Chapter Summaries

After the Fallen attacked Hou Jing, Qu Jianlei became known to the authorities and earned a new opportunity through mechanical repair and research articles. He focused on developing cultivation methods for Bentley and Hua Xiezhi, then chose to write about sensor algorithms, leaving the article’s submission for later.

• Bentley and the Mountain Master agreed that Bentley would receive cultivation resources instead of Silver Coins, but negotiations paused when more than three thousand Fallen attacked Hou Jing.
• Hou Jing’s forces defeated the Fallen, and inspections exposed Qu Jianlei and Hua Xiezhi to the City Garrison and Defense Corps.
• Qu Jianlei repaired mechs for the Defense Corps, while Dai Xingyan invited him to submit technical articles for Hou Jing subsidies and offered to exchange the subsidies for cultivation resources.
• Qu Jianlei completed a cultivation method for Bentley, then borrowed a Rank B Crystal from Bentley and developed a less mature method for Hua Xiezhi.
• Qu Jianlei chose to write an article on sensor sensing methods after deciding that more sensitive topics, including nuclear energy, were too risky to discuss.

Qu Jianlei wrote technical articles and repaired fresh-air systems while Dai Xingyan helped him publish his work and asked him to kill two men who had caused her brother’s death. After months of work and cultivation, Bentley returned from Central City with the Modified Potion Hua Xiezhi needed to begin cultivating.

• Qu Jianlei wrote articles on sensor bypasses and geothermal heating, then discussed their ideas with Dai Xingyan, who arranged to submit them to journals.
• When Mechanical Mysteries rejected the sensor-bypass article, Dai Xingyan secured its publication in Mechanical Exploration and offered Qu Jianlei cultivation resources to write more.
• Dai Xingyan asked Qu Jianlei to kill two wealthy residents of Qian Jing whom she believed had robbed her family’s convoy and caused her brother’s death, and he agreed to act no sooner than six months later.
• Dai Xingyan gave Qu Jianlei lucrative repair work, while he continued publishing articles and developing Hua Xiezhi’s cultivation method.
• Bentley went to Central City alone to obtain a Modified Potion for Hua Xiezhi, and Qu Jianlei advanced to the eighth layer of the Qi Refining Realm while he was gone.
• Bentley returned after four months with the potion, as Qu Jianlei considered how to earn more money.

After completing Dai Xingyan’s commission in Qian Jing, Bentley returned injured with proof that he had killed the two targets, and the group received a large payment in cultivation supplies. Qu Jianlei agreed to write for Mechanical Mysteries, but Tianzhong Yi stole his garbage-recycling article and published it under his own name, leaving Dai Xingyan to suspect Tianzhong Yi’s thinking had changed.

• Bentley returned from Qian Jing with a fractured arm and evidence that he had killed Dai Xingyan’s two enemies, and her people delivered cultivation supplies as payment.
• Dai Xingyan brought Qu Jianlei an invitation from Mechanical Mysteries, and he agreed to write a long article about garbage recycling.
• Qu Jianlei finished the article in three days, and Bentley delivered it to Dai Xingyan’s office while she was away.
• Tianzhong Yi took Qu Jianlei’s manuscript from Dai Xingyan’s office, removed the author’s name, and decided to claim it as his own.
• Dai Xingyan saw Tianzhong Yi’s article in Mechanical Exploration and, after reading it, wondered whether she had underestimated his ideas.

Dai Xingyan learned that Tianzhong Yi had published Jian Lei’s stolen manuscript and promised Bentley she would handle the matter. After discovering that Jian Lei and Terry were Ultimate Warriors, Tianzhong Yi fled to Central City for protection, leaving Dai Xingyan to ask Jian Lei what to do as the deadline approached.

• Dai Xingyan discovered that her assistant had misplaced Bentley’s commissioned manuscript and that Tianzhong Yi had published it under his own name.
• Dai Xingyan accepted responsibility and agreed to demand compensation and the death of Tianzhong Yi’s son, while Bentley insisted the plagiarism must be punished.
• Dai Xingyan’s assistant confronted Tianzhong Yi, and Dai Xingyan warned him that he and possibly his family would die unless he complied.
• Tianzhong Yi investigated Jian Lei and Terry, learned they might be Ultimate Warriors, and realized the threat was serious.
• Tianzhong Yi took his son to Central City after receiving an invitation to the Repairer’s Headquarters, hoping its protection would buy them time.
• Seven days later, Dai Xingyan told Jian Lei that Tianzhong Yi and his son had not returned and asked what to do before the deadline expired.

Qu Jianlei and Dai Xingyan used rumors and targeted killings to turn Tai Du Repairers against Tianzhong Yi and his son, leaving Tianzhong Yi afraid to return from Central City. After Qu Jianlei pointed out that Tai Du’s wealthy residents could also be brought into the dispute, Dai Xingyan mobilized them, and Tianzhong Yi felt their pressure the next day.

• Qu Jianlei advised Dai Xingyan and Bentley to wait for Tianzhong Yi and his son, then suggested targeting their loyal subordinates when negotiations stalled.
• Dai Xingyan hired three Modified Warriors, and rumors spread through Tai Du about the Tianzhong Yi father and son’s plagiarism and flight from Hou Jing.
• Four Repairers who supported Tianzhong Yi were killed, uniting the Repairer community in anger and prompting calls for an investigation and for Tianzhong Yi to speak publicly.
• A Repairer challenged Tianzhong Yi to return and answer accusations, and a supporter who accused the challenger was killed in a vehicle explosion.
• Tianzhong Yi stayed at Repairer’s Headquarters, failed to defend his son’s article before senior executives, and claimed publicly that the draft needed further refinement.
• Qu Jianlei suggested using the wealthy residents of Tai Du’s Rich Area as leverage, so Dai Xingyan arranged for them to apply pressure on Tianzhong Yi.

Tianzhong Yi’s position worsened as the Rich Area families pressured the Repairer’s Headquarters, while Qu Jianlei and his companions continued cultivating in Hou Jing. When Patrol Chief Jia Mali confronted Qu Jianlei and Bentley over Bobopov’s death, the dispute escalated into a fight after his partner exposed their forest traps.

• Tianzhong Yi admitted that resolving the Hou Jing problem was essential as pressure from wealthy families mounted.
• A fresh-air-system manufacturer offered Qu Jianlei repair districts and a legitimate contract, but he declined because he planned to stay in Hou Jing.
• A Rank B warrior and a woman summoned Bentley and Qu Jianlei outside the city, and the two followed them to a wooded hillside.
• Jia Mali identified himself as a Patrol Chief, questioned them about Bobopov, and accused them of provoking the Repairer’s Association.
• Jia Mali’s partner used Earth Tremor and Root Seeking to expose the traps Qu Jianlei and Bentley had prepared in the woods.
• Jia Mali attacked with Gold Sand Art as Bentley summoned an electric net, while the woman began casting Vine Binding.

Bentley and Qu Jianlei fought Jia Mali and Xiao Qin, then learned that Bentley’s Electromagnetic Attribute cultivation method had been lost for centuries. Jia Mali offered to help them in Central City, but the group remained wary; five days later, Central City’s Law Enforcement Team took Tianzhong Yi and his son away on fraud charges.

• Qu Jianlei cut free of Xiao Qin’s vines and attacked, while Bentley struck Jia Mali with electromagnetic lightning until the fighters called a halt.
• Jia Mali recognized Bentley’s Electromagnetic Attribute and explained that Lei Yun had been the last known practitioner, then revealed that Mental Attribute cultivation had also been lost.
• Jia Mali proposed helping Bentley and Qu Jianlei obtain new identities and resources in Central City, but Bentley refused to go and Qu Jianlei said he would consider it.
• Jia Mali and Xiao Qin visited the group’s residence, where Hua Xiezhi lowered her rifle and Jia Mali promised compensation for Qu Jianlei’s broken blade.
• Jia Mali agreed to handle Tianzhong Yi and his son and help recover money from their family, while Bentley and Qu Jianlei kept their distance from the Patrol Office.
• Five days later, Central City’s Law Enforcement Team took Tianzhong Yi and his son away on charges of maliciously defrauding an Ultimate Warrior.

Qu Jianlei negotiated with Jia Mali over the benefits of going to Central City, refusing a Patrol Office position until Jia Mali secured him protection from forced drafts and access to cultivation methods. The chapter ended with Jia Mali offering to obtain Rank B and Rank A methods if Qu Jianlei developed an experimental attribute weapon.

• After Tianzhong Yi's family was arrested, Dai Xingyan brought Qu Jianlei money, gold, crystals, and rare materials recovered from the family's assets.
• Qu Jianlei discussed splitting up with Bentley and Hua Xiezhi, then refused early invitations to Central City while Dai Family representatives brought him more assets and a property.
• Jia Mali visited Qu Jianlei and asked what benefits would persuade him to go to Central City; Qu Jianlei requested cultivation materials at a fair price and mechanical theory.
• Jia Mali offered Qu Jianlei a part-time Patrol Office Mechanical Repair Consultant position, but Qu Jianlei refused because he did not want to be bound or more vulnerable to forced drafts.
• Jia Mali later secured Qu Jianlei an exemption from forced drafts for ten years and permission to consult cultivation methods for the Five Major Attributes under a confidentiality agreement.
• Qu Jianlei asked to view Rank B and Rank A cultivation methods, and Jia Mali offered to arrange access if Qu Jianlei developed an experimental attribute weapon.

Qu Jianlei accepted a Patrol Office consultant position and traveled with Xiao Qin to Central City, where he established his identity and settled into his newly acquired property. He hired Qian Rou for private customization, mistook her service for practical assistance, and she stormed off after he failed to understand her romantic hints.

• Qu Jianlei agreed to become a Patrol Office Mechanical Repair Consultant, received a temporary ID, and divided the spoils from the battle against Tianzhong Yi with Bentley and Hua Xiezhi.
• After waiting until spring, Qu Jianlei traveled with Xiao Qin by aircraft to Central City and observed the city’s technology and customs.
• Qu Jianlei found his storefront sealed, stayed at a hotel, and hired Qian Rou to help him buy clothes, arrange alterations, obtain a car and driver’s license, and learn about Central City.
• Qian Rou accompanied Qu Jianlei as he made his identity official and completed the transfer of his property, then asked why he wanted her Wristwatch number.
• Qu Jianlei failed to understand Qian Rou’s romantic hints, and she left angrily before colliding with another car two kilometers away.

Qu Jianlei joined the Di-character Room as a mechanical repair consultant and received metal-element cultivation methods from Jia Mali. After diagnosing dangerous faults in Lan Desi’s mech, he gained the attention of a B-rank repair technician who recognized his published work, while people began asking about renting the storefront below his home.

• Qian Rou got into a minor car accident after leaving Qu Jianlei and accepted an offer from the other driver’s passenger to find a repair shop.
• Qu Jianlei reported to the Patrol Office, learned he was attached to the Di-character Room, and signed a confidentiality agreement to borrow metal-element cultivation methods.
• Ma Long introduced Qu Jianlei to Lan Desi, whose Impact Mech Qu Jianlei inspected and found had seven serious problems.
• A B-rank repair technician verified Qu Jianlei’s findings, recognized his work on sensor bypasses, and asked Lan Desi to introduce them.
• Lan Desi learned that Qu Jianlei had high authority and did not need to report regularly, then obtained his home address.
• People from the storefronts below Qu Jianlei’s home began asking about renting, starting with a former tenant who sold repair materials.

Qu Jianlei faced pressure from Peacekeepers and local thugs over his courtyard and storefront while studying mechanical design and cultivation methods. After thugs smashed his camera and tore down his rental notice, he reviewed the footage but could not identify them.

• Qu Jianlei refused to renew the former tenant’s lease, and Peacekeepers tried to force him to honor the old agreement until Lan Desi arrived and showed his Patrol Office ID.
• Qu Jianlei discussed mechanical design with Du Lide, who asked him to use Patrol Office influence to help the arrested author of an article; Qu Jianlei refused and revealed he was an Ultimate Warrior.
• Qu Jianlei rejected several low rental offers and posted a notice demanding nine hundred Silver Coins per month.
• After twelve days indoors, Qu Jianlei bought food and went to the Patrol Office, while two thugs smashed his courtyard camera and tore down the notice.
• Qu Jianlei returned, replaced the camera, and checked the footage, but he did not recognize the two thugs.

Qu Jianlei’s home was wrecked by local thugs, and Ma Long and Xiao Qin arrested them after discovering the Peacekeepers had helped target him. The investigation exposed the Peacekeepers’ collusion with the gang, including their role in arranging a power outage, while Qu Jianlei remained reluctant to join the Patrol Office.

• Qu Jianlei refused the burly gang leader’s offer and later found his storefront and courtyard smashed after the power was cut.
• Ma Long shot the gang leader in both legs, arrested the thugs, and brought Xiao Qin and the enforcement vehicle to Qu Jianlei’s home.
• Qu Jianlei identified a Peacekeeper who had previously tried to force him to rent out his house, then reported missing supplies after showing where he had hidden his valuables.
• Xiao Qin bound the Peacekeeper, and Ma Long said the Patrol Office would demand full compensation; Qu Jianlei admitted he had doubled the reported losses.
• Qu Jianlei went to the Patrol Office, where Jia Mali asked why he was not joining the interrogation and learned that Qu Jianlei was choosing to avoid involvement in his own case.
• The investigation found that the gang had colluded with the Peacekeepers, who had told them about the planned power outage in Qu Jianlei’s district.

Qu Jianlei’s case against the Peacekeeping Force and the Power Supply Group led to arrests, compensation, and a major renovation of his courtyard, while Jia Mali continued to protect him. After Xiao Qin revealed the whereabouts of two hooligans who had smashed his cameras, Qu Jianlei agreed to confront them, and Xiao Qin insisted on going with him.

• The Patrol Office traced the ordered power outage to a Power Supply Group boss, arrested two more Peacekeepers, and detained the three men involved in targeting Qu Jianlei.
• Jia Mali rejected attempts to secure the Peacekeepers’ release, and the Patrol Office pressured the Peacekeeping Force to compensate Qu Jianlei for his stolen property.
• A former subordinate’s leader and a Power Supply Group manager visited Qu Jianlei to deny responsibility and offer compensation, and Qu Jianlei accepted the group’s offer to rebuild his courtyard.
• Jia Mali protected Qu Jianlei from a high-ranking Peacekeeping Force official who accused him of hoarding crystals, while the detained Peacekeepers began exposing their colleagues’ misconduct.
• The Power Supply Group completed extensive renovations to Qu Jianlei’s courtyard, and Xiao Qin told him that the two hooligans who had smashed his cameras had been located.
• Qu Jianlei agreed to go after the two hooligans, and Xiao Qin insisted on accompanying him in case the reported hideout was a trap.

Qu Jianlei punished thugs who threatened his tenants and accepted the Patrol Office’s help in settling their debts with Frost Wolf’s casino. After months of cultivation, he reached the ninth level of Qi Refinement, unaware that restaurant worker Xiao Moshan had noticed his breakthrough.

• Qu Jianlei killed and dismembered two thugs who had threatened to return and harm him.
• A restaurant-owning couple rented Qu Jianlei’s storefront, and he drove off thugs who came to harass them.
• Qu Jianlei learned that Frost Wolf backed the casino that had forced the couple’s husband to gamble, while Xiao Qin went to address the matter.
• A casino lackey paid partial compensation and cut off his own hand, and the Peacekeeping Force later seized assets and gave compensation to the Patrol Office.
• Qu Jianlei cultivated through the summer and reached the ninth level of Qi Refinement, while Xiao Moshan noticed the breakthrough from the restaurant.

Qu Jianlei revealed that he could cultivate with Rank B Crystals, prompting Jia Mali to arrange tests and resources while Qu Jianlei asked the Patrol Office to investigate the Sai family and the Huang-character District. After the Sai family was found wiped out and Qu Jianlei discussed Canyon and his plans with Xiao Qin and Jia Mali, an unidentified Wind Attribute warrior broke into his home at midnight.

• Qu Jianlei told Xiao Qin that he had used two Rank B Crystals for cultivation, and she brought the discovery to Jia Mali.
• Qu Jianlei warned Jia Mali that testing his cultivation method on others could be fatal, then asked the Patrol Office to investigate the Sai family and keep the matter confidential.
• Xiao Qin told Qu Jianlei that the Sai family had been wiped out two years earlier, explained what she knew about Canyon, and agreed to investigate the Huang-character District.
• Qu Jianlei met with Jia Mali, discussed the experiment and requested cultivation materials and access to a Rank B method; Jia Mali told him to prepare for testing.
• An intruder disabled Qu Jianlei's alarm screens and entered his home, then identified himself as a Wind Attribute warrior and claimed he meant no harm.

Qu Jianlei negotiated with Xiao Moshan to deduce a Wind Attribute cultivation method in exchange for Crystals, while learning more about Canyon and its elite warriors. He spent two months helping Black Panther develop a way to cultivate despite losing both legs, and the method began to work, though Qu Jianlei said it still needed refinement.

• Xiao Moshan revealed that he was a Rank C Wind Attribute warrior from Canyon and offered Qu Jianlei Rank C and Rank B cultivation methods in exchange for a method to absorb Crystals directly.
• Qu Jianlei agreed to deduce the method for a fee, and Xiao Moshan explained that Canyon recruited powerful warriors while expelling those who lacked potential.
• Xiao Qin brought Black Panther, a former Law Enforcement Team member who had lost both legs, to Qu Jianlei for help cultivating.
• After two months of tests and repeated injuries, Black Panther began slowly cultivating and absorbing energy from a Rank B Crystal.
• Qu Jianlei told Xiao Moshan that the method still needed refinement, and he told Jia Mali that completing the calculations would take another two or three months.

Qu Jianlei continued refining his cultivation method while Jia Mali secretly tested it on Mike, a Wind Attribute warrior from the Douglas Family. Bentley reunited with Qu Jianlei in Central City, where Xiao Moshan warned that Frost Wolf might be seeking revenge; Bentley offered to help confront him.

• Qu Jianlei told Jia Mali that his improvements would increase resource efficiency at least tenfold, and Jia Mali later gave him five Rank B Crystals.
• Jia Mali secretly tested Qu Jianlei’s method on Mike, whose family elder suspected the Patrol Chief had obtained a Wind Attribute cultivation method and began investigating him.
• Qu Jianlei received Bentley’s coded letter, met him outside Central City, and brought him to the courtyard; Bentley identified the Bunker Family as his enemy’s family.
• Bentley and Qu Jianlei discussed cultivation before Xiao Moshan arrived and warned that someone asking about Qu Jianlei might be connected to Frost Wolf.
• Bentley learned Xiao Moshan was from Canyon and that Qu Jianlei could deduce cultivation methods, then offered to help deal with Frost Wolf.

Qu Jianlei, Xiao Moshan, and Bentley ambushed and killed Frost Wolf during a rainy night, while Jia Mali quietly suspected Qu Jianlei had arranged it. Qu Jianlei later completed another cultivation breakthrough and learned that Xiao Qin and Ma Long had arrived with urgent news.

• Qu Jianlei agreed with Bentley and Xiao Moshan to target Frost Wolf, and they planned to strike during rain.
• Qu Jianlei, Xiao Moshan, and Bentley ambushed Frost Wolf at his casino, killed him, and burned his body in a stolen vehicle outside the city.
• The Andre Family vowed to find Frost Wolf’s killer, while Jia Mali suspected Qu Jianlei but chose not to investigate him.
• Bentley left Central City, and Qu Jianlei ended his work modifying Black Panther’s cultivation method before later studying B-grade materials and entering seclusion.
• Qu Jianlei advanced to Qi Refining Level 1, and Xiao Hu’s computing speed increased more than tenfold.
• Xiao Qin and Ma Long arrived at Qu Jianlei’s courtyard looking anxious while he was eating after his breakthrough.

After Terry and Yellow Scorpion vanished in a battle that destroyed Qu Jianlei’s former courtyard, Qu Jianlei waited for news and learned that Cindy and Claire were safe. Jia Mali’s investigation uncovered possible Douglas Family involvement and valuables stolen from the ruins, leaving Qu Jianlei asking how many Rank B Crystals had been recovered.

• Xiao Qin told Qu Jianlei that Terry and Yellow Scorpion had disappeared after a fierce battle, and Qu Jianlei asked Ma Long to check on Cindy and Claire.
• Black Panther reported that Cindy and Claire were safe, while Zhou-Six restored their home and resident status and arranged a job and schooling for Claire.
• Qu Jianlei declined to search Tian-character District himself, discussed spell templates with Xiao Moshan, and said he would find the killer if his companions were gone.
• Jia Mali told Qu Jianlei that the Di-character Room had found no trace of the battle’s participants, though Jia Mali suspected an Ultimate Warrior tied to the Douglas Family.
• Jia Mali revealed that he had punished soldiers and officials who stole valuables from the ruins, and Qu Jianlei asked how many Rank B Crystals they had recovered.

Qu Jianlei bought Rank B Crystals from Xiao Moshan and used them to complete three spells, then drove into the wilderness to test them and discovered that his black ring was an Item-Storing Ring. As Qu Jianlei tested his techniques, Xiao Moshan secretly watched over him while a suspicious group and a wind-attribute warrior also kept watch.

• Qu Jianlei learned that the Douglas Family had three missing Ultimate Warriors and bought ten Rank B Crystals from Xiao Moshan in exchange for thirty-five thousand Silver Coins.
• Qu Jianlei completed his third spell, took the black ring and three crystals, and drove out of the city to test his spells.
• Xiao Moshan followed Qu Jianlei, while three motorcyclists tailed Xiao Moshan and later reported that Qu Jianlei had entered the woods.
• Qu Jianlei sensed that the black ring contained a small space filled with Energy Blocks and put the Item-Storing Ring on his finger.
• Xiao Moshan approached and recognized Qu Jianlei's Electromagnetic Art and Earth Wall Technique, then noticed five suspicious watchers and a distant wind-attribute Ultimate Warrior.
• Xiao Moshan used the Micro-particle technique to block the wind-attribute warrior's attempts to sense Qu Jianlei, and recognized the warrior's countermeasure as the weaker Dusting Technique.