Chapter Summaries

Luo ZhengNan and Qiu Zhiheng captured nearly all the Mourning Cultivators in Medicine King Gully, but learned that a Mourning Gate Formation might be trapping them and bringing disasters upon the region. After Hong Ying explained how vast and complex the formation was, the Portable Abode offered to help Li Banfeng find it by surveying every inch of soil.

• Luo ZhengNan offered rewards for capturing Mourning Cultivators, and the gangs caught all but one of the fifteen who had arrived in Medicine King Gully.
• Qiu Zhiheng learned that the Mourning Cultivators had come after dreams from the Grandmaster warned them of disaster, while Ge Tugen revealed that bloodstains near Jade Fragrance Village marked a Mourning Gate Formation.
• Yao Lao said Mourning Star was neither the Mourning Cultivators' Grandmaster nor a Dream Cultivator, and he suspected the Inner State was behind the nightmares and attacks.
• After the last missing Mourning Cultivator was found dead near Ma Bamboo Village, Luo ZhengNan proposed trying to send another captive away, while hail and torrential rain struck Medicine King Gully.
• Li Banfeng dug up a bloodstain near Jade Fragrance Village, but Hong Ying said the formation had many possible layouts and hundreds of blood-spilling points.
• The Portable Abode told Li Banfeng it could help locate the formation if he obtained at least two more rails, promising to search every inch of Medicine King Gully.

Li Banfeng traveled to Yellow Earth Bridge to buy Feng Chongli’s iron rulers and learned that they cost eight hundred thousand silver coins. After finding himself short of the money, he discovered that his glove had saved enough to help him complete the purchase.

• Wife gave Li Banfeng a record and phonograph for Yao Lao, who fought off a leaf attack and later tried Ling Miaoying’s tape.
• Hong Ying and the phonograph discussed Yao Xin’s history at Bitter Medicine Pass and his connection to the old general.
• Li Banfeng and Feng Xincheng found Feng Chongli in Yellow Earth Bridge and negotiated to buy his remaining pair of iron rulers for eight hundred thousand silver coins by the next day.
• Li Banfeng returned to the Portable Abode short of the purchase price, but refused to rob Feng Chongli or borrow the rulers without permission.
• The glove produced 413,222 silver coins and a chest of gold, offering its savings to Li Banfeng.

Li Banfeng bought a pair of genuine Iron Rulers from Feng Chongli and then raced to uncover the bloodstains sustaining the Mourning Gate Formation. After Mourning Star escaped a disastrous attack on the captured Mourning Cultivators, Li Banfeng returned to the Portable Abode ready to dig up the last few points and break the formation.

• Li Banfeng paid Feng Chongli for the Iron Rulers, confirmed their authenticity by placing them in the Portable Abode, and completed the sale with Feng Xincheng as witness.
• Feng Chongli sold the Iron Rulers before the Carriage Driver returned with one million Silver Coins, and the two men parted on hostile terms.
• Li Banfeng dug up more than a hundred bloodstains with help from the Portable Abode, while Wife and the other household items helped him cover his tracks.
• Luo ZhengNan and Qiu Zhiheng discovered an extra Mourning Cultivator among their prisoners, but Mourning Star killed the captives and escaped through the roof.
• The Mourning Gate Formation continued after the massacre, and Li Banfeng returned to the Portable Abode exhausted after digging up 170 bloodstains.
• The phonograph estimated that at most three more bloodstains needed digging to break the formation, and Li Banfeng went out again.

Yao Lao fought Mourning Star’s assault in his courtyard, but the Mourning Gate Formation’s baleful aura, dreams, poison, and clones left him badly wounded. When Li Banfeng’s phonograph played the Marshal’s “Dingjun Mountain,” it broke the formation and gave Yao Lao the strength to seize and kill Mourning Star’s true body.

• Yao Lao used wine, his Three-Pointed Double-Edged Blade, and Back Flags to fight the dead souls and draw Mourning Star into the open, but a dream led him into his own traps and poison.
• Mourning Star’s clones overwhelmed Yao Lao and nearly killed him as he struggled to reach his remaining wine.
• A dead soul accidentally switched on the phonograph Li Banfeng had sent, and the Marshal’s recording of “Dingjun Mountain” shook Mourning Star and the dead souls.
• Li Banfeng dug through the Portable Abode’s soil, and the formation broke as the phonograph’s drums and song drowned out the foul aura.
• Yao Lao drank the spilled wine, regained his strength, cut down Mourning Star’s clones, and pursued the true body through the wine mist.
• Yao Lao endured Mourning Star’s attacks and dreams, then drove Mourning Star’s head onto the Three-Pointed Double-Edged Blade, dispersing Medicine King Gully’s foul aura.

Li Banfeng found Yao Lao gravely wounded after he defeated an intruder, and Yao Lao recounted how betrayals had shaped his life and his loyalty to Zhao Xiaowan. After Li Banfeng confirmed that the Mourning Gate Formation was broken, he let Yao Lao speak to the Marshal once more, and Yao Lao died standing after delivering his battle report.

• Li Banfeng found Yao Lao covered in blood beside a severed head, and Yao Lao said he had killed an intruder.
• Yao Lao told Li Banfeng how Pan Dehai and Lin Dexing had betrayed him, leading him to leave his marriage and lose his position as a general.
• Yao Lao described how Zhao Xiaowan restored his purpose at age eighty and how Cong Shixiang’s lies drew him away before the Marshal was betrayed.
• Yao Lao explained that he had come to trust Li Banfeng because he knew the Marshal was with him, then asked to see her after Li confirmed the Mourning Gate Formation was broken.
• Li Banfeng opened the Portable Abode so Yao Lao could report to the Marshal, and Yao Lao died standing after she praised his service.
• Hong Ying saluted Yao Lao, and the phonograph said he was alive but gravely wounded and asleep.

Li Banfeng saved Yao Lao after Mourning Star’s defeat, but Yao Lao remained unconscious, leaving Medicine King Gully without a clear protector as Li Banfeng approached advancement. Meanwhile, Han Jinwei took news of Yao Lao’s condition to Gang Leader Xiao Zhengong, who killed Han and Mo Jiansheng to keep the information under control.

• Li Banfeng stabilized Yao Lao’s soul with a pill made from Red Lotus’s Lotus Seed, moved Mourning Star’s remains and Yao Lao’s medicines into the Portable Abode, and returned Yao Lao to his home.
• Li Banfeng and Qiu Zhiheng discussed who could guard Medicine King Gully while Yao Lao was unconscious, but they found no trustworthy Local Earth God and began rebuilding the damaged wall.
• Li Banfeng’s body began trembling as he neared advancement, and he stayed at Yao Lao’s home while Qiu Zhiheng went to get construction materials.
• Han Jinwei ordered Mo Jiansheng to travel with him to Outer State and bring the Mourning Cultivator’s dead soul, then told Mo Linping to alert Luo ZhengNan if they failed to return within ten days.
• Han Jinwei and Mo Jiansheng told Xiao Zhengong that Yao Lao had been injured in his battle with Mourning Star, and the captured dead soul confirmed the report.
• Xiao Zhengong killed Han Jinwei and Mo Jiansheng with a champagne cork and glass, then destroyed the Mourning Cultivator’s dead soul with a Copper Coin.

Li Banfeng tried to keep Medicine King Gully hidden while Yao Lao remained unconscious, but Pan Dehai, Lin Dexing, and Green Water Beggar arrived and fought over the gully. Just as Li Banfeng prepared to intervene, an old herb gatherer who could see the hidden visitors entered with Little Genzi and challenged Green Water Beggar.

• Li Banfeng and Qiu Zhiheng arranged to guard Medicine King Gully, and Li Banfeng decided to stay nearby until Yao Lao woke up.
• Li Banfeng spotted an herb-gathering old man in the mountains, then discovered Pan Dehai inside Yao Lao's house searching for Yao Lao's contract.
• Lin Dexing and Green Water Beggar confronted Pan Dehai, who used Virtue Cultivator techniques to crush Lin Dexing before their fight turned physical.
• Green Water Beggar moved to challenge Pan Dehai, but the herb gatherer entered the courtyard, revealed that he could see them, and summoned Little Genzi.
• The old man took a bucket from Little Genzi and told Green Water Beggar that he was going to touch him.

An old man used golden-liquid techniques to drive Green Flower away while teaching Little Genzi, and Pan Dehai confronted the unresponsive Yao Xin inside the house. Li Banfeng captured the badly injured Lin Dexing and prepared to take him home in the Portable Abode.

• The old man taught Little Genzi as he used golden-liquid techniques to battle Green Flower, who escaped after blocking the golden stream with Lin Dexing.
• The old man explained that Pan Dehai, the Local Earth God of Sea Eat Ridge, had once received help from Yao Xin, the Local Earth God of Medicine King Gully, despite their uncertain relationship.
• Pan Dehai threatened to dig out Yao Xin's deed, then sat beside his bed and offered him pieces of a smashed sugar figurine.
• Lin Dexing stumbled into Tu Yinghong's net, and Li Banfeng beat him until he stopped moving.
• The glove claimed credit for bringing back Lin Dexing, and Li Banfeng opened the Portable Abode to take him home despite the glove's protests.

Li Banfeng learned why Xu Han had come to protect Medicine King Gully and discovered that the old man was the renowned Xu Jinkui, a master of both Metal and Farming Cultivators. As Li Banfeng returned with Little Genzi, Luo ZhengNan faced the arrival of the dangerous Fire Cultivator Pei One-Bite.

• Li Banfeng failed to persuade the Portable Abode's residents to eat Lin Dexing's corpse, but his wife eventually consumed Lin Dexing's soul.
• Xu Han told Li Banfeng that he was guarding Yao Lao's home at the Peddler's request and warned him not to investigate Bitter Mist Mountain.
• Xu Han said the Inner State had targeted Medicine King Gully and sent Green Water Beggar and Lin Dexing, then urged Little Genzi to leave and make his way in the world.
• Hong Ying confirmed that Xu Han was Xu Jinkui, a senior Metal Cultivator and Farming Cultivator grandmaster, and Li Banfeng let her avoid eating Lin Dexing's corpse.
• Luo ZhengNan learned that Pei One-Bite had arrived at the Jiang Xiang Gang and returned to his bedroom before emerging with a surprised smile.

Pei Yuzeng tried to assassinate Luo ZhengNan on Xiao Zhengong’s orders, but Luo escaped with a decoy and began looking for refuge. Li Banfeng returned to Iron Gate Fort and found Luo ZhengNan waiting there with a jar of sorghum wine.

• Pei Yuzeng burned a flesh-and-bone puppet while Luo ZhengNan watched from a rooftop and discovered Xiao Zhengong had ordered the killing.
• Li Banfeng told Qiu Zhiheng that someone was watching over Yao Lao’s home, and Qiu Zhiheng later heard that Luo ZhengNan had disappeared after meeting Pei Yuzeng.
• Li Banfeng arranged for Genzi to return to Green Water City, where Zhang Wanlong demonstrated his Farming Cultivator skills and offered to buy Genzi’s Golden Juice.
• Old Xu reflected on fate while Li Banfeng traveled through the New Land to Iron Gate Fort, where he found the House Cultivators living well but still struggling to negotiate.
• Luo ZhengNan greeted Li Banfeng in Iron Gate Fort and said he had been waiting for him.

Luo ZhengNan sought refuge with Li Banfeng, who sent him to Green Water City and arranged for him to make contact at Spring Stream Teahouse. Li Banfeng revealed himself as Seventh Master and brought Luo ZhengNan to Carefree Dock, where Luo ZhengNan spotted a hook on a cleaner’s broom.

• Luo ZhengNan asked Li Banfeng for refuge, explaining that the Jiang Xiang Gang had turned against him.
• Li Banfeng offered Luo ZhengNan a choice between taking over Flying Eagle Mountain and hiding in Green Water City, and Luo ZhengNan agreed to go to the city under a written agreement.
• Li Banfeng withdrew 450,000 Silver Coins from the gloves and gave Wu Yongchao the remaining 150,000 to help fund Iron Gate Fort’s wages and a new shop.
• He Jiaqing apologized to Shen Rongqing over the renewed controversy surrounding Blood Blade Detective, and Shen Rongqing asked him to stop Ma Junyang from opposing them.
• Luo ZhengNan overheard He Jiaqing discussing the film scandal and Ma Wu, then went to Spring Stream Teahouse, where Li Banfeng arrived to meet him.
• Li Banfeng took Luo ZhengNan to Carefree Dock, and Luo ZhengNan recognized a hook on a cleaner’s broom.

Li Banfeng learned that He Jiaqing might target Ma Wu, but Ma Wu’s dinner with Shen Rongqing ended with him using an Emotion Cultivator treasure to bind her to him instead. Shen Rongqing then received an imperial handkerchief from Zhong Huaien, while He Jiaqing delayed meeting him and planned to learn more about his backers.

• Li Banfeng paid Luo ZhengNan to trace the hook and learned that He Jiaqing might be planning to move against Ma Wu.
• Ma Wu went to dinner with Shen Rongqing at Peace Mansion, where she used False Emotion to make him promise to stay out of the film business for twelve years.
• After Ma Wu transferred the Emotion Root onto Shen Rongqing, she woke beside him and realized she could no longer bring herself to kill him.
• Zhong Huaien gave Shen Rongqing a handkerchief said to have been used by the Emperor and urged her to consider the Sage’s recruitment offer.
• He Jiaqing used magnets to absorb power, then told Shen Rongqing to keep gathering information about Zhong Huaien and his people.
• Luo ZhengNan wondered whether the Emperor and the Sage referred to the Sage at Bastard Slope.

Luo ZhengNan told Li Banfeng that a Saint on Bastard Slope was an emperor with ties to the Jiang Xiang Gang, and that Xiao Zhengong had become a Balance Person through the Saint. Li Banfeng learned about a dangerous Travel Cultivator technique and later prepared to investigate a meeting between the Saint’s disciple and He Jiaqing’s representative.

• Luo ZhengNan told Li Banfeng that the Saint on Bastard Slope was an emperor and had connections to the Jiang Xiang Gang and Xiao Zhengong.
• Li Banfeng asked Hong Ying about the Travel Cultivator’s seventh-layer technique, Willful and Determined, which raised combat power by moving toward danger but could not be used with a seriously injured body.
• Hong Ying explained that the technique required courage and warned Li Banfeng to avoid a Ninth Layer enemy who might use it to surpass the Tenth Layer.
• The phonograph discovered the hidden piece of Lin Dexing’s flesh, and Hong Ying blamed the gloves for hiding it before the phonograph spared her at Li Banfeng’s request.
• Luo ZhengNan reported that Zhong Huaien had arranged to meet He Jiaqing, who sent a woman in his place, and Li Banfeng decided to attend the meeting at Lotus Pond Teahouse.

Li Banfeng followed Zhong Huaien after the failed negotiations and attacked him to send a message to the Sage, while Zhong Huaien’s flying white clothes went after Shen Rongqing. The clothes fled when Ma Wu arrived to save her, leaving Li Banfeng unsure whether Zhong Huaien would survive.

• He Jiaqing checked with a spy at Carefree Dock and learned that Li Qi was drinking with Lu Chunying and the others, then returned to the park in gardener's clothes.
• Shen Rongqing and Zhong Huaien argued over their failed attempts to arrange a meeting between He Jiaqing and the Sage, and Zhong Huaien left in anger.
• Zhong Huaien and an unseen senior brother decided that the senior brother would use Zhong Huaien's white clothes to attack Shen Rongqing and draw He Jiaqing out.
• Li Banfeng called Luo ZhengNan to send Ma Wu to Lotus Pond Teahouse, then repeatedly slashed Zhong Huaien until he collapsed.
• The white clothes wrapped around Shen Rongqing and forced her hand to point a dagger at her throat, but they fled when Ma Wu arrived and held her.

Li Banfeng and Luo ZhengNan traveled to Green Smoke City to avenge Luo ZhengNan and disrupt the Jiang Xiang Gang’s child-trafficking operation. After Luo ZhengNan killed Pei Yuzeng, Li Banfeng began pursuing the remaining men and rescuing the children.

• Shen Rongqing reunited with Ma Wu, but left him after he refused to reveal his cultivation and urged her to forget him.
• Shen Rongqing told He Jiaqing that Zhong Huaien had sent someone to kill her, while Li Banfeng recruited Luo ZhengNan to take revenge on Pei Yuzeng.
• Luo ZhengNan explained that Pei Yuzeng’s delivery of abducted children to Bastard Slope offered a chance to kill him, and Li Banfeng agreed to leave for Green Smoke City.
• The Sage ordered White Clothes and Zhong Huaien to recover and then go to Outer State to kill He Jiaqing.
• At Green Smoke City’s warehouse, Li Banfeng sewed Pei Yuzeng’s mouth shut, and Luo ZhengNan watched as Li Banfeng’s skill made Pei Yuzeng and nine subordinates explode.
• Li Banfeng confronted the surviving burly man about the children’s origins while Luo ZhengNan covered a child’s eyes and tried to learn where the child came from.

Li Banfeng and Luo ZhengNan freed abducted children, then slaughtered Green Smoke Hall’s sub-gangs and hall after learning the gang served Bastard Slope. Xiao Zhengong heard that a man called Benefactor had destroyed the hall and went to the hospital where He Jiaqing was disguised as He Haisheng, leaving Xiao’s suspicion unresolved.

• Li Banfeng had the rescued children returned to their families and killed a Jiang Xiang Gang member who claimed to be their father.
• Li Banfeng and Luo ZhengNan wiped out the Green Smoke Hall sub-gangs and killed the gang members at the main hall while rescuing another child.
• Luo ZhengNan found that Guanfang Hall refused to help, so Li Banfeng paid a rickshaw puller to reunite the child with his parents.
• Song Yuwei reported Green Smoke Hall’s destruction to Xiao Zhengong, who suspected He Jiaqing and drove to Third Hospital in Yuezhou.
• He Jiaqing, disguised as He Haisheng, smoked with He Haisheng and noticed that his perception had weakened.

He Jiaqing used disguises to stop Xiao Zhengong from killing him and explained to He Haisheng that he wanted dignity for himself and the people of Pro State. After learning that the He Family’s business was in trouble and two Jiang Xiang Gang branches had been wiped out, He Haisheng urged him to leave the hospital while he found a way out.

• Xiao Zhengong hesitated to kill the apparent He Jiaqing, then left after Chen Changrui appeared at the ward and later received an order to investigate suspected mutated creatures in Tulou Village.
• He Jiaqing revealed that he had disguised himself as Chen Changrui and He Haisheng, freed He Haisheng from a binding technique, and explained why he wanted to live with dignity.
• He Jiaqing told He Haisheng that his father had reached the Tenth Layer with the pills he supplied and had left for the Inner State.
• He Yuxiu argued with Sheng Shanzhou over a Guanfang Envoy’s bonus and the blocked Black Ear Mountain shipment, while Yan Yulin tried to calm her.
• Duan Shuqun informed He Jiaqing that the He Family’s business was in trouble and two Jiang Xiang Gang branches had been wiped out.
• He Haisheng told He Jiaqing to leave the hospital and said he would find a way to get out himself.

Li Banfeng advanced to the seventh layer of House Cultivation and learned that the Live and Work in Peace technique required him to spend time at home or furnish the Portable Abode. Meanwhile, Xiao Zhengong learned that another Jiang Xiang Gang branch had been wiped out and demanded to use the Balance Seal to have He Jiaqing arrested.

• Xiao Zhengong arrived at Tulou Village, clashed with Chen Changrui, and left after Song Yuwei told him the Sea Eat Ridge branch had been wiped out.
• Chen Changrui led the team to handle the Donkey Head Maggot at the construction site.
• Li Banfeng advanced to the seventh layer of House Cultivation, gaining the Live and Work in Peace technique and learning that staying home or furnishing the Portable Abode could raise his fortune.
• Li Banfeng and Luo ZhengNan ate at a restaurant, then studied the Jiang Xiang Gang’s Black Stone Slope branches while traveling by train.
• Shen Jingye told Xiao Zhengong the bureau planned to move him out of the Public Security Brigade, but Xiao refused and demanded He Jiaqing’s immediate arrest using the Balance Seal.

Chen Changrui’s operation to capture He Jiaqing failed when the target’s puppet exploded and He Haisheng escaped, while the real He Jiaqing remained at large. He Yuxiu prepared to confront the Guanfang Envoy over the He Family’s frozen businesses, but Lu Chunying warned that Chu Huaijun was waiting to ambush her.

• Chen Changrui led Dark Star Bureau members to Yuezhou Third Hospital and ordered the trainees to observe while the team followed its capture plan.
• Candied Fruit and Crabapple restrained and put the apparent He Jiaqing to sleep, but he exploded when Big Head and Brick entered the ward, injuring Crabapple.
• Huajia reported that He Haisheng had escaped through the rear entrance, and Chen Changrui chased him but failed to catch him.
• Chen Changrui realized the remains belonged to a cigarette-smoke-covered puppet controlled by He Haisheng, meaning the real He Jiaqing had escaped earlier.
• He Haisheng and He Jiaqing discussed the Guanfang Envoy and Xiao Zhengong’s Balance Seal, while He Haisheng refused to return to the He Family estate.
• He Yuxiu prepared to lead He Family members to demand an explanation at Guanfang Hall, but Lu Chunying warned her that Chu Huaijun was waiting to ambush her in exchange for half the family’s businesses.

He Yuxiu and Ma Wu struggled to understand the Guanfang Envoy’s actions as Ma Wu and He Jiaqing turned to newspapers, magazines, and shadow plays to expose its protection of the Jiang Xiang Gang. After leaving the train at Black Stone Slope, Li Banfeng learned the local hall had Outer State backing and had resumed abducting children, then prepared to attack it despite the danger.

• He Yuxiu rejected Ma Wu’s advice to hide, while Ma Wu wrote an article accusing the Guanfang Envoy of sheltering the Jiang Xiang Gang and sought Shen Rongqing’s help publicizing the story.
• He Jiaqing told Shen Rongqing to publish the allegations in newspapers, magazines, and shadow plays, while Shen Jingye informed Xiao Zhengong that five Jiang Xiang Gang halls would be controlled by the Guanfang Envoy.
• Qin Minghui read a Pro State newspaper about the Jiang Xiang Gang and told Chen Changrui that protecting the gang was not what he wanted to do.
• Li Banfeng’s Lotus Seeds produced three Profound Essence Pills, which the phonograph stored, and he later left the train at Black Stone Slope with Luo ZhengNan.
• Bai Qiusheng told Li Banfeng that the Black Stone Hall had Outer State support and that child-snatching had resumed, so Li Banfeng sent Luo ZhengNan back to Green Water City and vowed to kill the gang members.