Chapter Summaries

Qiu Luoye prepared his territory and old companions for its transformation into Proper Land, while Shui Yongquan returned land to help him reach the required size. After He Yuxiu opened the final Land Block, brilliant heavenly light poured down over Qiu Luoye's territory.

• Xiao Yeci explained that Qiu Luoye's Strange Monster companions would need to become Contract Guardian Spirits and remain within a forbidden ground to guard his contract documents.
• Qiu Luoye discovered that he had fewer than ten thousand Land Blocks, and Shui Yongquan arrived to return thirty li of territory and help him expand.
• A month later, Shui Yongquan allocated Qiu Luoye the final Land Block, and He Yuxiu opened it as the gathered people watched heavenly light descend.
• Li Banfeng realized they still lacked enough people to meet the ten-thousand-person requirement, while He Yuxiu joked about having children to make up the difference.
• Qiu Luoye's territory suddenly blazed with powerful light, and Shui Yongquan warned everyone to take cover.

After Qiu Luoye’s territory became Proper Land, Li Banfeng and the others discovered that its boundaries had shifted, while sunlight drove the local Strange Monsters into a frenzy. Li Banfeng used Ling Miaoying’s Music Box to calm the forest creatures and began considering how to use it to solve the larger problem.

• A sudden light and earthquake sent everyone into shelter, but Juanzi and Xiao Shan recognized that the light was sunlight rather than heavenlight.
• Xiao Yeci realized that the sunlight meant Qiu Luoye’s territory had become Proper Land, though no one understood how it had happened.
• Qiu Luoye and Shui Yongquan found that Qiu Luoye’s territory had shifted beside unfamiliar Proper Land boundaries, and Shui Yongquan could no longer find his own territory.
• Li Banfeng learned from Wife and the gramophone that the territory’s transformation was unprecedented and that they needed to identify their new neighbors and deal with Strange Monsters reacting to sunlight.
• Strange Monsters in the forest went berserk, so Li Banfeng wound Ling Miaoying’s Music Box and lulled them to sleep.
• Seeing the sleeping Stick Insect, Li Banfeng formed a bold idea while the Music Box’s little figure smiled confidently.

Li Banfeng transported most of Qiu Luoye's strange monsters into his own Territory, then investigated the newly joined boundary line. Meanwhile, Qiu Luoye and Shui Yongquan entered the New Land to find their bearings and confronted a hostile neighbor.

• Li Banfeng used Hong Ying's technique to move nearly all the strange monsters from Qiu Luoye's Territory into his own Territory.
• Li Banfeng examined the boundary line and heard a past argument between Wife and Hong Ying through the Music Box.
• Qiu Luoye and Shui Yongquan entered the New Land despite Shui Yongquan's concerns and found it dark and seemingly empty.
• Qiu Luoye and Shui Yongquan discovered a residence and met a huge man who demanded to know where they came from.
• Qiu Luoye warned the man that he had lost his chance to escape with his life.

Qiu Luoye and Shui Yongquan met Wan Nianlao, the Local Earth God of a neighboring New Land, and learned that the territory was Kinless Village, whose people had left them surrounded by boundary lines. That night, Li Banfeng crossed the western boundary to investigate and discovered a place where strangers refused to help one another.

• Qiu Luoye fought Wan Nianlao, a Glue Cultivator, until Shui Yongquan washed away the stickiness and Qiu Luoye beat him.
• Shui Yongquan learned that Wan Nianlao was the Local Earth God of New Land and that he despised Kinless Village, which he called Nowhere Buried.
• Qiu Luoye and Shui Yongquan realized they were surrounded by boundary lines and would need Wan Nianlao's cooperation to travel out.
• Li Banfeng entered the Portable Abode to hear the old man's research and agreed to cross a boundary line that night.
• Li Banfeng crossed the western boundary with Cantaloupe Hong Ying and helped an old man pull a cart up a hill.
• When the old man refused to give Li Banfeng directions because they were strangers, Li Banfeng sent the cart rolling back down the hill and left.

Liao Zihui investigated the sudden appearance of Li Qi’s territory and planned to use the severed railway to pressure him, while Ma Wu and He Jiaqing worked to misdirect the investigation into Li Qi’s identity. Green Water Beggar confronted Chu Shaoqiang and challenged him to seize Green Water Bay.

• Liao Zihui learned that Li Qi’s territory had appeared between Kinless Village and Ink Fragrance Shop, severing their railway, and ordered officials to reroute trains rather than repair the line for him.
• Tang Huanjie told Liao Zihui that investigators had identified Li Qi as Song Zhuowen from Sea Eat Ridge, and Liao Zihui ordered him to investigate Li Qi’s former rivals at Ling Family Film Industry.
• He Jiaqing learned that Guanfang Hall was investigating Li Qi’s background and told Shen Rongqing to reinforce the false clue that Li Qi was Song Zhuowen.
• Tranquil Years invited He Jiaqing to meet her offline and asked him to bring a steel wool scrubber.
• Green Water Beggar entered Chu Shaoqiang’s building, transformed the guards into pustules, and challenged Chu Shaoqiang to take Green Water Bay from him.

Chu Shaoqiang trapped Green Water Beggar in a lime-filled house, but Green Water Beggar escaped into the Unnameable Place and reappeared at Boundless Hospital. Cui Tike confronted Chu Shaoqiang to protect him, and Green Water Beggar rewarded Cui Tike with a path to greater cultivation and a new task.

• Chu Shaoqiang explained that Disease Cultivators' strength came from the tiny, hard-to-detect lesions they created, then used lime dust to trap Green Water Beggar in the Western-Style House.
• Chu Shaoqiang petrified Green Water Beggar's body, but Green Water Beggar rebirthed himself through a hanger-on and escaped into the Unnameable Place.
• Chu Shaoqiang tracked Green Water Beggar to Boundless Hospital, where Cui Tike blocked his way and warned that killing him would expose Chu Shaoqiang's actions.
• Chu Shaoqiang left the hospital rather than risk the consequences, and Cui Tike met with the little green man who had escaped from him.
• The little green man gave Cui Tike his severed arm to eat, raising him from the Seventh Layer toward the Eighth, and tasked him with delivering something to Bastard Slope in exchange for reaching the Ninth Layer.

Li Banfeng arrived in Kinless Village seeking a route to the new land and discovered that its residents exploited strangers. After Qiao Shaofen led him into a bog and left him buried, Li Banfeng secretly followed her.

• Li Banfeng followed the noodle-shop owner's directions, fell into her concealed mud pit, and forced her to pay him and reveal the correct route to the new land.
• Li Banfeng asked other villagers for directions but received conflicting answers, then met Qiao Shaofen, who invited him to meet Kinless Madam.
• Li Banfeng declined to visit Kinless Madam at night, and Qiao Shaofen later agreed to guide him to the new land.
• Qiao Shaofen led Li Banfeng through the fog and trapped him in a bog with her spit, then left after the mud disappeared.
• Li Banfeng used the Golden Eyes Autumn Down Technique to follow Qiao Shaofen in secret.

Li Banfeng obtained a New Land route map from Juanzi and planned a deal with Shui Yongquan to secure a way through. At Kinless Village, Li Banfeng, Shui Yongquan, and Qiu Luoye killed Qiao Shaofen, leaving them ready to proceed with their deal.

• Li Banfeng followed Qiao Shaofen to the desolate village, failed to find a route through the New Land, and returned to Qiu Luoye's Territory before dawn.
• Shui Yongquan advised Li Banfeng against seeking out Wan Nianlao, but Li Banfeng decided to travel through Wan Nianlao's territory.
• Juanzi showed Li Banfeng her benefactor's map of the New Land, and Li Banfeng memorized its routes before proposing a deal to Shui Yongquan.
• Qiao Shaofen confronted Qiu Luoye at the desolate village entrance, and Shui Yongquan confirmed she was a Mud Cultivator by swallowing her spit.
• Shui Yongquan replaced much of Qiao Shaofen's body's water with his own, weakening her; Li Banfeng helped stall her, and Qiu Luoye crushed her into fragments.
• Li Banfeng, Shui Yongquan, and Qiu Luoye exchanged smiles as they prepared to make their deal.

After killing Qiao Shaofen, Li Banfeng, Shui Yongquan, and Qiu Luoye searched Kinless Madam’s residence and found two iron contract pieces. Qiu Luoye claimed Kinless Village, but the contracts’ missing history and reduced territory left the mystery unresolved as Li Banfeng went to dispose of Qiao Shaofen’s body.

• Li Banfeng sent Cabbage Men through the courtyard to find a safe path into the residence.
• Shui Yongquan searched the main room and found a silt jar and the Local Earth Seal beneath the bed.
• Qiu Luoye triggered the bed’s traps and dug out two contract pieces that bore no writing on their backs.
• Shui Yongquan wiped away the old bloodstains, and Qiu Luoye wrote a Paper Contract claiming Kinless Village.
• Qiu Luoye’s blood caused the iron contracts to record his claim and a territory of only 3,188 squares.
• Li Banfeng went to dispose of Qiao Shaofen’s corpse while Qiu Luoye prepared to hide the contracts.

Li Banfeng and Qiu Luoye discovered that their territories had merged, causing the boundary between them to disappear and allowing people to cross freely. In Yuezhou, He Jiaqing grew ill after absorbing popularity, while Liao Zihui secretly sent Bai Zhiming to investigate Kinless Village.

• Qiu Luoye said he wanted to save Kinless Village's popularity for Seventh Brother and wondered whether Kinless Madam's contract document could help him avoid the Inner State.
• A pioneer couple crossed the boundary unharmed, and a middle-aged hunter followed, prompting others to charge toward it.
• Li Banfeng, Shui Yongquan, and Qiu Luoye realized the boundary had vanished because both territories now belonged to Qiu Luoye.
• He Jiaqing absorbed popularity from a seal at Garden Stadium, became severely dizzy, and went home to sleep.
• Liao Zihui delayed reporting the vanished boundary and ordered Bai Zhiming to take Dark Matter Harmonizing Agent to Kinless Village and investigate.

Liao Zihui learned that Kinless Madam had likely disappeared during a conflict between Local Earth Gods, but an unauthorized report brought an Outer State investigation to Pro State. He Jiaqing discovered that Li Banfeng had taken Qiao Shaofen’s deed contract and vowed revenge, then encountered Chu Shaoqiang at the noodle shop.

• Bai Zhiming told Liao Zihui that Kinless Madam had vanished, and Liao concluded that two territories had merged after a battle between their Local Earth Gods.
• Liao Zihui learned that Liu Guocai had reported the incident above him and warned that an investigative working group, including a Balance Person, was coming to Pro State.
• He Jiaqing learned that Big Head was going to Kinless Village as Xiao Zhengong’s assistant, then traveled there despite He Haisheng’s warning.
• He Jiaqing found Qiao Shaofen’s remains and discovered that the Local Earth Seal and deed contract were missing, so he blamed Li Banfeng and threatened to kill him unless he returned the contract.
• Li Banfeng entered his Portable Abode to use the Oil Pot while He Jiaqing searched the noodle shop for him.
• Chu Shaoqiang arrived at the noodle shop, recognized He Jiaqing, and invited him to sit down for noodles.

He Jiaqing escaped Chu Shaoqiang’s attempt to capture him, while Xiao Zhengong discovered a deadly epidemic on Sage Peak and Cui Tike remained trapped by the Sage’s technique. He Jiaqing led Cui Tike out and returned him to Green Water Beggar in exchange for a contract, and Green Water Beggar then raised the possibility of working together against Chu Shaoqiang.

• Chu Shaoqiang tried to take He Jiaqing to Sage Peak, but He Jiaqing cut through his Hunting Net with a stolen knife and escaped.
• Chu Shaoqiang met Ma Wu, who was planning a restaurant in the newly named Seven Autumn City, and agreed to draw him a blueprint.
• Xiao Zhengong investigated Kinless Village and later learned that a green-pus rash epidemic had killed dozens of Sage Peak’s disciples.
• Cui Tike, trapped in Bastard Slope by the Sage’s Layered Peaks technique, met He Jiaqing, who led him through Carefree Plains and back to Green Water Bay.
• Green Water Beggar gave He Jiaqing a contract in return for bringing Cui Tike back, then asked whether He Jiaqing knew Chu Shaoqiang.

After Liu Guocai died at the railway construction site, Zhang Xinglai took over as Guanfang Envoy and built a cooperative relationship with Li Qi in Seven Autumn City. Meanwhile, Li Qi investigated the railway’s boundary-crossing method, and Chu Shaoqiang offered Qiu Luoye money, cultivation, and manpower on Inner State’s behalf, but Qiu Luoye rejected the offer.

• Liu Guocai began railway construction without meeting Li Qi, then died when a stack of stones collapsed during his inspection.
• Liao Zihui appointed Zhang Xinglai to replace Liu Guocai, and Zhang visited Li Qi with gifts and pledged to reduce freight charges in Seven Autumn City.
• Li Qi arranged for Ma Wu’s workers to help build the railway and sent Chuanzi to investigate its construction; Chuanzi found that the materials were the same throughout and could not learn the boundary-crossing Work Method.
• Li Qi entered the forbidden border-side construction site at night and relied on the Portable Abode to study the unfinished railway.
• Chu Shaoqiang left Ma Wu’s residence and offered Qiu Luoye money, cultivation, and manpower from Inner State, but Qiu Luoye refused all three.

Chu Shaoqiang fought Qiu Luoye and escaped after his attacks failed, while Qiu Luoye was later gravely injured by an unexplained force tied to his contract deed. On New Year’s Eve, Li Banfeng found him in a cave and learned that Chu Shaoqiang would return with two helpers the following night.

• Chu Shaoqiang attacked Qiu Luoye with weapons and several Cultivator artifacts, but Qiu Luoye resisted them and drove him off after discovering his puppet decoy.
• Li Banfeng observed construction with the Portable Abode, while the old man struggled to understand the Outer State’s Work Method.
• Ma Wu hosted a New Year’s Eve dinner, and He Yuxiu, Lu Chunying, Chu Huaiyuan, and the others wondered when Seventh Brother would arrive.
• Li Banfeng went to celebrate with Qiu Luoye, but the tiger revealed that Qiu Luoye was badly injured and hiding in a cave.
• Qiu Luoye told Li Banfeng that someone from the Inner State had attacked him and that the attacker would return with two helpers, then urged Li Banfeng to take his remaining contract-deed pieces and live well.

Li Banfeng assembled allies to defend Qiu Luoye’s territory from three Inner State cultivators, then launched a desperate ambush with He Yuxiu and support from his wife and Hong Ying. As Li Banfeng and the others battled Scholar Guo, Chu Huaiyuan confronted Chu Shaoqiang and revealed that he was her father.

• Li Banfeng asked the Three-Headed People to join the coming fight for pay, while He Yuxiu and the Portable Abode’s occupants prepared to help him.
• Qiu Luoye and his Contract Guardian Spirits celebrated the New Year as they waited for the attackers, and Li Banfeng and He Yuxiu hid nearby in ambush.
• Chu Shaoqiang, Scholar Guo, and Tian Dasong arrived, and Scholar Guo used his technique to try to force the ambushers from the trees.
• Street Scolding Woman challenged Scholar Guo with curses, but Li Banfeng leaped down and attacked him while his wife and Hong Ying supported the assault.
• He Yuxiu and the others fought Tian Dasong as Li Banfeng, the Tang Blade, and the pendulum struck Scholar Guo, who fought back with Literary Cultivation techniques.
• Chu Huaiyuan appeared before Chu Shaoqiang and told him she had come to fight him to the death, then called him Dad.

Li Banfeng and his allies fought Chu Shaoqiang, Scholar Guo, and Tian Dasong over Qiu Luoye, until the Three-Headed People of Sinner City arrived to defend their home. They defeated Tian Dasong and drove Chu Shaoqiang away, but Qiu Luoye remained in danger because the Inner State still held his contract.

• Chu Shaoqiang used War Ceasing Separation to split the fighters apart while Scholar Guo recovered from Li Banfeng's attack.
• Qiu Luoye arrived and shattered Chu Shaoqiang's skill, then the drums of Sinner City sounded and more than three thousand Three-Headed People came to fight.
• Mengzi rejected Chu Shaoqiang's offer to let them stay, saying they had come to kill him because Sinner City was their home.
• Chu Shaoqiang, Tian Dasong, and Scholar Guo fled as the Three-Headed People charged; Li Banfeng captured Scholar Guo in his Portable Abode.
• The Three-Headed People seized Tian Dasong and tore him apart with He Yuxiu's help, while Chu Shaoqiang escaped underground and fled Seven Autumn City.
• Li Banfeng found the wounded Qiu Luoye and urged him to go home and rest, though the Inner State still controlled Qiu Luoye's fate.

After learning that Inner State’s curse could kill Qiu Luoye through his contract deed, Li Banfeng asked Wife how to free him and restore his cultivation. Wife outlined Passing Three Gates, and Li Banfeng sought Hong Ying’s help with the rebirth gate, but she wrote “cheap” on his face and demanded that he get to the point.

• Qiu Luoye treated Li Banfeng’s wounds, then welcomed the Three-Headed People to drink with him and offered medicine to the injured.
• He Yuxiu warned Li Banfeng that Inner State still controlled Qiu Luoye’s contract deed and could threaten his life.
• Wife explained that Inner State’s contract deeds contained flesh, bones, and a curse, and that repairing Qiu Luoye’s deed would only prompt Inner State to damage it again.
• Wife described a way to escape the curse by becoming a Wounded Demon Fiend, but warned that Qiu Luoye’s injuries made the process too dangerous.
• Li Banfeng proposed digging up Qiu Luoye’s deed, lowering his cultivation, and then using Kinless Madam’s deed to restore it; Wife said he would have to pass three dangerous gates.
• Wife explained the Soul Separation Gate and the rebirth gate, and Li Banfeng went to Hong Ying for help growing flesh; she wrote “cheap” on his face and told him to speak plainly.

Li Banfeng sought a way to help Qiu Luoye pass the Three Gates, learned that the third gate required familiarity with Kinless Village, and went to Fool’s City to investigate the soul-departure method. He reached Changsan Academy and began questioning its residents about whether they were alive, ending with Sun Tiecheng’s appearance.

• Hong Ying and the Portable Abode refused to teach Li Banfeng how to grow flesh, so Red Lotus produced a Profound Essence Pill and a pill formula instead.
• Wife explained that Qiu Luoye’s third gate required him to recover his rank through familiar territory, so Li Banfeng urged him to explore Kinless Village for two days.
• Li Banfeng gave Ma Wu the pill formula to buy its ingredients, then traveled to Decency Village and entered Fool’s City to study Fool Cultivation.
• Li Banfeng found Changsan Academy and questioned Yan Hong about whether she was alive, prompting Tang Changfa to identify him as the proprietor and answer the questions himself.
• Li Banfeng questioned the academy’s young women about being alive, then asked Sun Tiecheng the same question, and Sun Tiecheng challenged his motives.

Li Banfeng pressed Sun Tiecheng to explain how Fool's City residents could believe they were alive despite knowing they were dead, and Sun Tiecheng revealed the Ironclad Evidence Technique. Li Banfeng learned the technique, while the reason Sun Tiecheng was helping him remained unexplained.

• Li Banfeng argued that Definite Statement and Fool's Thousand Thoughts alone could not explain the residents' belief that they were alive, and Sun Tiecheng admitted another technique was involved.
• Li Banfeng persuaded Sun Tiecheng to reconsider teaching him by pointing out that He Jiaqing was his other disciple and that Li Banfeng might face him again.
• Sun Tiecheng insisted that the residents were alive and presented their eating, singing, dancing, and physical presence as proof.
• Yan Cuier pinned Li Banfeng down at Sun Tiecheng's order, and Li Banfeng admitted that the residents were alive.
• Sun Tiecheng named the technique the Ironclad Evidence Technique, and Li Banfeng realized that he had finally been taught it.

Li Banfeng learned the Ironclad Evidence and Flesh Grafting techniques from Sun Tiecheng so he could help Qiu Luoye pass the gates. After discovering that Qiu Luoye could not remember the roads of Kinless Village, Li Banfeng decided to begin the attempt that night rather than wait.

• Sun Tiecheng explained the Ironclad Evidence Technique and kept Li Banfeng in Fool's City for New Year's Eve, where Li Banfeng saw the Peddler let the locals take his goods without protest.
• Sun Tiecheng revealed that Li Banfeng needed to separate Qiu Luoye from his old flesh, attach a temporary body, and keep Qiu Luoye unaware that he had become a soul.
• After three days of training, Li Banfeng demonstrated that he had mastered Ironclad Evidence and learned Flesh Grafting from Yan Cuier.
• Sun Tiecheng warned Li Banfeng to prepare carefully for Qiu Luoye's three gates and urged him to act before Inner State made its next move.
• Li Banfeng returned to Seven Autumn City, but Qiu Luoye could not remember the streets of Kinless Village, making it uncertain whether he could hold his restored cultivation.
• After the phonograph warned that Qiu Luoye could die if his cultivation fell again, Li Banfeng decided they would proceed that night.