Courtyard

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Courtyard (庭院)
Alias(es)	Secluded Courtyard; Four Waters Land; God’s Ark
Species/Race	Sentient divine-kingdom world / rule-based Small World
Affiliation	Lu PingAn; Rebirth Merchant Guild
Occupation/Role	Life Bank, training ground, production base, refuge, and interworld vessel
Status	Active; evolved into a complete divine-kingdom world
First Appearance	Chapter 2

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Secluded Courtyard Small World	2	An inherited secret-realm Small World with Kerdales as its Tower Spirit; its master can issue her binding “reasonable demands.” 2
Contract-integrated Life Bank	205	Lu PingAn’s advancement to Pactbearer adds the rule of contracts to the Life Bank and unlocks new functions. 205
Rule-absorbing domain	491	Gains the ability to decompose compatible Rule-level items into basic rules, then absorb and subordinate those rules to strengthen itself. 491
Expanding divine kingdom	771	Its floating-island form expands; Lu PingAn can sense its interior, reposition buildings, and restructure its districts around the Life Bank. 771
Independent plane	1213	Absorption of a World Origin Fragment gives it natural wind and a complete natural cycle; the Forbidden Library, Beast-Taming Area, and Gymnasium are enhanced. 1213
Self-sustaining world	1260	Develops into a boundless land encircled by a great river, with dedicated administrative, training, residential, and production districts. 1260
Rule-level world	1410	Following Lu PingAn’s Rule-level breakthrough, its former “potted landscape” state becomes functionally indistinguishable from a real world and steadily expands in complexity and capacity. 1410
Country of Reason	1587	Lu PingAn integrates his rules and Logic, turning the Courtyard into a self-contained, self-circulating “real world” capable of supporting life creation. 1587
Tier 10 God’s Ark foundation	1728	Identified as a God Country Fragment and a Tier 10 God’s Ark; its Rule Buildings possess authority approaching that of a Tier 10 True God within the Courtyard Small World. 1728
Planar-migration Ark	1792	Activates its spatial engine to travel between real universes, carrying its inhabitants through the multiverse. 1792

Background / History

The Courtyard began as an isolated wasteland in the void: a small floating island with a decommissioned Gymnasium, a small building, and a manually excavated Garden. It was inherited as the Secluded Courtyard Small World, accompanied by the Tower Spirit Kerdales. 2 1260

Its nature changed alongside Lu PingAn’s professions. Becoming a Gardener enabled mass-produced Gardens; gaining spatial abilities gave it teleportation options; and becoming a Pactbearer allowed it to incorporate contracts into the Life Bank. Lu PingAn eventually concluded that the Courtyard was his true main body, while his humanoid form served as an information-exchange and output terminal. 205 644

As the Rebirth Merchant Guild expanded, the Courtyard became its secure base for exploration, trade, production, and the smuggling of valuable goods between worlds. New workers reclaimed farmland, maintained Rule Buildings, and received Life Points for service work. 402 430

The Courtyard later grew beyond a base or secret realm into a complete world, capable of supporting diverse races, industry, military training, and planar migration. Its governing principle became relative equality through trade and self-improvement: residents are to gain value and evolve rather than be divided into permanent social classes. 1792 1910

Appearance

The Courtyard has evolved from a fractured floating island into a continent-scale divine kingdom with mountains, rivers, plains, fortresses, factories, military camps, and districts built around specialized Rule Buildings. 1260 1926

• A great river encircles the territory and divides it into regions. 1260
• The central administrative district contains the Life Bank, Great Library, Time Tower, inn, Trading Hall, and Reception Room. 1260
• The Grand Gymnasium occupies a vast southern plaza used for training, sparring, commissions, and private trade. 1260
• The northern Rule Building district includes the Holy Fire Chapel, Zoo, Artisan Workshop, and Potion Workshop. 1260
• Its land can be rearranged through Lu PingAn’s domain authority, including the position of buildings and underlying “pipelines.” 771

Nature and Consciousness

The Courtyard possesses its own will and can react to growth, external conditions, and attempted assimilation. Lu PingAn senses its joy as it becomes stronger, while it is also referred to as “Master Fragment” and treated as an entity with independent power. 1260 1262

Its consciousness is distinct from Kerdales’ administrative role. Kerdales can operate and manage the realm, but remains only part of the Courtyard and cannot leave it freely. 1096 1213

Abilities & Functions

Rule Assimilation

The Courtyard can absorb compatible rules from high-grade items and integrate them as subordinate rules.

• Decomposes Rule-level and higher items into basic rules rather than using their unstable original forms. 491
• Rejects incompatible materials, as demonstrated when it refused to absorb Bane’s Wishbone. 502
• Becomes stronger and more stable through the acquisition, adjustment, and integration of new rules. 491 1410
• Can partially assimilate external terrain, though divine-realm resistance can halt its deeper erosion. 1931

Life Bank and Life-Point Economy

The Life Bank is the Courtyard’s central institution and economic core.

• Uses contracts as a foundational rule following Lu PingAn’s Pactbearer advancement. 205
• Collects taxes and commissions into a public treasury used for operations, maintenance, and Rule Building construction. 397 430
• Pays Life Points to workers who perform services within Rule Buildings. 430
• Provides Life Points for trade, advancement resources, facilities, and specialized services. 491 859
• Its Wishing Well can convert lifespan into Life Points, stabilizing the Courtyard’s currency supply. 1260

Growth, Training, and Advancement

The Courtyard accelerates the development of its residents through infrastructure, resources, and information.

• Grand Gymnasium — Supports accelerated training and deathmatch-style sparring without permanent death. 859 1490
• Forbidden Library — Trades knowledge, plans advancement routes, and can help customize professions when sufficient resources and foundations exist. 1113 1057
• Ability Trading Board — Lets users identify shortcomings, obtain key abilities, rent abilities, and accelerate learning. 859 1292
• Land of Life and Gardens — Provide unusually fertile ground for magical plants and accelerate the development of Life-type Professionals. 637 859
• Workshops and production facilities — Support potion-making, crafting, magical-plant production, anti-pollution equipment, and later industrial-scale output. 430 1909

Life Alteration and Creation

After becoming a true divine-kingdom world, the Courtyard can directly intervene in life.

• Offers life-altering wishes, including disease treatment, restoration of severed limbs, superhuman enhancement, and species evolution. 1589
• Can affect even demigod-level life forms through high-value Life Coin services. 1597
• Supports Lu PingAn’s creation and evolution of new life, including the granting of citizenship to his creations. 1587
• Accommodates monster nests, magical-beast cultivation, beast herds, and a growing diversity of species. 1820 1926

Divine Kingdom and Interworld Travel

The Courtyard functions as both a protected domain and a vessel for crossing worlds.

• Can conceal itself from divine-kingdom scrutiny under appropriate conditions. 433
• Serves as the Rebirth Merchant Guild’s base for otherworld exploration and cross-world trade. 402
• Can carry inhabitants during planar migration by activating its God’s Ark spatial engine. 1792
• Its Rule Buildings gain near–Tier 10 authority while operating within the Courtyard Small World. 1728

Key Facilities

Facility	Function
Life Bank	Central hub for contracts, Life Points, public funds, transactions, and life-based services. 205 1260
Trading Hall / Ability Trading Board	Facilitates exchange of goods, knowledge, abilities, and advancement resources. 859 1260
Forbidden Library	Stores, trades, analyzes, and applies professional knowledge and Forbidden Knowledge. 1113 1213
Grand Gymnasium	Provides accelerated training, sparring, and nonfatal deathmatch combat. 859 1490
Garden / Land of Life	Cultivates magical plants and sustains Life-type research and development. 637 859
Wishing Well	Converts lifespan into Life Points. 1260
Zoo / Beast-Taming Area	Supports taming, species storage, beastification, and the cultivation of magical beasts. 1213 1820
Artisan and Potion Workshops	Produce equipment, potions, anti-pollution gear, and other logistical supplies. 430 1260
Reception Room / Hometown Inn	Supports visitors, external communications, and rest for travelers returning from foreign worlds. 880 1797

Relationships

• Lu PingAn — Master, primary operator, and inseparable counterpart. The Courtyard is regarded as his main body, while his human form is an external interface. 644 1262
• Kerdales / Chris / Big Cat — Tower Spirit and administrator AI. She manages the realm’s systems but remains bound to and unable to freely depart from the Courtyard. 2 1096 1213
• Rebirth Merchant Guild — The Courtyard serves as the guild’s headquarters, logistical backbone, trading hub, training center, and interworld refuge. 402 859
• Courtyard inhabitants — Residents of many species use its facilities to work, train, trade, evolve, and establish mixed-race communities. 546 1910
• Eastern Kingdom — A major external partner that uses the Courtyard’s logistics, production, commerce, and homeland-like support during foreign operations. 1490 1797

Trivia

• The Courtyard’s earliest Garden was dug out by Big Cat at Lu PingAn’s direction. 1260
• Its original largest structure was a decommissioned Gymnasium inherited from Big Cat’s rule relic, the Arena. 1260
• The Courtyard’s Rule Buildings are not merely structures; each is a physical manifestation of a rule held within the domain. 430 1213
• The Courtyard’s core ideal contrasts with hierarchical life systems: it seeks to give every resident a path to improve through trade, effort, and evolution. 1780 1910