Chapter Summaries

Fang Jingtang learned that Wu Xiong intended to draw out the masked criminal and ordered him to remain at the Chixue Gang headquarters after dark, while Liu Qizhi discussed the gang’s revenge and the escaped girls. Lin Li arranged to buy another two hundred thousand pearls, which Liu Yun would gather by the afternoon of the day after tomorrow.

• Fang Jingtang told Liu Qizhi that Wu Xiong had developed murderous intent toward the masked criminal, and they agreed to postpone recapturing the escaped girls.
• Lu Tao ordered Fang Jingtang to stay at the Chixue Gang headquarters after dark and patrol, and Fang Jingtang suspected Wu Xiong planned to use him as bait.
• Lin Li asked Liu Yun to arrange two hundred thousand pearls, and she estimated she could gather them by the afternoon of the day after tomorrow.
• Liu Yun finalized the pearl deal without requiring a deposit and began arranging to collect pearls from other businesses.

Lin Li accepted Zhu Xinru’s invitation to visit her home and rode in her unusually smooth carriage, where he noticed an object emitting Spiritual Energy. When he asked Zhu Xinru about it, she admitted she did not know how the carriage’s stabilizing effect worked.

• Lin Li met Zhu Xinru on the street, and she invited him to her home after learning he had no plans at the moment.
• Lin Li boarded Zhu Xinru’s carriage and noticed that it traveled without bumping, sensing Spiritual Energy beneath the carriage box.
• Zhu Xinru served Lin Li tea and pastries while they talked about his plans to stay in Dongwu City until he dealt with a matter on his own.
• Lin Li asked Zhu Xinru whether the Spiritual Energy object caused the carriage’s smooth ride, but she said she did not know because her family’s carriages all had the same effect.

Wang Hao arrived in Rong City and decided to investigate Liu Menglong’s disappearance by confronting Lin Li, despite orders to avoid drawing the local Ability Management Bureau’s attention. In Dongwu City, Lin Li visited Zhu Xinru’s estate and accepted her invitation to stay for lunch.

• Wang Hao met Chen Xiaoyan at Rong City Airport and learned that Liu Menglong’s phone signal was blocked and Huang Liu could not be reached.
• Wang Hao suspected Huang Liu had set a trap aimed at Liu Menglong and ordered Chen Xiaoyan to take him to Lin Li’s residence so he could question Lin Li.
• Chen Xiaoyan warned Wang Hao that confronting Lin Li could violate the higher-ups’ orders, but Wang Hao insisted he would take responsibility because Liu Menglong had once saved his life.
• Chen Xiaoyan called Zhu Daqi, learned Lin Li was still at home, and drove toward the residential complex with Wang Hao.
• Lin Li arrived at Zhu Xinru’s estate, admired its grounds, and talked with Zhu Xinru beside the artificial lake.
• Chunxiang invited Lin Li to have lunch with Zhu Xinru, and Lin Li agreed to stay.

Li Qian arrived at the Zhu residence and found her cousin Zhu Xinru meeting Lin Li, the man who had saved her. After learning he was a Cultivator, Li Qian eagerly invited him to spar before lunch, and Lin Li agreed.

• Li Qian and He Manyu entered the city and rode to the Zhu residence to visit Zhu Xinru.
• A guard told Li Qian that Zhu Xinru was receiving a young male guest by the lake, so Li Qian went to find her.
• Lin Li told Zhu Xinru about facing a powerful Giant Eagle Mystic Beast and accidentally mentioned a fighter jet from his hometown.
• Zhu Xinru introduced Lin Li to Li Qian and explained that he had saved her.
• Li Qian thanked Lin Li and invited him to spar, while Zhu Xinru tried to postpone the match until after lunch.
• Lin Li agreed that a little exercise before a meal sounded good, delighting Li Qian.

Lin Li sparred with Li Qian at the Zhu Manor training ground after she challenged him to a match. Their opening exchanges showed that Lin Li’s Second-Order Early Stage cultivation matched hers, and their battle continued with neither gaining an advantage.

• Li Qian cleared the ring and called Lin Li to spar, while Zhu Xinru warned him that her cousin was strong and could lose control of her strength.
• Lin Li joined Li Qian on the ring without learning what supernatural ability she had awakened, saying it would not affect the outcome.
• Li Qian revealed her Second-Order Early Stage Spiritual Energy and attacked Lin Li, who blocked her fist and displayed a cultivation level equal to hers.
• Li Qian and Lin Li traded punches, each retreating after their first direct clash.
• Lin Li launched a faster attack, and he and Li Qian exchanged a flurry of Spiritual Energy-coated blows as the spectators watched.

Lin Li and Li Qian sparred, and Lin Li revealed his wind-blade ability before overwhelming her with a fierce assault. The match remained unfinished as Li Qian refused to admit defeat.

• Lin Li and Li Qian exchanged hundreds of blows, while Zhu Xinru and the Zhu Manor servants watched and cheered.
• Li Qian realized Lin Li had been holding back and asked him to use his full strength.
• Lin Li formed more than ten cyan wind blades, which Li Qian dodged before punching apart the final one.
• Lin Li rushed in while Li Qian recovered from the wind-blade attack and struck her arm, then suppressed her with a barrage of punches.
• Lin Li urged Li Qian to admit defeat, but she insisted the winner had not been decided, so Lin Li prepared a powerful move to end the match.

Lin Li used a remotely controlled giant wind blade to exploit the limits of Li Qian’s awakened ability, Phantasm Conversion, and wore her down from a distance. Li Qian eventually surrendered, leaving Lin Li the victor and free to go to lunch.

• Lin Li launched a giant Azure Wind Blade, but Li Qian turned phantasmal with Phantasm Conversion and let it pass through her body.
• Li Qian prepared to counterattack, but Lin Li deduced that her ability consumed Spiritual Energy and revealed that he could remotely control the wind blade.
• Lin Li kept his distance and repeatedly sent the wind blade after Li Qian, forcing her to use Phantasm Conversion as she tried unsuccessfully to catch him.
• Exhausted, Li Qian surrendered, and Lin Li snapped his fingers to shatter the suspended wind blade.

Lin Li defeated Li Qian in a spar at Zhu Manor, where Zhu Xinru healed Li Qian’s injuries before Li Qian was summoned home. Zhao Xin encouraged Li Qian to invite Lin Li to take a position with the City Lord’s Mansion, and afterward asked He Manyu for her assessment of him.

• Li Qian admitted defeat to Lin Li, asked to spar with him again, and became friends with him.
• Zhu Xinru used her healing ability to ease Li Qian’s bruises, but a message from Zhao Xin cut short their plans to have lunch together.
• At the City Lord’s Mansion, Zhao Xin learned from He Manyu that Lin Li had defeated Li Qian and urged her daughter to offer him a position.
• Li Qian ate chicken soup made from a Second-Order Peak Seven-Colored Feathered Chicken and replenished the Spiritual Energy she had used in the spar.
• After Li Qian left to bathe, Zhao Xin asked He Manyu what she thought of Lin Li, and He Manyu called him extremely strong.

He Manyu reported that Lin Li was a Second-Order High Stage cultivator who had hidden much of his strength, and Zhao Xin considered recruiting him for Dongwu City. On Blue Star, Wang Hao went to Lin Li’s apartment to investigate Liu Menglong’s disappearance and broke in when nobody answered the door.

• He Manyu told Zhao Xin that Lin Li had concealed his strength and was unlikely to belong to the imperial family, so Zhao Xin ordered an investigation into where he lived.
• Chen Xiaoyan introduced Wang Hao to Zhu Daqi, who gave him Lin Li’s address at Building 3, Room 601.
• The two stray kittens noticed Wang Hao entering Building 3 and judged that he seemed dangerous, though less so than Lin Li.
• Wang Hao repeatedly rang Lin Li’s doorbell, then called Chen Xiaoyan and learned from Zhu Daqi that Lin Li had not left the residential area.
• Wang Hao used a spiritual artifact key to unlock Lin Li’s door and entered the apartment without permission.

Xia Qing fed and petted the two stray kittens, while Wang Hao searched Lin Li’s home and found no trace of his target. Wang Hao returned to Zhu Daqi and Chen Xiaoyan, who were waiting outside Ping'an Garden Residential Area.

• The Little Black Cat and the Little White Cat chased off some noisy sparrows and then went to meet Xia Qing when she called them over.
• Xia Qing gave the kittens pieces of mutton and petted them before heading home.
• Wang Hao left Lin Li’s home after searching it and finding no trace of his target.
• Zhu Daqi asked Chen Xiaoyan what they would do if Wang Hao’s lead went nowhere, and she told him to follow Wang Hao’s instructions.
• An elderly woman fined Zhu Daqi thirty yuan for littering a cigarette butt, and he picked it up and threw it in a trash can.
• Wang Hao emerged from Ping'an Garden Residential Area, and Zhu Daqi and Chen Xiaoyan noticed his return.

Wang Hao and Chen Xiaoyan received coordinates from Liu Menglong’s phone and sent Wang Hao to investigate them in the wilderness, where the phone had emerged from the Red-horned Purple-scaled Lizard’s excrement. In the Spirit Realm, Lin Li left Zhu Xinru’s residence with pastries and headed back to Su Yue.

• Wang Hao searched Lin Li’s home but found it empty, so he, Chen Xiaoyan, and Zhu Daqi decided to wait for Lin Li to return.
• Chen Xiaoyan received location data from Liu Menglong’s phone, and Wang Hao drove alone toward the wilderness coordinates.
• The Red-horned Purple-scaled Lizard returned to its marsh after excreting a skeleton with a damaged phone in its clothing pocket, and the phone sent a message.
• Zhu Xinru gave Lin Li pastries and asked him to call her by name; Lin Li agreed and promised to visit again.
• Lin Li left Wealthy Road by carriage, planning to share the pastries with Su Yue and wondering how he would explain where they came from.

Lin Li returned home, gave Qin Muqing pastries from Zhu Xinru, and went to sleep before his planned attack on the Chixue Gang. Meanwhile, Wang Hao searched the wilderness for Liu Menglong and found something that left him convinced it could not be his friend.

• Lin Li returned to his villa and saw Qin Muqing’s clothes drying in the yard before she arrived home with groceries.
• Lin Li gave Qin Muqing pastries from Zhu Xinru and went upstairs to nap ahead of his planned attack on the Chixue Gang.
• Qin Muqing tasted the pastries and recognized a familiar flavor, reasoning that their maker had trained at the Baili Xiang Pastry Shop in the Capital City.
• Wang Hao followed his phone’s coordinates into the wilderness to search for Liu Menglong, finding no exotic beasts along the way.
• Wang Hao searched beside a swamp and found a white object that made him say it could not be Liu Menglong.

Wang Hao discovered that the skeleton beside the swamp was his friend Liu Menglong and vowed to uncover how he died. When the Red-horned Purple-scaled Lizard attacked, Wang Hao was gravely wounded but escaped its final strike with a spiritual artifact that transported him away.

• Wang Hao identified the skeleton as Liu Menglong from the Black Scale Society phone among his belongings and swore to avenge him.
• The Red-horned Purple-scaled Lizard emerged from the swamp and crushed Liu Menglong's remains as Wang Hao fled.
• The lizard chased Wang Hao through the grass, blocked his escape, and slashed his chest despite his skin-transforming awakened ability.
• Wang Hao activated the purple metal bracelet as the lizard fired a pillar of flame, and golden threads carried him away in particles.
• The Red-horned Purple-scaled Lizard searched for Wang Hao, found no trace of him, and returned to the swamp.

Wang Hao escaped the Red-horned Purple-scaled Lizard with an incomplete Spatial Teleportation spiritual artifact, but its cost left him gravely injured until Chen Xiaoyan and Zhu Daqi rescued him. Meanwhile, Lin Li woke near sunset and spoke with Qin Muqing, who hurried to her room and revealed her transformed appearance after nearly exposing herself.

• Wang Hao used the incomplete Spatial Teleportation spiritual artifact to escape the Red-horned Purple-scaled Lizard, then collapsed near the safe zone with severe injuries.
• Wang Hao called Chen Xiaoyan for help, and she and Zhu Daqi drove to the wilderness with medical supplies.
• Chen Xiaoyan found Wang Hao beneath a tree, treated his wounds, and had Zhu Daqi carry him back to the car.
• Lin Li woke at sunset and told Qin Muqing to prepare dinner, asking her to cook less than before.
• Qin Muqing hurried to her room, locked the door, and used Spiritual Light to transform her appearance, relieved that she had nearly avoided exposing herself.

Qin Muqing restored her disguise while Li Ying secretly monitored Lin Li’s associates. After Wang Hao woke from his wilderness injuries, he told Chen Xiaoyan that he had found Liu Menglong’s remains and been attacked by a powerful strange beast, then asked her to contact his friend for fast-healing medicine.

• Qin Muqing activated the Disguise Treasure Pearl to return to her plain appearance and hid it carefully before going to prepare dinner for Lin Li.
• Li Ying watched Chen Xiaoyan and Zhu Daqi’s bungalow and wondered why Wang Hao had entered the wilderness and returned badly injured.
• Wang Hao woke in Chen Xiaoyan’s residence, drank water with Chen Xiaoyan’s help, and Chen Xiaoyan sent Zhu Daqi away to resume monitoring Lin Li.
• Wang Hao told Chen Xiaoyan that he had found Liu Menglong’s skeleton and phone, then escaped a Second-Order Peak strange beast using a Spatial Teleportation spirit artifact.
• Chen Xiaoyan worried about punishment from her superiors but promised to investigate Liu Menglong’s death with Wang Hao once he recovered.
• Wang Hao asked Chen Xiaoyan to contact his medical-department friend for special healing medicine, and she agreed.

Lin Li went to the Chixue Gang’s dock to prepare for another attack and learned that a powerful figure had helped the gang recover after his previous assault. He remained determined to destroy the Chixue Gang, regardless of its backing.

• Lin Li left Qin Muqing at home and traveled to a dock controlled by the Chixue Gang.
• Lin Li watched a Chixue Gang foreman threaten dockworkers and waited at a nearby teahouse for nightfall.
• Lin Li questioned the waiter about the gang’s burned headquarters and learned that many core members had died, but the government had not found the culprit.
• The waiter told Lin Li that a powerful figure had supposedly helped the Chixue Gang stabilize after many of its minor leaders died.
• Lin Li tipped the waiter and vowed to keep targeting the Chixue Gang, no matter how powerful its backers were.

Zhou Tongtong reunited with Little White Cat and Little Black Cat after school and told them her dream had accurately shown Little Black Cat transforming to protect Little White Cat. Little Black Cat promised to learn to transform at will, leaving to practice after Zhou Tongtong went home.

• Zhou Tongtong showed Xia Qing a pebble from Wang Duoduo and said she planned to prepare a gift in return.
• Little White Cat and Little Black Cat watched Zhu Daqi, who had been keeping watch near the residential area, as Zhou Tongtong and Xia Qing arrived.
• Zhou Tongtong told the kittens that she had dreamed of Little Black Cat transforming to drive off the big tabby, and they confirmed the dream described what had happened.
• Zhou Tongtong praised Little Black Cat but told him not to fight, then asked him to transform; he admitted he could not control the ability.
• After Zhou Tongtong went home, Little Black Cat tried to recreate the emotions that had triggered his transformations, and Little White Cat asked him to practice farther away.

Xia Qing prepared mutton stew for Lin Li, while Zhang Xiaohao pursued Su Yue and Zhu Daqi continued surveilling Lin Li. In the Spirit Realm, Lin Li disguised himself and entered the Chixue Gang’s headquarters area as Fang Jingtang went on patrol, leaving Lin Li poised to act.

• Xia Qing tried to deliver stew to Lin Li, then ate with Zhou Tongtong and told her to feed Xiaobai and Xiaohei and finish her homework.
• Zhang Xiaohao gave Su Yue a gift and arranged to ask her to dinner after the Mid-Autumn Festival.
• Zhu Daqi asked Chen Xiaoyan to stop his surveillance of Lin Li, but she persuaded him to continue until ten by promising him dinner.
• Chen Xiaoyan told an injured companion that the organization’s newly developed special medicine would arrive by the next afternoon.
• Lin Li put on a black bandit hat and headed for the Chixue Gang’s headquarters after sunset.
• Fang Jingtang went on patrol with Liu Qizhi and Lu Tao, while Lin Li watched the dock before slipping into the area where the gang’s core members lived.

Lin Li attacked the Chixue Gang’s warehouse, setting its shipment ablaze before confronting Fang Jingtang, Liu Qizhi, and Lu Tao. He defeated Liu Qizhi and turned his attention to Fang Jingtang and Lu Tao, who were left calling for help.

• Fang Jingtang inspected the warehouse with Liu Qizhi and Lu Tao, and Liu Qizhi promised to protect the shipment.
• Lin Li launched two waves of fireballs at the warehouse, igniting the building and its silk cargo.
• Lin Li appeared and sent two Chixue Gang Guards flying, while Fang Jingtang recognized him and panicked.
• Fang Jingtang and Lu Tao argued over calling for help as Liu Qizhi fired purple beams at Lin Li.
• Lin Li dodged Liu Qizhi’s attacks, punched him unconscious, and then fired a fireball at Lu Tao.

Lin Li fought Wu Xiong and Zhang Di after Wu Xiong's Wind Shield saved Lu Tao from Lin Li's fireball. Zhang Di initially challenged Lin Li alone but was unable to gain an advantage, and the fight left him calling for Wu Xiong's help.

• Wu Xiong's Wind Shield blocked Lin Li's fireball and saved Lu Tao, while Lin Li sensed Wu Xiong and Zhang Di approaching.
• Wu Xiong ordered Lu Tao to bring Fang Jingtang to safety as Lin Li gave chase, and Zhang Di used his chains to block Lin Li.
• Lu Tao and Fang Jingtang reached Wu Xiong and Zhang Di, who agreed to confront Lin Li while the pair moved away.
• Zhang Di charged Lin Li alone, and the two exchanged powerful blows that churned the air and damaged the road.
• Dock workers and Chixue Gang members heard the battle and saw firelight, but none volunteered to investigate.
• Zhang Di was bruised and unable to gain an advantage, so he called Wu Xiong to help him fight Lin Li.