Chapter Summaries

Light Bulb struggled to survive in Pro State, was captured by bandits, and was rescued when Luo ZhengNan wiped out their stronghold. Meanwhile, Li Banfeng’s sense of direction failed during Wan Jinxian’s ambush, but a call from Lao Luo helped him defeat Wan Jinxian and brought him to Luo ZhengNan, where he found Light Bulb.

• Liao Zihui ordered Xia Shumin to search for Light Bulb, while Xia privately believed Light Bulb was dead.
• After Shen Xueyong sent him toward Blue Poplar Village, Light Bulb was beaten and robbed at a noodle shop, then forced into a carriage by threatening its owner.
• The carriage owner delivered Light Bulb to Kang Qihai’s bandits, who tied him up and staged a wedding; Luo ZhengNan raided the stronghold, killed Kang Qihai, and captured Light Bulb.
• Li Qi handed more than ten thousand Bastard Slope refugees to Qin Bulou and warned him to kill anyone spreading the Saint’s teachings.
• Wan Jinxian ambushed Li Banfeng, whose sense of direction and distance became confused; a call from Lao Luo restored his bearings enough for him to kick Wan Jinxian into a distant forest.
• Luo ZhengNan contacted Li Banfeng, who appeared behind him and then saw Light Bulb hanging in a fishing net at the stronghold.

Li Banfeng forced Light Bulb to become his informant, while Liao Zihui learned that Li Qi had already recognized the Dark Star Bureau trainee. Li Banfeng discovered he had used the Ninth Layer A Farewell of Ten Thousand Miles Technique, and Cui Tike found that DaoLao Ghosts could retain their former abilities, potentially advancing his plans.

• Li Banfeng made Light Bulb sign a contract to inform him about news from the Dark Star Bureau and Guanfang Hall.
• Liao Zihui exposed Xia Shumin's mishandling of Light Bulb's assignment, then heard Light Bulb explain how Li Qi had found him and taken him to Jiang Mengting's Song Festival.
• Hong Ying identified Li Banfeng's long-range attack as A Farewell of Ten Thousand Miles Technique and explained its routes and dangers; Li Banfeng decided to conceal his apparent Ninth Layer advancement.
• Cui Tike found Wan Jinxian as a DaoLao Ghost and discovered that he could still use techniques, prompting Cui Tike to consider accelerating his plan.

Li Banfeng rejected Dick Chen’s proposed trade and suspected the supposedly foreign businessman was actually from Pro State, while Dick Chen pursued plans involving Chu Shaoqiang and the former Balance Person, Xiao Zhengong. The chapter left Li Banfeng investigating Dick Chen as Tangyuan took over Li Qi’s files and Dick Chen sought secrets about the Boundary.

• Ma Wu told Li Banfeng that Dick Chen from Amikan Country wanted to trade Pro State’s magical treasures and pills, and Li Banfeng agreed to meet him while suspecting the deal was suspicious.
• At Carefree Dock, Dick Chen insulted Pro State and Ma Wu, so Li Banfeng mocked his name and threatened to cut off his hand; Dick Chen left, and Li Banfeng concluded he was from Pro State rather than the Outer State.
• Ma Wu admitted that Dick Chen’s remarks had made him want to study in the Outer State, and Li Banfeng told him that Dick Chen knew Pro State’s ways too well to be a foreigner.
• Dick Chen dismissed Li Qi as unimportant, removed Tangyuan from her assistant duties, and assigned her Li Qi’s files; Light Bulb showed Li Banfeng a team photograph, allowing him to recognize Tangyuan as Dick Chen’s secretary.
• Dick Chen met Chu Shaoqiang and offered to help clear him of blame in exchange for cooperation, then visited Dabo Ensi and questioned the imprisoned Xiao Zhengong about hidden materials concerning the Boundary.

Dick Chen secured a message from the Inner State and used it to restart negotiations with the Outer State, then sought desperate allies to help him target Li Qi. Meanwhile, Li Banfeng suspected Dick Chen had become the new Balance Person and confronted Tangyuan, whose undercover identity he had uncovered.

• Dick Chen rejected Lu Xiaolan as a candidate, then visited Shi Gongxing, Soda Kiln’s Local Earth God, and obtained a letter through the factory’s entrance to the Inner State.
• Dick Chen told Dabo Ensi about the Inner State’s request to expand passageways into Pro State and revealed his belief that Xiao Zhengong had sabotaged earlier negotiations.
• Tangyuan began working undercover as singer Little Peach Red at Carefree Dock to investigate Li Qi.
• Dick Chen delivered the Inner State’s letter to Liao Zihui, helping resume negotiations, and then began planning to recruit desperate allies against Li Qi.
• Dick Chen approached Duan Shaoxia with an offer to restore bodies for her children, then offered a Carriage Driver help reclaim lost territory in exchange for killing someone.
• Li Banfeng inferred that Dick Chen might be the new Balance Person and summoned Tangyuan, addressing her by her real name.

Li Banfeng interrogated Tangyuan about Dick Chen and learned that Chen Weixin was the Dark Star Bureau’s new deputy director, while negotiations between Inner State and Outer State threatened Pro State. As Tangyuan prepared to sing at Carefree Dock, Li Banfeng investigated a bell marked Iron Gate Fort and learned that Dick Chen planned to seize the fort to uncover the origin of a powerful spear; Chen’s hired Carriage Driver arrived before the battle.

• Li Banfeng used a laxative ruse and threats of public humiliation to break Tangyuan’s concentration, and she revealed Chen Weixin’s identity and the negotiations over routes and Dark Energy Carrier ores.
• Li Banfeng let Tangyuan return to Carefree Dock and arranged for her to sing; after other singers mocked her, she insisted on performing “Blooming Flowers and Full Moon.”
• Li Banfeng told Luo ZhengNan to investigate Chen Weixin’s background, resolved to stop the negotiations, and found a bell marked Iron Gate Fort near Carefree Dock.
• At Iron Gate Fort, Wu Yongchao and the House Cultivators discussed Dick Chen’s challenge and rejected the idea that martial-world rules could make Chen their Fort Lord while their own Fort Lord was absent.
• Dick Chen told Dabo Ensi that he planned to take Iron Gate Fort to investigate the spear Zhao Xiaowan and intended to use the fort’s House Cultivators; he predicted the takeover would be easy.
• The Carriage Driver arrived at Dick Chen’s rented house before dawn, ready to help with the coming battle.

Dick Chen led thirty followers in an assault on Iron Gate Fort, using his Sleep Cultivation Technique to disable the fort’s defenders and breach its steam gate. Li Banfeng discovered the technique’s limits, defeated Dick Chen, and sent him to the Portable Abode, while the Carriage Driver’s arrival remained unresolved.

• Dick Chen gathered thirty followers and marched on Iron Gate Fort, where Wu Yongchao and the House Cultivators refused to recognize him as Fort Lord.
• Dick Chen’s followers opened the steam gate, and his Sleep Cultivation Technique put defenders and their puppets to sleep until Li Banfeng struck the bronze gong and retreated toward the fort.
• Li Banfeng used paper figures to test Dick Chen’s limits, then awakened him and attacked, forcing Dick Chen to flee while the House Cultivators fought his remaining followers.
• Li Banfeng surrounded Dick Chen with paper figures, interrupted his attempts to sleep, and repeatedly used Ride a Horse and Admire Flowers until Dick Chen could no longer fight.
• Li Banfeng had the Tang Blade carry the still-conscious Dick Chen into the Portable Abode as the Carriage Driver waited nearby, disguised as a rickshaw puller.

Li Banfeng learned that Dick Chen’s allies might still threaten him, while Xiao Manli pressured Xiao Yeci to arrange a meeting with Li Qi. After Xiao Yeci reluctantly agreed, she invited Li Banfeng to dinner alone, leaving him suspicious of her unusual behavior.

• Iron Gate Fort’s cultivators concluded that their Fort Lord had secretly helped them defeat Dick Chen’s men, while Li Banfeng traveled to Dick Chen’s residence with the Carriage Driver and discovered Dabo Ensi had fled with a weapon.
• Li Banfeng learned that neither Red Lotus nor Wife could identify Dick Chen’s cultivation from his soul, and the Carriage Driver could not locate the Local Earth God; Li Banfeng then asked Luo ZhengNan to watch Iron Gate Fort.
• Xiao Manli visited Xiao Yeci and demanded that she arrange a meeting with Li Qi, threatening to expose that Xiao Yeci had raised Lu Chunying as her own daughter.
• Xiao Yeci tried to leave Green Water City, but You Tao found her at the train station and forced her to return; Lu Chunying urged her to seek help rather than run away.
• Xiao Yeci agreed to help Xiao Manli meet Li Qi, and Xiao Manli secretly placed something on her; after returning to Carefree Dock, Xiao Yeci invited Li Banfeng to dinner alone.

Li Banfeng rescued Lu Chunying after the Chasing Light Society used Xiao Yeci to lure him into a trap at Conqueror Restaurant. He captured the surviving foreigners and prepared to question them, while Xiao Manli remained missing.

• Xiao Yeci lured Li Banfeng to Conqueror Restaurant under threat that Lu Chunying would be killed, and Li Banfeng used the phonograph recording to learn about the threat and trace its hook.
• Mosofonov ordered his foreigners to seize Li Qi, but Li Banfeng's allies stormed the restaurant while Li Banfeng confronted Mosofonov in the courtyard.
• He Yuxiu recognized that the mutilated figure in the iron cabinet was a Cabbage Man, and Li Banfeng used Mosofonov to learn Lu Chunying's location.
• Tan Fucheng and Lu Yuanxin retrieved Lu Chunying, who explained how the Chasing Light Society had captured her and how Xiao Yeci was her mother.
• Xiao Yeci revealed that Xiao Manli was her older sister, and Li Banfeng promised to find her before sending the captured foreigners into the Portable Abode for questioning.
• The foreigners remained defiant as Hong Ying and Old Teapot prepared to question them.

Li Banfeng uncovered the Chasing Light Group’s plans and learned that its Boundless Camp bishop, Ge Lubu, was active near Ye Song Bridge. In Ye Song Bridge, Xiao Yeci confronted her family over how they had driven her out, while Li Banfeng went to investigate Ge Lubu’s residence.

• Mosonov explained the Chasing Light Group’s beliefs and camps, then tried to activate a rune formation; Li Banfeng washed away the runes and let Old Teapot subdue him and his followers.
• Li Banfeng took Xiao Yeci, Lu Chunying, and He Yuxiu to Ye Song Bridge, where Lu Chunying bought the Xiao Family residence in her mother’s name.
• Xiao Jianzhang refused to sell the residence to Xiao Yeci, but Sheng Shanzhou warned him that the Xiao family would lose its business ties if he did not make amends.
• Xiao Jianzhang and his family eventually faced Xiao Yeci, who offered him two thousand Huan Country Notes to leave the Xiao family and settle their past; he refused, while Xiao Yeci finally let go of her resentment.
• Li Banfeng went by boat to a two-story building in an alley, where he had learned that Ge Lubu lived.

Li Banfeng uncovered the secret behind Ye Song Bridge’s sedan-bearer saying and learned that Boundless Camp had gone into hiding after the Train Station leaked his arrival. After tracing the opportunity to a strange lone sedan bearer, he confronted the man and learned that he carried coffin poles.

• Li Banfeng found Boundless Camp’s residence empty and suspected that the group had hidden after receiving a warning.
• Liao Zihui told Li Banfeng that Ye Song Bridge offered three opportunities through its Local Earth God, gave him research materials and an unlimited Travel Permit, and promised an explanation for Boundless Camp’s disappearance.
• Li Banfeng studied the legends about the Local Earth God, dismissed Smoke Cloud Lake and the other rumored sites, and searched Ye Song Bridge for clues.
• Li Banfeng read that a Train Conductor and two station workers had died, and concluded that Train Station informants had revealed his arrival to Boundless Camp.
• Li Banfeng recognized the lone sedan bearer from his earlier visit and suspected the man was Ye Song Bridge’s Local Earth God.
• Li Banfeng approached the sedan bearer, who said he carried coffin poles and warned that Li Banfeng had come looking for him.

Li Banfeng discovered that Ye Song Bridge’s Local Earth God was a Bartering Cultivator who could gain lasting combat power by raising arguments with him, then learned local stories about people who had gained cultivation and left Ye Song Bridge. After Liao Zihui recruited him to help attack Boundless Camp, the sedan bearer confronted him again, prompting Liao Zihui’s men to rush to his aid.

• The sedan bearer chased Li Banfeng, and Li Banfeng escaped into Smoke Cloud Lake before sheltering in the Portable Abode; the projector used the Fifth Chamber girl to watch the sedan bearer swim after him and then leave.
• Li Banfeng learned that the sedan bearer was a Bartering Cultivator whose three raised barters had doubled his combat power against Li Banfeng for as long as he lived.
• Li Banfeng asked He Yuxiu about Ye Song Bridge, then paid Xiao Yeci to tell stories about people who earned the Local Earth God’s favor, gained cultivation, and departed.
• Liao Zihui told Li Banfeng that he planned to attack Boundless Camp on Stone Tower Mountain and asked him to secretly catch anyone who escaped.
• The sedan bearer confronted Li Banfeng outside the teahouse, and Liao Zihui ordered his men to protect Li Qi and seize the suspected attackers.

After escaping the sedan bearer with Liao Zihui’s help, Li Banfeng investigated Ye Song Bridge’s legends and concluded that its Local Earth God used the sedan-pole bargain to deceive and kill cultivators. He confronted the sedan bearer again by claiming to be his own brother, Li Liu, and revealed a clay doll to pass himself off as a House Cultivator.

• Liao Zihui’s Scout Cultivators marked the sedan bearer and attacked him with the Steam Machine Gun, letting Li Banfeng escape when the bearer fled.
• Li Banfeng learned that the Chasing Light Group had withdrawn from Stone Tower Mountain and suspected the sedan bearer was Ye Song Bridge’s Local Earth God.
• After hearing stories about Song Laizi, Li Banfeng reasoned that the Local Earth God lured high-level cultivators with promises of cultivation, then killed them and scattered their remains as dust.
• Li Banfeng warned Liao Zihui about the Local Earth God and urged him not to raise sedan poles with anyone, while Liao promised to find information about Bartering Cultivators.
• The sedan bearer confronted Li Banfeng in an alley, but Li claimed to be his brother Li Liu and used a moving clay doll to convince him that he was a House Cultivator.

Li Banfeng disguised himself as Li Liu, used House Cultivation techniques and tools to defeat the sedan bearer, and learned that the Local Earth God had murdered cultivators to refine pills. Meanwhile, Liao Zihui’s forces ambushed Boundless Camp at Ye Song Bridge as Chu Shaoqiang searched the battlefield for a valuable object.

• Li Banfeng used Golden House Hides Beauty and his crafted toys to undermine the sedan bearer’s confidence, trap him in the Portable Abode, and defeat him without revealing himself as Li Qi.
• Li Banfeng tortured the sedan bearer, who confessed that he had killed cultivators including Song Laizi, Wang Saihong, and others to make Profound Essence Pills, and had targeted Li Qi and He Yuxiu.
• The sedan bearer claimed he used the Mystic Life Crimson Lotus for pill refining, but Li Banfeng showed him the real Red Lotus and fed him to the household and the lotus.
• Liao Zihui told Zheng Siyi that Li Banfeng was Li Qi and warned him not to pursue Red Lotus or contact Chu Shaoqiang, then learned that Chu Shaoqiang had arrived in Ye Song Bridge.
• Liao Zihui led Guanfang Hall’s forces to ambush Boundless Camp near the Qingtian River, trapping the retreating troops against a boundary and under High-Pressure Steam fire.
• Chu Shaoqiang watched the battle from hiding and searched for a valuable object rumored to be in the possession of several people, concluding that it was at Ye Song Bridge.

Liao Zihui discovered a second Mystic Life Crimson Lotus in Ye Song Bridge, but after Xia Shumin took it away, it vanished from its sealed container. Chu Shaoqiang had secretly stolen it and delivered it to Soda Kiln, where Ye Jianhuang confronted him and an old adversary appeared.

• Fu Qingguang located a Stealth Space by the pavilion, where Xiao Meng retrieved a copper lotus and died after it drew down heavenly light; the lotus absorbed his remains before Li Banfeng and He Yuxiu left.
• Liao Zihui arranged to be sent back to Outer State for treatment rather than escort the lotus, while Xia Shumin took charge of its transfer from Guanfang Hall.
• Li Banfeng asked the Crimson Lotus in his Portable Abode whether it had sisters, and it insisted it was the only true Mystic Life Crimson Lotus.
• Xia Shumin transported the copper lotus to Yuezhou City, where experts found it vanished whenever its glass container was opened; Chu Shaoqiang had secretly taken it in his briefcase.
• Ye Jianhuang seized the lotus from Chu Shaoqiang at Sea Eat Ridge, but it disappeared from the briefcase; Chu then reached Soda Kiln and presented spiritual pliers to Shi Gongxing.
• Ye Jianhuang attacked Chu Shaoqiang, whose body regenerated with soap bubbles, as a middle-aged man appeared and challenged Ye to keep fighting.

Sun Tiecheng subdued Ye Jianhuang, took Red Lotus, and revealed his mastery of Fool Cultivation Skills before leaving Chu Shaoqiang and Shi Gongxing behind. Li Banfeng failed to find the Ye Song Bridge Local Earth God's contract in the hidden residence, but Sun Tiecheng then gave him a rewritten contract and urged him to claim the territory as he prepared to ascend to the clouds.

• Sun Tiecheng used Reversing Cause and Effect and All or Nothing to prevent Ye Jianhuang from turning into smoke, took hold of his life, and ordered him to wait outside Fool's City.
• Sun Tiecheng took Red Lotus from Chu Shaoqiang, caught and cooked the Inner State man guarding the passage, and made Chu Shaoqiang and Shi Gongxing eat the fish before sending Chu Shaoqiang away and keeping Shi Gongxing at the factory.
• Zheng Siyi explained that Fu Qingguang could open Stealth Spaces and gave Li Banfeng a Profound Essence Pill in exchange for his promise to look after him in Pro State.
• Li Banfeng took over the Ye Song Bridge business, and Luo ZhengNan opened the Local Earth God's Stealth Space, but Li Banfeng found no contract document there.
• Sun Tiecheng arrived during Li Banfeng's meeting with himself, produced Ye Song Bridge's contract document, and changed its name to Li Yi for Li Banfeng.
• Sun Tiecheng said he wanted Li Banfeng to ascend to the clouds, warned that many people coveted Ye Song Bridge, and offered to defend it temporarily while Li Banfeng faced the choice between its rich returns and his safer hidden territory.

Li Banfeng secured Ye Song Bridge as new territory, learned its customs, and prepared to advance toward the clouds. During the dangerous cross-layer advancement, he nearly lost consciousness as the phonograph sang to him.

• Sun Tiecheng buried deeds naming Li Yi as the owner of Ye Song Bridge, then used a Fool Cultivation Skill to trap Gui Jianchou inside Lu Family Bookstore.
• Li Banfeng learned about Ye Song Bridge from Xiao Yeci and chose to advance there, keeping his own territory as a fallback.
• The phonograph explained the House Cultivator Ninth Layer technique Expand Territory and told Li Banfeng to rest before advancing.
• Hong Ying guided Li Banfeng through Intent Travels a Thousand Mountains to advance his Travel Cultivator path, but she was unsure whether he had succeeded.
• The phonograph sucked the exhausted Li Banfeng into its horn for the cross-layer advancement as he drifted toward unconsciousness.

Li Banfeng struggled to stabilize his soul after forcibly advancing to Cloud Above while Xia Shumin sealed Ye Song Bridge and pursued him over the missing Red Lotus. The chapter ended with Xia Shumin surrounding Li Banfeng’s residence and threatening to execute him if he resisted arrest.

• Li Banfeng learned he had to remain active on his territory while his body recovered and his soul stabilized, and Sun Tiecheng warned him to stay cautious.
• Xia Shumin sealed Ye Song Bridge after Red Lotus went missing and questioned Zheng Siyi about Liao Zihui, Li Qi, and the site where Red Lotus had been found.
• Chu Er decided to travel to Ye Song Bridge to find Li Qi, despite learning that Guanfang Hall had stopped all entry and exit.
• Ma Wu and his companions were ambushed on the river; Zhen Jincheng escaped to Xiao Yeci’s estate and reported the attack.
• Xia Shumin led guards to surround Li Banfeng’s residence, accused him of involvement in Red Lotus’s theft, and threatened to execute him if he refused to come to Guanfang Hall.

Li Banfeng’s allies fought Guanfang Hall after Xia Shumin attacked Xiao Yeci’s residence, and Chu Er killed Xia Shumin before the forces withdrew. As Li Banfeng stayed behind to draw Guanfang Hall’s attention, Liao Zihui arrived and demanded a person as compensation for Pro State losing its balance.

• Li Banfeng tried to kill Xia Shumin but ran out of strength, while Lu Yuanxin led a breakout and Wen Hongyan’s reinforcements attacked Guanfang Hall.
• Chu Er arrived with her people, and Xiang Fenglan used her arrow cultivation to wound Xia Shumin before Chu Er cut off his head.
• Tang Huanjie ordered a ceasefire and withdrew Guanfang Hall’s forces, while Li Banfeng collapsed and told his allies to leave Ye Song Bridge.
• Li Banfeng persuaded his allies to prepare for war elsewhere and remained at Ye Song Bridge to keep Guanfang Hall focused on him.
• Chu Er sought help from Bitter Granny, while allies in Seven Autumn City, Decency Village, North Bridge, and Fool’s City prepared to protect Li Banfeng or provide him an escape route.
• Liao Zihui visited Li Banfeng and said the Outer State required a Balance Person as compensation for Pro State losing its balance.

Liao Zihui urged Li Banfeng to become Pro State’s Balance Person, warning that refusing could lead to war and the severing of travel between regions. Li Banfeng agreed on strict conditions, confirmed his cultivation had advanced, and prepared to visit Outer State with the Portable Abode.

• Liao Zihui identified Li Banfeng as Song Zhuowen, argued that his ties to Outer State and Inner State made him a suitable Balance Person, and warned that Guanfang Hall could withdraw and leave Pro State divided if he refused.
• Li Banfeng asked the Portable Abode whether it could cross into Outer State, and it said its eight rails might let it break through the boundary; Li Banfeng vowed his family would not go if it could not.
• Li Banfeng used Ye Song Bridge’s Local Earth Seal to confirm he had reached Cloud Above First Layer, then absorbed human vitality from his own territory and distributed cultivation to its Strange Monsters.
• Li Banfeng returned to Guanfang Hall and agreed to become the Balance Person if Liao Zihui signed terms ending responsibility for Xia Shumin’s death, restoring transportation to Ye Song Bridge, and keeping both terms binding after Liao left office.
• Liao Zihui signed the contract, and Li Banfeng said he was not worried about his safety in Outer State because he remembered its people as kind.

Li Banfeng prepared to leave Pro State, said goodbye to his allies, and secretly boarded a train for the Outer State with Tangyuan and Light Bulb. After crossing the border in the Portable Abode, he vowed to return for the Three-Headed People, while He Jiaqing emerged from a hidden chamber in Green Water City.

• Liao Zihui lifted the traffic restrictions on Ye Song Bridge, and Li Banfeng chose Mount YeQing as the site for a Train Station while asking Luo ZhengNan to search for Stealth Space.
• Ma Wu, He Yuxiu, Xiao Yeci, and Lu Chunying urged Li Banfeng not to go to the Outer State, but he refused and told them to notify him if their factions were about to fight.
• Li Banfeng made the rounds of his territories, entrusted Ma Wu with business matters, and received a letter from Qiu Zhiheng to a Black Market merchant in the Outer State.
• Jiang Mengting sang for Li Banfeng at his farewell banquet, but he slipped away and boarded the night train with Tangyuan and Light Bulb after Bitter Granny and Chu Er met him at the station.
• Li Banfeng saw the Three-Headed People reaching through the fence at Three Heads Junction, threw them the train's food, and promised to return for them before the Portable Abode crossed into the Outer State.
• Xie Juncong and Big Head opened the hidden chamber beneath the Jiang Xiang Gang's former hall, and He Jiaqing crawled out in a paper-thin form.