with someone else. Eventually, you'll come for the rest of us one by one, and none of it will have anything to do with anyone. In the end, we'll all die at your hands. I heard you're from the Inner Provinces. Did the Inner Provinces teach you this dirty trick?"

Chu Shaoqiang said nothing.

Chu Huaiyuan asked, "Dad, you went to the Inner Provinces?"

He Yuxiu glanced at Chu Huaiyuan and then turned back to Chu Shaoqiang. "So, it's you, you brat. Chu Shaoqiang, you didn't fucking die?"

Chu Shaoqiang smiled and straightened his overcoat. "Yuxiu, you're still as charming as ever after all these years."

"Don't fucking act like we're friends. Since when did I let you call me 'Yuxiu'?" He Yuxiu sneered. "But I'm surprised. I've never thought much of you, but you were pretty gutsy back then. How'd you end up running off to the Inner Provinces to be a dog? And you snuck off without telling anyone."

Chu Shaoqiang sighed. "What's wrong with going to the Inner Provinces? You're looking down on me for that? I even saw He Haiqin there. Do you think he went there to be a dog too?"

"You really saw Haiqin?" He Yuxiu asked, following along with Chu Shaoqiang's line of conversation. She was trying to distract him.

Li Banfeng carefully watched Guo Jinshi's recovery progress, determined to kill him the moment Halt the Battle and Divide wore off.

Chu Shaoqiang saw through Li Banfeng's intentions. "You must be Li Qi. Wipe the blood off your mouth. You're giving me the creeps. You're a calculating man. You didn't follow the usual playbook. You sure gave me a fright. But do you really expect wild punches to beat an old master like me? That's wishful thinking. I can dispel the ability now and let you try again. I'd like to see whether you'll even get another chance to close in on me."

While Chu Shaoqiang was talking, Guo Jinshi had recovered enough to stand up. Despite swaying unsteadily on his feet, he stared at Li Banfeng with his one eye.

Guo Jinshi could speak again. He pointed at Li Banfeng and yelled, "Madman! Brute! If you've got the guts, come fight me again!"

Li Banfeng's face was still covered in Guo Jinshi's blood, making his grin look especially feral and sinister. "You bastard. You know I can't get over there right now, so you're just running your mouth."

Chu Shaoqiang looked over the group and said to Li Banfeng, "These are your friends and your subordinates. I can tell you plainly that if this fight continues, not one of them will survive."

"And you think those two subordinates of yours are going to survive?"

Chu Shaoqiang glanced at Guo Jinshi and Tian Dasong. "You mean them? They haven't established a proper standing in the Inner Provinces yet. If they want to advance to the Cloudborne Layer, they need to earn more merits. For that, they're willing to die here."

He paused, then added, "Ask the people around you. Do they want to die?"

Li Banfeng realized, These two aren't at the Cloudborne Layer? Then that means they're level-ten cultivators...?

Guo Jinshi and Tian Dasong were indeed level-ten Terranean cultivators. Specifically, they were level-ten cultivators who had acquired corporeal bodies and were among those closest to reaching the Cloudborne Layer. Saying that they were willing to die was somewhat of an exaggeration, but this battle was indeed crucial to their advancement to the Cloudborne Layer.

Li Banfeng took a step forward, only to be pushed back again by an invisible force. Halt the Battle and Divide was still in effect. He could not break through.

Chu Shaoqiang frowned. "Are you even listening to me?"

"No," Li Banfeng answered honestly.

He truly had not been listening. From the moment he decided to fight this battle, nothing anyone said could change his mind.

Chu Shaoqiang let out a sigh. "Take your people and leave. There are quite a few old acquaintances of mine here, and I don't want to fight them. My daughter is here too. She came here to fight me to the death for you. You're pretty damn lucky. Even if you die fighting here today, you can't save Qiu Luoye. I'm the only one who can save him. As long as he agrees to my terms, he can live. He has no choice."

Li Banfeng still wanted to force his way through.

However, someone yelled out from behind, "Old Qi, get out of here!"

Qiu Luoye had hurried over. "Old Qi, didn't we agree? Leave the fighting to me. Go! Quickly"

He stepped in front of Li Banfeng and charged toward Chu Shaoqiang.

Chu Shaoqiang was not wrong. As long as the land deed was still in the possession of those in the Inner Provinces, no one could save Qiu Luoye. Rather than drag everyone else into it, Qiu Luoye would rather fight Chu Shaoqiang himself.

Despite his serious injuries, Qiu Luoye managed to break through Chu Shaoqiang's ability.

Chu Shaoqiang did not dare be careless; he quickly made preparations to face Qiu Luoye. Then suddenly, a thunderous rumble rang out in the distance.

Boom!

It was a drumbeat. Everyone, including Li Banfeng, felt the beat reverberate through their chest.

What kind of drum could make such a tremendous sound? In Puluo, there was only one place where a drum could sound this deafening.

Three people present had heard this kind of drum before: Qiu Luoye, He Yuxiu, and Chu Shaoqiang. They all knew what the drumbeat meant.

Boom!

Another drumbeat sounded, and a group of tall figures gradually emerged from deep within the woods.

These people were not just tall; they had very distinctive physiques—very broad shoulders that supported three human heads.

This was the unique drumbeat of Convict City. He Yuxiu grinned, Qiu Luoye stopped in his tracks, and Chu Shaoqiang's nerves were stretched taut.

Juan walked over. Behind her, four three-headed people carried a newly made bass drum. A fifth three-headed person carried the drumstick and struck the bass drum every ten steps. The bass drum was crudely made, but it produced an extremely loud sound.

In Convict City, this kind of bass drum was only sounded on two occasions. The first was during New Year's, representing Convict City's hopes for life. The second was when they could no longer survive, representing Convict City's struggle for life.

Juan said to Li Banfeng, "Master Qi, we just finished preparing our weapons. We're late."

Li Banfeng had prepared a hundred or so weapons for them, but he had not expected that, aside from the children, all three-thousand-odd three-headed people would come. Clearly, the weapons Li Banfeng had provided had not been enough. Some carried cleavers, some carried hoes, and some had sharpened branches of large trees into spears.

Juan turned around and looked at Chu Shaoqiang without saying anything else. When it came time to fight, it was usually Meng who did the talking.

Meng asked, "Master Qi, are those three the only ones?"

Li Banfeng nodded.

Chu Shaoqiang was clearly rather wary of the three-headed people. "I know you've suffered a great deal. I know you still want this place to be your home. I promise I'll let you continue living here. There doesn't need to be any conflict between us."

Meng looked at Chu Shaoqiang. "You don't need to say so much. We came here to kill you."

Chu Shaoqiang still wanted to try persuading them. The best way to persuade a group was to divide its members. "I'm from the Inner Provinces. Do you intend to make an enemy of everyone in the Inner Provinces?"

Meng shook his head. "We've never been to the Inner Provinces, and we don't know anyone from the Inner Provinces. We're only killing you."

Chu Shaoqiang chuckled. "Kill me? I'm afraid it won't be that easy. At least half of you will have to die. Is it worth it?"

"Half?" Meng looked at the people behind him. "You're underestimating us. We came here. That means none of us have the intention of going back alive."

Chu Shaoqiang was puzzled. "Why is that?"

Meng gave only one answer. "Because this is our home."

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The drumbeats grew rapid.

Tian Dasong became quite frightened.

Guo Jinshi muttered, "My... my injuries haven't even healed yet..."

When the drumbeats became too rapid to count, the three-headed people began their charge. More than three thousand three-headed people rushed at the three men all at once.

Guo Jinshi tried to stay as close to Tian Dasong as possible. Tian Dasong waited for Chu Shaoqiang's strategy.

Chu Shaoqiang shouted, "Retreat!"

Then he ran first.

Tian Dasong followed, and He Yuxiu chased after them.

"Of the Thirty-Six Stratagems, retreat is the best!" Guo Jinshi exclaimed.

He wanted to flee too, but he was more cunning, so he used an ability to run. He was seriously injured and could not use his higher-level abilities, but he could still use Spoken Word Manifestation without difficulty.

Guo Jinshi covered more than a hundred meters at incredible speed, then he used another ability.

"A single leaf can block the eye!"

He hid in the woods, temporarily escaping everyone's line of sight.

Just as he breathed a sigh of relief, he heard someone sing a phrase clearly.

"HU-AARARARARARARARA~"

That sound was Guo Jinshi's nightmare.

Li Banfeng appeared beside Guo Jinshi. His mouth was still covered in Guo Jinshi's blood, lips spread in a feral grin.

Guo Jinshi had recovered roughly twenty percent of his combat strength. He still had one life-saving enchanted artifact, the folding fan in his hand. With that fan, he could still hold Li Banfeng off for a while.

Snap!

Guo Jinshi brushed his thumb and fingers against each other, trying to open the folding fan. However, he realized that it was gone.

Where's my fan?

Guo Jinshi tried to shout, but Li Banfeng covered his mouth and took him into the Pocket Dwelling.

***

Tian Dasong ran at full speed after Chu Shaoqiang, but he had not expected Chu Shaoqiang to have prepared a Wanderlust enchanted artifact in advance. Chu Shaoqiang ran much faster than him.

He Yuxiu kicked Tian Dasong from behind, sending him stumbling. Then Meng picked up a woodcutter's knife and brought it down on Tian Dasong's head.

Seeing the way Meng swung that knife, Tian Dasong was no longer afraid. The three-headed people clearly did not know martial arts. That attack was far too amateurish.

Tian Dasong snatched the woodcutter's knife away from Meng and easily slashed him across the chest.

Three-headed people had tough skin and flesh, but this was precisely what Martial Cultivators were capable of overcoming. Tian Dasong could cut through their skin and flesh. In his hands, this woodcutter's knife was a top-grade weapon.

However, Tian Dasong had not expected Meng to completely disregard his chest wound and grab Tian Dasong's right arm. He tried to break free, only to discover that Meng was terrifyingly strong. Tian Dasong felt as if his arm had been melded to Meng's hand; pulling it free was an impossible feat.

Another three-headed person grabbed Tian Dasong's left arm. The two three-headed people pulled from either side of Tian Dasong, trying to tear him apart. That was how simple the three-headed people's fighting style was.

Could this really work? Could a level-ten Martial Cultivator really be torn apart like this? Two people certainly could not do it. Tian Dasong could break free with his footwork alone. But when a whole crowd of three-headed people pulled at Tian Dasong together, breaking free was not so easy.

Tian Dasong spun rapidly in place, flinging a group of three-headed people away.

He threw one group off, but there was another group. No matter how viciously Tian Dasong struck, the three-headed people relied on their tall, wide frames and strength to grab hold of him together. They refused to let him go.

Tian Dasong continued to struggle desperately, but He Yuxiu approached with a grin and kicked him in the chest. The kick knocked the breath out of Tian Dasong. That was his last breath.

His strength waned, and the three-headed people tore him into more than a dozen pieces, scattering them across the ground.

Li Banfeng stepped over to He Yuxiu. "Where's Chu Shaoqiang?"

He Yuxiu looked into the distance. "That brat is a master at burrowing underground. He probably dug a tunnel and escaped."

She had guessed correctly.

Despite being covered in wounds, Chu Shaoqiang dug a tunnel and escaped to the foot of the mountain. He quickly left Qi Qiu City. Unless absolutely necessary, he did not want to come back to this place again.

What he needed to do now was report to the Inner Provinces as quickly as possible and let them deal with Qiu Luoye. Qiu Luoye was unwilling to submit to the Inner Provinces, so he would most likely be put to death.

But how am I supposed to report the results of this battle...?

Guo Jinshi and Tian Dasong had both lost, while Chu Shaoqiang himself had been wounded and forced to flee. It would not be easy for him to explain that.

Guess I'll just put off reporting it for a few days.

***

Li Banfeng found Qiu Luoye. "Big Bro Qiu, don't chase after them. Go home, and get some rest."

"You little brat, you just won't listen to me!" Qiu Luoye said with a smile, even as blood seeped through his clothes.