Chapter Summaries

Li Mubai agreed to treat Sister Zhao’s worsening thigh bruise with his Soul Power in the kitchen. Xiao Qian overheard their out-of-context conversation, mistook the treatment for an intimate encounter, and returned to bed without interrupting them.

• Sister Zhao asked Li Mubai to examine the bruise on the inside of her left thigh after seeing his healing technique.
• Li Mubai reassured Sister Zhao that he could treat the bruise, and she lifted her skirt to show him the injury.
• Li Mubai warned Sister Zhao that the treatment might hurt, then pressed his Soul Power against the bruise as she tried to endure the pain.
• Xiao Qian approached the kitchen, overheard their words and Sister Zhao’s moan, and concluded that Li Mubai and Sister Zhao were doing something shameful.
• Xiao Qian decided not to interrupt Li Mubai and Sister Zhao, then tiptoed back to bed and pretended to sleep.

Li Mubai healed Zhao Shuran’s thigh and then received a summons from Bibi Dong delivered by a masked Black Fox agent. Suspecting Bibi Dong wanted him to handle a difficult task, he took her jade pendant and feigned illness to avoid going to the Pope’s Hall.

• Li Mubai used Soul Power to heal Zhao Shuran’s bruise, and she thanked him for his help.
• Zhao Shuran mistook Li Mubai’s restraint for a lack of interest in her and praised his strength.
• A masked Black Fox agent arrived and respectfully told Li Mubai that Bibi Dong wanted to see him at the Pope’s Hall.
• The agent offered Li Mubai a jade pendant as a gift from Bibi Dong, and he grew suspicious that she wanted his help with a troublesome matter.
• Li Mubai pretended to be seriously ill, took the pendant, and shut the door in the agent’s face.

Bibi Dong summoned Li Mubai to the Pope's Hall, using the threat of withholding part of his stipend to make him come. There, her teasing greeting startled him before she steered the conversation toward an important matter, leaving him privately wondering how to get straight to the point.

• Bibi Dong told Number Three to summon Li Mubai and instructed her to threaten withholding part of his stipend if he refused.
• Li Mubai shut the door on Number Three, but reopened it when she knocked again and repeated Bibi Dong's message.
• Li Mubai agreed to go to the Pope's Hall, said goodbye to Zhao Shuran, and told Xiao Qian not to wait for him at lunch.
• Li Mubai arrived at the Pope's Hall and exchanged greetings with Bibi Dong, whose unexpected joke surprised him.
• Bibi Dong cut off the pleasantries and said she had an important matter to discuss, while Li Mubai privately wondered how to get straight to the point.

Bibi Dong tried to make Li Mubai repay Spirit Hall for its kindness by assigning him work, but he openly called her plan to drive newcomers and property speculators out of Spirit City foolish. The chapter ended with Bibi Dong demanding an explanation and threatening to punish him.

• Bibi Dong secretly listened to Li Mubai's thoughts and decided to stop him from visiting the Startling Swan Courtyard to hear Miss Liu sing.
• Bibi Dong questioned Li Mubai about his salary and whether he owed Spirit Hall gratitude, then used his agreement to assign him work.
• Bibi Dong explained that Spirit City's growing population had caused traffic congestion and rising housing prices, and proposed driving out the opportunists.
• Li Mubai shouted that Bibi Dong's plan was foolish and pointed at her in the Pope's Hall.
• Bibi Dong confronted Li Mubai for openly defying her and demanded a proper explanation, threatening to punish him if he could not provide one.

Li Mubai argued that wealthy merchants coming to Spirit City could help it prosper, then proposed a home-buying restriction and loans from Spirit Hall to help ordinary people purchase homes. Bibi Dong erupted when she heard the loan proposal, leaving Li Mubai facing her fury and threatened punishment.

• Bibi Dong demanded that Li Mubai explain why he had insulted her and opposed her decision to drive wealthy merchants from Spirit City.
• Li Mubai argued that merchants could bring growth and suggested limiting each person to buying one home to curb speculation while keeping housing affordable.
• Bibi Dong questioned whether the restriction would truly prevent prices from rising and argued that even moderate increases could deter ordinary people from moving to Spirit City.
• Li Mubai revealed his plan to have Spirit Hall's Finance Department lend money to people without property who could not afford a home.
• Bibi Dong sprang up and angrily accused Li Mubai of wanting to lend money before Spirit Hall had received it, then resolved to punish him.

Li Mubai convinced Bibi Dong to adopt mortgages and a merchant-funded model for developing Spirit City's eastern district, then was tricked into taking charge of its plans. He returned home at noon and found Zhao Shuran flushed, asking whether she had a fever.

• Li Mubai explained how mortgages could earn Spirit Hall money while letting it claim defaulted homes, and Bibi Dong praised the plan.
• Bibi Dong proposed building a new district east of Spirit City, and Li Mubai argued that its location would attract residents and travelers.
• Li Mubai suggested selling planned plots to merchants and local gentry so they would fund construction, leaving Spirit Hall with little expense.
• Bibi Dong used her fragrance to get Li Mubai to agree to prepare the plans and left him in charge of the new district.
• Li Mubai returned home, where Zhao Shuran opened the door with a flushed face, and he asked if she had a fever.

Li Mubai learned that Zhao Shuran and Xiao Yu'er had been forced out of their rented home, and he took them to Jingxi Street to confront whoever was responsible. The chapter ended with Zhao Shuran collecting her belongings while neighbors blamed the landlord and the high house-buying offers.

• Xiao Qian privately told Zhao Shuran she had no objection to her joining Li Mubai's family, and Zhao Shuran blushed but did not deny her affection for him.
• Li Mubai returned home and noticed Zhao Shuran's embarrassed behavior, while Xiao Qian encouraged her to seize the chance to get closer to him.
• Xiao Yu'er arrived crying and told Zhao Shuran and Li Mubai that bad people had taken their house and thrown their belongings into the street.
• Li Mubai took Zhao Shuran and Xiao Yu'er to their home on Jingxi Street to find out who had forced them out.
• Li Mubai found their clothes and personal belongings scattered outside, while Zhao Shuran began gathering them and the neighbors condemned the landlord.

Li Mubai watched Zhao Shuran and Xiao Yu'er be forced out after their landlord sold their rented house to a wealthy merchant. With nowhere else to go, Zhao Shuran was left at a loss until Li Mubai offered to take her and Xiao Yu'er into his home.

• Li Mubai realized the landlord had sold Zhao Shuran's house despite her lease, and saw how distressed Xiao Yu'er was when her rag doll was tossed into the street.
• The landlord sold the house to a wealthy merchant surnamed Li for thirteen hundred Gold Soul Coins, then mocked Zhao Shuran and claimed her lease no longer mattered.
• The merchant told Zhao Shuran she and Xiao Yu'er could stay that night but had to move out by the following afternoon.
• Zhao Shuran worried that she had nowhere to go, and Li Mubai offered to let her and Xiao Yu'er stay at his home.

After Zhao Shuran lost her rented home, Li Mubai invited her and Xiao Yu'er to live with him, and she accepted on the condition that she pay rent. Meanwhile, wealthy merchant Li Fengheng learned where Spirit Hall’s Tenth Elder lived and planned to win his favor with a lavish gift, while reflecting on the family he had left behind.

• Li Mubai persuaded Zhao Shuran to move in with him despite her worries about neighborhood gossip, and she agreed to pay market-rate rent.
• Li Mubai promised Xiao Yu'er a visit to the circus if she learned fifty new characters each week, and the family moved their belongings to his home.
• Xiao Qian welcomed Zhao Shuran and Xiao Yu'er with a celebratory dinner.
• Li Fengheng learned from his subordinate that Spirit Hall’s Tenth Elder lived near Jingxi Street and ordered a lavish gift prepared to secure the elder’s goodwill.
• Li Fengheng recalled leaving home ten years earlier to pursue business and wondered whether his father had been well.

Li Fengheng reflected on his rise and his hope of earning his family's respect by securing the Li family's future with a Titled Douluo's friendship. As Xiao Yu'er innocently questioned the sounds from next door, Li Fengheng inspected lavish gifts for the Tenth Elder and promoted a servant whose choices pleased him.

• Li Fengheng recalled his difficult rise in business and explained that he hoped to return home with a Titled expert's support, win his father's praise, and protect the Li family.
• Xiao Yu'er asked Zhao Shuran whether Li Mubai was hurting Xiao Qian, and Zhao Shuran insisted the sounds were an adult matter rather than cries of pain.
• Li Mubai continued his intimate encounter with Xiao Qian, unaware that a hole in the wall connected their room to the next one.
• Li Fengheng asked a sturdy servant to present the lavish gifts prepared for an important figure and examined chests of gold coins, jadeite, and pearls.
• Li Fengheng praised the servant's thoughtful gifts and appointed him as a guard in the trading company's storeroom.

Li Mubai spent the morning with Zhao Shuran and Xiao Yu'er before opening the gate to Li Fengheng, who had arrived with a grand procession to pay him a visit. Li Fengheng introduced himself as the founder of the Sili Trading Company, while Li Mubai wondered what the powerful merchant wanted from him.

• Li Fengheng led a procession carrying chests and gift boxes through the city toward the west.
• Li Mubai woke after a night with Xiao Qian and joined Zhao Shuran and Xiao Yu'er for breakfast, where Xiao Yu'er hinted that she and her mother had also been awake during the night.
• Li Mubai heard a knock at the gate and, assuming Bibi Dong had sent someone, went to answer it himself.
• Li Fengheng introduced himself as the founder of the Sili Trading Company and said he had come to pay his respects to the Tenth Elder.
• Onlookers gathered outside Li Mubai's home and recognized Li Fengheng as a leading figure in cross-border trade.

Li Mubai heard Li Fengheng's request for help impressing his father and initially deferred, then offered to accompany him if Li Fengheng invested in Spirit City's planned eastern district. Li Fengheng agreed, and they left the trip to his hometown for a later date.

• Li Fengheng recognized Li Mubai as the Titled Douluo from the Battle of the Two Titled Douluo and anxiously entered his residence to speak with him.
• Li Fengheng explained that he wanted Li Mubai to accompany him to his hometown so his father would see him in a new light, offering thirty percent of the Sili Trading Company's annual income.
• Li Mubai declined the offer at first, then said he might agree if Li Fengheng invested in the new district planned east of Spirit City.
• Li Mubai explained that Bibi Dong had approved developing the eastern area and that investors could buy plots to build housing, businesses, and markets.
• Li Fengheng agreed that the Sili Trading Company would support the new city's development, and Li Mubai said he would accompany him to his hometown when he chose to return.

Li Mubai accepted Li Fengheng’s lavish gifts and discovered that the chests contained gold coins and extremely valuable East Sea pearls. As Zhao Shuran worried about the gulf between their stations, Li Mubai gave Xiao Yu’er a pearl to play with and reassured her.

• Li Fengheng had his servants deliver chests of gifts to Li Mubai, who welcomed the valuables and planned to use Li Fengheng to recruit merchants for the new district project.
• After Li Fengheng left, Zhao Shuran opened a chest and found it packed with gold coins, leaving her amazed by Li Mubai’s status and feeling unworthy of him.
• Li Mubai opened another chest with Zhao Shuran and learned that its East Sea pearls were scarce and worth over a thousand gold coins apiece.
• Xiao Yu’er arrived and admired the pearls, so Li Mubai gave her one while Zhao Shuran warned her to return it.
• Li Mubai told Zhao Shuran that he regarded Xiao Yu’er as his disciple and let the girl keep the pearl as a toy.

Li Mubai visited the wasteland east of Spirit City to plan a new district, where Golden Crocodile appeared and warned him that building a city there would cost Spirit Hall heavily. Li Mubai finished his plans and left Golden Crocodile questioning his approach.

• Li Mubai left Zhao Shuran to guard the valuable gifts at home and traveled by carriage to the eastern wasteland.
• Li Mubai surveyed the barren land and imagined a prosperous new district rising there.
• Golden Crocodile appeared and questioned Li Mubai’s bold plans for developing the wasteland.
• Li Mubai drew up a detailed development plan while Golden Crocodile argued that transport costs and poor housing sales could cause Spirit Hall major losses.
• Li Mubai called Golden Crocodile muddleheaded, asked why Spirit Hall had to fund the construction, and headed down the hill.

Li Mubai presented his new-city plans to Bibi Dong and explained that selling the land could earn Spirit Hall at least 6.5 million gold coins, stunning her. He left Bibi Dong weighing the project’s enormous value as he hinted that he expected a reward.

• Golden Crocodile dismissed Li Mubai’s proposal to develop the new city and planned to use the Worship Hall’s financial control to obstruct its spending.
• Li Mubai ordered an extravagant meal, mistakenly tried to pay with one gold coin, and hurried out after learning the bill was fifteen gold coins.
• Li Mubai brought his new-city plans to Bibi Dong, who pretended to understand them and left the design decisions to him.
• Li Mubai warned Bibi Dong that the project could bring in at least 6.5 million gold coins from land sales, and she reacted with shock.
• Bibi Dong revealed that Spirit Hall earned only about eight million gold coins annually, and Li Mubai asked how she would reward his contribution.

Li Mubai secured Bibi Dong’s approval to lead Spirit Hall’s new-city project, promising it would earn money without drawing on the treasury. He then visited the injured Demon Bear and caught him pleading sweetly with his wife for lamb kidneys, leaving Demon Bear mortified when he noticed Li Mubai had heard him.

• Bibi Dong questioned whether Li Mubai could make the new city profitable and warned she would demote him if he failed.
• Hu Liena reported that investigators had found clues in their search, and Bibi Dong ordered them to continue the investigation.
• Bibi Dong put Li Mubai in full charge of the new city after Hu Liena challenged his plan, and Li Mubai left to recruit investors.
• Li Mubai went to Demon Bear’s home and learned that the rank ninety-five Titled Douluo had been injured and was recovering.
• Demon Bear begged his wife to buy him lamb kidneys, then realized Li Mubai had overheard him acting sweetly.

Li Mubai recruited the injured Demon Bear to help with a profitable new-city construction project and brought him to meet Li Fengheng, whose trading connections could gather local merchants. The chapter ended with Li Fengheng warmly welcoming Li Mubai at his residence.

• Demon Bear explained that Bibi Dong had led him and Chrysanthemum Douluo into the Star Dou Great Forest, where two Soul Beasts injured them.
• Demon Bear reopened his wounds while showing off, and Li Mubai treated them with ointment before Demon Bear's wife walked in and misunderstood the scene.
• Over dinner, Li Mubai explained his new-city plan and its potential to earn six million gold coins from land, prompting Demon Bear to insist on joining.
• The next morning, Li Mubai took an exhausted Demon Bear to meet Li Fengheng, a wealthy Sili Trading Company leader who could invite local gentry and merchants to discuss the project.
• Li Fengheng hurried to the gate and respectfully welcomed Elder Li.

Li Mubai enlisted Li Fengheng to gather the region’s leading merchants for a meeting about funding Spirit City’s new district. The merchants assembled at the Drunken Fragrance House, where they anxiously awaited the mysterious figure Li Fengheng treated with great respect, and Li Mubai finally appeared before them.

• Li Mubai introduced Demon Bear to Li Fengheng, then asked Li Fengheng to invite influential merchants to discuss the new district’s construction.
• Li Fengheng agreed, believing the project could bring lasting profits, and scheduled the gathering at the Drunken Immortal House three evenings later.
• Li Fengheng welcomed Wang Fuhai and the other business magnates to the Drunken Fragrance House, where they speculated about the purpose of the meeting.
• Li Fengheng told Li Mubai that the merchants had arrived, and Li Mubai brought Demon Bear downstairs after he washed the lipstick marks from his face.
• The assembled merchants watched Li Fengheng respectfully lead Li Mubai into the hall and wondered who the unfamiliar young man was.

Li Mubai introduced the new city project to business magnates and began auctioning its land, with Demon Bear helping oversee the proceedings. The commercial district’s price climbed to four million Gold Soul Coins, and Li Fengheng let Zhou Dahai take the winning bid.

• Li Mubai revealed that he was Spirit Hall’s newly appointed elder and explained the new city plan, while Li Fengheng outlined the benefits of investing.
• Demon Bear introduced himself as another Spirit Hall elder and helped Li Mubai present the land auction plan.
• Li Mubai opened bidding on the commercial district, an 800-mu plot with a starting price of one million Gold Soul Coins.
• Li Fengheng bid one million for the Sili Trading Company, and Zhou Dahai bid two million for the Zhou Clan.
• Li Fengheng raised the bid to three million, then Zhou Dahai offered four million; Li Fengheng declined to bid again, allowing Zhou Dahai to take the plot.

Li Mubai and Demon Bear earned more than twenty million gold coins by selling Spirit Hall’s new-city plots, and Li Mubai brought the proceeds to Bibi Dong. The chapter ended with Bibi Dong hearing Li Mubai’s thoughts as he mocked her for sleeping in, and she snapped her comb in anger.

• Old Master Wang and Zhao Fusheng quarrelled over the remaining residential plots after merchants bid high prices for the new-city land.
• Li Mubai and Demon Bear celebrated the sale proceeds, and Li Mubai arranged for the merchants to deliver the money to Li Fengheng.
• Two days later, Li Fengheng brought more than twenty million gold coins in over twenty carriages to Li Mubai’s home.
• Li Mubai escorted Li Fengheng and the caravan into Spirit Hall, where a guard recognized him as the Tenth Elder and let them pass.
• Li Mubai entered the garden behind the Pope’s Hall while Bibi Dong was dressing, and his thoughts about her laziness made her snap her wooden comb in anger.