Chapter Summaries

Qu Jianlei confronted Zheng Weifang over robbing and killing residents, then ordered him and his Modified Warrior accomplice to hand over their crystals. After finding only six crystals, the group learned that Zheng had stored more at the Zhou-character Settlement Area’s Main Settlement, and they prepared to retrieve them.

• Qu Jianlei demanded ten Rank A Crystals and fifty Rank B Crystals from Zheng Weifang, who said he could not pay.
• Qu Jianlei ordered You You and Xiao Moshan to take Zheng and the Modified Warrior to collect crystals, and You You pierced Zheng’s shoulders and sealed his energy.
• Xiao Moshan and You You found six crystals at Zheng’s residence, including one Rank A Crystal, and learned that Zheng had hidden more at the Main Settlement.
• Qu Jianlei considered whether to travel to the Main Settlement, while Zheng insisted he needed to retrieve his stored crystals himself.
• You You volunteered to guard the prisoners, and Qu Jianlei said he would see his friend before deciding what to do next.

Qu Jianlei reunited with Bentley and Hua Xiezhi, who had been badly injured, and told them he had avenged them by wiping out the Douglas Family. After learning Hua Xiezhi was nearing an awakening, he warned that his power and resources could put them in danger again, leaving their future path unresolved.

• Qu Jianlei left the Rich Area with Xiao Moshan and their prisoners, then followed Bentley's secret marks to a canyon hideout.
• Bentley emerged from the Safe House, and Qu Jianlei apologized for the injuries he and Hua Xiezhi had suffered.
• Qu Jianlei revealed that he had robbed Canyon and obtained Limb Regeneration Potion, then called Hua Xiezhi out to offer it to her.
• Qu Jianlei told Bentley and Hua Xiezhi that he had killed more than three thousand members of the Douglas Family to avenge them.
• Qu Jianlei noticed Hua Xiezhi was nearing an awakening and offered Modified Potion to help her awaken an attribute.
• Qu Jianlei warned Bentley and Hua Xiezhi that being associated with him had made them targets and said he would not let them be harmed that way again.

Qu Jianlei spared Zheng Weifang after learning he had helped protect Cindy and Claire, and demanded that he continue looking after them. Zheng Weifang also revealed that two unidentified A-ranks had recently asked about Qu Jianlei, leaving him wary of their intentions.

• Hua Xiezhi accepted Qu Jianlei's advice to be cautious about obtaining a cultivation method and hoped to awaken an Electromagnetic Attribute.
• Qu Jianlei and Xiao Moshan prepared to kill Zheng Weifang and his companion, but Zheng Weifang offered crystals and invoked his connection to Ma Long.
• Qu Jianlei reduced Zheng Weifang's payment in exchange for sparing them and learned that Ma Long and Black Panther had asked Zheng Weifang to protect Cindy and Claire.
• Qu Jianlei settled his grudge with Zheng Weifang and ordered him to keep protecting Cindy and Claire, even after leaving the Zhou-character Settlement Area.
• Zheng Weifang told Qu Jianlei that two unidentified A-ranks had asked about him, prompting Qu Jianlei to wonder why they were looking for him.

Qu Jianlei and his companions stayed in Universe Six through the Winter Hunt, gathering supplies and Crystals while Hua Xiezhi awakened a Wind Attribute. They relocated to an estate near Tai Du to cultivate, leaving their next move open.

• Qu Jianlei decided not to bring Cindy and her daughter with them, while Hua Xiezhi promised to return and teach Claire cultivation once she had recovered.
• Qu Jianlei, Xiao Moshan, You You, Bentley, and Hua Xiezhi spent the winter hunting in Universe Six and amassed more than thirty Rank B Crystals and eight Rank A Crystals.
• Qu Jianlei learned that his Limb Regeneration Potion could not be used without a Nutrient Cabin and Nutrient Solution, and Hua Xiezhi was disappointed that her legs could not yet be healed.
• Hua Xiezhi injected herself with a Modified Potion and awakened a Wind Attribute.
• Zheng Weifang sent two subordinates to escort the group's supplies to the Tian-character District, and Qu Jianlei's group settled near Tai Du.
• The five companions built an estate on a small mountain and agreed to cultivate there.

After half a year in Half Mountain Manor, Qu Jianlei’s group had made the area so dangerous that nobody dared approach, and Qu Jianlei decided to travel to Central City with Xiao Moshan and Bentley. Their aircraft landed and they entered a Safe House, but an enemy-attack alarm sounded less than half a day later.

• People in Tai Du who investigated Half Mountain Manor were killed, and the Peacekeeping Force failed to get answers from its aloof residents.
• A Modified Warrior and his Rank C Warrior companion went to confront the manor, but the companion fled and the Modified Warrior was found hanged at the mountain’s foot.
• After the manor had been left undisturbed for half a year, Qu Jianlei chose to go out with Xiao Moshan and Bentley while You You stayed to watch the house with Hua Xiezhi.
• Qu Jianlei, Xiao Moshan, and Bentley traveled to Central City to move assets, seek a Nutrient Cabin, and rob another reserve depot in the Canyon.
• The three entered a Safe House that Qu Jianlei had checked, but an enemy-attack alarm sounded less than half a day later.

After a battle in Central City, Xiao Moshan explained the Rebels’ origins and warned that the Canyon would conduct a major sweep. As the group tried to enter the city, Qu Jianlei killed a suspicious woman who claimed to be with the Peacekeeping Force, then met Black Panther at a checkpoint and offered to bring him food.

• Xiao Moshan identified the attackers as Rebels and explained that the Canyon restricted cultivation knowledge to keep it from them.
• Qu Jianlei, Xiao Moshan, and Bentley decided to wait until dawn before leaving the Safe House, expecting a large-scale search.
• A woman claiming to be with the Peacekeeping Force approached Qu Jianlei, and he shot her after doubting her identity; Xiao Moshan recognized the scent of a Fallen.
• The three rode toward Central City and found Black Panther overseeing a checkpoint, where he allowed them through after pretending to inspect them.
• Qu Jianlei offered to bring Black Panther food and drinks because he and the other guards were working hard.

Black Panther let Qu Jianlei and his companions shelter at the checkpoint, but Qu Jianlei sensed Fallen in a convoy from Canyon. When Black Panther ordered an inspection, the convoy opened fire, and the group joined the fight.

• Black Panther invited Qu Jianlei, Xiao Moshan, and Bentley to guard the checkpoint and eat with the guards, while they discussed Bentley's past and the Bunker Family.
• A convoy from Central City arrived, and Black Panther initially waved it through, but Qu Jianlei sensed at least a dozen Fallen among its passengers.
• Black Panther ordered the convoy inspected, and its driver responded by commanding the vehicles to attack.
• Qu Jianlei shielded the guards with golden barriers as Black Panther, Xiao Moshan, and Bentley struck the convoy's vehicles.

Qu Jianlei, Xiao Moshan, and Bentley helped Black Panther’s guards capture a Fallen squad, then went into hiding with Black Panther’s help. At the checkpoint, Wei Wushuang and Chen Weiyu argued over the incident, and Wei urged her to investigate the Canyon Rank C driver for possible Rebel accomplices.

• Qu Jianlei cut one of the convoy’s armored vehicles apart with a Golden Gear while Bentley, Xiao Moshan, and the guards attacked the others and captured the convoy’s occupants.
• Black Panther thanked the three men, issued them special passes, and gave them an address where they could hide.
• Qu Jianlei, Xiao Moshan, and Bentley left on their motorcycle, stored it away, and settled into rooms at an isolated courtyard.
• Wei Wushuang arrived at the checkpoint, learned that a Canyon Rank C driver had been captured, and questioned an injured Canyon errand runner about the convoy.
• Chen Weiyu arrived, angrily confronted Wei Wushuang over Canyon’s dead and injured people, and demanded an explanation about the three rescuers.
• Wei Wushuang told Chen Weiyu to interrogate the Rank C driver first in case he had accomplices or more hidden Rebels.

Chen Weiyu’s interrogation of Belani ended in his death by a bizarre mixed poison, and the cook who prepared his meal was also found murdered, suggesting an insider remained at large. After a Supreme arrived, he questioned why the Rebels had attacked Central City, and Chen Weiyu suggested it might involve their captured leader, Chalinder.

• Chen Weiyu interrogated a Rank C driver through the night while Wei Wushuang refused to let her focus on the three people she suspected.
• Belani asked for food near dawn, ate the late-night meal, and died instantly from a poison formed by a reaction inside his body.
• Chen Weiyu’s people found the cook dead from remotely activated neurotoxic gas hidden in his home, and Chen Weiyu ordered everyone connected to Belani detained.
• Chen Weiyu decided to wait for a Supreme before investigating Belani’s background and connections in the Canyon.
• A fat Supreme arrived in Central City, dismissed the need to keep the captured Rebel leader Chalinder alive, and asked whether Chen Weiyu had obtained testimony from the Rebels.

The Great Supreme searched Central City for Rebel hideouts, then dismissed Canyon’s concerns about Belani and the treatment of its people while warning that those who attacked Canyon’s convoy would be held accountable. After Canyon’s forces withdrew, Qu Jianlei and his companions left their hiding place, and Bentley was surprised when Black Panther took them to a cemetery.

• The Great Supreme found more than twenty Rebel hideouts in Central City, but the raids captured only two Petty Bosses and seven minor grunts, and interrogations yielded no new information.
• Chen Weiyu and several Warriors asked the Great Supreme to address Belani and Central City’s treatment of Canyon’s people; he said Canyon could handle its own affairs but ordered those who attacked its convoy put on the ledger.
• Canyon’s Warriors suspected that Jian Lei had taken the research institute’s materials, and they decided to wait for him in Canyon rather than pursue him themselves.
• Qu Jianlei, Xiao Moshan, and Bentley stayed hidden after sensing the Great Supreme’s Mental Strength until Black Panther told them five days later that Canyon’s main force and the Supreme had left.
• Qu Jianlei and Xiao Moshan agreed to accompany Bentley to visit a grave, and Black Panther drove them to the cemetery, where Bentley asked why it was there.

Bentley learned that his family's graves had been relocated and that his youngest aunt's ashes were likely destroyed by the Bunker Family. He asked Qu Jianlei and Xiao Moshan to help him destroy the Bunker Family's cemetery, and Wei Wushuang offered to clear the guards, leaving Qu Jianlei surprised that Wei knew his real name.

• Black Panther told Bentley that Central City's cemeteries had been consolidated decades ago, then spent several days locating Bentley's family's graves.
• Black Panther reported that Bentley's youngest aunt had likely never been buried, and Bentley asked how he could destroy the Bunker Family's graves.
• Xiao Moshan promised that he and Qu Jianlei would help Bentley, and Black Panther warned that the Bunker Family cemetery had become Central City's responsibility.
• Wei Wushuang thanked the three men for helping stop the Rebels and offered to pull the guards away so Bentley could destroy the cemetery, though doing so would prevent a pardon.
• Bentley rejected the idea that he cared about a pardon, and Qu Jianlei asked Wei Wushuang whether Zheng Weifang had told him his real name.

Wei Wushuang offered Qu Jianlei and his companions Nutrient Solution and information about a hidden base in exchange for two treatment slots. Xiao Moshan recognized the location Wei described, leaving the group to weigh whether the heavily defended base was worth approaching.

• Qu Jianlei declined to decide whether Hua Xiezhi should get an identity in Central City and said he would ask her what she wanted.
• Wei Wushuang offered to help the wanted companions and revealed he could provide Nutrient Solution, while Qu Jianlei said his seized potions could treat only five to ten people.
• Wei Wushuang described a base where he had received treatment, and Xiao Moshan reacted with surprise when he learned that Wei had replaced the Nutrient Solution manually.
• Wei Wushuang offered to draw the base's location in exchange for two treatment slots, and Xiao Moshan examined the map and said the place might be real rather than a trap.
• Wei Wushuang said he had enough Nutrient Solution for ten to twenty people and offered the information for free if the group obtained their own supply, as a reward for fighting the Rebels.

Qu Jianlei, Xiao Moshan, and Black Panther helped Bentley destroy the Bunker Family graveyard, while Wei Wushuang watched from nearby. Afterward, Qu Jianlei confronted Benfitte of the Doyle Family over buying the land, and Benfitte offered compensation to Bentley.

• Black Panther explained that Wei Wushuang had once been wanted himself, and Xiao Moshan said Wei's offer to help seemed sincere.
• Qu Jianlei agreed to consider Wei's proposal and said they would discuss it with You You after finishing their business.
• Black Panther brought Qu Jianlei, Xiao Moshan, and Bentley to the Bunker Family graveyard, where Bentley destroyed the Old Ancestor's grave and Qu Jianlei and Xiao Moshan helped raze the burial mounds.
• Bentley unleashed Heavenly Thunder Pool for five minutes, reducing the graveyard to ashes, and Qu Jianlei washed away the remains with rain.
• Benfitte arrived and admitted he had bought the land; Qu Jianlei identified Bentley as Benjamin, the victim, and Benfitte apologized and offered compensation.

Qu Jianlei confronted the Doyle and Hedley families over the Bunker Family’s assets and Bentley’s family’s massacre, demanding accountability while testing Silig’s claims. Bentley ultimately left the question of compensation to Qu Jianlei, and Silig admitted he needed to ask his family whether they had taken the largest share.

• Qu Jianlei agreed to Benfitte’s offer of eight Rank B Crystals and told him the payment covered all the Bunker Family assets his family had taken.
• Silig identified himself as a member of the Hedley Family and claimed it had only protected the Bunker Family without knowing how it operated.
• Qu Jianlei challenged Silig’s authority to speak for his family and warned that the Hedley Family would pay if his claims proved false.
• Bentley revealed that the Hedley Family had helped the Bunker Family with matters related to his family’s destruction, but said he did not want to punish their descendants without evidence.
• Qu Jianlei asked Silig whether the Hedley Family had taken the largest share of the Bunker Family assets, and Silig said he needed to ask his family.

Qu Jianlei confronted Silig over the Hedley Family’s role in the Bunker Family’s past and demanded compensation and answers about the Huang-character District’s destruction. After Benfitte revealed the Hedley Family had handled the Bunker assets, Qu Jianlei summoned an authorized family representative, while Bentley fell asleep before deciding what to do next.

• Qu Jianlei made Silig acknowledge the Hedley Family’s possible responsibility for the Bunker Family’s suffering and demanded ninetyfold compensation for Benjamin’s family by the following night.
• Qu Jianlei demanded the truth behind the Huang-character District’s destruction, and Silig said he would need to ask his family because the matter was forbidden to discuss.
• Benfitte returned with eight crystals, then revealed that the Hedley Family had sold most of the Bunker Family’s assets and obstructed the Doyle Family’s land purchase.
• Qu Jianlei gave Silig two hours to bring an authorized Hedley Family representative to the Andre Family casino, then left with Bentley and Xiao Moshan.
• Bentley sat in a grove outside the casino, fell asleep, and Qu Jianlei asked Xiao Moshan how they should handle the Hedley Family as someone approached calling for Lord Jian Lei.

Qu Jianlei met with the Secret Pavilion and the Hedley Family to discuss information and old records, while revealing his tiered prices for cultivation methods. The meeting ended when Wen Lingdun tried to kill him for the bounty and his Item-Storing Talisman, and Qu Jianlei killed him.

• Black Panther told Qu Jianlei that the Secret Pavilion would trade information for improved cultivation methods, and Qu Jianlei said the price would depend on the methods' tier.
• The Hedley Family arrived with Kester, Wen Lingdun, and others to recall events from seventy years earlier, while Qu Jianlei and Xiao Moshan waited and Bentley briefly woke to clarify that his family had rented the house in question.
• Wen Lingdun approached Qu Jianlei and attacked him with Gold Needle Palm, but Qu Jianlei's Rock Armor Art stopped the strike.
• Qu Jianlei restrained Wen Lingdun with Wind Binding Art and Vine Binding Art, ignored Kester's plea for mercy, and killed Wen Lingdun with his saber.

Qu Jianlei and Xiao Moshan stopped the Hedley Family’s ambush and forced Kester to negotiate compensation for Benjamin’s seized assets. After Qu Jianlei raised the valuation to 200,000 Silver Coins for the family’s property and business goodwill, he rejected Kester’s assumption that the payment would still be multiplied by thirty.

• Wen Lingdun attacked Qu Jianlei, but Qu Jianlei killed him while Xiao Moshan and Bentley defeated the Hedley Family’s Rank C Earth Attribute warrior.
• Qu Jianlei stopped the Hedley Family from treating the wounded warrior and demanded an explanation from Kester, who blamed Wen Lingdun and offered compensation.
• The group valued Benjamin’s family assets and businesses at about 150,000 Silver Coins, but Qu Jianlei argued that Fast and Good Construction’s reputation had value.
• Qu Jianlei raised the total valuation to 200,000 Silver Coins, and Kester calculated that thirty times the amount would be six million.
• Qu Jianlei rejected the thirty-times calculation because the Hedley Family had taken over and disposed of the Bunker Family’s remaining assets.

Qu Jianlei and Xiao Moshan negotiated forty million Silver Coins in compensation from the Hedley Family and learned that the mysterious Huang-character District affair involved the base. Back at the manor, the group decided to risk a trip to the base for Nutrient Cabins, but Qu Jianlei planned to first meet Charles, the Tian-character District’s guardian warrior.

• Qu Jianlei demanded compensation from the Hedley Family, and Kester agreed to pay forty million Silver Coins within ten days.
• Kester revealed that the base had carried out the operation connected to the Huang-character District, and Xiao Moshan chose not to press him further.
• Silig delivered the Hedley Family’s payment, and Xiao Moshan learned that others had taken over the Douglas Family’s properties.
• Qu Jianlei, Xiao Moshan, and You You agreed to go after the base’s Nutrient Cabins, deciding not to delay despite Hua Xiezhi’s caution.
• You You told Qu Jianlei that Charles, the Tian-character District’s Fire Attribute guardian warrior, had asked to meet the manor’s owner, and Qu Jianlei decided to see him that night.

Qu Jianlei confronted Charles for probing Half Mountain Manor and used Ice Hell to force him to reveal that the Hongfei Merchant Guild had asked him to investigate on behalf of a backer from one of the Thirty-Six Families. Charles promised to protect the manor, leaving Qu Jianlei with a guarantee that Charles alone would answer for any failure.

• Qu Jianlei found Charles at home and confronted him about his visit to Half Mountain Manor.
• Charles realized Qu Jianlei was a powerful Rank A Warrior, but Qu Jianlei threatened him and demanded an honest explanation.
• Qu Jianlei trapped Charles in Ice Hell, and Charles admitted that someone had asked him to probe the manor.
• Charles identified the Hongfei Merchant Guild as the group behind the request and said its backer seemed to be one of the Thirty-Six Families.
• Qu Jianlei asked Charles to deal with the threat, and Charles promised to guard the manor and take sole responsibility if his arrangements failed.

Qu Jianlei, You You, and Xiao Moshan crossed a heavily monitored forest while approaching a base, suspecting the strange trees were part of a formation array. They reached a surveillance-lined river and used rain, ice, and wind to cross it undetected.

• Qu Jianlei warned Charles that he had killed Rank A and Rank B Warriors, then left Charles shaken; afterward, Qu Jianlei told his companions about their conversation.
• At the Canyon, You You learned that her assumed identity had an overdue Rank C assessment mission, but she dismissed the warning.
• The three traveled cautiously toward the base, spotting more than fifty concealed surveillance devices and Alarm Systems as they crossed the forest over three days.
• Qu Jianlei sensed that all five kinds of trees affected his mental perception, and Xiao Moshan suggested the forest might be an artificial formation array.
• At a surveillance-lined river, Qu Jianlei intensified the rainfall and formed an ice sheet while Xiao Moshan propelled it with Wind Rolls, carrying all three to the far mudflat.